Rumors of a Nintendo Swap 2 (or Swap Professional) have been circulating for years. Whispers of the next-gen Nintendo console first began when The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was initially teased in 2019, gained steam when the Swap OLED launched in 2021, and are rising now that the usual Swap has been out for six years.
There’s little question that the Nintendo Swap is a improbable console — it has a singular and spectacular sport library (with extra upcoming video games slated for this 12 months), the variety of options included with Nintendo Swap On-line is continually bettering, and it’s nonetheless our favourite moveable console — however it isn’t with out its flaws. There’s sufficient room for enchancment to warrant a completely new console within the close to future. Nintendo just lately introduced that we wouldn’t see a Swap improve within the subsequent fiscal 12 months, that means absolutely the earliest we get a take a look at a brand new Nintendo console can be in late 2024.
Trying on the Swap’s life span and the present gaming panorama, right here’s what we expect the Nintendo Swap 2 must deliver to the desk to be a worthwhile improve and compete with different platforms.
Swap 2 launch date hypothesis
Whereas the preliminary rumors pointed to a late 2024 launch for Nintendo’s subsequent console, new rumors have sprung up suggesting it has been pushed to the early a part of 2025. The strongest supply on this comes from Nikkei (translated by way of VGC), which states that the Swap 2 has been internally delayed to keep away from {hardware} provide points and strengthen the quantity of video games it’ll have at launch.
Nintendo has additionally introduced that it is not going to be attending Gamescom 2024, which helps rumors that the launch date has been pushed to subsequent 12 months.
Swap 2 rumors and information
Apart from the discharge date, a couple of different credible rumors about this new system are floating round. Take the whole lot right here with a grain of salt, after all, as a result of Nintendo has but to acknowledge {that a} new console is within the works. These can also contradict the options we would like, however since they’re nonetheless simply rumors, our wishlist can nonetheless be answered.
Display screen high quality
By way of tech, the largest disappointment is concerning a Bloomberg report stating the Swap 2 will launch with an 8-inch LCD display quite than OLED. By way of energy, the Verge reported in the course of the Microsoft-Activision acquisition that Activision executives had been knowledgeable concerning the potential energy of a Swap 2 and in contrast it to being just like the PS4 or Xbox One. Whereas Digital Foundry does say we all know that Nvidia’s T238 chipset will energy it, it isn’t clear if it is going to be in a position to make use of DLSS 2 to doubtlessly upscale graphics to 4K.
Backwards compatibility
Whereas all of us anticipate it, fortunately, backward compatibility does appear to be within the plans. Throughout certainly one of Nintendo’s personal monetary calls, it said that “Nintendo Swap will likely be getting into its eighth 12 months in March 2024. We’ll proceed to launch new titles and content material for Nintendo Swap with out being certain by the standard idea of the platform lifecycle.” That is backed up additional by way of Universonintendo rumors claiming it’ll have backward compatibility for bodily and digital titles but additionally enable builders to improve their Swap video games to make the most of the brand new {hardware}.
Pleasure-Con enhancements (and issues)
In response to experiences from Spanish online game web site Vandal, Pleasure-Cons for the Swap 2 will join magnetically as an alternative of utilizing a plastic rail system. Whereas that is nice information for anybody who has ever struggled to take away a Pleasure-Con from their Swap (it may be surprisingly troublesome), it’s unclear if previous Pleasure-Cons will likely be appropriate with the Swap 2 with this swap. The prevailing Nintendo Swap Professional Controller will reportedly work with Swap 2.
Vandel discovered this data by sources at peripherals producers.
Options we would like in a Swap 2
4K decision and quicker processing
Whereas the Swap certainly wasn’t constructed to compete with the Xbox Collection X or PS5 when it comes to uncooked horsepower, it will possibly really feel woefully underpowered working even Swap exclusives, not to mention multi-platform titles. Trailers for upcoming Nintendo titles are sometimes met with “that appears nice … for the Swap,” and new launches don’t at all times run as easily as followers hoped. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had been unusually buggy at launch, Sonic Frontiers couldn’t hit excessive body charges on Swap, and video games like Hogwarts Legacy and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum are coming to the Swap properly after preliminary launch dates as these ports require further work to suit them on the system. Whereas the upcoming Legend of Zelda installment seems nice, we are able to’t assist however dream about how properly it’d run on one other console or PC.
Nintendo has definitely carved out its personal piece of the gaming marketplace for gamers who don’t want improved graphics or processing energy (do we actually want high-res Kirby or Pikachu?), however the Swap’s limitations definitely maintain it again, and that situation is simply going to worsen shifting ahead.
The present Swap can hit 720p to 1080p decision and has a 60fps body charge restrict. We’d like to expertise full 4K gaming on the Swap 2 and bump up that body charge potential (so it will possibly, on the very least, persistently hit 60fps). We aren’t going to get into the ins and outs of processing energy and most well-liked chipsets right here, however we undoubtedly want extra energy from Nintendo going ahead.
Make the OLED display the brand new normal
The Nintendo Swap has at all times been filled with vibrant, colourful gaming experiences in comparison with different consoles that concentrate on mature titles that are likely to development darker (visually and content-wise), and its successor will want a display to mirror that content material. When the Swap OLED mannequin launched in 2021, the usual Swap’s LCD display instantly seemed washed out by comparability. OLED screens are steps forward of their counterparts, boasting improved black ranges, brightness ranges, and coloration accuracy whereas utilizing much less energy general.
We’d be actually disenchanted if Nintendo walked again on such an amazing replace and didn’t standardize the OLED display on its subsequent console, on the very least.
Extra built-in storage
Any longtime Swap homeowners have run into storage points and have been compelled to archive sport information to make room for brand new video games recurrently. The usual Swap and Swap Lite include 32 GB of inside storage, whereas the Swap OLED mannequin bumps up storage to 64 GB. With new video games changing into extra demanding and needing extra space with every passing 12 months, the concept of becoming greater than a handful of premium titles inside 64 GB is laughable. And even a few of that restricted storage is reserved to be used by the system!
Swap customers can simply develop the storage on any of those consoles by buying a big microSDHC or microSDXC card as much as 2TB, however these are offered individually and may price as a lot as a brand new sport in case you go together with a big one. This a bizarre price to cross off to gamers when it’s going to be 100% essential to keep up an honest digital library of video games.
Nintendo ought to make the swap over to an inside solid-state drive when the Swap 2 comes out. An SSD would enable for larger inside storage and drastically improved load occasions in comparison with the Swap’s normal flash reminiscence or exterior SD card information switch occasions. Present video games would carry out higher and quicker, whereas builders would have much more to work with when growing new video games. It’s a win for everybody.
Improved Pleasure-Cons
Everybody loves the power to maneuver the Swap forwards and backwards between docked and handheld modes. What’s higher than doling out Pleasure-Cons to all your pals for a sport of Mario Occasion Superstars or Mario Kart 8? The simplicity of the Swap’s controller design works — we’re not asking for something advanced — however their high quality simply isn’t as much as business normal. Pleasure-Cons really feel low-cost for the way a lot they price, aren’t probably the most ergonomic form for snug lengthy gaming periods, and can inevitably endure from drift points. That is when a Pleasure-Con thumbstick will transfer with no participant touching it, inflicting apparent gameplay issues.
Pleasure-Con drift is the large situation right here as a result of it has existed because the console’s launch and Nintendo actually hasn’t accomplished something about it with newer fashions. The corporate has been repairing out-of-warranty Pleasure-Cons since 2019, however the course of isn’t precisely easy, and Swap homeowners shouldn’t need to ship their very fundamental controllers off for issues with the design.
Shade customization choices
Nintendo has launched some spectacular particular version Swap fashions for video games like Splatoon 3, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, however there aren’t a complete lot of customization choices outdoors of shopping for a completely new console or a separate set of Pleasure-Cons that you simply may not want. There are a number of coloration schemes out there for the Swap Lite and some totally different coloration first-party Pleasure-Con colours, however outdoors of that, there are loads of third-party equipment which may not meet Nintendo requirements.
Clearly, there must be a coloration scheme for the bottom mannequin, however wouldn’t or not it’s cool in case you might order a Swap 2 on-line and decide your personal types for the console, dock, and Pleasure-Cons? That stage of personalization might make a Swap successor really feel a bit extra particular, giving gamers an excellent motive to improve. It’d be nice to see that vitality prolonged to its UI as properly, bringing again the Nintendo 3DS’ themes and including new methods to customise the present Swap’s barebones menu display.
And please, Nintendo, deliver again translucent controllers.
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