Nintendo has a plan… has always had a plan… in fact, it always has more than one. Therefore, stating that the surprise announcement of Nintendo Switch 2, which occurred a few hours ago, was created in a hurry to counteract leaks is the worst thing one can say. If the company had made the same move last week, on that much-cited January 8th, in the midst of CES 2025 and with the media attention focused on the technological innovations that we will see in 2025, perhaps we could have said that Nintendo has taken action, but seeing Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time today, January 16th, further reiterates that Nintendo follows very specific patterns, which with a little attention can be seen by anyone.
First, the Colossus of Kyotonever overlaps its releases, nor diverts media attention from already planned products. A trend that has intensified over the past few years and which sees Nintendo making flash announcements, setting up Directs or, very simply, opening pre-orders of the announced products, between 24 and 48 hours following the expiry of an embargo or following the day one of a product. Did the Donkey Kong Country Returns HD embargoes expire last Tuesday? 48 hours later they showed the Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time. Is the new version of the famous platformer starring the iconic gorilla coming out on Friday 17th? Pre-orders for any collector’s editions of will appear in the following days Xenoblade Chronicles X. Does this seem absurd to you? In reality it makes perfect sense to avoid cannibalizing attention on releases and maximize sales of those productions which, even if for many players they may seem “second rate”, are treated by Nintendo all in the same way.
So, does it make sense that the first Nintendo Switch 2 trailer came out today? Yes, absolutely, just as it is perfectly logical for the company to schedule the first Direct dedicated to the new console on April 2nd, i.e. following the release of the latest “first party” production for Nintendo Switch, scheduled for March 20th 2025 . A move clearly designed to maximize pre-orderswith the promise of being able to enjoy its library of games on the next console, and at the same time maintaining high attention towards the company in these weeks, which are poorer in terms of news, which separate us from the start of the aggressive marketing campaign which will anticipate the release of Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s true, many accessory companies have declared that an announcement was expected in the pre-Christmas period, but as I was telling you, Nintendo, like every company in the world, has more and more plans ready to be implemented, meticulously studied to maximize profits. Announcing Switch 2, without a date, before the holidays, would have been commercial suicide and would have drastically reduced it sales of the current generation of consoles, which have already suffered a decline compared to the 2023 holidays. Moving as it showed today, Nintendo has clearly outlined, without saying any details, how it will move in the coming months. Direct presentation of the console, and of the future line-up, following the release of Xenoblade Chronicles new console, and the line-up of titles that will join it on store shelves.
A “perfectly Nintendo” design
Now coming to the bone of contention, there is very little to say. From what we know to date, the design of Nintendo Switch 2 is fine as it is and is perfectly in line with the company’s new direction. Same form factor, bigger, more refined, more refined, at least apparently, in terms of ergonomics, but which it does not detach itself from the past. We console players are used to seeing distorted designs with every generational change, but Nintendo Switch doesn’t need it. The company has clearly shown over the years that its hybrid console is a product in progress, capable of appearing on the market every X years, with a redesign adorned with incremental changes.
First we had the model with an improved screen and longer battery life, then it arrived the OLED version and now a new generation which, among the complaints of many, presents itself with a design very similar to the previous generation, albeit heavily renewed in many aspects.
It is useless now to talk, or rather rant, about LED screens, identical joysticks and details of which, officially, we know nothing. What is certain, however, is that for Nintendo “you don’t change the team that wins” and that the company strongly seeks continuity, clearly visible in the design of Nintendo Switch 2.
In the trailer we could only see the black variant of the console, it is rumored there will also be a white version and one dedicated to Mario’s fortieth anniversary, but it was enough for us to understand that the famous neon colors have not been cast aside by Nintendobut they have been softened in shades, which now turn towards pastel, and used as “color codes” to embellish and support the new Joy-Cons.
The latter also show the same sticks, the same buttons and a form factor very similar to the Joy-Cons currently on the market. The most important changes are all to be found in the new magnetic connectors and additional space given by the larger size of the controllersexploited by Nintendo to make it more convenient to use the Joy-Con individually to play together with a single console.
For goodness sake, you can’t point the finger at those who cry scandal and accuse Nintendo of laziness, but if you do it with the Kyoto company, you must also do it with 90% of smartphone manufacturersor perhaps understand that it is not necessary to overturn a design that works… when it is enough to improve the aspects that worked less.
Do we know if the sticks will be Hall Effect? No. Do we know if the rear triggers will be analog? No. For the moment we only know that the design of the Joy-Con will be similar to the previous ones, with a series of aesthetic changes which, from the images shown, seem to improve some of the design problems noted by players over the past 7 years.
The rest of the Nintendo Switch design is still lacking in detail. The console will be bigger, it will have a second USB-C, the internal stand has been redesigned, but in the end what matters is what will be under the hood… and for that we should wait until next April 2nd. Until that moment, we can also indulge in flights of fancy, bask in the excitement that spreads with each new console launch, or embrace the dark side, and be indignant at a design that doesn’t dare.
Having said that there is very little to add. Nintendo, today, tacitly declared that the concept of “new generation” for her took on a different concept from that of the GameCube, Nintendo 64 and Wii periodsveering towards a continuity that will certainly make “old school players” turn up their noses, but which is objectively functional and perfectly in line with what Nintendo has become, year after year, over the last few years.
Source: www.tomshw.it
