Nintendo To Launch Switch 2 In June For $449.99 - 1

Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash

Nintendo To Launch Switch 2 In June For $449.99

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The Japanese video game company Nintendo announced on Wednesday that the new Nintendo Switch 2 will be available for sale in the United States on June 5 at a retail price of $449.99. During a live presentation, experts showcased the new features of the device as well as images of the upcoming game Mario Kart World.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Nintendo announced that the new Switch 2 will be available for sale on June 5 in the U.S.
  • During a live event the video game company explained the new features and provided more details of the hardware and the upcoming games.
  • The new Mario Kart World game will also be launched on the same day.

The Japanese video game company Nintendo announced this Wednesday that the new Nintendo Switch 2 will be available for sale in the United States on June 5 at a retail price of $449.99. During a live presentation, the experts showcased the new features of the device as well as images of the upcoming game Mario Kart World.

Nintendo made the announcements during a Nintendo Direct , where the director Kouichi Kawamoto, producer Takuhiro Dohta, and hardware designer Tetsuya Sasaki provided more details about the new device and explained its most relevant features.

The team shared high-quality images of the new game Mario Kart World, launching exclusively for the new device on the same day. A new C button will allow players to activate a new function called GameChat, which connects users and allows video conferences and streaming—with a camera accessory sold separately.

“Nintendo Switch 2 is the next step in at-home gaming that can be taken on the go based on eight years of play and discovery that began with Nintendo Switch,” said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa in the official announcement shared by the company.

Millions of players all over the world watched the Nintendo Direct for the highly anticipated product, officially announced in January , and many shared mixed feelings on multiple social media channels.

“Watching this Direct and then immediately seeing Mario Kart World’s $79.99 price was like getting a hug followed by a stab to the back,” wrote one user.

According to Reuters , experts in the game industry shared similar thoughts. “The price is a bit higher than what was widely expected,” said Serkan Toto, founder of Kantan Games consultancy, to the news agency. Nintendo could have considered the current inflationary environment.

Another expert, Atul Goyal, noted that the device costs $334 in Japan—49,980 yen—and that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs could have been considered in the U.S. price.

However, in November, Nintendo said Nintendo Switch games will be compatible with the new hardware and the company reminded users of this characteristic in the latest announcement as well.

Digital Archivists Work to Save Public Data from Disappearing - 2

Screenshot of Internet Archive taken April 2025

Digital Archivists Work to Save Public Data from Disappearing

  • Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

For over 30 years, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has preserved government websites and datasets critical for research, as detailed in a new report by Spectrum .

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • The Wayback Machine maintains essential government data which serves as vital material for science and engineering research.
  • During Trump’s second presidential term more than 8,000 government web pages and databases disappeared from public access.
  • The Library Innovation Lab at Harvard University successfully preserved 311,000 datasets that were part of the Data.gov collection.

These records, from agencies like NASA and the National Science Foundation, provide essential data for scientists and engineers. If they disappear, research validity and historical accuracy are at risk, as noted by Spectrum.

Government data removal is not a new phenomenon. After 9/11, the Bush administration deleted millions of bytes of information for security reasons. The Obama administration took a different approach, launching Data.gov in 2009 to expand public access, as reported by Spectrum.

During Trump’s first term, researchers at the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative found some government websites inaccessible, and references to “climate change” were erased from multiple pages, says Spectrum.

During Trump’s second term, data preservation concerns have escalated. In February, The New York Times reported that more than 8,000 government web pages and databases were taken down.

Some have since reappeared, but Grist found changes, including the removal of terms like “climate change” and “clean energy.” On February 11, legal challenges followed, a federal judge ordered the restoration of certain CDC and FDA datasets, as reported by Spectrum.

To combat this loss, digital archivists have taken action. The Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School has copied Data.gov’s entire 16-terabyte archive—containing over 311,000 datasets. They use automated queries through APIs to keep it updated daily.

Archivists play a vital role in safeguarding knowledge by maintaining historical records for future generations. The loss of vital information through their absence would result in rewritten public records which would restrict future research possibilities.