It’s almost time. After a tease of an initial reveal back in January, the wait for firm details on the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally coming to an end. Come April 2, we’ll likely know the system’s specs, price, release date, and its launch games. It’s a moment players have been anticipating for years and something that’s sure to fill online water coolers until the system’s proper launch. I’m just as eager and impatient to see it as you are.
To kill at least one hour during this final stretch, how about we collectively take one last look at the past? In January 2017, Nintendo held a proper live conference to lift the lid on the Nintendo Switch. It was a huge event that had a revolving door of executives taking the stage to break down the system’s features and walk through its launch lineup. It’s the product of a bygone era of E3-style press conferences that has been replaced by the kind of cold, pre-recorded video package we’re likely to see on April 2.
Still, that presentation is a good way to set expectations for what’s coming. Let’s take one last stroll down memory lane together and reflect on the Nintendo’s playbook from its Switch reveal.
Hardware presentation brings the drama
First thing’s first: Wow, remember live stage presentations? These things just had a different energy to them. There’s just a different kind of tension that comes from an executive milking an audience that’s eager to hear every detail. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima makes a meal out of announcing the system’s $300 price point, lack of region locking, and its March release date as cameras dramatically flash. That last detail is important here for anyone trying to deduce the Switch 2’s release date early. Nintendo would drop the console only two months after the show. If history repeats itself, that might mean we’re in store for a June release date.
One thing that’s really underappreciated about this whole showcase is how well Nintendo pitched the Switch. The highlight of the entire stream comes early on when Shinya Takahashi walks through the history of innovations in Nintendo consoles and explains how each one is present in the Switch. His note about the GameCube’s handle being an early attempt at portability felt revelatory at the time. The Switch 2 doesn’t need as creative a sales pitch, but I’ll be curious to see how the mouse-con is contextualized in April. You could draw a connection to the DS’ stylus there.
From there, we got an extended segment explaining how the system works in detail. Battery life, wireless multiplayer, and the Joy-cons all got a spotlight. My favorite “of the time” details here are that Yoshiaki Koizumi dedicated a moment of stage time to highlight both Amiibo support and social media sharing. These were important enough features to highlight at the time, and now both are virtually dead by the end of the Switch’s life. I’m personally hoping to see some similarly dated Switch 2 gimmick introduced that I can wistfully reflect on come Switch 3 reveal.
A hilarious launch software sales pitch
In retrospect, it’s kind of obvious that Nintendo didn’t quite understand the power of its own system. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may be the greatest system launch game ever, but it’s easy to forget just how dire the rest of that lineup looked. The first game to get a spotlight? 1-2 Switch. The second? Arms. Two strikes!
Okay, this wasn’t quite as wild as it sounds in context. Nintendo led with those games for a very good reason: They were both positioned as tech demos for what the Joy-cons could do. Yoshiaki Koizumi hyped up the controllers a little too well when describing HD Rumble and its IR sensors (the very high production value of the pre-filmed videos here really helped). The idea that you could feel ice moving around in a glass sounded exciting, but it was hard to picture what that actually meant. I guess 1-2 Switch makes sense as a tangible demo, one that stressed the Switch’s potential as a party system, but it’s hilarious to see its positioning in the stream in retrospect – especially with its dramatic cowboy intro that made it feel like Nintendo was revealing something much more mature here.
Just as funny is the fact that Nintendo followed that up with Arms, another failed attempt to launch a new IP built for Switch. It’s not that this was a bad reveal. Nintendo was clearly trying to create the next Splatoon here by revealing a fresh IP with the same energy. The idea of Nintendo creating a competitive fighting game was exciting, and this was a fine way to hype up motion controls by showing how players could throw different punches based on how they curved their controller. But hindsight really is 20/20 here. I got a good belly laugh hearing a translator say “Oh. Spring Man won” with no hint of emotion, a harbinger of what was to come.
Okay, now we’re cooking
Nintendo really didn’t put its best foot forward there, but the next batch of games gave a much better vision of what the Switch’s lifespan would look like. In fact, it was almost more ahead of its time than Nintendo may have realized. Splatoon 2 was the first big IP to get a segment, showing that Nintendo was ready to double down on the Wii U’s most promising invention. That would go on to solidify it as one of the company’s top franchises, with Splatoon 3 becoming a killer app in 2022. It’s a completely ridiculous segment in retrospect, too. The whole thing is a buttoned up live show built for press at this point, until Hisashi Nogami takes the stage in a lab coat and starts talking about squids in character as a researcher. Completely different energy. I love it.
Super Mario Odyssey came next right at the midpoint of the stream, and that’s where things really heat up. It’s easy to forget how masterful this reveal was. A camera panning through a city skyline, Mario hopping up from a manhole, straight up human beings walking around. Just a great “WTF” moment that held the possession gimmick of the game close to its chest. It’s the first moment of the stream where Nintendo really sells the idea that players are getting console-quality games on the go.
Things really get interesting, though, when Nintendo makes a play for its more hardcore playerbase. Several RPGs get announced next, and it all kicks off with what might be the most significant moment of the stream in retrospect. A teaser trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 plays, complete with a Monolith Soft logo kicking the video off. It seemed a little niche in 2017 — and was positioned as such with a short segment – but we now know that this was the start of an empire. Xenoblade Chronicles has gone on to become one of the Switch’s most important franchises, with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 nabbing a Game of the Year nomination and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition becoming one of the Switch’s last big releases. Pay attention to what small franchises get a spotlight on April 2, because they just may tease what the Switch 2’s biggest power players will be that generation.
Third-party blowout
What’s particularly interesting about the stream looking back now is how much emphasis Nintendo put on third-party support. The company had lost a lot of developers in the Wii days thanks to that system’s unique control setup, something that earned Nintendo criticism at the time. It’s no longer a talking point in 2025, but it’s easy to forget how hard Nintendo had to work to get there. Over 10 minutes of showtime was dedicated to highlighting as many partners as possible, alleviating fears that only Nintendo was developing for its console (“Over 80 games are in development,” Koizumi stressed).
We got a vague teaser for Fire Emblem Warriors, setting the stage for Koei Tecmo’s several Nintendo-themed Musous to come. Square Enix got a spotlight to reveal Switch versions of Dragon Quest 10 and 11, as well as Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2. Atlus got in the mix with a Shin Megami Tensei V trailer, and Square popped up again with Octopath Traveller. Both confirmed that the Switch would have some major third-party exclusives (and both would go on to become defining games for the system, too).
To emphasize its partnerships even more, Nintendo trotted out executives from other studios to hype the system up. Toshihiro Nagoshi represented Sega, Todd Howard made a cameo to show The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim running on Switch, Suda51 revealed No More Heroes 3 in an awkward segment that left the stream’s translator stumbling, and EA’s Patrick Söderlund closed things out to reveal that Fifa was coming to Switch. That last thing was a huge deal at the time. This was during an era where Xbox was dedicating entire segments to EA Sports games. A Nintendo console getting those games really sent the message that it would be playing on the same level as its competitors.
A truly grand finale
The last 10 minutes kicks off with a bit of house cleaning. We get a sizzle reel of games, which confirms that Minecraft, Sonic, Lego games, and more are coming to Switch. A rundown of what comes with the console follows, and then some recorded messages from Nintendo of Europe and America. It all builds to Reggie Fils-Aimé teasing out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s release date. Again, Nintendo absolutely makes a meal out of this thing. There’s a whole bit where no one wants to be the one to say the release date and keep passing the buck to a different executive. It feels like we’re about to get it, but then we go back to a recap of the Switch’s release date.
“We do have one last thing to share with you today. Before we do–” Oh my god, just say it already!
Finally, after minutes of teases, we’re treated to a spectacular Breath of the Wild trailer. Sweeping open world shots. The Master Sword bathed in golden light. Enormous monsters. Guardians running through burned villages. Zelda weeping in Link’s arm as the rain pours down. It’s positively epic stuff — and it’s all capped off with the revelation that it’s coming in two months as a launch game. End of stream. It’s the kind of unbelievable finale that made you forget about all the awkward moments that came before it. The Nintendo Switch comes off looking like a must buy system on those few minutes alone.
Looking to Switch 2
So, what are the takeaways here looking ahead to the Switch 2’s big moment? The big one for me is that Nintendo is in a way different place now than it was in 2017. This was a stream designed to put a down and out company back on top. This was designed to address the worst parts of the Wii and Wii U era and establish the Switch as something more than a casual console where you can play Nintendo’s motion games. On April 2, Nintendo will instead walk into that stream at the top of its game, with no need to convince players that it can deliver. We’re likely in for a very different show as a result.
For one, I have to imagine that the Switch 2’s first shown games will look very, very different. We’re not dealing with an experimental Nintendo trying to reinvent its games after a dud Wii U lifespan. Instead, Nintendo is heading into this launch as a company that’s more confident in how big a hit its existing franchises can be on a widely adopted console. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond could stand-in as a great opener, and a good Joy-con demo too (who knows? Maybe the mouse-con can be used to roll Samus’ morphball around). I imagine we’ll see less teasers this time too, as Nintendo has seriously dialed back that strategy after it backfired with Metroid Prime 4.
I imagine that the use of third-party partners will look very different this time around, too. The 2017 stream was a bit of a statement from Nintendo, but things are very different heading into the Switch 2. There’s no longer a worry that Nintendo isn’t going to have support from the major players. Even Xbox and PlayStation have published games on the platform. Amid that, Nintendo’s first-party efforts have stolen the show this generation, so it’s better positioned to put itself first. I’m sure we’ll still see some big ports and projects announced, but there just isn’t a need to have Todd Howard to pop up to win over skeptics anymore. That’s the big thing that’s changed from 2017 to now.
Otherwise, I imagine the playbook won’t be too different. We’ll likely get all the important details like price and battery life, with perhaps a bit more emphasis on raw specs this time if they’re impressive enough to advertise. We’ll likely see Mario Kart 9 positioned as a huge launch game like Zelda was, even if that won’t necessarily feel grandiose in the same way. I have a hard time imaging we’ll see a new Zelda game teased considering how close we still are to Tears of the Kingdom’s release, but new Mario, Fire Emblem, and Animal Crossing games feel like they’re next in line for a reveal. That should give Nintendo enough to work with, setting the stage for a promising year one lineup that makes the upgrade feel worthwhile.
There are plenty of other question marks that could be answered though. How will online work this time? Are old Switch games getting boosted upgrades? Will we see more retro games added to Switch Online or are we starting from scratch again? It feels like there are more logistics to address this time than there were in 2017 when we simply didn’t know what to expect at all. Nintendo probably won’t answer every burning question on April 2, but prepare yourself for an onslaught of information. Whatever happens, it probably won’t be boring.
