Nintendo Finally Confirms Suspicions About Its Next Console
For years now, Nintendo Switch has been the console that just won't quit. It's hung with us through multiple console generations, a pandemic, and several "Mario" and "Zelda" games. Some people have wondered if Nintendo will never release a Switch 2, even as Xbox and PlayStation have already charged into the next generation, but the company hasn't needed to hurry because people still love the Switch. A slight upgrade with the Switch OLED edition and some big titles like "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" reinvigorated the console and extended its lifespan even more. Things are about get a big shake-up, as Nintendo has announced plans to introduce its next console in the very near future.
This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct...
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
Instead of breaking the news on a big stage with thousands of fans watching, Nintendo just casually revealed the awesome news on social media, putting years of speculation to rest and confirming rumors suggested by numerous industry insiders. As noted by President of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa, it has been "over nine years since [Nintendo] announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015." It's almost the end of an era, but also potentially the most exciting time to be a Nintendo fan in nearly a decade.
The waiting game continues
This has news has been a long time coming. Last July, there were rumors that devs had gotten their hands on the Switch's successor, and some believed that the new console would be here before 2024. That didn't happen, but fans held out hope that the confirmation would arrive in the next Nintendo Direct. Wrong again.
The console is going to be announced sometime during Fiscal Year 2024 (which just began), according to Nintendo's post. That gives Nintendo until the end of March 2025 to make the big announcement. We know there's no news coming at June's Nintendo Direct, so at best, we'll be getting a look at the new console in the back half of 2024. Fans have already been waiting so long, what's another six to twelve months?
Despite the big announcement, we still know next to nothing about Nintendo's new console, just rumors that it will be a hybrid portable console with a higher-resolution screen. For the time being, people are probably going to keep calling it the "Switch 2," but there's no concrete indication of what the console has in store. For better or worse, Nintendo has never been afraid to take consoles in wildly new directions. Let's just hope whatever it's come up with this time is more Wii than Wii U.
Nintendo fans are dancing in the virtual streets
It's borderline impossible to overstate how excited fans are about the possibility of getting a new Nintendo console. Just do a quick Google search for "Switch 2 Reddit" — and maybe filter the results to sometime before Nintendo's stealth post — and you'll see an endless swarm of posts speculating about everything from hardware to potential release dates. Even though Nintendo hasn't slowed down support for the Switch in the slightest, fans have still been salivating for something new. At this point, people might appreciate Nintendo's matter-of-fact announcement method nearly as much as they appreciate the actual news.
https://twitter.com/MarioHachemer/status/1787812976994463867
There's a decent chance that Nintendo could unveil the new console later in 2024, but some fans are definitely going to be disappointed when they look up what a fiscal year is and discover that we could be waiting until March 2025 for any more news. In the meantime, some fans are already coming up with a new dream list of features. Others are pitching names for the new console, but we can probably leave it to Nintendo to come up with something truly memorable.
https://twitter.com/LonkFromATL/status/1787815497632796775
As is always the case when Nintendo has big news, gamers are shaking with excitement. We can't wait to see what Nintendo has up its sleeve, but we'll have to for just a little longer.