After weeks of leaks and wild hypothesis, Nintendo has lastly introduced the Change 2, the highly-anticipated successor to its wildly widespread hybrid handheld console. The gamemaker launched a two-minute teaser right this moment with a primary have a look at the console, a handheld that seems similar to the unique Change, however greater.
Nintendo additionally introduced on Thursday that will probably be holding a Direct presentation to supply extra particulars on the Change on April 2. Within the video announcement Nintendo debuted a bigger display screen with a pair of black and pink, and black and blue, Pleasure-Cons. The video additionally seems to tease a brand new Mario Kart recreation with footage proven for just some seconds.
The hand held will play each Change 2 and Change video games, Nintendo stated in a press launch, however added that “sure Nintendo Change video games is probably not supported on or totally suitable with Nintendo Change 2.”
The authentic Nintendo Change launched in 2017, at a time when Nintendo was nonetheless recovering from poor gross sales of its earlier console, the Wii U. The place the Wii U failed to seek out an viewers, nonetheless, the Change soared. In 2023, it grew to become the third best-selling console of all time behind Nintendo’s DS and the PlayStation 2, a place it nonetheless holds.
By 2024, nonetheless, it appeared the console had peaked. Gross sales had been plummeting, and already rumors had been spreading of a next-gen entry. Almost a 12 months in the past, when Nintendo introduced Pokémon Legends: Z-A could be coming to its “methods” in 2025, followers speculated {that a} new console was on the horizon. (By no means thoughts that the plural “methods” right here might have simply referred to Change’s Lite and OLED fashions.)
In Might of final 12 months, the corporate promised it will reveal a brand new console by April 2025. Final month, particulars and alleged pictures of the system leaked from producers, and later on platforms like Reddit and X.
Nintendo diehards, at the least, have been having enjoyable with the leaks—whether or not it’s utilizing Tarot card readings to divine the announcement date, or making spoofs about options like “imported Italian air” or screws. “It has 10 grooves. So reveal January tenth,” one Reddit consumer joked. One other constructed a “summoning circle” filled with previous video games and Mario and Luigi collectible figurines.
The subsequent-generation Change will likely be launched right into a a lot totally different console ecosystem than its predecessor. In 2022, Steam launched its handheld Steam Deck, which permits gamers to take extra PC video games on the go. Throughout CES this 12 months, Microsoft’s “Subsequent Era” VP, Jason Ronald, hinted to The Verge that there could be updates this 12 months to the Home windows gaming expertise. Microsoft Gaming chief, Phil Spencer, has additionally alluded to the potential for a handheld Xbox system.