Nintendo admits that a Switch successor is coming, but it won't be discussed in the June Direct

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This appears to be related to the financials that Nintendo will be releasing.

The fact that Nintendo has a Switch only direct in June suggests that the Switch successor is almost certainly not coming this year, and that there may actually be some interesting back half software for the Switch.

Personally I'm mostly excited for the Switch successor because it means Nintendo will start releasing games again. This year has been very dry, and while I have enough of a Switch backlog (both owned and not yet purchased) to last me, considering that two out of my top three games last year were Nintendo games the lack of much of note from them is felt.

Not every year is going to be Tears of the Kingdom and Mario Wonder quality, of course, but I almost always have Nintendo games near the top of my list in any given year.

I'm interested to see what the Switch successor will be. My guess is a more powerful Switch, but the primary thing I'd like besides more power is backwards compatibility. I'm not really ready to start fresh on a new system and it's become the industry norm (and is something Nintendo has done numerous times in the past, even when it wasn't) so it'd be great to see enhancements for the games that could use them. Tears of the Kingdom with a rock solid framerate and few items popping out of existence would be fantastic, and a lot of people want Bayonetta 3 at 60 fps, so hopefully they can do that (and won't charge again for the games, or will charge a small upgrade fee like PlayStation has done with some of its PS5 remasters.)

In my guess, it's going to show up by this October.

My predictions, based on nothing:

Switch 2 is coming early next year. Mostly a power upgrade, maybe a small new gimmick like 4K buttons, fully backward compatible.

June direct will mostly announce remasters like Zelda WW/TP, Metroid Prime 2/3, but there will be 2 or 3 new games coming to Switch. One will be a holiday release of a new Mario Party or Mario sports game (probably baseball), and the other will be Metroid Prime 4. MP4 will be a cross generation release, both versions launch same day as Switch 2. They might have one more small unexpected thing that comes out in October, but it will be small and Snipper Clips-like.

We will learn very little about the Switch 2 until January.

I'm just curious what the big launch game(s) will be, if any. Nintendo consoles seem to live or die by their launch window games. Switch came out of the gate extremely strong with Zelda and Mario soon after. Prime 4 might be ready for prime time (ahem) soon, but I'm not sure that will move hardware units like Zelda. Maybe we're due for a new 3D Mario? Maybe Mario Kart 9? A Pokemon that's not so broken? What else would move the needle? Some new gimmick along the lines of a Wii Sports or Nintendoland? There has to be something big.

Good. I've been holding off on buying Switch games for a couple years until they make their BC decisions known (and in the hopes that maybe someday the prices will fall on first-party stuff). Really can't wait to see what they do with a new Switch, though.

Hopefully, it's a holiday release. The only thing I want from Nintendo is a more powerful Switch that is fully backwards compatible with the current Switch. No BS where you have to buy the exclusive Switch 2 re-release version of a Nintendo first party game in order to get the benefits of the game performing better. I stopped playing my Switch for the most part, because I can't stand the outdated performance of the current one. Which is the reason I didn't get Tears of the Kingdom, and they were charging $70. No, thanks. One of the great things about the PS5, was how a lot of PS4 games immediately performed better, whether the game now played at a perfect, smooth, 30FPS if the framerate was locked, to a buttery smooth 60FPS if the framerate was unlocked. And coming from a based PS4 like I did, the improvement was very noticeable. Days Gone was barely playable on the base PS4, but was great on the PS5, simply because of better framerate.

As far as price, if it's just an improved Switch that can now upscale to 4K, then it should be within the $400 range. But if Nintendo really goes all out and makes it like another Gamecube, then I can see it being in the $500 range.

I know it’s just a quirk of translation, but I really love the wording of “It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015.” You’d think they were the motherfuckers that proved Bigfoot was real.

Now guys, here is the 1st party for Switch's successor, I want to see a new proper 3D instalment of F-Zero and improved Joy-Cons.

It’s no secret that 2024 has been relatively dry for new Nintendo releases. For many, the excitement for the next generation is driven by the hope of a more robust game lineup. Personally, despite having a backlog of Switch games to keep me occupied, the absence of major new titles has been palpable. Last year, two out of my top three games were from Nintendo, making the lull even more noticeable.