Nintendo’s subsequent mainline console is reportedly set to launch within the second half of 2024. As per VGC’s sources, improvement kits for the subsequent gaming console have been despatched out to ‘key accomplice studios,’ including that it may be utilized in moveable mode akin to the present Nintendo Switch. It’s frequent for console producers like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo to supply take a look at models to builders, manner forward of launch, to allow them to begin making, testing, and optimising video games for the mentioned platform. No pricing particulars had been talked about, however for comparability, the Nintendo Switch was launched at $299.99 (about Rs. 24,684) within the US.
The report additionally claims that Nintendo is planning to debut the brand new console with an LCD display screen as a substitute of the premium OLEDs, as a cost-cutting measure. Instead, the associated fee could possibly be devoted extra in direction of storage, as video games enhance in constancy, taking the current-gen PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X AAA titles upwards of 100GB. By default, the usual Switch version comes with 32GB of in-built storage, with newer first-party video games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom taking over greater than half of it — 18.2GB. Not to say, video games from third-party publishers are even bigger. It additionally seems as if the Japanese gaming big is not placing an finish to bodily media both, with the brand new console allegedly primed with a cartridge slot to learn video games.
For now, Nintendo hasn’t formally commented on these experiences, however a report from May alluded that the corporate will not be releasing a brand new console not less than till April 2024. While the Nintendo Switch has offered over 125 million models globally, the general gross sales this yr have gone down, which aligns completely with a 2024 launch for the subsequent era. Let’s not overlook the Nintendo Direct occasion from June both, which revealed a pantheon of recent video games — together with Super Mario Bros. Wonder — which might prolong the Switch’s life cycle into the primary half of subsequent yr. While backwards compatibility on the brand new unnamed console will probably be a blessing for purchasers, the VGC report means that sure third-party publishers have tried pushing again in opposition to the function, claiming that it might forestall them from reselling older video games on the brand new {hardware}.
Earlier this month, the European Union adopted a brand new regulation to implement sustainability for batteries, which implied that handheld gaming consoles can be required to deal with replaceable batteries by 2027. It feels just like the four-year-long interval is adequate time for producers to revamp their upcoming merchandise to go well with their ruling, which states that prospects ought to have the ability to take away and substitute moveable batteries utilizing commercially obtainable instruments or specialised ones which might be included within the package deal — freed from cost. Currently, it is unclear whether or not Nintendo’s upcoming console will keep on with the proposed guidelines for its EU market or if the heavy opposition from console producers will forestall it altogether.
