Nintendo Fans Pore Over Potato-Quality ‘Leak’ That Could Be A First Look At The Switch 2 Joy-Con

Many expected a Switch 2 reveal this fall. Instead, it looks like Nintendo fans will close out 2024 without even an official tease. But that hasn’t stopped rampant speculation and alleged leaks from filling the information void. A new video shows what could be a first look at the Switch 2’s new and improved Joy-Con—if it’s not an elaborate fake, that is.

The footage recently showed (via Nintendo Soup) up on the Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili in a post by user 马里奥68. It includes a very blurry rendering of what appears to be someone ripping the Joy-Con off the sides of a Switch 2 screen. The sides of the controllers appear to show magnets that would suction them onto the portable gaming console as previously rumored. The footage also shows infrared cameras, bigger shoulder buttons, and apparent pedal buttons on the backs.

The thick and rounded profile of the Joy-Con lines up with a previously alleged leak that appeared to show the Switch 2 mostly looks like an upgraded version of the existing console. A bit wider, perhaps a bit heavier, but no real stylistic flourishes or other distinguishing characteristics. One possibility was that those artistic renderings were purely speculative. Similarly, it’s possible the footage could be of an elaborate 3D printed fake based on those renderings, rather than a real unit currently in production.

The recent glimpses come just as fans try to predict just when Nintendo will launch its next console. The original Switch came out in March and had a banner first year thanks to mega-exclusives like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. But there were also previously reports that the Switch 2 was originally set to come out this year and was only pushed to 2025 to avoid manufacturing shortages and a lack of big first-party games at release.

Recent reports from various companies in the Nintendo supply chain have shown dramatic upticks in spending on components that would be used for a Switch 2, with suggestions by some observers that the company could have millions of completed consoles already assembled by the spring. All we know for sure at this point is that Nintendo plans to make an announcement about its upcoming console before April 2025.

In the meantime, the company has confirmed things like full backwards compatibility with the current Switch, likely in an effort to encourage people to still invest in the current hardware ecosystem through the holiday season. Nintendo still plans to sell millions more of the existing console, and potentially even beat the PlayStation 2’s all-time sales record at some point in the future.

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