Do you think the Nintendo Switch is just a stepping stone for Nintendo to make better consoles?

What I mean is…..remember when the Nintendo ds was the last great hope for Nintendo to not go out of business?? And it paid off greatly. Despite the two screen system being untested.

Well I was thinking…..since the Switch was unmistakably a success, it would encourage Nintendo to either make a Switch 2, or even some brand new concept.

Nintendo keeps innovating so sure;

On the other hand wasn't the SNES more NES and the Gamecube more N64?

I don't really mind if their consoles are iterative either.

"Better" is subjective and up to debate. I see that the success of the Switch will allow Nintendo to fund ideas and innovations in its future systems.

And I hate gamers that refer to the Switch's successor as the "Switch 2." Nintendo does not name its systems like the PlayStation.

@onesiphorus: switch 2 is just a placeholder name.

All i know is that their next system will be lucky to have the processing power of the 2013 Xbone.

Bro..it’s the innovation that counts.

Never want to make definitive statements when it comes to Nintendo, but I suspect they will be sticking with the hybrid home/portable console for a while. Probably with a new gimmick that will go underutilized, but for the most part similar to Switch.

@judaspete: I miss the dual functionality of a home + handheld console honestly.

Why would innovation matter when the games where the innovation is introduced into, is running at 22fps?

@hardwenzen:

Dude…we are sheep. We like our consoles with bells and whistles, and play it for 1/3 a year with much enthusiasm, and then play the next six years after that out of habit. 👍

I’m not entirely sure what this question is asking. Yes the Switch was a tremendous success and yes Nintendo is planning on releasing a “better” system. All signs seem to currently be pointing to a “Switch 2”.

lul

Do I think we will see something better from Nintendo? Not at all.

The Switch was a move to combine their handheld and console markets they had built over the last 3 decades because that is more profitable than developing and maintaining multiple platforms.

I think the handheld vibe was a casualty of the move and what we were left with is a heavily compromised console experience on a handheld system. I think we will see more of the same with the Switch 2.

Nintendo have found their cash cow. Switch 2 which will be a hybrid with kids games in mind, so not powerful, sell at a premium.

Will sell 100million+

it needed to be done. Mobile gaming had taken away a lot of their sales and 3rd parties weren't making as many games for the 3DS as they did on the DS and the Wii U being a flop didn't help either.

I think at best the Switch 2 will have a GPU built into its dock that way they can get more graphical processing power without compromising the portability of the handheld portion of the device.

it would be sad if it is weaker than the Steam Deck. The Deck is practically a portable Xbox Series S. That type of graphics on a handheld screen and resolution would easily look really good.

The Switch 2 won't even approach the series X. 800p screen is the maximum resolution i see it having, but a higher chance of it being 720p yet again. And it really doesn't matter because Nintendo fans will damage control for Nintendo, saying all over the place how Mario doesn't need photo realistic visuals, as if quality hardware is used for nothing else but achieving realism🤷‍♂️

A Super Nintendo Switch will be all we need. Nintendo games dont need insane graphics. Just give us a Dual Screen Switch with the power of the Xbox Series S and will sell like hotcakes. Graphics are gimmicks. Who wants to be a PS5 Pro with no games to play and only remasters of remasters.

The switch 2 will be like the switch 1. A middle ground between last gen and current gen in graphical features even if it's raw processing power is closer to a ps4/xbox one.

There's no middle ground of any kind when it comes to the Switch. It was a 360, a system from 2005, released in 2017 as a portable system. This is exactly what the Switch 2 is gonna be. Released in 2025 using Xbone hardware from 2013. A system made for those who don't take their hobby seriously.

@hardwenzen: Better than buying a PS5 and playing zero games on it. So much for current tech.

@NoodleFighter: Of course the Switch 2 will be on par with a XB1/PS4 if you're lucky.

The thing you need to realise is Nintendo will design it to fit their NEEDS, not developers needs.

It just needs to be powerful.enough to make games with colourful cartoon graphics for Nintendo's own games. If you're looking for something on the level of the Steam Deck then you might have to purchase the Steam Deck lol.

The series X is way more powerful you can't fit that type of performance in a handheld without it costing an arm and a leg and the battery lasting 30 minutes at best. it doesn't need to be as powerful as a series X either. It just needs to be powerful enough for games to be scaled down without too much compromise.

If Nvidia is able to fit tensor cores on a Tegra chip for the Switch 2 then I expect 1080/1200p native display. DLSS can help make up for lack of processing power. All this upscaling tech has been a huge game changer in the handheld PC space. FSR 1 doesn't even look as bad on my Legion Go as it would on the average sized PC monitor or TV and we got better upscalers now.

Someone should tell Nintendo fans that cartoony and stylized graphics can look way better with more processing power and that cell shaded games can have textures that aren't. just solid colors, models with simple shapes and lack of lighting.

Look at these shots I took on my Legion Go.

@NoodleFighter: There is no chance in hell that you will see 1080p screen, let alone an alien resolution for Nintendo, which is everything over 1080p. The system will not be powerful enough for ports with no compromise, their online infrastructure is still gonna be at least a decade behind competition, and that's that. Advancements in technology and ambitious titles is not their plan, and hasn't been for a while. They're a famility company, and they create simple looking colorful games. Xbone hardware from 2013 is enough for them to last until 2032-2035.

@last_lap: Yeah we would be lucky if we can get PS4/XOne level performance on a Switch 2 since Nintendo is likely going to sell them at a profit just like the Switch. The Nintendo Switch has pretty good 3rd party multiplatform support compared to previous Nintendo consoles. It would suck to lose it just because they can coast on their first party titles.

@hardwenzen: You are probably right. I am giving Nintendo too much credit to think they would even bother using upscaling tech considering how half assed some of their first party is such as the recent Pokemon titles.

Thank goodness for PC handhelds being a thing now.

It did have better support yes, but considering the WiiU was a MASSIVE failure that's not real hard to beat. Not only that but devs have to heavily optimise their engines to get games to run on the Switch.

Nintendo doesn't care about third party devs, but Nintendo has always been a selfish company with a Nintendo only attitude.

Nintendo rarely just follows the logical course.

I mean the wii was wildly successful. So the logical thing to do would have been a more powerful Wii with an enhanced wiimote and nunchuck (and there was certainly much room for improvement). Instead they made the wiiu and made a complete balls of it.

So logically the Switch 2 should just be a more powerful Switch with some refinements in the ergonomics. But this is Nintendo we are talking about. So they could do anything. And that's the biggest question really.

There was 1 rumour based on a patent which i liked. It would be more like a 2/3DSwitch with 1 screen being detachable for docked mode. The big issues around that though would be 3rd party support of the extra features (and even Nintendos own games were patchy, especially on the wiiu). Also it would add extra costs. A second screen. Extra battery too. Could be pricey.

Would prefer a traditional Nintendo console. SNES and GameCube is their best shit.

lol why would it be a stepping stone? they knocked it out of the park, so of course the next one will be a better iteration of the Switch.

Like the Wii U was a better iteration of Wii?

I agree that making a more powerful Switch is most likely the easy way to success for Nintendo. But still, you never know with them.

Nintendo sure knows how make games, but I gave up on their hardware a long time ago. The next Nintendo console will probably be 8 generations behind techwise and still sell gazillions. Kids love dem cartoony graphics. I never heard any Switch owner complain about its lack of power, because apparently they don't care.

This right here....

We could ask that for their last 4-5.

The Wii sold lots of consoles but the 3rd party support was abysmal even though lots of developers did try making games for it at first. The Wii's major audience was extremely casual filled with people that don't play games like old people using it for only for exercise. There was barely any 3rd party games that were successful on the Wii other than the Just Dance series.

The Switch is different. The Switch has more best sellers than the Wii and a good amount of them are 3rd party titles that aren't dancing games. The Switch is also a good platform for indie titles it is the only console able to outsell the PC in indie game sales several times. The Switch has gotten way more AA and AAA multiplatform games than any other Nintendo console.

As good as Nintendo IPs are the WiiU has shown that they can't save the console if the device sucks and there aren't other games people want to play. That likely won't happen for a while since Nintendo has been churning out games that sell 5+ million easily.

The top 23 selling games on the Switch are from Nintendo before you see the first third party game in Monster Hunter.

Out of the 88 games on that list more than 2/3 are from Nintendo or in conjunction with Nintendo. So yeah, not really a third-party machine. Most modern-day games require too much work on run on the Switch and as that list shows for little success.

Modern day consoles (Series X/PS5) can handle modern day games AND indies and smaller games, the Switch not so much, and Nintendo could have made a machine on par but decided to cater to their own cartoonish games.