New Animal Crossing Switch Lites announced

[Amilee]

Hey hey
Nintendo just announced 2 new switch lites themed Animal Crossing

https://twitter.com/x/status/1699068381071302871

It's a little late I feel like but I think they are cute and I'm definitely tempted! Will anyone of you buy one of these?
Do you think we could get another update and thats why we get these now?

 

[Corrie]

Yeah I'm actually curious as to why they'd bother this late in the game. Maybe there's something new for AC coming soon????

 

[Croconaw]

I like the turquoise one but I already have a working Switch Lite. I don’t see a need for a new one. I’ll stick with my current one.

 

[wrenbow]

It's definitely interesting that they're advertising ACNH so much lately when they've clearly said they don't plan to do anything with it, especially since most people that would be interested in playing ACNH already have a Switch (and ACNH).

Since they specifically said there'll be no more free updates I always wondered if we'd get a paid update or another DLC at some point, but that's almost definitely just wishful thinking.

 

[Amilee]

It's definitely interesting that they're advertising ACNH so much lately when they've clearly said they don't plan to do anything with it, especially since most people that would be interested in playing ACNH already have a Switch (and ACNH).

Since they specifically said there'll be no more free updates I always wondered if we'd get a paid update or another DLC at some point, but that's almost definitely just wishful thinking.

They did update new leaf rather late too so maybe? Or maybe they just want to push the ac game sells one last time

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

That's... odd.

I suspect perhaps a spin off?
I mean, Idk. It's so late. They said no more updates, but maybe they are reconsidering. But, if they do an update... what would it even be? It would be better off as a new game that would be fleshed better. And I'd hate to see a bunch of villagers added as the update(esp if they get locked into ACNH). It would be better with a new game.
Maybe crossover characters? Odd for launching an ac system with that but, eh Nintendo.
I most certainly won't be getting them. I already have a system to play ACNH on and it runs better. It would have been nice to see this switch lite on the shelves in 2020 or 2021.

Could be one last push for sales before moving on since holidays are coming up.

 

[Halloqueen]

I very much doubt that this signifies anything new coming to Animal Crossing New Horizons. I could be wrong of course, and I'd welcome being wrong on this matter, but considering what they said before, I consider that ship as having sailed years ago now.

Nintendo being Nintendo, I could see them seeing the sales of Animal Crossing New Horizons and just thinking "We can profit from this." by just releasing a console tie-in. I don't think there necessarily has to be anything else going on.

Since they specifically said there'll be no more free updates I always wondered if we'd get a paid update or another DLC at some point, but that's almost definitely just wishful thinking.

Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken, but if memory serves, the "last free update" wording was just the wording of the English announcement, whereas the Japanese announcement didn't say anything about "free" and thus people understood it to mean that there would be no more updates at all.

---

As for these new Switch Lites, I continue to not understand why people would want to spend money on a console where the JoyCons aren't removable, considering the drifting issues and how you'd have to send the whole console to Nintendo for repair if/when drift does develop. Granted, I'm a person who prefers playing the Switch docked and prefers playing video games on the television, whereas other people prefer handheld, but the Lite just seems like more of a hassle given the realities of the Nintendo Switch.

Seeing these new ones, my brain at first was just like "Didn't these exist already?". They're seemingly using preexisting colors that Switch Lites have already been using for a while, and they've used the leaf pattern before on other products like carrying cases, so that explains it. Cool for anyone who wants to grab one though.

 

[wrenbow]

Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken, but if memory serves, the "last free update" wording was just the wording of the English announcement, whereas the Japanese announcement didn't say anything about "free" and thus people understood it to mean that there would be no more updates at all.

I just checked and you're right, I never watched the Japanese version so I didn't catch that before.

By the looks of it this is just a last push to sell some more units then, as much as I'd like a Welcome Amiibo style surprise update. Maybe it's just because Switch sales are declining lol

 

[tofu_lizard]

It's cute but definitely too late for me personally, I play on a lite that I was gifted specifically because of ACNH's release
That being said, I love how simple the design is, it's not too flashy and is still really cute!

 

[Zane]

I’m just shocked they released a special edition that actually comes with the game again.

 

[~Kilza~]

I wouldn't read too much into the fact that these are coming out now. As Halloqueen pointed out, these are pre-existing Switch Lite colors, so it was probably easy enough for Nintendo to take their existing stock, add the AC leaf pattern to it, and bundle it with NH as well. So for me, it's not a sign of "something new is coming to NH!", it's more just a marketing tactic to sell more Switches given how well NH sold. Still, they're nice variants for people that want to pick one up.

 

[kayleee]

Why am I tempted to buy this when I barely play NH anymore and already have 2 switches ummm lol

 

[TN4U]

I've got two Switches (one OLED) that can dock to my TV, so I'm good. I've never bothered with the lite as I only play my games handheld if I'm away on a multi-day vacation. Besides, I can just buy new Joycons if buttons or sticks break.

Since we're talking about it, I'll throw in my two cents. As far as I'm aware, I'm pretty sure nobody expected Welcome Amiibo when that came out. Does this mean NH will also get a surprise paid DLC update in the next few months? Most likely not, but who knows. Welcome Amiibo came out in early November 2016, and we're already two months away right now. I'm not expecting anything, as I really don't know what else Nintendo could introduce to the game other than quality of life stuff, and I'm fairly sure nobody would want to pay for a quality of life update (I could be completely wrong about this, however ).

Keep in mind that New Horizons became one of Nintendo's best selling games, but for the wrong reasons. I think they're doing the right thing by not constantly advertising the game, as its over three years old and pretty much every Switch owner knows about it. It's not like Pokémon where they can introduce new characters, fights, and locations all the time. I honestly think Pokémon is a bit over-advertised in my opinion, but it's been an established property since the Game Boy days, and it has its die-hard fans. You can do a whole lot more in that series compared to Animal Crossing.

Also, off topic, but has anyone seen PlayStation's version of the Switch? I took a look at it, and I instantly thought that they just took a Switch screen, cut a PS5 controller in half, glued the sides together, and called it a product. I thought it was a cruel photoshop joke, but the announcement email I got was real. Also, I really don't see the need to buy something like that if you can only use the same WiFi signal that the PS5 uses. It defeats the whole purpose of remote portable gaming.

 

[Paperboy012305]

I mean, sure, not that I’m going to get any but it’s nice to see that they’re doing something like this for the holidays.

What I think they also should have done was add the DLC to the bundles so they don’t have to go through the trouble of getting an eshop card/use a credit card to buy the DLC.

And as some said, this will not hint at anything Animal Crossing related, but that doesn’t mean nothing Animal Crossing related will happen. Just because the team swap over to Splatoon doesn’t mean they stop production on future AC content, they could be working on the new AC game as we speak. And as for the spinoff, we legit just got one 2 years ago with Happy Home Paradise, that in itself counts as one despite being in the main game.

As for the fate of future Animal Crossing for this year, the least we can do is hope for a spinoff to be announced in this month’s Direct. And if not we’ll never know, it could just be HHP as this 5th generation of Animal Crossing’s spinoff.

 

[Belle T]

They've already announced the Super Mario Bros. Wonder edition Switch model, so I tend to think that these models are probably just an attempt to cash in on people who may be ordering a Switch specifically for the new games releasing later this year. I doubt it means we'll be seeing anything exactly relevant to Animal Crossing, particularly since these models just use the generic leaf pattern that you also see on Animal Crossing merchandise from Nintendo's online store, rather than anything really unique to them.

 

[-Blue-]

It could just be that they wanted to make NH skin themes for the Switch lite versions. Still seems kind of stupid since the Switch lite came out in 2019? So it was already out by the time NH rolled in at 2020. And they could've easily banked on this had they done this sooner for the Lite version. Like when they released the Switch NH version in February of 2020.

I think everyone is going to get their hopes up. Nintendo dropped this game faster than a hot potato. I can't see them coming back with how they handled its original release and dripfed content.

 

[oath2order]

They did update new leaf rather late too so maybe? Or maybe they just want to push the ac game sells one last time

It's realistically that. Just get the last bit of sales as possible.

And besides, the team behind ACNH is also the team behind Splatoon, and they're busy at the moment.

 

[Sharksheep]

Probably just something for the holiday season. Doesn't look that special since the switch lite already came in those colors. I wouldn't be surprised if there's also similar decals sold on Etsy.

 

[NicksFixed]

With the Switch 2 apparently coming late next year, and a Lego collaboration for March 2024 [the game's fourth anniversary], I wonder if they have a trick up their sleeve for AC ... It'll be four years since NH, which is about the average time for development of a new game ...

Fingers, toes and ... other things ... crossed ...

 

[TN4U]

I honestly don't think anything major's going to happen with the series until Splatoon 3 stops receiving content updates. Once that happens, then I'll start expecting at least something.