Nintendo has finally put the whole roster on one page. In an October 16 post, six days before launch, Nintendo laid out every sport in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort: two new sports, ten returning ones and a Jump Rope warm-up for anyone who wants to stretch before swinging a Joy-Con 2 around the living room. The game arrives October 22, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, at US$49.99.
None of this is a surprise reveal. Nintendo announced the game back on June 9, when pre-orders opened and Nintendo Life described it as "a modern version of Wii Sports Resort with new mini-games." What the October post adds is clarity: which activities are actually new, which ones are coming back, and how each one is meant to be played.
The two new sports
Thumb Wrestling is exactly as literal as it sounds. Nintendo's rule is simple: "Pin your opponent's thumb for three seconds to win." Holding your thumb down makes it bigger and stronger, which is the kind of sentence that only makes sense in a Nintendo sports game. Nintendo Life's June report adds that you hold a single Joy-Con 2 upright to play it.
Skateboarding is the more interesting experiment. Nintendo says it uses the Joy-Con 2 as a mouse, letting you grind rails, slide around and pull off aerial tricks. That makes it one of the clearest showcases yet for the mouse-style input built into Switch 2's controllers. Game Informer's Brian Shea, writing in an October 6 preview, described holding one Joy-Con like a computer mouse and mimicking a kick-push, tilting to steer and lifting it off the surface to jump. He called the control methods intuitive, though that is a hands-on impression rather than a verdict on the finished game.
The ten returning sports
Nintendo lists the returning lineup as Power Cruising, Archery, Bowling, Table Tennis, Boxing, Prop Plane, Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball and Golf. The official post sketches how several of them work:
- Power Cruising: steer with any pair of Joy-Con, and twist for an instant boost.
- Archery: draw, aim and shoot, with wind able to push your shot off course.
- Bowling: twist the controller to add spin.
- Prop Plane: tilt to speed up and roll while firing at balloons.
- Tennis: any Joy-Con works as the racket.
Boxing, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball and Golf get lighter descriptions, built around punches, quick shots, spikes, dribbles and swings. Everything is set on Wuhu Island, which Nintendo now frames as a resort full of tourist attractions and sports facilities.
Game Informer's preview also points to more structure than a pure party box. Shea describes Island Crown, a single-player mode in which you climb ranks against 20 CPU opponents across nine sports, plus collectibles around the island that earn points for customizing your character. Nintendo Life's June report adds that you can play as a Sportsmate or as a Mii.
What to know before October 22
Nintendo says you can play all 12 sports solo or with a friend, in person or online. Online play requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership and a Nintendo Account, and some multiplayer setups may need extra accessories sold separately. Alongside the standalone game, Nintendo lists a Nintendo Switch 2 + Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundle at US$529.99.
So yes, Nintendo is reviving a Wii-era sports collection for a new console's motion controls again. It has done this before, and it clearly knows the formula. The twist this time is the mouse. Thumb Wrestling is the sport most likely to end in a living-room argument about whose thumb was really bigger, but Skateboarding is the one that actually shows off what Switch 2's controllers can do that the original Switch's could not. Nintendo's October 16 post does not mention any further sports or post-launch updates, so for now, this is the full day-one lineup.
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