Today (July 10), Nintendo finally officially revealed the long-rumored Nintendo Switch Lite, a dedicated handheld version of the console that will be smaller and lack some features available with the normal Switch, but will be $100 cheaper. The Switch Lite will launch with three possible color schemes, but an edition celebrating the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield will be coming out a little later.
The Switch Lite will launch in September in yellow, grey, and turquoise, but those who wait a little longer will have another option to choose from. In November, the Zacian and Zamazenta Edition of the Switch Lite will be released, which will have a light grey color with cyan buttons on the left and magenta buttons on the right, as well as illustrations of Zacian and Zamazenta, the two Legendary Pokémon that will appear on the covers of Pokémon Sword and Shield, on the back of the console.
Releasing a Pokémon-themed Switch Lite is a nice nod to the fact that mainline Pokémon games started off being exclusive to Nintendo’s handheld consoles, a trend that continued for almost twenty years until the Switch took over as both Nintendo’s home console and handheld console. The Zacian and Zamazenta Edition of the Switch Lite will launch on November 8, just a week before Pokémon Sword and Shield launch on November 15.
