Nintendo’s next-gen console: Here’s what we know about ‘Switch 2’

Nintendo’s next-generation console is slowly starting to come into focus. VGC, in a report citing anonymous developers, claims that the Switch’s successor should be available by 2024. Some “key partner studios” reportedly already have development kits for the Switch successor.

While details on Nintendo’s next-gen hardware are scant, it will reportedly be playable as a portable device, just like the Nintendo Switch, and will support cartridge-based games. The system will reportedly feature an LCD screen, not an OLED screen, which aligns with reporting from Bloomberg that Sharp is manufacturing LCD screens for a “new gaming console.”

The latest report on what is colloquially known as “Switch 2” is in line with Nikkei Asia’s reporting from May, which said that a new Nintendo console is in the works and could be ready next year. VGC editor-in-chief Andy Robinson said in a video discussion supplementing his story that he expects “the floodgates are going to open” as more studios get their hands on Nintendo’s next-gen dev kits.

Nintendo hasn’t announced its new console formally, but has effectively said that it won’t be released before April 1, 2024. The company announced earlier this summer that they wanted to boost Switch’s sales through new games, add-ons and other content. Nintendo’s current lineup includes new games and DLC for some of its biggest franchises, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Detective Pikachu ReturnsA Super Mario RPG remake, The WarioWare series: Move it!A new Princess Peach Game, as well as two add-ons to Pokémon ScarletYou can also find out more about the following: VioletIt is called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The release date for most of these games is 2023, however the Princess Peach and remake of Area Zero have a 2019 release date. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark MoonAre scheduled for 2024.

What is the best way to get in touch with you? You can learn more about this by clicking here.What has Nintendo revealed about the next-gen Nintendo console?

In June, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa addressed the company’s next-gen hardware obliquely, saying that it hoped to provide a smooth transition from the Switch to a new platform. “As for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next-generation machine,” Furukawa said in translated remarks at an investor meeting, “we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers, while utilizing the Nintendo Account.”

Nintendo is in the somewhat unenviable position of repeating its success with the Switch — which has sold more than 125 million units since launching in 2017 — with a new platform. Furukawa’s comments about Nintendo Accounts, which are tied to digital purchases, may have hinted at some level of backward compatibility. Backward compatibility would appear to be important, given that more than one billion Switch games have been sold. But VGC reports that some third-party publishers have “expressed concern that legacy support for Switch games could negatively affect sales of next-gen titles.”

Nintendo Switch 2 release date?

Nintendo’s next-generation console is expected to arrive in late summer, or even fall. This would be different from the launch of its original Switch which was March 2017. VGC reports that Nintendo wants to make sure there is enough stock of the Switch successor in order to prevent shortages during the holiday season.

For some historical context, Nintendo revealed the Wii U in June 2011 at that year’s E3, but didn’t release that console until 16 months later. For the Switch, Nintendo announced the systems’ code name, NX, in 2015, but didn’t show off the console’s form factor and capabilities until October 2016. Five months after the announcement of NX, Nintendo released Switch. In other words, Nintendo’s official rollout of next-gen news might not happen for months — or even close to a year, if the system is launching after July 1.

Does the Nintendo Switch 2 have backward compatibility with the original Switch?

That’s still unclear. Nintendo’s backward compatible games are available on Wii U and other consoles.

VGC’s Andy Robinson reported that some publishers are supposedly skittish about launching games on a new console with a library of thousands of existing previous-generation titles as day-one competition. But Nintendo choosing It is not clear how to get there. to carry over Switch owners’ libraries to a new console generation would certainly be a mark against the new system. Nintendo might not find it feasible to engineer the system. There are many technical obstacles that Nintendo must overcome.

Nintendo is also making a comfortable profit by rereleasing old games on the new hardware. Wii U game Mario Kart 8 wound up being the Switch’s greatest success — Nintendo’s repackaged and expanded version of the kart racer has sold more than 53 million copies on Switch.

When will Nintendo unveil more information about the next-generation console?

That’s almost impossible to say. But after events like September’s Tokyo Game Show, the company may begin talking more about the system. It’s possible Nintendo may not say anything until 2024, in an effort to maintain Switch hardware sales. Nintendo, unlike the WIi U generation, isn’t obligated to announce its new system at E3 events (which might not happen until 2024).