Get your grain of salt prepared: A brand new leak means that Nintendo is about to launch its “next-gen” console. Insiders mentioned it could be one other hybrid just like the Swap. Nevertheless, the brand new gadget will ditch the OLED display screen for an LED to save lots of on manufacturing prices. Nintendo is capturing to launch the hand-held within the second half of 2024, and devkits are already within the fingers of builders.
Launch dates for a brand new Nintendo Swap have been in all places, however VGC sources count on it to reach in H2 2024, corroborating a earlier rumor. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa additionally informed traders to not count on new {hardware} till after fiscal 12 months 2023, which ends on March 31, 2024 lining up not fairly completely with the brand new info.
Whereas not an official affirmation, the date at the very least jives with the corporate’s said expectations, not like different rumors claiming launches as early as 2020 or 2021. The Swap celebrated its sixth anniversary in March, so the potential for brand new {hardware} towards the top of 2024 or early 2025 appears extra consistent with a typical console technology. Moreover, Furukawa-san just lately mentioned that Nintendo is ready for a “clean transition” to new {hardware}, all however confirming that an up to date gadget is imminent.
The information additionally comes as Swap gross sales are declining. Shipments for 2022 have been down greater than 22 %, and Nintendo’s bean counters forecast one other decline of 15 % for FY2023. Moreover, a report from Nikkei earlier this 12 months proposed an analogous timeframe based mostly on ongoing talks between Nintendo and its components suppliers.
Apart from the potential launch window and the disappointing display screen information, the insiders have been stingy with every other particulars. They talked about that it could have “a cartridge slot” for bodily video games, however it’s unclear if that can be any completely different from the present SanDisk-like port the present console has. Aside from that, the remainder of the specs are topic to our creativeness.
Presumably, we will at the very least count on extra highly effective processors. Whereas Nintendo’s newest AAA launch, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, runs fantastically on the growing older system, Kotaku notes that the gadget has proven some problem working different latest titles, together with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.