Hundreds of devs say they are working on Nintendo Switch 2 games, suggesting a 2024 launch...

[midian182]

In context: It feels as if we've been hearing about the Switch 2 for years, but Nintendo still hasn't given any official confirmation regarding its arrival. However, 2024 definitely looks like the year we'll see the successor to the wildly successful hybrid, as evidenced by the hundreds of developers who say they're working on games for the device.

Since it launched in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch has gone on to become the third best-selling console of all time with 132.46 million unit sales.

But the Switch, even the newer OLED model, is showing its age. The device still managed strong sales throughout 2023, sitting behind the PlayStation 5 and ahead of the Xbox Series S/X, but its dollar sales declined YoY.

Rumors of a successor have been around for years, though they've really picked up the pace over the last 12 months. We heard in July that dev kits had already shipped to studios, while September brought reports that Nintendo held closed-door presentations of the Switch 2 during Gamescom 2023.

A new GDC 2024 'State of the Game Industry' report has seemingly confirmed claims that Nintendo's next console is launching this year. Of the 3,000 developers who participated, 240 of them, or 8%, said they are developing their current projects for the Switch 2.

Credit: GDC

Another part of the survey asked which platform interested them most right now. The Switch 2 didn't perform too well in this aspect, perhaps because it hasn't been released yet, with 32% of developers choosing Nintendo's next console, trailing behind the PlayStation 5 and PC - the latter being the most popular choice. The original Switch was chosen by just 25% of participants.

Nintendo has repeatedly dismissed talk of the Switch 2 as being just rumors. Many of the developers who participated in the survey might be under orders not to talk about the projects they are developing for the upcoming machine, meaning the number of people working on Switch 2 games could be a lot higher.

Some believe the Switch 2 won't offer a drastic redesign compared to its predecessor, offering only iterative changes such as improved hardware. It's predicted to carry a $400 price tag, though, and the games could cost the same $70 as those on other consoles.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101576-hundreds-devs-they-working-nintendo-switch-2-games.html

 

[oasked]

Surely if it ain't broke don't fix it?

I can't see why Nintendo wouldn't have success with an updated version of the same device, but with more up to date chips, higher resolution screen etc.

If it's not coming in 2024, then surely by 2025?

 

[bviktor]

MY BODY IS READY

(Yeah, I miss Iwata and Reggie. Inb4 27 comments about how overrated they were)

Just give us backwards compatibility. I'm already way too invested in the platform lol.

Those who say the NS2 will be just small changes, I don't understand what they're on. The NS1 is a 7 years old console with a 9(!) years old SoC in it. It provides a mere 0.5 TFLOPS, and even that only when docked. TDP is 15W.

All these years, NV haven't been sitting on their arses. Quite the opposite, actually. The Jetson Orin seems to be a probable candidate for the NS2. It has several versions in the 15W space, from the Jetson TX2 NX (1.3 TFLOPS) up to the Jetson AGX Orin 64GB (5.32 TFLOPS).

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/autonomous-machines/embedded-systems/jetson-orin/

For reference, some existing consoles:
- PS4: 1.84 TFLOPS
- PS4 Pro 4.2 TFLOPS
- PS5: 10.3 TFLOPS
- XSS: 4 TFLOPS
- XSX: 12.16 TFLOPS

Now, obviously, price is a factor, and the AGX Orin 64GB is $1599 on 1k orders+, so we can rule that one out. But the TX2 NX is quite cheap at $149 on 1KU+, and Nintendo will need millions, not thousands on these, so they'll get it much cheaper, making it a very possible and feasible choice.

These are not future possibilities, these are already off-the-shelf chips that you can straight away buy for yourself as an individual, as a dev kit. These are existing, mass produced chips.

So even in the WORST case, if Nintendo picks the slowest, existing, off-the-shelf chip from this already at least 2 years old platform, it'll be almost THREE TIMES faster than the NS1, within reach of PS4 performance. If this isn't a huge change, I don't know what is.

 

[Slappy McPhee]

I won't be paying $70/game and will be seeking alternative methods. Most games that come out at that price point currently are not worth it.

 

[Burty117]

For reference, some existing consoles:
- PS4: 1.84 TFLOPS
- PS4 Pro 4.2 TFLOPS
- PS5: 10.3 TFLOPS
- XSS: 4 TFLOPS
- XSX: 12.16 TFLOPS

Steam Deck is 1.6 TFLOPS.

Since that's probably a better comparison.

 

[DubiousFishHook]

70 $ games means they will sell 33% less games most likely.

& digital.. no expenses for making a manual & no physical box means a game should cost 32 usd/euro at most, my Steam account is 20 years old and devs still hasn't understood that they have reduced costs.

Greedy aholes all around, 0 passion or love.

 

[bviktor]

I won't be paying $70/game and will be seeking alternative methods. Most games that come out at that price point currently are not worth it.

Never buy games at full price. Ever. Buy used SD cards, subscribe to price alerts on Deku Deals / PSPrices / XBDeals, anything.

 

[bviktor]

70 $ games means they will sell 33% less games most likely.

& digital.. no expenses for making a manual & no physical box means a game should cost 32 usd/euro at most, my Steam account is 20 years old and devs still hasn't understood that they have reduced costs.

Greedy aholes all around, 0 passion or love.

These price hikes are well below inflation rates, so I don't think your attitude is justified.

 

[guillejp]

I find the Switch 2 so interesting from the business perspective...
- It's been overly delayed, allowing for...
- A market with full smartphone gaming saturation, and
- Games As A Service (which are not Nintendo's specialty) and other streaming platforms already competing for and taking a much discussed amount of audience's attention, time and money, and
- the SteamDeck also capturing/competing in that segment too, though not fully overlapping because it's much more about general AAA to indie games.
- Haven't we seen/done it all from Nintendo IPs by now? Do they have the same power/freshness/potential than 10-15 years back? Which one of their releases in the last 5 years has had a strong staying power? Zelda TotK maaaybe, with its sequel being much less ubiquitously revered ? The very recent Mario entry has come and gone. I think that has changed too.

It has its guaranteed foothold of exclusive Nintendo IPs and fans, but I see the niche getting weaker in a way and the landscape is much more competitive now than when the Switch 1 came to market.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

These price hikes are well below inflation rates, so I don't think your attitude is justified.

Game developers are making record profits and shoving monetization wherever it fits, so I don't think your attitude is justified.

They're not hurting for money. Let us not forget that the digital "revolution" has not only obliterated the used market, thus any spike in interest results in more sales of the software new, but it also has removed the expensive of distribution. Distribution costs are near nil, and those were often nearly as large as dev budgets for big games, hence why publishers got so powerful. Now that's gone; no more disks, cases, shipping costs, warehouse fees, overstocks, ece. Any broski with $5 can publish a game now. We never got a price cut for how much cheaper it is to distribute millions of copies of a game now.....

I find the Switch 2 so interesting from the business perspective...
- It's been overly delayed, allowing for...
- A market with full smartphone gaming saturation, and
- Games As A Service (which are not Nintendo's specialty) and other streaming platforms already competing for and taking a much discussed amount of audience's attention, time and money, and
- the SteamDeck also capturing/competing in that segment too, though not fully overlapping because it's much more about general AAA to indie games.
- Haven't we seen/done it all from Nintendo IPs by now? Do they have the same power/freshness/potential than 10-15 years back? Which one of their releases in the last 5 years has had a strong staying power? Zelda TotK maaaybe, with its sequel being much less ubiquitously revered ? The very recent Mario entry has come and gone. I think that has changed too.

It has its guaranteed foothold of exclusive Nintendo IPs and fans, but I see the niche getting weaker in a way and the landscape is much more competitive now than when the Switch 1 came to market.

Just curious, did you just step out of a delorian? Because all of this was true 7 years ago when the switch launched, and nintendo has proven without a doubt that their niche is quite large and willing to spend money. That mario game that "came and went"? It sold a gnat's hair away from 27 MILLION copies. That's as many as baulders gate 3, an unheard of smash success. And can people stop with the "muh mobile gaming" BS? Candy crush and microtransaction laden hell is not competition for games like Zelda TotK or mario kart 8, anymore then mario party is competition for Call of Duty.

For the record: Mario odyssey 26.95 million copies. Pokemon sword and shield combined 26 million. Smash bros ultimate 32.4 million. Mario part 19.6 million. Animal crossing 43.4 million. Mario kart 8 deluxe. 57 GODDARN MILLION (assuming that half of those bought the 12 course bonus DLC, at $20 a pop, that is another $570 million, over half a BILLION, in profits. From one game's DLC). I could go on, there are another 15 titles that have sold at least 10 million each, all of them first party titles, so no middleman to take away profits, they 100% go to nintendo. It makes quotes like this :

I think that has changed too.

Seem utterly detached from reality.

The switch 2 should be interesting from a business perspective, because it will likely print nintendo another massive mint that the likes of the playstation and xbox divisions could only dream of.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I find the Switch 2 so interesting from the business perspective...
- It's been overly delayed, allowing for...
- A market with full smartphone gaming saturation, and
- Games As A Service (which are not Nintendo's specialty) and other streaming platforms already competing for and taking a much discussed amount of audience's attention, time and money, and
- the SteamDeck also capturing/competing in that segment too, though not fully overlapping because it's much more about general AAA to indie games.
- Haven't we seen/done it all from Nintendo IPs by now? Do they have the same power/freshness/potential than 10-15 years back? Which one of their releases in the last 5 years has had a strong staying power? Zelda TotK maaaybe, with its sequel being much less ubiquitously revered ? The very recent Mario entry has come and gone. I think that has changed too.

It has its guaranteed foothold of exclusive Nintendo IPs and fans, but I see the niche getting weaker in a way and the landscape is much more competitive now than when the Switch 1 came to market.

I think ease of use , big fan base , they will have a new gimmick , plus they target family games .
You are a young family get a switch 2 . I think one of Microsoft biggest mistakes by far ( and I have always thought this ) , is not to have a huge family game IP. Apple understand the value of "cheap" iPads to push the whole trap them in quicksand and massage their egos thingy
When I bought a PS3 for family - skylanders, ratchet and clank and lots of others on the platform . Xbox seemed to target older teens and older . Stupid stupid stupid , as it mostly the parents who buy - They want to see kid friendly

 

[Zsoltblabla]

Nintendo is the only platform I trust my kids to give their attention to - simple as that!

 

[guillejp]

Game developers are making record profits and shoving monetization wherever it fits, so I don't think your attitude is justified.

They're not hurting for money. Let us not forget that the digital "revolution" has not only obliterated the used market, thus any spike in interest results in more sales of the software new, but it also has removed the expensive of distribution. Distribution costs are near nil, and those were often nearly as large as dev budgets for big games, hence why publishers got so powerful. Now that's gone; no more disks, cases, shipping costs, warehouse fees, overstocks, ece. Any broski with $5 can publish a game now. We never got a price cut for how much cheaper it is to distribute millions of copies of a game now.....


Just curious, did you just step out of a delorian? Because all of this was true 7 years ago when the switch launched, and nintendo has proven without a doubt that their niche is quite large and willing to spend money. That mario game that "came and went"? It sold a gnat's hair away from 27 MILLION copies. That's as many as baulders gate 3, an unheard of smash success. And can people stop with the "muh mobile gaming" BS? Candy crush and microtransaction laden hell is not competition for games like Zelda TotK or mario kart 8, anymore then mario party is competition for Call of Duty.

For the record: Mario odyssey 26.95 million copies. Pokemon sword and shield combined 26 million. Smash bros ultimate 32.4 million. Mario part 19.6 million. Animal crossing 43.4 million. Mario kart 8 deluxe. 57 GODDARN MILLION (assuming that half of those bought the 12 course bonus DLC, at $20 a pop, that is another $570 million, over half a BILLION, in profits. From one game's DLC). I could go on, there are another 15 titles that have sold at least 10 million each, all of them first party titles, so no middleman to take away profits, they 100% go to nintendo. It makes quotes like this :

Seem utterly detached from reality.

The switch 2 should be interesting from a business perspective, because it will likely print nintendo another massive mint that the likes of the playstation and xbox divisions could only dream of.

Well, I don't follow Nintendo closely, but the PC/phone/gaming market as a whole.
Impressive numbers yes, they've sold a lot, apparently they're still selling a lot, but...
My key point is that they have new kinds and more competition for customers money now (Win/Steam handhelds, mobile, F2P, publishers' subscription services).
Though the new one will be such a jump in performance, it might be a more enticing sell again, and they still have a huge loyal customer base.
But I somehow still feel on the fence about how many people will buy the next Mario after the last one because it's media buzz has died so quickly, for example, though I know Nintendo fans are like Apple fans, they'll buy whatever the company throws at them. I think sales might stay strong but not grow.

 

[erickmendes]

Nintendo is the only platform I trust my kids to give their attention to - simple as that!

I waited a loooong time to get a Switch (I got a used one last year...), mainly for my kids because well Nintendo exclusive games are the most family friend and now I'm very happy owing a Switch...

Yeah... Nintendo games are way overpriced... But I can't negate how well made their games are, in every aspect. Mario Wonder and Super Mario 3D World, Bowser's Fury, I can let my 7 and 4 years play then without concerns. It's worth my money.