Jeff Grubb has sparked a number of conversations online regarding his latest talk about the successor to the Nintendo Switch family of systems. Speaking on Kinda Funny Games Daily to celebrate the Nintendo Switch’s 6th anniversary he cryptically said that whatever is next for Nintendo may not be a slightly higher spec Switch or indeed a Nintendo Switch 2, but something in between that allows them to carry over the users they have gained from the popular Switch platform . This does add up slightly with what Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa previously said when he mentioned that the next system needs to offer “a new experience” from what came before. You can hear what Jeff Grubb says here.
Jeff Grubb doesn’t think Switch Pro or Switch 2 will be next system but something in-between
I feel like Nintendo will perhaps go for another powerful home console allowing for more third party games to be available, but at the same time keeping the switch going strong. Back to the gb/nes, snes/advance, Wii/ds sort of set up.
Nintendo needs a more powerful system and it just probably ain’t possible yet with a hybrid set up.
How could it be “inbetween”? Pro models are literally supposed to be an inbetween model.
I think he’s trying to say that whatever it is, is not what people are expecting.
So like everything Nintendo does, basically. At least when it comes to consoles
So, isn’t really possible to develop such a gaming hardware by becoming inbetween base on console models?
I think his point is that it would basically be a Switch Pro except it would be marketed as a successor. But they would also make sure people know its backwards compatible with the entire Switch library and their Nintendo Online service would carry over too. It would likely get exclusive games that take advantage of the better hardware, but don’t expect the specs to be a normal generational leap. Its probably going to be slightly more than what the PS4 Pro was to the base PS4 rather than what the PS5 was to the PS4/Pro. In other words the Switch 2 would likely not be as powerful as a Steam Deck like many had hoped.
Its an interesting theory and one that I’m torn on. On the one hand it does seem like a Nintendo thing to do. Over the last three generations, they haven’t had major leaps in specs on their consoles (yes including the Switch as its part console too). Additionally they do like to continue a successful line of gaming such as the Gameboy family with Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance. Then they had the DS family with the DS and 3DS, and they also had the Wii and Wii U. On the other hand, they would be repeating a mistake they previously made with the Wii line. The Wii U confused many people into believing it was just an add-on. And the Wii U’s poor marketing lead to one of their greatest platform failures of all time. So it stands to reason they might be hesitant to make another platform that so closely resembles their previous one in fear they could repeat the same mistakes they did last time. Especially with this theory assuming the Switch 2 (as I’m calling it) would be another hybrid, would support all Switch related games and services, and would be so very close in specs too making it hard to tell its meant to be a successor.
If they do go this route, they need to make sure they market the product better than the Wii U and make sure the general audience, not just hardcore gamers and Nintendo fans are aware that this is a new product they’re releasing with better hardware and new games with an aggressive marketing campaign similar to the Switch. I personally think another Switch like platform is a smart choice because the handheld/console hybrid nature of this family of devices is not only a novel idea, but marrying the two ways to play removes the need to develop for two separate platforms simultaneously. In the past before the Switch they would have to support a handheld line and a console line. Usually this would result in one of the two being successful and the other not so much. Additionally while console gaming is more more popular in the US, handheld gaming is more popular in Japan. And as a Japanese based company, I don’t see them dropping the handheld half of the equation.
But perhaps pushing the specs further than Jeff Grubb is expecting would help people to distinguish the two platforms. It would be a real problem if people aren’t aware this is a new generation like the Wii U was to the Wii. Unfortunately Nintendo lately has been known to not push visuals too far with each generational leap to keep costs down. Additionally, assuming this is another hybrid, they would be limited with the specs as they would essentially be making a handheld even if you can dock it and play on the TV. And assuming Nintendo won’t want to change their ways drastically they also likely won’t have a modern build, rather it will be using old hardware upon release like the Switch which further supports Jeff Grubb’s opinion of the platform not having a huge bump in specs.
I suppose only time will tell. But I feel as though Jeff Grubb’s opinion seems like a very Nintendo thing to do even if it might be repeating a mistake they made not that long ago. But on the other hand, as a current Switch owner myself with a pretty massive library it would be fantastic if I could carry all my games to the next platform. Repeating the same move might be more lucrative this time as the Wii was successful based on a casual crowd that thought motion controls at the time were novel. The Switch’s success is built around actual gamers like myself. Regaining the same audience might be easier this time around as long as they don’t try anything too gimmicky with the hardware and try shoehorning it into our favorite games. Additionally more gamers are adults now and many of us aren’t as reliant on parents buying us game consoles. This alone might be a huge advantage for Nintendo’s next platform regardless of what wacky device they’ll try to make next.
I think Nintendo is going to do away with the idea of “generations” of consoles, in the sense of having these major distinctions. They’ve tried this to a small degree with the Game Boy Color, Nintendo DSi, and the “New” Nintendo 3DS models.
Basically, they’ll release a super-powered version of the Switch that’s more capable, and they’ll first have it exist concurrently with the regular Switch. They’ll have games that work on both, but look/perform better on the newer hardware. Then, after a couple years, they’ll only have games that work on the newer Switch. Yes, in a sense it’ll be the “successor,” but it’ll be a very soft transition as opposed to a hard cutoff.
I just can’t see them completely abandoning the Switch form factor and starting fresh with a new concept. I think the Switch is the perfect form factor. It’s the perfect kind of device that can coexist in this day and age of smartphones and tablets. They could simply iterate on it with more powerful hardware, or perhaps some extra features that could enhance other areas of interest for them like AR.
Nintendo themselves have admitted how they’ve struggled to maintain the same momentum from one generation to the next. While the NES and SNES were both successful, the SNES took a hit in its install base, going from 61 million to 49 million. The Nintendo 64 and GameCube sold even worse than the NES and SNES. Then we had the runaway success of the Wii, followed by the failure of the Wii U… followed by yet another success with the Switch. They’re very good at bouncing back from failure, but they struggle to maintain the same momentum.
By essentially pulling a “Game Boy Color” with the Switch, this will essentially play out like the iPhones do. Plus, it means that the “Super Switch” (or whatever they decide to call it, I’d personally love this name) will have all of the same online features that they’ve built up with the current Switch, and then some. One of the things that sucked about the first Switch and the Wii U was how they’d built up this amazing backlog of Virtual Console games that somehow never made it over to its successors. They’d have to redo their entire catalog and drip feed games to us every single generation. By not having a completely new concept of a console, they can keep all of this intact and have it carry over to the next upgrade. (They could, also, figure out how to simply build a long term online catalog that is platform independent and have it carry over from one generation to the next. For fuck’s sake, Nintendo…)
i would say if Nintendo makes another version of the switch, “New” Nintendo Switch, is a possbility, cuz it was done wit the 3DS. they will make very little upgrades to the Ram and CPU just so it can run even newer games and keeps costs down. thats how Nintendo works, they wanna be cheaper and make great game experiences, they dont care about the best graphics, thats for Sony and Microsoft to fight in their own ballcourt.
The momentum has to do with other consoles released. SNES had Sega to deal with and the GameCube had Xbox. The WiiU was their only real failure.
God I’m sick of these morons spreading rumors.
“something in between”
a pro model is a mid-generation console refresh aka the “something in between”. That’s like saying tacos and Mexican tacos are two different things, it’s not.
whatever it is, i hope Nintendo will stay focus on their own ecosystem and identity; fun, cartoonish and party games. do not compete with PS5 or Xbox. just let them be. i have nintendo switch and pc. these 2 systems make ps5 and xbox irrelevant to me. if i want to play serious games, i will just play on PC. if i want to play casual, with friends and family i will play nintendo switch. and also don’t forget to make OLED screen as compulsory!
It’s just the Switch that isn’t portal.
Nothing more.
The Switch Lite was Portable only; OLED was the pumped up Portable Style of the Switch, and this one is going to be the Home Console only version.
I think the SwitchU will be a console you can play underwater or while taking a shower! Or maybe it will have a drone attachment so you can fly it to your friends having a party on the next rooftop.
Or maybe the SwitchU will be sticky so you can stick it on the wall anywhere you go
This guy is. Just a moron wanting clickbait is all. I do t really even care what he says or even read the article to find out but the fact will be the next console will most likely be backwards compatible and be like a switch but upgraded to be able to do 4k docked and 1080p handheld. The new Zelda game will start a thing where game companies finally start using 32gb sd cards instead of 16 for games meaning they can render higher specs or put bigger games on the switch and the newer switch. Of course the switch would only be able to render its native res.