Nintendo Switch 2 play safe. This is the smart choice

We also see an additional button on the face of the right Joy-Con, below the Home button. While this isn’t indicated in the teaser, some form of “C-button” functionality can be seen, which Nintendo has used on various forms of N64 and GameCube in the past. Also worth noting is a particularly pointed shot focusing on the rotating left Joy-Con stick – could this be meant to highlight improved stickers for the new generation, possibly featuring Hall effect technology? That being said drift problems that plagued the original Switch would be a smart move on Nintendo’s part.

Photo: Nintendo

The biggest changes to the main console itself, aside from the increased physical size, are the addition of an additional USB-C port on the top and a new U-shaped stand. While the former is an excellent addition, opening up the potential to support more accessories, the latter feels a bit flimsy – better than the bump that supported the original Switch, but less sturdy than Switch the hard stand on the OLED back panel.

Speaking of the OLED Switch, and judging purely by the thick panel shown in the Switch 2 reveal, the new console may return to an LCD panel. Again, it was rumors for a whilebut it will be hard not to see it as a step backwards.

The best takeaway from the reveal, however, is that Nintendo immediately confirmed backwards compatibility with existing Switch games, both physically and digitally (albeit with a few as-yet-unspecified exceptions). This is fantastic news for players who have spent the better part of a decade building their libraries, and another example of Nintendo’s quiet confidence and sense of continuity. When you have accumulated 1.3 billion software sales for your incredibly successful platform, why risk alienating these customers?

And that’s seemingly Nintendo’s strategy for the Switch 2, in a nutshell: If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Gamers like the Switch as it is, all of the company’s main competitors are imitating it to a greater or lesser degree, and all signs point to “more but better” being a compelling selling point. He plays it safe, but he doesn’t have to do anything else.