Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Looking forward to a new Nintendo Switch model or two this year? It looks like you're going to have wait a bit longer. Those reported new releases won't be making an appearance at E3 2019, at the very least.
“As a general rule, we’re always working on new hardware and we will announce it when we are able to sell it,” said Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, speaking to Bloomberg. “But we have no plans to announce that at this year’s E3 in June.” That basically settles that. Nintendo must have other plans for the remainder of the year.
This news comes after The Wall Street Journal reported that two new versions of the Switch were in the works at the time, with one that would essentially be an enhanced version of the one we currently have, including new "special features." This version would be aimed at "avid gamers."
The second system was created with budget or casual gamers in mind, a lower-cost option meant as a successor to the Nintendo 3DS. It's possible that we could see either one releasing later this year after E3 2019, but having the company show them off during E3 2019 apparently isn't in the cards. It's unfortunate, but perhaps waiting is the best move.
“The market wanted a little more,” said Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities in Tokyo. “Releasing new hardware sooner would have definitely helped this year’s numbers, but it seems we’ll have to wait a little bit longer for that.”
Nintendo is looking to ship around 18 million Switch consoles this year, compared with a projected 18.5 million from analysts. This is up from 17 million last year. With Nintendo working with Tencent to sell the Switch in China, this number could certainly go up drastically.
But business aside, it's hard not to be disappointed that we won't see what the next evolution of the Switch will look like at this year's show. Hopefully we'll hear more about what's coming down the pipeline at a later date, because the Switch certainly has so much potential in any form factor, and we're stoked to see what version we're going to want to preorder next.