It’s 2023. In March, the Nintendo Switch will celebrate its 6th anniversary. That’s really impressive! There are not many consoles that have been on shelves (never mind flying off them) for more than half a decade, at least not with a major hardware update halfway through (and no the OLED doesn’t really count). I’ve spoken about the success of the Switch before, but it’s hard to overstate how massive a success the hybrid console has been – Nintendo’s latest figures show that the console has sold over 122,5 million units making it the third best-selling console of all time.
While questions about the Switch’s graphical and processing power and the ‘need’ for something new have been around for some time, a quick look through video game news sites in 2023 and you’ll notice there’s an even louder voice saying the Switch NEEDS a major upgrade with some strongly-worded opinion pieces in that vein hitting the headlines recently. And while I may not agree with everything said in those articles, Pokémon’s Scarlet/Violet (while selling extremely well – over 20 million units in under two months) did a good job of becoming the worst kind of poster child. The classic example of a game that stuttered and chugged so noticeably that you can’t help but question the hardware. And those performance issues, plus the lack of big 2023 announcements, definitely adds weight to their argument.
But on the flip (Switch) side
That being said, I do feel Nintendo is in a rather unique position…
Not only has the Switch been the bestselling console in the US for almost every month for the entire period it has been on sale (the PS5 took the odd top spot over the last year or so), but it also continues to sell very, very well. And yes, right now, we don’t know what big-name titles are coming after April (tomorrow morning’s Direct may change that). However, the one game we do already know about just happens to be The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom; The sequel to what many consider the best game of all time. And if that wasn’t enough reason to keep the Switch sales going… the Mario movie will likely bring in a massive number of new fans looking for a console to play Mario games on. So it really doesn’t seem the best time to announce a brand-new console.
2023: To Switch or not to Switch
2023 is a confounding year for Nintendo. It’s hard to argue that the console is showing its age in the technical department. No doubt developers are working on Xbox Series X and PS5 games that have an increasingly difficult job if they want their games also to work in any reasonable form on the Switch. And if Violet/Scarlet are any indication, even internal Nintendo teams seem to have squeezed every bit of power and processing prowess from the current Switch.
Nintendo must already know what the next bit of console hardware will be. And history would tell us we should already have some indication of what it will be. However, add continued good sales (two years of pandemic-fuelled shortages), the Mario Movie and the new Zelda game… and it (also) almost makes ZERO sense to talk about anything but the Switch.
So, clearly, Nintendo has a 2023 Switch-shaped problem. It’s a wonderful problem to have, but it’s a problem, nonetheless. Tomorrow night we will have the now traditional February-Direct, so maybe we’ll have more concrete info soon. However, unless any new console hardware talk also includes the phrase ‘backwards compatibility,’ it’s anyone’s guess when the Switch will finally leave our lives. And as someone who feels like it’s probably my favourite console of all time – I’m happy if it stays a little longer.