Nintendo has saved the Switch’s 2023, but Switch 2 still looms

polygon.com:

Going into the latest Nintendo Direct, the schedule of releases for Nintendo Switch had never looked more barren. There was no new Nintendo exclusive planned after next month’s Pikmin 4, and third-party publishers had almost all left the aging platform behind. Expansions for Mario Kart and Pokémon would keep two of the Switch’s biggest franchises alive through the end of the year, but beyond that was one big question mark over the future of a console that Nintendo has said it won’t replace until April 2024 at the earliest.

In fact, Nintendo had a few surprises up its sleeve, which pad out the Switch’s 2023 slate quite nicely: A new 2D Mario, a new WarioWare, Detective Pikachu Returns, and a remake of Super Mario RPG are all due before the end of the year. But, aside from a new Peach game and a remaster of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, the Switch’s 2024 remains something of a mystery. Nintendo has done its best, but there is still no disguising the fact that this is a console in its final years — its final year, perhaps.

You can’t accuse Nintendo’s internal studios of slacking. Between now and the end of 2023 — and in the wake of smash hit The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo will release Everybody 1-2-Switch!, Pikmin 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, WarioWare: Move It!, and Super Mario RPG, plus Detective Pikachu Returns in collaboration with The Pokémon Company and developer Creatures Inc.

It’s a solid enough lineup, looking to capitalize on the runaway success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and please both core and casual Nintendo fans. Wonder shouldn’t be underestimated: 2D Mario games still have a huge appeal, and if you discount the Switch’s Deluxe edition of New Super Mario Bros. U, this is the first one