Nintendo has always been a company that walks to the beat of their own drum. While their competitors Sony and Microsoft are trying to offer gamers the most powerful consoles using the latest technology, Nintendo is usually off doing their own thing. Sometimes this leads to massive successes like the Wii and Switch. It can also cause a dramatic failure like the Wii U. They take risks and it’s part of what makes them so fascinating.
Early Tuesday morning, or late Tuesday afternoon if you’re in Japan, Nintendo once again acted like the oddball they are. In a rather dull and unexciting tweet, Nintendo confirmed that sometime within this fiscal year they will be announcing the long rumored successor to the Switch. No fanfare. No excitement. Just a simple press release.
This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024
This is exciting news! Fans have long been clamoring for a new Nintendo console because, while Nintendo can get by with a console that is not as powerful as its competitors, it does eventually make playing newer games frustrating. The Switch was already considered lesser hardware to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and both those two consoles have been discontinued.
While a Sony or Microsoft would probably save this kind of announcement for a Summer Games Fest or maybe the final big reveal during a showcase event. Nintendo opted to just do a very dull press release. It’s once again a reminder that they are going to walk to the beat of their own drum and do things at their own pace. Let’s just hope this console is another Switch and not another Wii U.