Skip to main content

Nintendo reveals special-edition Mario Switch with red-and-blue color scheme

Nintendo revealed a new Mario-themed, special-edition Nintendo Switch model. The console features a red-and-blue color scheme and comes packaged with a bonus carrying case.

The new console launches on February 12 alongside Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. The special edition repaints the standard Switch model and costs the same amount at $300. Nintendo says that the console will be available at select retailers upon launch.

Recommended Videos

The Mario Switch is a little more decked out than other special Switch models. It comes with a solid red dock and a pair of matching Joy-cons. The plastic around the actual Switch screen is red as well, which is a first for special Switch models. The console comes with a blue Joy-Con grip.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

As an added bonus, a special Mario carrying case is included with the Switch. The red travel case features Mario iconography, including Mario’s overalls and gloves, and a screen protector.

While there have been a few special-edition Switches since the console launched in 2017, this is the most in-depth one yet. By comparison, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Fortnite Switch bundles only featured a special dock and Joy-Con colors. The Mario model goes one step further with the Joy-Con grip and color on the console itself.

A listing for the special-edition console is currently up on Nintendo’s website. Nintendo sells hardware directly through its website, as well as linking to third-party retailers, so it’s worth staking out the page. Nintendo has yet to say when the console will be available for pre-order.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
The best Nintendo launch games, ranked
Link in promo art for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The lines between console generations have become more blurred than ever thanks to tons of cross-generation games, remakes, and remasters. However, a system's launch lineup is still very important for giving early adopters a peak at what the power of that new system can do. Nintendo consoles more than any other have provided some of the best launch games to the point that most of the best NES games, best N64 games, and best Switch games are all launch titles. Typically, launch games are overshadowed by games that come later in the generation but which ones have stood the test of time best? These are the best launch games on all Nintendo platforms, ranked.
9. Nintendogs + Cats - 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS had one of the largest launch lineups of any Nintendo system, yet was easily the weakest of them all. Nintendo didn't have its major franchises here to push its new 3D system and instead relied on games like Pilot Wings Resort, Steel Diver, and Nintendogs + Cats to hold things down until more impressive games were ready. Of that list, Nintendogs + Cats at least appeals to a select audience in a big way. This is yet another pet simulator game that took off on the original DS, only now with 3D and AR compatibility, but offered little new in terms of gameplay. While not bad, it was certainly a weak title to show off the 3DS and give people a reason to upgrade from the DS.
8. Luigi's Mansion

Read more
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition doesn’t mess with what already works
Three figures clothed in sci-fi military gear run through a green alien world.

Everybody has their gaming white whale. For me, and plenty of RPG fans, that is the Xeno series from Tetsuya Takahashi and Monolith Soft. With decades of real-world and in-game lore across multiple entries known for intimidating runtimes and complex interconnected philosophical stories, it has reached a near mythic level. So it’s only apt that my time with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition begins with a Moby Dick reference in the form of a spaceship called the USS White Whale.

A remaster of the original 2015 Wii U game, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is set to release for the Nintendo Switch on March 20. As a standalone story, it acts as one of the best entry points to an intimidating series. For me, it might just be the one I finally roll credits on. In the opening hours of the game I’ve played so far, carefully chosen improvements to the original amplify an already exceptional open world I am eager to get lost in.
A strange new world
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition begins with the USS White Whale crash landing on the planet Mira. This strands the remnants of humanity, fleeing from an intergalactic war Earth got caught in the middle of, on an alien world with few resources. Beyond a stylish opening cinematic and some expository dialogue in the game’s opening hour, Xenoblade Chronicles X sees fit to let you lose on the world without much preamble. This is to its benefit, as feeling like a stranger in a strange land is very much the point of the story.

Read more
Nintendo is doing away with Gold Points after March 24
Two men browse the soon to be defunct Wii U eShop.

Nintendo's excellent Gold Points reward program is going the way of Ultima on March 24. The program first launched in March 2016 and allowed customers to earn points for purchasing both physical and digital games, and those points could be used toward future purchases. Earned points were equivalent to roughly 5% of the price, so a $60 purchase would give the shopper around $3.

That said, you can still use any Gold Points you have saved up, and you can continue to earn them until March 24. After that, you won't be able to earn additional points, but any existing points will remain valid for 12 months after you received them. There's another caveat: any physical game purchases can still be redeemed for points, even after the cutoff date.

Read more