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Nintendo has wrapped up the brand new Nintendo Switch, which will hit store shelves on September 26, 2024. Unfortunately No the console that millions of people have been waiting for.
During a packed Nintendo Direct presentation broadcast on YouTube this week, the company revealed a brand new entry into the The Legend of Zelda series, known as Echoes of wisdomwhich will return to the top-down style of earlier adventures and feature Zelda as a playable heroine.
The new title is set to release worldwide on September 26, with Nintendo planning a special edition of its Switch Lite console to commemorate the launch. A first glimpse of the console during the presentation revealed a gold color with black buttons and a small Triforce icon nestled under the right analog stick on the front. There is also a large Hylian Crest on the back of the console.
Apart from the smooth paint job, everything else about the Nintendo Switch console remains unchanged. Unlike the standard Switch and Switch OLED, which have detachable Joy-Con controllers that can be used wirelessly for multiplayer or when the console is connected to a TV, the more affordable Switch Lite is designed for gaming on the go.
It has a more compact design with a smaller 5.5-inch LCD touchscreen and 32GB of built-in storage… though that can be expanded with a microSD card. You’ll get around seven hours of battery life before you need to reach for the charger, though that varies depending on what title you’re playing.
Nintendo will release a limited edition Switch Lite to celebrate the launch The Legend of Zelda:Echoes of wisdom worldwide on September 26, 2024
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No word on UK pricing, but recent Nintendo Switch Lite limited consoles – such as Pokemon Dialga & Palkia Edition — selling for £199, the same RRP as the non-themed version of the Pocket PC, so we’d expect the new The Legend of Zelda iteration to arrive with a similar price tag.
Elsewhere in the Nintendo Direct, we saw demos Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Dragon Quest 3 HD — 2D Remake, Darkest Dungeon 2, Stray, and LEGO Horizon Adventuresto name just a few.
But there was no sign of the hotly anticipated Nintendo Switch sequel.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa promised in May that the announcement of the so-called Switch 2 would arrive by March 2025. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitterthe head of the Japanese gaming giant said: “During this fiscal year, we will make an announcement about the successor to the Nintendo Switch. It will be more than nine years since we announced the existence of the Nintendo Switch in March 2015.”
A Nintendo official has already confirmed that this week’s presentation will focus on “the software lineup for the second half of 2024.” Nintendo airs several preview trailers each year, with many of the titles appearing in the Direct presentations coming as a complete surprise to viewers.
With less than a year to go until the announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2, rumors of a Switch sequel have gone into overdrive. It is the second best-selling console at all released by Nintendo, surpassing worldwide sales of the Nintendo Wii, Game Boy and Game Boy Color, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and fast approaching the gold medal position currently held by the Nintendo DS.
The Sony PlayStation 2 remains the best-selling console of all time, with approximately 155 million units sold worldwide. By comparison, the Nintendo Switch shipped 141 million – though it has one last roll of the dice during a busy Christmas season with lots of new releases. Zelda and Mario titles (and a shiny new limited edition).
Whispers from the secretive Japanese gaming company suggest that its Switch sequel will have a larger 8-inch touchscreen, offer backwards compatibility for Nintendo Switch games, and feature redesigned Joy-Con controllers that attach to the side of the console with magnets.
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This is Furukawa, the president of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to the Nintendo Switch during this fiscal year. It will be more than nine years since we announced the Nintendo Switch in March 2015. We will be hosting a Nintendo Direct…
— 任天堂株式会社（上海広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
A more powerful processor to boost the handheld’s resolution and graphics seems obvious, with Nvidia — the company behind the system-on-a-chip inside the current generation Switch — the most likely candidate.
Onboard storage is rumored to be 512GB, which is much closer to the Xbox Series S and a significant upgrade over the 32GB and 64GB found inside the original Switch and Switch OLED.