Nintendo Reportedly Plans to Release Next-Gen Console During Second Half of 2024

If it is still convertible between handheld and console, and is fully compatible with Switch titles, Nintendo might have finally gotten a transition to a new console right. I don’t need another TV-bound console, but I would gladly take a more capable Switch.

They usually got generational transitions correct with their handhelds, but always flubbed it with the consoles. Hopefully now that they’re one and the same there won’t be a problem.

It seems like a no-brainer to just make a better Switch, so I’m hoping for the same things as you. I really hope they see that the best thing they can do is the most “boring” thing: just make it more powerful. Give it maybe a better screen and more battery life. Maybe update the joycons (but still use the form factor because people have multiple joycons and wouldn’t it be nice to just use the things you already have?). But also let me play all my switch games. And maybe recent releases (uhh Zelda) could easily work on this system with better framerates.

Stuff like that is all I need. We tried the Wii, and it was fun for a time. The Wii U was interesting but obviously not the right choice. But the Switch idea is so excellent it just seems like they’d be fools to try and change it up significantly.
- It seems like a no-brainer to just make a better Switch
  
  so Nintendo's next console will be a fishing rod with 3 buttons that uses a smart watch as its display.
- Especially when the Steam Deck also exists now, it seems important for nintendo to stay in that area now that they’ve entered it.
- This is what scares me the most.
  
  I absolutely agree that they need to "play it safe" this time.
  
  But for their consoles they have had a "it's not worth launching something unless it's really innovative" philosophy for quite some time. And if they decide on some bonkers idea that screws with my simple wish, a better switch, I think I'm going to be disappointed.
  
  And I say this as a guy who has loved Nintendo and their products since I got my NES back in the 90s. I stood in line to get the Wii at launch, heck I even liked my Wii U. (Even if it was under powered and confusingly marketed, I liked that they tried to do something new...)
  
  But this time Nintendo, just stick to a good, solid, backwards compatible , iteration on your original idea.
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- I probably should’ve read the article before commenting, but as a Lemming I have kept some of my worst Redditor tendencies.
  
  Shame about LCD vs OLED (the OLED Switch is seriously beautiful), but understandable I suppose. I just hope they get backwards compatibility and library retention/management right.
GameCube to Wii was fine.

As for being fully compatible with the Switch, I don't see why it wouldn't be if they are doing another ARM based system. The Switch is not exactly difficult to emulate anymore considering phones have been able to do it for a couple years now.
- So was Wii to Wii U.
- Phones are generally ARM based so I'm not sure that's a convincing argument.
  
  However, Steam Deck, which is AMD64 based seems to also be able to manage Switch stuff pretty well from what I've seen online so there's that.
  
  Really, though, I kinda wish Nintendo would step back from core hardware - or at least move to a partnership on that - and look more at production of software + accessories. Most of their innovation could still be captured with new accessories and games are where the really shine, but I do feel like the exclusivity is kinda a bit overdone and core hardware is always lacklustre (thorough they do still in optimisation for their own titles).
My guess is that it won't be. Nintendo is a toy company. They've never once just done an iterative version of a console. There's always some new gimmick, usually based around input, that they have to fuck with that makes everything incompatible.
- This was only true since the Wii.
- GB ( -> GBC) -> GBA -> DS -> 3DS were all backwards compatible with the first previous system

Going by the pattern this one is gonna suck

All they have to do is make a more powerful Switch and they're golden. But this is Nintendo, so...
- It will be a switch embedded in a power glove.
- They might make it more powerful, but the latest version of the OG Switch has an OLED screen, this will not...
Pattern? Are you implying that the GameCube or SNES were bad consoles? That's crazy talk.
- The WiiU wasn't even terrible, but was the only console release that could be considered "bad." I'm not sure what pattern they're talking about.
I mean the Switch is no masterpiece, it's just the perfect storm of good games and accessibility that people crave. If that continues, it stands to reason the successor to the Switch has a chance to break the curse. And is it really a curse? The Gamecube fucking rocked.
- Even if its great like the Gamecube. If Nintendos curse still holds true the next one will flop
Only Nintendo console that sucked was the Wii U. Crazy talk!
- I still love my Wii U and use it to play games that run like crap on the switch. It's a more powerful system

I just hope they don't pull the same bullshit regarding the joy-cons and the drift issue

Or SwitchU or something and it falls flat...knowing nintendo, this is exactly what they will do. They're like the microsoft of consoles, releasing a solid console every other generation.
- The Microsoft way would be to build the most powerful console on the market, but forget to make any games for it.
- And here I was thinking the Xbox was the Microsoft of consoles. 😅
  
  Jokes aside, you make a good point.

Hopefully switch game prices will go down. Eventually they will turn off internet support and I can finally hack it.

If you have a release switch just do it. The switch is cheap enough that if you get banned and really really really want to play am online game, then you can just buy a used one without a dock or joycons.

I have a fusee exploited switch that I installed atmosphere on like 4-5 years ago. Pirate tons of games and haven't been banned.

All you need to do properly follow the steps, and don't play pirated games on sysnand/online

I even used atmosphere on sysnand for a few years and was fine.

Worst case the console is banned and you just buy a new one with all the money you saved not spending $60 on used Nintendo games, and the banned console is still good for literally everything except playing the few online games.
- I have a release Switch that my kids accidentally updated to the latest firmware, is it possible to still hack it? Previously I used the team xecuter hack.
Once Nintendo stops making games for it is when I'll hack mine.

I have a sneaky suspicion today Nintendo were only driven to make this because of the Steam Deck. If it didn't exist they'd be more than happy to continue with the current Switch for a few more years.

Tears of the Kingdom has shown that the Switch is at it's limits here. It runs and it's playable, but it's perilously close to not being.

7 years is about right for a hardware generation. PS4 and Xbox One had that too, and they had a mid-gen performance refresh to boost the longevity. Base PS4 games were borderline unplayable by the end.
- Tears of the Kingdom is a miracle of engineering. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity did a lot more to show that the console isn't keeping up with its own ambitions anymore.
  
  That said I don't think generations need to last the same forever because technological advancement doesn't happen at the same rate forever. The PS4 isn't being obsolesced by insufficiency, but rather by extravagance and marketing interests. Many games still run just fine on the PS4 to this day, even Jedi Survivor is being backported to it.
No it's because the switch is underpowered and like 7 years old lol. As my as I love my Steam Deck, they're not even in the same market.
There was a rumor that Nintendo was developing a Switch Pro that was intended to release in 2020, but due to the chip shortage they had to scrap the chipset upgrade and that became the Switch OLED. I love my Steam Deck but I'm pretty sure this has been in the works for a while.
I don't think that's the case they probably have had at least a small team working on this before the Steam deck was announced. I don't think the audiences overlap that much to be honest and the two devices have different use cases.

The steam deck is just a powerful hand held computer (relative to other gaming hardware is pretty weak though) that runs PC games with all the ups and downs that come with that. I think there are number of steam deck buyer that are not that familiar with the underlying hardware that are going to be disappointed when new games are not going to run acceptably on it. Where as for the switch/switch 2 games will at least run acceptably
In this case competition is no bad thing. I'm sure the next version of the Steam Deck will be well worth it.

I'm hoping this means we'll get an Nvidia Shield TV refresh.

This. Totally this.

They'd better keep everything in the NSO store

Whether I get their next console depends entirely on them keeping the NSO games and backwards compatibility with switch games.
- That and the state of their controllers. I have 7 pairs of joy cons and only 1 pair haven't gotten drift yet, mostly cause I just got em with the TotK edition switch. These controllers have been the worst I've dealt with for any system especially considering how much they cost.

My body is reggie.

Miyamoto body is Reggie.

I doubt it'll keep up performance wise with x box and playstation, but it can probably do pretty well just updating to newer mobile hardware vs the 7 or 8 year old chips they use right now.

No way it will every reach a current gen console because of the thermal restrictions of how small it is and the battery not being able to power a chip that is capable of modern games with 4/HDR/etc. But I'm sure if they use a modern efficient SoC it can push out some pretty good graphics.
- Steam Deck is pretty similar size and weight. I don't see why Nintendo gets a pass on glorified mobile phone specs.
1080p resolution but better performance would be good enough for me.

I really want them to make a foldable, the Nintendo DS was freaking badass and it's a shame that they've abandoned that unique concept.

Oof, as much as I love the idea of bringing back DS/3DS titles to the eShop, I really don’t trust that Nintendo hardware would withstand a fold.

I think a safer option would be for the Switch-2 to beam to the Switch Dock, like a WiiU game pad, and have the option to have two screens if desired by devs. That would give the option to bring back WiiU and select DS/3DS titles using the NSO model.

I can’t be the only one thinking finally…

The Switch was reasonably powered at launch but now feels positively antiquated compared to the Steam Deck and the like, there is no way I would buy any third party games on it right now when I’ve got a PS5 sitting right next to it.

All I need is a good spec bump to get games running at 1440p / 60fps in docked mode to make me happy!

I’d be completely shocked about any performance above 1080p honestly.
I would be okay with 1080p60 with med-high graphic detail on modern games. 1440p comes with a pretty big performance hit.
1080p/30 is the max they'll do, and is sufficient for 95% of users.
1440p on a handheld screen seems excessive to me.
- Oh yea, you could do 1080p or even 800p like a Steam Deck in handheld mode and I think that that would be fine, on a TV it should be > 1080p tho
1080p games upscale really well on even my few year old cheaper TCL Roku TV. If we could get 1080p 60 FPS more steadily, that would be good enough, and I'd imagine most of their audience wouldn't care about the extra pixels.

Fuck Nintendo scumbag company

Just in general or something specific that was brought up in the article?
- General
Nah their games are dope

Steam Deck + Switch = Switch 2. Probably better hardware, and not much else besides some nifty software gimmicks

I hope it's just "Switch Pro"

It's not even that, it's got an LED screen rather than an OLED.
I doubt it. Next year the Switch will be 7 years old. That's firmly in "next generation" territory.

The new console should be backwards compatible (and if Nintendo have any sense at all, boost framerates for Switch games), but I wouldn't expect new games to keep coming out for the old Switch once the new one picks up a decent number of users.
- Yeah but Nintendo doesn't seem interested in pushing hardware. Just being well "Nintendo"

Let this be true.

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This may be rose colored glasses talking, but IMO the GameCube wasn't a failure. It had quite a few iconic titles (SSBM, Animal Crossing, Mario ~~Galaxy~~ Sunshine) and to this day the GC controller is still considered one of, if not the best, way to play smash bros.
- GC controller was also the decacto way to pwn in Mario kart Wii.
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- we're talking about sales, not the quality of the product itself.

These fuckin cunts just 2 months ago claimed there is no next gen console in the works

I remember back in the 90s N64 magazines were always posting rumors about the "Dolphin" console that Nintendo was supposed to be developing, which eventually became the Gamecube. Nintendo also was more open back then, with their famous Mario 128 tech demo for example. Also the Nintendo DD rumors were huge as well, which turned out to be a big failure and never released outside of Japan.
I mean, they kind of have to do that, or else you get the Osborne Effect where everyone just waits for the new version, and your business suffers.

ETA: also, source? They usually say they won't comment, or that there's always something new in development at all times. Don't they?

As long as there's idiots buying them they will keep releasing closed hardware/software consoles

The good thing was that so far they're consoles have been hacked for home brew for nearly 2 decades now.
As much as I would like that, majority of steam deck users don't care it's mostly open, and that would make finding vulnerabilities to allow pirating easier, which companies hate for no good reason. And there is all that iderto drm switch stuff floating around They have little reason to open it sadly, which will always make the steam deck a better option in my opinion