After waiting for eight years, the official announcement finally comes, but is there a lack of surprises with Switch 2? Nintendo's stock price plummets

Players have been waiting for eight years, and the Switch 2 is not very "impressive."

On January 16, Nintendo officially announced the Switch 2 gaming console, which will hold a direct presentation on April 2. According to the promotional video, the Switch 2 is very similar in appearance and functionality to its predecessor; in short, the Switch 2 is a slightly larger version of the Switch.

This has left the market somewhat disappointed, and after the news was released, Nintendo's U.S. stock fell over 5% in after-hours trading.

Upgrade Points of Switch 2

According to the publicly released teaser video, the Switch 2 still maintains a hybrid positioning of a portable handheld and a home console, allowing connection to a TV via a dock, and still equipped with detachable Joy-Con controllers, supporting multiplayer gaming anytime and anywhere.

However, although the Switch 2 is very similar to the previous generation, there are indeed some changes.

1. Appearance Design: The Switch 2 adopts an all-black color scheme, retaining the classic red and blue colors only on the Joy-Con controllers, giving it a more mature overall look;

2. Joy-Con Controllers: A more convenient magnetic installation and removal method is used, instead of the sliding rail buckle design of the previous generation;

The new Joy-Con also adds a photoelectric sensor on the side, equipped with a new dock accessory, which can slide on a flat surface when combined, possibly functioning as a mouse;

3. Hardware: The top of the console has added a USB-C port, the stand design has changed to a U-shape, making it more stable than the original version, and it may use Hall effect joysticks, which are expected to solve the joystick drift issue that plagued the original Switch.

In addition, Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 will support most existing Switch games, including physical cartridges and digital versions, which is good news for players who have already accumulated a large number of games According to the promotional video, "Mario Kart 9" should be one of the flagship titles for Switch 2.

Why is there so little change in Switch 2?

The gaming industry typically emphasizes hardware upgrades and new features, but the release of Switch 2 appears to be unusually restrained. Analysts point out that Nintendo's choice of the strategy "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is for a reason: the existing Switch is already the market leader, so why change a successful model?

As former Xbox marketing chief Albert Penello said in 2020, hardware updates "are no longer as necessary."

Since its launch in 2017, the Switch has had a tremendous impact on the gaming industry. As of September 2024, global sales of the Switch have reached 146.2 million units, second only to the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS handheld, and it is expected to surpass these two products before the end of its lifecycle. More importantly, the Switch has almost single-handedly driven the revival of handheld gaming consoles.

Inspired by the success of the Switch, Valve launched the Steam Deck in 2022, followed by similar products from manufacturers like Lenovo, Asus, and MSI. According to Bloomberg, even Microsoft plans to launch a handheld Xbox device, although it may take a few more years. While the performance of these devices generally exceeds that of the aging Switch, they are all responses to the home console-level portable gaming experience pioneered by Nintendo, and none can replicate the simplicity with which the Switch seamlessly switches between home and portable modes