Nintendo’s Switch console has been a gaming juggernaut for eight years, racking up more sales than any home console in the Japanese giant’s long history and breathing life back into the market for handheld gaming devices that were once thought unmarketable in the face of smartphones.

But eight years is a long time in tech, and the Switch is overdue for a refresh. So last week the company took the wraps off the Switch 2, due for release in June, and gave a select group of media a first chance to put it through its paces.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is significantly more powerful, has been redesigned from the ground up and works with an optional camera.Credit:

The transition to a new console is always dangerous in the games space, as all three major platform-holders have discovered at various points, because players can take the opportunity to re-evaluate their investment in a given ecosystem. Could Nintendo become a victim of its own success, with the generation of gamers it’s raised or reactivated heading off for other pastures? Or will it parlay its near-unprecedented success into another mammoth eight-year run?

Capturing the exact situation that made the original Switch such a success is difficult. In 2017, Nintendo was fighting a deep depression since its Wii U console had been a commercial flop, so by contrast the fun and competent Switch got an instant boost from fans. Then there was the fact that it launched with the peerless Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , adding additional bestsellers Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario Odyssey in quick succession.

The tech powering the Switch was outdated by the time the system launched, but it was resonating with an audience that didn’t care. The ability to easily play the same games at home or on the go was a revelation, and the Switch was generally cheaper than other consoles, even if it couldn’t play a lot of the latest games. As the system grew in popularity it attracted games from many indies and all major developers, and Nintendo itself had a charmed run of games produced in-house. That includes Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which became a whimsical connection to friends and nature to many during the pandemic, and

© The Sydney Morning Herald