Rumors will be rumors and we should take them with a grain of salt, but I thought this would be interesting for discussion.
What gameplay applications do you think these possible scroll wheels would be useful for?
If the console is a traditional console, would the switch then become what the Wii U gamepad was always meant to be? The console could be backwards compatible with the switch able to take the games on the go or stream them locally, or act as a second screen.
In all likelyhood this is just a dev kit, but you would still think it would be a handheld, right?
What do you think?
Not to be too dismissive, but I agree that it should be taken with a grain of salt. I also would expect that somebody who’s supposedly a part of Nintendo R&D specifically will be more likely to be walking around with many attempts at proof-of-concept hardware ideas that aren’t (yet) intended to ship in a final product, and only an incredibly tiny portion of such ideas will ever make it far enough to even be in consideration for a new device.
The weird thing is that it seems late for Nintendo to still be working on R&D for the Switch 2. This is probably less than a year from announcement. At this point, I would expect them to be hammering out agreements with suppliers, so the hardware should be more-or-less done.
Then again, I have no idea what the timeline is like for console development.
It’s not weird at all. They’ll be tweaking things they don’t have signed contracts for right up until reveal, and they won’t reveal until the tweaking is done.
What’s being sent out to developers are formless computer boxes that either house the performance hardware that will be used, or have very similar specs to what’s expected to be in the final product, plus the operating system, SDK, and accompanying libraries.
At my last place of work, we had some Wii devkits in storage. They looked like old stereo equipment, and told you literally nothing about what the system would look like out of the box.
Yeah it’s got to still be a handheld. The Switch has been too popular to go back.
I honestly think this sounds legit but only as an R&D. I doubt someone would travel outside HQ with a prototype that didn’t make the cut.
I’m sure this was just a developer kit and nothing to worry about, but if Nintendo is legit dropping handheld support, that would be a GIGANTIC mistake. They’d be squandering every drop of goodwill they’ve earned with the Switch’s success. Nintendo has found a wonderful little niche making super high-quality games with last-gen hardware that can be enjoyed on a TV or on the go.
I love my PS5, but I still turn to my Switch over and over again because of its versatility
Agreed. Nintendo either needs to stick to making handheld/console hybrids or commit to making bleeding edge hardware capable of pushing AAA Graphics at 4K 60FPS. And even then, they would have stiff competition with the libraries of Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
It’d be a real interesting move for sure. Personally I have a PS5 and gaming computer for when I want lifelike graphics, frames, etc. I love my switch for cartoonish characters like Mario and Donkey Kong, it’s couch coop games, and it’s relaxing feel when playing games. I’m honestly not that concerned about it’s performance.
That said, I am excited that it’ll probably add an SSD.
I’m the same.
My PC plugs into a monitor and my living room TV, so I buy for that mostly as it results in the best performance.
I have PS5 for exclusives and my son.
I have a Switch for exclusives and portability. ( I even have a Vita for extra portability).
PersonallyI could live without a portable Switch 2 as I’m planning on going for a next gen Steam Deck or an equivalent once they can handle current gen games.
However I’m definitely not the main market for a switch and I reckon good enough graphics combined with portability has been its greatest selling point.
Synchronicity hitting hard today. I was literally just talking about the idea of scroll wheels in place of the usual triggers.
