Nintendo has finally shown us a real-life Mario Kart World Switch 2 cartridge, and it sure does look like a Switch 1 cart, but red

Mario Kart World screenshot showing a racer almost getting eaten by a dinosaur
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The slow, daily drip feed of tiny pieces of Switch 2 news continues apace on the Nintendo Today app, and this time they've shown a look at the official console carrying case. This also serves as our first look at a real-life Switch 2 cartridge for Mario Kart World.

The publisher previously showed a generic digital mockup of the new cartridges at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, noting that they'd be "the same shape as Nintendo Switch game cards," but now red and with "much faster data reading speeds." Would you believe, then, that this new Mario Kart World cartridge looks just like a Switch 1 cart, but red?

Look, this is where we're at in the Switch 2 hype cycle: poring over the tiniest morsels of new info every day as we await the console's proper launch in a few weeks. You can see the carts for yourself in the Nintendo Today app, or in OatmealDome's capture of the video below.

[Switch 2] Here's a look inside the official Switch 2 carrying case. It has room for the console with the Joy-Con 2 attached, six cartridges, and two Joy-Con 2 straps. (Also, Switch 2 cartridges seem to be the same size as Switch 1 cartridges, to no one's surprise.) [image or embed]

— OatmealDome (@oatmealdome.bsky.social) May 19, 2025 at 10:14 AM

The new cartridge slot still fits the old Switch 1 cartridges just fine to allow for Switch 2 backwards compatibility, so it makes sense for both old and new carts to be the same shape and size – otherwise, the console might need two separate slots for games. Given all the other expenses around the Switch 2 launch, it's certainly a good thing we're not going to need a cartridge adapter on top of it all.

Despite Switch 2's controversial game-key cards, Nintendo president says "physical games are still a key part of our business."

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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