Nintendo has for years been beating to its own drum, not really following along with the rest of the industry, and doing its own thing. The latest Nintendo financial report illuminated the company's future plans regarding next-gen, and people expecting a new console sometime soon should lower their expectations.
With last year's launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the gaming community naturally turned its attention to Nintendo to see what its next move was. Earlier this year Nintendo revealed the Switch OLED, which boasts some general improvements on the original console, particularly with its display, but it is certainly not the much-rumored (and desired) Switch Pro. Other aspects of the Switch, like the growing propensity for Cloud-based games like Dying Light 2 and the recent Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the general lack of features still not present in the system, have fans hoping for a new system sooner than later. Despite this, the Nintendo Switch continues to break sales records, gradually approaching the Wii's 101 million units.
During Nintendo's latest financial report came questions about the Switch's successor console, with Nintendo providing some enlightening information. David Gibson, Co-Founder of Astris Advisory Japan KK, shared highlights of the presentation's Question and Answer section. To the question, "What can you say about the 20xx next gen device?" Gibson writes Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa's response, "Nothing can say, Switch think is in middle phase of cycle, now have OLED and momentmum continues with wide variety of software line-up." The response continues into another tweet: "On next gen, we are not saying right now, we are still going through internal discussion on concept, timing etc and discussing everything."
The aforementioned "20xx next gen device" refers to a slide from Nintendo's presentation describing the company's future outlook. This graphic features a strange timeline showing the Nintendo DS and Wii with the years of 2004 and 2006, before jumping all the way to 2017's Nintendo Switch. Beyond the Switch is the ambiguous 'next gaming system' with a time of '20xx,' meaning there is at least a new console concept in development. The point of this slide is not just the new console however, but how Nintendo is trying to expand its IP through its physical offerings (new consoles and games) and digital services (Nintendo accounts and subscriptions).
This news is both exciting and disheartening for those who are invested in the future of Nintendo. While the confirmation of a new console being brainstormed at least confirms another generation of Nintendo magic, the fact that Furukawa believes the Switch is only halfway through its cycle will disappoint some. At least they won't have to try buying a new console anytime soon, considering how hard its been acquiring video game hardware during the pandemic. It will be interesting either way to see how long fans must wait before Nintendo formally reveals its next console.