Seven years ago, Nintendo took its biggest risk yet and released this Nintendo Switch, a forward-thinking and bold home console that had the courage to be a handheld in the first place. It’s hard to argue with the results of this bet later, especially considering the Switch’s continued success across numerous flagship series, becoming one of the best-selling consoles of all time 139 million units sold.
Since 2017, it has received two groundbreaking projects Legend of Zelda Games, a port of Mario Kart 8 that is old more than 60 million copies and has been at the top of the sales charts for years, with a whopping nine major entries (including a few remakes) in the Pokémon seriesThe Super Smash Bros. Title that ends all crossovers and the mainstream success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons
It’s remarkable to think back on how skeptical everyone was about the Switch at first – and how completely wrong many of us were about its chances of success. I remember being one of the lucky few who grabbed a pre-order but then gave it to a friend because I just didn’t “get” the premise. There was simply no way that a console that I could play on the go could also provide a satisfying experience on a TV. At the height of this fad, I showed up for the GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS. While I still enjoy the days of midday pictochats, even those hit systems eventually lost their luster. I played my PSP longer than anyone I knew, but I was the only person in my immediate circle who had a Vita. Being the handheld guy went from a blessing to a curse in just a few years, and after the colossal failure of the Wii U, the Switch felt like the proverbial nail in Nintendo’s coffin, especially given all the hype surrounding mobile gaming.
When handhelds came onto the market, the phone’s place in the gaming world expanded rapidly. In markets like Asia, mobile gaming has already become one of the country’s most popular pastimes and, until recently, seemingly all of the world’s money was invested in mobile and gacha games. Fourteen days on iOS actually launched about two months faster than the Switch port. As recently as 2019, outgoing PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said effectively Game Informer that handhelds are dead: “PlayStation Vita was brilliant in many ways and the actual gaming experience was great, but it’s clearly a business we’re no longer in.” (The Steam Deck and PlayStation Portal would be on speaking terms be happy.)
The Switch has not only survived the rise of mobile games, but has also thrived with them. And having overcome the odds, Nintendo is the way to go Switch 2
Luckily, you can’t throw a stone without coming across a leaker, rumor, or report about the Switch 2, and a formal announcement seems pretty imminent. Not only are the leaks piling up every other day, but the Switch release calendar for 2024 paints a pretty clear picture of the road ahead for all of us. A sparse calendar offering for 2024 sets the stage for a stormy 2025. This is reportedly the case for Nintendo Mass buildup for Switch 2 units before March 2025 and major releases like Pokémon ZA Are skip this year to target the next one, which all but confirms the elephant in the room. Suffice it to say, it looks like we’ll have two birthdays to celebrate next March, and I’m pretty excited about it.
