It was a bit of Nintendo’s Arlesian. Chances are, he will never see the light of day. The Switch Pro console could soon enter the pantheon of aborted ambitious projects.
According to digital Foundry, The very serious media specializing in high-tech hardware, the Japanese company would have designed the most powerful heir to its successful Nintendo Switch. It promises a 4K display, an Oled display like the latest iteration of the hybrid console, but also a much better ray-traced display, with power under the chassis to support more demanding games.
The Nintendo Switch Pro is far from just a rumor. In fact, several developer studios had received development kits (technically functional console prototypes to start designing future games). But it is in particular the data leak at Nvidia that later revealed information about the partnership between the two companies for a new Switch.
Very real, but already forgotten.
Released in March 2017, the Switch is holding its own. Last year, Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo, indicated that the portable and home console was in the middle of its life cycle when the Oled Switch with its largest screen (7 inches) and its best panel had just been released. quality, in addition to the incorporation of some connectors. Better, but far from the commotion expected by fans of Big N, the nickname of the Asian entertainment giant.
In response to a question from an Internet user, John Lineman of digital foundry indicated in a YouTube video that it had in fact been considered a more powerful console. “From what I understand from talking to developers, a mid-gen Switch update was well planned. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore,” he explains, adding that Nintendo will step down.
That doesn’t mean, however, that a more powerful console won’t come later. For digital Foundry, it will be a new generation, possibly with another name, but not for 2023. It turned out well, ”he recalls.
On the difficulty of post-success
Succeeding the Nintendo 64, the Gamecube had been a failure, as had the Wii U, which had taken over from the Wii. The success of the Switch leaves even Chairman Furukawa to fear the worst, who mentioned earlier this year “a huge concern” about the transition to the post-Switch generation and a new gaming platform, Nintendo being very rarely a fan of compatibility of Switch. the media.
In its seventh year of existence, the Nintendo Switch underwent an update shortly after to give it a bit more power and autonomy, before seeing the Switch Lite arrive, then the Switch Oled and bring total sales now to over 114 million cumulative units. last November. It is close to the podium of the best-selling consoles in history, still far from the PS2 (155 million) and the Nintendo DS (154 M), but within reach of the PS4 (117 M) and the Game Boy house (118 M). .
Source: BFM TV
