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We've heard rumblings that Nintendo is working on new Switch hardware all year, but yesterday's report from The Wall Street Journal was the most convincing yet; it claims that Nintendo is working on not one but two new SKUs for the console.

One is aimed at the 'Pro' sector of the market, and will apparently include additional features to draw in early adopters who already own a Switch system. It's the same kind of upgrade path Nintendo has used in the past, with the likes of the Game Boy Light, GBA SP, 3DS XL and New Nintendo 3DS.

Our pals over at Eurogamer have corroborated this report by talking to other sources and can confirm that yes, we are getting two new Switch consoles this year. However, Eurogamer's source is keen to stress that while the cheaper of the two variants is indeed going to be a budget iteration, it's more in line with the 2DS than 3DS.

The 2DS, as we know, came at a time when the 3DS was still performing well in the sales charts, and removed the autostereoscopic 3D feature (arguably the console's selling point at that time) to present a more 'kiddie friendly' console, complete with a robust design which also jettisoned the delicate clamshell casing.

Eurogamer's sources claim that an almost identical approach is being taken with the cheaper Switch variant, and they hint that it could even lose the ability to dock and connect with TVs. This might seem like an odd move, but then so was stripping 3D from the 3DS – and Nintendo did that.

'Several people familiar with Nintendo's current plans' spoke to Eurogamer and said that this SKU is aimed squarely at kids who want to play on a portable games console, so it could be that the need to connect to a television is seen as worth sacrificing to attain that lower price point. Rumble is also being removed, although Eurogamer says it's not totally sure if this relates to 'HD Rumble' or force feedback altogether.

Meanwhile, the same sources say that the 'Pro' model won't be a massive leap in performance, as some people are no doubt expecting. It will, apparently, be closer to the jump between the standard 3DS and New 3DS.

[source eurogamer.net]