Here's a funny detail about opening the Zelda Switch 2: one of the first treats is a game case with no game in it. In Nintendo Life's unboxing, presenter Alex works through a package Nintendo UK sent over, and the case turns up empty at 2:15. Spawn Wave's unboxing goes narrower and looks at the matching Pro Controller.
Together, the two videos are a good look at what Nintendo's 40th anniversary hardware is like out of the box.
What this hardware is
First, a quick clear-up. The timing suggests an Ocarina of Time tie-in, but Video Games Chronicle reported that the console and controller mark 40 years of The Legend of Zelda, not the remake. Both were due on October 29. VGC also says a version of the Pro Controller with a display stand is sold only in Nintendo's own stores.
VGC's description of the design matches what the videos show: Triforce designs on the dock and Joy-Con, and a Pro Controller with green and black handles.
Zelda is hardly new to this treatment. VGC runs through more than two decades of it, from a gold Game Boy Advance SP in 2004 to a Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED. Nintendo has been dressing up its hardware in gold and Triforces for a very long time.
What the unboxings show
Nintendo Life's tour moves through a Zelda carrying case at 2:35, then the Pro Controller at 3:49. Alex says glossy controllers aren't a favorite and likes the softer finish here. That's an interesting wrinkle, because Spawn Wave prefers matte too, but at 2:09 calls out the glossy gold detailing and thinks it looks good. Two people, one controller, slightly different vocabulary. Finish is the sort of thing a video can only half show you, so take both as impressions.
The console itself arrives at 5:27, with gradient Joy-Con, and the dock gets its moment at 8:02. Alex finds the regular Switch 2 dock plain and much prefers this one.
Spawn Wave's video has the most practical note. The stand version includes a USB-C cable, which earns some praise at 1:28, but the stand is only a stand. At 5:14, Spawn Wave wishes it charged the controller too. If you were picturing a charging dock, adjust your expectations before you hunt one down.
The real side quest is finding one
The comments are the liveliest part, and here they tell you about mood, not facts. Under the Spawn Wave video especially, viewers traded stories of orders arriving, of missing out on the stand and of grumbling about scalpers. Under Nintendo Life's video, some viewers enjoyed spotting a small symbol in the case that they identified as a fairy from the original game, which is exactly the kind of thing Zelda fans would catch.
Is it worth chasing? If you collect, these videos show plenty of small touches to enjoy. If you only want to play Zelda, I'd say nothing here is essential, and the empty game case tells you what this really is: a very nice box of very nice things. Just don't expect a game inside it.
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