The Switch 2’s $50 price increase is happening next week

The Verge » Games RSS Feed✍ Cameron Faulkner📅 August 26, 2026⏱ 2 min read(about 3 hours ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

This is a friendly reminder that the Nintendo Switch 2 will jump in price by $50 starting on September 1st. That’s next Tuesday! The company gave plenty of notice, but the time has finally come. The base 256GB model that ships without a game will go from $449.99 to $499.99. Nintendo recently announced two bundles […]

If you’re on the fence for a Switch 2, now is a pretty good time to buy one — not just because of the upcoming price increase. The game library is stellar and growing quickly, and the console itself is great, too. You’ll need one to play the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Duskbloods, and plenty of other upcoming games.

Not that the Switch 2 was ever cheap, but it was one of a few devices left out there that didn’t quickly get more expensive due to RAMageddon. Alas, no tech product will escape RAMageddon unscathed, especially one like the Switch 2 that has speedy RAM and storage. Almost all competing handhelds cost more than before, too, though Nintendo’s $50 price increase is soft compared to the $200-plus increase for the Steam Deck OLED .

And, in case you were wondering, we’ve tested some great Switch 2 accessories, and have put our favorites into respective articles that deliver multiple options. We landed on the best cases, the best screen protectors, and the best controllers, too.

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🍄 Nintendo Switch, Multi-platform

Elden Ring On Switch 2 – The Worst Way To Play The Best Game

!Game Informer News(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/06/04/51cc860d/eldenringswitch2.jpg.webp) Firstly, I admit my headline is hyperbolic. Best and worst are subjective and neither word is fully applicable when it comes to Elden Ring on Switch 2. The wordier, more accurate headline that would not inspire the precious clicks that we need to survive in this media ~~hellscape~~ landscape is, “Elden Ring is Okay on Switch 2, so if you can play it somewhere else I would recommend that, but if this is your only option and you haven’t already played it, then this version will get the job done.” I played about two hours of Elden Ring on Switch 2 in docked mode. Moving through the tutorial in the caves feels pretty good. It does not hit 60 FPS, unfortunately, but it is consistent, which is important. Leaving the caves and entering the open world is where the game stumbles, but not dangerously so. Swinging the camera around quickly in the open world is uncomfortable and jumping on your horse, Torrent, is where I felt the game struggle the most. But it’s not a disaster. And to be fair, wildly swinging the camera around in the open world is not how anyone plays Elden Ring. Jumping into the little pockets of combat strewn across the open world was more than manageable, as you are focusing the camera on your enemy, not the insane looking castle in the distance. !Game Informer News(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/08/21/650fa7ce/screenshot-00001.jpg.webp) When I encountered monsters like the lovely fella seen above, the game also did not struggle as I feared it would. Playing Elden Ring on Switch 2 made me think of Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo 64, which was personally my first experience with the franchise. The N64 version of that game had some improvements compared to its PlayStation counterpart, but its cutscenes and backgrounds were highly compressed to fit on a cartridge instead of discs. It is generally considered the inferior version of the game, but is a perfectly reasonable way to play and when I was young, it was my only option. I did not feel as though I had missed on an important element of the Resident Evil 2 experience. If you’re in that boat, maybe a young or new player who only has a Switch 2 and no other available platforms, and you’re excited to play what some have called the best game ever made (again… subjective), then Elden Ring on Switch 2 will get the job done. I believe you will get the Elden Ring experience here, but with some asterisks. This is not a Switch 1 port of a PlayStation 5 game where the framerate is merely a suggestion and everything looks out of focus. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is a much better port than say, The Outer Worlds on Switch 1. However, if you’re like me and you put hundreds of hours into the game on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, or a solid PC, then you will see those asterisks the moment you load the game on Switch 2. You have a point of comparison and you won’t be able to get all those beautiful additional frames those platforms afforded you. You can read Game Informer’s review of Elden Ring(https://gameinformer.com/review/elden-ring/absolutely-astonishing-adventure) by following the link.

🎮 Elden Ring

GameNewsabout 3 hours ago

🍄 Nintendo Switch, Multi-platform

Elden Ring On Switch 2 Is A Compromise, But It’s A Surprisingly Good One

Elden Ring was in rough shape on Switch 2(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/elden-rings-switch-2-performance-isnt-that-great-reports-say/1100-6534171/) when people first tried it out last year, leading publisher Bandai Namco to significantly delay its launch plans(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/elden-rings-switch-2-performance-isnt-that-great-reports-say/1100-6534171/). It's now 2026, and ahead of its new release date of August 28, has that extra time in the development oven helped smooth out Elden Ring on the Nintendo hybrid console? Yes--but only to a certain point. Senior video producer Jake Dekker has spent over a week with the game, playing it in both docked and handheld modes. The key takeaway is that Elden Ring runs at a consistent frame rate, but not the highest one. "While there are certainly frame rate drops, it never hits the lows that we saw in some of that preview footage," Dekker explained. It runs a lot better. That being said, the frame rate is still far from perfect. I've done most of my playing docked, but I've also done some handheld, and you definitely notice those frame rate drops here and there. I don't think it's so bad that it's distracting or unplayable. But for those who played Elden Ring on PC, Xbox Series X, or PlayStation 5, you're definitely going to notice the frame rate. It's not hitting that smooth 60 frames per second that we saw in those versions. And to be honest, that is a little disappointing." https://youtu.be/Z73iKl-hlNA Bandai Namco hasn't officially confirmed the resolution and frame rate targets for Elden Ring on Switch 2 yet, but so far it looks like the game mostly hits a consistent 30fps in docked mode. While 60fps would make some of the tougher boss fights a little easier to handle--considering just how important timing is in them--having the game run at a cinematic frame rate doesn't make it unplayable. If you don't mind seeing a smaller number of frames per second, you'll still be in for a good time, as the Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 includes both Elden Ring and its critically acclaimed Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. That's a chunky amount of content for $80, and this version of the game throws in new skins for your steed Torrent, unique in-game armor sets and skins, and two new classes: the Heavy Knight and the Idus Knight. But if you've already played a lot of Elden Ring in the last couple of years, your mileage may vary on the value proposition--plus, you can stick to a version of the game that offers more technical options for enjoying its visuals on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. And if the 30fps frame rate is a dealbreaker for you? From Software's The Duskbloods should satisfy that craving for a 60fps souls-like experience when it eventually launches for Switch 2, as early gameplay looks promising(https://youtu.be/PK2m1pr27q0). https://youtu.be/PK2m1pr27q0

🎮 Elden Ring🎮 Elden Ring On Switch 2

GameSpotNewsabout 6 hours ago

🍄 Nintendo Switch, Multi-platform

Elden Ring On Switch 2 – The Worst Way To Play The Best Game | New Gameplay Today

!Game Informer News(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/06/04/51cc860d/eldenringswitch2.jpg.webp) Firstly, I admit my headline is hyperbolic. Best and worst are subjective and neither word is fully applicable when it comes to Elden Ring on Switch 2. The wordier, more accurate headline that would not inspire the precious clicks that we need to survive in this media ~~hellscape~~ landscape is, “Elden Ring is Okay on Switch 2, so if you can play it somewhere else I would recommend that, but if this is your only option and you haven’t already played it somewhere else, then this version will get the job done.” VIDEO I played about two hours of Elden Ring on Switch 2 in docked mode. Moving through the tutorial in the caves feels pretty good. It does not hit 60 FPS, unfortunately, but it is consistent, which is important. Leaving the caves and entering the open world is where the game stumbles, but not dangerously so. Swinging the camera around quickly in the open world is uncomfortable and jumping on your horse, Torrent, is where I felt the game struggle the most. But it’s not a disaster. And to be fair, wildly swinging the camera around in the open world is not how anyone plays Elden Ring. Jumping into the little pockets of combat strewn across the open world was more than manageable, as you are focusing the camera on your enemy, not the insane looking castle in the distance. !Game Informer News(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/08/21/650fa7ce/screenshot-00001.jpg.webp) When I encountered monsters like the lovely fella seen above, the game also did not struggle as I feared it would. Playing Elden Ring on Switch 2 made me think of Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo 64, which was personally my first experience with the franchise. The N64 version of that game had some improvements compared to its PlayStation counterpart, but its cutscenes and backgrounds were highly compressed to fit on a cartridge instead of a disc. It is generally considered the inferior version of the game, but is a perfectly reasonable way to play the game and when I was young, it was my only option. If you’re in that boat, maybe a young or new player who only has a Switch 2 and no other available platforms, and you’re excited to play what some have called the best game ever made (again… subjective), then Elden Ring on Switch 2 will get the job done. I believe you will get the Elden Ring experience here, but with some asterisks. This is not a Switch 1 port of a PlayStation 5 game where the framerate is merely a suggestion and everything looks out of focus. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is a much better port than say, The Outer Worlds on Switch 1. However, if you’re like me and you put hundreds of hours into the game on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, or a solid PC, then you will see those asterisks the moment you load the game on Switch 2. You have a point of comparison and you won’t be able to get all those beautiful additional frames those platforms afforded you. You can read Game Informer’s review of Elden Ring(https://gameinformer.com/review/elden-ring/absolutely-astonishing-adventure) by following the link.

🎮 Elden Ring

GameNewsabout 7 hours ago

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