All the pieces we all know concerning the upcoming console

Because the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Swap is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Swap 2 rumors have been swirling for years, however now they’re actually heating up. A sequel to Nintendo’s most profitable residence console ever is coming and it’s seemingly coming sooner rather than later.

Will it’s a straight up sequel to the Swap with up to date specs whereas retaining the identical hybrid performance or will Nintendo get bizarre with it? Will it even be known as the Swap 2, or will the corporate go along with one thing just like the Tremendous Swap and even the New Nintendo Swap? You’ll be able to by no means inform with Nintendo. Heck, perhaps it’ll name the factor the Swap U.

In any occasion, current weeks have introduced feverish hypothesis relating to all features of the forthcoming gaming console. It’s necessary to notice, nevertheless, that little or no data has been confirmed by Nintendo. The corporate operates by itself timetable. With that stated, listed below are the entire rumors which can be most probably to come back true, given business evaluation.

When will the Nintendo Swap 2 be introduced?

As beforehand talked about, Nintendo marches to the beat of its personal drum. We don’t precisely know when it’ll maintain an occasion to disclose the console. Lots of people wrongly assumed it could occur towards the latter a part of 2024, however that did not occur.

Even Nintendo has bother preserving the lid on a serious console launch, so we might be taught one thing earlier than the official reveal. There are elements that need to be sourced and shipments that need to be made. A senior analyst at MST Monetary noted a spike in production equipment spending by Nintendo assembler Hosiden.

When will the Nintendo Swap 2 come out?

As soon as once more, this is kind of a thriller. We aren’t completely in the dead of night, nevertheless it’s principally rumor and hypothesis. One factor we all know for certain is that Nintendo will announce the Nintendo Swap 2 (or no matter it chooses to name it) by March 2025, as the corporate confirmed back in May. Some are saying there will likely be a March launch date, which is sensible given the OG Swap got here out on March 17, 2017. Nevertheless, different reviews put the console’s release window later in 2025.

Accent producer Genki, which has been a serious supply of leaks in current months, claims the console will be released in April.

Will it even be a correct Swap sequel?

Nintendo has a bizarre observe file right here. The baffling Wii U adopted the large success of the Wii. The Wii itself adopted the extra conventional GameCube. In different phrases, it’s doable it’ll be one thing out of left area and never precisely a real sequel to the Swap. Nevertheless, that is unlikely this time round. As a lot as I’d like to see wacky VR glasses or a very bonkers console idea, all factors point out a extra conventional method.

Builders have already seen the hardware, although in a a lot earlier type, and it appears to be an everyday outdated console. Whereas Nintendo hasn’t confirmed hybrid performance, it’d be a bizarre omission given absolutely the monetary firestorm of the Swap. We’ve additionally heard rumors of a Mini-LED display, which might observe for a hybrid console. It’s extremely seemingly this will likely be a straight-up Swap 2, or one thing prefer it, calling to thoughts the Tremendous Nintendo.

To that finish, current rumors counsel a design that remembers the unique Swap. In accordance with reporting by VGC, pictures of the console have appeared on-line they usually present an 8-inch display screen and magnetic Pleasure-Con controllers. There appears to be SL/SR buttons and front-facing participant LEDs on these controllers.

Will there be a little bit of Nintendo weirdness?

All the pieces leaked or rumored to this point on this console has been pretty, effectively, conventional. It appears like the unique Swap, however higher. That is superior, however will there be any of that unpredictable Nintendo magic? Perhaps! Current reviews point out two puzzling additions that folk cannot make cover nor hair of.

An adjunct maker known as Genki accidentally leaked an alleged mockup at CES 2025 of the entire console. If the Swap 2 is coming sooner somewhat than later, it is sensible that accent makers would have these sorts of mockups. There appears to be a mysterious “C” button on the bottom-right facet and no person is aware of what it does. May it provoke voice chat throughout gameplay? May it calibrate the controllers? May it create a room-sized hologram of Bowser in your front room? We’ll have to attend and see, and there is at all times an opportunity that the button will not even exist.

Now onto the up to date Pleasure-Cons, those self same leaks appear to point a brand new sensor on the connecting facet of every controller. It appears a whole lot like an optical sensor, which is what a pc mouse makes use of. This has led to hypothesis that gamers will be capable to flip the Pleasure-Con over and use it like a mouse.

However why would anybody even need this? I can consider three phrases. New Mario Paint. In any occasion, take all of that Genki stuff with an enormous grain of salt, as Nintendo got here out and stated that the images and video were “not official.” The accent producer has additionally said that its mockup wasn’t based on an actual console, however somewhat “leaked data that’s circulating within the business.”

Is the Nintendo Swap 2 backwards suitable?

If it’s a sequel to the Swap, the following query must be about backwards compatibility. The Swap’s library is totally huge, and continues to develop, so players can be rightfully peeved in the event that they couldn’t play Tears of the Kingdom on their new next-gen console. There’s excellent news on this entrance.

The corporate has formally introduced in a current earnings report that the console will be fully backwards compatible. It is going to additionally characteristic entry to Nintendo On-line, so customers will be capable to play all of these outdated retro titles.

What about specs?

The rumors relating to specs are far and wide, so it’s robust to pin down. We all know one factor for certain: It’ll be extra highly effective than the traditional Swap {hardware}, which was already antiquated again in 2017. One analyst allegedly bought a maintain of a spec sheet from the Korean United Each day Information that stated the Swap 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of inside eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the unique Swap was in 2017. Nevertheless, some reviews do indicate that the console would come with 12GB of RAM.

One other supply means that the eight-core CPU will likely be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the present Swap runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a number of sense. The CPU will likely be extra highly effective, nevertheless it’s the Swap 2’s new GPU that will likely be a serious differentiator. It is all-but-confirmed that the Swap 2 will assist DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep studying supersampling” upscaling tech, which might enable the console to render video games at a low decision internally whereas outputting a high-resolution picture. (Enjoyable truth: We really wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the know-how was introduced alongside the RTX 20 sequence again in 2018.)

There are nonetheless questions concerning the Swap 2 and DLSS: Will the system assist newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will current video games be routinely tidied up by NVIDIA’s algorithm? Whatever the precise implementation, DLSS upscaling will likely be an enormous leap over the rudimentary strategies obtainable to Nintendo Swap builders.

As for the show, there are numerous conflicting rumors. Early reviews from stable sources prompt the Swap 2 would have an 8-inch show LCD show, however there have additionally been rumors about an 7-inch show with a 120Hz refresh price. Some analysts have prompt this might be an OLED display screen, whereas others have stated it could be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED show is principally an LCD show that has a backlight product of (shock!) mini-LEDs somewhat than edge lighting. This enables for native dimming, making the blacks extra black. I’m hedging my bets right here. I believe it’ll be a typical LCD, to chop prices, with an OLED or Mini-LED mannequin coming later down the road. Nevertheless, Mini-LED screens are barely cheaper than OLED shows, in order that’s actually a risk at launch.

As for decision, current reporting means that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That is significantly better than the OG Swap.

How a lot will the Nintendo Swap 2 value?

We do not have an excessive amount of data relating to value however we do have loads of historical past to work with. The unique Nintendo Swap launched at $300, which is just about the “magic quantity” in the case of Nintendo console releases lately. The Wii U additionally got here in at $300.

Nevertheless, there are many rumors circulating that Nintendo may very well be upping the asking value for the Swap 2. Quite a few retailers have reported it’ll be $400, or doubtlessly much more costly. Nevertheless, the identical analysts who say the console will likely be $400 have been additionally pretty sure it could be out by the tip of 2024 and, effectively, it appears like that ain’t occurring.

Dipping again into historical past, there may be some priority for a value uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Swap elevated to $300 and, effectively, numbers wish to go up. A $400 price ticket would make it almost as costly as a PS5 and Xbox Collection X. That may additionally put it on the identical value because the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.

Will we learn about any launch video games?

Nope! Nevertheless it’s actually been a long time since we’ve gotten a correct 3D Mario journey, proper? That may be one heck of a system vendor. Apart from that, your guess is nearly as good as mine. Previous as prologue, we are able to count on one thing from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Swap.

If there’s a gimmick or hook concerned with the console, we’ll additionally get a sport that takes benefit of that. A twin launch of Metroid Prime 4, identical to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess earlier than that, can be a risk. Lastly, there have been rumblings that the massive launch title may very well be none other than Mario Kart 9.

That is every little thing we all know concerning the Nintendo Swap 2 at this time. We’ll replace this text with rumors we belief and with data we collect instantly from sources. Any adjustments made to the article after its preliminary publishing will likely be listed beneath.

Replace, January 10, 2025, 12:40 PM ET: This story has been up to date with particulars concerning the Swap 2’s alleged “C” button, together with the Pleasure-Con optical sensors. We additionally wrote concerning the announcement window and launch video games. Lastly, we coated bulletins from Nintendo and Genki relating to a possible leak.