The gaming world has been abuzz with discussion of Nintendo’s next console for quite some time now. Rumored to be launching early next year, the successor to the Switch has many people talking about their hopes and expectations for the new hardware. I thought it would be fun to lay out my wishes for the new system, which I’ll dub the Switch 2 for the sake of convenience.
While nothing about the console has officially been revealed yet, I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t stick to the Switch’s hybrid console format. I think it’s a great approach to hardware, and the system’s sales figures point to plenty of other people feeling the same way. The convenience factor of being able to play your games on the go or docked has made more traditional consoles feel obsolete to me, so I really hope they don’t mess with the formula too much here. I wouldn’t mind having multiple models available that include a portable-only variant, such as the existing Switch Lite, but I hope the Switch 2’s DNA remains the same.
My next wish for the Switch 2 is better performance. I don’t expect anything too crazy here, as the aforementioned portability means it still won’t be able to match the specs of a PS5 or Xbox Series X, but it would be nice to see games run better on the new console. Many Switch games that I adore have issues with stuttery framerate, including Link’s Awakening, Metroid Dread and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and I would appreciate better hardware leading to smoother performance. Keep the graphics as they are, in my opinion. Nintendo is very adept at making their first-party games visually appealing with strong art direction and stylized graphics over realism and high polygon counts, and I’m perfectly fine with that. Just make the experience of actually playing the game smoother and I’ll be a happy customer.
Finally, I hope the Switch 2 has full backwards compatibility. Shigeru Miyamoto has made some vague comments about the matter, but nothing else has been laid out about the company’s plans for this feature. I have a large library of both physical and digital Switch games, and I’d hate to have to hold on to the previous console to keep playing them. Ideally, I hope they stick with the same cartridges to ensure physical games still work, and use the My Nintendo account system to make sure digital purchases carry over. Great strides have been made in regard to backwards compatibility in recent years, with Valve, Microsoft and Sony all taking steps to make digital libraries move with you. I hope Nintendo goes all-out with this for the Switch 2.
There you have it, my shortlist of desired features for the Switch 2. It sounds like it may be revealed later this year, so I likely won’t be waiting too long to see if my wishes are granted. I’d like to think I’m not asking for too much here, just some improved performance and backwards compatibility using the same hybrid hardware. Here’s hoping the new console is a good one!
Kay Talks Games 