The Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 Console Is Gorgeous and Game-Free

Nintendo finally made a Switch 2 that doesn't look like every other Switch 2. The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition, shown off at Tuesday's Zelda Direct, is a black console with gold Triforce patterns across the back, dark green Joy-Con 2 controllers with Triforce detailing (and, per Siliconera, Zelda pixel art on the back of the right one), and a black dock with one big gold Triforce on the front. The wrist straps match too. It launches October 29, one week before the Ocarina of Time remake arrives on November 5.

It's the first special-design Switch 2 hardware since the system came out last year, and the first time the Joy-Con 2 has shipped in a color other than black. I'd have bought it for the dock alone. Then I read the fine print.

What's in the box (and what isn't)

Nintendo's Japanese press release lists the contents: the console, a pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers, the dock, wrist straps, the Joy-Con 2 grip, an AC adapter, a USB-C cable, and an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable. That is exactly what comes with a regular Switch 2, in nicer colors. The same release says, in so many words, "This product does not come with a game."

So the Ocarina of Time remake, the reason this console exists, is a separate purchase. Nintendo does this with most of its special-edition hardware, and the gap here is only a week, but it still stings a little to buy a Zelda console and then wait for the Zelda.

A matching Pro Controller launches the same day, with or without a display stand (the stand version is a Nintendo Store exclusive), along with a Zelda carrying case that includes a screen protector. We're covering the controller separately.

The price, or the lack of one

This is where I'd normally tell you how much it costs. In the US, I can't. Nintendo's American announcement gives a date and no price, and it hasn't said when pre-orders open. Kotaku spotted a Best Buy page listing it at $520, but that's a retailer listing, not a Nintendo number, so don't plan around it. The one official price we have is in Japan, where the Japanese-language version is 62,980 yen. Nintendo Australia has it listed at AU$799.95, according to TechRadar.

The Japan figure does tell you something, though. The standard Japanese-language Switch 2 went up to 59,980 yen in May, so Nintendo is charging a 3,000 yen premium over the base console for the Zelda design, roughly five percent. If the US follows the same logic, expect a modest bump over the base price rather than a big one.

And the base price is the awkward part. The standard Switch 2 went from $449.99 to $499.99 in the US on September 1, and the Mario Kart World bundle moved to $549.99. Nintendo pinned the increase on "market conditions" it expects to stick around. A week after that hike lands, the company is showing off its prettiest hardware yet, without a game, at a price it won't name.

Who this is for

If you already own a Switch 2, this is a hard sell. The Joy-Con 2 and dock aren't sold separately, so the only way to get the green controllers is to buy a second console. The matching Pro Controller and case get you most of the look on your existing system for a lot less.

If you've been waiting to buy a Switch 2 at all, the math is friendlier. You were going to pay $499.99 or more anyway. Paying a bit extra for the Triforce dock and a set of controllers you can't buy any other way, timed to the Ocarina of Time remake, is the kind of small indulgence I'd forgive. Buy Ocarina of Time the week after, and it's a very good November.

Nintendo still hasn't given the US a price or a pre-order date. Until it does, assume you'll pay somewhere above $499.99 for the console and budget for the game on top.