With Nintendo, it's always a possibility that they'd do something unexpected. However, most of Nintendo's crazy console ideas came under Iwata's leadership. We don't really know what to expect from their new leadership. If they are just business men and not gamers, then I fully expect a higher spec Switch 2. If not, then I have no idea what new gimmick they could come up with.
I just don't see a scenario where the can incorporate a gimmick. I see it more likely that they introduce a second system. Maybe something completely motion control, as a wii throwback.
Under any circumstance do they release a digital-only version?
I'd like to see voice activation be used more. The technology has evolved to a very high level. Even if it is not exploited in gameplay, then just to make using the console menus more intuitive for children and easier for adults.
Raven makes a very good point, even if it's a slightly depressing one.
I'd love for them to incorporate a stereoscopic 3D screen like that seen in the 3DS, but that'll never happen.
I can see them adding bespoke ports for connectivity though. Perhaps the days of these being actual physical ports are over, but akin to what they experimented with in Mario Party Umpteen, where you could place 2 Switch's together to form a bigger playing field. Or incorporate connectivity with smartphones on a high level, allowing them to double as second screens or controllers as some multiplayer games already do.
robio said:Switch 2 really should be a layup. Just fix the damn joycons, boost the power, and maybe make OLED screens the default and they're done. Make it backwards compatible and launch with a new Mario Kart or Smash and it's an instant success.
I just don't see a scenario where the can incorporate a gimmick. I see it more likely that they introduce a second system. Maybe something completely motion control, as a wii throwback.
This is what they will do. After the disastrous Wii U, they will play it safe.
travo said:This is what they will do. After the disastrous Wii U, they will play it safe.
I don't know, Nintendo came up with the WiiU after the succes of the Wii. You're probably right, but they're often at their most baffling when succesfull.
I feel like they will play it safe this gen, like DS to 3DS. They did something different but not radically different to turn people off. Now I could see them attempting something radically different for the gen after Switch 2.
I really hope that they just play it safe and just make a Switch 2 that is simply a more powerful Switch. Also make it fully backwards compatible with the Switch.
Maybe they'll sabotage themselves by coming up with some pointlessly elaborate gimmick that they build into every first party game and calling it the Switch+.
By Miu Watanabe.
With all who expressed sentiment for the next thing to be an upgraded Switch, I share your hopes.
However, will we still be happy with such a small innovation in 8 years (in the year 2032 -- oh god)? The Switch launched in 2017, so by 2032 that will be 16 years of basically the same console.
When you look at it like that, if I were Nintendo I would be shitting myself trying to come up with something better than just a tech upgrade. Thinking through the timeline, if I were them I would release a Switch 2 with a projected shorter life cycle and be working on something else in the pipeline.
To argue against my view is that the iPhone came out in 2007 (17 years ago) and it has not materially changed in that time other than better tech. In another 17 years, 2041, one can only imagine what will have replaced the current boring phones. By then everyone will know that they cause brain tumors and switched over to shoe-based telephony.
Oh and don't break out the calculator to see how old you'll be in 2041, I just did and it's mildly depressing.
aspro said:However, will we still be happy with such a small innovation in 8 years (in the year 2032 -- oh god)? The Switch launched in 2017, so by 2032 that will be 16 years of basically the same console.
Really, what innovation have Sony and MS brought to the table in the last 16 years? Arguably the only real innovation MS only ever brought was a built in modem and HDD with the release of the original Xbox over 20 years ago. As for Sony, their only contribution has been dual analogue sticks with the original PS (wasn't even the original controller) and their floundering drive to push VR. I guess you could also add 4 shoulder buttons and triggers with resistance to that list.
The big changes have come from software. Things like online play and new genres, possibly enabled by advances in general technology, rather than through great innovation in terms of hardware.
SupremeAC said:aspro said:However, will we still be happy with such a small innovation in 8 years (in the year 2032 -- oh god)? The Switch launched in 2017, so by 2032 that will be 16 years of basically the same console.
Really, what innovation have Sony and MS brought to the table in the last 16 years? Arguably the only real innovation MS only ever brought was a built in modem and HDD with the release of the original Xbox over 20 years ago. As for Sony, their only contribution has been dual analogue sticks with the original PS (wasn't even the original controller) and their floundering drive to push VR. I guess you could also add 4 shoulder buttons and triggers with resistance to that list.
The big changes have come from software. Things like online play and new genres, possibly enabled by advances in general technology, rather than through great innovation in terms of hardware.
Innovation is more important from Nintendo than Sony and MS as it is their innovation in hardware design is Nintendo's point of differentiation and is what makes them successful (or not).
Sony can keep releasing pseudo-PCs for the rest of time and have success. No-one counts on them innovating to be sucessful, they just are by grinding out the business since 1995.
I don't want to get off the topic but Sony and MS have innovated, that could be a thread of it's own.
Mulitple reports of Nintendo's next console being released in March 2025 uniformly refer to the next console as "Switch 2".
But what if it not the Switch 2, New Switch or similar?
While the NES thru N64 consoles are the same thing (a circuit board you put a ROM cart on that connects to your TV), since then Nintendo has always done something different, moving to disc with the GC, introducing motion controls with the Wii, having a bastard child somewhere between the Wii and Switch with the Wii U, then going fully portable with the docking Switch.
Do you think it's a possibility that the next console is not just a better-spec Switch?