Purchase 25 million. Prove you're a real fan. I posted a pic of how many I have.

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They should do a Switch 1 Direct in May ahead of Paper Mario where they also show 5-6 games for holiday season and early 2025.

Then a Switch 2 Direct around September to build up hype for the new generation.

4) No region locking

Health isn't measured by hype to begin with, so there's no problem here.

Short answer (IMO): No, the hype isn't too quiet/dry, and the Switch is very healthy for a 7+ year old console.

This is a myth that keeps getting repeated, that video game consoles need to be hyped months to years in advance of launch in order to be successful. This is not only illogical, but kind of silly, and goes against

Nintendo Switch is currently a successful brand. The reason for the slowing of sales isn't because of a lack of hype, but because of user base saturation. The Switch is still expanding the user base at unusually high numbers for this point in the console's life cycle, it has the highest number of users since at least the PS2, if not of all time - in summer 2023, Nintendo reported the Switch had 116 million active user accounts (almost as much as the Playstation family of consoles combined). Even more noteworthy is the high retention for a console that was (at the time) over 6 years old.

As for hype, the best time to hype a console launch is around the time of the launch. The hype machine for the Wii began at E3 2006, about 6 months before launch, and Switch hype began just over 4 months before launch, the full unveil event taking place a month and a half before launch, with regular advertisement beginning shortly after. The most successful electronic products generally aren't unveiled until just before the pre-order date. For examples: the most successful mobile phones are iPhones - these are normally unveiled ~10 days prior to launch; another product, the MacBook Air M1 and MacBook Pro M1 were announced 5 days before launch (Announced November 11 2020, launched November 17).

Another note, the "will Switch sell more in total than PS2 and DS" isn't an important factor for Switch 2's success. Nintendo is more interested in maximizing profit and revenue. The vast majority of people aren't going to base their business/fandom with Nintendo on whether or not the Switch sells more than two ~20 year old gaming systems.

As for my answer on the poll, I have no idea what Switch/Switch 2 hype levels are (or any other vague metrics), only the reports Nintendo gives and VGChartz compiles. So, I think the closest option of those 4 to my opinion is #3 "While hype is low right now, it's not a big deal at all." But what I'd really want to say is: "At this time, hype is not relevant for the Switch 2's success."

Not sure about others but from my personal perspective:

1. I don't fee the need for hype because I am still happy with my original switch an lots to play still lol.

2. I keep hoping it is delayed and redesigned an comes out in 2027 to be closer to PS5 level, I don't see the need to jump to PS4 level, unless Nintendo has already established some great contracts with 3rd parties, to make it worthwhile having all those games that I had no time to play at home be portable.

3. I think too much hype is also a bad thing. They hyped the PS5 so much that I couldn't get one for years as scalpers kept buying all the new preorders, which I could not do in store and kept missing out online as they all released during working hours. These stores must thing all gamers are unemployed basement dwellers. Also some of the graphics they shown in demos, hasn't event remotely transpired in games atm. Why show us all these wonderful things it can do graphically but not do it at launch or in the first 12 months. I would much rather been blown away just before the release of such a game. It remind me of duke nukem how they hyped it up for 15 years and then eventually it was like meh CBF playing it waited so long. I feel the same way about the PS5. All i use it for is a race sim atm because the hype train derailed years ago and lost interest.

Nintendo has to reveal their roadmap for the fiscal year 24/25, which has started April 1, 2024. They will mention in their fiscal report to investors, if or when they plan to release new hardware until March 2025. The fiscal report should be during the first weeks of May '24.

The real hype for the next console will start as soon as they show new games for the next console (for example a new 3D Mario). The official console reveal (and a showcase of new games) should be about 6 months before the release.

For the current Switch I expect a direct in May/June to show upcoming games for this year. We already know that Paper Mario will be released in May and Luigi's Mansion 2 in June. Although we only see remakes or small titles this year, the constant first party software output is quite impressive for Nintendo. They usually let their current system fall like a hot potato in its last year before the successor's launch.

5. New games still be sold physically and all the data is on the cartridge.

That could happen with Nintendo games, since Nintendo is great at compression and physical releases most of the time.

I wouldn't get my hopes up for third-party games. I'm sure most will have mandatory internet updates. 

Is that a concern?  I moved from US to UK, both games work on my Switch.  I thought region lock died awhile ago.