Nintendo Switch 2 arrives June 5th, 2025

[Aurelius]

On top of what Camberwell pointed out: the Switch 2 is not just the fastest-selling Nintendo console to date, an analyst noted that it's the fastest-selling console, period.

These are the first few days, and we'll still have to see how the system fares over the holidays. But it does dismiss the notion that the Switch 2 won't do as well as its predecessor from the outset, and paints a rosier picture for the rest of the year.

 

[DukenukemX]

On top of what Camberwell pointed out: the Switch 2 is not just the fastest-selling Nintendo console to date, an analyst noted that it's the fastest-selling console, period.

These are the first few days, and we'll still have to see how the system fares over the holidays. But it does dismiss the notion that the Switch 2 won't do as well as its predecessor from the outset, and paints a rosier picture for the rest of the year.

We live in a world with scalpers so we have some time to see how things will turn out. Looking at Ebay I see Switch 2's going for over $600. This one stuck out to me for $620 and labeled as "Low Price". Nintendo said they'd fight scalpers by having more availability and store shelves still have Switch 2's. Give the dust some time to settle.

 

[Aurelius]

We live in a world with scalpers so we have some time to see how things will turn out. Looking at Ebay I see Switch 2's going for over $600. This one stuck out to me for $620 and labeled as "Low Price". Nintendo said they'd fight scalpers by having more availability and store shelves still have Switch 2's. Give the dust some time to settle.

I'll definitely give it some time — I know the first few days aren't the same as the first few weeks or months. I will note that scalping does mean there's high demand, and (strictly anecdotally) the people I've seen online haven't had too much trouble getting one if they don't want to court scalpers.

 

[sc5mu93]

Booted up WiiU for first time in a while. Nintendoland is underrated and I hope for a sequel on switch2.

 

[rinaldo00]

I'll definitely give it some time — I know the first few days aren't the same as the first few weeks or months. I will note that scalping does mean there's high demand, and (strictly anecdotally) the people I've seen online haven't had too much trouble getting one if they don't want to court scalpers.

No, scalpers assumed that there would be high demand, or at least higher demand than supply, and your other statement that they are available in stores means so far that the scalpers guessed wrongly.

 

[Shoganai]

No, scalpers assumed that there would be high demand, or at least higher demand than supply, and your other statement that they are available in stores means so far that the scalpers guessed wrongly.

It's sold out almost everywhere. There's occasional stock, but it's definitely not widely available.

 

[Aurelius]

No, scalpers assumed that there would be high demand, or at least higher demand than supply, and your other statement that they are available in stores means so far that the scalpers guessed wrongly.

I'll agree that the scalpers probably made a bad call in the long run; I just think it's telling that there are any, and there have been stock-outs in some cases (even if they didn't necessarily last long).

 

[rinaldo00]

I'll agree that the scalpers probably made a bad call in the long run; I just think it's telling that there are any,

Scalping today is easy, can you name any high profile product that hasn't had scalpers?

PS You may be looking at this backwards, the high sales might be caused by the scalpers themselves.

 

[vegeta535]

Scalping today is easy, can you name any high profile product that hasn't had scalpers?

PS You may be looking at this backwards, the high sales might be caused by the scalpers themselves.

Everything is pretty much scalped now. Pokeman cards, shoes, cars and what ever has demand.

 

[LukeTbk]

Scalping today is easy, can you name any high profile product that hasn't had scalpers?

Because of the iApple account and how much phone are sold via a direct service provider to their current customer via contract renewal, some iPhone release ?

Those at $600, is probably not good money for the scalper depending on shipping fee tricks, 13% on ebay, if they paid tax (say 7%) on the $450, that less than $45 per unit left

 

[The Mad Atheist]

I won't buy a SW2.

 

[DukenukemX]

Everything is pretty much scalped now. Pokeman cards, shoes, cars and what ever has demand.

There are videos of people climbing over each other to get at Pokemon cards. The past five years has shown that we can't take initial sales seriously. Look at the Apple Vision Pro and how well it sold initially, but then flopped.

It's sold out almost everywhere. There's occasional stock, but it's definitely not widely available.

Local Walmart still had them and a quick search on Amazon shows the Switch 2+Mario Kart World+128GB Bundle for $483. That's a pretty good deal for something that isn't widely available.

Onto the Switch 2 itself, the games aren't impressive. Cyberpunk looks awful. It'll be interesting to see how these games compare between the Switch 2 and competing PC Hand Helds like the Steam Deck. The Wifi on the Switch 2 is awful in terms of signal strength.

View: https://youtu.be/BgXTw43QND0?si=X_NOzhEYzSmtiSP9

 

[vegeta535]

There are videos of people climbing over each other to get at Pokemon cards. The past five years has shown that we can't take initial sales seriously. Look at the Apple Vision Pro and how well it sold initially, but then flopped.

Local Walmart still had them and a quick search on Amazon shows the Switch 2+Mario Kart World+128GB Bundle for $483. That's a pretty good deal for something that isn't widely available.

Onto the Switch 2 itself, the games aren't impressive. Cyberpunk looks awful. It'll be interesting to see how these games compare between the Switch 2 and competing PC Hand Helds like the Steam Deck. The Wifi on the Switch 2 is awful in terms of signal strength.

View: https://youtu.be/BgXTw43QND0?si=X_NOzhEYzSmtiSP9

That is the switch 1 with Mario Kart 8... and again for the god damn 1000th time the Switch and PC handheld are not the same market.

 

[1_rick]

Onto the Switch 2 itself,

A major portion of Dawid's shtick is doing stupid stuff with computers, something you should beat in mine when trying to use him as an example of anything.

Not terribly surprising considering the time you also linked a Jeff Geerling video and claimed it proved the opposite of what it was about. If you're going to use videos to try to bolster your argument, you should actually watch them.

 

[LukeTbk]

Cyberpunk looks awful. It'll be interesting to see how these games compare between the Switch 2 and competing PC Hand Helds like the Steam Deck.

There is some test the gap between say a steam deck and a switch 2 seem to be huge

Cyberpunk seem to look a bit better/same than on the series S when docked, docked switch vs Deck here, maybe there some undocked mode as well out by now:

View: https://youtu.be/k1oFSXfFtoU?t=141

 

[1_rick]

There is some test the gap between say a steam deck and a switch 2 seem to be huge

Well, I mean, duh. Consider the relative merits of the CPU.

BTW the Dawid video DukenukemX mentioned above talks about PC-style gaming, not PC gaming. A few games, like Cyberpunk, Fortnite, and No Man's Sky, you can plug in a keyboard--which works great overall--and use the Joycon as a mouse, but the Joymouse functionality basically didn't work. He figured it might be early-day bugs. He specifically said Cyberpunk was very beautiful for the screen, so there's another instance where he couldn't be bothered to watch the videos he links, because they say the literal opposite of what he claims they do, but the framerate wasn't great.

Link for the Cyberpunk visuals comment:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXTw43QND0&t=692s

 

[DukenukemX]

That is the switch 1 with Mario Kart 8... and again for the god damn 1000th time the Switch and PC handheld are not the same market.

And for the 1000th and one time, yes it is. If you see comparisons between PC Hand Helds and the Switch 2, there's a reason for that.

BTW the Dawid video DukenukemX mentioned above talks about PC-style gaming, not PC gaming.

He was trying to play games with the built in mouse feature, which is PC like gaming. Not sure what you're confused about here.

A few games, like Cyberpunk, Fortnite, and No Man's Sky, you can plug in a keyboard--which works great overall--and use the Joycon as a mouse, but the Joymouse functionality basically didn't work.

Which you'd think Nintendo would have tried to quality control and made sure these games had this feature working.

He figured it might be early-day bugs. He specifically said Cyberpunk was very beautiful for the screen, so there's another instance where he couldn't be bothered to watch the videos he links, because they say the literal opposite of what he claims they do, but the framerate wasn't great.

Link for the Cyberpunk visuals comment:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXTw43QND0&t=692s

Doesn't look good when the frame rate is low. If I stop moving the game, of course it'll look good. How does it look when the frame rate is low? I'll clip the part considering I didn't watch the video and all. Granted he did fix the issue by lowering the graphics settings.

What about he part where I mentioned he had Wifi signal trouble? He also mentioned this twice which is how you know I didn't watch the video. Next time you try to be smart, make sure you're smart.

There is some test the gap between say a steam deck and a switch 2 seem to be huge

Cyberpunk seem to look a bit better/same than on the series S when docked, docked switch vs Deck here, maybe there some undocked mode as well out by now:

View: https://youtu.be/k1oFSXfFtoU?t=141

We know the Switch 2 has twice the GPU performance compared to the Steam Deck, in dock mode. The Steam Deck performs the same plugged in or unplugged. Would be interesting to see how these two perform when the Switch 2 is unplugged and how the battery life compares. One major problem I see is that FSR3 sucks. I know, not a shocking revelation. Wonder if Valve could throw a bunch of money to fix this problem?

 

[Comixbooks]

Everything is pretty much scalped now. Pokeman cards, shoes, cars and what ever has demand.

We have this crazy guy rush into the store everyday of the Year for Hotwheels he makes a big mess. He gets the jump on everyone in Town on the things even me usually I'm punched in cant shop on the clock.

 

[1_rick]

He also mentioned this twice which is how you know I didn't watch the video.

I had this video cued up before you even commented, because I watch his videos. And again, I linked to the point where he said it looks good. He said when he changed the settings to Performance it ran better, and he could only tell the graphical quality difference by not moving and looking for stuff--mainly jaggies.

Most people don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the Switch isn't going to do AAA gaming as well as a dedicated video card. I don't know why you think it does or that Nintendo's even seriously trying to compete with high-end PCs.

 

[DukenukemX]

I had this video cued up before you even commented, because I watch his videos.

Like this?

And again, I linked to the point where he said it looks good.

He also said he wouldn't want to play this game like this.

He said when he changed the settings to Performance it ran better, and he could only tell the graphical quality difference by not moving and looking for stuff--mainly jaggies.

It also stutters and dips in fps.

Most people don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the Switch isn't going to do AAA gaming as well as a dedicated video card. I don't know why you think it does or that Nintendo's even seriously trying to compete with high-end PCs.

Nobody is comparing it to a high end PC, or even any desktop PC. We're comparing them to other PC Hand Helds since that's the direct competitor to the Switch 2 for the 1000th and 2nd time vegeta535.

 

[Aurelius]

As a companion to that earlier Cyberpunk technical overview, here's DF's take:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7fExZx1QyU

As before, when docked it performs around the Xbox Series S level (good, but to be expected given the hardware). Handheld obviously takes a resolution hit, but still runs well. It fascinates me that the Quality mode is actually considered the better pick as Performance sometimes dips down to 30FPS, so you're getting both greater consistency and better visuals.

DF points out something important: remember, this is the launch period. There's a real possibility of further optimizations (for games in general, not necessarily Cyberpunk) as devs learn the ropes. I suspect we'll see a partial repeat of the Switch's lifecycle, where new rival consoles a few years in run games that Nintendo's just can't, but I also don't think we've seen the culmination of the Switch 2's capabilities.

 

[Youn]

I won't buy a SW2.

same here, and it's probably the first time I'm leaning towards one of the xbox offerings... but, ew, why does that feel so wrong

 

[LukeTbk]

As before, when docked it performs around the Xbox Series S level (good, but to be expected given the hardware)

It has significantly the inferior hardware/watts too no ? XboxS gpu has around ~4 tflops vs 3 for the S2, 8 zen 2 core really close to an XboxX/ps5 on the cpu side, just 200mhz or so slower (and that seem to show for the more complex crowded heavy action scene where XboxS/X cpu can shine more than a 5 watt small arm one, where the Switch 2 seem to start to struggle). Using way more watt (Switch 2 even docked seem to use 20watt while gaming) on a superior TSMC node, I think before launch a lot said it would not match the ps4/XboxS or would match them at best.

CPDR port job is probably quite a good one and show DLSS even the CNN one advantage here.

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-...h-2-tested-new-internals-are-a-major-power-up
Just to check, we plugged the Switch 2 into our power meter and confirmed that it indeed draws between 18 and 19 W in docked mode while running a game and about 11 to 12 W in portable mode under the same workload.

20 watt on samsung 8 for a total system, that not a lot of power to play with

 

[westrock2000]

Coworker bought one. I asked him several days later how was it and he said he had already returned it because he was not impressed with Mario Kart (any more than previous Mario Kart) and that maybe he might buy it again several months now if games actually come out. The first time I’ve ever seen some one return a game console (that wasn’t due to making poor financial choices). The cost wasn’t a problem for him, he just didn’t see himself actually using it. The Nintendo fatigue seems to be hitting more people this time.

 

[DukenukemX]

What I'm hearing through the grape vine is that the whole thing about the Switch 2 detecting voltage changes was total fabrication. Apparently made up by Switch 2 fans. The MIG Switch does work on the Switch 2 with an update. Also, Switch 2 game roms are already dumped in private circles. Nothing confirmed but interesting stuff.

 

[Sycraft]

Coworker bought one. I asked him several days later how was it and he said he had already returned it because he was not impressed with Mario Kart (any more than previous Mario Kart) and that maybe he might buy it again several months now if games actually come out. The first time I’ve ever seen some one return a game console (that wasn’t due to making poor financial choices). The cost wasn’t a problem for him, he just didn’t see himself actually using it. The Nintendo fatigue seems to be hitting more people this time.

I mean, game title wise it is a very unimpressive launch. The big reason to get one would be if there's an existing title you want to play, but want it to run better. It looks like it is a pretty consistently better experience where even games without specific Switch 2 patches/versions run with more consistent FPS and the ones with patches are significantly improved.

However, that, and Mario Kart, are about it. So if you are done with the Switch games you have and just want something new, then there's little reason at this point. It also depends on what other systems you have. If you only have a Switch then it is more compelling as some titles (like Cyberpunk) that previously sucked to the point of not being that worth it are better. If you want a PC or PS5 though, then you could and probably did just play on those instead.

Clearly though, it is popular enough at this point, they are sold out everywhere. We'll see how it goes long term but I imagine they'll sell a ton. I'm not personally a particular Nintendo game fan, but lots of people are. My GF is super excited about the new Metroid game, and gets every Zelda game as soon as it comes out.

 

[Comixbooks]

Been checking the case have yet yo see the Foxconn system in person. Still have games in stock because not enough systems are out in the wild. Did get some cool Xbox controllers in Walmart carries the Razer Wolverine.

 

[Harvestor]

Local walmart and gamestop both still have multiples of the regular and the mario bundle, gamestop manager told me he has only sold a handful of them and most of his sales have been the regular with a copy of the newest zelda being his best seller

 

[DukenukemX]

Local walmart and gamestop both still have multiples of the regular and the mario bundle, gamestop manager told me he has only sold a handful of them and most of his sales have been the regular with a copy of the newest zelda being his best seller

From what I'm hearing, about 1/3rd of the Switch 2 sales are from Japan. You know, the unit that's about $100 cheaper than the international units.

 

[kamikazi]

Local walmart and gamestop both still have multiples of the regular and the mario bundle, gamestop manager told me he has only sold a handful of them and most of his sales have been the regular with a copy of the newest zelda being his best seller

Yet, locally for me or within an hours drive at least, neither the console nor the Mariokart bundle is available at any Walmarts, Targets, or BestBuys. You can't check gamestop without going in person or calling, which I haven't done, but I'm sure they're out if everyone else is. Still waiting on my nintendo.com turn to come up. Of course, as I said earlier in this thread, I'm not in a hurry. I just want to add this as I'll bet most people in the US are seeing the same thing I am.

 

[sfsuphysics]

From what I'm hearing, about 1/3rd of the Switch 2 sales are from Japan. You know, the unit that's about $100 cheaper than the international units.

That honestly wouldn't surprise me if they were not discounted

 

[Aurelius]

From what I'm hearing, about 1/3rd of the Switch 2 sales are from Japan. You know, the unit that's about $100 cheaper than the international units.

To expand on what sfsuphysics said: price isn't the only thing. This is one of Japan's iconic console makers launching the first genuinely new system in the country in five years, and some of the titles are are Japan-first or Japan-only. And it's odd to try to minimize the numbers when it's still the fastest-selling console to date... a bit like saying that someone winning a race wasn't a big deal since they didn't completely lap the second-place finisher.

 

[LukeTbk]

First Switch sold around 1.5 millions units its first week worldwide, regardless of Japan proportion, it must be a new record for Nintendo outside Japan launch.

Really a production-distribution, etc... work I imagine, but with a console that was ready to launch for years, that easier than what Sony is doing launching a console. It just feel really strange for something like that to have almost enough supply at launch (still sold out at costco.com, bestbuy.com, and i imagine everywhere online of course)

 

[zehoo]

View: https://youtu.be/X84e14oe6gs?si=AqLbtsOW7Hz60p9b

 

[DukenukemX]

To expand on what sfsuphysics said: price isn't the only thing. This is one of Japan's iconic console makers launching the first genuinely new system in the country in five years, and some of the titles are are Japan-first or Japan-only. And it's odd to try to minimize the numbers when it's still the fastest-selling console to date... a bit like saying that someone winning a race wasn't a big deal since they didn't completely lap the second-place finisher.

You're missing my point. The Japanese Switch 2 has a version which is restricted to Japan only, but it also costs the equivalent of $100 less. Imagine if the Switch 2 was $350? What this could suggest is that due to the price of the Japanese Switch 2's, that they are selling far better. Also, we don't know if Switch 2 is selling faster due to higher demand from consumers or from scalpers. Already hearing that scalpers are screwed this time around as nobody is buying their over priced consoles. Some retailers are saying that hardly anyone is buying a Switch 2. Looking at Ebay and Switch 2's barely exist. Oh hey, a used Switch for $160. Still owe my niece a birthday gift. Haven't gotten around to fixing her other Switch as the 5v doesn't seem to make it to the battery. The amount of online hate over the Switch 2 is palpable. I really don't think that people just ran out to buy a Switch 2 during economic uncertainty, and for Mario Kart World which isn't universally loved. We'll know in time if the Switch 2 is a runaway success or an example of why initial sales doesn't matter due to scalpers. If the Switch 2 goes down in price, or we see a Switch 2 Lite soon, then we'll have our answer.

In other news, if you're using the MIG Switch on the Switch 2 then you can be banned. Nintendo can detect if you're using a MIG Switch. Not a big surprise.
https://x.com/SwitchTools/status/1934637497985769875

 

[Lakados]

Switch as the 5v doesn't seem to make it to the battery.

I have replaced the battery on my Daughters twice and it's always crapping out. my First edition one though still works great on the original battery...
The plan was for me to get the Switch 2 and give that to her, not happening any time soon until Nintendo gets their heads out of their collective asses I tell you what.

My wife has more Nintendo themed clothes than she has played Nintendo games, and even she has absolutely no interest in the console.
Hell the little one has gotten more play time on AstroBot this year than she has spent even thinking about her Switch.

Whatever good will Nintendo had in this house was straight up murdered by their actions around the Switch 2.

 

[DukenukemX]

I have replaced the battery on my Daughters twice and it's always crapping out. my First edition one though still works great on the original battery...
The plan was for me to get the Switch 2 and give that to her, not happening any time soon until Nintendo gets their heads out of their collective asses I tell you what.

Nah, the battery outputs 4 volts when unplugged. The 5V power does make it to the VBUS. I believe there's something wrong with the BQ chip, even though I don't see any shorts around it. Switch's are hard to repair and I had a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure them out. I'm at the point where I might just buy a used Switch and mod that for my niece. Won't give up on this Switch.

My wife has more Nintendo themed clothes than she has played Nintendo games, and even she has absolutely no interest in the console.
Hell the little one has gotten more play time on AstroBot this year than she has spent even thinking about her Switch.

Whatever good will Nintendo had in this house was straight up murdered by their actions around the Switch 2.

I grew up on Nintendo, like most people and have had great memories. The Switch is not a bad console by any means. It's cheap and has a lot of great games. It's the only machine in 2017 that could play console like games on the go, which is a dream I've had since the Sony Xperia Play. Actually, that dream went as far back as the Sega Nomad, which I do own. It launched with a decent amount of new games like BOTW and Mario Odyssey. I personally didn't like either game after I was done playing them, but at least it peaked my interest enough to seek them out.

People here think I'm some sort of PC fanboy who hates Nintendo with a passion for no reason, but they have no clue. They don't understand that I have no loyalty to any corporation because of nostalgia. I look at this like a consumer, in that what benefit is there to acquire a Switch 2? What game peaks my interest? I was never a fan of Mario Kart, and not about to start with Mario Kart World. I hate Pokemon games. Not a Super Smash Bros guy. My interest in Nintendo games are Zelda, Metroid, and Mario. In that order. Ascending order. No new Zelda game, which is to be expected when you consider how long it took Nintendo to release TOTK, which is in itself more like an expansion to BOTW. It seriously has all the same assets and map as BOTW, but now a sky and understand area. The Master Sword doesn't suck like in BOTW, and doesn't need a DLC to fix it. We haven't seen a Metroid game since 2007 with Metroid Prime 3, which sucked. Metroid Prime 1 & 2 were the best. The last good Mario was Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Been meaning to play Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze.

No disrespect to others who like their Switch 2, but I just don't see a reason to get one. The console costs more than a Steam Deck and the games cost $80. I haven't even bought a Steam Deck because I don't think it justifies the price, but it's still better than a Switch 2. I find it funny that people are buying a Switch 2 to play TOTK with a good frame rate, because I played TOTK at 60fps when it was released. My PC has gotten faster since then.

 

[Aurelius]

You're missing my point. The Japanese Switch 2 has a version which is restricted to Japan only, but it also costs the equivalent of $100 less. Imagine if the Switch 2 was $350? What this could suggest is that due to the price of the Japanese Switch 2's, that they are selling far better. Also, we don't know if Switch 2 is selling faster due to higher demand from consumers or from scalpers. Already hearing that scalpers are screwed this time around as nobody is buying their over priced consoles. Some retailers are saying that hardly anyone is buying a Switch 2. Looking at Ebay and Switch 2's barely exist. Oh hey, a used Switch for $160. Still owe my niece a birthday gift. Haven't gotten around to fixing her other Switch as the 5v doesn't seem to make it to the battery. The amount of online hate over the Switch 2 is palpable. I really don't think that people just ran out to buy a Switch 2 during economic uncertainty, and for Mario Kart World which isn't universally loved. We'll know in time if the Switch 2 is a runaway success or an example of why initial sales doesn't matter due to scalpers. If the Switch 2 goes down in price, or we see a Switch 2 Lite soon, then we'll have our answer.

In other news, if you're using the MIG Switch on the Switch 2 then you can be banned. Nintendo can detect if you're using a MIG Switch. Not a big surprise.
https://x.com/SwitchTools/status/1934637497985769875

No, I factored that into my response. Does the price help? I'm sure. Is it the only factor? No.

And you can talk as much as you like about "hardly anyone" buying Switch 2s, but the sales numbers are what they are. We want to keep an eye out for sales over longer periods (first month, holiday quarter, and so forth), but it sounds more like Nintendo was just good at matching supply to demand for the launch period. We're so used to serious undersupply (especially with the pandemic affecting stock in 2020) that actually meeting interest is a surprise.

I agree that economic uncertainty and the relative dearth of must-have games might be factors; these early adopters are more likely to be enthusiasts willing to soak up the costs and accept the limited game lineup. However, I wouldn't expect either a Lite model or a price cut in the near term, if at all. The former as it's simply too soon, the latter because that would signal truly disastrous sales, not just disappointing ones.

The effect of online hate isn't zero and can reflect broader concerns, but it's also important not to overstate the case. They're frequently outrage-centric YouTubers or participants in bubbled social threads and subreddits; they don't represent most would-be customers. The more useful input comes from reviewers who point out limitations, such as Mrwhosetheboss noting quite fairly that the Switch 2 currently makes sense primarily if you're a handheld gamer; it's a tough sell for TV-first gamers unless they're big on Nintendo exclusives.

 

[vegeta535]

You people are ridiculous saying sales are terrible. Almost 4 million sold since it released and that was with no games. Once Metroid prime 4 releases later this year sales will soar. No it will not beat the switch 1 life time but it will break 100 million no doubt.

 

[zehoo]

You people are ridiculous saying sales are terrible. Almost 4 million sold since it released and that was with no games.

The store I cancelled my order at didn’t care since the unit was going straight to fulfilling someone else’s back order. The only thing I can see slowing sales is if people get annoyed with some carts being nothing but key holders, and Nintendo first party titles flopping. I’m still planning to get one once the mid cycle refresh is out. (Assuming first party titles are worth it).