Is it possible to predict the Switch 2? (Nintendo)
A reader attempts to predict everything about Nintendo’s next console, from its name and special features to its launch line-up.
The rumours and speculation surrounding the successor to the Switch seems to be increasing. Logic would have it that it sticks close to the winning Switch formula but knowing Nintendo you might have a console that is played using your legs and the games are beamed straight to your brain whilst you sleep. Despite that, I’m going to make some bold predictions and we’ll see how right or wrong I am in (hopefully) a few months.
Console name
Predicting the console name isn’t that easy given the weird names Nintendo games have had over the years and perhaps the next Switch won’t have the word ‘Switch’ in the name at all and it’ll be called Nintendo Wonder Machine or something equally daft. Also, Super Switch could be a contender or perhaps Switch Pro or Switch X. However, given the failure of the Wii U, I imagine Nintendo would want to avoid confusion. Therefore, my prediction is simply Nintendo Switch 2.
Console features
My prediction for the console itself is that in terms of power it will sit somewhere between the last generation and the current generation. For example, a PlayStation 4.5, if you will, and be comparable to the current wave of PC handhelds such as ROG Ally.
I think it will have a LCD screen but they’ll be a mid-generation OLED upgrade. It will, I feel, be backwards compatible with the current console. I think also that it won’t stray too far from the current Switch and will be a hybrid console with upgraded Joy-Con controllers.
As with most Nintendo consoles, there’s usually some kind of unique selling point, someone in the games Inbox mentioned the possibility of augmented reality (AR) and I like that idea. So here’s my prediction. A dual screen hybrid console similar to the Nintendo DS, albeit much bigger, with two eight-inch screens, one with AR capability.
I think that it will be possible to detach the screens from each other and that both screens can have Joy-Cons attached. Therefore, this creates another unique selling point in that you can effectively play two-player split-screen multiplayer games locally on two different screens with one console.
I think it will launch late March 2025 and be announced early to mid-November this year. I think it will retail for £389.99.
Launch titles
Zelda
The Switch launched with Breath Of The Wild but the chance of a brand new Zelda game is less than a snowflake’s chance in Hell. However, there have been rumours of a Breath Of The Wild remaster running on upgraded hardware. I can’t see how a Breath Of The Wild remake would be worth buying if it was full price, given how recently it was released.
However, given Nintendo’s recent history of re-releasing full price remasters without any significant extra features this might be the case. This might be wishful thinking but given how often a remaster of The Wind Waker is mentioned I’m going to predict a Zelda All-Stars type release with Breath Of The Wild, The Wind Waker, and the no-frills version of Ocarina Of Time currently available on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Another outside shout is for DLC to release for Tears Of The Kingdom, exclusive to the new console.
Mario
It’s been nearly seven years since the last 3D Mario and even longer since the last Mario Kart. Therefore a new Mario would be good guess for a launch game. Mario Kart has the bigger number of sales, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say Nintendo will save it for a Xmas release to maximise sales. Therefore, my prediction is a new 3D Mario exclusive to the new Switch on launch and Mario Kart 9 to release November 2025 and will be a cross-generation title.
I will go further out on a limb and say the Mario game will be set in space like Super Mario Galaxy and feature a number of different worlds which will be semi-open world like Odyssey. I am gonna predict it will be called Super Mario Infinity. Which of course will probably be way off. I think the game will utilise my predicted dual screens, so that on certain parts of the game you can control Mario with one screen and perhaps another character such as Luigi or Yoshi with the other to solve puzzles. I also think if the console has an SSD drive it will utilise this in some way.
Other Nintendo IP
Rumours of a Donkey Kong game have been flying around for some time now. And while I can’t see a Mario platformer and a Donkey Kong platformer launching together, I’m going to predict a Donkey Kong themed strategy or puzzle type game in the vein of the recent Mario Vs. Donkey Kong remake or the Mario + Rabbids games. [The rumour is more that the Donkey Kong game is the new Mario game – GC]
I also think, like many others do, that the upcoming Metroid Prime 4 game will be a cross-generational release.
I’m also going to predict some kind of party type game that makes use of any of the new features of the console, perhaps in the style of Wii Sports or 1-2-Switch, that will feature a number of different Nintendo characters.
Third party games
Nintendo have collaborated with Ubisoft a number of times with the Rabbids games and given the new console is likely to be more powerful I predict that the latest Assassin’s Creed game will launch alongside the console and whenever Far Cry 7 is released it will also launch on the Switch 2.
My big prediction is for an ultimate edition of Elden Ring, including the base game and recent DLC, to be a launch game. Dark Souls has previously released for the Switch and Elden Ring has been one of the most successful games in recent years, so would be a big draw. Especially since I imagine even those who have played the game before would be attracted to buy the game again for the ability to play in portable mode.
The other outside bet is the possibility of GTA 5 and/or Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar have collaborated with Nintendo in the past, with Chinatown Wars, and it makes sense for either or both games to be ported as both would likely to be within the capability of the new hardware. The only thing that does discourage me is that GTA 5 is one of those games that you would’ve already expected to have been ported to the current Switch by now, and if it was ever going to happen it would’ve already done so by now.
Price of games
Current trends would dictate that the new standard price would be £69.99 or higher to bring Nintendo in line with Xbox and PlayStation. However, Xbox has Game Pass and both PlayStation and Xbox games will have significant discounts within the first year or so of release, whereas Nintendo games are full price for their full lifespan.
For this reason, I’m hopeful that the new price for games will be £59.99 as a standard. The other option is that the console is digital-only and games remained at the usual price of £49.99. I’m not a massive fan of the idea of a digital-only console for the most part, but if it meant that costs were kept down then I could get on board.
So, there you are. Hopefully it won’t be long now until we get some concrete news about the new console and we’ll find out how right (or more likely wrong) I am.
By reader matc7884
Will the Switch 2 look more or less the same as the Switch 1? (Nintendo)
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