The Switch 2 Is Upon Us – Everything You Need to Know

Nintendo Switch has been super successful, selling around 140 million units as of 2024. It has outsold Nintendo’s previous hit home console (Wii, 101 million) and is slowly creeping towards the two best-selling consoles ever (PlayStation 2, 155 million, and the Nintendo DS, 154 million). It’s also sold vastly above the current competitors (Playstation 5 and Xbox-seriously-Microsoft-please-focus-on-PC-gaming-instead-thank-you).

The Switch is cheaper and less powerful than its current gen competitors. But because of that, it actually shouldn’t be a big surprise that it has outsold the competition.

Since the 5th console generation (PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn…), the “seemingly cheapest and weakest” console has almost always dominated every generation of consoles. The only real exception to this since then is gen 8 (Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One), where Nintendo and Microsoft botched up so badly that people ended up flocking to PlayStation 4.

With that said, there’s been plenty of rumors going around lately that Nintendo’s next console is coming next year (2025).

For now, people call it the “Switch 2”. But I’m going to call it the “Switch U”.

I’ll tell you why later.

Analysts and insiders have given their thoughts on what the next Nintendo console (or the whole console generation) is going to look like.

So here, let me go through some of them.

Switch U will start generation 10

Before I actually begin, I want to ask if you’ve noticed how every article tries to lump the original Switch into generation 8? Look at this for example. After dumping the Switch to generation 8 and Xbox series X into gen 9, the author seemingly got confused and stopped updating the page.

What is generation 9? Just PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X?

Console generations are not about “Was there a substantial leap in technology?” Wii U was gen 8. 3DS was gen 8. The Switch is the successor to those consoles – Nintendo’s entry to the next generation.

It was what Sony and Microsoft had to look at and ask themselves: “How do we answer that with our next consoles?” Because those are the consoles that will be competing with it during the next generation.

Don’t be fooled. Nintendo Switch started gen 9, and dominated it.

Switch U will start generation 10.

“Switch U will be more powerful than the Switch”

This is the “Yeah, I got nothing to say but as an analyst I need to say something so I don’t come off as completely useless.”

It’s almost a no-brainer that the Switch U will have somewhat better specs than the original Switch. (Even Wii had better specs compared to Gamecube!)

Here are the recent rumors about Switch U’s specs:

Those don’t seem too optimistic, so they might actually be close to the truth.

However, better specs will not be Switch U’s main concern.

“Switch U will be almost as powerful as PS5!”

“Nintendo Switch 2 was shown behind closed doors at Gamescom, and the new console would be as powerful as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.” (source)

“Nintendo needs to drastically improve specs after 7 years, so they will absolutely release a successor,” Toto said.

More of the “duhhh I don’t know anything so I’ll just say it’s gonna be more powerful!”

This is the Xbox route. This is the PlayStation route. You make a new console: it’s going to be the same, with better specs. You advertise teraflops, because that’s all your console has going for it. Changing anything else comes with a substantially increased risk.

Nintendo tried to be the powerhouse of the generation with Nintendo 64, Gamecube and Wii U.

The result? Those were their worst selling consoles!

Switch U will not be as powerful as the competitors (gen 10 consoles). Likely, it won’t be as powerful as the current gen competitors either.

Nintendo doesn’t want to compete with power. Sony and Microsoft could just look at Switch U’s specs and easily go higher. (In fact, that’s what they’re hoping for: easy pickings.)

If Switch U was competing in power, people could say “Look, it’s weaker than PS6!” and that wouldn’t just be a valid argument – it would be THE reason to buy a PS6 instead.

But if Switch U isn’t competing in power, and people say “Look, it’s weaker than PS6!”, you can just go “Who cares? That’s the only thing PS6 has going for it. I’m getting Switch U because it has what I actually want.”

Nintendo found success with both the Wii and Switch directly by not trying to one-up the competition in their own game. Instead, they found the blue ocean.

“Switch U will continue to be a console-handheld hybrid”

“An evolution, not a revolution, in the console strategy is likely. In other words, an iPhone model. With that comes the opportunity to ease the 130M+ Switch audience into a familiar but more powerful form factor, and the ability for Nintendo to sell compelling 1st (and 3rd) party games to a scaled audience,” analysts at Moffett Nathanson wrote in a note in December.

“I’m expecting Nintendo’s next console to be a Switch follow-up, as the hybrid device approach has been so successful,” Harding-Rolls said.

I wish I could be as confident as those two.

It’s true that in hindsight the Switch seems like a natural development for Nintendo, since they were already making both home consoles and handhelds. Why not combine the two?

Back in 2014 Nintendo’s former president Satoru Iwata spoke about wanting to combine development for their handheld and home consoles. (That didn’t necessarily mean a single device for both, it could also have meant a similar architecture and a single development kit.)

The problem today is that the ocean may be starting to turn red:

There are now many handheld gaming devices on the market, and more seem to be on the way.

There have been rumors that Microsoft and Sony are planning their own handheld devices. I wouldn’t personally put too much weight on those rumors (they may just be testing how plausible such a device might be to create), but it’s always more likely that those two are trying to follow on Nintendo’s successful steps, not the other way around.

Some might say that “the market was already saturated” when the Switch came out. But that was because many people thought there was no place for dedicated gaming handhelds, because smartphones were taking over. Over the years Nintendo has kept proving that there is still space for dedicated gaming handhelds.

Also, don’t forget that Switch U will also be competing with the original Switch – regardless of whether Switch U is a handheld hybrid or not.

Switch U will have to somehow differentiate itself from the growing handheld market – including its own predecessor.

“PS5 and Xbox series X will be the last consoles. After that, everything will be on the cloud.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8829498/ps5-xbox-2-game-streaming-consoles/

Hahaha.

Hahahaha!

Alright. Enough laughing. This quote doesn’t directly address Nintendo or Switch U, but I just couldn’t ignore it.

I’m not really surprised why somebody would think like that. Look at how popular Steam is as a digital games platform! And how basically no computer or laptop comes with a DVD drive anymore! Surely digital is the future!

Microsoft thought so, too. And so they tried to force Xbox One to be always online. Even Sony is trying to gauge interest by offering a digital-only version of PS5.

If digital is the future, then surely CLOUD is even more the future!

Except, Google’s Stadia failed miserably. Xbox One got a ton of bad reputation from trying to push the always online strategy (and basically threw all but their most loyal followers to Sony). And the sales numbers show that a vast majority of people are not interested in the digital-only version of PS5.

It’s been around 12 years now since I first heard that there were cloud gaming services available. But they had deal-breaking issues then, and they have deal-breaking issues now.

Surely it’s happening. Surely it’s just a matter of time.

But not yet. Cloud gaming, like VR, will take time. The biggest wrinkles (like input lag and need for high speed internet for cloud gaming, and motion sickness/development costs for VR) haven’t been ironed out, despite what companies may claim.

Finally, we’ve seen several shops rise up that specifically focus on producing and selling physical games – most notable ones being Limited Run Games and Super Rare Games (and partially Playasia). These aren’t so popular that everybody and their grandma would know about them, but clearly there’s a yearning for the physical.

If Nintendo is wise, Switch U will still be using cartridges.

Gimmicks – the things analysts aren’t talking about

I don’t see analysts trying to chime in on what gimmicks, features or extras Switch U is going to have. We can’t know, and clearly nobody wants to look stupid by being wrong!

It’s going to be practically impossible to know what Nintendo will be going for this time, but there’s still some things we can analyze here.

Nintendo has a long history of adding potential technological solutions to their products. (Even NES had an expansion port hidden underneath it.)

Some of them are major and hard to ignore (like D-pad on NES, shoulder buttons on SNES, second screen on DS, motion controls on Wii, gamepad on Wii U…).

Some solutions are minor, and can be mostly ignored (the entire left handle on the Nintendo 64 controller, mic on the DS, speakers on the Wiimote…).

Also note that some solutions are mostly hidden from us players (development kits, programming features, DRM measures, compatible game engines). But they do affect the developers and their willingness to make games for your system.

Gimmicks of the Switch?

So what does the original Nintendo Switch have?

Minor: motion controls, infrared camera (in the right Joy-Con), HD rumble, NFC reader and touch screen.

Major: is both a home console and handheld.

Motion controls have a bit of use for exercise games (Fitness Boxing, Ring Fit Adventure). Other than that, they’re mostly used in first-party titles for fine-tuning your aim (Splatoon 2/3, Breath of the Wild) or to activate certain moves (Mario Odyssey), or to play minigames (Mario Party).

The infrared camera doesn’t really see much use outside of 1-2-Switch and Labo.

HD rumble… is there. To be honest, I don’t think the “HD” effect is used much outside of 1-2-Switch and Mario Party. Other than that, it’s just rumble.

NFC reader is for Amiibo. And it’s only used in a couple of games.

Very few games are designed around the touch screen (Voez is really the only title I know). Yet, I found out that surprisingly many people say that they sometimes use it for basic actions like navigating the menu.

As you can see, Switch has quite a few gimmicks in it, and most of them go unutilised. But the important thing is that at least they’re not in the way.

Even being a handheld-hybrid is something most developers don’t need to care too much about. It’s just there and unless your game’s HUD is miniscule, then the game works in both forms.

When the Switch was launched, some developers actually said they don’t want to make games for it without utilising its full set of features. For decades, Nintendo has been in that kind of awkward situation where developers have been stuck with that mindset (DS, Wii, Wii U).

Switch U will have additional technological solutions – hopefully ones that either make things better or aren’t in the way.

My hopes and dreams

That’s it for what I found the “analysts” claiming. What about me?

I can’t know exactly what the Switch U will be like, but I do have my personal hopes for the machine.

These aren’t things that would necessarily give Switch U an edge against competition or anything. They’re just my preferences as someone who is extremely likely going to buy the machine:

• Cartridge-based – I like having my games in physical form. And I like the small cartridges of Switch, as opposed to the optical discs we’ve been using for the past 20 or so years.
• Backwards compatibility – I have a ton of Switch games. I really hope I can play them on the new console. Better yet if both digital and physical games can be transferred.
• Better default controllers – By itself, I think the idea behind Joy-Cons is pretty brilliant. But with all the drifting issues and the overall size and feel of the joysticks and buttons, the end result is very lackluster. (Even for my small baby hands.) I don’t know if I’d say they’re the worst controllers Nintendo ever produced (N64 controllers do exist), but they’re pretty freaking close.
• Real solutions instead of gimmicks – Nintendo consoles have had some really great solutions over the years (like the D-pad, shoulder buttons, and being handheld-hybrid). They are all solutions that make playing games easier without the developers having to spend extra resources thinking “How in the world are we going to implement this into our game?” Sometimes they even make development easier because the developers have more controls to work with!

What’s up with the Switch “U”?

You may already be getting tired that I’m calling the console a “Switch U” instead of “Switch 2”. What’s the deal here?

It’s because there’s something you need to understand about Nintendo. Something that gives me a bad premonition of things to come.

Nintendo goes in phases.

When they’re doing great, they tend to get arrogant.

“Hahaha, look at our genius! We are genius! We will do what we want! You want a new 2D Super Mario game? Screw you! Here’s Nintendo Land instead!”

When they’re doing poorly, they become humble.

“Oh no! Why is this failing?! Quick, what is it that the customers actually want! 2D Mario? Get on it!”

You can see this with every console generation: whenever Nintendo got arrogant, they started making bad decisions. This led to several failing consoles (N64, Gamecube, Wii U), and even caused one of their biggest products (Wii) to lose its appeal in its later years.

It’s only when those mistakes are made and Nintendo gets into trouble that they return to being humble, and give us great consoles (Wii U failed so miserably that they had to make the Switch!).

The Switch isn’t just doing great – its success is simply insane. It’s hard to imagine that Nintendo isn’t on their arrogant phase right now.

They’re not thinking about what we want. They’re thinking about what they want.

And so, I’m cautiously expecting Switch 2 to end up being a Switch U – much like what happened with the transition from Wii to the Wii U.

If the Switch U is an iteration, then how will Nintendo deal with the problem of parents saying “We already have a Switch U at home”?

Switch U will have to differentiate itself from its predecessor.

A silver lining?

We can also take a more optimistic route:

Is Nintendo scared of the next console transition? We can only hope so. The rumor that they’ve pushed their next console forward by a year (from 2024 to 2025) might be an indicator of that. Being scared means they just might be trying to reel back their arrogance.

Nintendo’s former president Satoru Iwata often talked about how scary generation transitions are. But Iwata is no longer here. It’ll be left to be seen how the current Nintendo handles this.

What will be Switch U’s killer game at launch? Tears of the Kingdom was just released, so it’s probably not going to be Zelda. Metroid Prime 4 doesn’t have the mass appeal to do something like that. Surely they’re not going to port Mario Kart 8 a second time (and if it’s Mario Kart 9, how can it compete with 8 when they just released a ton of DLC for it)? A new 3D Mario may be a likely contender (it’s been a while since Super Mario Odyssey).

Time will tell.