Despite theNintendo Switch’s overwhelming popularity and success, there is still hope that a newer, more powerful model will be made available. There have certainly been plenty of rumors that aNintendo Switch Prois in the works, with there being claims that it’ll support 4K visuals and that Nintendo is deliberately holding games back to coincide along with its release, likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.
In a recent interview with Polygon, Nintendo of America’s president, Doug Bowser, was asked about these rumors, especially since the company’s 2020 line-up of games has been rather lacking in terms of major triple-A titles. This is when comparing it to 2019’s line-up and even taking into the account the games that were released likeHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamityand the extremely successfulAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
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Bowser responds by saying that, with theSwitchcoming up to its fourth year, Nintendo is still seeing a strong momentum, with the platform continuing to appeal to and reach a wide audience with smaller games, pointing out that even older triple-A content, likeSuper Mario Odyssey, is still selling extremely well.
Regarding potentially upgrading the Switch’s technology, Bowser says the aforementioned momentum means that Nintendo is focusing on the current models (the regular Switch and handheld-only Switch Lite). What’s more, the company believes that it is changing the trajectory of the standard console life-cycle, which suggests that it intends to keep supporting the Switch for possibly longer than usual. Considering the rumors point to the Switch Pro releasing in 2021, Bowser’s comments, if taken at face value, could mean that those rumors are false.
Right now, the Switch is much less powerful than the newly released PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, both of which sold themselves on its hardware advancements like ray-tracing. But, considering thatthe Switch outsold both of them in November, Nintendo doesn’t really need to worry about catching up for the time being.
In the same interview, Bowser was also asked about Nintendo’s decision to limit the release ofSuper Mario 3D All-Stars, as the game is set to stop being sold from March 31st 2021. Bowser defended the move, stating that it is being done to help celebrate the series' 35th anniversary.
While the company is enjoying plenty of financial success at the moment, it’s been having a number of PR problems as of late. Between cancellingSuper Smash Bros.tournaments, removing music from YouTube, and stopping the sales ofcustom-made Joy-Cons which were raising money for charity, fans have not hesitated to criticize Nintendo’s actions.
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