Up until very recently, the microSD Express format was viewed as a commercial disappointment for involved manufacturers and suppliers. Potential buyers were not attracted to premium price points; as demanded by designs that can leverage (up to) 900 MB/s read speeds. Hermitage Akihabara—a Japanese electronics and computer hardware chain—has tracked an alarmingly sharp climb in demand for microSD Express products. The popular retailer documented this recent trend across several articles, with last week's investigation diving deep into units selling: "at a rate of 337.62 cards per hour!" The upcoming launch of a highly-anticipated mainstream gaming device has seemingly sharply driven up sales of a largely forgotten storage format. Hermitage Akihabara explored this unprecedented turnaround in fortunes: "Nintendo's influence is amazing. The 'microSD Express card,' which had hardly any sales due to lack of use, sold out in an instant as soon as it was announced that it would be used in the Nintendo Switch 2. It was sold out not only in (our) Akihabara shops but also on EC sites nationwide, and it caused such a stir that it was even covered in the general news."

Hermitage Akihabara expects to replenish its stock within a non-specific timeframe—but prices could remain "quite high," due to manufacturers (reportedly) being fairly conservative with production output. The store's "behind the scenes of the microSD Express card sellout" news piece outlined some compelling data points: "our mail order service received a large number of orders. According to the calculations made by the mail order staff, they were selling at a rate of 5.63 units per minute, or 337.62 units per hour, which was also a surprise. Of course, we didn't have that much stock, but it seems that we were selling as much as we had. One interesting thing is that most of the buyers ordered only one copy. At most, three copies were purchased, and more than 80% of people ordered one copy. Most of the buyers were pure users who wanted to save one to use with the Switch 2." As reported earlier in the month, Lexar has readied the world's first 1 TB microSD Express card. Their $199.99 (MSRP) 1 TB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express model is already available to purchase, months in advance of Switch 2's global launch date (June 5). Industry insiders believe that Samsung is collaborating with Nintendo on an "official" range of microSD Express cards.

Not too long after delivering its in-depth Switch 2 showcase, Nintendo of America and retail partners postponed pre-launch reservations for the forthcoming hybrid gaming console. An official announcement stated: "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." The vast majority of industry watchdogs reckon that company will be assessing an adjustment of launch day product MSRPs. Last week's North American presentation outlined price points of $449.99 and $499.99; for a standard package and a Mario Kart World Pack (respectively). Theorized adjustments could extend to physical copies of games, as well as accessories; e.g. the Switch 2 Pro Controller.

Gamers further north—in the neighboring nation of Canada—were relieved about last week's alert being non-applicable to their market region. Up until yesterday, pre-orders were on track at CA$629.99 (base console) and CA$699.99 (with Mario Kart World). Unfortunately, the House of Mario's Canuck branch has confirmed that recent events have had a knock-on effect for local customers. As disclosed in a statement to MobileSyrup, Nintendo of Canada explained: "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the U.S....Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." MobileSyrup's report was updated yesterday evening; with links to social media bulletins posted by the regional arms of Walmart and GameStop. Both retail outlets repeated Nintendo of Canada's disappointing message.

DELTARUNE Chapters 1-4 will release on June 5, 2025. It will be available on PC (Steam), Mac, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, like before—and now also on Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. DELTARUNE will cost $24.99. You only have to buy the game once—upcoming Chapters will be added as free updates. That's not factored into the cost, though. I only feel right charging for what there currently is, not what I say there will be. Therefore, this $24.99 to me represents the exact price of four chapters! But, it's my hope that as we complete more Chapters, you'll feel like this game was a super super super super good deal. Just wait, I'll prove it to you...!

Also, the Soundtrack on Steam will cost $14.99. With the release of Chapter 3 and 4, it'll contain over 150 songs! And, if you buy the soundtrack on Steam, every time a Chapter is added, you'll get those tracks, too. Isn't the value actually a little too good?! (hyperventilating and drools on it)...If you've already been buying the individual Chapter soundtracks on Bandcamp, Chapters 3&4 will be released as a separate release there as well.

The Nintendo Switch 2, unveiled April 2, takes performance to the next level, powered by a custom NVIDIA processor featuring an NVIDIA GPU with dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores for stunning visuals and AI-driven enhancements. With 1,000 engineer-years of effort across every element—from system and chip design to a custom GPU, APIs and world-class development tools—the Nintendo Switch 2 brings major upgrades. The new console enables up to 4K gaming in TV mode and up to 120 FPS at 1080p in handheld mode. Nintendo Switch 2 also supports HDR, and AI upscaling to sharpen visuals and smooth gameplay.

AI and Ray Tracing for Next-Level Visuals
The new RT Cores bring real-time ray tracing, delivering lifelike lighting, reflections and shadows for more immersive worlds. Tensor Cores power AI-driven features like Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), boosting resolution for sharper details without sacrificing image quality. Tensor Cores also enable AI-powered face tracking and background removal in video chat use cases, enhancing social gaming and streaming. With millions of players worldwide, the Nintendo Switch has become a gaming powerhouse and home to Nintendo's storied franchises. Its hybrid design redefined console gaming, bridging TV and handheld play.

Rejoice, Gungeoneers! Kaliber has heard your prayers! Enter the Gungeon 2 is in active development and will be coming to PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. You can wishlist it now, even if you don't own a PC. Enter the Gungeon 2 is a reloaded, high-caliber sequel, enhanced with a new 3D art style, new weapons, new enemies, and expanded gameplay. Battle through familiar and unknown areas of the ruined Gungeon, uncovering secrets and mastering powerful weapons while destroying legions of Gundead, previously confined to the 2D plane. Choose from an expanding roster of Gungeoneers, new and old, rescue marooned heroes, and grow stronger through powerful passive and active items, blessings, curses, and your mastery of a vast arsenal of weapons.

And seek to understand why you find yourself under assault in the Gungeon once again…We're thrilled to finally reveal Enter the Gungeon 2—you've been asking for it for so long! But please note we're still in the midst of development, so we can't share too much just yet. In the meantime, we've set up an official Discord server for Dodge Roll, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on the announcement. Join to share your feedback, get updates directly from the team, enjoy giveaways, and hang out with other Gungeoneers.

As expected, Nintendo's lengthy Switch 2 presentation contained very little technical information—the upcoming hybrid console's feature set, software library and user experience were showcased extensively. A series of leaks and plenty of online speculation—going back to earlier in the decade—pointed to the highly-anticipated Switch successor being based on an NVIDIA hardware foundation. A mysterious "Tegra 239" chipset emerged as the "logical" choice for Nintendo's next-gen system, but company representatives will likely not comment on the exact nature of internal components. Several months after the launch of Wii U, independent analysis (by Chipworks) of the host console's "Latte" GPU core verified a Radeon 4650/4670-class design. To the surprise of many industry watchdogs, a Nintendo employee has officially confirmed Switch 2's support of NVIDIA graphics technologies.

As disclosed to IGN—during a press junket—Takuhiro Dohta (senior director of the firm's Planning & Development Division) stated: "we use DLSS upscaling technology and that's something that we need to use as we develop games. And when it comes to the hardware, it is able to output to a TV at a maximum of 4K. Whether the software developer is going to use that as a native resolution, or get it to upscale is something that the software developer can choose. I think it opens up a lot of options for the software developer to choose from. Yes, the GPU does support ray tracing. As with DLSS, I believe this provides yet another option for the software developers to use and a tool for them." When pressed about the exact origins of the console's beating heart, Dohta deflected responsibility in the direction of Team Green: "Nintendo doesn't share too much on the hardware spec...What we really like to focus on is the value that we can provide to our consumers. But I do believe that our partner—NVIDIA—will be sharing some information." As pointed out by VideoCardz, Nintendo's hardware technical manager only mentioned options for the development side of things, not end user features. Yesterday's Metroid Prime 4: Beyond preview segment indicated that the title's Switch 2 Edition will arrive with four profiles; VideoCardz theorizes that DLSS will be used for differing levels—quality/performance—in handheld or docked operation.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to ship of the world's first 1 TB microSD Express card. Built on the new SD card standard that combines PCI Express 3.0 and NVMe 1.3 interfaces, the PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Card delivers substantially improved performance, perfect for handheld gaming devices.

With up to 900 MB/s read and 600 MB/s write, the PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Card offers the fastest speeds in the microSD Express card format and gives gamers an epic performance power-up that delivers faster game loads and accelerated downloads. With capacity up to 1 TB, it also offers space for many large AAA games. It is backwards-compatible with UHS-I and UHS-II host devices (at UHS-I speeds), but future-proofed for tomorrow's cutting-edge handheld gaming systems and other upcoming devices that will leverage this next-gen technology.

Omdia forecasts show that Nintendo Switch 2 will sell nearly 15 million units globally in 2025, following its confirmed launch date of June 5.

This would put the Switch 2 ahead of its predecessor by around 10% during its first calendar year on the market. Historical Omdia data reveals 13.4 million Nintendo Switch systems were sold in 2017, despite its earlier March release. The key factors driving this momentum include a strong user base - Omdia estimates 105 million Switch consoles remained in active use at the end of 2024, providing Nintendo with a solid foundation for the next generation.

Today in the Nintendo Switch 2 Showcase, we got to announce the big project we have been working on in the background: STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions! STARSEEKER will take players on a multiplayer voyage of discovery, cooperative expeditions, and camaraderie. Exploring deep space on the ESS Starseeker, players will need to work together with the entire crew of the space station to complete planet-wide objectives across a multitude of star systems using cutting edge technology. STARSEEKER is a multi-platform game that is slated to release in 2026.

If you would like to follow development and get your hands on BETA access as soon as it becomes available, make sure to join our Discord; using this link. To answer the biggest question that Astroneer fans: No, STARSEEKER is not a direct sequel or Astroneer 2. STARSEEKER exists within the same universe as Astroneer, but it's a very different game. That being said, Astroneer is still in active development!

As expected, Nintendo has kept quiet about the upcoming Switch 2 hybrid console's feature set and internal makeup. The next-gen portable gaming system's debut presentation served as a mostly surface-level teaser. News outlets have relied heavily on leaks for "insider" reportage, going back to the early 2020s—starting off with kopite7kimi's discovery of a mysterious NVIDIA "T239" chipset. As reported last week, Famiboards—a Nintendo-centric online forum—has served as a somewhat reliable source of inside track information. Earlier in the year, one member started to share NDA-busting details about Switch 2's display technology: "I've heard that the screen supports 120 Hz and VRR, which should help a lot in handheld." Weeks later, SecretBoy elaborated on the benefits of this setup: "developers can optimize the handheld profiles of their games with VRR and 40 FPS in mind."

The GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit views SecretBoy's leaks as being fairly accurate/legitimate: "(they) called out the GPU performance before the clock speeds were leaked; 10 days later back in January (3 TFLOPS docked, 1.4/1.5 TFLOPS handheld)." Earlier today, the tipster's latest musings were compiled into a Reddit summary—another set of quotes reads as follows (in condensed form): "I will reiterate that the screen is 120 Hz with HDR and VRR support. That's what I'm personally most excited for...No idea about the actual quality of the screen, but I think OLED was always going to be too expensive for this feature set, which they needed to get into the first iteration of the hardware so that developers could optimize their games around it (speculation)." Screen technology connoisseurs have expressed much disappointment about Nintendo's alleged selection of an "inferior" panel—many will point out that Valve was inspired by the Switch OLED model (2021); their Steam Deck handheld was famously upgraded/refreshed in 2023 with a fancier screen. Invited guests will get to experience Switch 2's "hugely revelatory" LCD tech at various Nintendo-hosted international preview events in April.

Nintendo seems to readying a speculated mid-2025 launch of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 hybrid games console, according to industry watchdogs. International preview events are scheduled to happen throughout April, so online theories have settled on potential May or June release windows. Members of Famiboards—a Nintendo discussion forum—have kept tabs on a wide variety of pre-launch information outlets, going back to 2021. Their latest tracking activities—with eyes firmly trained on shipping manifests—have produced compelling evidence of Switch 2 materials turning up on North American shores in the recent past. A Famiboards detective detailed their discoveries: "so, it finally happened. HVBG exported 383,000 units of the completed console set between January 17th and January 22nd. They were all shipped to the US, and all were of the USZ (US/Canada) region code. 41,598 units of the charging grip were also shipped to the US, confirming that HGU0620 is the charging grip with a product code of BEE-A-ESSKA, which matches the Switch 1 charging grip's HAC-A-ESSKA."

Nintendo's mid-January unveiling of Switch 2 served as a refreshing break from the norm; the Japanese gaming giant operates under very secretive conditions. Their early 2025 teaser showcased a device that seemed to recycle its predecessor's feature set, but the CGI trailer implied mouse-like functionality. Patent leaks have provided further insight into the design of Nintendo's next-gen Joy-Con. Last month, Shuntaro Furukawa—the company's president—disclosed that his team was taking "all possible measures" to provide sufficient stock for Switch 2's launch window. This week's insider investigation paints a promising picture, at least for potential North American buyers: "383k is a decent-sized shipment, but I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers increase. HVBG had received 1.2 million units of one-per-system parts like the SoC and screen as of December, and 1.7 million as of January, and we can expect 100% of those to end up in units shipped to the US. One thing we can learn from the shipments is that the console set is not a bundle."

Yesterday, Nintendo's Hong Kong office announced the establishment of a new subsidiary company in Taiwan—specifically, in Taipei City. Their official statement mostly outlines upcoming improved service benefits for local customers. The House of Mario has relied on contracted partners to take care of smaller regional markets. Evidently, their Taiwanese audience has relied on a third party company for over a decade. An older subsidiary—Nintendo Phuten—was shuttered back in 2014. The successor is chaired by Hiroyuki Matsumoto—on February 18, the new company representative delivered a message: "Thank you for your long-term support and love, I would like to express my sincere thanks. In order to further strengthen the business foundation in the Taiwan market and improve the service quality of customers, the company will establish a new local legal person 'Taiwan Nintendo Co., Ltd.' as one of the subsidiaries of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Starting from April 1, 2025, we will officially transfer our business in Taiwan to 'Taiwan Nintendo Co., Ltd.', and adhere to the business philosophy of Nintendo Group to continue to promote business development." As reported by Nintendo Life, the veteran video game house has made serious inroads in the region—Taiwanese fans were greeted by a larger than expected (current-gen) Switch console showcase at Taipei Game Show's 2024 edition.

On a surface level, Nintendo's reestablished operation in Taiwan seems to be a customer-focused initiative. Certain gaming news outlets have disclosed more elaborate theories; based on reported problematic market conditions in China. The Chinese Nintendo eShop will be phased out by mid-May 2026, likely in reaction to the government's introduction of new rules that: "limit the encouragement of spending in online games and battle video game addiction among young people." Coincidentally, Shuntaro Furukawa (Nintendo's President) recently new announced "contingency plans"—with a manufacturing model that will become less reliant on Chinese factories. The company chief discussed revised strategies in an interview with Reuters: "Nintendo Switch is not only manufactured in China, but in places such as Vietnam and Cambodia as well. We are predicting various geopolitical risks and establishing ways to respond...While we anticipate a certain impact, the influence on this year's financial results is expected to be minimal. We will continue to observe the trends, and thoroughly consider how to respond."

According to a recent report by Joost van Dreunen - founder of SuperData research firm - the Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to boast a price tag roughly around $399. This would make the highly awaited gaming handheld $100 more expensive than its direct predecessor, and $50 more expensive than the OLED variant of OG Switch. According to van Dreunen, the pricing would allow Nintendo to have a net positive margin on its hardware, while also undercutting other handhelds in price that are 'distinctly' a few tiers above the Switch 2 in terms of performance, as well as capabilities. Of course, considering Nintendo's primary selling point for the Switch - the ecosystem of family-friendly Switch games - the pricing is unlikely to hold back customers who are already knee-deep in Switch games.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is almost confirmed to launch on the 2nd of April, with a larger display and improved magnetic, hall-effect Joy Cons. Like its predecessor, the Switch 2 does not intend to be a powerhouse, and will settle for an NVIDIA Tegra T239 SoC with an Ampere iGPU that should be good for up to 3.1 TFLOPS of raw performance. With the help of DLSS, the Switch 2 should be able to pull off a decent gaming experience at 1080p, or perhaps even at 4K. A fee patents and rumors have indicated that the Joy Cons will have some sort of mouse-like functionality, which was also hinted at by the device's trailer, although no confirmations exist for now. Of course, all of this is mere speculation at this point, but van Dreunen is a respected name in the industry, and his reasoning certainly does make sense.

NDA-busting renders of the much-anticipated and rumored Nintendo Switch 2 console appeared online late last year—reports suggested that a member of the Xiahongshu forum was involved in this dramatic leak. The source seemingly had access to a 3D CAD model—possibly procured from a manufacturing partner. Industry insiders believed that top Nintendo brass were incensed by the pre-Christmas 2024 leaks. Around mid-January, an official unveiling of the next-gen gaming handheld arrived online, courtesy of a relatively short teaser video. Early April public showcases are on the calendar; press outlets and regular punters will be participating in hands-on experiences (invite-only) at venues across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The flow of early 2025 Switch successor leaks have seemingly slowed down, but renewed activity on Reddit points to early samples emerging via black market outlets.

The aforementioned Xiahongshu forum member is reportedly considering a purchase of pre-release Switch 2 units—previous boasts have indicated that they already own one example. Screenshots of alleged interactions between the seller and potential client were uploaded to Chinese discussion boards, and then shared on the Nintendo Switch 2 Subreddit. The anonymous black market dealer reckons that stock will be available in the near future—claiming by "next week"—with an asking price of 290,000 RMB per package (~$39,780 USD). This steep demand—allegedly—grants early access to the core console tablet, Joy-Con controllers, and dock. Online community debates have produced several theories, regarding the leaker's motivations. Given their history of selling CAD models to accessory makers; this working relationship could develop into a—presumably more profitable—supply of actual working hardware.

The Nintendo Switch 2, in all likelihood, is set to see the light of day on the 2nd of April at Nintendo Direct. Among the many rumored features, mouse-like functionality for the Joy-Cons have graced the interwebs quite a few times now. In the recently uploaded Switch 2 teaser video on YouTube, a portion of the video showed the Joy-Cons sliding on a surface akin to a tracking device, which added credibility to the aforementioned rumors. A recently uploaded patent filing also seems to confirm mouse-like functionality for the Joy-Cons, making the possibility all the more likely.

The patent reveals that Nintendo intends to allow the Joy-Cons to be used like a mouse with the help of laser tracking underneath, with the shoulder triggers cosplaying as the left and right mouse buttons. The drawings seem to indicate that the analogue sticks will be functional even in mouse mode, while another image portrays both the Joy-Cons being used in mouse mode with the user's thumbs on the analogue sticks. Using one Joy-Con in traditional mode, while the other in mouse mode also seems to be possible, which would be quite helpful for FPS games, at least in my opinion. Of course, it is entirely possible for a patent to never see the light of day in action, but considering that Nintendo themselves hinted at such functionality in the official teaser, the probability is enticing for sure.

Well, unless someone has been living under a rock for the past four years, freshly launched gaming hardware getting scalped to oblivion should hardly come as a surprise. We witnessed this just recently with the launch of the NVIDIA RTX 50-series GPUs, considering the multiple-thousand-dollar premiums that the cards were sold for on platforms such as eBay. One might foresee a similar predicament for the much-awaited Nintendo Switch 2, but if Nintendo President Furakawa's recent statements are anything to go by, that might not be the case after all.

According to Furakawa, Nintendo is well-aware of the potential stock shortages that the Switch 2 may face, taking lessons from the OG Switch launch back in 2017, and is taking "all possible measures" to make sure the Switch 2 launch plays out smoothly. Of course, what this essentially means, is that Nintendo will be attempting its best to produce as many units of the Switch 2 as possible in order to meet customer demand at launch. This is exactly what Furakawa mentioned in his interview with Nikkei, citing that the supply chain constraints that hindered production in 2024 and 2023 no longer exist in 2025. As such, there should not be any further hurdles that hold back Nintendo from its production targets.

Yesterday, Nintendo officially unveiled its Switch 2 handheld via a first look video presentation. Featured content did not come as a surprise to many gaming enthusiasts—a steady flow of leaks have already revealed outer and inner workings. Earlier today, the Digital Foundry team has offered their collective opinion on Nintendo's formal announcement. Their roundtable discussion first focused on the Switch 2's physical appearance—mainly a showcased physical increase in size, when lined up against the preceding (standard) model. Conversation quickly moved onto technical matters—a topic that Nintendo normally avoids discussing. The video presentation included in-game footage of a next-gen Mario Kart title—Oliver Mackenzie (a contributing DF video producer/writer) was not impressed by this short demo's visual fidelity. He noted an absence of DLSS image enhancement—surprising, given that the rumored NVIDIA Tegra T239 SoC is capable of deploying this graphics technology.

John, Rich and Oliver then moved onto discussing recently leaked clock speeds and performance figures (in handheld and docked modes)—overall, they reckon that these numbers seem fitting for a hybrid system. They noticed that the handheld GPU clock was lower than expected—based on their judgement of the Switch 2's fairly capable integrated cooling solution. In the past, Digital Foundry theorized that the NVIDIA-designed Tegra T239 will be an 8 nanometer part—rumored to be built on Samsung 8 nm DUV foundry node. Newer gaming community-generated proposals have suggested a shift to Samsung's 5 nm EUV node—mostly based on the chipset's physical footprint. In sharp contrast, the Digital Foundry guys are sticking with their 8 nm theory. Richard Leadbetter (DF's founder) has previously attempted to simulate Switch 2-esque performance on readily available Ampere-based hardware—he could revisit and perform tests on a laptop that sports Team Green's GeForce RTX 2050 mobile GPU. He believes that the leaked CPU and GPU clocks (across both modes) present plausible evidence of 8 nm-level performance, cross-referenced with his team's past analysis of the system's PCB. Debates will inevitably rage on, but Rich insists that the end result will be an example of "Occam's razor." The Tegra T239's four (long alleged) Cortex A78 cores appeared to be running at a higher frequency in portable mode than in docked—suggesting some unknown factors; perhaps a switching on or off of cores (situation dependent). Leadbetter and Co. will be looking forward to getting a proper hands-on experience at Nintendo's April to June launch events.

In celebration of the announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2, NACON, premium gaming accessories designer, is pleased to introduce its new range of products dedicated to the console, all of which will be available at launch.

Protection solutions for the whole console
To safeguard your console against accidental damage, NACON has designed a range of solutions to protect it from knocks and drops, including cases, protective shells, pouches and travel bag, all equally useful when playing or on the move.

Nintendo Switch 2, the successor to the Nintendo Switch system, will be released in 2025. Today Nintendo offered a first look at Nintendo Switch 2 in a video introducing the hardware. Nintendo Switch 2 plays Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. Certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2. Details will be shared on the Nintendo website at a later date.

For more details on Nintendo Switch 2, please tune in for the "Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 - 4.2.2025" which will air on Wednesday, April 2. Nintendo will also hold Nintendo Switch 2 Experience events, where consumers can go hands-on with Nintendo Switch 2, in cities around the world.

It is a known fact that the Switch 2 is by no means planning on being a performance beast. Nintendo's focus has always been on their ecosystem, and not on raw performance, which will continue being the case. As such, the Switch 2 is widely expected to sport an NVIDIA Tegra SoC paired with 12 GB of LPDDR5 system memory and an Ampere-based GPU. Now, a fresh leak has detailed the docked and handheld mode performance that can be expected from the widely anticipated Switch successor, and the numbers seem to fall right around what was initially expected.

The leak, sourced from a Nintendo forum, reveals that in docked mode, the Nintendo Switch 2's GPU will be clocked at 1000 MHz, up from 768 MHz for the soon-to-be previous generation Switch, allowing for 3.1 TFLOPS of performance. In handheld mode, unsurprisingly, the GPU clock will be limited to 561 MHz, allowing for 1.71 TFLOPS of raw performance. These numbers are far from impressive for 2025, although Nintendo will likely make up for the lack of raw horsepower using upscaling technologies similar to DLSS, allowing for a vastly improved experience than what its otherwise unimpressive hardware could have afforded.

Nintendo Switch 2 promises to be this year's big (well small) gaming platform launch. It goes up against a growing ecosystem of handhelds based on x86-64 mobile processors running Windows, its main play would have to be offering a similar or better gameplay experience, but with better battery life, given that all of its hardware is purpose-built for a handheld console, and runs a highly optimized software stack; and the SoC forms a big part of this. Nintendo turned to NVIDIA for the job, given its graphics IP leadership, and its ability to integrate it with Arm CPU IP in a semi-custom chip. Someone with access to a Switch 2 prototype, likely an ISV, took the device apart, revealing the chip, a die-shrunk version of the Tegra T239 from 2023.

It's important to note that prototype consoles physically appear nothing like the final product, they're just designed so ISVs and game developers can validate them, and together with PC-based "official" emulation, set up the ability to develop or port games to the new platform. The Switch 2 looks very similar to the original Switch, it is a large tablet-like device, with detachable controllers. The largest chip on the mainboard is the NVIDIA Tegra T239. Nintendo Prime shared more details about the chip.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is a known quantity at this point, with leaks suggesting that an early-to-mid-2025 launch seems more and more likely. Now, research firm DFC Intelligence has published a report projecting Switch 2 sales to soar past its predecessor's first-year sales figures. According to the report, the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 will sell between 15 and 17 million units in 2025 alone, and, given that it is the only one of the big-three consoles to get a major generational update next year, it looks like it will go largely uncontested.

By comparison, according to Nintendo's 2018 financial results, the original Nintendo Switch sold 15.5 million units in its first year on the market. The original Switch launched just before the start of the new fiscal year, though, on March 3 (Nintendo's fiscal year ends on March 31), and in its first 28 days on the market, the Switch reportedly garnered over 2 million sales. This puts the Switch 2 on track to surpass or at least match the first-generation Nintendo Switch, despite the Switch 2 facing mounting competition from the likes of the Steam Deck and Windows-based gaming handhelds. Statista data shows that the Nintendo Switch peaked at around 29 million units sold per year around 2021. Obviously, the circumstances surrounding the launch of the original Switch were somewhat different, with sales likely still riding the wave that gaming hardware saw during the COVID pandemic.