It’s been an exciting day in video games, with Nintendo finally lifting the lid on its highly-anticipated and highly-leaked Switch 2, unveiling the new console with a short video that shows off the external look and features along with a tease of a potential new Mario Kart game and… little else.
Thankfully, while we still don’t have a release date for the Nintendo Switch 2 beyond “2025,” fans in select cities won’t have to wait as long to actually get their hands around the new machine. Nintendo has also announced that it’s planning a “Nintendo Switch 2 Experience” global tour, where lucky punters will be able to try out the Switch 2 for themselves ahead of launch, much like it did with the original Switch.
And like last time, Melbourne gamers are among that lucky cohort of major cities across the world with an event coming to their town.
The Melbourne leg of the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience will take place on May 10th – May 11th at Centrepiece at Melbourne Park. It will be a ticketed event with free tickets going out to randomly selected entrants, not unlike the Nintendo Live event in Sydney last year. Registration will be limited to free Nintendo account holders and goes live tomorrow, January 18th, at 11AM AEDT until January 26th at 11:59PM AEDT.
Here’s all of that info in a nutshell:
Nintendo Switch 2 Experience Melbourne Ticket Details
- Registrations will be available at the official Nintendo website and open on January 18th at 11AM AEDT and close on January 26th at 11:59PM AEDT
- The event takes place on May 10th – May 11th, 2025, at Centrepiece at Melbourne Park, Olympic Blvd, Melbourne
- The gameplay experience is expected to last around 3 hours and 30 minutes
- A free Nintendo account is required to register
- Winners of the free tickets to the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience will be notified by email to the email address associated with their Nintendo account. The email will come from no-reply@noa.nintendo.com
- You will be able to register for up to four tickets, when registering for a group, each member of the group must have a Nintendo Account that is linked to the same Nintendo Account Family group
- You must be at least 18 years of age to register. Younger players can attend if a parent/guardian creates a Child Nintendo account linked to their Family account and registers for them
- Attendees will be given a time window in which they must attend the event, rocking up early means you’ll need to wait and coming late may mean you’ll miss out
- The gameplay experience will include some specifically-curated games as well as time afterwards for attendees to choose their own games to play from a selection of demos
You can find more information in the lengthy FAQ here.
Presumably, this event will feature hands-on with Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles, which we’d expect to be revealed at the upcoming Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 showcase which is airing on April 2nd (time zones permitting).
What do you think of this upcoming in-person event? Will you be throwing your hat in the ring for a chance to attend? Let us know in the comments below or over on social media.
Kieron's been gaming ever since he could first speak the words "Blast Processing" and hasn't lost his love for platformers and JRPGs since. A connoisseur of avant-garde indie experiences and underground cult classics, Kieron is a devout worshipper at the churches of Double Fine and Annapurna Interactive, to drop just a couple of names.
