The Wall Street Journal is back to reporting Nintendo Switch rumors once more, following up on their October 2018 claim that Nintendo would be releasing a new hardware revision of the Switch in 2019. Originally, they stated that the Switch would focus on peripheral additions similar to Labo, rather than new hardware, before changing their initial stance to state that a "better" Switch revision was on the way, and would focus on upgraded hardware. This time around, their claim has a few more details--now mentioning two potential variations: a cheaper model which would replace the Nintendo 3DS as the budget option, and an enhanced model, which would be "targeted at avid video gamers".

This conflicts with previous recent statements from both the Nintendo JP president Shuntaro Furukawa and the soon to be former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, who separately debunked new hardware rumors by saying "[it] is not Nintendo's current focus".

Right now, as we go into our second holiday, my focus is making sure the current grey and neon Switch continue to have momentum in the market place. You saw systems, whether it’s our own or competitive home console systems, utilize that tactic a bit later in the life cycle. So right now, the current execution of Nintendo Switch with the Joy-Con and all of the capabilities, that’s our focus right now.

The Wall Street Journal further asserts that these two supposed hardware revisions would be "different from the original, and you would be surprised," with both versions launching as early as Summer 2019. According to the WSJ's insider sources, hardware prototypes have already been sent to software developers, who say that the "upgraded" Switch model won't be as strong as the Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro.

Nintendo Co. plans to launch two new versions of its Switch gaming console as early as this summer, people familiar with the matter said, as the company seeks to sustain sales momentum for the product going into a crucial third year.

What are your thoughts? Do you find the Wall Street Journal to be reliable, or have other rumors of new Switch hardware got you convinced? Are you more skeptical, after already hearing the WSJ's initial story, or do you believe that there's no room for doubt after so many claims of a revised Switch model have been circulating across the internet? With sales of the Nintendo 3DS slowing down, and the company having just barely missed the mark on its 20 million sales fiscal year projection, a new "pro" and "budget" model could be just what they need to get more sales rolling.

Source

 

[MagnesG]

The only problem I see with the current switch is lack of high quality games. All I see are ports, low quality 3rd party games & indies. I understand that a lot of people like indie games, but me personally, all the indie games on the switch are games I would expect to see on smart phones and tablets, not on a dedicated gaming device. Games such as Zelda show what the switch is capable of, ye

Did you honestly think mariko would only be a chipset revision? We all knew Nintendo would do a complete revision, better screen and battery life was a given.

Thing is, phones and tablets markets are brutal, can't really nurture a new series without sacrificing their design catered to phones. Can't really grow, and Indies need a healthy platform to grow.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

having joycons locked to the console will also break games that want you to use them separately like mario party or snipperclips

They had already released mario party bundles with joycons, just need a little more disclaimer for related games on retailers.

 

[KingVamp]

If true, I wonder if the extra power will be preserved for Dock mode only.

 

[DarkKaine]

Now that Switch combined both handheld and console, I'm pretty sure they will now sell a console and handheld version independently. A lot of games for switch use dynamic resolution scaling so they would require no patches to just work. Kind of hyped for this, but because the Switch isn't that powerful to begin with I don't expect anything too drastic like 4k.

 

[eyeliner]

I don't see what they could remove from the system to make it more affordable, besides the NFC reader.

To make it more expensive, sure... A higher resolution screen, with a better battery life and some better cooling and you have a pro system.

For one, I'd like an ethernet port, thanks.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

some better cooling

The current cooling works fine tho

 

[Rahkeesh]

Now that Switch combined both handheld and console, I'm pretty sure they will now sell a console and handheld version independently. A lot of games for switch use dynamic resolution scaling so they would require no patches to just work. Kind of hyped for this, but because the Switch isn't that powerful to begin with I don't expect anything too drastic like 4k.

A box version seems so DoA in Japan which makes me skeptical. But selling the new Switch "solution" as separate dedicated handheld and dedicated box that sync together effectively would be some tempting dosh for Nintendo I'm sure. Although we also have to be skeptical whether Nintendo can even figure that out.

 

[KingVamp]

If the budget model doesn't connect to the TV or maybe even if it does, they can use a weaker chip altogether.

 

[wiewiec]

I think better for Nintendo is to release games not only the upgraded model with better specs... but when they will be releasing switch with more disk space why not... since module is connected not soldered to pcb.

 

[phillyrider807]

I already have 2 switches. One hacked and one for online. So im good. However i don't mind trading in my og switch for a new one that has more harddrive space.

But this is very plausible. Especially with pokemon coming out this year. Also a "weaker" one that doesn't connect to the tv is basically just a 3ds replacement which makes sense at this point.

As long as there wont be any "new switch" exclusives i'm fine with the ones i have.

 

[Hielkenator2]

If you're talking about Indie games, yeah. 3th party triple A games, not so much. Doom as an example runs 360p most of the time as seen in the DF video and so does wolfenstein and other major 3th party triple A titles. Xenoverse 2 runs 1152x640, also Donkey kong runs in that resolution undocked, Kirby undocked 1152x640, lego worlds 960x540 , lego marvel super heroes 960x540, mario + raving rabbids 1066x600, naruto shippuden 540p, project octopath traveller 1024x600, snakepass 844x 475, yooka laylee 1120x630. A whole list of resolutions for games and you can clearly see it misses that mark a lot. games outlined in pink are games that go under that mark quite a lot and this was just an early on list
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13F5kp5iJZUXE-5gHgck7j45HqR5omqLdhCmNK-cOjDI/edit#gid=0.

You really should follow Digital Foundry, You are right but 720p 60 hz is clearly "mastered" by Nintendo themselves.
Dynamic res is something like a godsens for dev porting their stuff with High end visuals in mind. It happens even on Xbox one X but alas , far less in this 4K gen. With only 8Watts in power the Switch kicks Butt! I am not talking handheld . The list you provided speaks for itself. only 1 or 2 games under 720p.

 

[eyeliner]

The current cooling works fine tho

If they upgrade the screen to allow 1080p, it won't.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

If they upgrade the screen to allow 1080p, it won't.

Wat

The display doesn’t generate very much heat, and I don’t think they’d use a 1080p screen

 

[kumikochan]

You really should follow Digital Foundry, You are right but 720p 60 hz is clearly "mastered" by Nintendo themselves.
Dynamic res is something like a godsens for dev porting their stuff with High end visuals in mind. It happens even on Xbox one X but alas , far less in this 4K gen. With only 8Watts in power the Switch kicks Butt! I am not talking handheld . The list you provided speaks for itself. only 1 or 2 games under 720p.

What only 1 or 2 ? I fucking just listed you a whole bunch of games ! Ugh fanboyism

 

[eyeliner]

Wat

The display doesn’t generate very much heat, and I don’t think they’d use a 1080p screen

If the new revision supports 1080p undocked, you can surely use it as a foot warmer.
Unless, of course the cooling gets upgraded.
Either way, I'm good with what we have now.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

If the new revision supports 1080p undocked, you can surely use it as a foot warmer.
Unless, of course the cooling gets upgraded.
Either way, I'm good with what we have now.

If they upgraded the display they'd probably also use a GPU that's more modern and power efficient (and more powerful ofc)

 

[eyeliner]

If they upgraded the display they'd probably also use a GPU that's more modern and power efficient (and more powerful ofc)

Surely.
You are right.
I desire much intercourse throughout thy life.
I believe we are in agreement on most accounts.

 

[MagnesG]

Wat

The display doesn’t generate very much heat, and I don’t think they’d use a 1080p screen

What about battery life though? That’s a problem for lots of people comparing Switch to previous handhelds.

 

[nathone]

What about battery life though? That’s a problem for lots of people comparing Switch to previous handhelds.

A switch with double the battery life, slightly smaller screen, no removable joycons, more battery space, that would be awesome, but thinking about it it would be like the Vita, where some games wouldn't work as they need undocked joycons.
Although I guess nothing stopping you from pairing joycons anyway.

 

[Cacacea]

maybe a switch witch water cooling

 

[FAST6191]

maybe a switch witch water cooling

No way.

It would have to be a self contained/sealed one, and most of those are nowhere near reliable enough to deploy en masse like that for things people are going to drop all the time.