Note: This is bit of a long read, I just figured it’d be a fun idea to talk about what I thought before we knew anything about the Switch 2!
A year ago, on this forum, I posted a list of 22 predictions I had for the Switch 2. A small few of these are yet to be seen if true or not, but given the details we have now I think it’s fair to assume the outcome of these few points.
To start:
name NOT switch 2 or anything with the word "switch" in it (wii u incident)
In retrospect, I’m not too sure what I was thinking with this one, I suppose I was expecting Nintendo to have a completely different console design to the Switch, but I should’ve expected them to just.. make a better switch.
Many people also pointed out in the original topic that the naming of the Wii U, the “Wii U Incident” as I called it, wasn’t really one of the main reasons why the Wii U failed, so basing my prediction of that didn’t make much sense.
vastly different look than the switch to avoid confusion
Incorrect! Again, I probably should’ve just expected them to stick to what worked, and in the end I’m glad that they did just that.
still a hybrid, but the "dock" may have better components to make it run better when docked
Well… when I used “components” here, I was thinking of something that the console could actually connect to, to offload power into something inside the dock that would make games run better, which, probably isn’t possible at all. We did, however, get a fan inside the dock, and 4K video output + 120fps HD video output! That’s a huge improvement, and basically achieved whatever I was imagining back then!
MENU MUSIC BACK!!! PLEASE!! this includes the menu, eshop, mii maker, maybe even settings too?
Unfortunately, this ended up not happening. However, I am super pleased with the sound design of moving around the UI and selecting different things! I’m also somewhat glad that they at-least acknowledged the eShop music in that developer interview, and gave some kind of reason as to why they weren’t going to bring it back (even if I disagree).
hopefully see the return of beloved mascots (eshop bag, arcade bunny, nikki...)
With the whole change of the eShop going red and all, getting rid of the orange that the eShop bag was known for, I don’t think we’ll get many fun or returning mascots anymore. I do have faith that we’ll see more of Amelia N. in the News section, though!
new nintendo APPS please??!? not like mobile apps, but like, flipnote studio, badge arcade, swapdoodle, maybe even return of some channels like the Nintendo Anime Channel (only in europe), obviously these will have different names and probably a new twist and stuff, who knows
It doesn’t look like this will be happening, but honestly, mouse controls does seem like a good opportunity to bring something like Flipnote back, however I wouldn’t bet on it happening.
actually FUN menu and UI!!! we know people complained about Wii U being slow because of all of the unique ui elements, but it's 2024 (probably 2025 when release), and we have SO much better components and resources now, it's DEFINITELY possible.
system themes!! possibly locked behind silver points. each theme has its own music and button sounds!!
Putting these two together because they’re kind of the same thing, I was wrong about the menu being a lot different that I was anticipating, but I do think the subtle upgrades we got from the regular Switch were alright. So far we know that the themes setting, again, only has white and black. However, seeing how Nintendo seems to be putting more focus onto the NSO app and adding more stuff to the Expansion Pack, I do have a slimmer of hope we might get a future system update that introduces purchasing new themes using silver points, as at the moment they’re sort of useless, even with all the avatar stuff you can get.
will be switch-backwards-compatible, this one i believe is a 100% guarantee, with new switch games already announced for 2025 i have no doubt this will be the case
Well, obviously.
your nintendo switch profile photo and game hour count will be transferred
friends from 3DS and Wii U can still be added
We haven’t actually seen the profile menu yet, but considering how similar the UI looks to the original Switch, yeah I don’t see why this wouldn’t be the case.
[Edit: You cannot add friends from 3DS and Wii U! adding from Mobile and Twitter is gone also. I find it interesting that even when you go to a friend whom you’ve added via any of those options (for Wii U it’d show their NNID and Mii, for Twitter it’d show their Twitter username and profile picture), the section where it shows how you added that friend is just simply gone. Strange!]
all other save data will be transferred by a "nintendo switch to (new console)" app on both consoles, or will have an option to transfer data via cloud save provided you have NSO
After we knew the console would literally be “the switch but better”, this was definitely a guarantee, but honestly, I’m kind of surprised that uploading your console data to the cloud wasn’t a feature locked behind NSO. I guess it would’ve been seen as scummy if they did so, but it is Nintendo, after all…
will have a microphone on the pro controllers/the equivalent of pro controllers
Well, we got a microphone on the console! And a headphone jack on the Pro Controller 2! I just hope what they said about the Switch 2’s microphone is actually true and it can accurately filter out game audio while you’re connected to GameChat. Also, quite unlikely, but do you think clips on the Switch 2 would have a toggle for including your mic in the clips? Would be a nice feature to see.
clip duration can be changed, with a session feature to start and stop a recording (probably caps at like, 5 mins?)
We’ve seen the Gallery, and unfortunately it does seem that 30 seconds will continue to be the one and only standard. I’m not too upset, and I typically don’t need clips over 30 seconds, but would’ve been nice to have the option. The clips, however, are supposedly in 1080p, so that’s nice.
news section completely revamped with a more fun look, will function pretty differently but still maintains the same purpose of giving tutorials, introductions, and updates/events going on in games.
news channels can perhaps can function like nintendo power where they interact with users that can send in questions, or participate in polls, or send in feature requests that the user will be thanked and credited for in the article announcing said feature
Again, with the UI looking mostly the same, I doubt the News section will change much other than the new icon it’s got. However, I would love to see if the second point is possible, seeing as Nintendo Today has (slight) user interaction with the reactions at the bottom of every news article or video.
web browser? or is nintendo too scared about the news posting about how the console is dangerous and can be used to search for bomb tutorials
“Bomb Tutorials”? What is it, 2005? Anyway, a web browser on the Switch 2 isn’t even needed that much anyway, and it makes sense why they didn’t include it.
users over 16 can send texts to friends
No, but seeing as GameChat supports not only voice chat, but also text chat + text to speech + subtitles for those who can’t talk and/or are hard of hearing, I could see people inviting friends, even new friends they just made on a game, to a GameChat session, then muting their microphone and texting the other person using that text chat menu.
achievement system !!
This was never something we needed, I’m honestly happy we ended up not getting this in the end.
places like NSO and the eShop will not be entirely server sided, of course the content will be, but i’m talking about the main UI of it, to reduce load times and lag!!
Not entirely sure how the Switch 2 eShop works internally in comparison to the original Switch, but we know that it loads much MUCH faster than the original Switch, which is very nice to see.
activity center like the 3DS, like hour count in switch profile, but shows more stats like how many times you opened the game, the longest play session you’ve had, the month you played the longest, etc etc
It’s not on the home menu as we have seen already, but maybe something like this could be in the profile menu? I doubt it, though.
obvious improvements, like better battery, better cooling, better screen if base model isn’t like switch oled screen, better stand or same stand as switch oled
I mean obviously, this was expected, but to be honest, I am very surprised that I was right about the screen not being OLED, but still managing to look just as crisp and as beautiful as an OLED screen, even better in some people’s opinions. Something I haven’t seen been talked about much is the new option in System Settings to limit charging on the Switch 2 to 90%. This is a feature I already use on my iPhone and it has greatly protected my battery from quicker degrading, I think it’s something everyone should certainly turn on once they get their Switch 2.
I didn’t get everything I originally had hoped for on the Switch 2, but today I am very happy with what we ended up getting, even if I still miss beloved features like Menu Music. I have spent the last 7, almost 8 years using my first-model Switch, and it has given me so, so many hours of fun over its lifetime, and I can’t wait to bring even more of that fun into the Switch 2, and finally give that original Switch its well deserved rest.
With almost 2 weeks before the Switch 2 launch, are you happy with what you’ve seen of the Switch 2 so far? Did you get everything you were hoping for, or what do you wish we got instead?
I think I was mostly right I'm my predictions. I had a few misses but
First one was when I said it should add a camera. And I'm counting that as a miss because I thought it would be on the body of the tablet rather than just a supported optional accessory. I also expected more stuff like the floating heads in Mario Kart and the Mario Part stuff more than GameChat. It's an old idea sure, I'm not convinced it's a bad one. And cameras are cheap
Speaking of Mario Kart, I think at one point I may have been a bit dismissive of a Mario Kart 9. As the years went on I changed my tune a bit and World has sold me but for a good while there I wondered what the point would be. Just keep dropping DLC for 8
I think I was also a bit more bullish on storage capacity than where it landed. I argued strongly that we couldn't rule out 512GB because of the reduced price of storage. In my defence this was in response to people saying 128GB but even so, 256GB was a bit less than I expected
But mostly I think I was wrong about the timing. I thought it would release in 2023. I know sales for the Switch continued to run but I still think the platform started to become a bit stale well before Nintendo pulled the trigger. Obviously I was wrong with this prediction, they didn't release it then, even if I'm still not entirely convinced I was wrong in my view
Switch 2 is everything I hoped it would be and more (I mean, no one predicted mouse controls!)
Powerwise - to my eyes at least, it's where I thought it would sit. Even had Mario Kart, Cyberpunk and Elden Ring as a launch game. I also wanted Namco 3D arcade game ports which, ok, aren't being released as a collection, but Hamster had my back.
I also suggested it would have more synergy with mobile phones. Extra screen or something. i think the Zelda app ticks that one. But I figured on more connectivity. Even with other consoles.
It's refreshing to not be as surprised at a Nintendo console as usual lol. I feel like we know what we are getting here.
As usual, mu joke about holograms was incorrect lol.
@GrailUK
Technically GameShare is a thing so I think you can give yourself partial credit for the multi screen thing. Although if we're on that topic I'm fairly sure I made lengthy hardware speculation posts about how they could do a "Wii U" type thing via an app that ran on Switch and Switch 2. So 10 points to me on that one
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
An opinion is only respectable if it can be defended. Respect people, not opinions
I've been saying it, I predict that GameCube, Wii, DS, 3DS (maybe Saturn, Dreamcast) libraries will be added to the NSO2, only available on Switch 2, to get people to want the new console.
Someone at the time replied:
Nah, I don't think that makes any sense at all. Brand new Mario and Mario Kart is how you get people to pick up a Switch 2.
Gamecube on NSO is about driving subscriptions. It doesn't matter if you're a Switch or Switch 2 subscriber. NSO will be universal - play any platform on any Switch.
Well gee...I guess my hunch made SOME "sense" after all!
Score one for me!
Time will tell if I'm right about the other platforms being added eventually too.
Think the only thing I got right was that Nintendo will call it the Switch 2. Then I argued with a surprising number of people who were adamant it would be something like Super Switch or Switch Advance because it’s what Nintendo always does.
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I don't think Nintendo is done with the Switch 2 UI. They said in the developer discussion they gave more resources to the UI this time around. So I think we could still see themes and even Nintendo Music playing in the background.
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There were so many accurate leaks about the Switch 2 waaay back in 2023 even that it was less fun to make predictions this time. Hopefully the Nintendo Ninjas will stop the leakers in the future as surprises are 9/10 the fun of these reveals hehe
I don't think Nintendo is done with the Switch 2 UI. They said in the developer discussion they gave more resources to the UI this time around. So I think we could still see themes and even Nintendo Music playing in the background.
Sadly, Nintendo confirmed none of the menus will have music on Switch 2 (probably indefinitely) due to the fact, according to an interview with Kouichi Kawamoto of Nintendo himself, that the Switch eshop has many videos with audio and this would distract from that.
"Unlike back then, the eShop now has lots of videos that are showcasing the games," Kawamoto said. "We didn’t want to intrude on that, so we don’t have music there."
I don't think Nintendo is done with the Switch 2 UI. They said in the developer discussion they gave more resources to the UI this time around. So I think we could still see themes and even Nintendo Music playing in the background.
I’m aware there’s quite the debate over whether the “switch 2 specs” are true or not, but assuming they are, the UI has 3GB of ram allocated to it, and I’ve heard people saying it’s probably gonna be taken up by the camera feature… I hope they can somehow optimise that to fit themes in, or maybe they already have! Nintendo is good at optimisation, after all.
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Topic: Reviewing Old Switch 2 Predictions
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