When you head to Nintendo’s huge, colorful booth at Paris Games Week, you don’t have to wait long to hear gamers in the distance talking about the Japanese manufacturer’s next console. We don’t know the name or details of this console, or even how it will differ from the Switch.
But with 140 million copies sold worldwide, Switch can still live for some time, especially with the large number of offers planned between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. The truth is that its officialization in May 2024 caused an important movement of masses, and Above all, it generated expectation to discover what surprise Nintendo had prepared to convince the numerous Switch buyers to upgrade to the next generation.
Looking forward to Nintendo’s next “revolution”
“It will have to be a revolution,” Gabriel, a long-time Nintendo fan, tells Tech&Co, “with almost every new console, Nintendo wants to make a difference with other manufacturers, I am very curious to see what we have in store for.” us.”
He’s not the only one either.
In the hallways, even parents are waiting: “We have two Switches at home,” confesses Jean-Philippe, a 42-year-old father, “we buy Nintendo consoles because they allow us to play as a family, but also take advantage of the licenses, we’ll be there next time.” !”
“We have limited ourselves to video games for two years and we avoid the Switch collector consoles because we know that the sequel is coming,” admits Cynthia, a 19-year-old gamer, “I have been saving for a few months to make I’m sure I can get it to offer it .
If the wait is real, the concern is still present: “Nintendo should opt for backward compatibility. If I had to abandon my Switch games that I sometimes bought on the eShop, I would wait a few months before giving myself the Switch 2.”, says Damián, 25 years old.
The problems and pressure around Nintendo regarding this new console perhaps explain the manufacturer’s reluctance to truly formalize its console. So far, the Japanese company has limited itself to explaining that it is working on a new machine, and nothing more. It must be said that a priori it would not be planned before the second half of 2025, according to the latest rumors.
“We have time,” announces Julien, 36 years old, a Nintendo fan since the Super NES, “we still have quite a few new games, there is no rush.”
Can the Switch 2 restart video games?
In 2025, after a busy 2024 in terms of games, the Switch catalog will narrow, although we hope in particular Metroid Prime 4: “I hope that Nintendo offers improvements such as more frames per second or better graphics in existing games thanks to its new console,” Cynthia explains to us.
“It is imperative that Switch games can run on Switch 2, they cannot do the same as on Wii U,” adds Julien. The Switch was not compatible with games on the company’s previous consoles.
As for video game professionals, we see the Switch 2 as a way to revive a sector in great difficulty: “With the Switch, the independent games sector has had a place of choice, sometimes experiencing enormous success, which had failed on PC or Playstation and Nintendo must continue on this path,” confesses a representative of a French publisher, on condition of anonymity.
“I think Switch 2 can really extend video games even further to a wider audience, that’s what Nintendo has always been able to do, there’s no reason for that to change,” believes a crossover developer at the Game in France booth.
If everyone agrees to talk about the expectation that this Switch 2 arouses, no one wants to tell Tech&Co if they have any news, for example if they have received development kits: “If I tell you, I’m dead.” said a press official: “Nintendo is a secret and everything we have read here and there is sometimes very far from reality.” Of what act.
Source: BFM TV
