Topic: Next Nintendo system?

I seem to be the minority that believes the next Nintendo console will not release this year. I am convinced that it will be released in 2025, and may not even have the "Switch" branding, as to avoid a Wii U situation.
I still think it will be a hybrid but with a new name. What do you guys think the next system will be like?

Well they went from NES to SNES, there were all the Game Boys too. I don't think having it under the Switch name would be so much of an issue, I just think the Wii U fell somewhere weird where it either should have stayed closer to the Wii or less like it, it either did too much or not enough in my opinion. I think if it doesn't come out this year it will probably be announced. As far as I can tell from the people I know the Switch has been the most well received Nintendo system in years and they'd be insane to not just make a better hybrid system. I use mine on the tv and handheld depending on the game or location, and people wouldn't rush to get a home console or handheld if it wasn't a 'switch 2' so sales might be a little slow

@intergalacticNikolai you may be right regarding the naming.

I think Nintendo would need to be very confident in their new branding to move away from the Switch branding just yet. I'm not sure you start from scratch unless the market has told you you need to start from scratch.

Now sure, you could argue they followed that approach for the Wii to Wii U transition, but the Wii wasn't doing as well as the Switch is, and the Wii, despite its success, always carried a bit of stigma about the SD graphics and waggle controls. Switch has a lot more positive feeling around it, I feel.

At this point pretty much every gaming publication has assumed a release of new hardware at some point this year. There was a full on leak from NVidia a couple of years back which fairly clearly outlined what they were working on for Nintendo. Since then we've had developers openly talk about Nintendo's next hardware, we've had rumours of behind closed doors meeting. The GDC survey had a significant number of developers actively working on games for "Nintendo's next platform". We're also 7 years into the Switch which is a platform that has moved ~140mill units but is now well and truly in decline

You don't win points for being contrarian. It's likely this year. You're likely wrong. Just because it's the popular view doesn't make you somehow clever for disagreeing

RE: Naming and the Wii U. Naming is all about brand and I'd agree that the Wii brand was somewhat of an anchor for Wii U. It was far from the only problem, timing was a bigger issue, but it certainly didn't help. But the reason it didn't help is because the market had moved on from everything "Wii". In 2006 HDTVs weren't super common, by 2010 I don't think it was a majority but it was a fair proportion. People were moving to where the higher resolution visuals, that's what people were wanting. The Wii U was only "the best" for a tiny window and even then it was the best without many games and with PS4/XBOne on the horizon. Calling it the Wii only reinforced that perception

Secondly, motion control gaming in the way people perceived it for the Wii brand? People had moved on. I mean yes, the Wii U failed, that's the story we remember. But around the same time Microsoft flubbed the XBox One launch. Most of that was their DRM policy and the pre-launch stated requirement of being online 24/7 with Kinect plugged in. At least that's the narrative. Frankly I think tying themselves to Kinect was the bigger issue. People had moved on, that branding didn't land

With the Switch brand however? The main thing people associate with the Switch brand is the "Switch Snap". You ask someone about Switch and sure, maybe they say underpowered but at its core I think people associate the Switch brand with the physical act of sliding on the JoyCon and picking up the console to go portable. I think the brand still communicates a fairly positive message, I think it's an image Nintendo will want to continue to project. It's certainly not like Wii where the brand communicated pretty much everything the market was wanting to move away from

It was a heroic attempt. There have been about 10 threads on this topic by now...

@intergalacticNikolai Hey there! As a few others have mentioned we already have a thread for this topic which you can find here https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/rumor_new...

Thanks