The successor to Nintendo Switch named Switch 2 will continue to be a hybrid console that can be played on TV and in portable mode, it will be launched without an OLED screen (it will have an LCD) and it will have cartridges/cards for physical games , according to various sources. Anonymous to VGC, where they say that the device is “likely” to hit stores in the second half of 2024. They add that there are already development studios outside the Japanese company with the development kit.
What a strange business decision, especially given their comment about wanting to convert as many switch users to the next console as possible. On one hand this makes Nintendo look incredibly greedy, not at all a good look. On the other I feel this has to be done based on user data from the Switch right? Surely they are going by the data showing OLED sales were low and more users prefer to play docked… Right? RIGHT Nintendo? Personally I just find it annoying, I picked up my switch 6 months before they announced the OLED version, and got mildly screwed out of a slightly improved experience. NOT this time though Nintendo, I’ll just bloody wait. I don’t consider myself a particularly unusual person either, if I’m willing to wait for the “pro” version then I imagine many others will too. Perhaps Nintendo intends to split the docked and undocked consoles, focusing more on a “docked” Switch edition that has a worse screen, and a portable Switch with a better screen etc. Sort of like the way they split the 3DS with the 2DS, then again Nintendo has done the “two console” thing for a long long time, OG Gameboy Advance and the SP, DS and DS Lite, 3DS and DS, they even did the Wii and the WiiU, Switch and Switch OLED… So I guess actually it makes perfect sense they would screw their customers for some extra moolah, sigh.
The Switch was great because it combined the two product lines of console and handheld into one. They won’t split them completely, just have one that’s slightly better screen.