Nintendo Switch's Successor

[Moonface]

Been seeing talk floating around today about the successor for the Nintendo Switch targeting a mid-2024 release window, and while I don't know how much truth there is to all of the claims coming out I figured it's pretty likely Nintendo is going to have a new console coming out soon given how there's practically nothing for the Switch coming out in 2024. Here's a rundown of all of the claims being made by sources who spoke about the matter, which for now seem to all be coming through a report from VGC:

• Development kits for Nintendo’s next console are now with key partner studios.
  
• Nintendo is likely to release new hardware during the second half of 2024, to ensure that it has ample stock available on day one and avoid shortages.
  
• Portable mode similar to the Switch.
  
• Could launch with an LCD screen, instead of the more premium OLED, in order to bring down costs.
  
• Greater storage capacity to handle the bigger file size of games may be a factor of greater costs elsewhere in the console.
  
• Will accept physical games via a cartridge slot.
  
• Backwards compatibility remains unclear.
  

Sources:

• VGC | Sources: Nintendo targets 2024 with next-gen console
  

Obviously everything should be taken with a pinch of salt, but regardless of what turns out to be correct or not, what do you hope for with the next Nintendo console?

For me, I think if they don't go with the OLED screen as standard at launch then offer two SKU's where one has the LED and one doesn't, but considering that every new Switch console being released currently is an OLED I think it would be weird to have the successor downgrade to the older LED screen just for the sake of costs. I can't say I can ever recall a new console having something in it that was worse than what the most recent model of its predecessor had, but with how Nintendo can make some really questionable decisions it would not surprise me for them to do it. If there isn't an OLED version at launch I'd probably refuse to grab this console until an OLED model inevitably comes out.

A portable mode is a must if you ask me, just because I love the way the Switch works and I wouldn't want to lose that at this point, especially since we all know Nintendo isn't ever going to do a home only console that comes close to any of the other home console offerings on the market so the portability gives it an edge and makes up for the lack of power. That said, when the Switch released it was the only thing doing what it does, whereas now we have stuff like the Steam Deck which gives Nintendo something it has to measure up against to a degree.

I'd expect backwards compatibility in it just because of the install base in the Switch already, and the portability is rather wasted up front if people are having to choose between taking their Switch with a ton of games or taking this new thing with far less games on it with them somewhere. It's much better to just let anyone who buys this console near launch to just get to take that single system out of the house with them and let it run their Switch library, especially if the better hardware lets Switch games run better. The new system only has to say stuff like "TotK runs at 60fps" and that would give it a lot of appeal I think, especially if the launch library isn't appealing enough to certain people to buy the new system at launch on that alone.

Not too sure what else I'd want from a new Nintendo console (that's realistic at least) except to just not give it a stupid name. Don't give it something fancy if you're going to keep the Switch branding involved, just call it Switch 2. We don't need another Wii U or New Nintendo 3DS scenario of awful naming that condemns a console before it even comes out.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, I've been looking around at a lot of the rumors going around lately as well (including the new rumors of a PS5 Pro).

For the Switch 2 rumors specifically, the LCD screen instead of an OLED is a deal-breaker for me. At least to start with. I wouldn't buy a Switch 2 right away or in the first couple of years and would instead wait to see if they eventually release an OLED model like they did with the Switch.

Going from a Switch OLED back to an LCD screen would just be a huge step down in picture quality and hopefully that one proves to be false and Nintendo sticks with a much superior OLED screen.

[Moonface]

For me, I think if they don't go with the OLED screen as standard at launch then offer two SKU's where one has the LED and one doesn't, but considering that every new Switch console being released currently is an OLED I think it would be weird to have the successor downgrade to the older LED screen just for the sake of costs. I can't say I can ever recall a new console having something in it that was worse than what the most recent model of its predecessor had, but with how Nintendo can make some really questionable decisions it would not surprise me for them to do it. If there isn't an OLED version at launch I'd probably refuse to grab this console until an OLED model inevitably comes out.

For the Switch 2 rumors specifically, the LCD screen instead of an OLED is a deal-breaker for me. At least to start with. I wouldn't buy a Switch 2 right away or in the first couple of years and would instead wait to see if they eventually release an OLED model like they did with the Switch.

Going from a Switch OLED back to an LCD screen would just be a huge step down in picture quality and hopefully that one proves to be false and Nintendo sticks with a much superior OLED screen.

I just realized the Vita actually already did the whole "downgrade something about the system" when Sony took out the OLED screen for an LCD one, but I don't know if they went for that cost cutting measure solely to find ways of bringing the Vita's price down to make it more appealing to consumers given its low adoption rate. Either way, I feel like when they did that it wasn't received too well and did nothing to persuade people to buy one because they viewed the lower price as reflecting a lesser product, whereas most console price drops don't do it by downgrading a feature even if another feature gets made better. I could be wrong on that though.

If the "Switch 2" is going to remain portable I wonder if it'll be a different size or stick to roughly the same screen size as a Switch already has? It wouldn't go smaller because that's a stupid idea, but would trying to make it any bigger end up making it too big to hold comfortably?

[ShiraNoMai]

I imagine it'll still be portable; I can't see them going back to choosing one or the other. This is going to be more of a question of: what's gonna be the new gimmick?

[Mr EliteL]

Agree with what you guys are saying, OLED over LCD, backwards compatibility similar to what the DS did for GBA games if not going for the same type of game cartridge, and may as well keep the portable aspect. No need to have two systems going anymore. The name, haha, yeah not sure. I'd rather not have a "Switch 2" but it would be better than Wii U anyway. Also keep doing a classic type of controller with two grip handles, don't get rid of the "Pro" style controller for those that prefer it over the smaller duo controllers.

[Dragon Lord]

Obviously the new system will be called the Nintendo Swap.

@Moonface - About the second version of the Vita. They did indeed downgrade to an LCD screen from the original Vita's OLED screen, but they also changed some aspects about that newer Vita that made it more of a trade-off for people. While the LCD screen was a downgrade (though honestly not by much since the Vita was still in the early days of OLED -- if they made the Vita NOW with current OLED tech, it definitely wouldn't even be close), the new Vita came with the benefits of a bigger screen, longer battery life (very important since the OG Vita's battery life was bad), better buttons (also important) and it was noticeably lighter in terms of weight (which makes a huge difference for longer gaming sessions on it).

I had an OLED Vita, and it was great, but sadly after a few years the battery life got so bad that I couldn't really even take my Vita on the go with me because it would only last a couple of hours max. So I ended up getting one of the new Vita models at that point and while the screen definitely lost some of those gorgeous deep colors that OLED is known for, it wasn't that bad of a change. The LCD screen still looked pretty fantastic for a small handheld. I'd say in the case of the two Vita models, the downgrade in screen was worth all of the benefits that came with the new model.

For this case with the Switch, with how good OLED tech is now and the fact that there's not even a contest between OLED and LCD any morel, Nintendo deciding to cheap out with an LCD screen is just pure disappointment. I'd 100% be okay paying more for the next system to have an OLED screen over LCD. Like let's say Nintendo does an OLED screen and releases at $400. I'd be perfectly okay with that for what an OLED screen brings to the system.

[Moonface]

IThis is going to be more of a question of: what's gonna be the new gimmick?

Good point; I hadn't considered what Nintendo will pursue as the unique feature of this new system. I don't really know where they could go with it because there's really nothing the Switch didn't get focused on in marketing as something gimmicky. The Joy-Cons are detachable and we had that whole video presentation of using them to mimic the sensation of ice cubes in a glass, so any changes to those can only really be making what already exists better as there's not much more to add to it except temperature, which will never happen.
The Switch itself can be portable or static and that's really it, and nothing can be built into it that doesn't work in both formats which really limits what could be done to it, and if Nintendo ditches the portable aspect of it that leaves nothing to really do to the system unit itself.
Maybe they dump in some software feature but I don't see what could be done that's new on that front and adds something to the experience of playing on the console.
Maybe Nintendo just goes back to the earlier days of simply doing a new console without going for crazy bells and whistles attached to it but it doesn't seem likely given their track record over the last few gens.

@Dragon Lord: I didn't even consider the quality of OLED then being different to OLED now and how that would make the screen change back then less noticable compared to doing a similar change nowadays.

I don't know how the games are handled in the NSO Classic Library, but if they run in a way that was designed for Switch hardware I'd suspect this next system would need to be similar to it so those games are supported on the next system. Nintendo also moved to having actual online accounts with purchases attached to them and it seems silly to do that and then just make all those purchases tied to one system. At that point we could've just kept the Wii and Wii U approach of doing those things.

[Moonface]

Saw earlier today that TotK isn't getting DLC, which for me just further cements that Switch is reaching EoL. I can't imagine at this point that we don't get an announcement and release for the Switch successor next year.