Successor to the Switch to be announced this fiscal year

[~Kilza~]

It's been widely speculated that the successor to the Switch would be coming soon, and now we have official confirmation from Nintendo it'll be announced prior to the end of the fiscal year (March 2025). They have also confirmed the next Direct will be in June, but it won't be revealed then:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1787736518762881197

Now that we know we will have the successor to the Switch soon enough, what are your thoughts on the end of the Switch being in sight? What are your expectations for the Switch's successor?

For me, it definitely feels long overdue at this point. Like it's honestly impressive the Switch has lasted 7+ years, but it did lately feel like the writing was on the wall that the next Nintendo console had to be coming sooner rather than later. I'm definitely looking forward to having more concrete info about the successor soon, rather than just all the rumours and speculation that have been thrown out there. I don't really have any expectations for it at this point aside from the basic thinking of "more powerful Switch" and hoping it will be backwards compatible with the Switch games.

 

[Midoriya]

I don't really care to be honest. Not sure if I'll get it day 1 as there's still a ton of games I have left to play on my Switch. I do wonder how it's going to be better than the Switch though, and if it will include any gimmicks.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I don’t seem to care that the Switch era is finally coming to an end, even though I have evolved into a handheld gamer.

Though I would like it if the next Animal Crossing game was the launch title. I doubt that would happen, but that would be so golden.

 

[Seastar]

I don't think I'm going to be able to afford another console anytime soon, so I am kinda dreading this. The feeling of missing out if something I really want comes to it... I'm not sure how I will handle it.

 

[jawsehlynn]

although it has been a long time since the switch released i don't want it to be forgotten yet there's still so much you can do on the switch... maybe i'm thinking too ahead with the 3ds shutdown recently, but it's bittersweet moving on to the next big thing

 

[magicaldonkey]

not sure as to whether i'll purchase on launch day or not (unless there's a limited edition animal crossing console announced in which case i might do). honestly just hoping for themes and something that's got streetpass vibes and those alone will catch my attention tbh

 

[Yoshi155]

I guess I’m kind of happy the Switch era is ending. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the Switch, but I’m ready for a new console.

But now I have a lot of questions for the next console. How similar will it be to the Switch? For example, will it be backwards compatible with the Switch? Will it use a similar design? Will it use the same online service? Hopefully. Also, I’m excited to see what games they release on it. Especially the new Smash game and whatever new Animal Crossing and/or 3D Mario game is released (you know, Nintendo, it’s not too late to make Super Mario Galaxy 3 happen).

 

[McRibbie]

Woke up to Pyoro retweeting the NCL announcement and somehow managed to still be surprised by the announcement a little, given I knew that Nintendo's investor meeting was today, have been keeping a firm eye on the current rumours, and the Switch's library for this year gives a distinct "end of console lifecycle" feeling.

Still enjoying the Switch (and still need to majorly tackle my backlog this year) but have also been waiting for this announcement for a good 9 months at least, so I'm glad to hear it's happening at some point before next April (but I feel as if they're gonna do another October announcement again). Also find it funny that I've bought both the PS4 and PS5 during the Switch's entire lifetime (admittedly I bought the 4 5 months before I got the Switch, and I've primarily used both to play GTA V and as media centres)

Feel as if the next Animal Crossing's probably going to be a launch year but not launch day title (unless we're extremely lucky), feel as if the next 3D Mario's a next September thing (it's the 40th anniversary of Mario!) and Mario Kart's happening... sometime? Not holding my breath for themes; the 3DS is a handheld console primarily geared towards the individual player and it got more customisation options to make the system feel more personalised to the player/coincide with the launch of the new 3DS, which had cover plates for even further customisation/bring more revenue in during the Rocky Short Life Of The Wii U, while the Switch is a hybrid console that can be used both as a handheld and a home console, so it's less geared towards the individual player (on top of its menu being fairly simple and no-nonsense so it doesn't slow the system down)... but I'd wanna see something like Streetpass for the mobile phone app, if only for the fact that it's another System Specific Communication Feature that Animal Crossing can use.

 

[Lancelot]

Whether or not I buy it on release will REALLY (reallly really really) depend on the release games. I'm not too fussed about getting a new switch anytime soon, but would also kinda like one so if there is a release game/game near release that I can't say no to I might cop.

Exciting either way though, I hope they step up their graphics game.

 

[SkyKnight03]

My family will end up purchasing it either way (since they tend to always get the newest Nintendo consoles). I'm not entirely excited. I wasn't a fan of the direction Nintendo went with some of the decisions. I don't like how they swapped to a payed online service when the online just isn't up to par at all with other consoles. I don't like the removal of the virtual console. I wonder what will happen to the current online library when they decide to not support the switch servers.

The drifting joycons also drove me crazy. I couldn't believe they released a console with non working controllers.

But I suppose I look forward to seeing the direction some of these franchises will go, including animal crossing c:

 

[Corrie]

Usually I'm annoyed because I don't want to drop another like 400-600 dollars on a new console but at this point, I'm sick of the Switch lagging so bad that I'm ready for something (hopefully) better. I also hope it'll be backwards compatible so I can just sell my switch and use the new console to play old and new games. I obviously won't buy it right away until there are games to make it worth it for me. So I'm down to wait, unless they announce a new Animal Crossing at launch, then I'm screwed LOL.

 

[JellyBeans]

if it’s backwards compatible with current switch games then I’m quite likely to purchase it fairly soon (bonus points if it’s near my birthday so I can get it as a present) since my switch is truly on its last legs, but if it isn’t then I’ll likely hold out until there’s a wide selection of games I’d be wanting to play on the new console. there’s still a lot of content I want to get out of the switch so my priority will be getting through that over having the newest device!

 

[TotodileStars]

I'm not likely to buy it any time soon unless it's backwards compatible, and has enough things on its own to make it an improvement over the Switch (not having joycon drift would be nice, for one, and I'd also like to see themes and othe neat little features come back).
I have a pretty big backlog of Switch, and even 3DS, games that I don't want to keep building up any longer, so I'll be focusing on those for a while.

 

[ShinyDungeoneer]

i'm excited, but I have one question: What's the next logical upgrade to go to? we went from portable to home console/portable, and how's Nintendo gonna upgrade from that? VR? (ok but having Nintendo expand upon the VR idea they had with Labo would be so cool, just imagine a VR pokemon or Mario Kart!)

 

[daringred_]

echoing that i probably won't buy it any time soon. part of me regrets even buying the switch lite i have since i don't use it anymore, and i only bought that when new horizons dropped, so when i buy the successor will depend entirely on what releases on it and when.

 

[MrBox]

If there's a new Splatoon game coming out with the release, then yes. I will get it on release. If not, I will probably get it when the next Splatoon game comes out.
My thoughts on a new console is... Whyyyyyy....

 

[-Blue-]

The Switch has been out for quite a while now. 2017-2024 or 2025 is quite the run for a console. That's almost 10 years. It's expected it would happen sometime soon. PS5 and Xbox Series X both dropped around 2020. It might not seem like it, but they've been out for a while, but due to console shortages a lot of people weren't able to get them.

 

[.: Meri :.]

I usually wait to grab a new console until a year or so after release, whenever there's a few must-have games I want on it, so I don't see myself getting the Switch successor for a good while. I've still got a ton of Switch games to play in the meantime. I might go for it sooner if the next AC game is one of the early titles for it, but I definitely won't be getting it day one either way.

My hopes are that it'll run more smoothly and still be a handheld/portable device—I almost never play console games on the TV, so if they go that route idk what I'll do lol ;w; I also hope we'll see the return of themes and better customization (preferably with the inclusion of other available games aside from the standard Nintendo-exclusive franchises... pls just let me have Dragon Quest or Rune Factory themes or something...). But heck, even just other background colors or patterns would be great—the Switch's blank white and industrial gray background color options are... kinda spartan tbh.

The one thing that has me a little nervous is that the English otome market has absolutely thrived on the Switch and I don't want to see that dry up anytime soon. Ofc it's not like the Switch itself is going anywhere for the time being, and I imagine it'll keep getting new releases for a while yet, but there's still a few Switch otome games that I really want to get English releases, so I'm starting to feel antsy about the prospects of that hhhh

 

[Beanz]

i'm happy, i never was a big fan of the switch era anyway but i don't know what to expect from its successor, hoping that there will be backwards compatibility. i most likely will not get it on release unless there's a launch title that i really like, if it's animal crossing.. shut up and take my money!!

 

[McRibbie]

The Switch has been out for quite a while now. 2017-2024 or 2025 is quite the run for a console. That's almost 10 years. It's expected it would happen sometime soon. PS5 and Xbox Series X both dropped around 2020. It might not seem like it, but they've been out for a while, but due to console shortages a lot of people weren't able to get them.

it's extremely funny that

a) there's a year at best between them being able to make enough PS5s so retailers could actually sell them (and not just get a few in every month then have empty display boxes and out of stock labels) and them dropping the PS5 slim (one of the biggest factors in me going "sod it, I'm going to get a PS5" last June is that I got the feeling that they were going to do a slim at the end of the year, and like every other slim outside of the PS3's, it was going to look worse. I was right, it does!)

b) it's going to have been 4 years since both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X came out at the end of this year... and it barely feels like they've gotten started properly yet. The semiconductor shortage made it so you couldn't actually get one for ages unless you paid a king's ransom to scalpers, cross-gen made me hold off because "hey, I can still play this on the PS4, what's the point in buying this" , both manufacturers are barely putting out games, studios are getting shut down left, right and centre or having layoffs, and we're somehow in the midpoint of their lifecycle!

agreed that (up to) 8 years of being The Main Console is a big run for Nintendo, tho. Not quite the 9 years the original Game Boy (somehow) managed before the Color showed up (Nintendo themselves only seemed to put out 5 or so titles for it per year), but it's lasted longer than basically everything else at this point. If it's still getting the odd straggly title and there's a budget OG Switch on the market up until 2028 it'll have lasted as long as the NES did, and this isn't even factoring in backwards compatibility (which, yeah. It's probably going to have, given Nintendo's track record with it)