The Nintendo Switch is the tiny Nintendo console that can do that, and it would be very difficult to catch lightning on Nintendo’s hybrid console, the Bottle. I have some ambitions of my own, some realistic, some completely ridiculous. I’m going to focus on the ‘realistic’ expectations I have and keep the ridiculous stuff as my personal Nintendo fan fiction. I know what I want and what I don’t want in a Switch 2, Super Switch, Switch U, or whatever Nintendo calls it. The Switch is without a doubt my most-played console, and the next one will almost certainly do the same. But here’s what I hope and expect from Nintendo’s next console. First, a little history.
Over six years ago, everyone agreed that the Wii U didn’t live up to expectations, including avid apologists like myself. Sales were the worst. The game was great (as evidenced by the fact that 95% of his games were ported to his Switch), but the hardware was disappointing. The name is said to have confused people, and in fact I know at least one of my friends bought a Wii U thinking the gamepad was portable. Nintendo took a logical leap and made the Switch what should have been the Wii U in the first place.
When Nintendo first announced the Switch, honestly, I was skeptical.no i didn’t doubt i would do I liked it so much I ordered it for release day delivery (which I did, of course). It was more of a case of not knowing if people would be interested in a touch screen console that would work on a TV as well. Well, aside from that, the Nintendo Switch is now the third best-selling game console of all time. I’m honestly surprised that everyone has taken this so well, but Nintendo did a great job of announcing and marketing it to maximize excitement.
So when it comes to the next Nintendo console, my first expectation is ‘surprise’. When the DS was announced, was there anyone who thought, ‘I really wish he had a touchable second screen on his handheld’? As was the case with the 3DS, 3D had a lot of gimmicks, but they were good gimmicks. If you show someone who doesn’t like the 3DS, I show you a soulless person.
The Wii was also a big surprise. Once the primordial buzz of name-teasing memes subsided, suddenly everyone wanted to wave their arms around or throw a Wii remote at his $2000 plasma screen his TV screen. “Where’s my pack-in regular controller?” many hardcore gamers asked, but Nintendo replied, “Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m so obsessed with money right now.”
The Wii U…we were also surprised. See, I still love my Wii U. Even though it didn’t take off as a system, mine broke (I think the Wii U was the last surprise for me after all).
So, while we obviously don’t know what’s going to happen with Switch 2.0, it looks like we’ve given up on getting something that no one expected.
Backward compatibility is also required. At this point, it goes without saying that this is probably the biggest request people have for the next game console. Backwards compatibility is something that most Nintendo consoles, especially handhelds, have. In fact, all of Nintendo’s handhelds work well with previous generation games. The Game Boy Advance played Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. Nintendo DS played GBA games and 3DS played DS.
The Switch isn’t backward compatible with the Wii U or the Wii, mostly because of the media, but Nintendo was very right and thought they could re-release most of the Wii U’s best games and make a ton of money. Above all, we want you to be able to continue playing your favorite Switch games no matter what Nintendo’s next console.
The one thing I’m not at all concerned about is 4K gaming on the next Nintendo console. Honestly, at this point he’s a waste of time with a console that’s supposed to be 4K. I end up playing 60fps in performance mode on PS5 and all games allowed on Xbox, but I don’t mind at all if the next Nintendo console doesn’t support native 4K. If you can manage 60fps, that’s great. 60fps at 1440p is even better.
Looking at Nintendo’s hardware history, we probably won’t see a 4K console anyway. It takes a lot of hardware power to push out all those polygons, and Nintendo has generally used older, more readily available tech for its consoles. The Game Boy, for example, was launched in 1989 using a chip based on his Zilog Z80, which was first released in 1976. In addition, reducing power demand also reduces costs.
Speaking of cost, I would like the next Nintendo console to be priced at $399. To be honest, between the continued success of the Switch and solving silicon processing and supply chain issues, I suspect Nintendo is waiting to hit that price before launching its next console. The Steam deck, and most recently his Asus ROG Ally, has shown that a lot of power can really be extracted from a handheld design, and his entry-level Steam deck is currently on sale for just under $400.
Finally, with all your love, please fix Nintendo Online. Now you can use it out of the box without having to go through many difficulties. It seems insane to me to meet friends online and not be able to chat without getting confused. Others have been doing well for years. Nintendo, please make it easy to chat and play online on your next console.
Oh, and I’d like Metroid Prime 4 to be the launch title.
These are my basic hopes and dreams for the next Nintendo console. I don’t think I’m doing anything unreasonable here. I would like to hear your thoughts on this matter. How important is 4K to you? Discuss it in the comments.
Seth Macy is the Executive Editor of IGN Commerce and would love to be your friend. You can find him hosting his Nintendo Voice Chat podcast.
