A night at New York’s biggest Switch 2 launch event

I’m standing outside the GameStop at Union Square in New York City on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, with plenty of cars rolling by and people basking in the late spring sun. On the corner of E 14th Street and University Place, a line has formed around the block.

Tonight is the official launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, a console people have been waiting for years to arrive. Some publications and influencers received theirs one day early, but for the rest of the world, tonight is the first opportunity to play it. And for a lot of the people in this line, that means they’re willing to wait a little longer.

By 7PM I’ve talked to plenty of people queued up, and the overwhelming sentiment is that everyone is excited for Mario Kart World.

“It’s been forever since the last one,” Kyle and Andrea tell me. “It only makes sense to get it now. Might as well.”

The last version, Mario Kart 8, first launched in 2014 for the Wii U, eventually becoming Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when it launched on the Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart World is the first truly new console edition in a decade, and fans are eager to start playing.

Chris has been waiting in line for about four hours and brought his own chair. He tells me that his friends have been working all day, so he’s trying to hold them a spot.

“These are crazy hard to get. I don’t have a lot to do today, so I’m gonna see if I can save a spot in line for them.”

Finally, I find one fan who tells me he’s excited for the Switch 2 because of its power. “I had the Switch and then the Switch OLED, and I’m honestly pretty stoked to run this thing at 4k 60fps. It’s a huge jump,” Anthony tells me.

Inside the store, staff has been working since 11AM, pre-processing customers to make tonight’s launch go smoothly. They take four people at a time from the line outside, check them out with consoles and accessories, and hand them a ticket with a number to come back and claim later. There are still a few hours to go, so most people are walking down the street to grab dinner or drinks.

To tide over patient customers, GameStop has set up various stations. There’s a body painter giving people Nintendo-themed paint-jobs, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate set up, and, of course, Mario Kart. Kids flank the stations while their parents check out, and the store even lined up a DJ to keep people entertained.

GameStop has completely outfitted the store with Mario-themed ornaments. There are full-sized cardboard cutouts of various characters spread throughout, and a map of Mario Kart World embedded into the floor. It’s clear the retailer knew this would be a massive launch, and it decked out the store to help fans celebrate.

Around 9PM, Doug Bowser, the CEO of Nintendo of America, makes a surprise appearance. Bowser talks to customers and recites a likely pre-scripted conversation with GameStop staff on camera which will probably appear in a LinkedIn post, then moves to the mural on the wall for a photo with employees.

I asked Bowser what he was most excited for, and he blasts off a quick speech about Mario Kart. It’s expected at this point — a theme of the night.

People start merging back into the line at 11PM, now stretching down the block and around the corner. Earlier in the night, GamStop employees handed out raffle tickets for free games, and they start calling numbers for the winners. If you won, you were graced with a copy of Splatoon 3, a game not currently updated to take advantage of the Switch 2’s superior hardware.

At 11:55PM I head inside, alongside the first few customers awaiting the midnight release. Dawn is the first to receive his Switch 2 after waiting outside this GameStop since 4:17AM.

“I can’t really believe I’ve been waiting this long, but it was worth it.” Everyone cheers and the line starts flowing faster. Crowds of people who didn’t pre-pay for the console continue to show up and get in line. They’ll probably be here until morning.

I left the store about 30 minutes after release, wondering how many instances of anecdotal evidence it would take to make the console a success. But if this store is anything to go by, the Nintendo Switch 2 is already a hit.

Photography by David Imel.