The second Nintendo Direct event to be held since the company revealed the existence of a Switch successor also won’t feature the upcoming console.
Over the past weekend, the gaming giant confirmed an upcoming Direct presentation, which will be devoted to its new Nintendo museum set to open in Japan this autumn.
While these online showcases typically revolve around new titles, Nintendo explicitly stated there will be no game announcements or mention of the Nintendo Switch successor at the new Direct scheduled for this evening (August 19).
As such, fans will have to wait a bit longer to hear about the new device. Three months have now passed since Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa divulged the firm was working on a new system (unofficially dubbed the Switch 2).
At the time, he stated that an announcement would be made about the new console in the company’s current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. Since then, we haven’t heard a peep from Nintendo, including at the previous Direct event in June.
However, hope could be on the horizon. If Nintendo follows its historical timeline, we can expect another Nintendo Direct event in September, where we could finally get word on the Switch 2.
Please note that there will be no game announcements or mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during this presentation.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 18, 2024
After all, the company has held a presentation during that month every year since 2016, with exception of 2015, making it an annual tradition.
The Switch 2: an expert’s take
One of the biggest rumours about the console claims the Switch 2’s will feature Joy-Cons that use a magnetic fixing system. Current designs use a slide-on rail system, and it’s quite liable to develop wobble after a while. Fingers crossed the next style of Joy-Con will fix both that and the dreaded stick drift.
To find out more about what we can expect from the Switch 2’s overall design, the Standard spoke to gaming analyst James McWhirter from research firm Omdia.
Detailing the new console’s likely dimensions, McWhirter said the larger screen means the Switch 2 could turn out to be the same height as another handheld, the Steam Deck OLED, albeit less bulky. As he explained, it all comes down to aspect ratio.
There will be more grunt under the hood and we expect it will be more power-hungry
Like a Steam Deck OLED
“The Switch 2 will be a bigger device, but might not be that much bigger,” he said.
“For example, the Steam Deck OLED has a 7.4-inch display but it’s got a 16:10 aspect ratio. So with the Switch 2, because that’s a 16:9 display, it actually makes it about the same height as the Steam Deck OLED, even though it’s eight-inch.”
Both the Switch and the Switch OLED are four inches tall, compared to the 4.6-inch Steam Deck OLED.
Improved controllers
The larger size would also enable Nintendo to make improvements elsewhere, McWhirter said. He reckons the Switch 2 will still have controllers that slot into the sides, but Nintendo may look into making them more durable and incorporating analogue triggers.
Hopefully, that means the end of issues like Joy-Con drift, where the controller detects movement even when it isn’t being touched.
An upgrade from digital to analogue triggers, meanwhile, would mean the controllers can sense how much they are being pressed. Think of it like pushing down the accelerator in a car. Proper sensitivity is therefore great for driving games, but we’ve also seen Nintendo use it in platformers and beat-’em-ups on past consoles.
More power
The larger size, combined with reports that it will almost certainly feature a custom Nvidia T239 chip, leads McWhirter to believe that the Switch 2 will require a bigger battery and heftier active cooling.
“There will be more grunt under the hood and we expect it will be more power-hungry,” he said of the new console.
New games and backwards compatibility
This in turn will allow the Switch 2 to run more powerful games. This year, McWhirter expects Nintendo will release a new 3D Mario, with Mario Kart 9 trailing close behind.
The good news for regular Switch owners is that Nintendo will bring them along for the ride. Similar to how Sony handled the transition from PS4 to PS5, McWhirter expects that many of the initial Switch 2 releases will be cross-gen titles that can be played on both the new console and its predecessor.
All told, he doesn’t believe Nintendo will rock the boat with the new console – mainly because it doesn’t want to alienate its captive audience of Switch owners. As such, the Switch 2 could be backwards compatible, allowing users to take their library of Switch games with them.
VGC said in July 2023 that developers had started receiving special hardware to test out Switch 2 titles and software. This is known as a development kit, and typically looks nothing like the finished product that is released to the general public.
In addition, Microsoft is likely to stick to its promise to release Call of Duty games on Nintendo consoles now that its deal to buy Activision has been approved. So, maybe we’ll see Modern Warfare 3 on the Switch 2.
In one of its secretive showcases last August, Nintendo apparently fired up The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo – originally released to illustrate the power of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in 2021. Before you get too excited, bear in mind that doesn’t mean the new Switch will rival those machines in terms of performance.
For its part, Nintendo has vaguely hinted that it could let players access older games. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in June that the company wants to ensure a “smooth transition” to its next-generation hardware by allowing players to use the same Nintendo account.
In the demonstration in August, Nintendo also showed the new console running an enhanced version of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This could indicate that it will offer next-gen editions of some games in the vein of the PS5.
There are already precedents for that in Nintendo’s historic lineage of handheld devices. McWhirter pointed to the Game Boy Advance (GBA), which could play Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. Despite a radical change in design, its follow-up, the Nintendo DS, also offered backwards compatibility with GBA games, he said.
What we have heard so far
Design
Last July, VGC cited people in the know as claiming that Nintendo was sticking with the Switch’s hugely successful design formula with a fully portable new device.
A games industry analyst concurred with his own prediction that the next Switch is "likely to be an iteration rather than a revolution”.
Serkan Toto, of Kantan Games, told Gameindustry.biz that while Nintendo may add some "bells and whistles" to the new device, it would be similar to the current Switch.
Display
However, the display of the Switch 2 may initially seem a downgrade in at least one respect. Although it is expected to be bigger, it is likely to use an LCD panel like that of the original Nintendo Switch. The Switch OLED from 2021, on the other hand, has far deeper blacks, higher brightness, and far greater contrast.
Graphics
Behind closed doors, Nintendo has reportedly demonstrated the new Switch running some impressive tech that is typically reserved for the latest consoles and PCs.
According to VGC, the device packs Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology, which allows it to boost a game’s visual resolution using AI, meaning it could possibly upscale full HD to 4K quality. It also has ray tracing enabled to allow it to produce incredibly realistic lighting effects.
Price
VGC's sources also said the console would use cartridges as well as digital downloads, which could potentially ramp up the cost of Nintendo console games. Similar price hikes have already taken place on Xbox and PS5.
Speaking of which, analyst Serkan Toto suggested the console will be a little more expensive than the current Switch, at $400, which may equate to UK pricing of £349.99-£379.99.
By comparison, a Nintendo Switch OLED costs £309.99 direct from Nintendo today.
When is the Nintendo Switch 2 release date?
There’s some slightly bad news about the Nintendo Switch 2’s release date. At first, we thought it was coming in 2024. Then we heard it would potentially be out in this financial year, suggesting a launch in March 2025.
But now, we hear game developers have been told not to expect the Switch 2 to come out before April 2025. This is according to Gamesindustry.biz.
However, just a few months before this, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa suggested we would hear about the console before April.
“This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015,” he wrote through the company’s @NintendoCoLtd X account.
According to Japanese newspaper the Nikkei, the console is now slated for March 2025. The report follows talk that Nintendo had told game-makers the Switch 2 is now coming in Q1 2025, although we’ve now heard developers are being told not to expect the console to arrive before April 2025. Could another release delay be looming?
The clearest strategic justification for missing out on the Christmas sales window is if bringing out the Switch 2 in 2024 would also mean launching it with a relatively weak line-up of games.
Let’s not forget the Wii U launched after the incredibly successful Wii. Nintendo does not want to repeat that part of its history.
Should I buy a Nintendo Switch?
Seeing as Nintendo’s next-gen device could be reasonably close, you may be wondering if it’s still worth buying a Switch for yourself or the kids.
Well, the good news is that the hybrid gaming gadget still has plenty of steam left in the tank. A raft of recent Switch games should keep you entertained throughout the rest of the year.
They include Princess Peach Showtime, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD.
You also have three versions of the Switch to choose from: the original Switch, the Switch OLED with a sharper display, and the handheld-only Switch Lite. The last of those would make a great stocking filler for the tykes this Christmas, while older kids and families can still get oodles of entertainment from the other editions.
When will the Nintendo Switch be discontinued?
For its part, Nintendo has confirmed that it will continue to support the Switch with new games through to the end of March 2025.
Due to the immense popularity of the console, it’s safe to say that it will live on beyond that date. After all, the 12.5-year-old Nintendo 3DS handheld is finally set to lose online support in April.
