It's not the Switch 2, but Nintendo's got hardware news: its $100 alarm clock is coming to retail

News
By published

This is definitely the announcement you were hoping for, right?

A promotional image of Nintendo's Alarmo alarm clock.
(Image credit: Nintendo)

As ever, Nintendo is absolutely unbothered by thoughts of what you want from the company. A Switch 2 announcement? Oh, Nintendo's got a hardware announcement for you, all right: the fancy little $100 alarm clock it launched last year is coming to retail.

Yes, Alarmo – previously available only through Nintendo's official site for those who'd paid for a Switch Online subscription – will "be available in stores at participating retailers in March 2025, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required," the company announced on social media today.

A Nintendo alarm clock would've raised eyebrows anytime, but in 2024, as fans grasped ever more desperately for word of the company's next console, the notion of a big hardware announcement for an expensive novelty clock stood out even more.

Now, months later, the anticipation for Nintendo's next console has grown even more, and now multiple reports are suggesting the Switch could be revealed as soon as this week. It's just after this most recent round of reports came along that Nintendo decided to once again deliver Alarmo news, and honestly I can't think of a more Nintendo-like maneuver than that.

For its part, Nintendo has confirmed it plans to unveil its next console by March 31, so either way we don't have to wait too much longer before all this is behind us. If it takes until the end of March for us to hear about Switch 2, well, at least you'll be able to pass the time by heading out to buy an Alarmo at your favorite retailer.

With no Switch 2 in sight and an alarm clock filling the hardware void, 2024 was a year of anticipation for Nintendo.

Dustin Bailey
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.