Nintendo Swap 2: all of the leaks and rumors thus far

Nintendo’s announcement of the Swap successor is imminent. Simply how imminent is anybody’s guess with the corporate stating that it will reveal data on the console earlier than the top of its fiscal yr in March. Rumors concerning the brand new Swap have been circulating for greater than a yr, however with lower than two months to go till the promised deadline, and within the absence of any actual info from Nintendo itself, hypothesis in regards to the console, its specs, bodily profile, and extra have reached a fever pitch. So earlier than the official reveal, right here’s every little thing we predict we learn about Nintendo’s subsequent console.

The one concrete, Nintendo-confirmed piece of knowledge we all know in regards to the new console is that it’ll be backwards appropriate with the Swap. All the pieces else has come by the use of leaks and data provided by third-party producers. Late final yr, one such producer, Dbrand, debuted its Killswitch carrying case meant for the Swap 2. In keeping with Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz, the Killswitch is predicated on the “precise dimensions” of the brand new console obtained from a “3D scan of the actual {hardware}.” However in an interview with The Verge, he declined to say precisely how or the place Dbrand obtained such info.

If the Killswitch’s design is certainly derived from the actual factor, the brand new console might be bigger than the Swap OLED with an 8-inch display, and have a kickstand that may span the size of the console just like the OLED mannequin. That the brand new Swap might be bigger than earlier iterations is supported by leaks and data from different accent producers in addition to the concept that the Pleasure-Con controllers will connect through magnet as an alternative of sliding and snapping into place. The brand new controller design will even incorporate magnets within the joysticks to fight towards the dreaded “Pleasure-Con drift” that plagues the Swap even now.

CES 2025 offered much more fodder for the rumor mill, with accent producer Genki exhibiting off a 3D printed mock-up of the console on the present flooring. In an interview with The Verge, Genki CEO Eddie Tsai went into element about what he is aware of in regards to the new Swap reaffirming rumors concerning its bigger measurement, magnetic Pleasure-Con, and extra.

Whereas there’s lots of hypothesis and potential proof about what the brand new console will appear like, there’s much less circulating about what it will possibly really do. Past an alleged photograph of the console’s motherboard, there hasn’t been a lot on the market in regards to the console’s {hardware} specs. As a result of Nintendo has by no means made consoles on the bleeding edge (or, actually, even the slicing one) of graphics or processing energy, it’s arduous to guess how properly the console will carry out or what further options, like a microphone, it’ll have.

Although the console’s internals stay a thriller, we do know that it’ll be backwards appropriate with Swap video games. We are able to additionally fairly guess not less than one recreation that’ll be a launch title: Metroid Prime 4. Introduced in 2017, and present process a change of studio and a growth reboot two years later, Nintendo debuted gameplay footage for the primary time final yr and shared a gentle launch window of 2025. When Twilight Princess launched in 2006, it debuted on each the GameCube and served as a launch title for the Wii. Breath of the Wild was additionally cross-gen, debuting on the Wii U whereas launching with the Swap in 2017.

Figuring out that the brand new Swap and Metroid Prime 4 each launch in 2025 and with Twilight Princess and BotW as examples, it’s speculated that the rationale for Metroid 4’s lengthy stint in growth hell was, not less than partly, as a result of the sport was being tooled for each the Swap and its successor. Additionally, you simply can’t have a brand new Nintendo console with no Mario recreation. Tremendous Mario Odyssey was a Swap launch title, and although there’s been different new releases like Tremendous Mario Surprise, there hasn’t been a brand new, standalone (put down your pitchforks Bowser’s Fury followers) 3D Mario recreation since then. It’s all however assured one might be introduced with the brand new Swap. The just lately introduced Pokémon Legends: Z-A can be a very good launch title candidate as Nintendo curiously worded the sport’s debut trailer with “releasing concurrently worldwide on Nintendo Swap in 2025.”

For all of the rumors and affordable guesses supported by more and more convincing proof, it’s useful to keep in mind that on the finish of the day, we’re nonetheless speaking about Nintendo. The corporate has at all times tread a separate and unpredictable path from the opposite two main console producers and that oddball technique has principally labored very properly. Although the corporate is not proof against the identical layoffs and delays (the Swap 2 was initially pegged for a 2024 launch) plaguing its friends and certainly has its personal manifold points with the way it treats and pays its workers and contractors, of the most important publishers, it appears to be the one that’s finest navigating the present disaster ravaging the business.

It’s folly attempting to foretell what Nintendo will do, and that applies to its new console. All we will depend on is that it’s coming quickly, and when it arrives, it’ll be huge.