Here's When You Can Try the Switch 2 for Yourself
The Nintendo Switch 2 is now officially revealed, and ... we don't really know much about it yet. It's a little bigger, it's backwards compatible, and the joy-con controllers are magnetic, but aside from those scant few details, there's not much to get excited for yet, apart from a more detailed Switch 2 Direct set for April. Maybe that's why Nintendo is giving folks the opportunity to try the new Switch for themselves around the same time.
Announced on the company's website alongside the new console, the "Nintendo Switch 2 Experience" will give attendees the opportunity to go hands-on with Nintendo's upcoming console before release, which is set for some time this year.
The demos will kick off on April 4th in New York and Paris and slowly tour around the globe, with Seoul currently being last on the list with an event set for May 31 - June 1. A few cities, like Hong Kong and Taipei, also have yet to have their Switch 2 Experience dates announced.
Given that the whole point of the Switch 2 Experience is to try out the console before it releases, I suppose that this also hints that we can expect the official release date for the console to be set for sometime after June.
The Switch 2 demos will be ticketed, so you'll need to register to attend, and registration will unfortunately work a bit like a lottery. Registration kicks off tomorrow, Jan. 17, at 3 PM ET and runs through Jan. 26 at 11 PM local time. Once you're registered, you'll be entered into a chance to get a ticket; on the plus side, registrations and tickets are free and registering early does not make you any more eligible.
You can also register in up to groups of six, although each attendee above the age of six will need their own (free) Nintendo Account, presumably to cut down on people filing multiple registrations per person.
For anyone outside the U.S. looking to travel to New York for the earliest possible look at the device, I also have some bad news—the demos in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas are open to U.S. residents only. Paris appears to be available to anyone, however.
Registrations will open up on Nintendo's website tomorrow. Check the below to see the full schedule.
New York, April 4-6
Paris, April 4-6
Los Angeles, April 11-13
London, April 11-13
Dallas, April 25-27
Toronto, April 25-27
Tokyo, April 26-27
Milan, April 25-27
Berlin, April 25-27
Madrid, May 9-11
Amsterdam, May 9-11
Melbourne, May 10-11
Seoul, May 31-June 1
Hong Kong, TBA
Taipei, TBA