Nintendo fans flocked to Television City studio complex Friday through Sunday to get an exclusive first look at the video game company’s next console, the Nintendo Switch 2, before its scheduled release June 5. Attendees had over two hours to play demos of select games set to release on the new console, such as “Mario Kart World” and “Donkey Kong Bananza.” 

Other new titles like “Drag x Drive,” a wheelchair basketball game, allowed players to use the Joy-Con 2 controllers as mice, allowing players to mimic the motions of using a wheelchair. 

The event also included a number of remastered editions of games that were available on the original Nintendo Switch that take advantage of the console’s new features. The remastered edition of “Super Mario Party Jamboree” will be compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera and other compatible USB-C cameras, allowing players to see themselves on their screen while playing minigames. 

“New games and the ability to push the boundaries” are what excite longtime Nintendo fan and game developer Andrew Lum most about the new console. 

“‘Mario Kart World’ [can support] 24 players, and it’s open-world. They couldn’t have done that with the Switch 1. It wasn’t possible,” Lum said.

Mixed with high excitement for the console were concerns within the Nintendo community over the unexpectedly high price tag of roughly $450 for the Switch 2 and about $80 for the games. Additionally, preorders were originally scheduled to begin April 9, but Nintendo delayed this process in the United States following global tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.

Despite the high price and preorder uncertainties, Lum said he and his family are going to try to preorder the Switch 2 in hopes of getting the console as soon as it launches. 

“I’ve been making games for 20 years,” Lum said. “The cost of goods for that thing is 400 bucks. They can’t charge less than $450. Nintendo doesn’t develop consoles [as a] loss. They don’t, so they can’t afford to go any lower.”

Unlike Lum, some Nintendo fans aren’t as understanding of the price. Veteran Nintendo gamer Joe Polastre said he is excited to play the new games coming to the Switch 2, but the price is a point of concern.

“[The price] doesn’t seem reasonable, and the $80 games also don’t seem terribly reasonable,” Polastre said. “But I don’t know. That’s why I’m here — to see what it’s like, and maybe it is worth it.”

Nintendo also announced that some games would be more expensive by about $10 to buy as a physical cartridge as opposed to a digital download. Polastre said owning physical copies allows owners to resell their used games or give them to others, maintaining a sense of community between gamers.

“I like having the physical game and swapping them in and out, so I wish they would just stay the same price,” Polastre said. “With digital, you kind of lose that community sharing aspect that you get with physical games.”

Additional concerns and questions linger as tariffs could cause prices to continue increasing. The Trump administration issued a rule Friday that spared some electronics, but not video game consoles, from the tariffs. 

Regardless of the tariffs, Polastre said he will still probably try to buy the new console at launch. He hopes to see Nintendo make new Paper Mario games for the Switch 2. 

“I’ve got a 6-year-old at home who would love to play it,” Polastre said. “The price is gonna be what it is, and if it’s too expensive then I just won’t buy it or I’ll just wait.”

The threat of tariffs could drive away other less-committed fans such as Eli Karmon, a junior at Chapman University. Karmon said the current $450 price tag would not prevent him from picking up the console, but that might change if the price increased further.

“It costs what it costs, at least the console,” Karmon said. “Someone who knows less than I do said that it would cost $600 and, well, I’m not, definitely not paying that much. That’s too much.”

After attending the event, Karmon said he was less likely to purchase the Switch 2 based on the games on display. He said the only Nintendo franchise he is an avid fan of is the “Super Smash Bros.” series, which has yet to announce a new game for the new console.

“Not all the games are to my taste,” Karmon said. “[Nintendo was] kind of just advertising the ports, and I’m a PC player already so it’s not really that worth it to me, just for ‘Smash.’ I feel my friends play pretty competitively among ourselves, so I might get one for ‘Smash.’ Otherwise, it’s not exactly my cup of tea.”

While Karmon said he wishes there were more indie games on the new console, he was still impressed by the new mouse functionality of the controllers and the uniqueness of “Drag x Drive.” The game and his overall experience at the event left a positive impression on him despite his lack of enthusiasm for the current lineup of games set to release on the Switch 2.

“It’s pretty cool that they don’t make you pay like $100 [to attend],” Karmon said. “It’s nice to come to [Los Angeles], so I’m not mad at the event.”