By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Slownenberg on 11 September 2020
Edit Thread
AngryLittleAlchemist said:
RolStoppable said:

Good to see that reality settles in. I always found it weird that people jumped to the conclusion that consolidation of home console and handheld software development would result in greater software output overall when at the same time development times for individual titles were bound to increase (an NX game takes more effort than a 3DS game, obviously). Wii U and 3DS was the generation where it stopped working for Nintendo, so both systems suffered from first party software droughts at various points in their respective lifes. But the same amount of software concentrated on one platform would have been fine and Switch demonstrates that it is.

Now the next step is for people at large to realize that the expectation of a Switch successor in 2022 or 2023 is nuts. It already takes a long time to complete development of high profile software, so pushing for even more powerful hardware as soon as possible doesn't make sense. Especially when you consider the current situation where both the Zelda team and EAD Tokyo are very likely to get out their latest games in 2021, so four years after their first Switch games. Nintendo would not be close to ready for a new platform launch in 2022 or 2023.

Oh I've known that for a while now to be fair, probably since after 2018. 

I could see 2023, but I would hope for 2024, as I think there's still quite a bit of life left in the Switch, and with the way technology progresses I think waiting it out as long as possible while still maintaining high demand is smart. 2022 just sounds fucking insane, and would be beyond stupid from Nintendo too. 

I wouldn't expect a Switch 2 before 2024. March 2024 feels like it'd be a perfect launch time. Maybe a Switch Home in 2023, combined with Nintendo Select's discounts on games that year, along with final price cuts on the other models, plus third party games, could push Switch through 2023 holidays well and into the last few months before the successor.

I must say though I am disappointed in the lack of first party output considering there is only one system to handle now. Yes more advanced HD games take longer to make than previous gens, and obviously a lot longer than previous portable gens, but still you'd expect more. I think output has been good, but that includes ports, so the amount of new games seems a bit lackluster. It's very possible Nintendo will have a huge 2021 given that some games might have been delayed this year and they might have a bunch of stuff launching around when the next Switch model launches, and especially so to compete with the increased media focus the two next gen systems will have next year. If we get one more decently big new unannounced game this holiday, and then next year lineup is something like 3D World, Wii sports Club port or similar, another RF game, Zelda Collection, BotW2, 2D Mario, a mario sports game, Metroid Prime Trilogy, MP4 or new 2D Metroid, a Pokemon remake, Bayo 3, something like Star Fox or Fzero, and some portable series like Advance Wars or Golden Sun or Kid Icarus or something, I think that'd go a long way to making it feel like Nintendo is handling software output better after recent years where it felt like there were long droughts between big games. And that'd still leave plenty of first party games and sequels and even some ports or remasters to still come out in 2022 and a few in 2023.