The Nintendo Switch 2 bundle will include a digital copy of Mario Kart World, the upcoming console's new, semi-open world racer.
During the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, producer Kouichi Kawamoto shares that the Switch 2 release date is June 5, 2025, and that the console's launch "hardware options" include the aforementioned bundle deal with Mario Kart World. A press release indicates that the bundle will retail for $499 in the U.S.
Sold separately, the Switch 2 is $450, while Mario Kart World will go for... are you sitting down? You should sit down. OK. Mario Kart World will cost $80.
"Welcome to the new normal of pricing, US folks," Circana video game analyst Mat Piscatella writes on Bluesky. "But instead of a slow increase over time like we've seen in grocery over the past few years, we're going to start seeing things happen all at once."
It certainly feels that way – it seems like only yesterday that we were still being surprised by games with $70 price tags. If it helps, Switch 2 title Donkey Kong Bananza will launch at that more nostalgic $70 price when it releases on July 17. Inflation seems to have really hit bananas hard.
All Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa had to say about it in a press release was that "Nintendo Switch 2 is the next step in at-home gaming that can be taken on the go based on eight years of play and discovery that began with Nintendo Switch." Pre-orders for the next-gen console and its Mario Kart bundle aren't exactly live, but the Nintendo online store currently offers Nintendo Account owners in North America the ability to "register your interest in purchasing."
However, registrants "who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours as of April 2" will be prioritized in receiving shopping invites, Nintendo says on its website.
Maybe it all worth it. "With its new features that expand the possibilities of gaming experiences," Furukawa continues, "I truly believe that Nintendo Switch 2 is a leap forward in our journey of putting smiles on the faces of everyone that Nintendo touches." A smile on everyone's face? Well, that's priceless.
Nintendo Switch 2 will offer 4k resolution while hooked up to TV, making it Nintendo's most powerful console yet.
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Nintendo admits "there were times when we wished the Switch system's processor was faster" so that "developers could make any kind of game they wanted"
Switch 2 plays Switch 1 games through something "in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility," so don't expect the same backward compatibility we got on 3DS and Wii U
