Nintendo could be releasing a new Nintendo Switch in 2019, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The report hints at how this is unlikely to be the fabled Nintendo Switch 2, but could instead be a revamped piece of hardware in a similar way to Nintendo redesigned its 3DS hardware or how Sony revamped its PlayStation Vita.
The report, via Kotaku, claims that the next version of the Nintendo Switch will “likely share many features with the current version and be compatible with existing switch game software”. It’s thought that Nintendo is looking to revamp the device in hopes to boost sales. It’s not clear if a price cut will come with the change or if it’ll keep the older version of Switch on the market at a lower price instead.
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It also seems that Nintendo isn’t completely sure what this 2019 revamp may look like just yet, with the report stating that Nintendo “is still debating what new hardware and software features to include in the upgrade”. One option on the table is an improved screen, looking to adopt technology found in “more recent smartphone LCDs” to help “make it brighter, thinner and more energy-efficient”.
As an initial adopter of the Nintendo Switch myself, it’s always a little disheartening to know that the hardware’s going to be revised but, seeing as Nintendo isn’t planning on wholesale upgrading to truly new hardware, it’s no more traumatic than Sony moving from the PS4 to the PS4 Slim.
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According to earlier rumours, Nintendo has no plans to actually move the Switch into the next-generation just yet. Speaking to investors in February, Mario creator and senior Nintendo employee Shigeru Miyamoto explained that “Up until now the hardware lifecycle has trended at around five or six years, but it would be very interesting if we could prolong that lifecycle, and I think you should be looking forward to that.”
So, by those statements, anything other than simple aesthetic changes to the Switch in 2019 is hard to imagine.
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