Nintendo on Thursday announced a successor to its popular Switch console in a short video that showcased the new hardware. The Switch 2 will arrive sometime this year with a larger hand-held display, magnetic controllers and backward compatibility that allows people to play original Switch games.
Although the reveal was short on details, the video showed a few seconds from what appeared to be a new game in the Mario Kart franchise. Citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom raced on a new track with 24 drivers on a dusty desert course. Nintendo declined to respond to questions about the new game.
Nintendo’s video ended with a promise to share more details about the console in April, when the company will hold demonstrations around the world.
The release of a new video game console is an important financial decision for companies like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. They sometimes have difficulty persuading users to adopt new hardware and often take losses on manufacturing costs.
Nintendo has a checkered history with console releases. There have been great successes like the original 1983 Nintendo Entertainment System and failures like the 1995 Virtual Boy and the 2012 Wii U, which led some industry analysts to recommend that Nintendo exit the console business to focus on software like its Mario and Zelda franchises.
The Nintendo Switch was released in 2017 and revived the company’s financial prospects at the sacrifice of a longtime market for hand-held devices like the Game Boy and Nintendo DS. The Switch can be played anywhere, either plugged into a television or on the move.
According to company sales records, the Switch has sold more than 146 million units, making it one of the best-selling consoles in history.
The Switch 2 is arriving as Nintendo transforms into a global entertainment company. It has opened theme parks with Universal Studios around the world and produced blockbuster movies including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and the upcoming adaptation of its Legend of Zelda series. Late last year, it even produced an alarm clock.