OK, obviously cameras are not a new innovation in console gaming, and Nintendo themselves have experimented with them before with the DSi and various other devices. But the moment the Switch 2 Direct’s video started showing how it intended to use a camera, everything started getting that notorious Ninty weirdness. I smiled big.

Nintendo is launching a special camera accessory for the Switch 2 that will let you host video chats with your Switch friends. Simply called the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, it’s a camera on a stand designed to sit near you as you play. It will cost $49.99 when it launches on June 5th, the same day as the Switch 2.

With the official reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2, we were bound to get a few extra features teased. Mouse controls, magnetic Joy-Cons, a built-in microphone, a camera... wait. While the idea of sharing a game experience with friends online certainly has its appeal - one made stronger by a face-to-face connection - some people are just inherently uncomfortable with the idea of pointing a camera at the most important part of their living room.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor of eight years past as the video game developer pushes to bring its brand into “a new era” where social experiences are at the forefront

After getting a chance to demo Mario Kart World, it feels like the ideal launch companion for the Nintendo Switch 2.

I was excited to be among the first journalists to test the Nintendo Switch 2, but questions about its launch titles and price left me unsure about preordering.

NVIDIA said the Switch 2's DLSS support helps to give the console "ten times" the graphical performance of the original Switch. The tech lets games render games in a lower resolution, then uses trained AI models and dedicated Tensor Cores to fill in detail.

After the Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo released the full details of the upcoming console and games on its website. The price of Mario Kart World shocked gamers and led to some disdain, as the $80 MSRP was $10 more than what most new games cost today.

The $450 price tag is for the Switch 2 console alone, but Nintendo said it will also offer a bundle with the Switch 2 and a copy of the new Mario Kart World game, a Switch 2 exclusive, for $500. There's some fine-print attached to pre-ordering directly from Nintendo.