Will there be a Nintendo Switch 2? Pro console latest news
It’s been over seven years since Nintendo released the Switch back in March 2017. As this is the typical lifespan of a console before its successor is announced, does this mean we’re due a new Nintendo?
Well, news has arrived this morning that’s put our speculations to rest… sort of.
There has been an abundance of rumours and leaks of the past few years about Nintendo’s next move, with the PS5 and Xbox Series approaching four years on the market.
The Switch has proven it still has juice in the tank, from Tears of the Kingdom to the upcoming Princess Peach game.
But it looks like these might be the swan songs for Nintendo’s hybrid console… Let’s take a look at today’s news.
When will the Nintendo Switch 2 release? Our speculation
Nintendo announced this morning, via their official X account, that a further announcement will come “within this fiscal year” regarding a successor to the Nintendo Switch.
While this doesn’t answer any questions about the hardware itself, we now have a timeframe.
Nintendo also said, in the same tweet, that the successor to the Switch will not be mentioned during the Nintendo Direct in June. So we won’t hold our breath for that.
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Check out the official X post from Nintendo below:
This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
Read more on Nintendo:
Nintendo Switch OLED review – handheld gaming levels up
The very best Nintendo Switch games
Best Nintendo Switch games for kids
Best Nintendo Switch micro SD cards to buy
How to charge Nintendo Switch controllers
The best Nintendo Switch Lite games – take these on the go
How to connect Nintendo Switch to TV
Latest Nintendo Switch 2 rumours and leaks
The latest Nintendo Switch 2 rumours and leaks are pointing towards the new Nintendo console potentially being a full new console and not a “Pro” version.
Eurogamer said that Nintendo secretly demoed the Switch 2 at Gamescom 2023 to a select few behind the scenes.
Eurogamer’s report tells us that the lucky few partners of Nintendo got to see a demo of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running on the new console’s “beefier target specs” and that development kits are “now in the hands of some key partners”.
Expanding on Eurogamer’s report, a Nate the Hate podcast (thanks Nintendo Life!) detailed that the Breath of the Wild tech demo was running at 4K 60fps and that “load times had been erased”. This could be pointing towards SSD integration in the new Nintendo console.
It also claimed that the tech demo showcasing the targeted system specs of the Switch 2 is capable of running The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 demo at a similar level to PS5/Xbox Series X.
The console is said to be using DLSS 3.5, too, which could keep costs of the next-gen Nintendo machine down and performance levels up. Whatever the reality might be, it does seem like we’re not too far from a Switch 2 reveal now.
How much will the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?
With no official release date, there’s no confirmed price yet. With the OLED costing $349.99 and £309.99 in the UK, we’d say expect a price increase. The new model would have better hardware and performance and be seen as the premium product.
Bloomberg Intelligence predicted that the Nintendo Switch Pro could get closer to the $400 mark. “I still think Nintendo can drive strong demand even at $399.99,” analyst Matthew Kanterman said. He’s not the only one guessing that’s the price point either. Watch this space should the console ever come to light.
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Nintendo Switch 2 specs news: How powerful will the next Nintendo console be?
There have been several reports on what to expect from the Nintendo Switch 2. Most push for support for 4K resolution (something the OLED model doesn’t have), and a better battery is also expected.
One thing we know for sure is that the next Nintendo console, which could be the Switch Pro, will make use of the Nintendo Account.
Company president, Shuntaro Furukawa, explained that Nintendo plans “to make a smooth transition for customers from Nintendo Switch to the next-generation console by using the Nintendo Account” (thanks, Genki_JPN!).
Fingers crossed this means the list of retro games on Switch Online carry on over to the new console and continues to expand. GameCube vibes, anyone?
The current Switch has 32GB storage; the OLED 64GB. The battery life has already been improved on the Switch from 6.5 hours to 9 in the last update too. Could the Switch Pro perhaps get us to 10 hours?
OatmealDome, a known data-miner, found evidence of a new Switch dock that will support 4K visuals. That rumour seems to be backed up by Animal Crossing World, a fan-run website that spotted some recent Animal Crossing screenshots, posted by Nintendo, that appeared to be taken in 4K resolution.
4K could feasibly be possible by utilising Nvidia’s DLSS, using machine learning to upscale from a lower internal resolution to a UHD output. That is if Nintendo sticks with Nvidia – but they most likely will.
Powering this is said to be the Nvidia Tegra T239 processor which features the same technology found in the Nvidia 30-Series Ampere graphics cards according to Richard Leadbitter of Digital Foundry via reliable leaker kopite7kimi.
As Leadbitter lays out, this could be broadly similar to an underclocked Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU which can run games such as Control with ray-tracing at acceptable frame rates.
The aforementioned DLSS does much of the heavy lifting, but on a small display, image upscaling artefacts will be tricky to spot.
The new console will keep the dual-gaming function that the Switch is famous for, some rumours have said, allowing you to play games on your TV or in a handheld fashion. Rumours have also pointed towards the new console sticking with cartridges and being backwards compatible with the Switch.
The general assumption is that the Nintendo Switch Pro/Switch 2 will work better and faster than its predecessor, whichever mode you choose to play your games in. Some fans are hoping that extra-speedy SSD storage might be included, allowing the console to cut down dramatically on loading times.
The Ring Fit Adventure looks set to continue on the new Switch.
Also seemingly on the cards is a fitness tracker, much like you get on your smartphones, and this would indicate that the hugely popular Ring Fit Adventure franchise will remain a top priority for Nintendo going forward – something that does not surprise us.
Bloomberg also reports that the new console will also have an LCD display at launch rather than the OLED display used by the Switch OLED, in handheld mode which could potentially result in a strange situation where the visuals of the next-gen Switch look muddy in handheld in comparison.
Fans are also hoping for greater performance speeds, improved battery life, and perhaps even improved functionality with Bluetooth.
Many fans, of course, would also hope to see the dreaded ‘Joy-Con drift‘ problem eradicated by the Switch Pro. Hopefully, there’ll be no such issue on the next console from Nintendo.
Should I wait to buy a Nintendo Switch 2?
Should you buy a Switch now or wait for the Switch 2/Pro? Well, that depends on how soon you want to start playing the best Nintendo Switch games that the console has to offer.
If the Switch 2 or Pro actually is in development, we think it will be some way off and we would be surprised to have it on the shelves before the second half of 2024. With that in mind, if you want to play some Nintendo games any time soon, you’d be better of buying a current-era Switch.
And there are great deals to be found on the Switch right now, so if you are itching to play Super Mario Odyssey or you can’t hold out on playing the new Pokemon Snap, you may be better off just forking out for a current-gen Switch now.
Read more:
Where to buy the new blue Nintendo Switch Lite
Nintendo Switch vs Lite: which should you buy?
Upcoming Nintendo Switch game release dates
Best Nintendo Switch SD cards to buy
Nintendo Switch deals
Here are some of the deals we have found at the moment if you are debating going ahead and getting one – and if you love gaming, we highly recommend you do!
Nintendo Switch Neon Console with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury | £434 at Littlewoods
Nintendo Switch Neon Console with Animal Crossing New Horizon & Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | £333 at Very
Nintendo Switch Neon Console with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | £279 from Currys
Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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