Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: 7 biggest surprises

New video game hardware announcements can be somewhat predictable. For every new generation of consoles, you can expect to see nearly certain staples such as better graphics, faster load times and new faucet-oriented and faucet-oriented franchises.

Even the Nintendo does this figure consistently from the N64 analog controller, Tiny Gamecube disk, Wiby Wii motion controls and virtual console, Wii U tablet screen, and the built-in portability of the switch, and Switch 2 provides these improvements.

But as Nintendo, the company has once again launched some real shocks in Switch 2 Direct.

It was 2025 and we finally got online games.

When I was four in 1983, my babysitter used to roll football towards me like a donkey roller like Mario. I would skip them, make the sound of donkey holes in the air, and grab the toy hammer and smash them like Mario. That's how long I've been a Nintendo fan. So, from a long and painful experience, I say: It is impossible to talk about this awesome revelation without revealing some loving pain.

As we all know, Nintendo is not really good to play online. Satellaview and Metroid Prime: Apart from Hunter, Nintendo has barely scratched the surface possible like the unified multiplayer platform created by Sony and Xbox. Finding and talking to friends on the Nintendo platform is never that easy. Even the switch requires a separate application for voice chat.

Shockingly, the change seems to be here now. In direct, Nintendo unveiled GameChat, does it look really neat? It's a four-person chat that supports suppression of noise, cameras to show friends' faces, and sharing screens across gaming consoles, allowing you to keep an eye on up to four different monitors in one screen. We know from the new Switch 2 accessibility feature page that GameChat also supports text-to-sound and voice-to-text, allowing players to communicate in multiple ways.

Now, we have not seen a unified docking interface that may be associated with this. But this is already an important step and I hope it means the last nail in the coffin of eternal abominable friend code.

Miyazaki brings new blood exclusive to Nintendo

When I saw the first frame of that trailer, I thought I was seeing Bloodborne 2. The atmosphere, character design and environment all scream from the software house style. because Eric Van Allen of INGI know now that I'm looking at the camera Duskbloods, multiplayer PVPVE game Designed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the soft smile of the video game masochist.

I don't know where this guy is guiding the Nintendo exclusive game time. I began to think that he might never leave his office and wouldn't sleep, like one of his own confused, hollow characters was wasted in the towers of the Gothic prison. But I am very grateful. No more really missed, so I look forward to a delicious treat.

A surprise to be sure, but a popular person

Speaking of people who need holidays, obviously Super Crush Brothers Sakura Race's Super Crush Brothers Racing has gone from crushing to the new Kirby game? Didn't see that coming. Let that man take a nap!

Frankly speaking, the original Kirby’s aerial ride was a pleasant but positively uncomfortable Kirby racer. But there is no secret to Sakura’s deep affinity for Nintendo’s Pink Elderly God, which is almost certain that Sakura’s alternate franchise will be a more refined and enjoyable experience.

Control issues

It's almost a throwaway moment, but this time the Pro Controller 2 does sound like a Pro, and Nintendo announced that the Pro Controller 2 now has an audio jack, another feature about a decade later. More importantly, they added two extra buttons that can be mapped. I love customizable buttons, so this tiny surprise actually tickled me.

No Mario? !

This really shocked me. As far as I know, many Nintendo Mario makers have been locked in a secret bunker for his next 3D adventure over the years, which I think will be a big summer game for the Switch. I was wrong. It turned out to be the Odyssey team It's the power behind Donkey Bannanzaattracts new 3D platformers, focusing on destructible environments. Nintendo once again went against expectations, trusting hardcore fans flocked to Donkey Kong’s biggest races for generations and saved Mario a day.

The Switch will also be launched in extensive third-party support and the Mario Kart community. While the world looks like a seller of the system, I think it will be timed for Christmas windows home games. Nintendo usually relies on Mario, Zelda, or both to sell to its biggest fans in the first year of the console. But Nintendo is confidently studying Mario Kart's record sales, betting on their most popular party game, along with Bananza, will help move enough switches to 2 units to make it successful.

Forza Horizon X Nintendo is not on my bingo card

Open world Mario Karts are here, good or sick. I bet because Mario Kart's weird physics, weird vehicles and combat mechanics should be well navigating between tracks that struggle with friends and sewing chaos and cross tracks. The short look we get seems to indicate that a continuous world is the anger of La Bowser, but larger, supporting countless drivers.

Very expensive

The Switch 2 costs too much. I know everything is expensive now, with tariffs rising, the yen falling, and the U.S. inflation reignited. But the $449.99 price is a huge price for any standard, while the switch 2 is Nintendo's 40 Most Expensive Releases in U.S. Sales History. In fact, the Switch 2 is priced at $150 more than the offering price of its predecessor, and is more expensive than the next Wii U. The successful Nintendo Consoles and Handhelds usually rely on lower prices as differentiation, but the Switch 2 will seek success without a price advantage.

Jared Petty is a former IGN editor who loves writing about how wonderful and stupid video games are. You can Blue Army plays PettyCommajared.