Nintendo Transfer 2: all of the leaks and rumors thus far

Nintendo’s announcement of the Transfer successor is impending. Simply how impending is any individual’s bet with the corporate declaring that it might reveal info on the console ahead of the tip of its fiscal 12 months in March. Rumors in regards to the new Transfer were circulating for more than a year, however with not up to two months to head till the promised time limit, and within the absence of any actual knowledge from Nintendo itself, hypothesis concerning the console, its specifications, bodily profile, and extra have reached a fever pitch. So ahead of the authentic expose, right here’s the whole thing we predict we learn about Nintendo’s subsequent console.

The one concrete, Nintendo-confirmed piece of knowledge we all know concerning the new console is that it’ll be backwards compatible with the Switch. The whole thing else has come by means of leaks and information equipped through third-party producers. Overdue final 12 months, one such producer, Dbrand, debuted its Killswitch carrying case meant for the Switch 2. Consistent with Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz, the Killswitch is in response to the “precise dimensions” of the brand new console received from a “three-D scan of the actual {hardware}.” However in an interview with The Verge, he declined to mention precisely how or the place Dbrand received such knowledge.

If the Killswitch’s design is certainly derived from the actual factor, the brand new console will likely be better than the Transfer OLED with an 8-inch display screen, and have a kickstand that can span the period of the console very similar to the OLED fashion. That the brand new Transfer will likely be better than earlier iterations is supported through leaks and info from other accessory manufacturers in addition to the concept that the Joy-Con controllers will attach via magnet as an alternative of sliding and snapping into position. The brand new controller design can even incorporate magnets within the joysticks to struggle towards the feared “Pleasure-Con flow” that plagues the Transfer even now.

CES 2025 supplied much more fodder for the rumor mill, with accent producer Genki showing off a 3D printed mock-up of the console at the display flooring. In an interview with The Verge, Genki CEO Eddie Tsai went into element about what he is aware of concerning the new Transfer reaffirming rumors referring to its better dimension, magnetic Pleasure-Con, and extra.

Whilst there’s numerous hypothesis and doable proof about what the brand new console will appear to be, there’s much less circulating about what it might in reality do. Past an alleged photo of the console’s motherboard, there hasn’t been a lot available in the market concerning the console’s {hardware} specs. As a result of Nintendo hasn’t ever made consoles on the bleeding edge (or, honestly, even the cutting one) of graphics or processing energy, it’s exhausting to bet how smartly the console will carry out or what further options, like a microphone, it’ll have.

Despite the fact that the console’s internals stay a thriller, we do know that it’ll be backwards suitable with Transfer video games. We will be able to additionally moderately bet a minimum of one recreation that’ll be a release name: Metroid Prime 4. Introduced in 2017, and undergoing a change of studio and a development reboot two years later, Nintendo debuted gameplay footage for the primary time final 12 months and shared a cushy release window of 2025. When Twilight Princess introduced in 2006, it debuted on each the GameCube and served as a release name for the Wii. Breath of the Wild used to be additionally cross-gen, debuting at the Wii U whilst launching with the Transfer in 2017.

Understanding that the brand new Transfer and Metroid Top 4 each release in 2025 and with Twilight Princess and BotW as examples, it’s speculated that the cause of Metroid 4’s lengthy stint in construction hell used to be, a minimum of partially, for the reason that recreation was being tooled for both the Switch and its successor. Additionally, you simply can’t have a brand new Nintendo console and not using a Mario recreation. Super Mario Odyssey was a Switch launch title, and even though there’s been different new releases like Super Mario Wonder, there hasn’t been a brand new, standalone (put down your pitchforks Bowser’s Fury enthusiasts) three-D Mario recreation since then. It’s all however confident one will likely be introduced with the brand new Transfer. The lately introduced Pokémon Legends: Z-A could also be a excellent release name candidate as Nintendo apparently worded the sport’s debut trailer with “freeing concurrently international on Nintendo Transfer in 2025.”

For all of the rumors and affordable guesses supported through an increasing number of convincing proof, it’s useful to take into account that on the finish of the day, we’re nonetheless speaking about Nintendo. The corporate has at all times tread a separate and unpredictable path from the opposite two main console producers and that oddball technique has most commonly labored rather well. Despite the fact that the corporate is not immune to the same layoffs and delays (the Transfer 2 used to be in the beginning pegged for a 2024 release) plaguing its friends and certainly has its personal manifold issues with the way it treats and can pay its workers and contractors, of the main publishers, it sort of feels to be the person who is best possible navigating the present disaster ravaging the business.

It’s folly looking to are expecting what Nintendo will do, and that applies to its new console. All we will be able to depend on is that it’s coming quickly, and when it arrives, it’ll be giant.