Nintendo Switch Successor Announced

[Helmsly]

On 2/10/2025 at 6:23 PM, FalcoLombardi said:

Think the Switch 2 will allow dual screen functions like the Wii U?

My crazy wild card theory about what else the Switch 2 can do is that we'll have the option to use a Switch 1 as a controller for it, much like the Wii U gamepad, when the Switch 2 is in docked mode.

Edited February 12 by Helmsly

[Ike]

@Dcubed Amazon has dropped the price of 2TB cards, do you think it’s worth buying now, or wait and see if they do use that new Express card format?

[Dcubed]

1 hour ago, Ike said:

@Dcubed Amazon has dropped the price of 2TB cards, do you think it’s worth buying now, or wait and see if they do use that new Express card format?

I’m 99% certain that Switch 2 will not only use SD Express cards, but that it’ll require one for native Switch 2 games.

I suspect that it’ll follow suit as seen on PS5/Xbox Series, where Switch 1 games can run off of standard MicroSD cards, but native Switch 2 games will require the faster SD Express cards.  The gulf in read speeds between the two is enormous (you’re jumping from around 65MB per sec to almost 1GB per sec), and Switch 2 games will no doubt be built around the faster speed requirement.

So I would hold off unless you need it for your existing Switch 1 right now.

Edited February 13 by Dcubed

[nekunando]

I almost bought a 1.5TB Micro SD in a couple of previous sales in preparation for Switch 2 but when news of the Express Micro SD broke a few weeks ago I was so glad I waited 😅

I could always have used the extra space on my current Switch OLED but it wouldn't have been the widest use of the best part of £100!

[Dcubed]

https://www.theverge.com/news/625931/nintendo-switch-2-fcc-nfc-wi-fi-6-usb

Looks like Switch 2 is packing WiFi 6.  Little bit disappointing that it’s not 6E or 7, but it should still be a substantial upgrade over the existing WiFi chip in Switch 1.

[Julius]

Another day, another Switch 2 patent – this one apparently touting OS-integrated voice chat and proximity chat support for first-party titles. 

Per Wccftech:

Quote

The patent, which was published late last month by Nintendo in the United States, outlines a system for implementing proximity chat in games, suggesting not only OS voice chat integration for the Nintendo Switch 2, but also that first-party titles will likely support proximity chat, which could considerably improve multiplayer games like the next entry in the Mario Kart series or a potential new entry in the Splatoon series.

Proximity chat in Mario Kart while you pass someone by/Blue Shell the leader/Bullet Bill by everyone on the track could be hilarious 

[Ashley]

This is Nintendo though. You'll be able to chat but it will only allow five pre-defined phrases. 

[Cube]

Or proximity chat is only available if you swap friend codes first and both parties go into the Nintendo app and approve proximity chat for that particular game. 

[MindFreak]

Proximity chat...? So you can chat online but only if you are in the same room? 

[bob]

32 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

Proximity chat...? So you can chat online but only if you are in the same room? 

And only if there is a parent or guardian in that room with you.

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, MindFreak said:

Proximity chat...? So you can chat online but only if you are in the same room? 

I'm presuming (based purely on what Julius said) that it only works if your characters are near each other rather than broadcasting to all. 

Obviously some games that would be useful for, others like Smash it's moot. 

Or I'm wrong. I'm often wrong. 

[Julius]

3 minutes ago, Ashley said:

I'm presuming (based purely on what Julius said) that it only works if your characters are near each other rather than broadcasting to all. 

Yep, that's correct.

It's been around for a while but I think it really blew up with PUBG? And often finds itself in co-op games nowadays, things like Sea of Thieves, Phasmaphobia, Lethal Company, etc. Seems much more common on PC, so if it is coming to Switch 2, I think it's a smart move. 

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Hope that helps clear it up a bit 

[Cube]

My experience with it in Sea of Thieves is hearing lots of chants of the n-word. Turned it off pretty quickly.

[Hero-of-Time]

23 minutes ago, Cube said:

My experience with it in Sea of Thieves is hearing lots of chants of the n-word. Turned it off pretty quickly.

Yeah, I wouldn't put up with people talking about N-Europe either.

[Glen-i]

2 hours ago, Cube said:

My experience with it in Sea of Thieves is hearing lots of chants of the n-word. Turned it off pretty quickly.

I don't think that's purely a Sea of Thieves thing, to be fair.

There's a good reason why Nintendo not allowing voice chat with random players doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Glen-i said:

There's a good reason why Nintendo not allowing voice chat with random players doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I don't think it bothered most people. What many wanted was the ability to chat with friends.  It's crazy to think that we had this ability on the 360 but have yet to get a proper solution on a Nintendo console. Not that it matters anymore, seeing as most people now just used Discord or some other service.

[Dcubed]

First bit of Switch 2 marketing officially starts on March 27th in the US, as the new Seattle Mariners jerseys will house Nintendo badges (Home) and Switch 2 badges (Away)…

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-seattle-mariners-expand-relationship-with-nintendo-with-team-s-first-ever-jersey-sleeve-partnership

Feeling pretty good about my July 2025 release prediction right about now

Edited Thursday at 04:29 PM by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

God, that clashes horribly.

And the logo is still crap.

[Julius]

37 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Feeling pretty good about my July 2025 release prediction right about now

On 1/16/2025 at 4:54 PM, Dcubed said:

So… I guess I was right then.  Big blowout in April, release in June.

32 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

God, that clashes horribly.

And the logo is still crap.

Makes it genius marketing, though. 

It looks terrible, so people are talking about it. 

It clashes horribly, so it'll be impossible to not notice when watching the games. 

(And yes the logo is still crap)

[Julius]

According to Insider Gaming, the Switch 2 will release in June, and with it comes a three-phased plan for the remainder of 2025:

Quote

With Nintendo Switch 2 just one week from its official announcement, this year's annual GDC was buzzing with talk around the future of the console.

One such discussion was around the Nintendo Switch 2 launch date, which according to people that I spoke to at the event falls in June. But that's not all, according to various sources, the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch its games in a three-phase strategy, starting with primarily first-party games on launch.

Quote

According to sources, the second-stage will arrive in October-November for third-party studios, most of which are expecting the dev kits for the Switch 2 to be sent in June. Finally, it was said that the third phase for games will be in the holiday period.

In addition to the talk of the three-phase launch plan, Insider Gaming has also learned that select media and creators will be attending Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on next week, where they'll get hands-on with the console and some of its launch games for a few hours.

I've got to imagine that third-party studios getting access to dev kits in June is referring to smaller third-party studios and not big AAA studios, indie wunderkinds and long-time collaborators throughout the life of the Switch. 

All of this makes sense to me. I'll be honest, I'm not too clear on what the three-phase plan action is from the article, I guess other than perhaps an emphasis on first-party early on – it simply sounds like they're saying that they're curating the first six months of the Switch 2 down to the smallest games, and want these releases staggered rather than an all-at-once approach where one partner might be competing with another or Nintendo's own game, which makes complete sense to me. 

[Dcubed]

Yeah, all sounds pretty reasonable.  Only select key 3rd parties would currently have dev kits, while the smaller devs will likely have to wait until launch day.

Pretty standard for a new console launch.

Edited 8 hours ago by Dcubed

[killthenet]

I think the wording of the article is a bit misleading really, makes it seem as if the launch will consist of purely first party releases but that obviously won't be the case - it's just about Nintendo planning on spacing out big releases so there is a steady release of big titles through the first few months. 

Everything about this sounds sensible although I do find it a bit odd that they would wait until launch to provide devkits to smaller publishers and indies - wouldn't it make sense to let them have access after the blowout on April 2nd? Surely there won't be any details about the hardware to leak once Nintendo reveals everything and it would give indies and smaller developers a chance to get things ready for launch 

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, killthenet said:

It would give indies and smaller developers a chance to get things ready for launch 

Given the state of the eShop and the amount of tripe on there now, it's probably best to withhold development kits.

If you think back to when the Switch first launched, the eShop was much more curated and the cream rose to the top but once the floodgates opened it just turned into a mess.

[killthenet]

Yeah, I totally get that angle of letting the cream rise to the top but they can give developers access to devkits and still curate the eShop so it's not flooded with garbage. Nintendo always has the final say on what is allowed on the eShop - I don't think it would take a very big team to be able to sift out the garbage when  conscious consumers and YouTubers can already spot the trash and scam games easily enough 

 

ETA: I just had a look at the number of games released for the Switch and it's about 11,500 so if you average it out across the 8 years since launch it works out at about 5 games released every day - seems like that workload would be manageable for a dedicated team to be able to do a bit of quality control 

Edited 8 hours ago by killthenet