Nintendo Switch 2 (5th June 2025)

[Ike]

Hopefully the LAN speeds are better. I was only getting 50 - 70mb on the Switch 1. Googling suggests Switch 2 LAN is 1Gb but they don't say in the official specs.

[Dcubed]

39 minutes ago, Ike said:

Hopefully the LAN speeds are better. I was only getting 50 - 70mb on the Switch 1. Googling suggests Switch 2 LAN is 1Gb but they don't say in the official specs.

Well, Switch 1 was limited to USB2 speeds at best, and even the OLED dock ran its Ethernet port from an internal USB 2.0 adapter; so 100mbps was the best you could ever possibly get out of a wired connection on Switch 1.

I'm hoping that Switch 2 is better in that regard, but the outer USB ports on the new dock are still limited to USB 2.0 speeds... Let's hope that the Ethernet port gets access to the full USB 3.0 speed, or else the WiFi 6 connection is going to be substantially faster than Wired this time around!

Edited yesterday at 11:18 AM by Dcubed

[Julius]

We are now just three weeks away from the launch of the Switch 2! 

For those picking up the console at launch:

• What are your launch day plans?
• Have you booked some time off work for that launch?
• What are you planning on playing first/looking to get to that launch weekend?
• Are there any details (besides an entirely new game announcement for launch ) that could drop in the next three weeks that would change your launch plans? 

For me:

I'm working from home on launch day so that I'll be in whenever it is delivered during the day, but didn't want to book the entire day off in case it didn't turn up until late; hopefully it arrives during the day and I can get everything set up before I finish work.

I've booked the day after off (the Friday) to get a long first weekend with the Switch 2. 

At the moment I think Wind Waker via GameCube NSO is my plan for my main launch game, outside of trying out some Mario Kart World and maybe spending a little bit of time with Welcome Tour? I do also have Wind Waker HD on Wii U though, so I am just a little bit tempted to play it through on that · I can't remember exactly where opinion lies on here about which is the superior version 

I don't think my launch plans will change, outside of potentially getting hooked on Mario Kart World to the point Wind Waker gets pushed back a bit? I think the main info I'm looking out for at the moment are the patches for Switch games on Switch 2: I've had Pokémon Scarlet on my shelf for a while and have been getting in the mood to play Pokémon lately, but I think that's subject to news on when the Switch 2 patch for the game will drop, and even then I imagine I'll take my time and just chill with the game for an hour or so every evening; similarly, Dragon Quest III HD-2D getting a patch announced could also help it to fill that evening wind-down gaming space for me, but Square Enix (and every third-party) have been radio silent on if they have patches planned, if the Switch 2 will natively boost these games to the point a patch isn't necessary, etc.

So I'll just need to wait and see! 

[Happenstance]

I’m working from home so I’ll just set it all up and test games during quiet moments. My plans will depend on what’s discounted on the eshop on the day as I can’t buy anything until my account has a Switch connected to it again (🤬) so I haven’t been able to buy anything digitally in the lead up. I’ve got the Mario Kart World bundle preorder so obviously I’ll be playing that a lot and I bought a physical copy of Dragon Quest XI recently to try and play again as I never made it too far into that but always enjoyed what I played.

[Dcubed]

Well I’m gonna be super busy with work stuff throughout much of June, so I likely won’t actually get much time to play any games until start of July…

When I do have time to properly play Switch 2 though? Echoes of Wisdom will be the first big single player game I’m gonna be playing on it!

[Dufniall]

I don't have any particular plans, will just see how it all pans out! I'd say on Thursday ideally I work from home to collect the system from my My Nintendo pre-order, never pre-ordered from them before so I have no clue what time I can expect a delivery. I usually have plans on Thursday night (band practice) but both me and the singer are big Nintendo fans so maybe we can move rehearsal to another night for this week.  

I don't have off on Friday but will be working from home as well. I'll probably take that time to set the thing up, see what is needed for a system transfer, download Mario Kart and the GameCube app. I'll be writing some reviews for the TOTK and BOTW upgrade so they'll get some playtime, and maybe Street Fighter VI as well. That's probably my gaming sorted for June until the Kirby DLC comes around.

[Nicktendo]

First port of call for me is finishing TOTK. I'm really looking forward to diving back into that again at higher res and 60fps. Will also be keen to try ARMS and some of the other free-update games to see how they shape up against the old system. 

Mario Kart of course will get a bit of play time, as well as the GC Switch Online games. F-Zero GX is going first, but I probably won't bother with Zelda immediately. Really want to test out the new CRT filters they have for N64 and GameCube too. I always use them on RetroArch, but I'm not expecting the Switch 2 one to be close in quality. A nice option to have in any case. 

The hype is really starting to build now that I have a pre-order. 

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

1. What are your launch day plans?
2. Have you booked some time off work for that launch?
3. What are you planning on playing first/looking to get to that launch weekend?
4. Are there any details (besides an entirely new game announcement for launch ) that could drop in the next three weeks that would change your launch plans? 

1. Aside from work I'll most likely donate blood plasma and then meet with a friend.
2. No.
3. Probably gonna give Sand Land a go on PS5.
4. Only if I can find Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for cheap.

 

[killthenet]

On launch day I'll wait in for my order from Argos to arrive and then probably do the system transfer to set it up before I go out for my daily walk. Then when I get back I'll probably play Mario Kart or Welcome Tour first before trying out some of the GC games. Whether I actually get stuck in to one game depends on if I'm playing anything else when launch comes - I'm working my way through some of my Switch games at the moment (on pace to finish FE Three Houses before the end of the month but will probably start something shorter afterwards).

I'm definitely going to be buying a Pro Controller, a case and Cyberpunk from somewhere else (just ordered the MK bundle from Argos) and I will also be picking up Fast Fusion on the eShop so along with all the original Switch games I own but haven't played yet I'll have a few options available to play 

[Glen-i]

The games that are getting free updates on Switch 2 have gotten a few more deets on what they provide.

R.I.P. @Dcubed. The top-down Zeldas make no mention of framerate improvements. Hopefully, brute force can win the day there.

Edited 20 hours ago by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

46 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

The games that are getting free updates on Switch 2 have gotten a few more deets on what they provide.

R.I.P. @Dcubed. The top-down Zeldas make no mention of framerate improvements. Hopefully, brute force can win the day there.

When they say “Optimized for smoother movement on Nintendo Switch 2”, I assume that means that they’ve increased the framerate cap.  Note how only games that previously ran at 30FPS have this notice (they specifically point out 3-4 players in ARMS, which was previously capped at 30FPS, and Bowser’s Fury, which was capped at 30FPS in handheld mode).

Link’s Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom were already designed to run at 60FPS, they just struggled to reach that target on Switch 1; so they should just automatically hit that 60FPS cap now through brute force.

Nice to know that most of these games are getting 1440p/4K resolution support though

[Glen-i]

5 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

When they say “Optimized for smoother movement on Nintendo Switch 2”, I assume that means that they’ve increased the framerate cap.  Note how only games that previously ran at 30FPS have this notice (they specifically point out 3-4 players in ARMS, which was previously capped at 30FPS, and Bowser’s Fury, which was capped at 30FPS in handheld mode).

You're probably right, but it's wild to think that there's a possibility that Pokémon Scarlet of all things would run at 60 FPS.
Kind of a waste for such an awful Pokémon game. I would've totally played through Shield again if it got that treatment.

No improvement is gonna make me drag myself through Paldea again.

[Dcubed]

52 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

You're probably right, but it's wild to think that there's a possibility that Pokémon Scarlet of all things would run at 60 FPS.
Kind of a waste for such an awful Pokémon game. I would've totally played through Shield again if it got that treatment.

No improvement is gonna make me drag myself through Paldea again.

I’m sure Sword & Shield will also get a performance update, but yeah; it is upsetting that the worst Pokemon game gets the update first.

To be fair though, S/V does need it more; because it’s a complete technical disaster on Switch 1.  At least S/S already looks good and runs relatively well at a mostly stable 30FPS.

Edited 18 hours ago by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

To be fair though, S/V does need it more; because it’s a complete technical disaster on Switch 1.  At least S/S already looks good and runs relatively well at a mostly stable 30FPS.

Hey look, actual screenshots of it running on Switch 2.

That is a notable bump in the amount of Pokémon on-screen. Also, the spawning in distance has been increased. Not actually sure if that's a good thing though. I already get annoyed bumping into wild Pokémon in the Switch 1 version.

Edited 16 hours ago by Glen-i

[Julius]

4 hours ago, Glen-i said:

The games that are getting free updates on Switch 2 have gotten a few more deets on what they provide.

All good stuff – and most importantly, finally confirmation that these updates are indeed coming at the Switch 2 launch on 5th June! The idea of Pokémon Scarlet being my main game at the launch of the Switch 2 is a very funny prospect 

I'm curious to see how many of these updates are brought out for Switch games, and the cadence and variety of them – isn't it Xenoblade's 15th anniversary this year? They'd seem ideal games to get an update on Switch 2. Maybe we'll see some more announced at the next Direct, whenever that is? Then again, these didn't get much in the way of lip service in the Switch 2 Direct, so maybe they'll just update that page or tweet things out randomly 

3 hours ago, Glen-i said:

You're probably right, but it's wild to think that there's a possibility that Pokémon Scarlet of all things would run at 60 FPS.

I don't think it's that surprising.

Sure, it ran poorly on Switch, especially at launch, but it's not like this is a dedicated Switch 2 version – I imagine most if not all of it running better on Switch 2 is down to sheer brute force. I'm sure Game Freak has had the bare minimum to do with this update, if anything at all. 

That's not to deny that the game was incredibly poorly optimised and should've run much better for what it was on the original Switch, mind you   

4 hours ago, Glen-i said:

No improvement is gonna make me drag myself through Paldea again any open world game without cursing its existence. 

Fixed that for you Glen 

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Julius said:

I'm curious to see how many of these updates are brought out for Switch games, and the cadence and variety of them – isn't it Xenoblade's 15th anniversary this year? They'd seem ideal games to get an update on Switch 2. Maybe we'll see some more announced at the next Direct, whenever that is? Then again, these didn't get much in the way of lip service in the Switch 2 Direct, so maybe they'll just update that page or tweet things out randomly 

I'm very surprised none of the Xenoblade games are getting updates on day 1. Most of them have performance issues when running on the Switch and it would have been a great showcase for what these upgrades can achieve had they had updates ready for them.

[Nicktendo]

59 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I'm very surprised none of the Xenoblade games are getting updates on day 1. Most of them have performance issues when running on the Switch and it would have been a great showcase for what these upgrades can achieve had they had updates ready for them.

I have a feeling outside of the Free updates that have already been announced they won't be touching much else as a free patch. I'm leaning towards the paid updates undoubtedly continuing after BOTW and TOTK, and they will likely be drip fed to us over the next few years. As they don't have the Wii U catalogue to lean on this time, I think they'll do the same thing with the OG Switch titles, adding new content in some cases, but mostly charging £10-20 for a native Switch 2 edition gfx boost. 

[Hero-of-Time]

4 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

I have a feeling outside of the Free updates that have already been announced they won't be touching much else as a free patch. I'm leaning towards the paid updates undoubtedly continuing after BOTW and TOTK, and they will likely be drip fed to us over the next few years. As they don't have the Wii U catalogue to lean on this time, I think they'll do the same thing with the OG Switch titles, adding new content in some cases, but mostly charging £10-20 for a native Switch 2 edition gfx boost. 

That's a fair point. Kinda what Sony done with their upgrades. First few hits were free and now you pay a tenner for them.

[drahkon]

I'm still surprised Nintendo didn't continue to go down the "here's another port for our new console at full price"-route.

Edited 12 hours ago by drahkon

[killthenet]

So Nintendo has confirmed themselves that VRR won't be supported when docked which is disappointing but not unexpected given they scrubbed it from the website (and DF obviously reported the hardware specs)

From reading posts on Resetera it seems like it is a known problem with Displayport to HDMI conversion meaning it might be technically impossible for them to support the feature later on (or at least not be as easy as sending out a firmware update) 

It doesn't effect me just yet as my TV doesn't support VRR but I was looking to upgrade to an OLED soon so we looking forward to the prospect of having a smoother docked experience. As it is though with how good the new screen looks I think I will probably be playing handheld a lot more anyway - and at least everyone will still have access to VRR in handheld mode where it will be arguably more necessary as the generation wears on