Nintendo Switch 2 (5th June 2025)

[Dcubed]

42 minutes ago, Julius said:

The Switch 2 Experience was awesome, just on my way back now – a bit too tired to string together any meaningful cohesive thoughts, but I was busy taking notes of my time and opinions at the event, so to do them justice I'll share those thoughts tomorrow. 

For now, though, @Dcubed @Glen-i @Ugh first aid (and anyone else attending tomorrow?), just thought I'd share some things that'll hopefully make your day just a little bit easier...

Nice-to-know

• I couldn't find this anywhere before the event, so had to keep my eyes peeled for a big ol' weirdly fonted '2' and that unmistakable Nintendo red – but check-in is in Hall N5, which is on the left side of the main corridor when entering through the Excel pyramid entrance. It's kind of hard to miss, honestly, but it's nice to know where you're heading!
• You'll get given a wrist band and wait in one of three lanes in a pretty hilariously barren hall while they show the Switch 2 Direct again. 
• When you walk in there's somewhere to check-in bags on the right, and a super brief bag check by security. 
• So, my Experience was set to start at 14:00, but the FAQs make it clear to not arrive more than 15 minutes before your start time – yet, arriving promptly at 13:45, I found that there was an entire lane already taken up, which promptly entered at 14:00 on the dot! So I reckon you could probably start queuing around 20-30 minutes ahead of time. 
• Don't worry if you end up not going in at your assigned start time on the dot – if you're in one of the later lanes, you'll have a different band to the others, and they let you in as part of a wave every 20 minutes. You'll get the full 4 hours either way – so I was in there from 14:20 to 18:20. 
• Controllers and Switch 2s, as you can imagine, are tied down through the entire hall...except for two, which are either side of a display case for all of the hardware arriving at launch. I think a whole bunch of people missed out on this. You can just ask the guys or gals to hold them to get a feel for the weight, and, obviously, *snap* those Joy-Con 2s off! Feels super solid, those things. They'll be watching you very intensely, like a hawk, while you *snap*, mind 
• Don't miss the little goodies to your right on your way out! 

 

The Games/Floor Plan

I've watched a couple of videos which showed some of the games which have been at these things, but I was still surprised by a couple of the games which were available to play today. It was a nice surprise for me, so I'll throw it in a spoiler tag so you can decide whether you want to know going in or not, but here's a full list of the games available and the floor plan for the event – which might make it a bit easier to plan your day or route around the floor, especially with a few of you going and likely wanting to check out different games! 

  Reveal hidden contents

(sorry you might need to zoom in!)

Might have been because I was in one of the later sessions, but I found the big ticket items - i.e. the Nintendo Switch 2 first-party newness - had a bit of a queue when I first walked in, which I didn't mind, but I could stroll right into the play areas and replay some of the big ticket games towards the end with no queue time. Pretty arguably the biggest ones there, too. YMMV, of course, but something to keep in mind! 

Hope that can help you plan your day just a little bit and that you guys have a great time 

Thanks for the heads up.  Very helpful!