Nintendo is reportedly targeting the second half of 2024 to release its long-rumoured next-gen console and successor to the Nintendo Switch. Reports have been floating around online for a while now suggesting that Nintendo had begun working on new hardware, including apparently sending out dev kits to select regions. A new credible report has shed more light on the matter and given us new details about the device.
According to sources close to Video Games Chronicle, Nintendo’s plan is to release its next-gen hardware in the second half of 2024 in order to ensure that the company has ample stock available for launch. Nintendo reportedly wants to avoid the console shortage problems of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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Although exact details on this new hardware is being kept tightly under wraps, VGC’s sources claim that the console can be playable in portable mode similar to the Nintendo Switch. Additionally, two sources also mentioned that it will launch with an LCD screen instead of the more premium OLED in order to bring down costs. With higher fidelity games, Nintendo is aiming to increase the storage on the device too.
Like many Nintendo games, this new console will continue to use physical cartridges instead of discs. The report states that it’s unclear if backwards compatibility to Nintendo Switch will be available.
ReedPop’s head of games B2B, Christopher Dring, told VGC that 2024 would fit with Nintendo’s usual cycle of releasing new hardware in the middle of PlayStation and Xbox’s generations, stating:
“The original Switch released over three years after PS4 and Xbox One, which proved to be an effective move for Nintendo. A second half 2024 release for Switch 2 would be nearly four years after PS5 and Xbox Series X and S, so we would see a similar ‘mid-cycle’ launch for Nintendo. I’d argue that unlike 2017, Microsoft and Sony‘s consoles still feel relatively new at the moment, partially due to component shortages slowing the roll-out in the first two years, and software delays meaning we’ve not seen too many titles take full advantage of either PS5 or Xbox Series X. So it’s to be seen whether Nintendo will enjoy the same benefit.”
Dring added that the biggest competitor Nintendo will have to face is itself. “Although its core fans are eager for more hardware, its more family-orientated ‘casual’ fans will need more convincing. What will the next Mario Kart offer that they’re currently not getting from the current one, for example?” Dring added.
Dring argued that Nintendo hasn’t been able to smoothly transition fans to new hardware successfully in the past so it will be interesting to see how the company handles backwards compatibility, digital libraries and the Nintendo Account which might all be crucial to get the next-gen console off to a strong start. Last month, Nintendo confirmed that fans will be able to safely migrate their current accounts to the Switch successor.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
