Because the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Change is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Change 2 rumors have been swirling for years, however now they’re actually heating up. A sequel to Nintendo’s most profitable house console ever is coming and it’s seemingly coming sooner rather than later.
Will or not it’s a straight up sequel to the Change with up to date specs whereas retaining the identical hybrid performance or will Nintendo get bizarre with it? Will it even be known as the Change 2, or will the corporate go together with one thing just like the Tremendous Change and even the New Nintendo Change? You’ll be able to by no means inform with Nintendo. Heck, perhaps it’ll name the factor the Change U.
In any occasion, latest weeks have introduced feverish hypothesis relating to all facets of the forthcoming gaming console. It’s essential to notice, nonetheless, that little or no info has been confirmed by Nintendo. The corporate operates by itself timetable. With that mentioned, listed here are all the rumors which are most certainly to come back true, given trade evaluation.
When will the Nintendo Change 2 be introduced?
As beforehand talked about, Nintendo marches to the beat of its personal drum. We don’t precisely know when it’ll maintain an occasion to disclose the console. It seemingly will not be in 2024, because the tech yr is winding down and it is uncommon to get bulletins of recent tougher in late November and December.
Even Nintendo has bother conserving the lid on a serious console launch, so we may study one thing earlier than the official reveal. There are components that need to be sourced and shipments that need to be made. A senior analyst at MST Monetary noted a spike in production equipment spending by Nintendo assembler Hosiden.
When will the Nintendo Change 2 come out?
As soon as once more, this is kind of a thriller. We aren’t completely in the dead of night, nevertheless it’s largely rumor and hypothesis. One factor we all know for positive is that Nintendo will announce the Nintendo Change 2 (or no matter it chooses to name it) by March 2025, as the corporate confirmed back in May. Some are saying there can be a March launch date, which is sensible given the OG Change got here out on March 17, 2017. Nonetheless, different experiences put the console’s release window later in 2025.
We are able to infer rather a lot from the announcement date. If the console is introduced this yr, March could be a secure guess, provided that the unique Change was formally confirmed in October of 2016. Nonetheless, the console seemingly will not be introduced till subsequent yr, at this level, so anticipate a late 2025 launch.
Will it even be a correct Change sequel?
Nintendo has a bizarre observe file right here. The baffling Wii U adopted the huge success of the Wii. The Wii itself adopted the extra conventional GameCube. In different phrases, it’s attainable it’ll be one thing out of left subject and never precisely a real sequel to the Change. Nonetheless, that is unlikely this time round. As a lot as I’d like to see wacky VR glasses or a very bonkers console idea, all factors point out a extra conventional method.
Builders have already seen the hardware, although in a a lot earlier kind, and it appears to be an everyday outdated console. Whereas Nintendo hasn’t confirmed hybrid performance, it’d be a bizarre omission given absolutely the monetary firestorm of the Change. We’ve additionally heard rumors of a Mini-LED display, which might observe for a hybrid console. It’s extremely seemingly this can be a straight-up Change 2, or one thing prefer it, calling to thoughts the Tremendous Nintendo.
To that finish, latest rumors recommend a design that recollects the unique Change. In accordance with reporting by VGC, images of the console have appeared on-line and so they present an 8-inch display screen and magnetic Pleasure-Con controllers. There appears to be SL/SR buttons and front-facing participant LEDs on these controllers.
Is the Nintendo Change 2 backwards suitable?
If it’s a sequel to the Change, the following query must be about backwards compatibility. The Change’s library is completely huge, and continues to develop, so avid gamers could be rightfully peeved in the event that they couldn’t play Tears of the Kingdom on their new next-gen console. There’s excellent news on this entrance.
The corporate has formally introduced in a latest earnings report that the console will be fully backwards compatible. It would additionally characteristic entry to Nintendo On-line, so customers will have the ability to play all of these outdated retro titles.
What about specs?
The rumors relating to specs are in every single place, so it’s robust to pin down. We all know one factor for positive: It’ll be extra highly effective than the traditional Change {hardware}, which was already antiquated again in 2017. One analyst allegedly received a maintain of a spec sheet from the Korean United Each day Information that mentioned the Change 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of inside eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the unique Change was in 2017. Nonetheless, some experiences do indicate that the console would come with 12GB of RAM.
One other supply means that the eight-core CPU can be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the present Change runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes numerous sense. The CPU can be extra highly effective, nevertheless it’s the Change 2’s new GPU that can be a serious differentiator. It is all-but-confirmed that the Change 2 will assist DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep studying supersampling” upscaling tech, which might permit the console to render video games at a low decision internally whereas outputting a high-resolution picture. (Enjoyable truth: We really wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the expertise was introduced alongside the RTX 20 collection again in 2018.)
There are nonetheless questions in regards to the Change 2 and DLSS: Will the system assist newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will current video games be mechanically tidied up by NVIDIA’s algorithm? Whatever the actual implementation, DLSS upscaling can be an enormous leap over the rudimentary strategies obtainable to Nintendo Change builders.
As for the show, there are numerous conflicting rumors. Early experiences from stable sources advised the Change 2 would have an 8-inch show LCD show, however there have additionally been rumors about an 7-inch show with a 120Hz refresh fee. Some analysts have advised this is able to be an OLED display screen, whereas others have mentioned it will be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED show is principally an LCD show that has a backlight fabricated from (shock!) mini-LEDs quite than edge lighting. This enables for native dimming, making the blacks extra black. I’m hedging my bets right here. I believe it’ll be an ordinary LCD, to chop prices, with an OLED or Mini-LED mannequin coming later down the road. Nonetheless, Mini-LED screens are barely cheaper than OLED shows, in order that’s definitely a chance at launch.
As for decision, latest reporting means that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That is a lot better than the OG Change.
How a lot will the Nintendo Change 2 value?
We do not have an excessive amount of info relating to worth however we do have loads of historical past to work with. The unique Nintendo Change launched at $300, which is just about the “magic quantity” in terms of Nintendo console releases in recent times. The Wii U additionally got here in at $300.
Nonetheless, there are many rumors circulating that Nintendo could possibly be upping the asking worth for the Change 2. Quite a few retailers have reported it’ll be $400, or doubtlessly much more costly. Nonetheless, the identical analysts who say the console can be $400 had been additionally pretty sure it will be out by the top of 2024 and, nicely, it appears like that ain’t occurring.
Dipping again into historical past, there may be some priority for a worth uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Change elevated to $300 and, nicely, numbers wish to go up. A $400 price ticket would make it almost as costly as a PS5 and Xbox Sequence X. That may additionally put it on the similar worth because the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.
Can we find out about any launch video games?
Nope! But it surely’s definitely been a long time since we’ve gotten a correct 3D Mario journey, proper? That may be one heck of a system vendor. Aside from that, your guess is pretty much as good as mine. Previous as prologue, we will anticipate one thing from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Change.
If there’s a gimmick or hook concerned with the console, we’ll additionally get a sport that takes benefit of that. A twin launch of Metroid Prime 4, similar to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess earlier than that, can also be a chance.
That is every thing we all know in regards to the Nintendo Change 2 at this time. We’ll replace this text with rumors we belief and with info we collect straight from sources. Any modifications made to the article after its preliminary publishing can be listed beneath.
Replace, November 11, 2024, 9:00 AM ET: This story has been up to date with particulars in regards to the Change 2’s backwards compatibility in addition to extra particulars in regards to the present anticipated announcement and launch timeline.
About The Author
