Actor Paul Rudd reprises his roleNintendo Advertisement, to promote the upcoming Switch 2. Rudd rose to fame in 1991 when he appeared in a commercial for the then-new Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The initial 30-second spot features a young Rudd walking into an abandoned drive-in theater and playing games like F-Zero, Super Play Action Football, Pilotwings, SimCity and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the big screen.
The crowd gathered and Nintendo ended the game with its SNES tagline "Now you're playing with power. Super Powers." For many people at the time, the ad will live in their minds forever - and these gamers were Nintendo's target customers.
The opening of the new ad is very similar to the original, with Rudd even wearing a similar outfit - a long black robe, an indie-rock style hairdo, and a beaded necklace. Instead of emphasizing the power of the console like the SNES, Rudd emphasized the Switch 2's multiplayer capabilities. “It was fun to play, but it’s even better this time because we get to play together,” he said.
The ad also features comedians Joe Lo Truglio and Jordan Carlos, who played Ladd's online friends in "Mario Kart."
Nintendo announced the Switch 2 in mid-January, but didn't reveal full details until a direct event earlier this month. The console features a 7.9-inch, 120 Hz variable refresh rate display, a custom NVIDIA processor/GPU, and 256GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD Express.
The Joy-Con controller of the game console has also been upgraded and can now be attached to the body through magnets. They can even be used in a new mode called "Mouse Mode".
The Switch 2 will be available for pre-order on April 24 for $450 (standard version) or $500 (bundle version that includes Mario Kart World). Pre-orders were originally scheduled to open on April 9, but "changes in global trade conditions" prompted Nintendo to reassess. The final price remains the same, but the prices of some accessories have increased slightly.