Nintendo Switch Catch-All 2.0

DSGamer wrote:

This is kind of funny, tbh, considering the years of hype for a “Switch Pro”. Maybe that hype can die for a while now.

That's optimistic of you.

I'm more hoping the whole "upscales to 4K!" thing will finally die, personally. Honestly, this sounds like a great upgrade for handheld players, but if you spend the majority of your time playing docked then there's very little reason to "upgrade".

And no mention of baked in Bluetooth for headphones

ccesarano wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

This is kind of funny, tbh, considering the years of hype for a “Switch Pro”. Maybe that hype can die for a while now.

That's optimistic of you.

I'm more hoping the whole "upscales to 4K!" thing will finally die, personally. Honestly, this sounds like a great upgrade for handheld players, but if you spend the majority of your time playing docked then there's very little reason to "upgrade".

Yeah, Switch Pro isn't dead, those rumors are still very much out there.

This OLED model is something that folks assumed was the DLSS/Pro system and were all hyped that it would hit in 2021, but it's clear that as long as the OG Switch is selling like hotcakes they aren't going to do a mid-gen refresh.

Switch 2/Pro/whatever it ends up being with DLSS is a separate product. There will be many a videos and podcasts and other things all about it, I'm sure.

DSGamer wrote:

Interesting. I’d have to set hands on one before I even consider it. My Animal Crossing Switch is too adorable.

Same. This is already the slightly better battery model, so I'm pretty happy with it.

Since it's on Metroid day, if there was a Samus themed one I'd consider it and become a 2-Switch family. But for now I'm good.

I wanted a Switch Pro, not a Switch Big Sky Conference.

Ugh….need to become a two-Switch family, have one made just before the last refresh, so this one….begrudging purchase. If there’s no additional framerate I’m just going spend the next several years Female Doggoing at them. Too many games putter along on their gimpy CPU and chipset, so why not give us even a tiny upgrade like Apple does?

Because that would cost money.

This design costs practically no new money to them as all they did was put on a new screen and slightly more storage.

(Apple also designs all their new chips. Nintendo is still beholden to outside hardware manufacturers in a different way.)

Well dang. I was clearly wrong. I thought for sure Nintendo was going to unveil a Switch Pro this year, but it looks like they're going to stick it out for a few more years. Nintendo isn't going to release a more expensive Switch and then dump it for the Switch Pro within a year.

As for the "Pro" itself, it looks great for those who don't already have one. Not worth an upgrade for me though.

Nintendo has released on a 5-5.5 year gap between consoles every since the NES. Fall 2022 is the earliest we'll see a new system from them. Fall 2023 is the most likely what with covid and everything. Whether that's a new Switch 2 or something entirely different we'll have to wait and see.

This is a disappointment. I don't really require 4k from Nintendo, but a 1080 screen (with the ability to play that resolution in handheld mode) and a slight hardware boost to allow for smooth play of existing titles would have been nice.

Playing the new Ratchet and Clank on PS5 at 4k, and seeing how incredibly smooth and detailed everything is makes going back to Mario on the Switch painful. That divide is going to become more apparent as new releases begin to really take advantage of the next-gen consoles.

I know Nintendo rakes in the cash on their hardware sales, but their games would benefit if they'd just release them on anything other than their own platform. Even the phones we have in our pockets destroy what the Switch is capable of visually, not to mention a modern iPad.

If cloud gaming really catches on, the portability of the Switch will not be as enticing. They'll keep plugging along as they always do because of their popular games, but I'm looking forward to BotW 2 a bit less now that I know it will be hamstrung by the ancient Switch hardware.

Graphics aren't everything, but when it feels like you're going back in time a decade every time you play a new Nintendo release that's not a good look. That doesn't apply to Metroid Dread though! Really looking forward to that, and will probably by the OLED Switch just for it. I'm part of the problem, and fully acknowledge that.

b12n11w00t wrote:

Nintendo has released on a 5-5.5 year gap between consoles every since the NES. Fall 2022 is the earliest we'll see a new system from them. Fall 2023 is the most likely what with covid and everything. Whether that's a new Switch 2 or something entirely different we'll have to wait and see.

Except for their handhelds - and a lot of people feel that is more the model they would go with for the Switch

4 different DSes in 5 years.

IMAGE(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/0941562bd5c6cf8cf89a5cb4028f138f.png)

farley3k wrote:
b12n11w00t wrote:

Nintendo has released on a 5-5.5 year gap between consoles every since the NES. Fall 2022 is the earliest we'll see a new system from them. Fall 2023 is the most likely what with covid and everything. Whether that's a new Switch 2 or something entirely different we'll have to wait and see.

Except for their handhelds - and a lot of people feel that is more the model they would go with for the Switch

4 different DSes in 5 years.

IMAGE(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/0941562bd5c6cf8cf89a5cb4028f138f.png)

This is inaccurate. I'm sure he's talking about the gap between consoles with different hardware. A different "generation". The DSi is the only model that really fits that description and it was a mild hardware bump that only a fraction of games could take advantage of. And even then it came 4 years after the original DS.

I think the larger screens of the XL were a bigger jump.

So the reports were correct that Nintendo was buying a lot of OLED displays. Now I want to scroll back to March or so and see where those 4K upscaling rumors started... There was a Wario64 post...

Agathos wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

There's no guarantee this is a "Switch Pro". This might just be an OLED Switch with a co-processor that upscales the output to 4K.

Well, there it is. Nintendo will put out a new Switch and we’ll spend the next year arguing over whether it’s the Switch Pro.

DSGamer wrote:

This is inaccurate. I'm sure he's talking about the gap between consoles with different hardware. A different "generation". The DSi is the only model that really fits that description and it was a mild hardware bump that only a fraction of games could take advantage of. And even then it came 4 years after the original DS.

Nintendo took 1323 days after the release of the 3DS to put out the New 3DS, which included a CPU/GPU/RAM upgrade. The Switch passed that mark last year.

farley3k wrote:

I think the larger screens of the XL were a bigger jump.

But the boards inside stayed mostly the same. This oled switch is more akin to that, same internals with a different screen.

So a 'Pro' or switch 2 is a while out still.

Agathos wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

This is inaccurate. I'm sure he's talking about the gap between consoles with different hardware. A different "generation". The DSi is the only model that really fits that description and it was a mild hardware bump that only a fraction of games could take advantage of. And even then it came 4 years after the original DS.

Nintendo took 1323 days after the release of the 3DS to put out the New 3DS, which included a CPU/GPU/RAM upgrade. The Switch passed that mark last year.

That's still not the same thing as a new console, though. That's an inner-generation spec bump that yields a handful of new games. I don't think anyone realistically expected Nintendo to do much with that. I didn't. We got a slight chip manufacturing improvement that yielded better battery life.

The people that were counting on a "Switch Pro" just made up a thing to get disappointed about later, IMO.

farley3k wrote:

I think the larger screens of the XL were a bigger jump.

Totally. That's why most people don't consider the DSi to be a new console. The changes to the guts of the system weren't important enough to consider it a whole new console.

That's still not the same thing as a new console, though. That's an inner-generation spec bump that yields a handful of new games.

That would have fallen under my rubric for a "Switch Pro" but I understand everyone has their own benchmark for that.

Agathos wrote:
That's still not the same thing as a new console, though. That's an inner-generation spec bump that yields a handful of new games.

That would have fallen under my rubric for a "Switch Pro" but I understand everyone has their own benchmark for that.

The trouble I keep having, though, is there never was a "Switch Pro" and there still isn't a "Switch Pro". So I don't know how it can be compared to anything.

If Nintendo indeed released a new completely backwards compatible Switch that played some games slightly better and some games the OG Switch couldn't play, that would indeed be similar to the DSi, I suppose. But it doesn't exist. Never has existed.

IMAGE(https://scontent-msp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/213838396_10159161766129651_3569289637975241746_n.png?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=95PSLC5xABwAX-TL7Ag&_nc_ht=scontent-msp1-1.xx&oh=b99b269a53a56a5850a9c92aa841d33b&oe=60E935B0)

Agathos wrote:
That's still not the same thing as a new console, though. That's an inner-generation spec bump that yields a handful of new games.

That would have fallen under my rubric for a "Switch Pro" but I understand everyone has their own benchmark for that.

I wasn't expecting a massive jump, but I was hoping for something akin to the New 3DS. AKA, something to help the frame rate of games like Pokemon S&S, BotW, and Hyrule Warriors not dip into the teens.

My biggest problem with the Switch Pro rumors, despite believing some successor is following, is that they only had to do with improved visuals. Do you really think Nintendo would release a more powerful version of their current console and call it a day?

I actually don't think this crushes the chances of a new Switch in 2022. What this creates is a final release to get tech-heads buying a system they already own a second time (like they did with the DSi, DS XL, and New Nintendo 3DS as well as XL models), as well as creating a more optimal system for those that stick around this generation to buy late.

What this tells me, if anything, is that Nintendo's likely working on two kits of hardware and all the people reporting on rumors assumed they were both the "next Switch". The thing is, whatever Nintendo releases next, even if it's the same ecosystem, is going to differentiate itself in some way to make it more than just a power upgrade.

Classic Nintendo, pulling the ol' Switcheroo. Or maybe a Bait & Switch?

merphle wrote:

Classic Nintendo, pulling the ol' Switcheroo. Or maybe a Bait & Switch?

Huh? How is this on Nintendo?

ccesarano wrote:

The thing is, whatever Nintendo releases next, even if it's the same ecosystem, is going to differentiate itself in some way to make it more than just a power upgrade.

So my dreams of them returning to a DS form factor aren't dead?

You heard it here first? New Switch 4DS confirmed.

ccesarano wrote:

My biggest problem with the Switch Pro rumors, despite believing some successor is following, is that they only had to do with improved visuals. Do you really think Nintendo would release a more powerful version of their current console and call it a day?

...

What this tells me, if anything, is that Nintendo's likely working on two kits of hardware and all the people reporting on rumors assumed they were both the "next Switch". The thing is, whatever Nintendo releases next, even if it's the same ecosystem, is going to differentiate itself in some way to make it more than just a power upgrade.

It wasn't only about visuals. Everyone wants there to be a beefier cpu in general now that they've had a taste of the PS5 and Xbox Series. Folks generally don't know how to talk about that as easily.

The two skus theory was floated back in March when the Switch firmware didn't show a new version coming. At that point the only way to square the circle was that there was two skus, one an updated Switch with the OLED (and who knows what's else) and a Switch successor with DLSS.

13:38 here (especially Rich, the old[est] guy):

What the internet took and ran with is mashing everything together and assuming Nintendo was gonna deliver everything immediately. Yeah, no. Not how they roll.

garion333 wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

My biggest problem with the Switch Pro rumors, despite believing some successor is following, is that they only had to do with improved visuals. Do you really think Nintendo would release a more powerful version of their current console and call it a day?

...

What this tells me, if anything, is that Nintendo's likely working on two kits of hardware and all the people reporting on rumors assumed they were both the "next Switch". The thing is, whatever Nintendo releases next, even if it's the same ecosystem, is going to differentiate itself in some way to make it more than just a power upgrade.

It wasn't only about visuals. Everyone wants there to be a beefier cpu in general now that they've had a taste of the PS5 and Xbox Series.

Is that true? I feel like the majority of Switch owners are just happily playing their Switches, in all likelihood.

That most likely is true, but if you spend most of your time conversing on enthusiast gaming forums or getting the Twitter algorithm to feed you enthusiast gaming tweets and headlines, then you get the impression that a population not representing the actual userbase or audience is the majority rather than a sampling.

This is true of the medium as a whole (well, everything as a whole), but it is particularly true with Nintendo.

I haven’t used a current Xbox or PS5 myself, but I don’t need to use them to be able to see that the Switch far too often outputs sub-30, sub-20 framerates in docked mode. It’s like Nintendo deliberately built the least capable system that can handle BotW and didn’t think ahead to what any other games would look like.

I’d assume this half step towards the Switch Pro is a way to manage the uneven shortages that Nintendo is experiencing. Presumably the screen, dock and case are on target but other parts are lagging. It’s a smart way to stop components piling up and keep sales ticking over nicely.