Nintendo Hints at What the Switch 2 Will Look Like

gamerant.com:

Nintendo has dropped a major hint about what the Switch 2 will look like, suggesting that its next console will retain the hybrid form factor of its predecessor. This bit of insight into the much-anticipated device emerged from Nintendo's latest earnings call.

Speaking to investors and analysts on May 7, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that the Switch 2 will be revealed during the company's current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025. The executive declined answering any clarifying questions that would help narrow down this ten-month time frame any further.

But Furukawa proved to be a bit more talkative when it came to the device itself; asked whether the upcoming console will mark a design departure from its predecessor, the executive said that the «Switch next [sic] model is the appropriate way to describe it.» His remark serves as a strong indication that the upcoming system will iterate on the hybrid form factor of the Switch instead of trying something entirely different While that's precisely what numerous Switch 2 leaks have been suggesting in recent years, this is the first occasion on which Nintendo itself lent credence to such claims.

Though iterating on one of the best-selling consoles of all time may seem like an obvious decision, Nintendo was happy to experiment the last time it was in this situation, having followed up on the Wii with the Wii U, which was similar to its predecessor in name only. The gamble didn't pay off, as the Wii U ended up selling just over 13.5 million units before being discontinued, a far cry from the Wii's 101.6 million.

Furukawa's recent comments suggest Nintendo will be much more risk-averse this time around, which is precisely what many vocal fans have been asking for. Pairing more powerful hardware with the same form factor also increases the likelihood of the Switch 2 offering backward compatibility, which is something that its predecessor failed to do, much to the fandom's disappointment.

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