Rumor: Nintendo plans to launch a new Switch SKU in 2020 - UPDATE: Nintendo says no

[DonFerrari]

freebs2 said:

A Switch hybrid Pro doesn't convince me; due to technical limitation the improvement would be noticeable but rather irrelevant compared to what competing platforms are offering. Plus it would make the jump to next-gen Switch harder some years later, still due to technical limitations.

If Nintendo releases a TV model it shouldn't be an "affordable version", but rather the premium version that supports things such as 4k 60fps. This is what home console enthusiasts are looking for right now. And as a Nintendo player I would be tempted to play BOTW in 4k, on the other hand I would literally have zero reasons to buy another SKU with the same performance as the current one. The lower end market is already covered by the Switch Lite.

Switch VR is far less unreasonable than it sounds...if they equip to this (hypotetical) Switch TV version with some local video streaming capabilities, they could pair it with an headset and sell it in bundle (like the WiiU console was paired with its controller). That way you would have 1 product that is both a Switch TV / Pro and a stand alone VR device. Is it feasible? I think so. If you consider the substantially lower graphical baseline of Switch games (compared to baseline PS4/XB1) you wouldn't need very expensive hardware to meet the higher rerquirements of 4k and VR. Considering a mid-range VR system (like the Oculus Go) is already avaliable for 200$ I would expect they could sell such system for about 350$.

Does it make sense? Yes, VR is a new market to develop and it's an opportunity to further differentiate the Switch product line from the incoming next-gen consoles. Even if Sony have their own VR device already they're actually in worse position to counter act. Their customers are now focused on the next-gen upgrade and PS5 will be an high-end device; this means a new improved VR headset would need to be high-end (and expensive as well) in order to meet next-gen expectations. Not to mention Nintendo has the most important advantage: games. Think of Metroid Prime, Mario Kart, Spatoon, Arms, Wii Sports, Luigi's Mansion in VR...there is so much potential in terms of software and the media buzz would be huge.

I'm not saying this is what they're going to do, but it would be a great move imo.

I don't think VR on Switch would work well. Even on PS4Pro (mind that PS4 do a lot worse) the IQ is good in PSVR for most games, so on Switch I would expect a not very good experience in VR. One thing is the small screen while playing portable the 540p resolution is fine, and 720p on TV can be accepted by a lot of people. But on VR you need to keep that 60fps to avoid nausea and then since you basically have "2 screens" you have to downgrade the resolution to half so let's say you would have 480p resolution on a screen that appears to be 300" that would be quite bad.

nuckles87 said:

Pemalite said:

In general, the only Nintendo exclusives that will hit 1080P, 60fps reliably are those that are ported over from the Wii U and had stuff all improvements outside of that.

You are probably right that Nintendo gamers are probably happy with 720P/60fps, that audience doesn't seem to care significantly about having the best visuals, but rather are content with just "good enough".

The Switch Lite fills the void for the 3DS just the same as a Switch TV hypothetically fills the void of the Wii U.

The OG Switch is marketed towards both segments.

If a Switch TV comes out, I would sell my current Switch and buy one.

I would argue the current Switch already does a pretty good job filling the void of the Wii U. It’s the same price point and there are no QOL compromises to get it playing on a TV.

The only advantage a Switch TV would bring to the table is a cheaper price, meaning people who don’t want portable play won’t have to pay for a screen and batteries they won’t use. That’s not really filling the Wii U’s void, so much as its just acting as a more budget-friendly way for people to play Switch games.

Which is the same reason for the Lite cheaper for those that don't care about TV connection.