Nintendo Switch 2 Coming Next Year, Features Still Undecided

The Switch is arguably one of the biggest things to happen in the gaming industry in recent years. But as it approaches its second year in the market, sales numbers are reportedly starting to plateau and Nintendo is getting a bit worried. Times like this, the most common solution is a Switch version 2. Indeed that might be coming as early as next year but now the problem is figuring out what to put in the next gen handheld console.

It may have the specs and portable convenience of a mobile device but the Nintendo Switch is at the mercy and whim of the gaming console business. While smartphone makers can try to offset dropping sales numbers by launching a new model year after year, major console launches only happen after 3 to 6 years, with some minor refreshes in between.

Next year's Switch would be one of those minor refreshes but The Wall Street Journal's sources say that Nintendo hasn't decided yet what to upgrade. How do you balance selling something new yet at the same time not so new that it becomes incompatible with the still young ecosystem that's still growing around the Switch? One of the possible changes would be with the LCD screen, though the sources claim Nintendo won't make the jump to OLED just yet.

Many Switch users are, however, probably satisfied with the hardware and have software nitpicks instead. In particular, the lack of media playing and web browsing capabilities is one of the top complaints owners have. Nintendo has yet to even expand video streaming functionality beyond Hulu. As such, some might argue Nintendo needs to focus more on software updates this early rather than a hardware refresh.

And then there's the issue surrounding the Nintendo 3DS system. Focusing on a new Switch just two years after the first would feel like Nintendo is indeed abandoning its older gaming handheld. While Nintendo publicly committed to continuing the 3DS family, new games and the lack of attention seems to indicate otherwise.