As the curtain closes on 2024, Nintendo fans are still waiting for news about the Nintendo Switch successor. Having been announced by the company president, Shuntaro Furukawa, midway through the year, the unofficially-dubbed “Switch 2” has become one of the worst secrets of the game industry. Leaks and rumors about its appearance, its hardware specs, and even a couple of its launch games feel like they’ve dropped every other week, and even Nintendo has confessed on social media that the console will be backwards compatible with the first Switch. At this point, a proper announcement can’t be far off.
When that news is coming might be the most mysterious detail about the Switch 2, but the intensity of the leaks and Nintendo’s marketing patterns suggest it’s just weeks away. The Game Awards 2024 may not have included any Switch teasers in spite of a third-party advertisement leaking just before the show, but 2025 could see a Switch reveal as early as January. It’s also possible that Nintendo will replace its expected February Direct with the Switch 2’s info blowout. Regardless of when it comes, a new rumor has suggested that the Switch 2’s premiere won’t just show one version of the console.
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What Nintendo’s Comments About the Switch 2 Could Mean For Its Reveal
Nintendo has already confirmed some details of the Nintendo Switch 2, but there are still plenty of ways it can surprise fans at the console’s reveal.
What The Three Potential Nintendo Switch 2 Versions Are
Around the middle of December 2024, an anonymous Reddit user going by NextHandheld claimed to have obtained a finalized Switch 2 unit. Having been OK-ed by r/NintendoSwitch2 moderators, NextHandheld proceeded to answer questions and corroborate existing information, with the promise of more public evidence of their find supposedly coming on Christmas day. Among their claims was that the Nintendo Switch successor could release in mid-March, considerably earlier than the recent community theory of June or July, and that there would be multiple color schemes available for the console at launch. These colors are:
- A gray system with black buttons
- A white system
- A special edition Switch 2 themed after a particular game
Different cosmetic options are all that these takes on the Nintendo Switch successor amount to, and that makes sense. Although the current Nintendo Switch does have the Nintendo Switch Lite and the Nintendo Switch OLED as alternate models, they do not have meaningfully different features. Other eighth and ninth generation consoles released half-step “Pro” consoles and split skews, like the Xbox Series X and Series S, but Nintendo never gave the Switch the same treatment, and this may hold true for the Switch 2.
Breaking Down The Different Nintendo Switch 2 Versions
The different colors ascribed to each Nintendo Switch successor correspond to existing Switch colors, and major ones at that. Although some fans will associate the red and blue Joy-Cons with the original 2017 launch of the Switch, there actually was a primarily gray version with black buttons available at the time. Meanwhile, a white Nintendo Switch 2 sounds like a dead ringer for the main Nintendo Switch OLED model that launched in October 2021. These aren’t especially flashy colors to launch with, but they are a good baseline to set before other colors roll in.
Speculating What The Special Edition Switch 2 Could Refer To
However, the original Nintendo Switch took several months to get themed special editions. By the sounds of it, the Nintendo Switch successor might launch with one, although what game it corresponds to and whether it’s part of a bundle haven’t been specified. Current theories point towards a Mario Kart 9 limited edition Switch 2, though it could be just about any Nintendo game or IP. Whether or not any of this proves true remains to be seen, but this just adds another trait to hope for when the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally revealed in full.
