Silkenweb Example: Hackernews Clone

Nintendo to announce new console by end of fiscal year

48 points by ethanholt1 1 year ago | 54 comments

legitster 1 year ago
I finally bought a Switch for the family this last Christmas. Then immediately I get swamped by articles from Google about how the hardware is tired and they need a refresh.
I think people are off their rocker. The experience is still pretty magical in 2024. I get that people are tired of the old thing and want the new thing, but it's hard to imagine what stops Nintendo could pull out to make me want to pay more than the current MSRP for the existing Switch.
It's either just going to be an even beefier Switch, or something so out of left field that it's not going to cannibalize their still pretty brisk Switch sales.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1 year ago
  There were significant frame rate drops in Breath of the Wild (one of the tent pole games for the platform). Beefier hardware could have improved that experience.
  - bun_terminator 1 year ago
    Everyone who experience the insane resolution, fps and gameplay-mods this game rocks on emulators will have a hard time coming back to the hardware. It really is severely limited by the console
  - andrekandre 1 year ago
    tears of the kingdom as well, supposedly they spent a whole year just to optimize it before release and it still chugs sometimes
    i have a small hope backwards compatibly also comes with some optional performance improvements for those games...
  - metadat 1 year ago
    Nintendo's hardware is always crap. It's part of the philosophy which makes them so profitable. High-end hardware != Making good margins. Having engaging content is the trick.
- squigz 1 year ago
  > It's either just going to be an even beefier Switch
  This is exactly what it's going to be, though I have to ask how necessary that is.
  I wonder if there's a name for this phenomenon - EA Sports Syndrome or something - where companies go from making good products every few years, to marginally changing the same product and releasing it every year.
  - sparrc 1 year ago
    To be fair to Nintendo, they're very much still in the former category of making good products every few years. The switch was originally released 7 years ago, which is ancient in the world of consumer electronics.
    - squigz 1 year ago
      While I don't fully disagree, I think Nintendo is slowly heading in that direction. I hope I'm wrong, as they're my favorite console company, and I'd hate to see them stop innovating and instead just release a slightly-beefier Switch for the next 5 years
  - xnx 1 year ago
    It's been over 7 years since the Switch was released on March 3, 2017. It's absolutely amazing how much they were able to squeeze out of it through software ingenuity, but it's potential is maxed out now. There were certainly some gameplay/enjoyment tradeoffs that had to be made in Tears of the Kingdom. It's probably financially impractical to keep getting the parts to make the "old" Switch vs. refreshing the hardware.
  - mepian 1 year ago
    Improving battery life, framerate, and rendering resolution (which is often below the panel's native 720p) is definitely welcome. Two-three hours is miserable compared to older Nintendo handhelds, and many titles routinely drop below 30 frames per second which is not very nice (and causes motion sickness for some people).
  - Kye 1 year ago
    The Wii was two Gamecubes glued together and set records. It's a winning formula.
    - squigz 1 year ago
      Did the Gamecube have motion controls?
ProfessorLayton 1 year ago
I'm super excited for the next iteration of the Switch, which has been one of my favorite Nintendo consoles ever. While I appreciate Nintendo's commitment to mix it up significantly between generations, I hope they don't deviate from their wining formula too much on their next console. The main thing I'd like for the next generation is for it to have enough horsepower to be able to play big 3rd party IPs like GTA.
And joycons that don't drift!
An announcement as late as 3/25 is gonna be rough though as current gen games start tapering off. As always the bottleneck is the launch lineup needing more time.
jimbobthrowawy 1 year ago
Note: Nintendo's fiscal year ends march 31st.
teruakohatu 1 year ago
It would be madness to pivot away from the successful Switch hybrid handheld/docked console but Nintendo have done crazy things in the past.
There have been rumours that the reason for Nintendo DCMA takedowns are to clear the emulation field for the next-gen console. The Dolphin emulator was able to emulate the Wii two years after release.
- kemayo 1 year ago
  There was a comment in the results call where Furukawa was asked whether it was a whole new console-type or another Switch, and he said "Switch next model is the appropriate way to describe it", so it sounds like they're staying the course on this one.
  - spondylosaurus 1 year ago
    Considering the explosive popularity of the Steam Deck and its doppelgangers, the Switch-esque form factor is clearly doing well right now, so it makes sense to stick to what sells.
    Plus the fact that Nintendo's never been shy about iterative console updates: NES > SNES, GB > GBC > GBA, DS > 3DS > New3DS. And arguably Wii > Wii U, and then the Wii U was sort of the missing link between the Wii and the Switch.
    Historically they haven't been great at the marketing/positioning around those iterative updates, but maybe this time they've finally learned :P
    - anonbanker 1 year ago
      This is pure speculation, but I'm willing to bet that Iwata wanted the Wii U to be more like the switch, but the board was likely extremely nervous about cannibalizing their portable DS market, so they opted for the Wii U Tablet instead, to disastrous results.
  - jimbobthrowawy 1 year ago
    I saw someone post a chart yesterday showing their profit per year, inflation adjusted.
    They've made more profit since the switch launched than they have since they released their first video game in the 70s. Hopefully they get the naming right with this one, unlike the WiiU.
TrueSlacker0 1 year ago
I just hope they learn how to make controllers. They lost me as a future customer purely because of the controllers. They are hands down the crappiest controllers I have ever used. I'm on our third set for each of 2 switches for my kids. Then I got screwed in the purchasing part because it turns out you can buy licensed controllers that don't have batteries so they have to be connected to the switch, then I learn there are ones that only have a battery in the left controller but not the right. So you cant really play multiplayer properly. Then the way they sorta connect but are actually still connected to the switch that is "off". Then a and b and x and y always seem backwards. It's to the point where one child will only play with an Xbox like controller due to needless frustration. I've never been so disappointed in something that could of been so great, but they skimped that 10% final polish.
Sorry Nintendo, I've owned every console to date but you lost me.. and my kids.
- pupppet 1 year ago
  Agree 100%, I've sent off 3 pairs of controllers twice now and they're back to drifting. Those Joy-Cons aren't cheap either.
- jncfhnb 1 year ago
  You can mail in joycons and get new ones no questions asked in my experience
  - TrueSlacker0 1 year ago
    I wish I knew this. I think we may still have some of the previous broken ones so I will have to try this route.
  - GaryNumanVevo 1 year ago
    Not if you have any special edition joycons, they'll just send you a generic replacement.
    - jncfhnb 1 year ago
      Then don’t use special edition joycons if you’re concerned about not having them
- vunderba 1 year ago
  No question that the throwaway stock switch controllers are absolute trash. It's a shame that one of the best controllers Nintendo has ever made (the Switch Pro Controller) doesn't come with the console and is/was around 60-70$ at launch.
  Stings even worse when you consider you'll need to buy at least two of the damn things.
  - ambichook 1 year ago
    the fact that it doesnt have analog triggers is so annoying because otherwise i LOVE the switch pro controller
drbig 1 year ago
Why link a tweet when Reuters has an actual article: https://www.reuters.com/technology/nintendo-expects-sell-135... (title: "Nintendo to make announcement on Switch successor by March-end").
Is it because the tweet here "is the source"? Regardless of how bereft of context it is?
- kemayo 1 year ago
  That article is just a journalist who read that tweet, and is bulking it out with a bunch of sales numbers in a kind of rambling manner. The tweet on its own was a better way to get this information.
- colechristensen 1 year ago
  The article adds zero additional information I needed or wanted to know, and it took considerably more time to read.
- drbig 1 year ago
  Thanks for the replies. Points of view are valuable.
anonbanker 1 year ago
Nvidia already showed off [1] the guts of what is going to end up as the new Switch, the Xavier NX.
Expect full backwards compatibility and better performance. This is going to be iterative, and not revolutionary. Shuntaro Furukawa is not Satoru Iwata, and is much more averse to risk-taking.
https://3dvisionlabs.com/2020/05/22/jetson-xavier-nx-compare...
tempaskhn 1 year ago
I posted "Ask HN: What do you think about Nintendo phone competing with iPhone/Android?" [0] 8 months ago. Wondering if anyone else thinks it might be a phone.
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37385793
- accrual 1 year ago
  I can't imagine a phone being a component. Nintendo has always had a conservative take on communications between users. It's usually filtered or reduced to set of preset phrases or emoji/reactions.
  Animal Crossing let you freely chat, but without a keyboard, it's difficult to get more than a couple short words out. Splatoon is a popular multiplayer game that greatly benefits from team communication, but all you have are "booyah!" and "over here!" and a couple other preset means to communicate to your teams.
  Miiverse on the Wii U was an exception and let users post text and drawings, but it felt pretty heavily moderated, and was eventually shut down. I do miss it though, it was a great community while it lasted.
  Given their target demographic I can't imagine Nintendo would put any effort into allowing general communications through their hardware.
  - spondylosaurus 1 year ago
    Not sure if you mentioned "through their hardware" specifically in reference to the Nintendo Switch Online mobile's voice chat capabilities, but man, that's always struck me as a weird/interesting choice.
    On one hand, bizarre to silo voice chat into a completely different piece of hardware than the one you're gaming on that already has a microphone built in. On the other hand, it does make sense as a way to keep kiddos off the airwaves, since to use NSO's app you either need to have a phone or (hopefully...) get permission from a parent to use theirs. On the other other hand I'm just glad they've finally enabled any kind of voice chat at all.
  - GuB-42 1 year ago
    They are also mostly offline/local-first. Most of their best known games come on cartridges and while they have an online component and may require internet connectivity for updates, the main gameplay is either single player (Mario, Zelda) or local multiplayer (Smash Bros, Mario Kart). Splatoon is more of an exception.
    And as for they system, the Switch doesn't even have a web browser (not officially at least).
    That internet connectivity is limited is a feature. For parents who want to keep their kids away from the wild web, and for those who want to disconnect or have limited access. Nintendo is the only one in the mainstream doing this.
  - 14 1 year ago
    This is one of the most lacking features I see with nintendo products. Being able to play with friends is a massive feature other consoles have and I am unsure why nintendo is so against it. Gone are the days where kids sit in the same room on a TV playing games. It is much more common for them to go home after school, grab their headset and start gaming. I do have a couple switches but I don't think I would be grabbing future model without things like text or chat as it is much more fun to get on a PS5 and be playing with several friends at the same time.
rgovostes 1 year ago
See also: Osborne effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
- Lammy 1 year ago
  There is probably very little overlap between people who would base their purchasing decisions on the announcement-of-an-announcement and people who are buying Yet Another Switch in TYOOL 2024. They have already triple-dipped the former group with the original Switch model (like mine), the OLED model that looks like the original but with revised innards, and the mini model without detachable joycons.
- bombcar 1 year ago
  Announced next year (by March) means shipping even later. Some might put off purchasing but that’s easily countered by a price drop.
oniony 1 year ago
It's a VR contact lens.
- throwaway5959 1 year ago
  The Virtual Boy final form.
  - jncfhnb 1 year ago
    Red pixels only against a true black OLED contact lens base