Nintendo announced via Twitter that a special edition Animal Crossing: New Horizons-themed Switch console is coming out on March 13, a week ahead of the game’s release. The console leans very much into the island motif of the upcoming slice of life game. Let’s take a look at this gorgeous piece of hardware!
The #NintendoSwitch #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons Aloha Edition Carrying Case & Screen Protector will also be available for purchase on 3/13! pic.twitter.com/NOyviTGmPt
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 31, 2020
The Switch
The Nintendo Switch itself doesn’t appear super different at first glance. We don’t even know for sure if it’s the newer HAC-001(-01) model with improved battery life, but I would assume that it is. The console is standard black, but when you turn the Switch around you find textures of islands and ocean across the back surface. This might be my favorite detail of the console, which is subtle and beautiful without being too on the nose. I wish more Switch variants had this design sensibility.
FanFyte editor and Fire Emblem: Three Houses liker LB Hunktears says of this Switch model, “It’s so cute and I want one!” over and over in the Fanbyte offices.
The Joy-Con
For a special console, you need special Joy-Con, right? The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch comes with a mint green left Joy-Con and cool blue right Joy-Con. The blue is a very nice blue. It’s nice to look at. What a blue this is. But the mint? I cannot express to you the depth of how they’ve nailed this mint color. I’ll let Guildlings and Threes developer Asher Vollmer weigh in via unsolicited tweet:
the new switch is the perfect shade of mint and I am DYING
— Asher Vollmer (@AsherVo) January 31, 2020
This green, I tell ya. There aren’t enough chef kiss emojis in the world. Each Joy-Con comes with a similarly-colored strap for extra security when not tethered to the console. These might be the most beautiful Joy-Con ever produced and I hope Nintendo decides to sell them separately. Nintendo. Please.
The Base
The dock of this Switch variant has a full design on it, featuring some of the Nook kids holding a flag on a an adorably small island. This might be the only divisive part of the console’s design. It’s a cute scene but why not more villagers than the rowdy Nook kids? It seems a little half-baked and besides, a full base design is a little tackier than the elegant parts of the console itself and the Joy-Con. This had a mixed reaction in the Fanbyte offices, but still, it’s nice they went all in on the Animal Crossingness.
The Case
Separately from the Switch console, Nintendo is selling an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Aloha Edition carrying case and screen protector. In a genius level move, the case is in the same beautiful mint green as the left Joy-Con with the familiar leaf design from the series. It’s simple and recognizable and I’d love to tote my Switch around in this case if I didn’t already have an excellent.
There’s no word on how much the case will cost, but it will be available the same day as the console, March 13. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch retails for $299.99. Start saving your bells!
