Nintendo says its new console will launch within the next 79 years

[mongeese]

Forward-looking: Nintendo recently announced it will continue making gaming products. Its next console, it said in an earnings report, is scheduled for 20XX. In other words, it’ll launch sometime in the next 28,544 days (if there are no delays).

In its report, Nintendo explained that it "plans to continue to expand its business around the core concept of creating unique integrated hardware-software products," which has worked fairly well for the last forty-odd years.

This year hasn’t been one of the better ones so far, though. Nintendo lost its top spot as console maker to Sony after the Switch missed its production goal by 20 percent. Its net profit for the first half of this year fell by 19 percent versus last year.

Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa attributed some of the downturn to the triumphs of last year when Animal Crossing: New Horizons "drove the entire Nintendo Switch business." More than 40 percent of new Switch owners chose it as their first game.

Nintendo has been able to recoup some of the recently lost hardware sales with additional game sales. Its sales forecast for this fiscal year has been updated from 190 million games to 200 million. Its upcoming titles, which include three Pokémon games and another entrant into the Legend of Zelda franchise, are expected to do well.

Nintendo’s general plan for the future is to continue pursuing existing avenues, which includes more games, updates to its digital services like Nintendo Switch Online and the Expansion Pack, and potentially, further hardware revisions of the Switch when necessary.

That said, Nintendo is quite happy with the OLED Switch. Furukawa is optimistic about it spurring a sixth consecutive year of growth in Nintendo’s dedicated console business, which would be a first.

Nintendo has also found success with its physical stores in Tokyo and New York, is readying another in Osaka, and making plans for more. It’s also evaluating sites for Super Nintendo World theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando, and Singapore.

Nintendo also wants to follow up the Super Mario movie with more "video content."

On the whole, Nintendo’s outlook for the future hasn’t changed much in the last few years. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?

Masthead by Spencer 

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92112-nintendo-new-console-launch-within-next-79-years.html

 

[winjer]

That's very specific information.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Switch is selling like no tomorrow. The top selling games are often switch games even though most of them are just Wii U ports. Why would Nintendo break that low cost high profit model? They are clearly able to produce the console for very cheap aswell these days.

Also we usually get more than just a spec bump from Nintendo when they release new hardware. I’d like to see some kind of VR system, I think they’d make great VR games.

 

[Lounds]

Nintendo will milk the Switch until there's games that can no longer be ported to the system. I think it has a shelf life of 2 years max.

 

[psycros]

Nintendo will milk the Switch until there's games that can no longer be ported to the system. I think it has a shelf life of 2 years max.

At this point I'd say you're right. 2023 will be when they start talking about their next console.

 

[KOLED]

I have the PS5, Xbox Series X, and the Switch OLED… The Switch is my most played console, because there are way more games that I find entertaining on it than the higher end platforms. It really doesn’t matter how powerful the hardware is, if the games suck.

 

[cliffordcooley]

It's likely safe to say 79 months.

 

[hahahanoobs]

It's hard to knock Nintendo. I don't really pay attention to much of their stuff, but the things I do see are customers eagerly waiting for upcoming titles and consistent sales numbers. They should be okay, right?

 

[aegisroark]

Switch is selling like no tomorrow. The top selling games are often switch games even though most of them are just Wii U ports. Why would Nintendo break that low cost high profit model? They are clearly able to produce the console for very cheap aswell these days.

Also we usually get more than just a spec bump from Nintendo when they release new hardware. I’d like to see some kind of VR system, I think they’d make great VR games.

Nintendo literally just showed that they WONT always do any spec boost at all with new hardware..

Their hardware is ridiculously underpowered.. And you want them to do VR???

Clearly you're not too familiar with what it takes to do really good VR... But nintendo would never dive into that space because they wouldn't be able to use their back catalog as selling points.

Pretty sure 3 year old cell phones are several times more powerful than anything nintendo has ever produced.

 

[Yenega]

I guess Switch 2 will come out shortly after Steam Deck is possible to buy.

 

[Yenega]

I have the PS5, Xbox Series X, and the Switch OLED… The Switch is my most played console, because there are way more games that I find entertaining on it than the higher end platforms. It really doesn’t matter how powerful the hardware is, if the games suck.

There's plenty of bad games on the Switch and a PC can emulate pretty much all of the good ones with way better performance and visuals.

I have 100+ hours in Zelda BOTW on PC, played at 4K/UHD at 100+ fps with mods and graphic packs. Emulated to perfection and highly superior to the Switch version. I tried the Switch version and I almost puked. Terrible performance and visuals. Fps dips down to 15-20 at times.

I would not be surprised if Steam Deck can emulate Switch games just as well as it plays them natively, if not better.

Nintendo needs a Switch 2 or Pro in 1-2 years. Sales have slowed down alot.

 

[dangh]

I've got a number of switch and wii-u games, but no switch console. With upcoming Steam Deck (it can emulate Switch pretty well) I'd be able to play everything I want on the go without weird limitations of Switch hardware. Nintendo policy is something which really irritates me and their user unfriendly system is weird at this age. Why there is no Netflix, Spotify and other stuff is beyond me.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Nintendo literally just showed that they WONT always do any spec boost at all with new hardware..

Their hardware is ridiculously underpowered.. And you want them to do VR???

Clearly you're not too familiar with what it takes to do really good VR... But nintendo would never dive into that space because they wouldn't be able to use their back catalog as selling points.

Pretty sure 3 year old cell phones are several times more powerful than anything nintendo has ever produced.

Actually I think it’s you who’s clearly not very familiar with VR. The PS4 had VR, a phone can do VR. The latest Oculus quest has a phone CPU and does VR games without a PC quite well on a cheap phone CPU from last year.

As for your other point makes no sense. You think Nintendo would never release a console they can’t release old games on? What? Yeah you have nothing to qualify that. The current Nintendo switch currently misses out on loads of old nintendo games.

Look I don’t think a Nintendo VR console is likely. But not for the reasons you’ve given.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

So they think they can rehash the Switch for the next ~79 years?

Knowing Nintendo fanboys, easily doable...

 

[Neatfeatguy]

My kids the play the crap out of Minecraft on their Switch Lites. The 8 year old likes to play Animal Crossing and my 13 year old wants more racing games - the Need for Speed game, she plays the crap out of it.

I'd much rather them using their Switch Lite devices over wanting to melt their brains with the stupid sh!t that litters youtube.

 

[EdmondRC]

I can't imagine that Nintendo would bring out a proper console, and there would be no need to go back to a strictly handheld system. So, I think its likely that a Switch 2 will be the route that Nintendo will take. The balancing act though is to make a handheld system to which PS5/XSS games could be ported to. They were able to do that with Switch and PS4/XBO. My guess is late 2023 early 2024 for the NS2.

 

[Guberian]

Sounds like the title of an onion news article.

 

[xFace]

At this point I'd say you're right. 2023 will be when they start talking about their next console.

Highly doubt there is any set year planned. They will just do what they did with the 3DS and the DS before it: Milk it for as long as possible until it finally gets CFW. When the Switch gets CFW that's as easy to install as it is on the 3DS, they'll start taping out a new console. Since I don't expect that to happen any time soon, if ever, if the Switch with 2015 components isn't being sold in 2025 I'll print out this post and eat it. I suspect they'll make the Switch until they run out of X1 SoCs.

Whatever the next Nintendo console ends up being, graphically speaking I don't expect it to be any better than the PS4. They have zero need to waste money on using expensive parts or up to date hardware. Consider that the Switch is merely a repurposed midrange Android tablet from 2015 in a custom shell, and they are still selling like hotcakes. The next Nintendo console will likely be a repurposing of whatever a midrange Android tablet looked like in 2018ish. They will be able to buy the half decade old SoCs for pennies on the dollar and then turn around and sell them for a premium price despite the chips being e-waste in any other application.

It's the perfect business model.

Whenever Nintendo does decide to replace the Switch, it'll be because the Switch was hacked, and whatever they come out with will be at minimum a generation and a half (5 to 7 years) behind their competitors. And it simply won't matter. Nintendo IPs ensure that gamers will buy it for the first party titles and non gamer parents will buy it for their kids based on the perceived family friendly nature of Nintendo IP.

 

[xFace]

I believe N could keep the Switch on the market for another five six years, at least. If sales ever slow down, they can simply price cut the OLED model, since upgrading the screen costs them a negligible amount in manufacturing costs. I've read that the OLED display costs somewhere between $2-10 more per unit (they deny this because of course). Yet it allows them to increase the price by $50. They have a ton of downward wiggle room to spur sales for years to come. They could also keep making the original Switch v2 and price cut that. The Switch today at its core is a maybe $80-100 tablet, pair it with an OLED and you're looking at a $110 console out of the factory. N could slash the price to $150 and still turn profits on the hardware.

I also don't think we will ever get to a point that new games can't be ported to it, they'll just turn down the graphics and resolution till it runs. Look at Diablo 2 Resurrected today. It will dip to as low as 15fps@480p in handheld mode with dynamic resolution scaling to keep things moving along.

Since N has so much room for potential price cuts, I don't believe Steam Deck will really affect N sales all that much. Parents will still purchase the Switch for their kids, and gamers will still need a Switch for first party N titles.

I feel like Steam Deck will primarily be a PC gamers handheld, I don't feel like the target market for the Switch and Steam Deck overlap very much.

 

[RetroJeff]

I stopped my longtime love affair with Nintendo at the Wii. I enjoy the console, but the novelty (of the Wiimote) wears thin very quickly. The Wii-U was a marketing disaster that the Switch, fortunately for them, has more than made up for; still no interest, though, as it just seems like a lot of same-old, same-old with the big N. Kudos to them for a pretty solid business model, though. It'll be interesting to see where they go with any new console development.

 

[Liquidocelot]

Just a suggestion for Nintendo, but if you want to sell more games, try lowering the price after they've been put for a few years. There is no good reason metroid: other m and metroid: dread cost the same. When breath breath the wild the sequel drops, you'll more copies of breath of the wild if it was $20 cheaper, $59.99 cdn + $79.99 cdn is tolerable, still overpriced, but to pay $178 to get a 5 year old game, and a current game, is just ridiculous. Imagine if call of duty: the red line was still full price, this is the reality of Nintendo pricing. Wii games still cost the same as the day they were released. ( note this is only first party games, third party games have their prices adjusted accordingly ).

 

[Liquidocelot]

How many companies can you name that charge full price for a game, 4+ years after release, and have the audacity to charge full price even after releasing sequels.

It's no surprise people emulate, Nintendo is out to rob us blind. I rarely buy first party games, for the sole reason they never go down in price, and I'm not interested enough to pay $89 for a 5 year old game.

 

[Sausagemeat]

How many companies can you name that charge full price for a game, 4+ years after release, and have the audacity to charge full price even after releasing sequels.

It's no surprise people emulate, Nintendo is out to rob us blind. I rarely buy first party games, for the sole reason they never go down in price, and I'm not interested enough to pay $89 for a 5 year old game.

Unfortunately that is the price of Nintendo. It is what it is and there usually isn’t any waiting to get it cheaper.

The Nintendo pricing strategy goes
Release: Sold out
1 years in: $59.99
2 years in: $59.99
3 years in: $59.99
4 years in: $59.99 (10 day sale knocks $10 off)
5 years in: $59.99
Product is discontinued.
6 years in price on eBay $149.99 with 24 hours left on the bid.

I mean I think it’s rubbish. But Nintendo can charge what they like, we aren’t entitled to their games I’m afraid.

 

[Orwellion]

I thought I was reading a Babylon Bee article. 79 years? Really?

 

[Michiel]

Nintendo literally just showed that they WONT always do any spec boost at all with new hardware..

Their hardware is ridiculously underpowered.. And you want them to do VR???

Clearly you're not too familiar with what it takes to do really good VR... But nintendo would never dive into that space because they wouldn't be able to use their back catalog as selling points.

Pretty sure 3 year old cell phones are several times more powerful than anything nintendo has ever produced.

I assume he means a spec boost when they release a new console.
Doing VR would be silly. There's no mass market audience for that and there probably won't be for a while if ever.
I can see a new console being a continuation of the Switch-concept as I'm not sure why they would change that or where else to go. It would be nice to see Nintendo lead with high (or at least similar to the competition)-powered hardware again like it used to do before the Wii. People tend to forget that the NES, SNES and N64 were more powerful than the console competition at the time. The Gamecube probably was comparable to the PS2 in terms of power. It's only with the Wii that this changed.
Personally I'd love to have Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc with actual state of the art graphics playable on my big tv. I'm not too interested in the handheld part.