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Nintendo has taken the wraps off a brand-new Nintendo Switch that'll hit store shelves on September 26, 2024. Unfortunately, it's not the console that millions have been waiting for.
During a packed Nintendo Direct presentation broadcast on YouTube this week, the company revealed a brand-new entry into The Legend of Zelda series, known as Echoes of Wisdom, which will return to the top-down style of earlier adventures and feature Zelda as the playable hero.
The new title is set to be released worldwide on September 26, with Nintendo planning a special edition of its Switch Lite console to commemorate the launch.
An early glimpse of the console during the presentation revealed a gold colour with black buttons and a small Triforce icon nestled under the right analogue stick on the front. There's also a large Hylian Crest emblazoned across the back of the console.
This isn't the first time that Nintendo has looked to its Legend of Zelda imagery for a limited edition Switch, with the company launching a Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom colourway for the flagship Nintendo Switch OLED Model to coincide with the launch of that sequel last year.
If you're not fussed about these special editions, there are some amazing deals to be found on the Nintendo Switch line-up at the moment —
Aside from its slick paint job, everything else about the Nintendo Switch LIte: Hyrule Edition remains unchanged. Unlike the standard Switch and Switch OLED Model, which have detachable Joy-Con controllers that can be used wirelessly for multiplayer or when the console is connected to a television, the more affordable Switch Lite is designed for gaming on-the-go.
It has a more compact design with a smaller 5.5-inch LCD touchscreen display and 32GB of built-in storage... although that can expanded via microSD card. You'll get around seven hours of battery life before you need to reach for the charger, although that varies depending on what title you're playing.
Nintendo will launch a limited edition Switch Lite to celebrate the launch of The Legend Of Zelda:Echoes of Wisdom worldwide on September 26, 2024
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Unlike recent limited-run Nintendo Switch Lite consoles — like the Pokémon Dialga & Palkia Edition — that retailed for £199, the Nintendo Switch Lite: Hyrule Edition costs a little more at £209.99.
That extra £10 is offset by the bundled 12-month subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, which usually costs £17.99 per year. With this subscription, you'll be able to play in multiplayer games online and access a slew of classic The Legend of Zelda games from the NES, SNES, and more.
Elsewhere in the Nintendo Direct, we saw sneak previews of Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Dragon Quest 3 HD — 2D Remake, Darkest Dungeon 2, Stray, and LEGO Horizon Adventures, to name just a few.
But there was no sign of the feverishly-anticipated follow-up to the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa promised in May that an announcement about the so-called Switch 2 would arrive before March 2025. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the boss of the Japanese gaming giant said: "We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015."
The Nintendo executive had already confirmed this week's presentation would be focused on the "software line-up for the latter half of 2024". Nintendo broadcasts several trailer showcases every year, with many of the titles that appear in the Direct presentations a complete surprise to viewers.
With less than a year until the Nintendo Switch 2 is announced, rumours have gone into overdrive about the follow-up to the Switch. The latter is the second biggest-selling console ever released by Nintendo, topping the global sales of the Nintendo Wii, Game Boy and Game Boy Colour, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and fast-approaching the gold medal position, currently held by Nintendo DS.
Sony PlayStation 2 remains the best-selling console of all-time, with roughly 155 million devices sold worldwide. For comparison, the Nintendo Switch has shipped 141 million — although it still has one final throw of the dice during the busy Christmas period with a slew of new Zelda and Mario titles (and a shiny new limited edition).
Whispers from the secretive Japanese gaming company suggest its Switch sequel will have a larger 8-inch touchscreen, offer backwards compatibility for Nintendo Switch games, and feature redesigned Joy-Con controllers that snap to the side of the console using magnets.
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This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
A more powerful processor to boost the resolution and graphics of the handheld seems obvious, with Nvidia — the company behind the system-on-a-chip inside the current Switch generation — the most likely candidate.
Onboard storage has been rumoured to be 512GB, much closer to the Xbox Series S and a significant upgrade over the 32GB and 64GB found inside the original Switch and Switch OLED, respectively.
