If Nintendo's next gen console has better than Steam Deck specs for the same starting price of $400, I don't think many would complain, especially if Nintendo actually offers a few price cuts later in the gen unlike with Switch which they kept at the same price all gen. Steam Deck's more powerful PC handheld rivals like the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo's Legion Go start at $600 and go all the way up to $800+ I believe. Steam Deck for instance, which has roughly 7x the power of Switch in handheld mode and roughly 4x the power of Switch in docked mode I believe, starts at $400 on the base model and goes all the way up to $650 on the high end model with more and faster storage. On top of that most gamers and 3rd party devs will be expecting a sizeable leap in power over Switch, and those kind of specs in a handheld form factor don't come cheap. Chipset pricing seems to be more expsnsive than ever after the Covid caused semiconductor shortages and backlog of semiconductor production caused by those shortages lasting so long, as well as rampant inflation in most countries caused by Covid lockdown and stimulus measures. Honestly I'm not sure Nintendo has much choice here on pricing. Since there is supposedly a digital and physical model for $400 and $450, I'm definitely thinking they will be offering physical software for Switch 2 games, but will instead try and push as many as possible to the digital model (where they will have a higher profit margin on software sales) through a combination of the $50 cheaper price for the digital model and probably artificial scarcity on the physical model (by producing like twice as many units of the digital model as the physical model, kind of like Xbox did with Series S and Series X). If they're already going all digital on next gen games, they might as well eat the tiny cost of the Switch 1 cart slot on all models so that all gamers can play their full Switch 1 collection in back compat. It could be that, but I don't think it really makes sense to charge an extra $50 for a cartridge slot that is only used for back compat with last gen Switch games, it adds nowhere near $50 to the bill of materials and would piss off many consumers that would be forced to pay an extra $50 to play their physical Switch 1 collection. If Switch 2 is going to have pretty fast SSD storage, which seems likely based on the reports of very fast loading times on the behind closed doors demo Nintendo did at Gamescom, their only real options will be to offer cartridges that are both large enough to fit 9th gen ports (which are often 40 GB+ games) and fast enough to match the internal storage speed (which would make the carts very pricey, cutting into their profit margin on physical software sales), or stick with still large but slower and cheaper carts, but require the games to be installed from the carts onto the faster internal storage, effectively making the carts glorified ownership keys, similar to how discs are on PS5 and Xbox Series.īoth scenarios have pretty significant negatives, the former would incentivize Nintendo to drive as many gamers as possible to the cheaper digital only model (where their software sales would have higher profit margins), perhaps by producing more digital hardware units than physical units, while the latter would effectively make physical media alot less valuable to own for consumers. I think the issue is the price of the cartridges themselves. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. This should be treated with a grain of salt until Nintendo reveals details on the successor to the Switch.Ī life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. The leaker claims Nintendo will release two SKUs of the Nintendo Switch 2 with a digital model priced at $400 and a standard model priced at $449. It an internal name of NG, however, a final name isn't known. There is also the possibility of an early November 2024 release for the console. SoldierDelta provided screenshots to Wccftech claiming Nintendo has targeted release of Septemfor the Switch successor. There have been several rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 in recent months and it has even been confirmed Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and other executives at the company met with Nintendo executives in December 2022 to discuss the next-generation Switch. By William D'Angelo, posted on 08 October 2023 / 12,313 Views
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