Ubisoft Thinks The Next Console Cycle Isn't Far Away, So Where Does That Leave Switch?

Switch 2 Babee!

Switch 2. Better specs. Same basic interface. Backwards compatible. Some games will be marked as "Requires Switch 2".

I believe there will only be half generations in the future. Like New 3DS, PS4 pro, Xbox One X.
There will be a "New Switch" in 3-4 years so Nintendo can keep up in terms of computing power.

Too early. Sony consoles always last long.

The Switch Sandwich or Sandswitch?

Which upon Googling is a real thing.

Now I'm hungry.

I think we’ll see less and less ‘generations’, but more annual spec tweaks from the two big consoles, just like we do with mobile phones.

Nintendo on the other hand will continue to be creative and think of new and exciting ways to play. I think that will be enough to maintain a cult following and introduce new gamers to Nintendo.

@-Green- The ‘NEW’ Nintendo Switch 😃

Where do we draw the line between generations. In my opinion Ps4 PRO and X blurs the line between generations.

Not sure if the next console cycle is in two years. Still do suspect that in the future we get a switch sp or something

Personally just Don't feel the need for the next gen yet or see what it can offer above the x and pro.

I think this leaves Switch as a great handheld! Also, although quite often Switch gamers are left with the worst version of multiplats, portability has proved popular.

I imagine Nintendo releasing a Switch with modest upgrades to hardware in 2019 as well as a Switch Home which will be TV only. My dream would be that Nintendo would find a way to allow digital purchases to be used within a household the same way that cartridges are used — in that if a household owns multiple Switches, the games can be shared but only used once. We'd love to own multiple, our kids lose things, thus we are sticking to digital and only buying single copies.

"Do you think Nintendo will copy Sony and Microsoft's approach and release a slightly more powerful Switch in a few years?"

Yes, definitely.

Only 2 years? Geez, I hope not...with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X supporting 4K I’d hope for a bit longer. Haven’t even got a 4K TV yet so I plan on holding off upgrading consoles for a while.

I think they can just release a better dock station with specs but the switch should stay the same.

@1UP_MARIO : PS3 died as soon as PS4 came.

Switch is not a competitor to Xbox One and PS4.
The portable mode is the main selling point, and the other consoles isn't portable.

Switch DX
Switch Lite
New Switch
Switch XL
Mini Switch
Ultra Switch
Switch +
Switch 2.0
Switch DS
Switch Pro
Alpha Switch
And many more possibilities...

Third party support don't necessarily mean multi-platform games. If next-gen consoles will come soon and Switch won't be able to properly run most of their games third parties could still develop games for it as long as it is a succesful console and it offers at least a decent amount of consumers to buy those games. I didn't buy a Switch to play multi-platform games and honestly I don't think many people did. Most of the people who buoght Switch knew what to expect and all of us would like a good third parties support of course but we know that probably we won't see many new multi-platform games and I can tell you I don't care that much about them except for a few ones.

Personally I think toe to toe releases of consoles are Russian roulette. This time the XB1 lost. Also Nintendo have sort of stumbled on to the fact releasing the Switch outside the Christmas season enailed them to build up a software library, deal with stock shortages, and iron out any other issues. Look at the problems the XBX is going to have with no new games.

Translation: who cares about the traditional console war, do your own thing.

releasing an even stronger console in 2 years? people are already complaining development costs are way to high for them as is from a developer standpoint

and games getting to expensive with loot boxes, microtransactions and dlc, just wait till an even stronger console is out

development costs will rise to an insane new heights

The New Switch will be out in 2 years time. Maybe not an XL, but a mini version. Nvidia no doubt would have prepared a new chip for Nintendo since they had a 20 years contract. Everything will even out the same way. The New Switch will run at PS4 Pro's speed while the PS5 and Xbox Two will double that.

This sounds like a case of Ubisoft just being wrong. The gap between the PS3 and the PS4 release was seven years. The PS4 came out three years ago and is still selling well.
The generations are overlapping more and more with each one. The idea that games companies have a window in which to be successful based on how long is has been since their competitors released something is looking like a bit of an anachronism.

In the console race I think Nintendo is running at its own pace and lane (with the Switch being a hybrid console). So maybe they won't be releasing a new console anytime soon. Who knows, Sony and Microsoft might follow Nintendo and create hybrid consoles of their own?

If that holds true, I'd expect the Switch to get a revamp, similar to the New 3DS.

I don’t think a new Switch will or should come out in two years... Nintendo doesn’t have to release a new console simply because Sony and Microsoft do. But, I hope the next Switch is the exact same concept just much more powerful.

@Ventilator was the PS3 life cycle short

Look.

The gap between PS4/X1 and Pro/X1X is basically just a jump in resolution. And that took 3-4 years and a $400-500 price tag

You mean to tell me in just two more years, there's going to be a big enough gap to begin an entirely new generation? Come on.

I can tell you now, I buy every console but I will not be buying any new consoles in 2 years. I just got the Xbox One X and Pro. And it's plenty good enough. Nobody is going to upgrade to new consoles again in 2 more years.

It's not about hardware it's about gameplay.

a this point why even call them consoles anymore? they're clumsy pcs

I don't think he was predicting that new systems would actually come out in two years. He was saying that he believes that's the earliest that they might. Seems to me like he was actually suggesting that it would likely be more than that.

I kind of mourn the loss of 'proper' console generations, because it was always fascinating to compare launch games to those released in the console's twilight, after devs had fully harnessed the hardware.

If Sony and Microsoft are going to iterate every couple of years then there really is no benefit over buying a gaming PC. The alternative is that they offer something unique (like the Switch).

Hopefully Nintendo and Nvidia can respond by releasing a Switch that uses the Tegra X2 instead of X1. It would still be behind PS5 or whatever it is called, but would be a huge step up for portable gaming and compared to the current Switch. Old switch games would still work, and maybe new games could work on both consoles, offering improvements for those with the Switch X2 but not leaving those with the original switch out in the cold. A bit like how PS4Pro and XB1X works now. I assume it would be simple given the similarities of X1 and X2, though I know absolutely nothing if that's the case!!

I still hope one day, one day when the increase in specs becomes so small and powerful specs become cheap, that we have a Nintendo console at the cutting edge of hardware power. One day. When I'm retired, probably.

An easy solution IMO is just do a Switch 2. Not Switch U. Not Switch Lite. Not Switch XL. Not New Switch /XL. Hell not even Switch Pro. But Switch 2. More powerful. New set of services. New gimmicks to differ from the competition (tbh I don't really mind gimmicks). A Switch 2. Same proven formula that works. But 1 or 2 steps better.

Well, I guess those who bought a PS4 (not the Pro) might take interest in a PS5 a couple years from now. But like most of everyone else here, I doubt it. It would have to be very expensive on the current track.

I'm thinking a Switch with an X2 board or something like that. Just keep the form factor, more under the hood.

"Do you think Nintendo will copy Sony and Microsoft's approach and release a slightly more powerful Switch in a few years?"

I always thought that Nintendo invented the "iteration" game with their handhelds even in the good old GameBoy days... (GameBoy Color, Advance, Advance SP, DS Lite, DSi, 3DS XL, New Nintendo 3DS, the list is endless... )

I think it is an absolute given that there will be new, more powerful Switch hardware iterations come the time. If they play it right it should be fully compatible to earlier games and support the form factor completely, so you may only have to upgrade the base unit (wishful think part of the assessment).

Depending on how well the One X does will probably dictate when the PS5 drops. If it doesn't preform well then I can see Sony riding the PS4 for a while longer. If the One X starts capturing market share from Sony then I think Sony will release the PS5 ASAP. Although I do not see the X gaining any more momentum than the One has. Depending on the momentum that Nintendo has next year could also dictate the release of the PS5. I can see Sony doing that to widen the tech gap with Nintendo to try and make them obsolete to third party devs.

@hiptanaka “Plays in 2D on Switch 1”

The creators of New Nintendo 3DS will "copy Sony and Microsoft's approach", you say? XD

In a way, Switch itself is arguably Gen 9 already, especially with the hybrid concept it pioneers in a substantial form. And I still don't know what PS5 and a new XBox might be like. The former has been hinted at, but if Sony finds nothing else but more teraflops and RAM to add for better resolutions and VR support, they might just reconsider branding it a PS5 at all and release another hardware upgrade sometime down the road. Would it count as a "new console cycle" where Pro and One X apparently don't?

The division is really getting blurred as new "generations" are struggling to make performance leaps of "generational" significance. People are wowed by crisper visuals, but what comes after 4K and HDR become as mundane as 3D inevitably did once? 16k? Way to redefine "home theaters" in the future, I guess. XD

The XB1-X and PS4 Pro have blurred the lines of what a generation actually is. The question Sony and Microsoft must now ask is, do they continue to deliver a console for consumers and ‘prosumers’ (enthusiasts) respectively?

It’s easy to get carried away in technicalities, but the rate at which visual performance actually enhances gameplay is probably reaching a plateau. So even if consoles continue to get more powerful, why should the consumer feel that they have to own the latest console? This is where compatibility is the sales tactic.

As for Switch, Nintendo are fortunate that the hardware is relatively simple compared to its counterparts. It therefore makes more sense to upgrade the hardware modestly and incrementally - swap the processor, possibly upgrade storage. Either this, or the Dock will the upgrade avenue...

The article seems to have the point of the comment backwards. They are not saying the next gen is imminent. They are saying the don't think there'll be a new gen for at least 2 years.

I think that it would be disastrous for the console industry to move on to another generation within two years. Unlike the PC, console games typically are limited to the generation of whatever system they're released on; this makes building a substantial and meaningful library for the current one essential to justify another $300-500 hardware investment for gamers. The Switch isn't even a year old yet, Sony only seems to be beginning to hit its stride with the (still relatively new) PS4 Pro, and Microsoft only just released the Xbox One X (which is frankly a tough sell to play the same games at a slightly higher resolution). In all three cases, if any of these companies suddenly unveiled new hardware or a different direction that essentially makes the current one a "dead man walking", their consumers would feel betrayed and would respond with no small amount of anger.

Console cycles used to be several years, but if this trend of "1.5" systems or jumping to another entire platform with the frequency of new smartphone models continues, it will undermine consumer trust yet further in an industry already delving into dangerous territory such as loot crates and other means of gouging them. The entertainment industry has so far been fairly recession-proof, but people do have their limits. It would be wise for the videogame industry not to push them and instead return to the tried and true method of offering value to the consumer for their investment.

What's up with that title? Minimum of 2 years away is still very far off.

@Ventilator tell that to Nintendo, they keep saying switch is a home console but it's not.

@1UP_MARIO no not to early.

PS1 launched 1994 in Japan, 6 years later in 2000 (Japan) lanched the PS2, 6 years after that in 2006 (Japan) launched the PS3 and in 2013 (Japan) launched the PS4, 7 years after PS3.

PS4 is now 4 years old + minimum 2 years according to Ubi is again 6 years.

Knowing Nintendo they won't do nothing till their next system so when PS5 and Xbox "insert name" comes out the difference power wise will be even bigger.

This could mean that PS5 ports to Switch will be like PS4 to Vita ports now, bad graphics and framerate under 30fps for most games.

I am getting more and more tired of new console releases - hope the switch will be replaced by a backwards compatible successor.

No offence, but what Ubisoft thinks doesn't amount to much.

@Pazuzu666 partly, big guys like EA, Ubisoft, 2K ect know mostly before the official launch about any new upcomming system.

Nah I reckon at least 3 more years of PS4/X1. The only reason I think Sony would be quicker with PS5 is if X1X sold really well but that doesn't seem to be happening...

I can see it now, everyone going mad for a new PS5 or X2 that plays "enhanced" versions of it's predecessors games...

woo yeah, Last of Us 2 with more grass, woo... mugs.

Well they are saying "AT LEAST two years", so I don't think we have to worry yet. While I've never been a real fan of consoles (I enjoy playing on PC much more in general), I feel this console generation has been the absolute pits so far. What are consoles even about these days? My PS4 acts more like a cheap-ass broken PC than anything else. It has plenty of games, but so little of them actually interest me. Without Bloodborne, I think I wouldn't have picked up a console at all. Maybe Nioh would have pushed me over the edge eventually. Either way, most of my playtime the past years has been on my PC and 3DS. I honestly hope this generation keeps on going for quite a bit longer, cause its been eye-wateringly boring so far, and I don't want to see some new crappy piece of platic when this one doesn't even feel like it has taken off yet. And it would definitely be very sad to see an new machine now that we know mid-generations console-refresh cycles are officially a thing. Ugh. /rant

EDIT: I also can't imagine that Sony is eager to wipe the install base considering how slowly it sold over in Japan. In the west the PS4 sold like hotcakes, but it really took quite a while to get going over in the east. More than ever, I think its EXTEMELY dangerous to start a new classic console generation that retreads the old model, hoping that people buy it as usual. There were already signs that some publishers weren't very confident in this generation (it has been said that, for example, Square Enix was one of those), and I would imagine it hasn't exactly risen a whole lot these past years.

I think Nintendo chose Nvidia's architecture specifically because its easily upgradeable. I also don't think 3rd party games will be affected too often by the specs, most of them now are on PC which as you know has a wide variety of hardware power. Unlike the Wii, the Switch is portable as well, which provides a new way to play the game without requiring too much additional coding to support.

I do envision in a year or so, we'll start seeing upgrades to the Switch, like a new Tegra chip. However, i also think Nintendo is going to eventually replace their 3DS with a budget portable-only configuration of the switch.

Even the average gamer doesn't have a TV to support the XboneX and PS4 Pro yet. The super high graphical abilities of those devices only benefit the most well off and dedicated gamers. I think 2 years would be way too soon for an all new generation.

As for Nintendo and the Switch, Nintendo works on their own schedule and the Switch is in it's own niche market. After the 3DS likely phases out next year, I bet you anything we are going to get a Switch lite to replace it as an entry level product, and probably not long after that, a Switch Pro with a better graphics chip, battery, and much more internal storage(or simply shipping with a large microSD card).

@bloodycelt
Considering how much Nintendo has struggled to get a solid line-up of games on, for example, the Wii U, I think the last thing they should do is fragment that library by introducing "New Switch Only" games.

@1UP_MARIO

PS1 -> PS2 6 Years
PS2 -> PS3 6 Years
PS3 -> PS4 7 Years
PS4 -> 2019 6 Years

I say GameCube 2, would easily be successful

@Heavyarms55
Yeah, absolutelt right. You need to have a HUGE amount of pocket change before you can even CONSIDER buying a 4K TV (I currently consider it the biggest waste of money I can imagine). It's actually quite hilarious when you consider that the PS4Pro doesn't even do native 4K rendering (it mostly does checkerboard upscaling).

In PC land, 4K is currently a pretty unrealistic target for hobbyist, considering most PC players usually want at least 60 fps. Right now, 60+fps@1440p on recent games is what you're usually aiming for on a high-end system.

I like hardware improvements. Keep it slow and steady. 6 year cycle is cool. On the other hand i can also live with nintendos inferior hardware. If only i didnt have to pay extra for the handheld tax.

So, all these names, and no one typed "Super Nintendo Switch"?

This hurts.

As I said in the past few months here on the comments and ppl fight me all the time; Nintendo in about two years or 2 and 1/2 years from now will have to release New Nintendo Switch with 1080p handheld and 4K Dock.

Nintendo Entertainment Switch
Super Nintendo Entertainment Switch
Nintendo Switchyfour
Nintendo GameSwitch
Swiitch
Swiitch U

I think it won't hurt Switch too much. After all a lot of the early games for PS5 and Xbox two will likely be designed with PS4-Xbox one versions and possibly Switch version in mind as well so as to get more sales overall while the user base for the new systems develops.

Plus 2+ years off gives Switch plenty of time to get itself a strong hold and we have seen many third third parties getting quite serious about Switch.

I have a PS4. I have a 4K tv. I have no desire to buy a PS4 Pro as long as the games work on both the old model and the new. I dropped the Xbox 360 like a hot potato when I got a PS3. I have no desire to purchase an Xbone, Xbone S, or a Xbone X, or any other iteration they may come up with.

I've honestly no idea where the next consoles would go from here.

4K TV's aren't even fully mainstream yet so not sure how they could get the games to look any better than they already do. an 8K tv would cost an insane amount of Money if such a thing exists

This is why I love Nintendo... they try to find innovative ways to play rather than focusing on all out brut power

Super Switch?

I am sure that Nintendo will be ready for the next console race
We got nothing to fear

@TheGameSquid @crimsontadpoles @JakePK

THANK YOU!
Why are so many people acting like they are predicting new consoles in two years?

Personally hoping they role out an optional dock with hardware that pushes the output when playing on a TV, but everything still needs to at least meet the base Switch specs. I seem to remember there were patents to that effect.

@JaxonH Exactly that. Well said.

Well, Igot my PS4 at launch. So end of 2019 would work for me - I can jump to a 4k TV also.

As for the Switch - for me it is a VITA replacement. And that was always a few gen behind. I never expected the Switch to be able to compete wIth my PS4 or PC when I'm at home, so does not matter if it falls further behind.

Two years sounds about right. As far as the Switch relevance it will still profit, especially if more games were made exclusive to the system. System specs is one thing to consider, but so is the increase of user base. The more a device sells, the more software will be produced for it.

Could also be a Switch 2 around that time as well maybe.

@TheGameSquid 4k 60fps gaming on PC isn't as expensive as people think, a GTX 1070 TI or 1080 is enough and above that are the really expensive 1080 TI and Titan XP, €1500 and you have a solid 4K 60fps PC, 1080p 60fps is around €900 in comparsion.

1440p 60fps is currently considered midrange.

I don't know where you live but in my country all tv's above €550 are already 4K, and I don't count crappy brands but ones like Samsung, LG or Sony.

(Yes I'm a PC and console gamer)

@Rayquaza2510 yes but they continue to support it

Guys, the quote says MINIMUM 2 years. I think we are 3-4 years away from the next console generation, especially given we only recently had significant mid-cycle updates. Yes there's a need for innovation and new systems to keep gamers interested, but there's also significant development costs that need to be recuperated, and consumers can't just buy new systems too frequently.

As for the Switch, I think that's going to have an 8 year lifespan. We might see a mid-cycle upgrade (but only things like reduced bezel, 1080 portable, 4k up-scaling docked, improved chip - nothing like exclusive games that require an updated system).

As for the Switch follow-up, I think that'll be a beef-up of the hybrid concept that's here to stay. It'll be like comparing the iPhone 4 to the iPhone X. Almost the same thing, just sleeker, faster and more powerful - and fully backward compatible with the original model's games.

The one thing I'm still not sure about is the future of the 2/3DS... Does it become an entry level console with its impressive back catalogue (and perhaps new kid-focused games); or is it fully retired and replaced with some sort of 'budget Switch' (a portable only device that plays Switch games, but doesn't actually 'switch' or have any other features)?

Time will tell!

@Grawlog, That's a really great idea. Good way for Nintendo to keep up for those who want to use their switch as a more traditional console.

@1UP_MARIO true but their main focus does switch (lol) to the new main system.

Clickbait, once again, this time misrepresenting Ubisoft's statement. Ubisoft commented that they still think they have a minimum of 2 years before something new.

That means Ubisoft is saying they believe at least for 2 years, and potentially more, the landscape will remain unchanged, meaning Switch will be competing on the same field well into it's prime.

This article's headline rephrases that to say they believe new consoles "aren't far away." Headline suggests Switch will be competing on a different field soon. The actual interview very strongly states quite the opposite.

NL: You are NOT Kotaku. It would be very, very unwise to become Kotaku. And yet more and more, there are very Kotaku-worthy headlines appearing here....

@OfNullAndVoid lol. Made me laugh. Thanks dude 😂

@Metroplex360 You can do that. Anyone can play a game you own as long as your signed in to the switch, and it is set as your main console.

They should do it like ps4 though which allows you to play a digital copy on 2 consoles at the same time. Which means we can play multiplayer together without multiple copies.

Given the investment on these 2 other fish to make PRO versions of their existing hardware to allow for 4K and a bit more while mandating that games work across the platform in general I don't think so. They've lost a lot going into this race with loss leading tactics and going into these 2 nearly clones with a basic PC hardware setup internally they want it to stick around to make some good profit. As long as they can keep the parts the same but upgrade in a way to include and not exclude more while maximizing profit what benefit is there to kill these things off? As long as they keep inching it slightly while still using the same branding they can live off this hardware for an easy decade (from the base model.)

I doubt that.

Games Consoles should not keep getting more powerful. Development costs are so high nowadays there are fewer AAA games being released and when they are they are full of micro-transactions and loot boxes, so developers can regain some of the high development costs (who really needs 4K?). We do not want faster consoles, we want a constant supply of good games. I think the PS3 generation had the perfect blend of graphics and choice of games. Nowadays every big 3rd party AAA release is an 'event'. Same safe games every year, the industry is turning into Hollywood. Mario Odyssey proves that you do not need 4K high-end visuals to make a classic game.

@Metroplex360 thats a great idea when and if I ever get the $ for a switch I plan on purchasing multiple just liek the 3ds, it would really add value if we could share digital content between the 3

@TheGameSquid I think i'd be more like the new 3DS in terms of library fragmentation. Most modern software can be told to scale based on hardware, they've done it for decades on the PC, have to do it for Xbone X and PS4 Pro, so an upgraded switch, they could do the same.

The upgrade could also just add better features such as extended battery life, better performance undocked, or even allow voice chat w/o that phone app.

I also think at some point they will release a kid-friendly budget variant that is portable only, fixed controls, and a smaller screen. Mostly to replace the 2DS.

The dock architecture would also allow conceivably an upgraded dock with its own GPU, again not so much for games to require such a thing, but to be able to have a higher threshold when scaling up, or to support 4K televisions if they ever become the norm.

Nintendo chose mobile architecture, which if you follow Android and iOS allows for hardware upgrades and minimal software fragmentation, and allows them to refactor the switch both for lower manufacturing costs, and to stay current in support for the tech people use with it. (Even something as overlooked as wifi support.)

This will not matter in the long run. Nintendo could easily release a Switch+ with an upgraded graphics card in Spring 2020.

@1UP_MARIO Back in the 90s we were upgrading our systems every 4 or 5 years. It isn't too early. They might have had long life cycles in the past but with X stealing hype from PS4 they don't have a choice.

Also trying to pretend Vita didn't exist doesn't get you points either. It existed and didn't have the long life cycle others did. Therefore you are wrong anyway.

@Sentinator the vita is a portable. The psp had a good cycle. Vita came after and there isn't another portable planned from Sony.
I can't understand the point your making. Sorry

They should do an update in a few years and call it the Super Switch. Backwards compatible and all, with the entire library and everything. I love the switch so if Nintendo just sticks with it and eventually makes it better I'd be fine with it. Imagine how incredibly huge it's library would be!

@hiptanaka I think something akin to the iPhone model makes sense for Switch. As you say, everything is backwards compatible but some games will require a specific Switch version to work.

Also I think whatever the next Switch iteration is, it will have a 1080p display and docked will output at 1440p, so as to look good on 4K TVs. Current Switch games will hopefully then play in their current docked performance mode when you play them portable on the next Switch.

@1UP_MARIO I misunderstood your comment. I interpreted it as Sony systems. Even so your comparison is flawed because you are referring to times when Sony had no viable competitor in the console market.

A lot of people keep saying they aren't scared of X but I don't believe them. The hype for 4K gaming is real and they aren't going to stand back and watch. During the PS1 and PS2 days they had reason to keep systems around but the thing is Microsoft is a genuine threat to them in the console market.

@Sentinator okay. It's possible

Do you guys understand the meaning of the word "minimum"? Your headline is completely misleading.

'...minimum of two years...' = '...isn't far away...'

I did not know that,

@Brett Oh you bet me to it!

Actually, my comment was misleading because your headline is just false. Ubisoft's comment is meant to emphasize how far off the next gen is.

I love this site, but don't be dishonest please

I doubt it, or won't be much of upgrade.

honestly the jump from PS3 to PS4 didn't change much at all, with alot of games looking only slightly better then they did in 2011 (or have a better FPS )

When you look at the jump from PS2 to PS3 it's night and day.

At least with the Switch it's much more powerful then the 3DS, PS Vita and the Wii U...with the fact it's portable, all Nintendo needs to work on is more huge games like Odyssey and breath of the wild and improve that battery on the Switch.

The only thing I can see coming is perhaps a Sony or Microsoft copy of the Switch.

UbiSoft is the reason the Wii is still alive, hopefully they will be the reason the Switch won't die.

If the next-gen is a continued arms race for the most powerful sub-500 buck box under a TV, It will stand as the most powerful handheld.

Switch doesn't need to beef up, only pivot.

I thought the console market was moving away from a traditional five year cycle and adopting more of a PC model, where incrementally better models are released every few years (PS4 -> PS4 Pro; XB1 -> XB1S). I do know full well that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo (among others) are constantly working on new hardware and we'll eventually come to where current architecture becomes a legacy platform, but part of me thought the amount of time was arbitrary, that "generations" will pass when they pass.

However, going with the five year cycle, two more years is reasonable, considering XB1 and PS4 released in 2013. All the same, I'm curious to see where we go in the next few years.

While Sony and Microsoft go for the 4K living room TV, I'd hope Nintendo could do the same---but with the added option of taking that same hardware to the 'home office' for some 144fps goodness.

@NEStalgia Meanwhile they still haven't reported on five different pieces of third party success news from a couple days ago.

The future of Nintendo? They have a 2 decade partnership deal with NVidia. The first year of which has resulted in one of, if not the, greatest years of Nintendo content! So the future is very bright indeed.

I believe that Microsoft and Sony will continue to improve specs for their current consoles vs. releasing something completely new. I believe Switch should do the same. ALL 3 are great systems that offer different pros. Microsoft = Best Multiplayer experience, Sony = Top notch mature exclusives, Nintendo = Top notch family exclusives.

@superguy123

This is why I believe within 2 cycles most games will become download only. Cutting manufacturing and distribution costs would help a bit.

@JaxonH "Nobody is going to upgrade to new consoles again in 2 more years."

Well, maybe they won't, but PS4 is now 4 years old w/ about 70m sales. That's about 17m/yr. Those 15m people who bought a PS4 4 years ago at launch but are skipping Pro WILL be ready for a PS5 in 2 years. The 15m people who bought a PS4 3 years ago and skip Pro will be ready to buy a PS5 in 2 years, that will be 5 years between consoles for them. So that's potentially 30m people who will have had a PS4 for 5 years and will be ready for a PS5 in 2 years.

Not many people are buying a Pro, most people have bought a PS4, most people are still buying PS4 Slims. There will be many more millions of people ready to buy a PS5 at launch then Sony will make. Sony only needs a few million people at launch, 15m the first year, to be ready to be. They'll easily have that.

And you know what, people who bought a PS4 at launch for $400 and then bought a Pro 2 or 3 years later for $400 already showed that they are in fact willing to spend $400 every 2 or 3 years for a new console. So if PS5 launches in 2019 with 1 or 2 exclusive games, plus maybe BC, plus maybe ALL PS4 games up-ressed to 4k, people will spend $400 on that too. Even people who buy a Pro this year will spend $400 2 years from now. Gamestop takes trades ins for those who need a few extra $.

2019 is fine, more than enough people will be ready by then. They won't be able to meet demand atnlaunch.

Super Switch 2020, can play Switch games backwards compatible

What about a disc drive add-on? And then it can run Night Trap, and can get a new Sonic game, and it will be glorious!

Oh, wait.

@JaxonH @rjejr Yeah, PS5 isn't a replacement for PS4Pro, it's a replacement for PS4. That gives PS4 a 6 year overall lifespan (minimum according to Ubi's REAL comment, not the jacked up NL headline clickbait middle finger), that's normal. Switch is replacing 3DS after 6 years....

Pro is just a tiny bump for theater and brand enthusiasts to get "the best" without an actual platform update, it's not really selling as a system upgrade for the masses. Microsoft is trying to do that with X, mostly because nobody actually cared about the base X1 to begin with.

Ultimately this real quote doesn't tell us anything we didn't already assume a year or two ago. It's NL's sensationalism to the point of turning into The Mirror that makes it seem outlandish.

My biggest take away from the real quote is that PS4/X1 might be here to stay longer than most of us expected and that industry chatter must be "we're not really ready for replacements soon."

Super Nintendo Switch, eh? Ubisoft may be right concerning Sony and Microsoft, but that cycle doesn’t really apply to Nintendo. We’ve had many conversations about how they do their own thing with a console cycle.

"Toe to toe" is an absolute exaggeration.

Speaking as someone who bought bothh Nintendo and Microsoft consoles for the last 3 generations I can faithfully say that at no point did I look at my Wii and say "I don't need actually want this Xbox - I can get everything I need from this Wii right here."

As for the Switch - if they released a Switch 2.0 tomorrow I would absolutely buy it, and I most likely would have no plans to buy a second home console as the offering on the Switch has been immense and totally satisfying so far.

Just bring out a new docking station with a new chip from Nvidia inside to up the graphics and power.

@hiptanaka Ther's no Tegra X1 successor out yet. While Tegra X2 us "there", it uses a different architecture and would mean a lot of adoption trouble for devs. Nvidias Tegra "Xavier" won't launch till Q1 2018 and word has it that Xavier is designed as a SoC for smartcar stuff.

The way I see it, Nintendo is content to do its own thing. At this point, that seems to be working quite well. This is coming from someone in the IT industry, but not everything needs to be a rat race.

How is the Tegra family doing. What is the latest model's specs and applications. Might give us insight in to the iterative scope of their partnership with NVidia.

@Yorumi "if talk of a ps5 starts showing up sometime next year"

Well not real official talk next year, Sony has too many games still coming to PS4 to even hint at PS5. Heck they hardly even hint at PS4 Pro, all they talk about is PSVR. I think it all depends on how many games for 2018 actually come out in 2018. Sony has 2 dozen big games potentially coming, that could just as easily be pushed back into 2019. If they all somehow manage to make it out in 2018, well then 2019 will be a good time to start talking PS5. If half or more of them get delayed into 2019, well then delay the PS5. But not talk of PS5 from Sony until early 2019 after they sell a boatload of PS4 Slim for $179 next BF. Maybe even a few Pro for $299 if the remember they sell it.

And this has been an odd generation, and it's all the mobile markets fault. Everything seems like it came out last year b/c everything did come out last year, new iPhone, new iPad, new Samsung Galaxy Tab, Note 8, everything is new every year, even things that are 4 years old. I'm a big Sony fan but I waited until last year for a PS4 b/c I played all their big games on my PS3. Uncharted 4, Ratchet and Clank reboot and FFXV were my tipping point. I bought a Switch 2 weeks ago for Mario and XC2, as I had Zelda, MK8 and Spaltoon on Wii U, but now I'm waiting on XC2 until it's complete, so I probably could have waited on the Switch until next year.

Of course generation talk gets even stranger for Switch as it's both a home and portable replacement, and PS4 and X1 are mid gen and releasing updates. So it's all confusing. I just play the games and dont' worry about it. Just got Rise of the tomb Raider in the mail, nto going to worry it's a 2 year old Xbox game that I waited a year on PS4 for a sale, it's new to me.

So don't worry about it and just keep gaming.

I want it to be a new way of gaming; triple hybrid console with 4K compliant. It's controls will be on your "finger-tips" and it has VR feature as well.

@NEStalgia ""we're not really ready for replacements soon.""

AKA - nobody wants too code all of their games to look great in 4k.

I'm thinking the replacements won't be until the early 2020s.

I don’t know what the future holds with dedicated gaming consoles. We keep hearing, generation after generation, that it’s coming to an end. I love consoles (never was a PC game player) and I hope Nintendo, Sony, & Microsoft continue to launch new systems. I’m loving my Switch and hope that if Nintendo does launch a new console in the next 5 years it will be a Switch +. Same type of amazing flexibility but with more power, better screen & long lasting battery. Akin to the way Apple upgrades it’s iPad.

@rjejr "We're holding out for VR"

I dont think we are anywhere near seeing the next console generation I think it'll be 2021 before we get there

I'm late to this thread but still there are a few points to make.

1. Who says it'll be a successful generation? From a normal consumers perspective the leap from PS4 to PS5 will be the least impressive generational leap ever. Especially for people who have a pro or an Xbox One X.

It could easily be a DVD>BluRay analogue and at the very least we might see take up occur much more slowly than in the past.

There is nothing in business logic that says a successor console from any manufacturer has to be successful.

2. A new generation launching doesn't mean 100% adoption immediately and the third parties will always have one foot in the past until the install base justifies leaving the past generation behind (subject to a few other quirks like manufacturer incentives to the publishers).

A new generation launching next year and on the expectation of very high sales very quickly might scare Nintendo but 2 years from now I don't think they'll be worried at all. By that point Switch will have a very big install base and be much cheaper to produce.

They might offer an incremental upgrade but regardless of that they'll be able to position Switch as a budget option for a broader audience much like the 3DS today.

Um, he said a minimum of two years. His statement is in fact stating that the next console generation will not be coming any time soon.

There will be definitely a Switch 2.0 with more horsepower and higher res screen. 2019/20 would seem right for this. All games running on both versions, like the one x and the pro, except I can see Nintendo doing this 2 or 3 times before moving on to the next console. I predict the switch will have a 8-10 years lifespan.

Switch is a portable. It doesn't compete in the same market as Xbox/PS. As those console move on, it will be harder for 3rd parties to outright port games day and date to Switch. But that doesnt mean less 3rd party support by default - that just means it has to be different. I desperately want older games brought to Switch to be portable, and we will see more unique offerings like Rabbids

@nhSnork
If switch is gen 9, then it's a poor showing from nintendo. Hmm gen 9 and still lacking behind other hardware manufacturers from gen 8, don't look to good from that perspective. Anyways it's nintendo's 2nd attempt at gen 8. Another thing mate Nintendo didn't pioneer hybrid gaming, far from it, other hardware were doing it way before switch, only switch made it more mainstream. Take a look at the morpheos 300, it's a tablet just like switch with detachable controllers that also plays games on TV or on the go, also it came out in 2013, that is just 1 example, there are many others

i expect (if N is smart which is far from being proven) that a new switch will hit 2-3 years with a new tegra. backward compatible with all old games, docks, cons, etc. just new internals and maybe a nicer kickstand.

eventually the screen may change to oled price permitting and 1080 battery tech permitting but it would keep the exact same form factor.

i don't see N ever going full console again. i see the 3ds being killed off quickly (hopefully) and them going all in on 1 system. new tech every 2 years at the same 299 price and BC fully and we have a winner. also fixing online, vc, account management, game sharing is a must.

edit; and GIVE devs the big carts so they use them. no more download this and that after purchase. that's dumb. also i assume more space internal on the next gen switches. i'd expect 256 to 512GB next and more and more. though if they go the apple route the 256 version will be 1000$ cause those guys love to overcharge for space.

Seems to me Ubisoft already have Dev kits, takes 2 to 4 years to make big games, yep Ubisoft are already working on a game for next gen. VR will evolve into something fantastical and Sony will be at the front of the line. VR is the short term future of gaming, right now it's going through a experiment phase but will blow your mind with ps5. Traditional gaming will die sooner rather than later, 30 years from now you won't be playing games the way you do now

@WhistleFish

you're drunk if you think VR is going anywhere. 3d didn't and i don't imagine vr will either. unless you want a 1000$ ps5 vr. the ps4 vr is a JOKE.

what you may be getting at though is the future will look different. it'll be crappy ipad games all the way down....

Sony/MS need to be careful how they approach upgrades in future. If they keep doing iterative things they may get away with it but if they go for another new console with no backwards compatibility so soon they'll drive people to PC. Nintendo shouldn't need to worry as they'll have a large install base and people making exclusives by then, plus if people keep doing things like DOOM where they've proved they can get it running well then all is good. If they do want to upgrade surely they can offer an upgrade to just the central panel for a reasonable price? No need for a new dock or joycons...

@sword_9mm
Lol yep i have probably drunk enough to sink a battleship. VR will do better than 3d and Sony will bring a superior version to ps5 as a add-on, certainly not built in. I ain't saying it's taking over the world but it will offer a greater experience than just staring at a screen on tv, i am certainly ready for something different, but in all fairness it will have to bring it's A game. Who would have thought Nintendo would have brought back wii controllers, but it's working for them even though they are garbage. Like i said we won't be playing games the way we do now, but who knows it's future. Lol let's hope it ain't a iPhone future, exciting times ahead for sure whatever the outcome

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I love bean sprouts. Lol

@rjejr @NEStalgia
The thing is, a new generation PS console absolutely, positively must have a significant jump graphically to warrant a new generation. Just look at the jump between PS3 and PS4, and that took 7-8 years to achieve. And a lot of people said they were not impressed with the jump.

That's going to be even moreso the case for the next generation. Even if you waited equal timeframe, 7-8 years, the jump would be less apparent then from PS3 to PS4. Add to that the fact you're saying it would happen after just 6 years, and add to that the fact PS4 Pro has already bridged half the gap.

If anything, I suspect this will be the longest generation yet. Nintendo might release a new console every 5-6 years but Nintendo has always done so. Sony and MS have not. It's going to take more time than ever before to get the same jump gamers expect from a new generation console. The fact X1X and Pro exist is evidence in itself. It took 4 years just to make a simple resolution increase. You actually believe that in two years- half the time it took for the jump to X1X/Pro, that technology will have advanced enough to usher in an entire generational leap?

Either this becomes the longest generation we've seen to date or it becomes the last generation as we know it and they simply release another "upgrade". Personally I'm somewhat expecting the latter because starting over from scratch is so hard nowadays and they're just going to re-port all the same games again... I think the model of upgrades is what we're going to see going forward. Because at the end of the day they don't care about making a new console- the end game is software sales. You sell hardware in order to profit off of software. If they can do that without having to start over from scratch, I believe that's exactly what they'll do.

I don’t think we’re going to see discrete generations from Sony or MS again. Why do they need to reinvent the wheel unless they plan to move away from x86. I can’t imagine either are going to to try do a Nintendo with the Switch and MS in particular has incentive to keep the platform similar to Windows PCs.

I think the Pro and One X are a sure sign that generations are out and we’re goig to see iterative updates. Discrete generations are a huge business risk. Look at Sony’s struggle to transition from the PS2 to PS3 and MS in turn failing miserably to carry its 360 momentum to the One. Discrete generations provides a logical point for customers to jump ship rather than stick with a common platform.

So yeah, we may be two years away from an upgrade to current consoles, but I don’t think we’re going to see a new generation in the traditional sense again.

@GravyThief I think Nintendo releasing a Tegra X2 version is likely. There are development kits for the X2, but it hasn’t been fully released so I would guess an X2 version will come in 2019/20.

There's only so few developers right now that are able to fully make use of X and Pros graphical capabilities, apart from putting up a 4k resolution that is. Think it has to take longer.

I believe Nintendo will make use of their supplementary computing device before the release a Switch 2, which would essentially boost it to the hallowed 'Tegra X2' levels of performance (that seem to be so important that they almost buried the Switch on reveal when it turned out to be based on the X1).

A 'New' Nintendo Switch will most likely be in the works, but you can bet your left buttock that it won't see the light of day until both Nintendo and Nvidia figure out a way to prevent it from pulling a Galaxy Note and burning your house down.

Switch is fine as it is right now, and when the time is right, they will likely slap a revised chip set in there.

Haven’t read all the above comments so sorry if I’m repeating this. But Yves only said something new coming in 2 years. So not necessarily a new gen. probably something more like a PS4-pro Slim or Switch Lite. The industry cannot afford a new gen already. My guess is another 4-5 years before we see a real new gen

@Anti-Matter My money is on "Switch Plus"

Anything short of cloneing the Switch, or going full on VR, and Sony and MS's TV boxes have nowhere to go. There is nothing they can do next generation, that they don't already do, that anyone but someone like Digital Foundry would notice.

My eldest has had a PS4 since launch. In that time I've played uncharted 4 and polybius and I honestly can't think of anything else. I will buy tempest 4000 and the new uncharted and will be tempted by last of us 2 and red dead at some point next year. Other than that I'm not bothered. So they can upgrade all they want and when they want.

@Nincompoop I'd hope that that mini-Switch you mention is only made for toddlers and midgets. It hurts my hands just thinking about it.

I'm sure most of us are so happy with the Switch that all we want for the next one is to be able to nail PS4 graphics, have a longer battery life, analogue triggers and be totally backwards compatible. And so, this isn't what the next Switch will be lol.

PS4 launched back in 2013, if we saw a PS5 in 2019 that's a difference of 6 years which is pretty much average for PlayStation. If even you take the Pro into account that's PS4, 3 years later improved the system for those that want it (no different to a New 3DS or DSi) then 3 years later a new console.

Sony have even said PS5 in the works.

This also applies to Xbox One but with the One X only just coming out a jump again in 2 years from that, might seem too soon but then would MS want to release in 2020 a year after the PS5.

If the last gen wasn't so long (PS3 was 6-7 years depending on the region to PS4 to PS5 would be 6 years) due to things like the financial crisis. We wouldn't even be talking about the jump now seemingly being too soon.

They do say MINIMUM. That doesn't necessarily equal "not far away".
It could be another 4 years tbh.

If they're smart they'll release an upgraded Switch in 2 YEARS. Better battery life, the X2 chip, and more memory. That would probably put it inbthe same climate it's in now but its better than nothing. Unless they come up with a better graphics chip over the X2.

@roboshort there ARE development kits?? When was this reported? I must have missed this one.

Its easy to win the updated console war.

Take a Switch.

Remove battery. This will lower the price.

Replace screen with a HDMI port. This will lower the price.

Replace the one microSD card port with a tripped microSD card port. This will tripped the consoles storage capacity.

Add unify the Estore support so you have access to all digital purchases from the Wii U and Switch.

Release with Smash Brothers Game.

And there you have it a cheap console with a game the people want.

@TheGameSquid Heh, it's expensive to be sure, but I can think of some bigger wastes of money. I saw a company offering to build you a crazy fancy underground wine cellar with spiral staircase and advanced climate controls for "only" 150 thousand dollar. All it does it store wine at the "perfect" temperate and humidity. THAT is what I consider the biggest waste of money I can imagine. lol

Half the reason MS and Sony did the X and Pro was to extend the current generation a few more years so I'm thinking 2020 at the soonest. They want a generation similar in length to the seventh gen which was about seven to eight years and the current systems are 4 years old now. Sony is selling PS4's in droves so they are in no rush to retire their current cash cow and MS is going to want to get at least a couple years out of the X.

Turning that same coin it's going to take a few more years for the native 4K capable graphics cards and tech to get cheap enough to release around a $400 price point. Even the One X isn't quite there yet (it's closer) and it's $500 right now. MS and Sony won't sell tech at a loss if they don't have to like previous generations due to development and other rising costs. That's a big reason the base PS4 and XBO were considered under-powered when they launched in 2013.

This actually leaves Switch in a good spot imo. Games are still going to be made in mind for the base PS4 and XBO systems for a few more years and as we've seen with games like Doom, the system is at least on paper capable enough to be within throwing distance to get some third party multiplats. Hypothetically, say PS5 and Xbox Next would release in Fall 2020. Nintendo could release a more capable Switch 2 in 2021 and give the current system (at worst) at least four years of support before looking to potentially replace it. So imo, releasing a new system halfway through a traditional cycle may not hurt Switch in the long run.

@Nincompoop That seems about right. But if Sony and Microsoft see Switch as a threat, they might push the envelope a bit farther (Microsoft did it with the Xbox One after getting a hold of the PS4 specs) just to make sure that developers have a hell of a time downgrading to Switch Lite.

Nintendo could double the specs in processor and graphics power in 2 years, without raising the price for a Switch Pro.

Have Nintendo just covertly released the best product sales dynamic in console history as well as the best designed video games hardware?

Shortening a console lifespan is just stupid and transparent. It’s all about hardware manufacturers adopting the mobile phone dynamic and trying to maximise hardware sales by making you believe you NEED new hardware every 2-3 years.

The difference with phones and gaming are gaming is an art form and hardware only ever achieves success when the software delivers the art, Wii U failure is a good point in case.

If you shorten lifespan from 6-8 years to 4-5 years when games today take approx 2 years to develop a quality game. That doesn’t give developers much time to develop a game before they are then having to learn the next hardware.

This also alienates the consumer/gamer who has just shelled out £400 before having to do so again just as their favourite console has found its stride.

NOW!!!

What if the physical design of next gem doesn’t change? What if all your peripherals and leads and docks still work?

What if Switch 2 was released 2 years from now?
What if new adopters could buy a full £380 starter pack?
What if current Switch gamers could simply buy a Switch 2 Tablet to upgrade from switch 1 for £200? - Even trade in the switch 1 tablet against it?
If the architecture stayed the same and Switch 2 was a like-for-like unit but with double the CPU, GPU and RAM.

What the Switch poses is a very cheap and simple way to let techy gamers stay ahead of the curve and a great price and not let all their early invest drop in value, also keeps their loyalty as hardware is showing investment in the loyalty of its user base whilst seeking to maximise sales in new users and retention of loyal users wanting to regularly upgrade.

PS5, PS6 .... wants £400 for full kit every 4-5 years for a static console.
Switch could be offering you fully accessible home gaming that is fully mobile at half the price.

I would say the NS will get a midway SKU upgrade between 2019-2020, possibly featuring a Tegra X2/Parker/Pascal architecture variant of the Tegra series, bumping up overall performance from the current Maxwell architecture. Subsequently, if another SKU upgrade appears before the NS successor, then possibly a Xavier/Volta architecture variant by the end of 2022.

The 8th console generation began either 2011 or 2012, depending on whether one interprets that either the 3DS or Wii U began it. Either way, 2020 is 8-9 years for the 8th console gen to be in effect, and 7 years for the PS4/XB1 to be on the market. With the 7th console gen being elongated, the timeframe between the PS3/X360 and their successors was 7 and 8 years respectively.

Thus, with the 8th console gen also being elongated, the 9th console gen will come into effect either 2020 or 2021, since that's when the PS5 and neXtbox will likely be released. (With the Switch being an odd mid 8th gen entry, although an upgrade SKU could boost it up to 9th gen status.) It's also when game development using multichip module (MDM) CPU's and GPU's, as well as CPU/GPU/HBM combo packages, will begin to become standardized.

In case anyone wasn't aware of it, Intel and AMD are teaming up for their mobile/laptop businesses:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=gaHs_guCp2o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNY5e5CFlbc

https://tech4gamers.com/official-habemus-intel-processors-amd-radeon-graphics/

The first products in this partnership will have a Core i5/i7 Kaby Lake-G CPU, combined with a Polaris AMD GPU with performance landing somewhere between GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 levels, supplemented by HBM2 memory being connected to the GPU. (In other words, even at it's worst, a combo that makes mincemeat of the Switch's Tegra X1.) All for around $400 in 2018, without counting retail markups and other parts.

This has the potential to put NVIDIA into a really bad spot in the PC gaming market, and subsequently the gaming market overall. Not in the short term, but almost certainly so in the long term. By 2022, many people will likely have already started mostly only buying these combo products instead of NVIDIA GPU's, except when they're integrated into a system like the Switch. Dedicated discrete products will recede back into the enthusiast sphere. I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch or it's successor eventually ends up being NVIDIA's only remaining vestige of major influence in the gaming market. They're already making their transition to deep learning/AI research (professional instead of consumer aimed products) and driverless automobile GPU's (the true purpose of the Tegra series SoC's.)

Since this will have a huge effect on what types of hardware publishers will generally fund development for, the NS has a strict timetable for how long it will remain relevant. At this rate, Nintendo should release a successor for the NS no later than 4th quarter 2023- either through NVIDIA's continued involvement as the last NVIDIA-powered console standing, or by joining the fray with everyone else in some capacity.

@JaxonH I agree about the upgrade cycle span.... not even sure I would do it for Nintendo. Four years was about right for WiiU to Switch for me. Tho the XboneX looks like it is definitely worthwhile, the original Xbone works more than well enough for me and will be just fine for two more years.

He didn't say "only" two years, he said a "minimum" which means he thinks it will be at least, but probably more than, two years from now. And the original PS4 and XB1 were released in 2013 and the current upgrades (Pro and One X) are still using the same architecture. That would mean that each of them would have been on the market for six years at minimum, but more likely seven. That's a pretty good lifespan, assuming the Ubisoft guy is even correct.

"Do you think Nintendo will copy Sony and Microsoft's approach and release a slightly more powerful Switch in a few years?"

Seriously? Nintendo has released system revisions as far back as the FDS and Gameboy and continued to do so all the way through to the N3DS a couple years ago...

Nintendo fans who have been paying attention could tell you the Switch Mini/NewSwitch/Kid'sSwitch is only a matter of time!!

Do they really think Microsoft and Sony are releasing new consoles in 2019? I’m finding that really hard to believe. Both companies are said that their current consoles may be their last with us just seeing upgrades from time to time like the Pro and the X. Games will be developed to run on the original consoles and also to take advantage of the faster hardware. Switch will be running the gimpy versions but will not be left behind. Nintendo really hit a sweet spot with the portability factor of the switch. It’s going to do well. I hope Nintendo puts out a “new” Nintendo Switch in the future like it did with the 3DS that gives more power etc but runs older software. Would be great and allow them maintain the power needed for decent 3rd party support.

@Anti-Matter Switch Micro

switch classic super mini

@JudgeMethos Yeah. Just search for Jetson TX2 developer kit. There will probably be some slight differences, but overall, it should bethe same architecture.

@hiptanaka That's all Nintendo needs to do. Better specs, nothing more.

@Shadowwing78 You draw the line when new hardware starts a new library and no longer plays (natively) older games. The PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are still in the same generation as the Ps4, Xbox One & Wii U. Switch started a new generation.

3DS, New 3DS, 2DS, New 2DS XL are all part of the same generation. Seems simple to me, not sure why people insist on blurring the lines.

I'm more curious what the Switch means for Nintendo's 3DS successor, with the next core Pokemon and Fire Emblem titles coming to Switch it seems like Nintendo will go for a one platform approach for the foreseeable future.

New 4k-upscaling dock that improves the output power on the TV screen. Rather than buying a full new system, buy a new dock to keep up in the home console mode. But you don't need better specs when you're in handheld mode, since Nintendo controls that market.

@Slitth Is that still a Switch then if it no longer functions as a portable? Methinks you're missing the point and just want a gaming PC with Nintendo games.

I could get down with the docks becoming simplified external GPUs in the future I would need to buy in 3 or 4 years.

I honestly don't think there will be a new console hardware cycle. The X1X may as well be the next generation given its level of power. At some point Microsoft will drop support for the original X1.

@JaxonH "PS console absolutely, positively must have a significant jump graphically to warrant a new generation"

No, it doesn't and it won't. (Hey look I'm still not banned. That's surprising after I finally lost it on PS)

All a PS5 needs is 4k on all games. PS4 Pro has checkerboard on some games, but certainly not all. Every game at 2160p is the goal. Supposedly X1X does that now, I'm not following it that much though. BUT, big BUT, MS said no exclusive X games. Sony also said no exclusive Pro games. What that means is that devs can't actually use all the power the Pro and X have, b/c if they used all that power to it's fullest the game wouldn't' run on Slim and X1S. So all the 5 basically has to do is use ALL of the Pro and X power by running games in 4k naively, not checkerboard smoke & mirrors stuff. So maybe all it needs is that extra half step that PS4 Pro took up from PS4. But they wont' name it PS4 Pro Pro, they'll name it PS5. PS5 really only needs to be 2x more powerful than PS4 if that's what it takes for native 2160p.

And then all Sony has to do is put a couple of exclusive games on it like TLoU3, Uncharted 5 and God of War: The Son Becomes the Man. Or more realistically Horizon: Zero Dawn 2. Which will probably have a boring name like that and not something cool like Horizon : First Light (Get it? 0 dawn to 1st light) And then throw on a few games like GTAV4k and whatever else they want to port w/ 4k stuck on the end of the name. Or maybe GTA6, surely that will be native 4k when it comes. And it will come, why wouldn't it?

And PS5 also has to be powerful enough to run PSVR 2 in 1080p. PSVR 2 will be the real shining star of PS5, Sony's excuse to make PS5 is to power a new PSVR 2 1080p headset. And 2 more years will be the right time for that as well. I think PSVR has enough going for it now that they can get away w/ a $400 PS5 on the shelf next to a $400 PSVR 2.

MS can do what it wants, Sony only has to care about Sony at this point. And what it will want is a true 4k console in 2 years and a better PSVR expereince.

how'd I do @NEStalgia

It's comments like these that make me leery of buying a new sony or ms console. They're such juggernauts for $$$ that they're willing to alienate/insult their customer base with producing new versions of their consoles all the time.

@rjejr
Don't think that's enough. Simple resolution increase isn't enough. See Xbox One X. If Sony has to release an entirely new generation of hardware just to do what Xbox One X already does, I can't see anyone buying it aside from diehard Sony fans, who btw, were the ones who upgraded to Pro already and won't be eager to upgrade again.

They might be stupid enough to release another console just two years after telling their fanbase to upgrade to the $400 Pro, but if they did I can't see anyone but those same diehard fans buying one.

No. If they release a new console, it's going to be like the Pro. It may have the PS5 moniker, but it'll basically be PS4 Pro 2 "full parity with Xbox One X" Edition.

No possible way, if it took a 4 year gap just to see mid gen upgrades, we're going to see a completely new generation in half that time. Not happening. New hardware requires starting over, and with Xbox One X already providing full 4K, people would mock them into oblivion if their new generation console barely matched the already existing, 2 year old Xbox One X.

Look how few people bought a Pro or X1X for 4K. You really think another 4K console is going to be enough to draw everyone in? If it wasn't enough the first time, what makes you think a simple jump from checkerboard to native will be enough a second time?

@Rontanamo_Bay " except that the Infamous SS DLC was called “First Light”"

Yeah, that's the big problem w/ the name, but I'd still like something to follow Horizon: other than 2, otherwise my name the first game Horizon: Zero Dawn instead of Horizon Zero Dawn without the colon? Horizon: Zero Dawn 2 would be pretty lame.

Of course I haven't played the first game yet, I'm about 20 minutes in, so what the secodn game is called may depend on how I feel about the ending of the first game.

But considering how well H:ZD did, and how old the PS4 is now, H:ZD 2 sounds like a PS5 game to me, and potentially a system seller, maybe around launch.

I think in my head I know 4k is 4x the pixels, not 2x, but my point was that's about all the power the PS4 needs, whatever it takes for 4k@60. No console gen is ever going to be as impressive as PS1 to PS2. PS2 to PS3 was nice, PS3 to PS4 was barley noticeable, yet PS4 still sold 70m in 4 years, which shows you don't need a big graphic jump to sell consoles, you only need, well I don't know what you need, b/c I still don't understand why anybody bought a PS4 the first 2 yeas it was out, all it was was ports of PS3 games, but all that matters for Sony is they did.

OK, I think that last paragraph was meant for Jax, not yo, sorry.

@JaxonH "Simple resolution increase isn't enough."

Well, what's the difference between PS3 and PS4? Sony sold 70m PS4 in 4 eaers and as far as I can tell Uncharted 2 and 3 on PS3 look like U4 on PS4. inFamous 1 & 2 on PS3 look like inFamous 2nd Son on PS4. All of those CoD and Madden games look the same to me. Why did anybody buy a PS4? I really dont' know, but I know they sold 70m $400 consoles in 4 years. They'll do it again w/ PS5 as long as it has H:ZD2. Maybe Bloodbourne 2 or Doom 2.

There are no more big jumps left in graphics, H:ZD is practically photorealistc, there's no where to go after that, but convince people to buy new consoles b/c that's where the games are. Uncharted 4 and inFamous 2nd Son could have run on PS3 w/ all minor differences. MGSV did run on PS3. GTAV ran on PS3, and people bought both of those games on PS4 b/c they were very minorly better.

People these days spend money for minutely better. Look at those $800 phone upgrades every single year, It's insane, but they do. A new console every 5 years for $400 to go form 1080p to 4k is nothing. And for the maybe 15m people w/ a Pro, they can wait 2 years, the other 35mil PS4 owners owners who bought the first 2 years will upgrade.

BTW, my wife talked a PS4 owner at her job to buy a Switch for Mario. Thought you'd like to know.

@rjejr
There's a difference between PS3 and PS4. A big difference. People bought a Ps4 because of that big difference. Just look at DOOM on Switch and then on PS4/X1. And Switch is considerably more powerful than a PS3 was. It's more than a small difference. The actual graphics are significantly better. Not as much as PS2 to PS3 but better. And they did it after waiting 8 years. Not 2.

What you don't seem to get is there isn't any point in releasing a new console. There's no point. They make money off software, not hardware. There's no point. Why start over from scratch. Why? To what end?

It's too soon. People buy phones because they get contracts and deals to pay no money down. A new console would be $400-500 up front, plus accessories plus games every 2 years? It's too much.

For a new generation to begin there has to be a significant upgrade, OR, a new concept like Switch. A jump from upscaling 1440p to 4K to native 4K isn't enough. People won't buy it in large enough numbers. Don't believe me, see Pro and x1.

Personally these system cycles are really bumming me out. We have 3 major companies using whatever time lines they use to release it's new systems which seems to be 3 to 6 years leaning more towards every 3 years. I wish they would makes a system and not think about a new updated system for at least 10 years. We'll at least it's better than the life of a cellphone, which seems to be about 1 year.

Nintendo should hurry up and launch a power upgraded system dock and not to battle the incoming generation but to make it on par with the current. It wouldnt be hard to do and i think nobody would have an issue with it assuming it was priced fairly. Imagine that no ports had to be scaled back and were able to run exactly the same as the other platforms. The Switch would then truly dominate.

@JaxonH "People won't buy it in large enough numbers. Don't believe me, see Pro and x1."

People SHOULDN'T buy Pro and X1 if you ask me b/c there is no reason to. None. You can get a PS4 Slim or X1S this holiday for $199 - ads are out now - or a Pro or X for $400 or $500, to play the exact same games. Meaning you can buy BOTH a PS4 Slim and X1S if you want, or a Slim or X1S AND a Switch, for the same cost as an X1X. At least New 3DS had Xenoblade Chronicles, these new consoles have nothing to offer.

But put a new game like Horizon 2 on a PS5, people have a reason to buy one. Did you see the long list of Tentative PS4 games for 2018 over on PS? I bet 1 or 2 get pushed to PS5 like The Last Guardian. Maybe Death Stranding. And if not only on PS5 then dual releases like GTA and MGS had.

And here's another reason neither of us have mentioned yet, competition. The longer Sony waits to put out a PS5, the more people who already bought a PS4 4 or 5 years ago get bored waiting and buy a Switch or X1. People need to spend money, it's what we do but not everybody can spend $4,000, so we have to pace ourselves. Maybe only buy a new console every year, or 2 or 3 or 5. Switch won't have Switch 2 out for another 4 years, with a New Switch in a few years that acts more as an update than a side-by-side. So the longer Sony waits, the more likely Nintnedo or MS put out a console people want to spend their money on. People wont' wait around forever for a PS5, they'll buy something else instead. Those people who bought a PS4 4 years ago will be more than ready by 2019. Even if the graphical difference is only minor, as long as it's noticeable. More RAM, bigger HDD, better resolution. It's an easy sell. The longer they wait, the more people will defect. 2 years from now seems just about right for early adopters. Does need to have a big exclusive ready at launch, that's the key, having games ready. But 2 years from now they should be. Maybe Witcher 4 or Fallout 5 will be ready for 4k by then?

2018 is too soon, 2020 just seems too far away. Even for me. The sooner PS5 launches at $400, the sooner it drops to $300 so I can buy 1. Can't get the price down until after it launches. Well unless your MS, X1 seemed to drop every few months. $500, $450, $400, $350, $300. It was constant. Kinect did get the boot in there somewhere. And Sony wont' launch PSVR 2 until PS5, so they need PS5 to sell more headsets.

If MS announces in 2018 they are done w/ consoles and getting out of the business, then 2020 for PS5, otherwise Sony needs it in 2019. They can't go 3 years after Pro w/o new hardware to announce, attention spans are too short these days.

@rjejr
Like I said, there has to be a big enough jump to warrant a new generation, or bring something new to the table.

They could release in 2 years, but whatever they do they're gonna have to offer something worthy of a new generation. And there's simply not going to be enough progress in that time to increase power to a level acceptable for a new gen. Not without an insane price tag or losing $100-150 per console.

@JaxonH "Not without an insane price tag or losing $100-150 per console."

Well if they raise PS+ to $99 per year they could probably afford to lose that much per console.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2017/05/23/sony-theres-26-million-playstation-plus-subscribers-70-million-active-psn-users/

That was sarcasm, but I do expect PS+ to hit $70 when PS5 launches in a year or 2 or 3. (Just b/c I think 2019 is most likely doesn't mean it will launch then.) $70/yr x 26m = $1.8 Billion with a B $ per year. They can afford to lose a little on the console.

Sony has games, tv on PS Vue, old games on PS Now, movies on demand, 4k movies on 'ULTRA". The PS5 isn't just about movies, it's a multimedia box. 4k streaming will be a bigger deal in a few years, more 4k tvs in homes, PS4 wasn't built for that, they'll promote it more w/ PS5.

https://www.lifewire.com/sony-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-streaming-4018634

@Dan_Dan I see. But Nintendo is probably talking to Nvidia about long term plans for the platform. Maybe they have something custom in the pipeline for Switch?

@hiptanaka Ther's an option to go for nintendo where they could enable the full power of the Tegra X1. The Tegra X1 in the switch is a bit cut down, with lower clock speeds and fewer cores. The Full TX1 has 4xA57 and 4xA53 cores, while the NS TX1 only has the 4xA57. If they wanted, they could use those low power A53 in a custom setup, but would probably require patches for all the games to profit from it.

Another option would be Tegra X2 that has 4xA57 and 2xDenver2 (custom nvidia cores) which end up with more than double the performance of the Switch Tegra X1, but probably also much higher power consumption, which is probably the future issue for a Gen2 Switch.