Switch 2 Speculation Thread

(That's obviously not what it'll look like, I just picked a picture off image search.)

The murmurs seem to be that we'll be getting the Switch's successor some time next year, and a healthy core of three/four 2023 games aside, the remaster and remake quotient would seem to support that. Is it too early for rampant speculation? Probably, but that hasn't stopped the press so why should it stop us!?

Some questions to start off:
- When do you reckon it'll release?
- What would you like to see it do?
- What do you reckon it'll actually do, or are Nintendo too Nintendo to predict?
- How much will it cost? Not this, this is dull/depressing.
- Is it too early for Balla to make this thread?
- What will the codename be for the new Switch?

I'll start the ball rolling by saying I reckon we get it Q3 next year. We've seen nothing concrete, so I think seeing anything in the first half is unlikely - but the release schedule post-TotK does feel like it's winding down just a tad, we don't know what the next truly big game is on Switch (sorry Mario Wonder), and so I can't see it holding out for the end of the year or into next. Also, Nintendo's strategy is to keep things very tightly under wraps, then leave at most 6 months between reveal and release unless it's Zelda. (By the same metric they could release lots of great Switch games for 2024. That seems less likely to me.)

And the codename will be 'Sheep', because it's going to come with loads of RAM.

What about y'all?

I expect it to come out next year or the year after, so it's defo not too early to speculate.

I mostly want them to play it safe. Same form factor but more powerful, like they've generally done with their handhelds. If it could roughly be as powerful as PS4 that would be nice, though realistically it's going to be a mix of worse in some ways and better in others with the benefit of more modern architecture.

Battery life and cost will be a concern though so I don't mind them not going overboard. I'd also be okay with them sticking with a 720p screen or only slightly higher than that. Some people think it should definitely be an OLED screen but I could take or leave that - the standard Switch screen is pretty good as it is.

I want full backwards compatibility with Switch games so my library can go right over. This is actually not a given due to some niche tech reasons (look up MVG's video on it if you're interested).

Also are you seriously saying Mario Wonder isn't a truly big Nintendo game? It obviously does not match the production and I suppose 'prestige' of big 3D Zelda games, but 2D Mario games are very significant titles and are massive sellers. They sell more than 3D Mario games. NSMB and NSMB Wii sold 30 million copies each, on par with Botw and far ahead of most Zelda games. NSMB U Deluxe is in the top 10 best selling Switch games and it's just a re-release.

Balladeer wrote:

- When do you reckon it'll release?

After all the Angels have been defeated, as prophecised in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Quote :

- What would you like to see it do?

Give me godlike powers to reshape humanity in my image.

Quote :

- What do you reckon it'll actually do, or are Nintendo too Nintendo to predict?

Give my son Godlike powers, allowing him to work through his emotional baggage and awake to a world remade not physcially, but spiritually.

Quote :

How much will it cost?

My wife.

Quote :

Is it too early for Balla to make this thread?

Yes, but now that you've started nothing can stop you.

Quote :

What will the codename be for the new Switch?  

New Electronic Recreation deVice.

As much as I’d love for Nintendo to completely revolutionise gaming and the concept of it once again, a more powerful, a technically enhanced and a backwards-compatible Super Switch that’s fit for the rest of the 2020s would suit me just grand the end of the day. I think future-proofing it is the most important thing. I would be well disappointed if it weren’t comparably powerful enough to the other systems of the now and near-future. I definitely don’t want to see a repeat of the Wii U, where from basically the get-go games and projects were cancelled near-daily because the hardware was utter keech. I’d rather not buy a console that needs revised and upgraded every couple of years either.

To me it’s inconceivable that it won’t be another hybrid system, it’s just been too good and too successful an idea for them to go back to having a console that’s TV or handheld only. I don’t think anything else is a given. I’d prefer an OLED screen and 4K output but all the current rumour and innuendo suggests that I shouldn’t hold my breath for that.

I’d hope it releases at a competitive and compelling price point. For what it was back in the day the Wii was a must-buy at £179, but the original 3DS was madly overpriced at £229 and the Wii U was offputtingly over expensive at £299. I remember balking at the £279 price point for the Switch when it was confirmed at the start of 2017, pre-release I thought it was a totally scadge. I and over a hundred million others were proved wrong by that. I don’t know what the sweet spot is for a Switch successor in 2024; hopefully less than a PS5 and Xbox Series X? I’m already saving up for it either way.

The system’s codename should be ‘Mario Wonder is a big game, don’t talk mince’.

Kriken wrote:

Mario Wonder ... obviously does not match the production and I suppose 'prestige' of big 3D Zelda games

Kriken, with a bit of creative editing, nails it.


I feel like I'm betraying my Nintendo Superfan Motion+ and Wii U Lover Who's Also Interested In the Playdate heritage by agreeing with Kriken and Cappa as to what they want for the new Switch.  The Switch was great, I just want a beefier one.  I think that's probably the route they'll go down as well, obviously to some extent it's a fool's errand to try and predict Nintendo but I reckon Furukawa might be a bit more 'Apple' in his approach to reiterations than Iwata was.  Agreed with Kriken about the screens too, OLED would be nice but I'm not champing at the bit for it, and I don't care for 4k.

Cost is dull but I would assume they won't go full Wii U with the pricing.  The slight problem is the supply of components issue but this is dull so.

Backcompat is an absolute must, surely?  I haven't watched that video Kriken recommends (and probably won't, I don't watch much YouTube in general unless it's making me laugh) but even the possibility of it not happening makes me shudder.  We should definitely be able to carry our entire eShop libraries over, and I'd be shocked and annoyed if we couldn't.

If we're shooting for the moon, not a particularly distant moon but what feels like a moon nonetheless, I'd very much like Switch 2 to have more charm in its interface and shop than the relatively sterile Switch 1, but without the UI becoming treacle-slow.  I reckon the Switch 1 has to be the least characterful Nintendo machine I've owned.

Balladeer wrote:

Backcompat

That really better not be a word people are using

I've seen it used elsewhere. Admittedly I was the one using it.

Any time I see the word "backcompat" all I can think of is how it sounds like a Jamaican with a speech impediment.