Nintendo to announce Switch's successor this FY, Switch 1 Direct coming in June

[Mar1217]

Darwinianevolution said:

I imagine it will be a next year release around summer like the Switch, though I wonder what they'll do with the launch titles. Switch had a heavy hitter per month during its first year, a good chunk of them being WiiU ports, now that that move is not possible, they might not have such a strong first year lineup.

burninmylight said:

SuperNova said:

Not so sure about a late 2025 launch. They could be moving into Apple-style shorter announcement-circles.

We know that this thing has been shopped around behind closed doors for quite a while by now, bigger companies likely have dev kits in hand already, and from Iwatas comments back in 2014 about where the Nintendo ecosystem is headed, I think they want to make sure that the transition between systems is smooth for developers. Iwata specifically mentioned iOS and Android as examples for good practice as software platforms unifying a diverse hardware ecosystem.

I think it’s possible that the successors software is heavily based on the switches OS (and with the Hardware coming from NVIDIA again, chances are it’s going to be hardware compatible as well), making it easier for developers to port their games over and support both systems simultaneously. 

So taking all that into account, we can assume that there’s going to be a decent amount of software ready at launch, so they might have a significantly shorter circle from announcement to release again. It worked for them with the Switch and they might make it even shorter for the Switches successor.

I hope dev kits have been in developers' hands for a while now. Games take years to make these days, and while the Switch 2 will have the benefit of immediate publisher confidence that the Switch didn't, it won't have the benefit of a pipeline of a dozen Wii U ports to fill gaps between entirely new games.

Your concerns about the Switch successor's first year line up is sound but at the same time, it is clear the "delayed" release of the new console is also because they exactly want to have a solid first year line up. 

Nintendo is definitely not eager to the point of repeating the WiiU 1st year path. 

Anywoo, I'll expect the 3rd party effort on the next console to support adequately it's success early on, if it's a fairly good effort from them. Technically Nintendo wouldn't need to go on with the 4 big first party hitter strategy if they can get one or two of those from devs like Capcom (MH Wilds ?) or anything else.

Personally, I do think a new 3D Mario and Mario Kart 9 or whatever are sure given for the first year. Just these 2 will be great enough to assure a good first year showing from them, nonetheless if they have other games also coming in that first year (Metroid Prime 4, new Monolith Soft project ?, etc...)