Highlights
- Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 will likely retain the hybrid form factor of its predecessor.
- Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa suggested as much during the company’s latest earnings call.
- A hybrid design allowing for both TV and handheld play increases the likelihood of Nintendo’s next console offering backward compatibility.
Nintendo has dropped a major hint about what the Switch 2 will look like, suggesting that its next console will retain the hybrid form factor of its predecessor. This bit of insight into the much-anticipated device emerged from Nintendo’s latest earnings call.
Speaking to investors and analysts on May 7, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that the Switch 2 will be revealed during the company’s current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025. The executive declined answering any clarifying questions that would help narrow down this ten-month time frame any further.
Rumor: Switch 2 Could Be Making a Big Sacrifice for Better Battery Life
According to sources, Nintendo’s next console could take some major measures to ensure a longer battery life while in handheld mode.
Nintendo Dubs Upcoming Console the ‘Next’ Switch
But Furukawa proved to be a bit more talkative when it came to the device itself; asked whether the upcoming console will mark a design departure from its predecessor, the executive said that the “Switch next [sic] model is the appropriate way to describe it.” His remark serves as a strong indication that the upcoming system will iterate on the hybrid form factor of the Switch instead of trying something entirely different While that’s precisely what numerous Switch 2 leaks have been suggesting in recent years, this is the first occasion on which Nintendo itself lent credence to such claims.
Though iterating on one of the best-selling consoles of all time may seem like an obvious decision, Nintendo was happy to experiment the last time it was in this situation, having followed up on the Wii with the Wii U, which was similar to its predecessor in name only. The gamble didn’t pay off, as the Wii U ended up selling just over 13.5 million units before being discontinued, a far cry from the Wii’s 101.6 million.
Another Hybrid Console Is Good News For Backward Compatibility
Furukawa’s recent comments suggest Nintendo will be much more risk-averse this time around, which is precisely what many vocal fans have been asking for. Pairing more powerful hardware with the same form factor also increases the likelihood of the Switch 2 offering backward compatibility, which is something that its predecessor failed to do, much to the fandom’s disappointment.
According to one recent report, the current state of Nintendo’s supply chain could allow the Switch 2 to release as early as the second half of 2024. But the console is still widely expected not to hit the market before early 2025, as Nintendo is said to be wanting to avoid launch shortages. That would require creating a significant stockpile, which may not be feasible before next year. Since mass production inevitably leads to factory floor leaks, Nintendo will ostensibly want to reveal the Switch 2 before it starts any manufacturing. It’s hence more likely that the console will be officially announced by summer 2024 instead of near the end of the company’s ongoing fiscal year.
Nintendo Switch Lite
The Nintendo Switch Lite was released in 2019 as a low-cost, handheld-only game system. It’s designed specifically for handheld play, offering a lightweight design as part of its portable offerings. The controllers are built into the system for handheld play, unlike the larger Switch models. The console itself retains full functionality as a standard Switch, but it does not support docked mode.
- 4K Capabilities
- No
- Power Source
- AC Power and Battery
- Brand
- Nintendo
- Screen
- 5.5” Touch Screen
- Processing Power
- 0.
- Storage
- 32GB
- CPU
- Custom Nvidia Tegra X1 processor
- Battery
- Li-on battery (3570mAh)
- Dimensions
- 2.76 x 7.8 x 7.09 in
- Weight
- 0.61 lb
- RAM
- 4GB DDR4
- Screen Resolution
- 1280 x 720 (720P)