Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: Our reaction to everything Nintendo showed off

By Tomas Franzese Published April 2, 2025

The Switch 2 next to a TV with Mario Kart. — Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct reveal just happened, and we recapped everything announced at the show live.

The Nintendo Direct had some baffling omissions, like the Switch 2’s $450 price tag, but was a generally entertaining showcase that gave us an idea of what to expect from Nintendo’s new system throughout its first year on the market. That includes Mario Kart World at launch and a new Donkey Kong 3D platformer in July. Read on for expert analysis and insight into everything Nintendo showed… and didn’t show.

Watch the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct

Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 – 4.2.2025

The biggest announcements from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct:

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct live blog

LiveLast updated April 02, 2025 9:28 AM

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A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Nintendo just landed a huge console exclusive for Switch and Switch 2

Hades 2 key art from its first trailer.

Supergiant just confirmed Hades 2 will be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles at launch, though it will come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series at a later date. Supergiant broke the news in the latest Creator's Voice at Nintendo, where studio leads Greg Kasavin, Amir Rao, and Darren Korb spoke about the development process and what inspired the new gameplay elements in the sequel.

Hades 2 is the studio's first-ever sequel and a direct follow-up to its predecessor, a game that took home numerous Game of the Year awards. Until now, all of its games have been one-offs like Bastion and Transistor. "After more than 15 years, we decided to try one," Kasavin said. "We approach sequels with a great deal of fear and respect," he added with a laugh.

Gaming

The Nintendo Switch 2 could still be vulnerable to the original’s biggest issue

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom runs on a Switch 2 screen.

Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 will not use Hall Effect sensors in its Joy-Cons, and unfortunately, that means it's still vulnerable to stick drift. Instead, the handheld will use analog-style sticks, but Nintendo assures fans they have been redesigned to combat one of the biggest problems of the original Nintendo Switch.

In an interview with Nintendo Life, Nate Bihldorff, Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President of Product Development & Publishing, provided details on what to expect from Nintendo's next console. "The Joy-Con 2's controllers have been designed from the ground up. They're not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good," he said.

Gaming

All Switch games that don’t run on Switch 2

Two people playing a game on an OLED Switch.

It is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement over a new console and miss some important fine print details. Nintendo was eager to share all the Switch 2 launch games and a massive list of upcoming Switch 2 games to get everyone excited to get their hands on the console, but it also let us know that most original Switch games would also be playable on the Switch 2. We learned a lot about certain Switch 2 Edition games and how they would perform so much better on the Switch 2 vs. Switch, but that asterisk of "most" games running on the new hardware was never focused on in any of the presentations. We all have a massive library of Switch games at this point we would like to be able to carry forward, so let's shed some light on all the Switch games that won't work on the Switch 2.

Every Switch game that has startup issues on the Switch 2

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