Jay Peters, reporting for The Verge:

Nintendo has finally shared many of the key specs about the Nintendo Switch 2 as part of its Switch 2-focused Direct and said the system will launch on June 5th.

The device has a 7.9-inch screen, but it’s still 13.99mm thick, like the first Switch. The LCD screen has a 1080p resolution and supports HDR and up to a 120fps refresh rate (with variable refresh rate). The Joy-Con controllers are bigger, too, and as hinted at, they can be used similarly to a mouse. (Though a footnote says that mouse mode will only work with compatible games.) And they stay connected to the Switch 2 via magnets.

The new “C” button on the controllers can also be used to activate a chat menu that lets you access controls like muting your voice during the Discord-like GameChat calls.

The specifications are relatively unimpressive for a 2025 game console, but that’s not really the point. Anyone interested in a truly powerful, overkill handheld PC should buy a Steam Deck. The Nintendo Switch 2 just seems like a lot of fun. It’s not for streamers, power users, or anyone who’d notice the LCD screen as opposed to organic-LED or lackluster processor. It’s just for people who want to have fun playing video games. Personally, I don’t find the omission of an OLED screen too offensive, though I still wonder why it was omitted; the Switch OLED costs $350 and has a great display. The 120-hertz refresh rate is a nice touch, but I think fewer people will notice it than if Nintendo used an OLED display. But as Quinn Nelson writes on X, the Nintendo Switch got a high-refresh-rate display before the base-model iPhone.

About that price: I don’t blame Nintendo. There’s no chance it wanted the Switch 2 to cost $450, but it was probably forced to thanks to the Trump administration’s tariffs. But still, it’s going to sting, though I can’t imagine it’ll stymie sales because demand is purported to be very high. (As I’ve been saying for years, Americans’ disposable income still remains high post-pandemic, despite the sob story Republicans try to paint.) As outlandish as the price tag is, Nintendo doesn’t come out with game consoles very often, and I’d imagine an OLED version would come out in half a decade (or longer) for cheaper than the Switch 2’s starting price — hopefully when the tariffs are gone. Pundits will quibble over the price for a while — and they should — but I don’t think it matters too considerably.

My favorite part of the announcement is the anti-scalper pre-ordering system. Buyers need at least 50 hours of first-generation Switch gameplay associated with their account and must be Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, which costs $20 a year. I don’t think those restrictions are too onerous, especially for first-generation Switch owners, who are probably the most interested in the new one. Those rules, however, effectively kill scalping (from Nintendo’s website, at least; pre-orders are still available on third-party retailers’ websites), a problem that has persisted since the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X pre-orders from 2020. One console per household, limited only to people who already play the Switch. Great system.

Other than that, the rest of the announcement was just filled with treats. For instance, a new GameChat button, improved cartridges, backward compatibility, more games on Switch Online, and new Joy-Cons, which now attach magnetically. (And everyone assumes Nintendo fixed the Joy-Con drift problem that plagues the first-generation Switch.) It’s a fun, exciting console that just adds a bit of joy to the bleak, depressing world.