We have some interesting new rumors about the console Nintendo is releasing after the Switch, which we in the press have conveniently dubbed the Switch 2 for now.
As a reminder, the Switch 2 monicker is going around because early rumors about this successor heavily suggest that Nintendo is making another handheld device that can be docked to play at home. That raises a lot of other questions as well, but for now, we’ll talk about one related to its release.
A few days ago, Jez Corden of Windows Central shared information that the Switch 2 was shown behind closed doors at Gamescom. This does not quite line up with a rumor that we reported on, that the console would be introduced at Gamescom itself. At the time we were expecting a public introduction to the console, but that obviously did not come to pass.
Now Jez’s source explicitly stated that select developers and members of the press were given an opportunity to see the device. However, this was debunked by our main source, a Brazilian named NecroFelipe.
NecroFelipe’s tweet is in Brazilian, but there’s a few things he says that won’t slip in translation. NecroFelipe made it clear that the press were not invited to see the Switch 2, and that Jez’s source, who likely wasn’t officially invited to the event, wasn’t very accurate.
NecroFelipe runs his own Nintendo themed website, named UniversoNintendo. He explained that he won’t report what he knows on UniversoNintendo yet, but he corroborates that this rumor is well founded.
As Andre Segers of GamExplain has pointed out also responding to Jez’s rumor, it’s unlikely press would have been given a preview of the device, if this did happen. Quite simply, the only reason the press would see it is if Nintendo was planning an introduction or public preview of some sort, and that also didn’t happen.
While I want to lean towards this guy’s opinion of this rumor, it does all make sense that devs would get to see the new device, but not any other groups. As I pointed out on the original Gamescom rumor, since the event was in Europe, it would be a good venue for Nintendo to reach out to European game developers. And it makes sense if this is the first time they will find out about the device as they are about to start making games for it, to come in the coming years.
Everything taken into account, it does seem that Nintendo has well laid plans for their transition towards a new console generation. If the Switch isn’t quite getting retired yet, it will soon have a younger sibling to join it on store shelves.
