StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)

[LiC]

The switch was first talked about around a year before release and we had an assload of leaks, nothing like what we're seeing right now.

Not really! The first published reports on the Switch's chipset and concept/form factor were in July 2016, only three months before it was publicly revealed; the majority of reporting after that just corroborated those points. The first published report on the upcoming model was in August 2020 (4K support) with further elaboration in March 2021 (new Nvidia SoC and DLSS support), so nearly two years ago for one and 16 months for the other. There was also nothing for anyone to report on launch timing back then since the March 2017 launch was already announced, whereas now with the new model a somewhat narrow window has been leaked.

As for why there was seemingly more for mainstream reporting to focus on with the original Switch in that three month span than there is for the new model now, that's simply because the concept and form factor aren't changing much if at all, and the only accessible bits of information (tech components/features plus release timing) are pretty much already known.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Xenoblade 4 Drake exclusive.

Imagine how good it would look.

I still believe Monolith will be the first in Nintendo to incorporate RT

 

[TonyBaduy]

I still believe Monolith will be the first in Nintendo to incorporate RT

I wonder... XBC3 expansion will come out after Drake launches, so if they are working in a Drake build, it may include that.

 

[Stinkmeiser45]

Not really! The first published reports on the Switch's chipset and concept/form factor were in July 2016, only three months before it was publicly revealed; the majority of reporting after that just corroborated those points. The first published report on the upcoming model was in August 2020 (4K support) with further elaboration in March 2021 (new Nvidia SoC and DLSS support), so nearly two years ago for one and 16 months for the other. There was also nothing for anyone to report on launch timing back then since the March 2017 launch was already announced, whereas now with the new model a somewhat narrow window has been leaked.

As for why there was seemingly more for mainstream reporting to focus on with the original Switch in that three month span than there is for the new model now, that's simply because the concept and form factor aren't changing much if at all, and the only accessible bits of information (tech components/features plus release timing) are pretty much already known.

Nintendo Switch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The switch was first brought up by Nintendo in March 2015, then called the NX. Nintendo then announced the console's first game (being BotW) at E3 2016. Rumors of the switch's hardware details and design concept started to come out soon after.

Also from my own personal memory, there were also a lot of leaks about games coming and the launch lineup.

 

[Blue Monty]

Nintendo Switch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The switch was first brought up by Nintendo in March 2015, then called the NX. Nintendo then announced the console's first game (being BotW) at E3 2016. Rumors of the switch's hardware details and design concept started to come out soon after.

Also from my own personal memory, there were also a lot of leaks about games coming and the launch lineup.

First game announced for the console was DQXI not BOTW. Anyway Nintendo NX/Switch was a special case of the console being announced early due to the financial situation of Nintendo to try to get back investors trust, same as the mobile push

 

[karmitt]

I wonder... XBC3 expansion will come out after Drake launches, so if they are working in a Drake build, it may include that.

I’m not giving up on the idea that they actually increase detail in the base game for the Drake launch. It’s exactly the type of thing they should be doing in lieu of exclusives in order to sell hardware. Things like grass density and draw distance, alongside a 4K/30fps target.

 

[TonyBaduy]

I’m not giving up on the idea that they actually increase detail in the base game for the Drake launch. It’s exactly the type of thing they should be doing in lieu of exclusives in order to sell hardware. Things like grass density and draw distance, alongside a 4K/30fps target.

I imagine that they will patch that in too, the game would benefit a ton from all that.

 

[Stinkmeiser45]

First game announced for the console was DQXI not BOTW. Anyway Nintendo NX/Switch was a special case of the console being announced early due to the financial situation of Nintendo to try to get back investors trust, same as the mobile push

It's not just about the announcement. Like I said there were a lot of leaks. Stuff about the hardware, designs, games. Everything was getting leaked (there were also a lot of weird fake leaks too). It's entirely possible Nintendo has just plugged up the holes, but I'm just saying comparing the current situation to the switch is silly because it was very different.

 

[karmitt]

Nintendo Switch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The switch was first brought up by Nintendo in March 2015, then called the NX. Nintendo then announced the console's first game (being BotW) at E3 2016. Rumors of the switch's hardware details and design concept started to come out soon after.

Also from my own personal memory, there were also a lot of leaks about games coming and the launch lineup.

Breath of the Wild was a known quantity, and with Wii U being dead in the water by mid 2016 it was in Nintendo’s best interest to get people to start looking beyond it.

As for the launch lineup, I only really recall the January show-floor booths getting leaked. The one where they said the Mario logo had an airplane flying around it. It ended up being Cappy circling it but the rest was pretty spot on.

I don’t really know why we’re trying to compare to the Wii U to Switch transition - the circumstances are entirely different. And even if we weren’t getting many leaks this go around, it’s not like leaks beget more leaks. Nintendo would absolutely be responding to past issues to try mitigate or eliminate production leaks.

 

[Spork4000]

It's not just about the announcement. Like I said there were a lot of leaks. Stuff about the hardware, designs, games. Everything was getting leaked (there were also a lot of weird fake leaks too). It's entirely possible Nintendo has just plugged up the holes, but I'm just saying comparing the current situation to the switch is silly because it was very different.

I mean, Switch 2 or whatever has also had a lot of leaks. You mentioned yourself that the first reports of it being in development were in 2020. I don't remember any major switch game leaks before announcement though. Nintendo basically gave third parties the go ahead to announce games for it years in advance, something that obviously isn't happening with drake.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I wonder... XBC3 expansion will come out after Drake launches, so if they are working in a Drake build, it may include that.

maybe, but I'm not sure if I would expect it. the game's art looks pretty locked in, like large shadows being baked into textures and whatnot.

if anything, Xenoblade X Definitive Edition would be a good first game

 

[Spork4000]

Breath of the Wild was a known quantity, and with Wii U being dead in the water by mid 2016 it was in Nintendo’s best interest to get people to start looking beyond it.

As for the launch lineup, I only really recall the January show-floor booths getting leaked. The one where they said the Mario logo had an airplane flying around it. It ended up being Cappy circling it but the rest was pretty spot on.

I don’t really know why we’re trying to compare to the Wii U to Switch transition - the circumstances are entirely different. And even if we didn’t have the same amount of leaks, it’s not like leaks beget more leaks. Nintendo would absolutely responding to past issues to try mitigate or eliminate production leaks.

Yeah, trying to predict current behavior based on the Wii U is a bad idea. Nintendo was desperately pleading with investors not to sell their stock. They had to have something on the horizon because the present was god awful for them. The Wii U was BAD, a massive unprecedented failure for Nintendo.

 

[Skittzo]

It's not just about the announcement. Like I said there were a lot of leaks. Stuff about the hardware, designs, games. Everything was getting leaked (there were also a lot of weird fake leaks too). It's entirely possible Nintendo has just plugged up the holes, but I'm just saying comparing the current situation to the switch is silly because it was very different.

... No, there were not. Not before summer 2016 as LiC said. Please go back and look to see if any leaks, even game leaks happened before that.

 

[LiC]

It's not just about the announcement. Like I said there were a lot of leaks. Stuff about the hardware, designs, games. Everything was getting leaked (there were also a lot of weird fake leaks too). It's entirely possible Nintendo has just plugged up the holes, but I'm just saying comparing the current situation to the switch is silly because it was very different.

Hardware, July 2016. "Designs" I'm not sure what that means, but if you mean the hybrid form factor, dock, and detachable controllers, that was also July 2016. And games -- no, not really. There were a lot of "leaks" about NX/Switch games ahead of time, but they were pretty much all wrong.

 

[Cuzizkool]

I truly believe you can’t compare the transition from WiiU -> Switch to Switch -> Drake. The business climate is just not the same. Nintendo was thirsty for some good press before Switch launched. Anything to distance themselves from the bad press of the WiiU. IMO, I’d even go so far as to say that they didn’t crack down on leaks as hard just to help build up some hype. Now they are riding quite high with the huge success of the Switch, and would want to hush any news or leaks of a successor until the last possible minute so as to not hinder current sales.

 

[Maxrunner]

As a big Nintendo fan the last game I've played and finished was Metroid Dread. My Switch is rarely turned on on these days specially after playing Elden ring. I sure hope they do something about this and announce anything for more core gamers.

 

[Kevin]

As a big Nintendo fan the last game I've played and finished was Metroid Dread. My Switch is rarely turned on on these days specially after playing Elden ring. I sure hope they do something about this and announce anything for more core gamers.

Yeah I'm basically in the same boat. Nintendo had a strong lineup this year but a lot of it really didn't interest me. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is no doubt good but I'm in the middle of playing 2 and still have Torna to get through. Kirby was good but generally most of the rest of this year's lineup didn't really appeal to me. Mostly just felt like a year of mid-tier releases and it just leaves me wondering where are all the big tentpole games at these days. We are definitely due for a new mainline Mario, would love to see Metroid Prime 4 or at least the Metroid Prime 1 remake, Star Fox or Donkey Kong would be cool, obviously Zelda would be nice to finally see more of. Beyond this the dated hardware has also kind of pushed me toward playing more PS5/XSX these days and some of my friends are also moving on from playing Nintendo games due to the aging hardware.

 

[kimbo99]

All this talk about Drake and it's OvOfest this weekend.

 

[ShadowFox08]

I do think Monolithsoft should be making an exclusive by 2024/25. Other Nintendo teams could take advantage of the hardware for sure, but Monolithsoft is the only one that continues to demonstrate they don’t cope well with the current limits.

Xenoblade X port in 2024 on Switch and Drake.

enter man in trenchcoat and fedora
Believeee!

I think we will have 1st party games shared in 2024 and likely 2025 for Switch and Drake.

I still believe Monolith will be the first in Nintendo to incorporate RT

if you count botw 2, yes.

 

[karmitt]

Xenoblade X port in 2024 on Switch and Drake.

enter man in trenchcoat and fedora
Believeee!

I think we will have 1st party games shared in 2024 and likely 2025 for Switch and Drake.


if you count botw 2, yes.

I tend to agree, but was making an argument for the one studio which I could see being an exception

 

[Blue Monty]

I tend to agree, but was making an argument for the one studio which I could see being an exception

Considering a new Monolith Soft game should be 2025, it could be Drake exclusive.

 

[Mr Doggo]

I imagine that unless mp4 gets a substantial remaster it wont have rt. Unless it is a crossgen game. Even then, only maybe.

 

[ShadowFox08]

I imagine that unless mp4 gets a substantial remaster it wont have rt. Unless it is a crossgen game. Even then, only maybe.

I'm confused with your wording of remaster for MP4.

I think it's all but confirmed that MP4 will be cross gen with switch and Drake. I don't see why they couldn't add RT on it either.

MP4 I can see 720p docked and 60fps with some upscaling to make it look better on switch. MP4 on Drake could be 2k 60fps or 1080p 60fps with RT.

 

[Deleted member 1324]

A real master with 4K / DLSS 8nm and wink

Pfft 4k? Didn’t you know PS5 has 8k on it’s box!!

 

[Deleted member 1324]

IIRC PS4 Pro was announced in September 2016 and came out in November 2016

PS4 “Neo” (along with its specs) was also leaked in March 2016.

If I had to guess Drake was always tied to BotW 2. When Nintendo knew Zelda wouldn’t hit this holiday they probably took the decision to delay the hardware with it also taking into consideration chip shortages and other manufacturing issues going on this year. The Splatoon 3 OLED model was probably a quick fix to boost sales.

 

[Waz]

Yeah I'm basically in the same boat. Nintendo had a strong lineup this year but a lot of it really didn't interest me. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is no doubt good but I'm in the middle of playing 2 and still have Torna to get through. Kirby was good but generally most of the rest of this year's lineup didn't really appeal to me. Mostly just felt like a year of mid-tier releases and it just leaves me wondering where are all the big tentpole games at these days. We are definitely due for a new mainline Mario, would love to see Metroid Prime 4 or at least the Metroid Prime 1 remake, Star Fox or Donkey Kong would be cool, obviously Zelda would be nice to finally see more of. Beyond this the dated hardware has also kind of pushed me toward playing more PS5/XSX these days and some of my friends are also moving on from playing Nintendo games due to the aging hardware.

You are perhaps just prejudiced against non-Western games.
But the next Donkey Kong may be made at Tokyo EPD.

 

[Thugstas]

Pfft 4k? Didn’t you know PS5 has 8k on it’s box!!

Old man I am … it was too long for me to reach it ( it is not real 4K by the way …)

 

[Kevin]

You are perhaps just prejudiced against non-Western games.
But the next Donkey Kong may be made at Tokyo EPD.

You quoted me quoting Japanese text which I did not quote at all. Not sure what that is about and most of the Nitnendo games I am interested in are the mainline games (ie: Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Yoshi). I love platformers and such. This year was varied and it's not a bad year, just not a lot that I'm personally excited for. Not prejudiced against any kind of Nintendo IP. Everyone has their favorites and least favorite Nintendo made games.

 

[karmitt]

PS4 “Neo” (along with its specs) was also leaked in March 2016.

If I had to guess Drake was always tied to BotW 2. When Nintendo knew Zelda wouldn’t hit this holiday they probably took the decision to delay the hardware with it also taking into consideration chip shortages and other manufacturing issues going on this year. The Splatoon 3 OLED model was probably a quick fix to boost sales.

My issue with this theory is it disregards every other game coming in Q4 2022 and/or Q1 2023 that may benefit from the launch.

Zelda is not that critical to the success of this system. If it was planned for late 2022 to launch with Zelda, we can be assured that Zelda was not the only thing that leveraged it. No doubt they wanted Zelda at launch, but that’s just not panned out. That’s probably the whole of it.

Once again 2023 could happen, but I don’t see Zelda being the reason. Zelda could easily launch after it, even if it’s a 2023 device.

 

[Raccoon]

it's weird to think about but Pokémon sells to a huge enthusiast crowd, one much bigger than Zelda

delaying specifically to get a Zelda boost, or even to give Zelda a boost, seems silly

 

[karmitt]

it's weird to think about but Pokémon sells to a huge enthusiast crowd, one much bigger than Zelda

delaying specifically to get a Zelda boost, or even to give Zelda a boost, seems silly

To be frank, I think Zelda stands to benefit from more of this device being in circulation. It doesn’t need a “launch boost” to succeed - it’ll succeed regardless. But impressions/social media engagement will be at its very best when Drake has quite a few sales under its belt.

So speaking about Zelda specifically, the answer for when to launch this system feels increasingly like it should be ‘as soon as possible.’ They’re not going to stockpile consoles any more or longer than they need to.

On that note - how many consoles do companies usually produce for a launch?

Edit: @Raccoon i appreciate how often your ava changes :]

 

[Raccoon]

Edit: @Raccoon i appreciate how often your ava changes :]

there's sort of a narrative to it in the sillier threads but to onlookers I imagine it can be quite surprising

 

[ShadowFox08]

it's weird to think about but Pokémon sells to a huge enthusiast crowd, one much bigger than Zelda

delaying specifically to get a Zelda boost, or even to give Zelda a boost, seems silly

As you said, Zelda does have more of a core gamer crowd than Pokemon... Something like 4k 30fps or 1080-1440p 60fps does seem really enticing.

is But they could go back and have a performance patch Pokemon for Drake, assuming it's 100% backwards compatible.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

PS4 “Neo” (along with its specs) was also leaked in March 2016.

If I had to guess Drake was always tied to BotW 2. When Nintendo knew Zelda wouldn’t hit this holiday they probably took the decision to delay the hardware with it also taking into consideration chip shortages and other manufacturing issues going on this year. The Splatoon 3 OLED model was probably a quick fix to boost sales.

other way around.

You can be given a window of when a product can be ready, a realistic window, and it assumes all goes well with a low chance of things going wrong. If the Drake thing was being touted as being ready by late 2022 to H1 2023, that means it’s it it’s closer to end stages and they can give a timeframe. They already have developer kits in house, so they already have an idea. And if third parties are also supposed to have games ready by then, they already know the target window of when the hardware is supposed to be released to the mass public.

Keep note, Nintendo delayed BOTW2 way before anything significant was actually shown. It’s not like Animal Crossing which was delayed from its September 2019 launch in June 2019 to the March 2020. This was delayed at the end of one fiscal year with its “end of 2022” expectation to just “Spring 2023”.



This was like, potentially an 8 month gap and it was delayed to the following year. It wasn’t a few month gap like ACNH, it was a significant gap and done so specifically near the end of the fiscal year for a reason beyond developmental issues.


Was there any demo of BOTW1 on the Wii U before they announced it had been delayed? Have we seen any of that for BOTW2? So far, it’s just been cutscenes and snippets. Of course, this is by design because they don’t want to spoil the game via the title, but even more than that would have been shown.



All in all, I am of the opinion that Zelda was delayed to match the hardware, not that the hardware was delayed to match Zelda. This isn’t the same as last time with the switch launch that had 0 games to launch with, the Switch is a known quantity and will carry its success forward with games. But, if the game was to launch this year and the hardware the next year, it would have had to rely solely on the third parties for it to work and Zelda wouldn’t have been that showstopper. I’m also of the opinion that the hardware couldn’t make it to FY23 and will be released FY24, along with Zelda (so, after March 31st 2023). They wanted to, but couldn’t reach that late 2022 release and thus have to shuffle their games and plans around to meet a 2023 window that they find most appropriate, as it would be a very delicate year in the move to the new hardware/platform without messing it up (Wii U) and having that effortless move (GB>GBC).



That’s my opinion.


I’m still waiting for the Arkham Trilogy that was “leaked” a while back to show itself. It was leaked by the same retailer that leaked the Witcher 3 on the switch. We haven’t seen that.

 

[CypressFX]

Officially, Drake has not been delayed. The window has been late '22/H1 '23 internally for a long while. I've been getting updates on timing; but I will not share any such specifics unless they fall outside that window -- late '22/early 23.

2021 was never in the cards. The only reason is was ever mentioned for 2021 is due to a mix up & conflating the new hardware in the hands of developers with the new hardware entering production with an OLED screen.

Thanks Nate, was waiting for exactly this update on timing -> new updates and these still dont change the Late 22/Early 23 window.

 

[Intoxicate]

Imagine skipping the OLED switch just to buy in with the Splatoon version of the OLED and then seeing the "Pro" 2-3 month later being announced =)

 

[Bonejack]

In about 2 more months we should know for sure if it's not coming this year, right?

I guess with 2 months you mean the actual August and September, because otherwise we're talking about an October announcement, which is way too late for a 2022 release (imo). At that point they'd rather do a late January / early Feb announcement.

Imo (just as everything i write here), September is the absolute latest they could announce it for a 2022 release, as November is the latest it could (should) release. You don't want to release such a thing in december when you missed much of the holiday shopping and really do piss off people who said "fuck it" and got one of the other models for the holidays.

Imagine skipping the OLED switch just to buy in with the Splatoon version of the OLED and then seeing the "Pro" 2-3 month later being announced =)

Sure it sucks, but i feel like in the times of smartphones people have been "trained" to know that you might look at annual fresh hardware releases.

At least it's cheaper than a smartphone (without contract).

 

[neil]

How much internal storage do you think the next Switch will have? Will game sizes be bigger and third-party support be better, creating a need for a lot more storage? Or will Nintendo cheap out and stick with 64GB? I think at least 256 GB would be nice.

 

[LinkURL]

Drake doesn't need to launch with Zelda, this device will spend months sold out even without any major Nintendo titles released in the period

 

[CypressFX]

Imagine skipping the OLED switch just to buy in with the Splatoon version of the OLED and then seeing the "Pro" 2-3 month later being announced =)

This was ALWAYS the case.

Nintendo so often, shortly before the OLED.

Sony in 2020 with the TLOU PS4 Pro etc.

 

[Blue Monty]

How much internal storage do you think the next Switch will have? Will game sizes be bigger and third-party support be better, creating a need for a lot more storage? Or will Nintendo cheap out and stick with 64GB? I think at least 256 GB would be nice.

256GB would be too expensive, I expect 128GB or if they need to cut costs 64GB. There can be a scenario of 256GB being a thing if Nintendo goes the mobile way and implements multiple tier levels based on memory and 256GB is the most expensive one with 64GB as cheap option and 128GB as the standard.

3rd parties are already making games that you need a microsd or OLED to play (2k22), we will see the same I would guess.

 

[CypressFX]

Drake doesn't need to launch with Zelda, this device will spend months sold out even without any major Nintendo titles released in the period

Exactly this. Plus only Big Fans like us will double dip for a same gen console.

I think it will sell about 20-40 million consoles, what do you think?

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

Drake doesn't need to launch with Zelda, this device will spend months sold out even without any major Nintendo titles released in the period

I mean Zelda didn’t need to launch with the switch either, it was perfectly fine on the Wii U. We know why they chose to do it though.

However, previous cases point to otherwise being the case with Nintendo. They launched the Lite with Link’s Awakening. They launched the OLED model with Metroid Dread. They launched the Switch with BOTW. They may not need it, but nothing is indicating they’ll launch it with absolutely nothing.

And no, Pokémon is not a technical show piece title and has never been touted as one. The audience for it are very casual with a few core players that do competitive.


There’s options, and then there’s the right option. They could have simply chose Mario Kart 8 if they wanted to, because it was an option. Or used 1-2 Switch as the marketing game at the time. They, however, chose Zelda instead because it’s actually appealing and an actually interesting way of doing a tech demo than 1-2 Switch.


Speaking of… said game is supposed to have a sequel… said sequel is supposed to launch… who’s to say they don’t repeat it again and launch both the same day with the Switch Drake but only use Zelda as the marketing game like they did last time.

Remember folks, Switch launched with a port and old games plus new ones. Switch 2 will launch with ports of old games and new.


And you’ll love it.

 

[Stinky Horse]

My only concern about that is the amount of launch units they have, because you could have something like 2 million new consoles vs 10 million copies of BotW2 sold on day one.

Imagine skipping the OLED switch just to buy in with the Splatoon version of the OLED and then seeing the "Pro" 2-3 month later being announced =)

It's not like the Splatoon version will be the final special edition OLED...

 

[Blue Monty]

My only concern about that is the amount of launch units they have, because you could have something like 2 million new consoles vs 10 million copies of BotW2 sold on day one.

BOTW 2 will still release on regular Switch so there shouldn’t be any issues, 2M units first week seems even a bit high though but we will see.

 

[Raccoon]

As you said, Zelda does have more of a core gamer crowd than Pokemon... Something like 4k 30fps or 1080-1440p 60fps does seem really enticing.

is But they could go back and have a performance patch Pokemon for Drake, assuming it's 100% backwards compatible.

no? pokemon has a bigger enthusiast crowd

 

[LinkURL]

I mean Zelda didn’t need to launch with the switch either, it was perfectly fine on the Wii U. We know why they chose to do it though.

However, previous cases point to otherwise being the case with Nintendo. They launched the Lite with Link’s Awakening. They launched the OLED model with Metroid Dread. They launched the Switch with BOTW. They may not need it, but nothing is indicating they’ll launch it with absolutely nothing.

And no, Pokémon is not a technical show piece title and has never been touted as one. The audience for it are very casual with a few core players that do competitive.


There’s options, and then there’s the right option. They could have simply chose Mario Kart 8 if they wanted to, because it was an option. Or used 1-2 Switch as the marketing game at the time. They, however, chose Zelda instead because it’s actually appealing and an actually interesting way of doing a tech demo than 1-2 Switch.


Speaking of… said game is supposed to have a sequel… said sequel is supposed to launch… who’s to say they don’t repeat it again and launch both the same day with the Switch Drake but only use Zelda as the marketing game like they did last time.

Remember folks, Switch launched with a port and old games plus new ones. Switch 2 will launch with ports of old games and new.


And you’ll love it.

I understand your point, but I think that in Drake's case, it might be interesting to launch even without a Nintendo game together, for two reasons:

1- I have my doubts if at this moment Nintendo has a game that REALLY manages to give an idea of Drake's power, it's not just a Switch that runs games in 4K, we're talking about capacity improvement in all possible aspects, I believe we'll only see the real power used with Metroid Prime 4 or Monolith's new IP.

2- I think a release accompanied by 2 or 3 major third party ports would be interesting, such as RE2R, FFVIIR, RDR2, Elden Ring. It would send a different message to the public, media and devs that Nintendo is now really committed to receiving third-party support on the platform.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

I understand your point, but I think that in Drake's case, it might be interesting to launch even without a Nintendo game together, for two reasons:

1- I have my doubts if at this moment Nintendo has a game that REALLY manages to give an idea of Drake's power, it's not just a Switch that runs games in 4K, we're talking about capacity improvement in all possible aspects, I believe we'll only see the real power used with Metroid Prime 4 or Monolith's new IP.

2- I think a release accompanied by 2 or 3 major third party ports would be interesting, such as RE2R, FFVIIR, RDR2, Elden Ring. It would send a different message to the public, media and devs that Nintendo is now really committed to receiving third-party support on the platform.

Last time they did that, it nearly bombed and they had to do a price cut and a lot to save it.

Yes, the 3DS had a really solid third party launch lineup but an abysmal first party lineup.

Nintendo systems just aren’t going to be perceived in the same way as say a PS or a XB because they already set the expectations for their platform long ago.


Also I’m not sure what Monolith new IP you’re referring to.

 

[Raccoon]

And no, Pokémon is not a technical show piece title and has never been touted as one. The audience for it are very casual with a few core players that do competitive.

I've known many adults who buy Nintendo hardware for Pokémon. The first open world Pokémon is a far more compelling reason to get a more powerful Switch than another Breath of the Wild.

Now, I'm not saying that hardware would even be ready this year, but I don't see why they would hold off specifically for a very obviously direct sequel.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Last time they did that, it nearly bombed and they had to do a price cut and a lot to save it.

Yes, the 3DS had a really solid third party launch lineup but an abysmal first party lineup.

Nintendo systems just aren’t going to be perceived in the same way as say a PS or a XB because they already set the expectations for their platform long ago.


Also I’m not sure what Monolith new IP you’re referring to.

There was nothing at the 3ds launch on the level of Red Dead, Elden Ring, or Final Fantasy 7