Topic: "Nintendo Switch 2" what improvement's should the next Console have?

Really hope Nintendo decides to offers the next console to be backwards compatible. In this day and age, it would be anti-consumer to not have it. But hey, it’s Nintendo we are talking about.

PS4 graphics, a storage of 64 GBs, battery life lasts about 5-10 hrs on the go, let players that has your friend code used voice chat with you, and have a friend code Board feature that lets you post, and search for friend codes for trading, different types of battles in Pokémon and other monster breeding games, and breeding, solo/team battles for Super Smash Bros., and playing different types of races for Mario Kart.

I reckon it'll hover in mid-air and project a 4K image onto any nearby flat surface.

Seriously, more of the same but with newer and better tech would probably suffice. It wouldn't be Nintendo if they didn't try to work at least one major gimmick/innovation in though.

Well I know what improvements I WANT the next console to have. Not as sure what's realistic for it to have, so I'm just going to make this a pie in the sky wishlist.

Hardware:
*Dual screen clamshell design, but with a gimmick where the two screens can detach from each other. This can allow for even more setups such as having one screen docked and the other connected to the Joycons in a Gamepad setup, or when playing with a friend, the other friend can get their own screen as well as their own Joycon.
*The L and R buttons are now scroll wheels like the ones they patented several years ago.
*ZL and ZR buttons are pressure-sensitive again.
*High quality Joycons that are more resistant to drift
*At least 128 GB storage built in (ideally it should be 1+ TB, but as long as SD card support is retained, this isn't a necessity).
*Camera and microphone
*Bluetooth
*A legitimate VR peripheral that actually enhances full fledged games instead of a cardboard gimmick that only lets you play minigames.
*A keyboard controller peripheral that can connect to the screens, allowing you to emulate a PC-esque setup. A set of minigames could be bundled alongside it.
*The car attachment peripheral shown in the reveal trailer that we never got.
*A phone case with Joycon attachments (Joycons can be bundled with the phone case for those that do not have them) and a downloadable app. With them you can use Joycons to play select Nintendo games on your phone.

Software:
*Backwards compatible with Switch games.
*Compatible with existing NSO infrastructure. In other words, no starting from square one with the NES again for the 20th time, all of the NSO systems from the Switch are immediately available on the next gen Switch once an active NSO subscription is set up on the device.
*Folders available from the start
*Themes
*Web browser (yes Nintendo, this is something that needs to stay for gaming purposes. What if you get stuck and need to look up a walkthrough?)

4K isn't a level of power, it's a resolution. At the absolute most you might say that a gaming device that can "do 4K" will be able to run some games at 4K/60. I would expect Nintendo's next hardware to clear that very low bar. The Switch is limited to HDMI 1.4 meaning it physically can't do 4K 60. Their next console won't be. IIRC the Switch OLED is already HDMI 2.0 but is firmware locked. Cheap and easy win here

Remember, the PS4 when it launched called itself "4K capable" and the XBone made a big deal about it's ability to play UHD BluRays. 4K doesn't mean that much here

So I expect 4K but I don't expect to see games on the scale of TotK to hit that arbitrary number. Because there are plenty of things you can do to improve visuals that tax the hardware which are more impactful than "4K". Things that you would want to do first. Like how a game on PC will look better when cranking the settings at 1080p than going with medium 4K

But 2D platformers? Remasters of Wii/GC era titles? Fixed perspective games like Smash? Sure. Why not

Edit: side note. I've always just viewed 4K as basically just 1080p with super sampling but you don't bother scaling down the resulting image. So while with 1080p you really need AA, at 4K you can kinda ignore it. And DLSS is basically just an extension of that. Just, super sampling to remove jaggies at 1080p and 4K is some dude going "let's just send it" before it gets sent to the dude responsible for taking the average

For me . . . I guess a lot of what has already been said . . .

1) More Powerful. (Although I am personally happy with the performance of the Switch for the games I like to play. But I think car racing suffered a bit on this platform personally.)

2) More games . . . yes.

3) Being able to play asymetrical game play games on the Switch platform, like Nintendo Land from the Wii U. That is the game we still fire up the Wii U for. Someone said that would be nice if only 1 console would be required. I would be ok, if you could use the Switch 2 for the TV, and your old OG Switch as the tablet.

Now, my next "kinda?" wish is . . .

A) Remote play through your phone. LOL.

I'm not even 100% sure I want it. But I've been thinking about it.

For when I want to go out and about, but don't want to take the Switch with us. But it would be nice to toss a couple of Joy Cons onto my phone and play the Switch remotely. The screen is echo'd to your phone screen. So like streaming, but not with a separate service. you're streaming your Switch that is in the dock at home.

B) Ok. This is another thing I've been thinking. A really small Switch.

We only have the OG Switch. And it is often too big for me / us to consider taking with us.

But . . . I'd be more willing to toss one of our Nintendo DS Lites into my pocket, because it is so small.

I even take our OG Nintendo 2DS more places than our Switch.

I'm thinking a devices somewhere the size of the New Nintendo 2DS. And with the same controller / sticks as the 3DS / 2DS. Those seemed, to me, to work quite will without taking up a lot of space.

Now, if they had a really small Switch, then I wouldn't need remote play.

At least base Xbox One performance, ideally PS4 or even PS4 Pro specs
1440p at minimum for a max resolution when docked, ideally 4K.
More streaming apps (Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Spotify, etc.)
Themes
Folders at least as good as 3DS and Wii U, hopefully better.
An Activity Log even better than the 3DS
I'd like an Internet Browser again, but it's far from a priority.
An AC adapter with no box, just a normal line and plug.
Asymmetric gameplay with the tablet. You should be able to cast the game right from the tablet even if you don't want to put in the dock. Obviously, the performance would be the same, because there's no boost from the dock.
GameCube and Wii games, in addition to the library that's building.
Backwards compatibility (physically and digitally) with 99% or so of Switch games. Add a boost mode for Switch games, which can be made even better if the devs release a patch for the game.
Cross-buy with Switch and Switch 2 games.
Dedicated servers, no friend codes, party chats on the system without needing a phone.
Achievements
JoyCons with a far lower rate of drift
Analog triggers on the Switch 2 Pro Controller, and possibly on the JoyCons
Built in Mic
900p or 1080p screen. Between 7-8 inches. OLED can be the standard, or at least an option as a separate SKU.
Built in SSD. At least 64 GB, hopefully 128 GB
Ability to install physical games on an SSD or microSD for faster load times, but no forced installs for most games.
At some point in the first few years, a TV-only option and handheld-only option.
Now some ideas about the games
Mario Kart 9 within the first 6 months. It'd be cool if it was crossgen as well.
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition
The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Remastered: It doesn't need to change much from the 3D remake. Mainly far better graphics
Mother Trilogy Remake

It is propably very unrealistic but it would be cool to be able to play outside from time to time at least in the shadow. Even the current console can have difficulties with temperature but I can hope. Playing GameBoy and Advance is fine outside but it is almost impossible to see anything on the Switch even with extra screen savers.

Since the current console is named Switch, they could name the next one Sunshine. One is a button to turn on electrical light and the other is the real deal.

Achievements and Ocarina of Time Remaster YES YES YES AND YES

So many bad ideas. I guess this is what happens when we get closer to the real thing and we drag in the non-enthusiasts into the spec speculation game. There are other threads for this but I guess I should outline what I think are sensible improvements:

256-512GB of storage
A lot of people keep saying 64GB or 128GB. Frankly for this day and age we should be getting more storage than this included. The only world where I think 128GB or less is acceptable for their next platform on day 1 is if they have a second SKU with 512GB. Note, with the rate that flash is getting cheaper the 8GB and 32GB SKUs the Wii U had would be the equivalent to getting 128GB and 512GB. Did I say equivalent? Well, technically I guess not..... it would also be cheaper and faster....

NSO+ to expand to Wii & GC
Currently? This is a bit tricky to do on the Switch because of the size of the games. We're talking 500MB to 8GB which could potentially fill up the 32GB of the base Switch fairly quickly. I mean my personal collection, from my own discs, of ~30 Wii games is ~170GB raw and ~70GB compressed. Would be a bit rough managing that with 32GB of storage. But..... if people had 256GB, 512GB of storage as a base PLUS SD card expansion? Well suddenly a huge library of Wii/GC titles is easier to manage. For the people who say these games are "too new" to do this for? Well, there are Wii titles now that are as old as some N64 titles on the original Wii VC when it launched. I think this should happen

Improve the controller
Some people have said Analogue Triggers and I'm sure someone would have said Hall Effect sticks. I think this would be a valid improvement. For the price they charge for the controllers they can certainly do this. Of course Hall Effect sticks won't really add much outside of durability so I can see why they might not go that route, as much as I would like them to. But analogue triggers? It opens up a lot of gameplay opportunities. Hugely significant for racing games at the very least

More "HD Rumble"
The addition of linear resonant actuators on the Switch was pretty significant. But I think there could be more done in this space. Microsoft with the XBOne had four traditional rumble motors in their controllers, one in each side and one in each trigger. Having rumble in the triggers gave the perception of resistance on the triggers. If Nintendo went further and had "HD Rumble" in the triggers? I think that would be a worthwhile improvement. Imagine feeling the road-noise through the accelerator in Mario Kart, the click of the trigger in Splatoon or the degradation of a shield in Smash

Take advantage of newer HDMI revisions
The Switch uses a DP to HDMI converted in the dock, the original Dock was limited to HDMI 1.4 and Nintendo have stuck by that limitation. With new hardware? They should break free of those limitations. So what have we got since HDMI 1.4? Well, the headline act is that the max resolution changed from 1080p/144Hz & 4K/30Hz to 1440p/144Hz & 4K/60Hz at 2.0 and 4K/144Hz & 8K/30Hz at HDMI 2.1. So I would expect new hardware to have higher resolution/refreshrate modes available. Whether or not games use those modes? Depends on the game. But they should be an option

Outside of resolution and framerate there are also some other goodies:
HDMI 2.0 introduced: HDR (although it can technically do VRR and Dolby Vision/HDR10+)
HDMI 2.1 introduced: Official support for VRR, official support for Dynamic HDR. Automatic low-latency mode. Display Stream Compression which allows even more absurd resolutions. Quick Media Switching, allows you to change content resolutions/modes without having the screen blank. There's also eARC which allows for higher bitrates for soundbars but.... not really relevant here...

What does this all mean for new Nintendo hardware? Well, probably HDR, VRR and higher resolution modes

Continue support for Switch
I'm a bit of a broken record on this one but I think it's probably my biggest wish for their new hardware. I don't just want backwards compatibility, I want existing Switch games to run better on the new hardware. I also want to see Switch releases to continue to come out where there is no significant technical reason to be on the new hardware only

It also happens in a fanbase whose developer doesn't care that much about power and cares more about innovative control schemes. Some fans here might not even care about having a more powerful console and instead want a console that has a new and quirky controller gimmick (such as the DS/3DS Touch Screen, Wii Remote, Wii U Gamepad, etc.). And that's certainly true for me, I'm more interested in what's the next controller gimmick with the Switch 2 than how much resolution, frame rate, storage space, etc. the Switch 2 can handle. And honestly I'm not really seeing anything of the former and more of the latter with your ideas, and just including the latter would make it feel more like a Switch Pro than a Switch 2 in my eyes.

@Professor_Plumber I mean, I admitted that most of mine were pie in the sky ideas, but that's mainly because I can't think of anything more realistic that would make a feasible controller gimmick. And a controller gimmick is something Nintendo likes to prioritize and many of their fans seem to enjoy, so taking a stab at that area of speculation is a crucial part of any Nintendo console's identity.

@Bolt_Strike yeah, nintendo fans should be somewhat smart about how they approach a potential new console especially when the developer in question is Nintendo. Some people will ask/expect all these outrageous modern features for the new console, but what they forget about is that Nintendo is less “specs and graphics and all the modern features you would see on the PS5 or something similar” and more along the lines of “innovative gimmick and controllers.” Which is just fine. If every console had the same features and all that more modern stuff with the only difference being different branding and games, It would be a pretty boring industry. I like how Nintendo always changes it up and adds something fresh (more often than not anyways.) I agree with you there for sure.

@TheBigBlue Not only that, but it would make each NEW GENERATION boring. We would already know most of what the console does, how it controls, and what kinds of games to expect for every console. That would make things way too predictable.

Switch 2 Could easily 'just' be a Switch Pro, we're all just guessing. Nintendo likes new gimmicks but they aren't always extreme.

I think most of what Skywake mentioned above is what is considered (hoped for) as baseline improvements by most people (although Wii on NSO etc might be too much to hope for). Other suggestions tend to be small quality of life improvements, personal hopes, or ideas of what Nintendo might add to make the next console more different. Since the 'main' wishes aren't too controversial, it's interesting to see some of the other ones.

Personally I'm in the camp of just wanting general broad improvements including most of Skywake's list plus a few small quality of life features in e.g the interface. If they add weird gimmicks I just hope it doesn't actively take away from the basic gameplay (sure, give us optional power bracelets if you want, just don't require it for many games).

@Professor_Plumber Well the topic is about what the next console should have. It's easy to see how people would trend towards wishlists over realism when this is a matter of "should" rather than "will". Not quite sure why you'd think mine was "fine" when mine is equally if not more unrealistic, in reality I'd be shocked if more than half of that list happens (and even then, it's more likely to be the boring and predictable half with the conventional features that other commenters have suggested as well). Those are more the kinds of improvements Nintendo would opt for, but they might be more ambitious than what we're actually going to get.

My issue with other users' suggestions is that they're asking more for specs and features, not actual new control schemes/innovations. Most of the suggestions just sound so dull to me (no offense).

Ironically, the improvements I would want most from the next console are all stuff that existed in previous generations. Namely, backwards compatibility, the ability to back up saves without relying on the cloud, and for the console and the controllers to be sturdier than a glass bottle. While I'm exaggerating on the last part, I am also not looking forward to Joy-Con Drift: Deux it again.

As for technical specs, eh, they won't be able to match up to PS5/Xbox Series anyway (unless they pull off an Apple Vision Pro), so I'm hoping for a decent upgrade that won't result in a smaller battery life (currently 4.5-9 hours). An SSD to drastically decrease loading times would also be cool.

@Bolt_Strike
Suggesting new and interesting ways to interact with content is all good and well but there should probably be some kind of application in mind. It should also be doing something that isn't achievable by other means. People are talking about wirelessly streaming to mobile phones and the same old ill-considered "reverse Wii U" idea. I'm not entirely sure what problem those things are trying to solve. The Switch is portable, you don't need wireless streaming.......

With that said, I did quite like the idea you brought up of having a wheel on the controller. It is, frankly, kinda odd that the mouse wheel exists on PCs and is such a versatile input for gaming and yet consoles have never really brought that across. Would they make sense as triggers? eh, maybe not. But if you had them on the controller somewhere it could work. It certainly can't be any worse than the usual implementation of putting stuff in a sub-menu under a button and the left stick

@Professor_Plumber
1TB of storage is almost surely more than we'll get but it's also far less outlandish than you might think. The difference in BOM cost between 128GB of flash and 1TB of flash would be less than the difference between including or not including an optical drive. Probably more like the difference between an OLED and LCD screen

But if you're Nintendo? I mean, it's going to be more a question of how much value that additional storage would give. Not whether or not it's practical. And with the hardware being probably more in-line with the PS4 than the PS5? We're talking 10-50GB games not 50-200GB games. Basically, it'd be a better product with an OLED Screen and 256GB of storage than an LCD screen and 1TB of storage

I'd like to see more creative uses of the console outside of being a traditional TV system. Like Labo and Mario Kart Home. Said this before, but table top games with Amiibo (and having the Switch in the middle of the table giving out game mechanics.) Stuff like that.

Analogue Triggers for a faithful F_Zero GX remaster.

I dunno, when they were losing market share, they managed to reinvent themselves each generation but as Switch is the market leader, they really don't have to reinvent the wheel. So long as they can come up with new gaming ideas, then it's all gravy to me.

I would love to see the next system to be home console with a decent remote play (like thenPS5). Those who want to play handheld would still be able to do so via their phones.
I dont see the point in a new system chasing last gen (PS4 era) ports, (if you want to play those games grab a second hand playstation) while struggling to release current gen games third party day and date with the XsX/PS5. Nintendo games don't need the power boost (the games fly off shelves as is) so they would be fine sticking with the Switch for a few more years.

The biggest thing I would like to see is proper online functionality, especially as we are paying for the service. Voice Chat, Messaging and Party options instead of having to go through Discord to get a squad for muktiplayer games like Splatoon going. - Something similar to Xboxs Club pages would be amazing for quick LFGs.

I've been more or less saying this since the release of the Switch, and this seems like the most logical step moving forward as far as a (kinda) fresh concept is concerned, and this would also blow the door open to backwards compatibility with DS and Wii U games. On that note, Download Play also needs to make a comeback, rather than forcing develpers to make a separate app to serve the same function.

Frankly, I think Nintendo should stick to whatever keeps the cost per unit down. Hardcore gamers will need an SD card regardless, but for casual users who buy only a handful of physical games, then even as little as 64GB is sufficient (which will likely be the bare minimum capacity of the next console).

I'd prefer a standalone console that can read Switch 2 cartridges and utilise existing Pro Controllers and Joy-Con (or whatever their successors may be) rather than some bizarre contraption that would require the console to be strapped to my face (a la Labo) and/or uses the Switch 2 as an intermediary. If an elaborate set-up is required, then I'd rather stick with PS5 or PC to scratch that VR itch.

Additionally, such a headset could, for example, support being plugged into a TV and used as a regular docked Switch 2. I suppose it could also play non-VR games in a faux-VR mode, but I doubt that it would be much fun to play games in a tiny virtual box.

I'm astounded that Nintendo have YET to release an official car mount for the console. I bought a third-party one for my car though.

No forced installs period. That's one of the best things about Switch cartridges.

Higher-speed cartridges should be afforded to publishers should the need arise (but like current 32GB cartridges, they'll probably never use them and burden the consumer instead).

And I strongly doubt that installing a game to a microSD card will yield any significant improvement to loading times at all.