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

[ReddDreadtheLead]

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

Of course, those didn’t exist when the 3DS launched. How would they be on the level when they didn’t exist yet?

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.

The closest relevance to the Pokémon audience will be the Mario kart audience or the animal crossing audience, in which they buy the hardware for the game, but aren’t given an incentive to do so again when they already have the game. A large portion are in fact kids, and I even mentioned a few that do competition with Pokémon but they do not make up a large portion of the audience. This is a very niche and core crowd.

 

[Yavga]

The Legend of Zelda: Armament of Entertainment (Model: Drake)

 

[HankyPanky]

i'm also firmly of the belief the Zelda delay was to line-up with new hardware. a few more months in the oven to polish and work on Drake enhancements but otherwise was finished for the holidays no problem. and the longer it goes on without an announcement the less likely it'll make this FY. something around May seems pretty likely unless the 2022 thing somehow materializes.

 

[Mr.Gamerson]

Breath of The Wild remastered 4k, Red Dead 2, and Pokemon 4K edition is more than enough to sell a supply limited next-gen performing switch that people have been begging for. Zelda can come later to help continue the momentum.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

Partially related to the thread, but for anyone curious if Metroid Prime Remaster can get an improvement on the switch worth a generational leap, let’s look at two different games to show their difference:

 

[Bonejack]

Partially related to the thread, but for anyone curious if Metroid Prime Remaster can get an improvement on the switch worth a generational leap, let’s look at two different games to show their difference:

 

[Concernt]

i'm also firmly of the belief the Zelda delay was to line-up with new hardware. a few more months in the oven to polish and work on Drake enhancements but otherwise was finished for the holidays no problem. and the longer it goes on without an announcement the less likely it'll make this FY. something around May seems pretty likely unless the 2022 thing somehow materializes.

May is not "early 2023" as the console, as far as we know is meant to launch at the latest. Zelda itself is meant to be "Spring". Last time Nintendo said "Spring" was Kirby, and that was March.

Switch was revealed in October for a March release. But this isn't a new console. Unless the announcement doesn't happen until February or March itself, there's every reason to expect that it's this fiscal year, not next.

Also, last time the hardware was delayed for Breath of the Wild 1. Why would it be the other way around this time?

 

[Hermii]

Partially related to the thread, but for anyone curious if Metroid Prime Remaster can get an improvement on the switch worth a generational leap, let’s look at two different games to show their difference:

I don't think anyone in this thread ever wondered about that, though.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

 

[Bonejack]

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

I don't think anyone in this thread ever wondered about that, though.

You never know. It’s worth bringing I feel because I’ve seen Prime Remaster mentioned by a few people, but to also notice that the switch would offer quite a visual leap over the original even if simply remastered.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Of course, those didn’t exist when the 3DS launched. How would they be on the level when they didn’t exist yet?

Final Fantasy 7 should have been remade for the 3DS/Vita.

change my mind

 

[Bonejack]

Prime Remaster, Patches for Xeno 3, Pokemon ScarVio / Arceus ... there's enough they can do to sway in the first batch of early adopting enthusiasts.

You never know. It’s worth bringing I feel because I’ve seen Prime Remaster mentioned by a few people, but to also notice that the switch would offer quite a visual leap over the original even if simply remastered.

 

[Serif]

Partially related to the thread, but for anyone curious if Metroid Prime Remaster can get an improvement on the switch worth a generational leap, let’s look at two different games to show their difference:

Imo it's not even worth engaging those who think Switch games look no better than GameCube games, or that there can't be a significant leap between Prime GC and Prime HD. Switch already has a bunch of good looking FPS including Crysis Remastered and the modern DOOM and Wolfenstein. Bright Memory Infinite is another good-looking FPS that just came out. I'm definitely curious about how Prime HD will look compared to these, since I expect it to be 60 FPS.

 

[HankyPanky]

May is not "early 2023" as the console, as far as we know is meant to launch at the latest. Zelda itself is meant to be "Spring". Last time Nintendo said "Spring" was Kirby, and that was March.

Switch was revealed in October for a March release. But this isn't a new console. Unless the announcement doesn't happen until February or March itself, there's every reason to expect that it's this fiscal year, not next.

Also, last time the hardware was delayed for Breath of the Wild 1. Why would it be the other way around this time?

because hardware schedules are much harder to change than software? this is what i keep hearing in this thread and it does make sense. some people seem convinced that later into 2023 isn't possible for this reason but the plan was always late22/H1 23 as far as we know (Nate's post reminding us 'Officially, Drake has not been delayed. The window has been late '22/H1 '23 internally for a long while') so nothing has changed as far as the launch window. which also seems to line-up with the Zelda delay if for whatever reason they couldn't get it out this year. May is still Spring and well within H1.

 

[Concernt]

because hardware schedules are much harder to change than software? this is what i keep hearing in this thread and it does make sense. some people seem convinced that later into 2023 isn't possible for this reason but the plan was always late22/H1 23 as far as we know (Nate's post reminding us 'Officially, Drake has not been delayed. The window has been late '22/H1 '23 internally for a long while') so nothing has changed as far as the launch window. which also seems to line-up with the Zelda delay if for whatever reason they couldn't get it out this year. May is still Spring and well within H1.

May is summer in some regions, autumn in others and within spitting distance of Q3. That's not "early 2023".

 

[Intoxicate]

Prime Remaster, Patches for Xeno 3, Pokemon ScarVio / Arceus ... there's enough they can do to sway in the first batch of early adopting enthusiasts.

 

[HankyPanky]

May is summer in some regions, autumn in others and within spitting distance of Q3. That's not "early 2023".

but where is early 2023 coming from? Nate is saying H1 2023 which means the first half of 2023 and plenty of wiggle room.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

May is summer in some regions, autumn in others and within spitting distance of Q3. That's not "early 2023".

In what region is May summer? This is the first I’ve heard of this.

Most (if not all) consider May to be Spring, it’s June that people start saying “it’s sorta summer it’s sorta not really?” Territory.


Hell, the PS5 and Series X|S launched in Fall for some and in spring for others like in Australia or Argentina.

As mentioned, May is still spring and still in the “late 22/H1 2023 territory, it’s a window not a specific date. That’s a 6-9 month window. That’s a pretty big window.

 

[Hosermess]

May is summer in some regions, autumn in others and within spitting distance of Q3. That's not "early 2023".

Trying to define stuff like early/late/spring/summer/soon, instead of treating them as arbitrary, is asking for trouble. Things are kept vague for a reason.

 

[Thugstas]

In what region is May summer? This is the first I’ve heard of this.

Most (if not all) consider May to be Spring, it’s June that people start saying “it’s sorta summer it’s sorta not really?” Territory.


Hell, the PS5 and Series X|S launched in Fall for some and in spring for others like in Australia or Argentina.

As mentioned, May is still spring and still in the “late 22/H1 2023 territory, it’s a window not a specific date. That’s a 6-9 month window. That’s a pretty big window.

Idk… summer in Southern Hemisphere is 21/22 December …

 

[HankyPanky]

as far as I can tell there are three main scenarios in play for the announcement/release for this thing, unless something unexpected happened behind the scenes.

announcement Aug/Sep for a Nov 22 release - still possible, looking less likely and where is the software? not essential but Nintendo is in a great position why put out a system without some first party bangers to show it off (remakes don't count)

announcment Oct/Nov for a March 23 release - if production is starting this year they need to announce it to get ahead of leaks. Zelda would also get dated.

announcement Jan for April/May release. start FY with a bang, production starts in 23 and supplies build leading to release. day & date with Zelda as in above scenario, special editions ahoy.

if i had to put money on what will happen it's out of the latter two scenarios with a slight leaning to the last, just because they can leave the reveal till after the holidays. all speculative as we know nothing of the hardware situation but a couple of uncles saying something about a backplate isn't smoke enough to think full production is imminent. who knows. i also don't think there will be a long period between announcement & launch because it won't be hyped in a way that it's a next gen system (even though it is) more an iterative upgrade.

 

[chocolate_supra]

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

sillier threads

Um...

 

[ILikeFeet]

oh boy, we're arguing season dates again?

 

[Herb Alpert]

A couple means two

 

[chocolate_supra]

oh boy, we're arguing season dates again?

I'm in an area where summer is basically May-October and winter doesn't exist so I always have to stay out of these sorts of debates

A couple means two

I seriously got into a heated argument at work for saying this

 

[YolkFolk]

If it comes this year it would be interesting to see if Metroid Prime, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess would be shown as 4K/60fps versions. 1080p on OG Switch.

 

[Herb Alpert]

I seriously got into a heated argument at work for saying this

Lol

For those who wouldn't get it, it's a reference to an heated argument that happened few years ago in media create threads (either on Gaf or era, I'm not sure anymore)

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

Idk… summer in Southern Hemisphere is 21/22 December …

That is correct, however my comments did not mention December, it mentioned the month of May. The month of May in the northern hemisphere is spring, and in the southern hemisphere it is autumn.

Never summer though, maybe Concernt meant something else?

 

[Thugstas]

That is correct, however my comments did not mention December, it mentioned the month of May. The month of May in the northern hemisphere is spring, and in the southern hemisphere it is autumn.

Never summer though, maybe Concernt meant something else?

I know bout your post … just confirm that it wasn’t in may

 

[niconiconick64]

Albeit this chart isn't 100% accurate, I believe it's pretty close.
Just wanna share some stuff I noticed with both of these consoles' timelines and how I think this "battle" will pan out.
Imo, there will be another spike later this year due to the sheer amount of heavyweight titles coming to the platform (splatoon 3, bayo3, nier, pokemon).
And then, another spike should hit by the launch of BOTW2.
But in my opinion, unless the forbidden one comes to life, I think the switch will still remain under the DS on graphs for some time.

 

[ShadowFox08]

If it comes this year it would be interesting to see if Metroid Prime, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess would be shown as 4K/60fps versions. 1080p on OG Switch.

Hopefully 60fps for WW and TP HD switch to boot.. still wouldn't buy it for $60 myself though.

 

[Link_enfant]

If Nintendo plans to launch Zelda with Drake and Drake has been aiming for an early 2023 release, then why would have they announced Zelda for 2022 then delaying it?
If Drake was aiming late 2022 with Zelda, that means they could have taken the « risk » to delay the game because they had no choice, but as hardware can’t be changed so late it’d then still be coming in late 2022.

There’s something weird with the « they delayed Zelda to launch it with Drake » reasoning imo

 

[Mr.Gamerson]

I just want to be assured that graphicals will be magical!!!!!!

 

[HankyPanky]

If Nintendo plans to launch Zelda with Drake and Drake has been aiming for an early 2023 release, then why would have they announced Zelda for 2022 then delaying it?
If Drake was aiming late 2022 with Zelda, that means they could have taken the « risk » to delay the game because they had no choice, but as hardware can’t be changed so late it’d then still be coming in late 2022.

There’s something weird with the « the delayed Zelda to launch it with Drake » reasoning imo

there's a simple explanation which is perfectly logical & the likely explanation if they do end up coming together...

Zelda coming holidays when Drake was on-track for late 2022. something happens that pushes hardware to later in the intended window, so Zelda follows suit.

as soon as the Zelda delay was announced the first thing that came to mind was is has to be related to the Drake roll-out. sort of good news in that it confirms something is bubbling vs the people who were writing it off until 2024 (lol). not sure if anyone remembers early in the year but there was a lot of chatter about Zelda being deep into development in the final stages and would easily make 2022. then a delay, but only of a few months and announced well ahead of time.

 

[Deleted member 887]

Tangential screed incoming. Feel free to ignore. I'll put it in a spoiler tag for that reason

Spoiler

Nate has an understandable criticism here because he's a journalist and bad journalism is bad.

What gets me ticked off is in the way it infects the fan community. Every couple days someone steps into this thread to be angry they haven't gotten their Pro yet (as if this thread is to blame) and then cites rumors back to "2020" that were utterly invented by exactly the sort of fan-vulture that makes shit up, or picks out of context quotes from this very thread, spins fan-analysis into a rumor, winds up the less-tech savvy fans, who come here and yell that So and So says Such and Such, when in fact So and So is misquoting me or one of the smarter people in this very thread.

It's infuriating and annoying and makes me want to not hang here. Not because of the majority of folks here, but the way that this thread and similar places become grist for the YouTube mill.

 

[Link_enfant]

there's a simple explanation which is perfectly logical & the likely explanation if they do end up coming together...

Zelda coming holidays when Drake was on-track for late 2022. something happens that pushes hardware to later in the intended window, so Zelda follows suit.

as soon as the Zelda delay was announced the first thing that came to mind was is has to be related to the Drake roll-out. sort of good news in that it confirms something is bubbling vs the people who were writing it off until 2024 (lol). not sure if anyone remembers early in the year but there was a lot of chatter about Zelda being deep into development in the final stages and would easily make 2022. then a delay, but only of a few months and announced well ahead of time.

That could make sense but to me, deciding not to launch Drake with Zelda seems actually more plausible than this scenario, cause hardware delays are so unlikely especially this late.
We’re speaking beginning 2022, so probably a bit prior to the Zelda delay, but could they actually have delayed hardware even at this point? Less than a year before the supposedly intended release date of late 2022?

 

[Maxrunner]

Anything new on Nate podcast?

 

[Concernt]

In what region is May summer? This is the first I’ve heard of this.

Most (if not all) consider May to be Spring, it’s June that people start saying “it’s sorta summer it’s sorta not really?” Territory.


Hell, the PS5 and Series X|S launched in Fall for some and in spring for others like in Australia or Argentina.

As mentioned, May is still spring and still in the “late 22/H1 2023 territory, it’s a window not a specific date. That’s a 6-9 month window. That’s a pretty big window.

May is absolutely not "early" 2023. June is also 100% completely and utterly summer- it's meteorological summer's first month. It's also the month of the Summer Solstice. Come now, are you really saying the Summer Solstice takes place in "sort of spring"? That's absurd, even by astronomical seasons' standards where it (quite bizarrely in my view) marks the first day. The first day of summer is certainly more summer than "sorta not really".

May is also summer... where I live. And where Microsoft's European headquarters are. It's simple. May, June and July have the most hours of sun; and thus, are summer. Autumn, the leaves begin to fall, the days get shorter, it's definitively Autumn. Halloween is a festival to mark the beginning of Winter, so, yep, November's winter's first month here! In fact our word for November and Halloween are the same; and we don't even have a word for October, just a noun phrase meaning "End of Autumn".

There are quite literally dozens of calendar systems. Some places have less than four, some countries officially recognise astronomical summer, some, meteorological summer, some others, such as mine, their own system from thousands of years ago that we still use today because it works. Which is why I avoid speaking about these things in terms of seasons; it's incredibly unhelpful.

Now, you know what there AREN'T dozens of? Sources claiming the new Nintendo Switch is slated for a mid to late 2023 launch. May is not early in the year, no matter how you slice it. April I would expect to be the absolute latest, if someone told me "early next year" and they meant "May" I'd tell them off for being a liar. March is more realistic, even then.

Late 2022 early 2023 as far as I've heard, as far as Nintendo's concerned, means 2022Q3 or 2022Q4 (Nintendo's '22Q4 is January-March). A launch aiming for one quarter and hitting the next isn't a big deal. But aiming for one, missing two, and falling into the NEXT FISCAL YEAR is practically preposterous.

 

[prid]

November's winter's first month here! In fact our word for November and Halloween are the same; and we don't even have a word for October, just a noun phrase meaning "End of Autumn".

Very informative and educational. Thanks for all the fun facts! Learnt a lot

 

[Dakhil]

Anything new on Nate podcast?

Nothing in terms of Nintendo's new hardware.

 

[Armoured_Bear]

I really do hope it comes by this time next year, I'm holding off on Xenoblade 3 in the hope of playing it in higher fidelity when the beast arrives!

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Albeit this chart isn't 100% accurate, I believe it's pretty close.

A pretty notable error is that DSi is shown about a year too early. That plus its slow worldwide rollout and later XL revision puts it much closer to 3DS than it appears here.

That could make sense but to me, deciding not to launch Drake with Zelda seems actually more plausible than this scenario, cause hardware delays are so unlikely especially this late.
We’re speaking beginning 2022, so probably a bit prior to the Zelda delay, but could they actually have delayed hardware even at this point? Less than a year before the supposedly intended release date of late 2022?

BOTW2 2022 date was announced in June 2021. Well over a year from a possible late 2022 release. Plenty of wiggle room for things to move from late 2022 to early 2023 (or vice-versa) without totally wrecking things.

 

[HankyPanky]

That could make sense but to me, deciding not to launch Drake with Zelda seems actually more plausible than this scenario, cause hardware delays are so unlikely especially this late.
We’re speaking beginning 2022, so probably a bit prior to the Zelda delay, but could they actually have delayed hardware even at this point? Less than a year before the supposedly intended release date of late 2022?

the only info we seem to have on an intended release date is that there was never anything firm (obviously they know now) and a vague late 22-H1 23 window. if the Zelda delay ends up being relevant that was probably when the timeline became firm. lots of moving parts on the production side it's hard to even speculate but seems reasonable in this climate that something could have gone against the 22 launch.

 

[karmitt]

A pretty notable error is that DSi is shown about a year too early. That plus its slow worldwide rollout and later XL revision puts it much closer to 3DS than it appears here.

BOTW2 2022 date was announced in June 2021. Well over a year from a possible late 2022 release. Plenty of wiggle room for things to move from late 2022 to early 2023 (or vice-versa) without totally wrecking things.

It’s doubtful that they announced the 2022 date and made a decision within even a couple months that it’ll hit 2023 instead. Possible, but Zelda getting delayed because game development is hard and games just get delayed remains the most logical explanation.

They probably started to get concerned about the date late 2021, and decided to lock it in sometime within the few months prior to March 2022.

 

[Raccoon]

Y'know, if they needed more space for some reason and wanted to force the system into new docks only, a hideous bump on the back would be a clever way to kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Rogue Agent]

I really do hope it comes by this time next year, I'm holding off on Xenoblade 3 in the hope of playing it in higher fidelity when the beast arrives!

It's definitely coming before that, unless something goes terribly wrong.

 

[Skittzo]

Y'know, if they needed more space for some reason and wanted to force the system into new docks only, a hideous bump on the back would be a clever way to kill two birds with one stone.

The hunchswitch of protre dane?

 

[Raccoon]

The hunchswitch of protre dane?

it would be fucking disgusting but there are already extrusions on the joy-cons for the triggers so it wouldn't really have a practical detriment

I still think it'd be more befitting of a switch 2 maneuver than any sort of concurrent/iterative approach

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

May is absolutely not "early" 2023. June is also 100% completely and utterly summer- it's meteorological summer's first month. It's also the month of the Summer Solstice. Come now, are you really saying the Summer Solstice takes place in "sort of spring"? That's absurd, even by astronomical seasons' standards where it (quite bizarrely in my view) marks the first day. The first day of summer is certainly more summer than "sorta not really".

May is also summer... where I live. And where Microsoft's European headquarters are. It's simple. May, June and July have the most hours of sun; and thus, are summer. Autumn, the leaves begin to fall, the days get shorter, it's definitively Autumn. Halloween is a festival to mark the beginning of Winter, so, yep, November's winter's first month here! In fact our word for November and Halloween are the same; and we don't even have a word for October, just a noun phrase meaning "End of Autumn".

There are quite literally dozens of calendar systems. Some places have less than four, some countries officially recognise astronomical summer, some, meteorological summer, some others, such as mine, their own system from thousands of years ago that we still use today because it works. Which is why I avoid speaking about these things in terms of seasons; it's incredibly unhelpful.

Now, you know what there AREN'T dozens of? Sources claiming the new Nintendo Switch is slated for a mid to late 2023 launch. May is not early in the year, no matter how you slice it. April I would expect to be the absolute latest, if someone told me "early next year" and they meant "May" I'd tell them off for being a liar. March is more realistic, even then.

Late 2022 early 2023 as far as I've heard, as far as Nintendo's concerned, means 2022Q3 or 2022Q4 (Nintendo's '22Q4 is January-March). A launch aiming for one quarter and hitting the next isn't a big deal. But aiming for one, missing two, and falling into the NEXT FISCAL YEAR is practically preposterous.

Where on earth are you getting early from my post? I never said the word early. The claim has been “late 22/H1 23” for a very long while now.

H1 is quite literally first half of the calendar year from January to June, H2 is what we are in right now and goes from July to December.