Nintendo did plan a Switch Pro, but the console was canceled

[midian182]

In context: Ever since the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, there have been rumors and claims that an upgraded Pro version of the popular handheld console was set to arrive. That never happened, of course, but a new report reveals that the mid-generation refresh really was planned. Unfortunately, it ended up being canceled.

Despite only arriving five years ago, the Nintendo Switch is already the fifth best-selling console of all time, despite the numerous complaints of Joy-Con drift, having moved 114.33 million units. This success led to analysts and industry insiders claiming an updated Pro version would arrive complete with 4K support, a better processor than the Switch's aging Tegra X1 SoC, more storage, a better and possibly bigger screen, and more.

The Switch Pro never arrived. What we got instead was the Switch OLED, which, while offering several improvements over the base model, is more of an incremental upgrade; it reportedly costs just $10 more to make.

So, what happened to the Switch Pro that many were convinced would arrive? The Digital Foundry Direct Weekly podcast may have shed some light on the mystery. John Linneman says he talked to several developers who revealed a mid-generation Switch was planned at one point, but the console is no longer happening.

Linneman suggests the cancelation might partly be blamed on the Wii U. The original Wii was incredibly popular when it arrived in 2006, selling over 100 million units, but the Wii U follow-up flopped badly—just over 13 million consoles were bought. Nintendo might have wanted to avoid a similar situation occurring with the updated Switch Pro.

Linneman believes Nintendo will release a next-generation Switch 2 (or whatever it'll be called) console, possibly packing Nvidia's Tegra T239 SoC, but we're not going to see it in 2023. And despite this successor being much more powerful, Nintendo will likely still be nervous about having another Wii U (and, to a lesser extent, GameCube)-style commercial failure on its hands.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97099-nintendo-did-plan-switch-pro-but-console-canceled.html

 

[Axeia]

I don't get how Nintendo can be so out of touch with their own audience, it's just run by retirement age old men not knowing what they're doing isn't it.

The N64/GameCube were successful because they were fairly capable consoles that ran Nintendos popular franchises.
The Wii was a success because it was relatively cheap so a lot got gifted and because the controls allowed non-traditional gamers to easily join in (grandpa can wave a stick thing about and get some done in most of the simplistic games the Wii had). Followed by a wave of people trying to get some fitness usage out of it. This leads to lots of them collecting dust instead of being used and having a really poor used market value.
This is also when Nintendo seems to have shifted their logic to "We must have a gimmick, because the gimmick is what this console EXTREMELY successful instead of accepting it was a one time wonder"

The Wii U failed because no one asked for a bulkier controller with a screen in it that had almost no use in Nintendos own games. And third party game makers definitely weren't going to bother adding support for it that couldn't be carried over to other consoles (other than perhaps the Nintendo DS). The Nintendo DS's success was also due to their franchises in a handheld factor not due to the gimmicky second screen there.

The Nintendo switch comes around and their gimmick this time is actually useful. A handheld device that can be docked and a device that by handheld standards had pretty good graphics. Success again! Now they're afraid a Switch Pro (a better version of what a lot of people already considered great and the only complaints are battery life and performance [aside from joycons]) wouldn't sell? SHEESH!
It would sell like hotcakes! The animal crossing crowd alone would buy millions to run their overly decorated islands at better FPS, or imagine Pokémon Violet/Scarlet running at more than 20fps - it'd be less of a scandal.
They missed a huge opportunity there, if anything the Steamdeck is proving that even bulky handhelds can be a massive success. A Switch Pro would've been a huge hit.
A full HD OLED screen, games that actually run on Full HD, better battery life, HAL-effect joysticks all possible upgrades that wouldn't have taken a huge amount of effort and I'm sure people would've paid $500 for that.

I am curious about Nintendo's future, I wouldn't be surprised if the next console will be some weird gimmicky thing again where they make whats basically the switch but with little screens in the joycons that no one asked for and it flops. And they make another failure of a pokémon game but this time people actually don't buy it and it all goes the drain.
On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if they do both and still sell millions.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

This is honestly a very sensible solution. Neither the xbox one X or the PS4 pro sold a majority of their respective generation, or even a sizeable amount, compared to the baseline console, and split up developer resources developing software for multiple SKUs while also taking away from the improvements of the next main model.

Better to have the R+D of building and testing a new models for a major generational leap, especially when you are nintendo and make a profit on your hardware VS sony and MS.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I did a search for NVIDIA Tegra T239- - this is not yet a released product

I wonder how much due to how slack Nvidia has been -

Remember Nvidia updating the X1 to pro?? and saying it was 20% faster when it's actually specs were 0% faster - he was just a complete lie.

I hope Nvidia lose the hand hold market completely - powerful hand holds, streamers/emulators, tablets

so this new Tegra will come 8 or 9 years later - all versions after that didn't amount to much
you want that shield pro 2? - just wait 8 years to when Nvidia grants you an audience.

Nvidia is not doing anything amazing with this new Tegra - 10 times faster than an x1 over 9 years - so what

yet the new Tegra will be snapped up by pirates to run switch games better

ie is Nintendo tied to Tegra - ie need to run Switch 1 games - so Nvidia says just wait we control you

 

[Tams80]

I don't get how Nintendo can be so out of touch with their own audience, it's just run by retirement age old men not knowing what they're doing isn't it.

The N64/GameCube were successful because they were fairly capable consoles that ran Nintendos popular franchises.
The Wii was a success because it was relatively cheap so a lot got gifted and because the controls allowed non-traditional gamers to easily join in (grandpa can wave a stick thing about and get some done in most of the simplistic games the Wii had). Followed by a wave of people trying to get some fitness usage out of it. This leads to lots of them collecting dust instead of being used and having a really poor used market value.
This is also when Nintendo seems to have shifted their logic to "We must have a gimmick, because the gimmick is what this console EXTREMELY successful instead of accepting it was a one time wonder"

The Wii U failed because no one asked for a bulkier controller with a screen in it that had almost no use in Nintendos own games. And third party game makers definitely weren't going to bother adding support for it that couldn't be carried over to other consoles (other than perhaps the Nintendo DS). The Nintendo DS's success was also due to their franchises in a handheld factor not due to the gimmicky second screen there.

The Nintendo switch comes around and their gimmick this time is actually useful. A handheld device that can be docked and a device that by handheld standards had pretty good graphics. Success again! Now they're afraid a Switch Pro (a better version of what a lot of people already considered great and the only complaints are battery life and performance [aside from joycons]) wouldn't sell? SHEESH!
It would sell like hotcakes! The animal crossing crowd alone would buy millions to run their overly decorated islands at better FPS, or imagine Pokémon Violet/Scarlet running at more than 20fps - it'd be less of a scandal.
They missed a huge opportunity there, if anything the Steamdeck is proving that even bulky handhelds can be a massive success. A Switch Pro would've been a huge hit.
A full HD OLED screen, games that actually run on Full HD, better battery life, HAL-effect joysticks all possible upgrades that wouldn't have taken a huge amount of effort and I'm sure people would've paid $500 for that.

I am curious about Nintendo's future, I wouldn't be surprised if the next console will be some weird gimmicky thing again where they make whats basically the switch but with little screens in the joycons that no one asked for and it flops. And they make another failure of a pokémon game but this time people actually don't buy it and it all goes the drain.
On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if they do both and still sell millions.

What a load of pish.

Nintendo know their audiences very well for the most part. If they didn't the DS (through to 3DS) and Switch would not have done so well. They know that their market want fun, polished games over the latest graphics, etc.

The Wii U failed mostly because of marketing, but also due to their previous success. One released, they focussed far too much on the controller to the extent that many people thought it was just a new Wii accessory (I remember having to scrub through a video to try and spot the actual console, which was locked and hidden away under the plinth). The success of the Wii didn't help though, because it was still too soon for people to considered their Wii too dated.

The Switch was a reversal in fortunes because it filled an empty niche (at least from major companies) and technology had advanced enough that the Wii and 3DS were starting to feel dated even to the most 'casual' gamer.

 

[dangh]

I was waiting for more powerful and more open switch - one with such basic stuff like Netflix and Spotify at least. And... I got it. It's called steam deck and it is so much better than switch could ever been. To the point I can actually play my switch games on it without any limitations Nintendo love to put on their systems.

 

[Axeia]

Nintendo know their audiences very well for the most part. If they didn't the DS (through to 3DS) and Switch would not have done so well. They know that their market want fun, polished games over the latest graphics, etc.

Nintendo software for the most part yes.
(Although the Pokémon company sort of falls under that and the latest entry there is far from polished).
They choose a simple style for consistent performance and I can respect that. Their hardware division however since the super successful switch seems to think they need a gimmick to set them apart from the competition. They don't, all they need to is make more Splatoon, animal crossing, Pokemon, Mario and Zelda games.
Imagine releasing a new switch with better hardware with a new animal crossing and Zelda game at launch.
It could literally just be the switch Oled with a more powerful chip in it and it would outsell the PS5 and Xbox combined in a week if they could produce enough of them.

Thinking a switch pro wouldn't sell sand sueing people sharing gameplay etc that part imo is out of touch. As is their thinking they need a hardware gimmick.

 

[Puiu]

What a load of pish.

Nintendo know their audiences very well for the most part. If they didn't the DS (through to 3DS) and Switch would not have done so well. They know that their market want fun, polished games over the latest graphics, etc.

The Wii U failed mostly because of marketing, but also due to their previous success. One released, they focussed far too much on the controller to the extent that many people thought it was just a new Wii accessory (I remember having to scrub through a video to try and spot the actual console, which was locked and hidden away under the plinth). The success of the Wii didn't help though, because it was still too soon for people to considered their Wii too dated.

The Switch was a reversal in fortunes because it filled an empty niche (at least from major companies) and technology had advanced enough that the Wii and 3DS were starting to feel dated even to the most 'casual' gamer.

People buy nintendo for the software, not the hardware. The WiiU failed because it lacked games.

Nintendo fans will accept piss poor hardware just to be able to play the next Zelda or Pokemon game.

 

[Tams80]

Nintendo software for the most part yes.
(Although the Pokémon company sort of falls under that and the latest entry there is far from polished).
They choose a simple style for consistent performance and I can respect that. Their hardware division however since the super successful switch seems to think they need a gimmick to set them apart from the competition. They don't, all they need to is make more Splatoon, animal crossing, Pokemon, Mario and Zelda games.
Imagine releasing a new switch with better hardware with a new animal crossing and Zelda game at launch.
It could literally just be the switch Oled with a more powerful chip in it and it would outsell the PS5 and Xbox combined in a week if they could produce enough of them.

Thinking a switch pro wouldn't sell sand sueing people sharing gameplay etc that part imo is out of touch. As is their thinking they need a hardware gimmick.

I didn't say that just a more powerful Switch wouldn't sell well.

But:

1. The Switch is still selling very well, so it doesn't make business sense for Nintendo to release a successor that will kill Switch sales and carry risk.
2. No 'gimmick' would make gaming a poorer and more boring place. Other than Nintendo, only really Sony are somewhat trying with the controller. You may not care for it, but at least Nintendo usually try to bring something different to the table.

 

[Axeia]

2. No 'gimmick' would make gaming a poorer and more boring place. Other than Nintendo, only really Sony are somewhat trying with the controller. You may not care for it, but at least Nintendo usually try to bring something different to the table.

Its just risky. Cross platform titles are unlikely to use the gimmick if it doesn't translate easily to other platforms.
It increases the R&D and if the public doesn't like it it can tank sales.

Imo the switch formula is a success, they should stick to it. They just need to release a platform that's far more capable, it's clear the switch is struggling with ports from the PS4 (or Xbox equivalent) and even Nintendo titles and rather than things getting better and more fine-tuned over time with the switch it seems to be opposite. Zelda breath of the wild is still considered by most as the most impressive title (and that was developed for the Wii U originally funnily enough).
Animal crossing, Pokémon sword and shield and Pokémon scarlet/violet And the hero academia game all struggle with maintaining FPS (and that's just the ones I've seen, there's tons more). The Mario titles aren't much of a visual upgrade when docked on the big screen and fall short on the now common huge 4k screens.

I'd say it's time for a switch 2 or pro that targets full hd (1920x1080) in handheld mode and 2560x1440 in docked mode with DLSS upscaling so it doesn't look like *** on a 55"+ 4k screen. Then they can hopefully still piggy back on PS5 titles (or the Xbox equivalent) and some performance is freed up for their own titles.
Both AMD and Nvidia should be able to deliver hardware capable being a big step up from the Nvidia tegra chip in the current switch which was already rather old when the switch was first launched.
Hell, now that a lot of companies are scaling back their TSMC orders it might be a great time for Nintendo to step in.