Last week, The Verge's Ash Parrish got to play with the new Nintendo Switch 2. We got over our outrageous jealousy long enough to ask her all about it: what it's like to hold, how the screen looks, whether the mouse-control is any good, and much more. Ash gives us the good news, and the bad news, on everything we now know about the Switch 2. (We do talk about the price, but we recorded before the Trump administration launched its massive new tariff push — so you can consider the price even worse news than we thought.) After that, The Verge's Tom Warren joins the show to talk about Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration, how the company has stayed so resilient for so long, and whether AI is really the next five-decade project for one of the world's biggest companies. Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about how you should change your shopping habits in a tariff-filled world. It's hard to know where we'll be in a few months, but it sure doesn't look like gadgets are getting any cheaper. Further reading: New Star GP, the game: https://www.newstargames.com/ Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on: it’s all in the games: https://www.theverge.com/nintendo/642420/nintendo-switch-2-hands-on-preview All of the Nintendo Switch 2 news, hands-ons, and trailers: https://www.theverge.com/nintendo/638604/nintendo-switch-2-direct-news-trailers-stream Donkey Kong Bananza was best in show at the Switch 2 hands-on: https://www.theverge.com/games/642699/donkey-kong-bananza-hands-on-preview-switch-2 I’m not sold on the Switch 2’s mouse-like controls: https://www.theverge.com/games/642493/nintendo-switch-mouse-controls-metroid-prime-4 Microsoft turns 50: https://www.theverge.com/news/643336/microsoft-50-years Why I’ve covered Microsoft for 25 years: https://www.theverge.com/notepad-microsoft-newsletter/643363/microsoft-tom-warren-reporting-notepad How Microsoft made it through 50 years: https://www.theverge.com/microsoft/643246/microsoft-50-business-model-cloud-ai The General Magic documentary: https://www.generalmagicthemovie.com/ Trump’s tariffs mean you’ll pay more for all gadgets: https://www.theverge.com/tech/643041/trump-tariff-consumer-electronics-gadgets-smartphones-laptops-wearables Trump’s tariffs put the iPhone in a tough spot: https://www.theverge.com/tech/642769/trump-tariff-smartphone-apple-samsung-google From The Wall Street Journal: Here’s the iPhone. Here’s the iPhone With Tariffs.: https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/iphone-apple-tariffs-china-bb20c7a3?mod=tech_lead_pos3 00:00 Intro and new gaming obsession 02:51 Nintendo Switch 2: first impressions 20:16 Switch 2 mouse controls and video chat 34:35 Microsoft's 50th anniversary event overview 40:12 Microsoft's future: AI and Copilot 01:04:16 - How tariffs affect smartphones (Vergecast Hotline) Subscribe: http://goo.gl/G5RXGs Like The Verge on Facebook: https://goo.gl/2P1aGc Follow on Twitter: https://goo.gl/XTWX61 Follow on Instagram: https://goo.gl/7ZeLvX Follow on TikTok: http://bit.ly/42VeCVU The Vergecast Podcast: https://pod.link/vergecast Decoder with Nilay Patel: https://link.chtbl.com/decoder More about our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts Read More: http://www.theverge.com Community guidelines: http://bit.ly/2D0hlAv Wallpapers from The Verge: https://bit.ly/2xQXYJr If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may receive a commission without exerting any influence on editorial content. For more information about our ethics policy, visit: https://bit.ly/3P4bJgz