A report published today (July 31) has claimed that the development kits for Nintendo‘s next console have been sent to “key partner studios” ahead of a launch in 2024.
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Video Games Chronicle‘s sources suggested that the new next-gen console would share similarities with the Nintendo Switch with portable features. Additionally, the console would use a LCD screen rather than an OLED to cut costs on development and allow for storage for more technically demanding titles.
There will also be a cartridge slot for physical copies of games to be played. At the moment, the plan is to put the console on the shelves in the second half of 2024 so that shortages might be circumvented. Stock levels caused a significant amount of trouble for both Microsoft and Sony when the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 were launched in late 2020.
“I would generally say that looking at Nintendo’s financials, it seems clear that it’s time for a new piece of hardware in 2024,” said industry consultant Dr Serkan Toto in a comment to Video Games Chronicle.
Christopher Dring, ReedPop’s head of games B2B, agreed with Toto, however stated that Nintendo might confront a number of issues with a new console launch.
“Although its core fans are eager for more hardware, its more family-orientated ‘casual’ fans will need more convincing. What will the next Mario Kart offer that they’re currently not getting from the current one, for example?” exemplified Dring, and continued to say that there should be a bigger selection of games on the new console than there were on the Nintendo Switch in 2017.
In 2022, Nintendo said that its focus was “to expand and grow this 100m [Switch] users, leading into next-gen device” which pointed towards backwards compatibility between the Switch and the new console. The company did not elaborate at the time though.
In other gaming news, Minecraft players are encountering a concerning vulnerability in modded servers that allows nefarious actors to take control of their PC.
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