This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
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.
I loved my Wii U. I was actually skeptical of the Switch initially, and for the first time didn’t buy a day-one Nintendo console. I played BotW on my Wii U and waited for that Splatoon 2 bundle for the Switch before I bought one. Of course, now I love the Switch.
I think it will definitely ve backwards compatible(the wii could play gamecube games, the wiiu could play wii games, the 3ds could play ds games etc.) Nintendo has always supported at least one system jump except for wiiu to switch (for formfactor reasons) but switchgames are so small i dont think fitting them into their next console would be as challenging/impossible as shoving a disc drive into the switch.
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.
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.
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.
It will be called switch U but the controller will be a tandem unicycle.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Steam deck is way bulkier and heavier at 1.6 lbs vs .9 lbs and 1.9 inches thick vs .55 inches thick
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.
