Nintendo plans to launch a Swap 2 revision within the European Union that may let customers exchange their very own batteries, Nikkei reports. The present model of the Swap 2 has a glued-in battery. However Nintendo apparently plans to make the change as a way to adjust to EU guidelines going into impact in February 2027 that may require gadgets to let customers simply swap out transportable batteries.
The brand new model of the Swap 2 might be launched “quickly,” and each the console and the Pleasure-Cons can have replaceable batteries, in line with Nikkei. In Japan, the console’s specs will stay the identical, Nikkei says. Nintendo didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Verge.
Ought to this Swap 2 revision be launched within the EU and stay unique to the area, it wouldn’t be the primary time a device-maker has determined to do one thing like that; FujiFilm’s Instax Mini Hyperlink 3 has a user-replaceable NP-70S battery, but only if you’re in Europe.
However I’m actually hoping Nintendo launches this revision extra broadly. Cellphone makers particularly have been higher about providing extra repairable devices in recent times — maybe in response to right-to-repair legislation — and now that console generations are lasting for nearly a decade, any method that Nintendo (or different recreation {hardware} makers) could make its gadgets simpler to make use of for longer with out pricey repairs or replacements could be a lot welcomed.