One other yr, and right here we’re once more — questioning if the following 12 months would possibly ship maybe essentially the most thrilling factor for any Nintendo fan: new {hardware}.
It looks like years now that we have been reporting on and discussing one other potential Nintendo system, and that is as a result of it has been years. Whispers of a ‘Swap Professional’ had been doing the rounds quickly after the unique console launched in March 2017, and whereas Swap Lite and Swap OLED reconfigured the bottom system in modest methods (and the unique Swap acquired a ‘silent’ inner improve with higher battery life), it has been almost seven full years now since we have got our arms on completely new Nintendo tech.
On one hand, it is a results of merging handheld and residential console traces into one product — there are of course going to be 50% fewer {hardware} reveals than in earlier generations. However for an trade and viewers that thrives on shiny new issues, it feels uncommon to have Swap approaching its eighth yr at retail with none public announcement or acknowledgement of a successor.
It is true that Swap is a outstanding system, and we have seen builders carry out miracles on it. Nonetheless, it is also true that its cell chipset wasn’t leading edge even when it launched, and the work concerned to convey third-party titles to Nintendo avid gamers today can be considerably simpler in lots of circumstances if devs had a little bit extra horsepower to play with. Clearly, no sane particular person is anticipating PS5-level efficiency from ‘Swap 2’, however utilizing some 2020 or 2021 classic silicon, maybe, would give an enormous enhance over the mid-2010s tech powering the present console.
HOWEVER! Surveying the final yr of Swap releases, with GOTY-level gems like Zelda and Mario Surprise bolstered by Pikmin 4, Theatrhythm Ultimate Bar Line, Persona 5 Tactica, Tremendous Mario RPG, Sea of Stars, Blasphemous 2, a Pink Useless port, Octopath II…, it would not really feel like an everyday console’s seventh-year lineup (and that solely scratches the floor). The truth is, we regarded again on earlier Nintendo programs’ seventh years and it is clear that Swap’s impolite software program well being at this level in its lifecycle is a trait inherited from its handheld ancestors, which typically take pleasure in an extended shelf life than their home-based brethren.
With growth instances and prices going up throughout the board, Sony and Microsoft would likewise love to increase console lifecycles so long as potential, and with all the standard video games popping out on Swap, it is arguably solely outdated habits and expectations making us antsy for that scent of recent {hardware}. Who wants a Swap 2 if we get one other yr of bangers just like the one we simply had?
Swap’s {hardware} gross sales figures take advantage of compelling argument that we’re unlikely to get by 2024 with out an announcement, although. We’d assume bundles bought pretty effectively over the vacations (we’ll learn the way effectively in Nintendo’s subsequent monetary report in February) however {hardware} gross sales are waning. Quarterly Swap gross sales went from 3.07m (reported Could 2023) to a Zelda-bumped 3.91m (August 2023) to 2.93m (November 2023).
Sure, the Thanksgiving/Christmas interval will virtually actually present a bump on the final quarter’s outcomes, and people numbers aren’t to be sniffed at, however year-on-year they’re steadily happening. With out an unprecedented worth reduce, it appears inconceivable that Nintendo will promote the 20 million+ Switches wanted to meet up with Nintendo DS and PS2 (at 154m and 155m respectively), an imagined goal that this author doubts Nintendo can be too bothered about lacking — actually not at the price of derailing plans for the following system. Swap has been an enormous success no matter the place it finally ends up on the all-time best-sllers podium. The corporate will probably be trying to kickstart its subsequent cycle earlier than these figures nosedive a lot additional and the quarterly shareholder Q&As develop into a barrage of “What’s subsequent, Mr. President?”
The fact at this stage is that anyone who actually desires a Swap has acquired at the least one already, and, at this level, it appears overly optimistic to count on new Swap video games of TOTK and Mario Surprise’s calibre. We might like to be proved mistaken, and there is nonetheless lots to stay up for regardless, however this looks like a superb yr for Swap to exit on a excessive.
And for Nintendo to place out some new driftless Pleasure-Con with its subsequent system. That may be good.
However what do you assume? Is it potential Nintendo might coast by 2024 with out revealing its subsequent console? Tell us within the ballot under.
Gavin loves a little bit of sofa co-op, particularly when he will get to delegate roles, bark directions and provides much-appreciated efficiency suggestions on the finish. He lives in Spain (the plain-y bit the place the rain primarily falls) and his love for Banjo-Kazooie borders on the unhealthy.
