If you listen closely, it feels like you can hear the jingle of plastic and metal for Nintendo’s next console as its manufactured and assembled in faraway factories. You can almost sense its launch lineup coming into focus as the company’s developers prepare to put their finishing touches on whimsical new experiments. Rumors and speculation around a supposed Switch 2 have reached a fever pitch as fans await a possible official reveal any week now. So it’s our last chance to share our hopes and predictions for the new hardware before dreams become reality. Here’s what we want from a Switch 2, and what we think we’ll actually get.
Make it an OLED
I’m not a snob when it comes to screens. My computer monitor is small, off-brand, and doesn’t even have an HDMI port. I play most of my PS5 and Xbox Series S games on a $US300 LED TV that I sit 10 feet away from and isn’t even 4K. So when I upgraded from a regular Switch to the OLED model, I was genuinely surprised by just how much better it looked. The contrast was better. The colors were warmer. Everything popped. Even so-so games looked incredible on the vibrant display sitting 12 inches from my face.
An OLED screen doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for Switch 2 owners who plan on just playing the console in docked mode, but it’s night-and-day for anyone who primarily uses the device as a handheld, which is where I think the hardware excels most anyway. Give me a $US400 Switch 2 and a $US550 OLED version at launch and I’ll scrape together my pennies to get the latter. Just please don’t make me wait several years. — Ethan
Give me something weird
My greatest desire is for there to be something weird about the Ultra Switch U. Nintendo is at its best when its consoles force developers to think differently. Just think of the way the Wii drove companies to create bizarre and fascinating games because of its Wii-motes and nunchucks, or how the two screens of the DS demanded a new level of creativity and imagination. While I recognize that the New Switch XL will have to conform on some level to allow cross-platform gaming, I still want that bonkers twist no one sees coming.
Maybe it can produce smells as you’re playing. Or it projects holograms from its screen. Or a good idea. But just not a slightly more powerful version of the Switch, with a bigger screen. I mean, I’d buy that tomorrow. But I really wish for that old Nintendo magic to surprise everyone. — John Walker
Counterpoint: just do the thing again
I have seen so many tech companies ruin a good thing with needless iteration. They’ll call it “innovating” and trying not to be “stagnant.” The Switch is, as far as I’m concerned, a perfect device. Console-quality games on a handheld are all I really want most days. The Switch is one of the most affordable portable gaming devices on the market right now, and it fills a niche that Sony and Microsoft are probably too scared to try and touch, given how embedded the Switch is as the go-to item for portable gaming. It is such a perfectly executed concept that I don’t want Nintendo to mess with it too much. Just give me a beefier device that can handle games the base system can’t. Sure, fix problems like Joy-Con drift. But above all else, I want the device to keep what made the Switch so revolutionary. Every Nintendo system has been substantially different than the last, but I would rather see the company innovate in its games than fuck up a good thing, because if the next Nintendo console doesn’t continue to improve upon everything the Switch has given us in the past seven years, it’s a huge loss for everyone. — Kenneth Shepard
I hope it’s decently priced
2017 feels like a lifetime ago, which is unfortunate because back then, Nintendo could get away with selling a brand new console for just $US300. Given the recent announcement of the PS5 Pro and its $US700 price tag, I’m wary of what Nintendo will say at the unveiling of the Switch 2. There’s no chance in hell that it’s that high, as I feel Nintendo is savvier than a lot of folks give the company credit for, but there’s similarly no chance it’s as low as previous price points have been, either. The OLED was proof that Nintendo could charge a bit more and people would still come running, and I paid about $US400 for my own Tears of the Kingdom OLED system. That feels like just about the right asking price, given the upgrades that have been rumored for months now, and it’d still be undercutting its competitors. Now to cross my fingers and hope that Nintendo sees things the way that I do. — Moises Taveras
For god’s sake, give us a 3D Mario game
This is the most I will ever sound like a spoiled brat, but Nintendo, it has been long enough. You gave us Super Mario Odyssey back in 2017 and Bowser’s Fury as an additional, experimental side game packaged with a remaster in 2021. The streets want a new 3D Mario game and they want it immediately. The children may yearn for Astro Bot these days, but the rest of us need a return to our favorite world-hopping, triple-jumping Italian plumber. I’ll even take a sequel to Super Mario Sunshine at this point, just…please. My crops are dying. Alternatively, if you ever want to finally bring Super Mario Galaxy 2 to modern systems, I’d heavily welcome that too. — Moises Taveras
Bring back more dormant franchises
Over the years, the Nintendo Switch has cultivated one of the most baller catalogs of any console in my lifetime. It’s got everything you could want from a Nintendo system, including a number of Mario and Pokémon games that have sold gangbusters, but it’s also been the site of a few revivals. Most notably, Nintendo seemingly resuscitated its dormant Metroid franchise, and has even brought back the Famicom Detective Club games. I guess when you sell as well as the Switch has, you begin to feel like maybe you can perform a few miracles, and I want Nintendo to lean into that. There are so many beloved series that could either use full ports or remasters, or better yet, a brand new installment. Mother is the thing that comes most to mind, especially considering its influence on so many modern RPGs like Undertale and the enduring popularity of both Ness and Lucas in the Super Smash Bros. games. But also, give me a new Star Fox, y’all. Stop being cowards. — Moises Taveras
Bring back that Nintendo “feeling”
A lot of people, including myself, obviously love the Switch, but it still feels like Nintendo’s most sterile console. The Wii went all in on motion controls and Miis, which featured in tons of niche games like Wii Sports, and carried over to the 3DS. That handheld had features like StreetPass, encouraging a sense of community among its adopters, and even packaged in minigames that used the Miis that you collected from interacting and walking past other 3DS users. There used to be an offbeat whimsy to the kind of experiments that Nintendo would bundle with its systems that never really found its way to the Switch. Hell, it doesn’t even have customizable backgrounds, which feels like such an easy layup given how beloved Nintendo’s first-party properties are. There’s so much room for improvement in this department, and it’d probably do a lot for my own engagement with the console. I wasn’t necessarily glued to either my Wii or 3DS for the quality and quantity of games on them, but I did find myself coming back because they felt like unique and playful systems that engaged me in a way other consoles didn’t. Let’s get back to that. — Moises Taveras
Please offer a version that doesn’t include a screen and isn’t portable
While plenty of people love the Nintendo Switch because it’s a portable powerhouse, able to play tons of indie games and exclusive Nintendo titles, I’m here to ask for a non-portable Switch. Yes, I know it kind of defeats the purpose of the console. It’s supposed to have the ability to “switch” between handheld and home console. But Nintendo eventually released a Switch Lite which wasn’t compatible with the standard Switch Dock and was offered as a portable-only alternative. With the Switch 2 likely being a much more powerful console, I can imagine a lot of PS4/Xbox One ports will show up in the years that follow its launch. And a lot of those games are best enjoyed on a couch with a controller in front of a TV, not hunkered over a handheld that will have its battery drained rapidly.
So come on Nintendo, offer up a Switch 2 Pro or Switch 2 Home Edition or whatever that ditches the touchscreen and Joy-Cons, comes bundled with a Pro Controller, and costs $US50-$US100 less. A sleek and tiny black box I can toss behind my TV and never think about again. – Zack Zwiezen
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