Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

@gcunit I felt like it was dangerously close to being modded around when Hyrule_Rainclouds spoke up.

It'd also give me an excuse to play through my copy of Prime Trilogy on Wii so that helps too XD

Some very small amounts of egg on my face

https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-switch-2-release-date-now-...

I'm a tad surprised at the idea of potentially burning the most profitable period of the year by having new hardware on the horizon hanging over the holiday sales period. If they have a decent software transition story to sell it might not impact software sales as much as a hard transition would. If they can sell that story. But hardware sales ....

Does that matter this late in the cycle? Maybe not. The people who are buying hardware this late in the game are not likely to be the same kinds of people who queue up on day 1 for Switch 2. Admittedly I say this having recently picked up an OLED but still. People who buy into platforms this late are, generally, low information consumers. We're in the tail anyways, sales are tapering off anyways, it won't matter that much

Also, there's a fair chance that Nintendo wants to try and repeat the launch pattern for the Switch. Which was an earlier investor reveal, a year before where the only mention of NX was to confirm BotW would be cross-platform, an October reveal, an early March launch and then just an avalanche of content. Is it the right play? Maybe. But unlike Wii U which was basically dead already Switch isn't.

They're going to need to find a way to convince people to buy Switch content this holiday knowing that Switch 2 is right around the corner. They need to sell that cross-generational compatibility story. They're going to need to bring forward some cross-gen killer apps that would've served them well as launch titles. Which isn't ideal but if that means you launch with (entirely hypothetical examples) Mario and Metroid as opposed to Wind Waker HD and Arms 2? Fair enough. You only launch once. The optics of launch matter far more than how profitable they are in Q4

Really bummed by this rumour. Feels like too much noise about it to be wrong. Was really hoping we would get the new console this year. Lack of a direct doesn't help either, feels like it will be a really dry year if all this holds true.

@skywake Wouldn’t it make more sense to just delay the cross console games until the console is ready and have an ever better and bigger launch lineup? Perhaps Nintendo just has to brace themselves for a sluggish year this year and hope for the best with Switch 2.

At this point I'm not believing any date until we get an actual announcement which will be... who knows when. 😛 I guess if we don't see it in the Mar-Jun timeframe the 2025 rumours are more likely... assuming there isn't a completely new set of 2024 rumours by then.

I'll be sad if it doesn't come out this year mainly because I have a lot of game-playing time around the holidays so it would be fun to totally no-life on a new console.

For now, we can go back to the never ending direct/announcement-waiting game.

@FragRed
Depends on what those titles are I guess. We're almost 200 pages deep into this thread, my view on this is basically the same as it was on page 1. I think this will be a soft hardware transition where it's not entirely clear where the Switch library ends and this new library begins. The difference between a cross-generation title and a Switch game that has backwards combability with an enhancement patch will be technically non-existent

I think from a purely technical point of view the difference between, say, an Arms 2 that's cross-gen post Switch 2 launch and TotK that might get an enhancement patch will be non-existent. If anything something like TotK with the ability to take advantage of better hardware is almost surely a more impressive title. But early adopters and enthusiasts don't buy new hardware for 2 year old games

So yeah, I think it could well make sense to keep some titles that will ultimately be "cross-gen" ready to launch late this year for the holiday sales period. Because my view is that just about everything on Switch is, in some shape, "cross-gen". But I think if we're talking Metroid Prime 4 or something.... you hold onto that for launch

I have no reason not to believe these 2025 rumors. The sources saying this aren’t random people on Twitter, it’s coming from places like Eurogamer and VGC.
It’s disappointing for me personally. Yeah yeah I know the whole “a delayed thing is better than a broken thing” but it felt like the right time to move to better more modern hardware. I love my switch but I’d be lying if I said I was happy with the current performance of it. I was just hoping for a new system that ran a constant 1080p 60 FPS docked and the type of exciting launches you see with a new console. Now I’m probably thinking this year will be less then exciting given the fact we probably don’t have much of anything beyond a few remakes and smaller titles left for the current Switch as is.

@NinChocolate
To make a pedantic point, we're not talking about boardroom memos leaks here. Both articles and the original tweet are talking about Nintendo having briefed third parties about when they intend on releasing. Which is definitely something they would be doing.

@NinChocolate
We're talking rumours here so the entire thing is a game of telephone. For all we know it's been Q4 always and the leaks/rumours from a few weeks ago talking about late 2024 just mixed up Nintendo's fiscal year with the calendar year. And this more recent one, rather than being a timely on-the-fly change of mind, is just a correction of the record

But yeah, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the quarter Nintendo intends to release a new platform in is information that Nintendo is fairly openly communicating with third parties about. Third parties who would know a hell of a lot more information about what this will be than the three month window Nintendo expects it to release in

I do wonder what they'll try to lead with this winter if Switch 2 is 2025.

You would assume they'll definitely want to keep Prime 4 and the next Mario game "dry" ahead of a launch.

I think that "Hyrule Warriors: Yep this one is all Tears of the Kingdom" is a certainty at some point - could be a Switch Christmas release or could be another hold over. The Zelda HD ports might also make sense if there's nothing else but that's potentially a lot of Zelda in a short space of time (I'm pretty confident that they'll do a "BoTW Delxue edition" for Switch 2 shortly after launch - the instant loading times and higher resolutions already seen behind closed doors with the ToTK nip tucks on interface thrown in) and surely at this point we'd rather wait another 6 months for Wind Waker UHD rather than settle for a Switch version?

Metroid Prime 2 & 3 remastered?

Pokemon "something" - maybe a second "Legends"? It seems too soon for another generation and they are stretching at the limits of the technology but it is the Pokemon company so who knows...

An "Amiibo Festival" or "Happy Home Designer" style Animal Crossing spin off?

A Kirby game might be the best bet for something substantial and "new" from Nintendo themselves. HAL work fast and the original was so packed full of ideas they must have had more cut out of the game so who knows - a "Forgotten Land 2" could conceivably make a Christmas release.

Various ports from the Wii, GameCube and 3DS? There's plenty left of course but we're talking ports of games with a more niche potential audience.

Fire Emblem ports/remakes - the Gamecube & Wii games packaged together or any of the 3DS games would seem feasible and would sell but they're not blockbusters that sell 5-10 million copies and keep the console itself in conversations.

The reddest of red meat for enthusiasts would have to be kept back. Novelties like the Game & Watch systems or the NES Classic Console that we saw in the dead rubber period of the Wii U might make an appearance.

@StuTwo to be cynically honest, as long as they have their Pokémon release for the holidays they’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ve got a ton of remasters they can just slot in the schedule if need be (looking at you, Twilight Princess and Windwaker HD)

@StuTwo
I'm not sure there's that much reason to hold onto Wind Waker until a "Wind Waker UHD" version. Wind Waker as it is holds up fairly well because the art style allows it to get away with fairly low resolutions. Most things are just solid blocks of colour. So I'm not sure what going from 1080p to 4K would really add at all. HDR? RayTracing? Maybe. But really, I think if there was ever a game that doesn't really need more power to look good it's Wind Waker. I know Wind Waker HD on Switch has been rumoured for so long it's basically a joke at this point but it really does feel like the most obvious late Switch title

But yeah, I think there are certainly options for mid-tier Switch titles that could keep people going over the holidays. Gamecube, Wii and 3DS ports as you mentioned. I think there's also room for some titles at around the scale of NES Remix or Rhythm Heaven. Maybe a Wario Land or Punchout. That kind of thing. Kinda like how in the last 6 months we've got WarioWare, Pikmin 1+2 and Mario vs DK. Safe, relatively non-demanding, non-flashy titles. Certainly good and enough to keep the wheels turning but not the kind of titles you'd hold onto to showcase brand new significantly more capable hardware

Also, you're right about Pokemon. There'll almost surely be Pokemon. GF doesn't really care about quality and they could literally release the same game again but now with hats and it'd sell 20mill units

Oooooooooor.... an Ocarina remaster would be more than enough to carry this dead whale until 2025.

Just sayin'.

lol

@skywake I agree about Wind Waker. That game looked gorgeous in HD on the Wii U. It’s something that could easily be slapped out on the Switch as a filler and then should they wish to, release an upgrade for Switch 2 when it launches that gives the added 4K and HDR. Not sure about ray tracing though. I didn’t think the Switch 2 was going to support it?

@skywake I can see your point on Wind Waker (honestly the original GameCube version still looks fantastic). It's in a strange position as a game though - it has a very high status amongst the enthusiasts but it's also a game that would sell and appeal to the mass market. In many ways it's an ageless game and it doesn't matter which console its released on again or when.

Punch Out is a reasonable option for a late life Switch release. The Wii version could easily be ported or provide a strong foundation for a new game with a few more characters. Arms is far enough in the past for them not to be seen to be treading on each other toes (the absence of Punch Out on Switch might suggest Arms 2 is a thing in development though).

Well we'll see when we see. If Switch 2 is a March 2025 launch (and I'm assuming it will be March for the FY) then it could be a huge year. The flipside being that 2024 will likely be an underwhelming one.

If Nintendo made the decision to postpone the launch until 2025 fairly recently without much time to prepare, I can see this year being a repeat of 2020 — maybe not as bad, but I could see the holiday game being a remaster or remake like Wind Waker HD or Twilight Princess HD re-released with maybe another extra feature tacked on. Metroid remasters seem like a good idea too. And of course could see a Pokemon game, although I hope they'd give Game Freak a year off to have more time to prep future titles. Maybe a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, or something by another company? Like @skywake said we'll likely get many smaller titles. I really hope they save Metroid Prime 4 for Switch 2, at this stage it'd be a crime to have it primarily launch on Switch 2 (hopefully a launch on Switch 2 alongside Switch 1 with 1080p 60 fps or 1440p 30 fps on Switch 2 and 720p 30fps on Switch 1)

I finds it very entertaining that so many people here and internet behaves like if the specs is everything and the only which matters.

So how do all of you explain of that Switch has sold 140m in less than 7 years... despite of that PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox 1, Xbox Series blah blah existed in same timeframe as Switch which were and are so incredibly much more powerful than Switch?

It's just about the concept and the games which sells.

"Switch Pro" or "Switch 2 " has been a thing since 2018 because of that some people are disappointed by the specs of Switch instead of actually enjoying the games it got.

I don't recall this thing during the Wii U era, despite having a catastrophic abysmal library and the games were ultra-gimmicky in a bad way. They loved their Wii U, and still does yet today, they still refuses to playing on anything but Wii U.

It's like if many here and on internet wants Switch to die off so fast as possible before it surpasses their beloved NDS or PS2. Or that Switch in the end sold +150m more than their beloved Wii U.

My guess is that the delay of the Switch 2 might be because some of the launch games are being delayed. One of the big lessons they've (hopefully) learned from the contrast between the Wii U and the Switch's fortunes is that the lineup matters and you want some big games early. I'm not sure they can quite replicate the Switch's amazing 2017 lineup, but I think they can get close with the kinds of games that I think may be coming. If I had to guess on the launch year lineup, it's probably something like (in no particular order):

3D Mario
Mario Kart
Metroid Prime 4 (cross gen title)
DK
SSBU Deluxe
2D Zelda?
Some kind of casual party game (something analogous to Wii Sports, Nintendo Land, or 1-2 Switch)

If they can something like this Year 1 that would be another strong start that should give it some early momentum. I'm guessing that maybe a few of these have run into delays and won't be able to hit 2024 so they've pushed the whole console launch back to ensure it has enough games to get people to buy them.

@StuTwo They'll at the very least have Pokemon in November so the holiday season is covered.

The question is, what do they have in Q2 and Q3 beyond Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion? They need something to make sure momentum doesn't fall off a cliff. LM2 HD is a 5+ million seller, but I don't know if that's enough.