Latest news with #NintendoLife
Gizmodo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Switch 2 Has Six Joyful Nintendo Touches to Help it Stand Out
Nintendo's Switch 2 Joy-Cons 2 will literally make music in the connection menu. As much as Nintendo's games try to emphasize the 'fun' first, the company's consoles themselves similarly want to spark joy in odd, though surprisingly endearing, ways. Even before the Switch 2's launch, Nintendo shared a few odd and cutesy features beyond the headlining mouse controls and GameChat that are meant to remind you you're not just plugging in any bog-standard gaming machine, especially not when you can play a song with your Joy-Cons on the connection screen. The Switch 2, swathed in its new black finish, may look a little too dark and drab compared to classic, colorful Nintendo, but the amusements are more than skin-deep. The more technologically minded Nintendo fans have poured over recently leaked Switch 2 specs. The console will indeed be many times more powerful than the original Switch. The specs also revealed the console will support VRR—or variable refresh rate—on handheld mode up to 120Hz but not on TV when docked. Variable refresh rate is a way for displays to change the rate a screen refreshes to match a game's frames per second (fps). Nintendo confirmed with Nintendo Life that it posted 'incorrect information' to its website suggesting VRR is supported on TVs. That language has been changed, but the hubbub surrounding this talk of VRR or other spec details largely misses the point. Games are already confirmed to run at a max 60 fps at 4K. Other resolutions will carry their own standard frames per second. The PlayStation 5 didn't get VRR support until two years after its 2020 release. In the same way, Nintendo could update this at a later time. So unless lack of VRR leads to screen tearing issues, Nintendo would rather focus on the oddly endearing functions of its new handheld. Much like the original Switch, there are a few hidden features that Nintendo has in store when the Switch 2 launches June 5. We'll be sure to add more once we finally have the console in hand. You Can Customize the Side Panels on the Joy-Cons 2 You will be able to customize the Joy-con 2 side panes like the PS5 faceplates. Some new panels have already started popping up. — Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) May 5, 2025 Those blue and red accents on the Switch 2 Joy-Cons 2 aren't going to be your only option. The controllers currently only come in black, but users can remove the small side panels in a similar fashion to how you can swap out the fins on the PlayStation 5. Some shops are already selling replacement panels and removal tools. We expect Nintendo will try to sell a bounty of different color options in the future. If the Japanese console maker plans to sell different-colored controllers, we could be in store for some interesting color combinations. The Controller Connection Screen Will Let You Make a Tune The original Switch included a hidden feature on the lock screen, where pressing different buttons activated different sounds. Few Switch owners knew about it, but you—dear reader—will be some of the few to know controllers can make music in the system's 'Change Grip/Order' section of the main menu. Nintendo said you can play different sounds with your connected controller by pressing the L/R, ZL/ZR, and SL/SR buttons. Nintendo said you can 'even create a musical scale' with these sounds, but enterprising musicians will certainly be able to carry a tune. This works with all first-party controllers, including Switch 2 Pro controllers and even the original Switch's Joy-Cons. Speaking of sound, Nintendo also shared more of the main menu chirps and bleeps. Now if only Nintendo could make something as endearing as the Wii Shop theme. Nintendo Today showed off some of the system sounds of the Switch 2! ⁰- There are different sounds for pressing the C Button and for selecting each icon on the HOME Menu. – A sound also plays when you wake up the docked system from sleep mode. — Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) May 18, 2025 You Can Navigate the Switch 2's Main Menu With Mouse Controls Console gamers will get a small taste of the PC lifestyle with the ability to navigate the Switch 2 main menu with the Joy-Cons 2 mouse controls. This may make navigating the newly redesigned eShop much easier. Mouse controls are supposed to be one of the major defining features of the handheld console, and you'll find it in a surprising number of games. Super Mario Party Jamboree will include mouse-specific minigames, and the upcoming Drag x Drive will use it for pushing around a wheelchair for basketball-based antics. Those titles that aren't using first-person mouse controls—such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond—or in real-time strategy games like Civilization VII, will likely be using it to navigate menus. The Switch 2 Helps You Find Your Missing Joy-Con Between the Couch Cushions The original Switch included a Find Controllers feature that made a missing Joy-Con chime and vibrate in case you're having a hard time finding it. Nintendo updated this feature for the Switch 2, but it should work the same as before. You'll find this capability under the controllers section of the main menu. The Joy-Con needs to be paired with the console and still have enough battery to receive the signal. Switch 2 Will Save on Battery With a Hidden Setting Switch 2 owners can enable a 'Stop Charging Around 90%' setting that should help save your battery long term. It's a common feature on other devices like smartphones, and it should help keep your battery capacity stable over a longer period of time. It will reduce your undocked playtime, though it's a good idea to use it if you plan on taking the handheld out and about. If it sounds obvious, then know the Steam Deck only added a battery maximum charge limit setting this month through its latest beta. The Switch App Will Be How You Can Access and Share Screenshots While Nintendo intends its GameShare feature to be the main way you'll interact with friends and share moments, users should be able to send their friends in-game screenshots with a new Switch app. This will make it far easier to share your favorite moments without needing to go through the original Switch's tedious process of scanning a QR code to bring them up in a browser. You'll also use the app to access friends lists and use it for voice chat online. You need a Switch Online membership to access these features.
Metro
16-05-2025
- Metro
Nintendo admits Switch 2 will be missing a major technical feature at launch
After publishing 'incorrect' information about a Switch 2 feature on its website, Nintendo has issued an apology. While we know most things about the Switch 2, following last month's blowout, a lot of the finer details took a long time to seep out, via various updates and awkwardly added small print. Nintendo previously published the console's full specs on its website, which includes HDR10 and 4K support, but last month some people noticed an alteration to the text in relation to its VRR (variable refresh rate) functionality. This feature, which helps eliminate screen tearing without any knocks to the performance, was originally listed as being supported on Switch 2 in either docked or handheld mode. However, a few weeks later, the VRR support for TV play was removed from Nintendo's website. Now, almost a month later, Nintendo has confirmed the Switch 2 will not support VRR when the console is docked. 'Nintendo Switch 2 supports VRR in handheld mode only,' a statement from Nintendo reads (via Nintendo Life). 'The incorrect information was initially published on the Nintendo Switch 2 website, and we apologise for the error.' When asked about the possibility of VRR support for docked mode being added in a future firmware update, Nintendo added: 'We have nothing to announce on this topic.' While it does seem possible to add the feature later as an update, it's still a disappointing hiccup for the Switch 2's launch, if you mostly play through the TV. It's unclear why VRR support wouldn't function across both handheld and docked, but many have speculated it could be related to the difficulty in transferring VRR support through the HDMI converter in the dock. If true, any solutions to the issue might need to come from a future hardware refresh, and not just a minor firmware update. If you want some positive news about the Switch 2's capabilities, however, Nintendo has outlined the details when it comes to free upgrades for original Switch games. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which were marred by performance issues and bugs on the original Switch, will receive 'optimised' visuals on the Switch 2 display and high resolution TVs, along with an 'improved' frame rate for 'smoother movement'. More Trending Several games, like Zelda: Link's Awakening, Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom, and ARMS, will receive HDR support, along with visual improvements (although no frame rate boosts for Link's Awakening, sadly). Super Mario Odyssey, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, 51 Worldwide Games, and Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain will all receive GameShare functionality, along with other visual improvements. Game Builder Garage, meanwhile, is the only title to get mouse support. Surprisingly, the most improved title is Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, which will receive optimised visuals, a better frame rate (Bower's Fury had some problems in that area), HDR support, and GameShare compatibility. You can check out the full list of updates here. The Switch 2 is set to launch worldwide on June 5, 2025, alongside first party games Mario Kart World and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: PS5 live service plans in trouble again as Fairgames delay rumoured MORE: Hideo Kojima put a secret stash of game ideas on a USB stick for when he dies MORE: GTA 6 delay is to give Rockstar 'no limitations' as Take-Two commits to new date
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nintendo charges $20 for 'Mario Party Jamboree' and 'Kirby' Switch 2 upgrades
While the Switch 2 has backwards compatibility, Nintendo is releasing upgraded versions of its old games with enhanced framerates and resolution, as well as extra content. It's also selling upgrades cheaper than full games, which you can get for titles you already own. The upgrades for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will set you back $10. Now, the company has started revealing more upgrade prices for old games, and it looks like the ones for Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Super Mario Party Jamboree will cost you twice as much at $20. NintendoLife first posted about the upgrades' potential prices based on their eShop listings for Europe. The company has updated its US eShop since then to show that they're also being sold for $20 in the country. If you buy the upgrade for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, you're getting access to a new part of the game called Star-Crossed World, wherein you have to uncover the mystery surrounding the meteor that struck the world. Meanwhile Super Mario Party Jamboree comes with Jamboree TV, a game show hosted by Toad. The Switch 2 version of the title uses the console's Joy-Con 2 and microphone, and if you use its camera, you can also put your face into the action during mini-games. Super Mario Party Jamboree for the Switch 2 will be available on July 24, while Kirby's Switch 2 edition will be available on August 28. Both games will set you back $80 if you buy the full Switch 2 version instead of upgrading an old copy. Nintendo has yet to release the prices for the Switch 2 editions of Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which will be available later this year.
Metro
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades and Welcome Tour UK prices revealed
Certain Switch 2 games will support cloud saves after all, while Nintendo corrects an important detail about its wireless GameCube controller. It may not be out for another couple of months, but the Nintendo Switch 2's launch hype has hit a few potholes along the way. Despite Nintendo's best efforts, it seems it won't have enough stock to meet demand after all, as it's been forced to apologise to customers in Japan. That's a pretty good problem to have, all things considered, but there's also been a lot of needless confusion and misinformation that Nintendo's allowed to permeate in the wake of its April showcase. Not only are many pricing details still not available in the UK but it took more than a week for Nintendo to clarify that Switch 2 Edition games will have proper physical releases. Now Nintendo is having to make corrections to more small print and while it's ultimately good news, it's strange that such mistakes were made in the first place. As a reminder, it was discovered last week that certain Switch 2 games would not support Nintendo's cloud save functionality, meaning it would be impossible to back up your save data in the event of your console becoming lost or damaged. This applied to Donkey Kong Bananza, as well as the Switch 2 Editions of Super Mario Party Jamboree and the two Legend Of Zelda remasters – Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom. Since then though, the small print that stated, This software does not support the Nintendo Switch Online paid membership's Save Data Cloud backup feature' has been removed from all four product pages, implying that they are compatible with cloud saves. What's more, the listings for the two Zelda games have been updated to say that they'll come with a second save slot, allowing players to start over without overwriting their original save file. It doesn't sound like the original Switch 1 games will be updated to receive second save slots, since the fine print also states that save data in those second slots can't be transferred from the Switch 2 versions to the original versions. That's not the only correction Nintendo has offered. There was a bit of a hullabaloo when fine print for the new wireless GameCube controller said it would only be compatible with the GameCube games available on Nintendo Switch Online. There were some suspicions this was inaccurate to begin with and that's now been proven correct. According to a Nintendo representative (via Nintendo Life), the controller can work with other games though there may be some issues due to a lack of buttons. 'Since it doesn't have all the buttons and features found in other controllers that can be used with the Nintendo Switch 2 system, there may be some issues when playing other games,' they said, adding that the GameCube controller will only work on Switch 2 and not the Switch 1. Again, it's bizarre that these were ever issues to begin with and rather than be upfront and open with its corrections, Nintendo has either made changes without telling anyone or has to be chased up about it. To that point, we've only recently discovered that UK prices for upgrading Switch 1 games to their Switch 2 counterparts has been revealed. Not because Nintendo said anything about it but because we stumbled across it on their store page. Based on the US and Japanese prices, it was suspected that it would cost about £8 to upgrade to the Switch 2 Editions, and that's exactly the case. Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom cost £7.99 precisely to upgrade. More Trending Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby And The Forgotten Land, however, cost £16.99 to upgrade, because they add new content whereas the Zelda games only receive a graphical boost. Nintendo had already made it clear there would be a two-tier system for upgrades, based on whether there was new content or not, and this price is slightly less than the £20-ish that many expected. Finally, Nintendo has, equally quietly, also revealed the price for low-tech intro game Welcome Tour, which has suffered greatly from unflattering comparisons to Astro's Playroom. It'll cost £7.99 in the UK, although from what we played of it, it'll struggle to justify even that price tag. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 ad brings back Paul Rudd in a 90s throwback MORE: Nintendo confirms new Super Mario game for Switch 2 but when is it out? MORE: Cyberpunk 2077 is first Nintendo Switch 2 game to use important new tech
Business Mayor
23-04-2025
- Business Mayor
The Switch 2 Pro Controller will have the same colossal battery life as the original, with a significantly shorter charge time, according to Nintendo
The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller's tech specs have been revealed According to Nintendo, its charging time will be significantly reduced The new gamepad is also ever so slightly slimmer and lighter There's some great news if you're looking to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller to go along with the new console in June. Spotted by Nintendo Life, Nintendo's official technical specifications for the Switch 2 Pro Controller have been revealed on its website. While there are some slight differences in size and weight compared to the original version, the big change here is in battery charge time. On the revised Pro Controller, it's now just 3.5 hours, down from the 6 hours of that first model. You may like Better still, the Nintendo Switch 2's Pro Controller appears to feature the same mammoth battery life (around 40 hours) as the original. Factor in that significantly shortened charge time, and you have a controller that should be ready to go for wireless use more frequently. Here's a breakdown of the key specs between the Switch 2 Pro Controller and its predecessor: Swipe to scroll horizontally Row 0 – Cell 0 Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Dimensions 4.1 x 5.8 x 2.4in / 105 x 148 x 60.2mm 4.2 x 6.0 x 2.4in / 106 x 152 x 60mm Weight 0.52lbs / 235g 0.54lbs / 246g Battery life Approx. 40 hours Approx. 40 hours Charge time 3.5 hours 6 hours Connectivity Bluetooth (wireless), USB-C (wired) Bluetooth (wireless), USB-C (wired) Vibration HD Rumble 2 HD Rumble Nintendo does warn that to achieve that charge time of 3 and a half hours, you'll want to use an appropriate charging method. These include the Nintendo Switch 2's AC adapter or the included USB-C charging cable. Any third-party variants could negatively impact overall charging time. We can also see that the Switch 2 Pro Controller has been ever so slightly refined in terms of size and weight, coming in just a bit slimmer and lighter than the first model. It's a tiny difference, though, and one that won't really manifest unless you have each side by side. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. For more information, see my Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller hands-on preview, where I found the new gamepad to be an improvement in overall feel. It simply felt much more comfortable to hold, and its thumbsticks were sublimely responsive when I tested it with games like Mario Kart World and Street Fighter 6 at a recent Nintendo event in Paris.
