Jeronan

@-wc- People don't want Nintendo to go back to traditional home console and dedicated handheld (like 3DS). Having to buy two consoles and double paying for games on both Home Console and handheld.

Hybrid couldn't be done earlier, due to technology not being ready yet.

The WiiU was basically a stepping stone towards the idea of a Hybrid Console.
The WiiU was a fantastic console, but it should never have been named that way and it simply failed purely due to terrible Marketing mistakes.
It's incredibly sad what happened to the WiiU, as I absolutely loved the console.
It's just that the Gamepad had limited range and you couldn't walk too far from the console. So most games I just played with a regular controller, unless the Gamepad was required as secondary screen.
But the seed was planted. The idea was there. Since it was incredibly convenient to be able to play WiiU games remotely on the GamePad, when the TV was in use.

The Switch console is the future. That's why it's so immensively succesful. You can play it docked on TV as traditional console and take it with you anywhere and play handheld.

But the Switch wasn't perfect and the NVidia Tegra X1 SoC was a bit outdated already at the time of the Switch release.
So it's quite underpowered and the SoC even had to be underclocked to not cause overheating issues within the slim console Chassis.
It also had disappointing little onboard storage and not high performing either.
Docked the max. resolution to TV was only 1080p, but a lot of games couldn't even output it due to performance limitations (including some of Nintendo's own first party games).

So if the Switch 2 can solve the above issues, Nintendo will have a new winner in their hands.

The Switch 2 will have a brand new custom NVidia SoC, which was developed solely for the Switch 2 via collaboration between Nintendo and NVidia.
It will support the latest DLSS tech. Especially if its going to use the just announced DLSS 4!
It will also have more and faster RAM and superfast m.2 storage onboard.

This will be an incredible improvement from the Switch 1. Especially docked, the traditional console experience will be way better. As we can expect more consistent performance and 4K resolution due to NVidia DLSS upscaling tech.

And if they managed to improve the Joy-con's as well, by finally updating to Hall Effect sticks to eliminate the drift problems of the Switch 1 and better more firm connection to the console.
That would be another big improvement.

The design philosophy of the Nintendo Switch is sound. It's the future. It works and people like it. It's why it's been such an incredible success.

Just like the smartphone revolution since the introduction of the first iPhone almost two decades ago. The core design and interface hasn't changed much since then. Other than bigger sized models, improved screens and onboard tech, improved cameras and software.

Why change something what works!

The Switch 2 won't be released to immediately replace the Switch 1. It will most likely exist alongside the Switch 2 for quite a few more years, as the cheaper alternative with a lower price.

Like the PS5 and XBOX Series X/S. It will be mostly enthusiasts, people that want the latest and greatest, want the best performance, that will buy the Switch 2 at first and then slowly over the coming years the Switch 2 will finally replace the Switch 1, when more and more new games only come out for the Switch 2.

@-wc- Sorry to bring it to you, but this Switch 2 is exactly what most people are expecting and hoping for!

A much more powerful Switch console, together with other iterative improvements. Like better joy-cons (hall effect), better joy-con connections to console. Faster and larger onboard storage.

So many people and media have been screaming since the Switch launch, for Nintendo to release a Switch Pro with more powerful hardware.

There are a lot of games on the Switch that I would love to replay on the Switch 2's more powerful hardware, for a much better more smoother experience.

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet comes immediately to mind, which would greatly benefit from this, but same goes for the Zelda games ( BOTW, TOTK ). While I greatly enjoyed these games, they were a bit blurry on a large 4K TV and suffered from inconsistent performance.
Not to mention to finally get the nextgen updates for Witcher 3 and Skyrim and have a more crisp, better performing handheld experience.
CyberPunk2077 is also almost certainly coming to the Switch 2, with much more powerful NVidia SoC and DLSS support.

Or games that suffer from long loading screens between locations. Lego City Undercover and Hogwarts Legacy. With much faster m.2 storage. These long Loading screen times will be gone on Switch 2.

The Nintendo Switch is hugely successful and people love the Hybrid nature of this console.
So why change something that is clearly working.

People are also fed up and tired of each new Nintendo console not being backwards compatible and having to start all over again, losing their existing collection. Since a lot of people don't want multiple consoles at home and had to trade in their old console and games in for the new one.
People want to bring their existing game collection over to a new console.

So here it finally comes. Just not called the Switch Pro, but Switch 2.

@brookeobscura It most likely is not hardware, but on software level which is not ready yet.

It could very well be, that they are waiting until NVidia DLSS 4 is ready. Which was just announced with the new RTX50xx GFX cards.

Either way. Nintendo already said before Summer 2024 that they would announced the Switch successor before the end of the fiscal year. Which is end March 2025.
That is still more than 2 and half months until the end of Nintendo's current fiscal year. So I don't expect any announcement until late February or March.

@Dev1024 You not going to announce a new console in 2024, when you not going to release it until 2nd half of 2025.

No company in their right mind would do such a thing and financial shoot them in the foot and destroy their 2024 holiday sales.
Just because some people and media are too impatient.

Also, why are people upset if the Switch 2 is going to look nearly identical as the Switch 1. You not going to change an incredible successful design just for the sake of it.
When it works, it works.

Nintendo will just iterate on the Switch 2 design, hopefully addressing some of the issues, like wobbly Joy-con connections and the stick drift issues (use Hall Effect already! ).
Just like they made improvements to the kickstand with the Switch OLED, which as a massive improvement over the OG Switch.

It's just like with Smart Phones today. You reach a point that a given design works, people are comfortable with and making further radical changes will be pointless, unless it makes sense.
Hence, why we just see iterative changes each year with new Phone models for the last 10-15 years.

This label can be justified, when Chinese Military intelligence has full access to user info within TenCent systems. You can bet the Chinese government has full control over TenCent. Like they have with each successful big company in China.

It's well known that it's simply impossible to do any business in China without agreeing to Chinese government oversight.

Western corporations have just hidden these agreements for many years, until this was exposed some years ago. Suddenly causing (fake) concern by Western governments after public pushback after the revelation.
Like the Huawei spy chip scandal in their routers and chips in Micro Systems servers hardware, etc. Chinese intelligence hoarding user data from Mobile devices and systems linked to Chinese corporations. Etc, etc.

It's the main reason, why Western corporations are suddenly trying to divest themselves towards other countries in recent years, like Vietnam and India. Building factories there and moving production out of China.

Also don't forget that Nintendo also suddenly cut their ties with TenCent and pulls out of China.

@Toastmaster That is because the store page is under steampowered.com, which always had Norwegian translation.

So I am pretty sure, the Steam Deck page is just auto translated and has always said the Steam Deck is not available in your region.

@Toastmaster It's not really the 5 year reclamation law in Norway that is the main issue though.
As most products that are widely available have similar pricing in EUR and NOK. Sometimes it's up to 5% more expensive in Norway with some products due to 25% VAT, instead of 20-25% in other countries within EU.

The problem here is just the grey import. Elkjop and Power literally buy these consoles at US retail price and then still want to make a profit themselves. That is why they end up so much more expensive.
They just did it and bought it in fairly small quantities due to demand for people willing to pay that extra high price to buy locally, but the demand wasn't high enough to go through the lengths of applying for official Nordic distribution rights with Valve.
It also didn't help that Valve had trouble producing enough consoles and was constantly sold out. There were very long periods of time that the Steam Deck was out of stock and not available.

Maybe that will change in the future with the inevitable Steam Deck 2 release and if there will be enough demand here in the Nordic countries and Valve able to produce consoles fast enough and in enough quantities, for some distributor willing to step up and go in talks with Valve.

But then there is also the development of SteamOS itself with the posibility now for other Manufacturers going to be able to produce and sell devices with SteamOS.
The initial rumor was that this first handheld console from Acer was supposed to be the first non-Valve handheld officially releasing with SteamOS. Though, it's now clear that isn't happening.

@Qwiff Only very select countries in EU and for limited time.

Here in Norway, it has never been available. I can buy it now at local retailer or some online shop that does grey import, but end up paying almost double the price.
I can literally buy the latest top spec Asus ROG Ally or top spec Legion GO for the same price as the Steam Deck OLED.

So again, ( if you are in the market for a PC handheld ) why would you buy the Steam Deck OLED here in Europe today (with heavily outdated hardware), when you can buy the top spec Legion GO or new Asus ROG Ally 2 for the same price?
Or, even better, this new Acer 8,8inch handheld with even newer hardware specs.

@Toastmaster I know, I saw the same interview last year.

The problem still stands, that it's pointless and waste of money to buy the current Steam deck today, unless you only interested in old (retro) games and have the money to waste.
Plus, like I said, it's not even directly available outside of NA. Only via some 3rd party retailers through grey market import (with hefty markup, so you end up paying same price as the new alternatives) with no support from Valve.

So, again, outside NA. Why in earth would I buy the Steam deck, when I can buy the new (much more powerful) alternatives for the same price?

@Reztobi While Steamdeck is an amazing handheld, it suffers from outdated hardware. Most new games won't run on it and are not Steamdeck verified or just run extremely poorly and look like a blurry mess.

While design wise the Steamdeck is superior to many of the alternatives, Valve really needs to release a new updated next-gen version.

Also, Steamdeck wasn't even available here in Europe until sometime last year via select few 3rd Party retailers that decided to import them themselves.
Legally, we can still not order the Steamdeck here in Europe directly from Valve!

So technically, for many here in Europe at least. Asus, Lenovo and now Acer's PC handhelds are the only option.

@Znake That might only be a problem for Studio that use ***** outdated unoptimized custom game engines in-house that need the raw power of latest gen consoles just to make their games run.

Most of todays modern engines, like Unreal Engine is cross-platform, including Nintendo Switch support and also supports the full NVidia GFX suite, including DLSS.
So games developed on these modern engines can much more easily ported to the upcoming Switch 2, with little effort.

@WhiteUmbrella Yep. NL hypocrisy at it's finest.

@Link_of_Hyrule Exactly!

If its comparable to the PS4 in raw power, then that is more than enough to run any game (even the latest games) at 1080p 60fps. (more demanding games will use NVidia DLSS)
Which is what it needs to do in handheld mode.

Docked, NVidia DLSS comes into play and will do its magic with upscaling to 4K. So games will look great on your big TV.
Performance will be further enhanced with todays much faster RAM and m.2 storage tech, compared to the PS4 and current Switch.

Remember, the current gen consoles (and older PS4) use AMD chips and can't use NVidia DLSS. AMD makes great Ryzen processors (literally killing Intel), but they suck in the GFX department and their scaling tech is garbage. NVidia is leagues ahead in the GFX market, especially with the latest DLSS tech.

People seem to forget that NVidia showcased their first iteration of DLSS long way back with the Shield that was already capable for 4K upscaling.
So can you imagine what the Switch 2 will be capable of with a much more modern SoC, much faster RAM and Storage and latest version of NVidia DLSS.

@JohnnyMind It's because of the hardware, they end up priced like that. It supports native Windows, so you can run any Windows games on it natively!

A good gaming laptop is also expensive.

Bit overdramatic article, but expected on Nintendolife for anything that isn't Nintendo getting burned into the ground.

They offer two sizes, yet you only focus on the 11inch model, which Acer themselves admit will be an extreme niche product for a select few who will be interested and manufactured in a limited amount.

The vast majority will just go for the more portable 8,8 inch version.

I myself, have an 12,9inch iPad Pro for over 7 years now (still going strong and working) and absolutely love it!
I actually use it time to time for XBOX remote play.

So honestly. That 11inch model is not so crazy if you think about it. Most who would buy that model, will use it with the kickstand and remote controller.
So it can be valid alternative to a Gaming laptop for those who prefer to game with controller anyway.
I never use the Switch with kickstand and remote controller, as the screen is just too small. So here an 11inch screen is actually a big plus for that type of gaming.

People need to try to be a bit more open minded.

@Grumble Third party has solved this long ago. Hori makes excellent Joy-con replacements that are much better for people like us with large hands.
They are officially Nintendo licensed even and come in Nintendo branded boxes.

@DaniPooo Today a high quality modern LCD panel (mini/microLED) is pretty much the same price as a good OLED panel.

OLED has become so widespread that the cost has come down significantly, due to mass production.

You can buy a good OLED monitor for the same price as midrange IPS LCD monitor.

Same with TV's these days. You can buy a OLED 4K TV for the same price as a modern mini/microLED TV.

Especially with the Switch, since it probably won't have a higher resolution as 1080p (which would be double of todays 720p).
Those small OLED panels are dirt cheap these days. As they are very popular in DIY (like in the Raspberry Pi community for example).

So it would actually be highly disappointing if Nintendo would go back to releasing the Switch 2 with an LCD screen.
As OLED has another advantage in being more battery efficient and with handheld consoles, you want as long playtime as possible, before having to hook it up to a charger.

@Serpenterror Yep. I don't know if I am going to be all too excited about magnetic connections between console and joy-con's.

Unless the magnets are non-glued fitted behind a plastic cap with screws and easily replaceable.
Magnets loose their strength over time and you either need to be able to replace them or re-magnetize them.

I rather would have seen them improving the rail system, for a better long lasting tighter fit. Here the addition of magnets could help with a more secure (less wobbly) fit.

@Dazman You cannot compare a big gaming laptop and a small handheld like the Switch.

It's simple physics. It's only so much you can do in a tiny space of a handheld without getting overheating issues or forced to use tight fit earplugs to not get annoyed by extremely loud fan noise to keep the SoC from melting the case and burn your hands.

Just look at today's Windows handhelds with the AMD Extreme SoC and how loud those fans get to keep the system cooled and still it has throttling issues in demanding games.

The rumor of the new NVidia SoC in the Switch 2 is that it's performance will be on par with the PS4, which is a huge performance boost from the Switch 1. Plus it will support the latest DLSS tech to offer 2K (or even 4K) upscaling when docked to TV.
Again, a huge resolution boost to the Switch 1, which topped out at 1080p, but often struggled and throttled down to 720-900p in demanding games.

So if the Switch 2 can offer a steady solid 2K resolution with DLSS when docked. That would be an amazing improvement and frankly good enough visually on most TV's, unless you sit 3 feet away from a 100inch TV.

@Knightrider1 No one in their right mind expected Nintendo to announce the Switch 2 before Christmas and deliberately shoot themselves in the foot and miss out on vital Christmas sales.

You not going to announce a new Console before Christmas, that won't release until later 2025. That's just common business sense 101.

@swoose The reason is simple. Development costs.

Stick to what works. Male Protagonist + high school setting.

Means they now have a set of systems in place they can keep reusing with each new Persona game.

Having both male and female protagonist as option, means almost double the conversation lines to be written, extra voice over work, etc. As boys and girls just talk and react differently if you want to make it believable. Otherwise what would be the point other than just for the sake of choosing a female option.

Same again with the High school setting. They have systems in place like school questions during class. School clubs. Parttime jobs. Etc. That is being recycled in each subsequent Persona game.
Though, of course it could translate relatively well into a University setting too with a bit more mature Protagonist. It would require minimal adjustments to existing systems.

@Koffeeking0407 Sorry to break it to you, but that's almost twice the weight lol.

I do a lot of photography and 600-700 gram difference with my lenses is very noticeable when you carry / hold something long in your hands.

In general, under 1kg is within a comfort zone for a device to hold for hours on end.
The moment it passes 1kg you going to notice. This has nothing to do with going to the gym or not.
It's your fingers and especially your wrists that will tire out.

@Zverik That has nothing to do with AMD, but simply Lenovo.
It's a ***** Chinese brand with terrible support. Will never buy anything from them.

Asus used to be good, but has gone down the drain as well and has taken some serious reputational damage recently due to their ***** practices and terrible support. Especially all the problems with their Rog Ally handheld and how they mishandled that.

There are some huge advantages Nintendo has (or any console for that matter).

That is their affordability and many years of support.

Devices like the Legion GO are more than double the price here and you're lucky they are supported for more than 2 years.
Companies like Lenovo and Asus are notorious for their terrible support.

So not only are you paying a lot, but these PC handheld devices become obsolete so quickly... it's not even funny.
At least with your gaming PC you can upgrade individual components.

Valve's Steamdeck is pretty cool and well supported by Valve, but the top model (with decent enough storage) is also double the price of a Switch and its SoC is also quite outdated now, so a lot of new Titles are not Steamdeck verified or not running well on the device.

@Anachronism I like Ciri a lot. So I am actually excited for this.

@AllBLK This is just another nail in the coffin for Ubisoft.

That whole company is a complete mismanaged shambles right now.

Mass lay-offs, projects canceled left and right and anything that is still left in development is in a complete mess as well.

@Arawn93 Yep. I seriously don't understand Sony sometimes and how they mishandled the Vita.

It was an amazing handheld and was surprising powerful for a handheld at that time. All the games run amazing on it and it had PSP backwards compatibility as well.

@Itachi2099 No it doesn't need to be the size and weight of a brick.

The PS5 games don't need to run at 4K 60FPS, but instead just run at 720p/1080p, depending on handheld screen size and resolution.

So plenty of GFX optimization possible to run PS5 games on a handheld with todays tech.

You have to remember that the current Switch is running two/three generations old tech.
Mobile processors have come a long way since then. See current PC handheld devices that are now on the market.

@JSC016 Lego City Undercover is one of the best Lego games in my opinion.

It's very open world'ish compared to the usual on the rails experience with other lego games.
It's just very unique and as such I enjoyed this game the most out of all the Lego games I played.

BUT! If you can play it on XBOX or Playstation, I would recommend that due to far quicker screen load times.

The WiiU was the worst and the Switch version did improve it somewhat, but it's still far too long to stomach in my opinion.
Here is hoping the Switch 2 will have m.2 storage and fixes this for good.

@Atariboy I think you missed the memo of the Switch 2 being full backwards compatible with the Switch 1.

@Dee123 It's really strange why they wait so long with porting over the Windwaker HD and Twilight Princes HD games.

I guess they plan to use them to pad the Switch 2 release line-up next year.

@Aurumonado Well, if you watched Abdulasmash's stream he loves the game, but was disappointed at the same time around some dumbing down / streamline decisions that were made, like removal of level power ups(?), around gear, no direct control anymore of Luigi, etc.

Nintendolife always give crazy high review scores for first party titles in general. So always good to check around and get your information from multiple sources.

@Coalescence The same with PS4 when it launched. Cheaper or about same price as regular Blu Ray player you could buy at the time and get a gaming console to boot lol.

@MjJmediablogger It seems you have forgotten how bad the first 2 years of the Switch were, with barely a handful of major releases.
Nintendo can't afford anymore to repeat the same mistake or they will have a new WiiU debacle on their hands.

People today expect full backwards compatibility, as both Microsoft and Sony have gone to a Software first approach in recent years with full backwards compatibility to keep their new consoles relevant.

Nintendo has shown time and again they cannot produce major first party titles fast enough and they don't get the full support of major AAA studios due to the huge power gap in Nintendo consoles and PlayStation/Xbox/PC. So it's too time consuming and too expensive to port most titles to Nintendo.
And if they port, it almost always end up being an inferior port on the Nintendo console with terrible sales as result.
Classic Catch 22.

It won't be any different with the upcoming Switch 2 console, which is expected to on par with the PS4 in power.
With both Microsoft and Sony now release Pro versions of the current generation, it will be the exact same situation again with the same huge power gap.

So the only way for me to justify buying the Switch 2 next year, is if it has full backwards compatibility. If not, then I will be done with Nintendo and stick with my current Switch OLED for my portable gaming needs.

But luckily you are wrong and we already know the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible, with titles like upcoming Pokemon Legends and Xenoblade X port launching on both consoles next year.

PS. Remember, there are still more than enough games left that haven't been ported yet. For example. What about both Zelda Twilight Princess and Wind Waker WiiU remakes that have not been ported to the Switch yet?
Then there are still plenty of Gamecube and Wii classics people would love to see ported.

@Maxz It was a figure of speech, but for investors and the company itself, when you only move a couple hundred units a month, that's pretty much as dead as it gets.

And don't get me wrong. I loved my WiiU console back then. It was a shame Nintendo screwed up so badly with naming the console WiiU and their whole marketing around it.
If they had given it a completely different name with better marketing strategy, it would have performed a hell lot better.
It was an amazing console and above all, it had full native support of the original Wii. So people buying the WiiU at that time had immediately access to the huge and amazing Wii games catalog!

Unlike the Switch, which really suffered from a lack of major title releases the first 2 years, with some serious software draughts. It wasn't until year 3 that things became better.

@Maxz They won't. Anyone who thought this are literally insane.

If they really planned to announce the Switch 2 this year, they would have done so before the Summer with a release this holiday season.

They not going to announce a Switch 2 now, so close to the holiday season and screw up their holiday sales profits by instantly killing off Switch sales.

You can't compare this with the original Switch announcement back then in October, with a March release the following year. The WiiU at that time was literally dead and holiday sales forecasts were dead too, with WiiU consoles at that time moving units in the hundreds. It was really that bad!
So Nintendo at that time, literally had nothing to lose and was practically forced to announce the Switch at that time, to save the company and keep investors. It was thanks to the 3DS console sales still doing well, that they managed to keep their heads above water.

Today, Nintendo is doing better than ever with Switch console sales still in the millions. So again, why in earth would they rush an announcement right now before the Holiday season?

@HatesCheese It was never going to be this year. It would have been announced before the Summer if that were the case.
Especially after the new Pokemon Legends anncouncement with a 2025 release, which made it immediately clear it was going to be the Switch 2 launch title.

At earliest we can expect a Switch 2 direct in Q1 2025, with a release by the end 2025 before the holidays.

Is it possible to get the regular Meloetta in the recent games?

It's one of my favorite Pokemon's.

The Switch 2 won't be announced until January 2025 earliest.

They still have games to release this year and don't want to hurt sales.

We already know Pokemon Legends ZA is going to be the launch title of the Switch 2 and it probably won't release before Summer 2025 anyway.

So they probably announce the Switch 2 in Q1 2025 (end 2024 fiscal year Nintendo) with a release somewhere in Q3 2025.

@WhensDinner but that's what it exactly is. A kids movie!

A kids movie doesn't need to make sense, as long as its fun and entertaining for the kids.

Adults need to stop over-analyzing kids movies.

@Member_the_game Since the Switch 2 will be full backwards compatibile.
That is reason enough to instant upgrade. There are quite a few games in my catalog that could benefit from the extra Power. This includes Zelda:BOTW and Zelda:TOTK, Lego City:Undercover, Witcher 3, Skyrim, etc.
Would be exciting to see how much better those games peform.

@HotGoomba That is mainly due to their incompetence and inability to do global releases.

We here in the West had to literally wait years before a Yo-kai Watch to release due to heavily delayed localization. By then the hype had worn off and sales tanked. Nintendo of America did the localization for them in the end for the first game to finally able to release in the West. Yo-kai Watch 2 and 3 still were over a year delayed in the West due to localization.
The toys we already in stores along with Japan release, but we then had to wait a year for western release to use said toys. It was a joke. It was just destined to fail.
We never got Yo-kai Watch Switch (Yo-kai Watch 4) here in the west nor the Yo-Kai Watch 1 remake on the Switch.

It's almost guaranteed to be real.

Nintendo has had such massive success with the Switch and everyone has been pretty much loud and clear to Nintendo that they just want a next gen Switch that is just more powerful and backwards compatible.

At this point in time, where the console market is at and Backwards compatibility has become a main feature of current-gen and next-gen consoles.
Nintendo would be shooting themselves in the foot, if they would release a completely new console and reset it all "again".
Then they will have a new WiiU episode on their hands.

....and then a month later they announce the Switch 2. lol.

I do hope, that they maybe do a nextgen patch for Skyrim and Witcher 3 for the Switch 2.
Just to clean-up the visuals a bit. These are such amazing games still today, to play handheld, but they do push the current Switch to the limit and the visuals are a bit muddy at times.

So would be awesome, if they release a nextgen update for these 2 games on the Switch 2. Bit like they did for PS5 and XBox Series S/X.

@Ryu_Niiyama Yeah way better than the horrible Chibi artstyle they used before.

Looks like they finally took the feedback to heart and found an acceptable middle ground.

It looks way better now, that I am even interested in buying this game.

FFXIV Online is impossible to play on a small handheld.
Docked, sure, as I play it on my PS5 time to time, when I want to just explore a bit and solo, but doing group content (dungeons, RAIDs, Trials, etc) I will always go back to my PC with mouse/keyboard.

@Broosh It's a beaten dead horse. They releasing on multiple platforms now and everyone knows Nintendo's aversion of seeing any of their IP's on other platforms. That is why the Zelda content is missing.
Though they could have probably added it to the Switch version only.

Both Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD are long overdue.