Today we are taking a look at what some might consider a more affordable Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller alternative, the HORIPAD Turbo for Nintendo Switch 2. While I was a fan of the original Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and our early hands-on impressions of the latest model are favorable, it is in many ways just a regular controller for Switch 2, an official one sure, but for the most part just your average gamepad that delivers a more traditional feel, and one that will cost you $85 to pre-order.
NBC Universal might have just accidentally confirmed the name of the upcoming Mario movie sequel as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations. The Super Mario Bros. movie took the gaming world and the silver screen by storm back in 2023, and we might have a better idea of what Shigeru Miyamoto meant when he said the team was “thinking about broadening Mario’s world further” for the sequel.
There’s no telling how long this one might last folks, so if you’re soon-to-be a Switch 2 owner and a Nintendo switch Online member, you might want to go secure the new wireless Nintendo GameCube Controller now that pre-orders are now live directly from Nintendo.
Yesterday we spotted the official Best Buy Switch 2 landing page specifically mentioning more console stock was inbound for launch day. Best Buy then quickly removed this mention altogether leaving most folks confused as to whether or not this was some kind of mistake or if it realized it wasn’t going to have any more units come next month. Best Buy has now official reached out to us to confirm more units are coming. Details below.
Best Buy has now confirmed a Switch 2 re-stock. Pre-orders came and went quite quickly on the eve of April 24 last month with a quick, and particularly short-lived re-stock at Walmart the following weekend, but stock has been essentially gone since then. As we reported previously, it appear as though some major retailers are now readying more units for launch day, and Best Buy has now confirmed it will have more units.
Today might be your last chance to secure a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order folks. Switch 2 pre-orders came and went awfully quick at the tail end of last month. While we did catch a quick re-stock at Walmart that more than a few 9to5Toys readers were able to take advantage of the following weekend, console pre-orders in the U.S. (and basically everywhere else) have been long gone since then. Most major retailers, including Walmart, have now updated their Switch 2 console listings to ready for launch day – this appears to be the next chance we’ll have to score one at retail, but there is still a chance to land a pre-order, is not a big chance, but there is still hope as Nintendo’s invites will go out starting tomorrow.
Now under one month before the official release date, Nintendo has officially reveled all of the new user icons it is introducing for Switch 2. As part of today’s update in the official new Nintendo Today! app on iOS and Android.
The Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 is going up for pre-order today at Amazon for Star Wars Day 2025. During a special presentation in Japan, Ubisoft revealed the game’s new A Pirate’s Fortune expansion pack for all platforms while also confirming the game is coming to Switch 2 later this fall.
Switch 2 pre-orders never went live on Amazon in the U.S. – some outlets suggested they likely will, others were much less optimistic. While Amazon stopped carrying most first-party Switch games previously, it would still somehow have stock popping up during major sales, but, while there is still an official Nintendo storefront on Amazon, just about everything on there is sold by third-party sellers at this point. In Canada however, for our friends north of the border, this isn’t entirely the case as pre-order listings for Switch 2 did go live there (to some degree) and invites to purchase one are still being sent out.
Don’t forget that some Switch 1 games are getting FREE Switch 2 upgrades. Outside of how difficult it was for some folks to secure a Switch 2 pre-order, most of the not-so positive talk surrounding the next-generation of Switch 2 gaming has been about the price. Nintendo is charging $10 to $20 for upgrade packs on Switch 2 Edition Switch 1 games like Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart World carries a $79.99 list price, and that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour system demo game thing that should be FREE is $10. But there are some Switch 1 games that are getting FREE SWitch 2 upgrades. Let’s dig in.
The Nintendo Star Wars Day sale is now live. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo kicked off its now annual May the 4th sale on Switch games courtesy of the eShop and everything is now ready to roll with a sizable selection of just about every Star Wars title on the platform now marked down for the biggest day in the galaxy.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders have now likely come and gone for good, and that leaves us to think about the games we will be playing come June 5 for launch and beyond. And even if you didn’t get a chance to secure a console, all signs point to there being another run of units ready for launch day before the rest of the 2025 Switch 2 titles start to release. We have already detailed and updated our growing list of Switch 2 launch games and launch window titles, but let’s look at some of the other titles still expected to be landing on the next-generation of Nintendo hardware.
On top of getting the official release date, pre-order date, price, and some hands-on time to actually play the console, Nintendo and its partners have now detailed the Switch 2 launch games. Not only do we know just about exactly what major first-party Nintendo games will be launching on day one for Switch 2, but as part of yesterday’s Direct festivities, it also showed off a host of its own games as well as some ports and major third-party releases coming to Switch 2 in 2025. Down below we have begun to collect all of the Switch 2 launch games and all of the major titles that are scheduled to hit the system throughout the rest of the year for your reference.
Update 5/2: After Walmart’s Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch 2 Mario Kart World listings disappeared, they are now back and officially marked as coming back in-stock for launch day on June 5:
As I’m sure you know by now, Nintendo finally kicked off pre-orders for Switch 2 in the U.S. and Canada last week – they sold out almost immediately. Some folks were lucky and some folks weren’t on April 24, but just as our sources confirmed, there was a short but very sweet Switch 2 pre-order re-stock at Walmart this past weekend and some folks confirmed to have actually scored one over 48 hours after the internet reported they were entirely sold out. While we may or may not see another pre-order re-stock before launch, there is some light at the end of the warp pipe.
After Nintendo confirmed that it would not be raising prices on Switch 2 the way it did on the accessories, we also got confirmation that it would be holding strong on Switch 2 exclusive games and the Switch 2 Edition releases as well. Donkey Kong Bananza, Mario Kart World, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Editions, as well as Kirby and The Forgotten Land and Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Editions, both with the already announced expansion packs, are all going to be big ticket items that are going up for pre-order tonight alongside the console.
Did Switch 2 pre-orders sell out? Yes, and quick too, but there might still be hope. Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and GameStop all sold out shortly after going live yesterday, as just about everyone expected. It seems as though plenty of folks were able to land one, but not everyone was so lucky. That leaves some of us waiting, wondering, and hoping that someone, somewhere might still have some stock on the way, and it appears as though some of the retailers that might not have been on the top of your list might still be readying some pre-sale options for Switch 2.
The official listing for the new wireless Nintendo GameCube controller is now live on the Nintendo site and we now know when it will go up for sale. Nintendo announced its new Switch Online GameCube library for Switch 2 as part of its Direct presentation at the top of the month and, along with it, the new modern take on the GameCube Controller we know will be available for purchase starting next month.
Let’s take a look at the official Switch accessory pre-orders. Securing an actual Switch 2 console has been a frustrating process for some and an exciting one for others, whether you got one or not really, and while the big three – Walmart, Target, and Best Buy – are currently out of stock on the console, we might very well see additional units go live throughout the day and the coming weeks, not to mention some of the hold out retailers like Sam’s Club and Newegg that already have listings up that haven’t gone in stock yet. All of that said, if you did get lucky and secure one, or know you will at some point, the Switch Edition/Exclusive games are still in-stock right now and so are the official Switch accessories like the Switch 2 Pro Controller.
Switch 2 pre-orders went live late last night at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy – it’s GameStop’s turn this morning. While it was about as frustrating as everyone was imaging last night for some folks, it does appear as though plenty of us actually did secure one – it was hit or miss here at the 9to5 offices. But if you weren’t one of the lucky ones, GameStop is scheduled to have Switch 2 pre-orders live this morning at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET online.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are now live at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and more. Nintendo hosted its long-awaited Switch 2 Direct on April 2, 2025 after officially unveiling the new Switch 2 console back in January, and, after pre-orders were initially delayed, they are finally set to go live at (just about) all major retailers in the U.S any minute, and it might be a good idea to go get in the queue folks, just in case.
Nintendo hosted its latest Direct showcase today – it was (mostly) good times all around, with a closer look at the big Switch 2 launch title, Mario Kart World. But after all of the sweet wall riding, drive-thru costume pickups, Mega Mushrooms, and gigantic P-Switches, there’s still no pre-order date and I couldn’t help buy be fixated on the fact that the new Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle is actually a limited-run offer.
What time do Switch 2 pre-orders start in Canada? Walmart Canada has now confirmed exactly what time Switch 2 pre-orders will begin. We have already reported on exactly when pre-orders will begin at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and GameStop here in the U.S., but we also want to make sure our friends up north are ready to go as well. Nintendo officially delayed pre-orders in Canada to fall in-line with those in the U.S. and that is indeed what has happened as they will begin early morning on April 24 north of the border as well.
We are now under 12 hours out from the launch of Switch 2 pre-orders and it’s going to be a total free-for-all in quite potentially the worst way possible. Will there even be close to enough Switch 2 units to go around tonight? Probably not. Will everyone who actually goes to pre-order one at midnight tonight actually get one? Almost certainly not. But while everyone is refreshing like ravenous dog at Best Buy, Target, and Walmart, there are some other sources of Switch 2 pre-orders to consider if you don’t have any luck later tonight.
Update: According to an official Best buy listing, we can now confirm the price of the Kirby and The Forgotten Land Switch 2 Edition upgrade packs – it is listed at $19.99 to upgrade from the base Switch 1 version to the Switch 2 Edition with the expansion packs. Most folks believe this will also be the case for Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition
Update: Nintendo has now officially confirmed (via IGN) the upgrade pack price for the Switch Edition versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is $9.99 – they are still FREE for Switch Online + Expansion members
How much will Switch 2 Edition games cost? How much will it cost to upgrade to the Switch 2 Edition version of the Switch games you already own? Nintendo has released some official details that give us a very good idea of the prices we will be getting here. We have been seeing gamers asking a lot about all of this, so let’s dive into the details.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are going live tonight at just about all major retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Nintendo has announced that pre-orders will begin on April 24 – they will actually start late tonight on April 23 if you’re on the west coast (more details below on this) – and at the same price it initially announced in early April. Despite the delays and market uncertainty in the wake of global tariffs, Nintendo has held firm on the June 5 releases date as well as the price both of the standard Switch 2 console and the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, and pre-orders will go live in well under 24 hours now.
Now just 24 hours away from go time, we now know what time Switch 2 pre-orders will go live at Best Buy. Up until now, only Target, Walmart, and GameStop had officially confirmed exactly what time pre-orders would begin for Switch 2 on April 24 this week, leaving Best Buy as the last major hold out to confirm the go time.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is coming to Nintendo Switch 2, according to a recently spotted PEGI rating. We already have a good idea of the games that will be launching for Switch 2 starting right from day 1 on June 5 through to holiday 2025 and even beyond – FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods has been slated for a 2026 launch. On top of a slew of all new Switch 2 exclusive titles from Nintendo, the Switch 2 Edition enhanced titles, and a collection of third-party ports, after Ubisoft confirmed the release date for its latest AAA Start Wars release last week it looks as though the latest entry in the long-running and beloved Assassin’s Creed series will be following along shortly.
Let’s take a look at all of the new Mario Kart World characters now that Nintendo has fully revealed its new flagship Switch 2 game. The Mario Kart series has been one of the most popular Nintendo releases for years and the new Mario Kart World is going to get off to a serious Boost Start if the Switch 2 bundle sells out as fast as it seems like it’s going too. This year Nintendo is not only taking its mascot racer open-world, but it is also introducing some new Drive-Thru costume mechanics, a host of new courses, new items to throw at your friends, and a sizable expansion to the roster of racers.
GameStop April 24 at 11 a.m. ET online (and when local in-store opens)
Nintendo has officially announced the new April 24 pre-order date for its highly sought-after next-generation console, but what time will Switch 2 pre-orders begin that day? It’s hard to imagine there actually being enough consoles to go around next week, but only time will tell and being ready to pull the trigger in a timely fashion is likely going to be very important.
Let’s-a-go! Nintendo has now officially announced that Switch 2 pre-orders will begin next week in the U.S. No more leaks, no rumors, no maybes, this is it…the real thing (again). And on top of that, pricing will remain exactly the same as was initially announced.
Nintendo has now finally announced the official new pre-order date for Switch 2 in the U.S. – they go live in one week’s time! The other great news, Nintendo is not raising the price on either the base console at $449.99 or the Mario Kart World bundle at $499.99 – whoo! It has also announced that it is holding firm on the pricing for Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza at $79.99 and $69.99, while also making some “pricing adjustments” on the official Switch 2 accessories – pricing is unfortunately going up on these folks. You can see the actual numbers below.
We are all still, of course, awaiting official word from Nintendo on when pre-orders will finally go live for Switch 2 – dataminers are still suggesting it could go live sometime next week based on dates from retailers – but we do have an update on the launch window games. May the 4th, or Star Wars Day, is fasting-approaching now, we have already got an official announcement from LEGO on its plans and, just as we expected, we do have a Nintendo announcement from a galaxy far, far away – Star Wars Outlaws is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.
The Nintendo headlines have been overrun with the fear of price hikes and potential new pre-order date rumors, but we are taking a short and sweet reprieve in the form of the official Mario Kart World Direct showcase today. As we reported shortly after the game’s debut, Nintendo has had an official, dedicated Direct show set for weeks and today is the day.
The internet is ablaze with theories and rumors then the new Switch 2 pre-order date will land, but another far better and more reliable date has now surfaced. Yesterday April 30 was spotted hidden within some Target wishlist data, and then an April 23 date in Canada surfaced suggesting we could see the same in the U.S., but now a reliable leaker is targeting a third date.
Here we go again folks, it looks like we might have a new pre-order date for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada – this might very well indicate what we see here in the U.S. too. Pre-orders were still set to go live in Canada after they were delayed in the U.S. only to have Nintendo confirm that it wants to have the pre-sale begin at the same time north of border and delayed those too. But a new, typically reliable source is suggesting Canadian pre-orders could go live next Wednesday.
The new Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date might have been leaked by Target, but there is something suspect about this time and date. Nintendo was initially scheduled to start taking pre-orders in the U.S. on April 9 before it officially announced a delay to give it time to assess the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs that were announced just hours after. We are still awaiting official word from Nintendo for the new date, but Target might have just given us an idea of when this could happen…maybe.
Update: 4/16: Nintendo has now confirmed tomorrow’s Mario Kart World Direct showcase will be a relatively short and sweet 15-minute broadcast.
With the full official reveal of Nintendo Switch 2, the release date, the announced $450 starting price, and the debacle that immediately followed after pre-orders were officially delayed in the U.S. (and Canada), one thing that might have raced under your radar was this week’s official Mario Kart World Direct showcase. It has been a busy couple weeks for Nintendo to say the least, and while it officially debuted the new Mario Kart game during the Switch 2 Direct alongside some Treehouse gameplay footage thereafter, it still has more to show us on the keystone Switch 2 launch game and it is set to go live later this week.
The official debut of Nintendo Switch 2 has been a tumultuous one, rife with emotional highs and lows – some might even suggest Nintendo has thus far botched what was widely expected to be the biggest console launch in history. I’m going to give it about as much of a temporary pass on the disastrous pre-order situation as the rest of the world is getting on Trump tax, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Nintendo has managed to go from delivering what was the most affordable console gaming platform to one of the most expensive in a matter of weeks.
The Switch 2 situation is well, a situation. We all know Trump has now, at least temporarily, backpedaled on some of the new tariff levies directly affecting the pre-order and likely launch of Switch 2. This prompted financial analysis firms to present a potential price hike situation only to they themselves course correct the supposedly incorrect deductions of this data to suggest it is unlikely we see major price hikes on Switch 2 at launch. This sounds like good news to me and a recent report courtesy of Bloomberg suggests Nintendo has been stockpiling Switch 2 units in the U.S. for months now to help soften the blow Trump might (will likely) have on its bottom line.
Now that the Switch 2 unveiling hype has died down and we are entering the pre-order stage, I began to wonder to myself if the Switch 2 is worth it over my Switch OLED. It’s easy to assume the Switch 2 is the obvious choice – but for many players, especially casual gamers or families, the Switch OLED might actually be the better value. Here’s why:
Update: After a shocking report made headlines yesterday suggesting an inbound price hike on Switch 2, the DFC Intelligence firm via Forbes is clarifying its statement further – there perhaps won’t be a price jump at retail after all:
Apologies for the misunderstanding created on our part by not clarifying the reference to a 20% hardware price increase over the next two years applied to the hardware side in general and not just the Switch.
In the case of the Switch 2, we believe much of the 20% increase was already baked into the $450 price. It is not likely Nintendo will raise the price, and if they do, we don’t expect it to be 20%. Also much of that increase is in the form of NOT discounting prices. So not necessarily a price increase but where we model a 20% price decrease in the next year or so we have the prices holding steady.
As we all know by now, Nintendo officially delayed the pre-order date here in the U.S. indefinitely, with not even a whisper of when it might be ready to start taking orders. Just this morning it also officially delayed the pre-order date in Canada less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to go live on April 9. The release date remains firm for June 5 as of right now, but why has Nintendo delayed the inevitable? Well, we know it’s because of Trump’s tariffs announcement, but if the release date is still intact, why wait to take pre-orders?
So many of our burning questions leading up to last week’s Switch 2 Nintendo Direct have been answered at this point, but what about those Hall effects sticks? We have now seen the new Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, we have details on the console’s battery life, and we know how the Switch 2 Edition game upgrades will work (for the most part). But we still don’t know when pre-orders will go live in the U.S. after Nintendo cancelled the April 9 kick-off date, and there were still questions up in the air as to whether or not Nintendo was leveraging Hall effect technology on the new Switch 2 controllers…until now.
Update 4/8: Noooooo, Nintendo has now officially announced that pre-orders for Switch 2 in Canada will also be delayed to a later date. Nintendo has made an official statement to the press confirming that pre-orders in Canada will also be delayed to fall in-line with the U.S.
What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live? Well, at this point we don’t even know what day they are going live here in the U.S., but north of the border Walmart has other major retailers have announced the official date and time Switch 2 pre-orders will begin, perhaps giving us a better idea of how things might shake out in the U.S. once Nintendo is ready to let us score one.
While the unveiling of the new Switch 2 was exciting, some aspects have left people asking for answers. Nintendo avoided mentioning things like battery life, accessory compatibility, game upgrade pricing and more. So let’s discuss everything Nintendo didn’t tell us, the good and the bad.
Late yesterday morning, Nintendo issued an official statement to the press saying that it would be delaying Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S. indefinitely, however this isn’t the case everywhere in the world. The company apparently needs time to assess the impacts of sweeping levies put in place by the Trump administration earlier this week before it will be ready to begin taking pre-orders of its next-generation console stateside – this is, however, not the case north of the border.
In a disappointing but unfortunately not surprising turn of events, reports are surfacing today suggesting Nintendo will officially be delaying the Switch 2 pre-order date in response to Trump tariffs. Nooooooo!
Nintendo’s Switch 2 is now official and it comes with a bevy of new features that we got to experience when we went hands-on with the handheld for nearly six hours yesterday. While we learned a lot about the handheld during its announcement, it wasn’t exactly clear whether it would support ray tracing. Well, we now know that the Switch 2 does indeed support ray tracing for games. In fact, Nintendo also confirmed that the Switch 2 uses NVIDIA’s DLSS tech to improve your gameplay experience. Head below for more details.
