After last week’s game-centric Nintendo Direct, it’s time to turn our attention to the very exciting Nintendo Switch console. There’s no doubt this is a huge moment for gaming and will surely be one of the year’s most coveted tech launches. To announce more details on the console, there will be a Nintendo Direct taking place today, 2 April.
This event has been in the diary since January, when we saw a surprise (though long rumored) video revealing the design of the new console (very Switch-like) and teasing some new features like magnetic, redesigned Joy-Cons and confirming that there would be backwards compatibility with older Switch cartridges (as well as digital transfers of Nintendo eShop games you already own). There was also a very quick preview of what is, presumably, a brand new version of Mario Kart 9 or whatever it will be called.
The Switch 2 Nintendo Direct showcase will stream online on Nintendo’s YouTube (embedded below) and Twitch channels.
Nintendo seems to be saying that this will no quick reveal – it will apparently last around an hour, which is a lot longer than we were expecting and may be a deep dive around the specs or hardware (less likely) or go in-depth on game launches (more likely).
Nintendo Direct Switch 2 event times globally
Here are the times for the event, wherever you are across the globe.
North America
Pacific time (ET): 6:00 AM
Central Time (CT): 8:00 AM
Eastern Time (ET): 9:00 AM
Europe
• British Summer Time (BST): 2:00 PM
• Central European Time (CET): 3:00 PM
• Eastern European Time (EET): 4:00 PM
Asia
• India Standard Time (IST): 6:30 PM
• China Standard Time (CST): 9:00 PM
• Japan Standard Time (JST): 10:00 PM
• Korea Standard Time (KST): 10:00 PM
Australia and New Zealand
• Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST – Sydney, Melbourne): 11:00 PM
• Australian Central Standard Time (ACST – Adelaide, Darwin): 10:30 PM
• Australian Western Standard Time (AWST – Perth): 9:00 PM
• New Zealand Standard Time (NZST – Auckland, Wellington): 1:00 AM (3 April)
Switch 2 rumoured specs
Various specs have leaked and been rumoured – here’s what we’ve heard so far. Pricing is rumoured to be in the $400-500 range but this seems a little high to us – if we were betting we’d go for $399.
Display
• Size: 8-inch LCD screen.
• Resolution: 1080p Full HD – capable of 4K Ultra HD when docked.
Dimensions
• Console with attached Joy-Cons: 271 x 116.4 x 31.4 mm
Key hardware
• Platform: Nvidia Tegra T239, using 8-core ARM Cortex-A78C CPU
Graphics: Nvidia Ampere T239
• Performance: 1.72 TFLOPs as a handheld and 3.09 TFLOPs when docked
• RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5X (2 x 6 GB modules)
• Internal Storage: 256 GB UFS 3.1 flash storage.
• Expandable Storage: Support for MicroSD Express cards
Connectivity
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth support.
• Ports: Two USB-C ports and one 3.5 mm headphone jack on the console plus a USB-C port, HDMI input, and an Ethernet port on the dock.
• NFC: Compatible with Amiibo figurines.
Extra bits
• Magnetically attached controllers Joy-Cons with an ergonomic design.
• Supports software from the original Nintendo Switch.
Also read: Switch Virtual Game Cards are a good idea – but I want Nintendo to go further
