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Nintendo wants its next console to swerve the issues that plagued the launch of the Sony PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X back in late 2020. And it has an ingeniously simple plan to do just that.
Although it still has another console to release before the end of the year, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has already confirmed that a Nintendo Switch successor will be announced before March 2025. The original Switch was released seven years ago and has become Nintendo's best-selling home console and the third-best-selling game console of all time, sitting behind only the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS handheld.
With serious stock shortages scuppering the launch of the Sony PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S — with enraged fans unable to make a purchase and scalpers reselling consoles for 10x the RRP on online auction sites, Nintendo executives were recently quizzed by shareholders on how they plan to avoid similar issues.
Xbox Series X is the latest flagship console from Microsoft, which suffered severe chipset shortage alongside the Sony PlayStation 5 for at least its first year on the market
MICROSOFT PRESS OFFICENintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said the best way to avoid similar issues was to guarantee there's enough stock to meet demand at launch. By producing sufficient numbers, Nintendo is confident that it can block scalpers from making large profits by overcharging for a handful of consoles.
Other measures to stop scalpers are also being considered, the Nintendo President told shareholders during the Q&A, "taking into account the circumstances in each region".
Finally, the Nintendo executive highlighted that the semiconductor shortage that hampered Sony and Microsoft's efforts to launch their brand-new consoles four years ago is no longer an issue.
"Last year and the year before, we were unable to produce sufficient quantities of Nintendo Switch hardware due to a shortage of semiconductor components, but this situation has now been resolved," he explained. "At present, we do not believe that the shortage of components will have a significant impact on the production of the successor model."
Nintendo Switch could become the best-selling console in history before the end of the year
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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.
As mentioned above, 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 in the coming months, where it'll be bolstered by a newly-announced The Legend Of Zelda and Mario & Luigi titles (not to mention, a new limited edition console).
Whispers from the secretive Japanese gaming company suggest its Switch sequel will have a larger 8-inch touchscreen, compared to the 6.2-inch screen on the original Switch and 7-inch display found on the pricier OLED Model. Sources suggest we'll see backwards compatibility for existing Nintendo Switch games and feature redesigned Joy-Con controllers that snap to the side of the console using magnets.
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.
This extra grunt could allow Nintendo to bring its portable-cum-home console closer to the resolution and performance of recent efforts from Sony and Microsoft. The original Nintendo Switch offers 720p in handheld mode, rising to Full HD (1080p) when played on a television from the included Dock. Both modes target 30fps.
In comparison, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X both play blockbuster games at a buttery smooth 60 frames-per-second and pixel-packed 4K resolution — with 4x as many pixels on-screen as Full HD.
There's no word on pricing for the so-called Nintendo Switch 2. For context, the original Nintendo Switch cost £259.99 at launch, while the refreshed OLED Model was priced at £309.99 when it released four years later.
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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Given the rumoured improvements underneath the bonnet, we'd expect to see a higher starting price for this new generation of console from Nintendo. It's possible the original Nintendo Switch sticks around on store shelves after the launch at a reduced price point too.
For context, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X both cost £479.99, although Nintendo tries to undercut its closest competition as it doesn't compete head-to-head in terms of graphical fidelity.
President Shuntaro Furukawa promised back in May that Nintendo fans would see an announcement about the so-called Switch 2 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."
Nintendo held a video presentation, known as a Nintendo Direct, last month to unveil its line-up for the next few months — likely the final Christmas shopping season with the Nintendo Switch as its flagship console.
The Japanese firm 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 scheduled to be released globally in late September, 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.
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 —
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.
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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.
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
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.
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.
Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood is the first all-new entry in the turn-based Mario & Luigi series since Paper Jam back in 2015. The incoming Switch game looks set to bring an inventive new art style and plenty of platforming action
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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.
