After being on the market for over seven years, the Nintendo Switch is finally getting a successor, which is reportedly coming in 2025. It’s been a fun ride with many ups and downs, Zelda games, and even a Nintendo Labo. So, that naturally leads me to ask, “Well, what’s next?” It’s no secret that the Switch is getting long in the tooth, and with the current generation of consoles being on the market for a few years now, I would very much like to see something brand new from Nintendo. I’d like to see stuff like better graphics, longer battery life when playing in handheld mode, and a controller that doesn’t drift from this new system. But I have so many other things that I’d like to see from the Switch 2, so that’s enough dilly-dally; let’s get right into it.
20. More Personality in the UI/Games
Suppose you’ve been following the discourse around the Nintendo Switch during these last couple of years. In that case, you’ve probably seen people complaining about the lack of personality with the Switch that was last seen in consoles like the GameCube and Wii. And I feel that way too, because while I love games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Strikers: Battle League — they’re largely forgettable when it comes to their identity. Battle League is even worse because of how sterilized it is. Then there’s the whole issue of the UI being lacking in many ways compared to something like the Forecast Channel. Do I want to bring all that stuff back? That’d be cool, but I think it would be better to start by returning to how it was on the GameCube when it felt like every game had its own identity and wasn’t forced to be incredibly generic. So, if Nintendo could pump out another Captain Rainbow game, then we’d be golden.
19. A Better eShop For Switch 2
I believe one of the greatest sins of the Nintendo Switch generation is the horribly slow and bland digital storefront known as the Nintendo eShop. It stutters, has no music, and is filled with cheap knock-offs and low-effort mobile games. If Nintendo wants to ensure that several different types of games are being sold on its storefront, it needs to get this right and fix it in time for the console’s launch instead of finishing it later. Oh, and bring back the little animations that would play when downloading a game because that would be pretty cool, too.
18. Faster Loading Times
Ever since I got a PlayStation 5, I have been pleased that the most I have to wait when playing a game is a few seconds. Compare that to Pikmin 4, where some loading times are upwards of 30 seconds or maybe more. Waiting is still a part of life, but when you’re playing a game, you don’t want your time wasted, and all that waiting can add up. So, if Nintendo can somehow figure out how to cram an SSD or something similar into the handheld, that would be very nice.
17. A Headphone Jack On the Pro Controller
This is yet another obvious idea that’s taken from the newer consoles, but it’s still worth talking about. When Nintendo updated the Switch to allow for Bluetooth headphones, I was very excited because it meant I could listen to all my favourite games via my AirPods. Unfortunately, though, I’ve never been able to get them to connect, and it isn’t very disappointing. The sound design in all these games has gotten so good, and I want to take it all in with the best sound system possible. It’s not a dealbreaker if they don’t put a headphone jack in the controller, but it’s something that I very much want to happen, so I hope it does.
16. Switch 2 Needs More Entertainment Apps
Okay, this is building off the thing I mentioned earlier. Still, I think the Nintendo Switch missed an opportunity to bring all of it together and make itself a complete experience. Netflix, Twitch, and many other streaming services, except for stuff like YouTube, just never came over to the thing, and that’s a big mistake for Nintendo. I mean, the console is a tablet, so why can’t I watch Breaking Bad for twenty minutes and then play Tetris 99 for two hours? Please allow me to do that, Nintendo.
15. Voice Chat!
All right, we all know Nintendo is very old school and doesn’t always know how the internet propagates, but come on, restricting voice chat to a phone?? That’s annoying, and being limited to certain games makes it even worse. Get native voice chat on Switch 2, and let players connect their Switches to Discord so we can all be happy campers.
14. GameCube Games On Nintendo Switch Online
If Nintendo Switch Online is going to carry over to the next system, I think it’s reasonable to expect more games to come to the service eventually. So, while it would be cool to get Nintendo DS or even Virtual Boy titles, I think it would be way cooler if the GameCube finally made the jump. I know we’ve gotten a lot of releases, but there’s just something nice about playing games on a streaming service and jumping between them with only a few button clicks. Imagine playing Wind Waker, saving your game, and then playing Twilight Princess a few seconds later. I think it would be pretty cool.
13. An OLED Display
The OLED Model of the Nintendo Switch never interested me because of its price and the fact that I don’t play in handheld mode all that much. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be included in the launch model of the Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve only briefly seen the screen in action at demo kiosks, but even in that brief period, I could see it was something special. I’ll even pay 400 bucks for it or buy the more expensive SKU on day one; I don’t care; just let me have it.
12. Better Controllers
This one is definitely a must. The Joy-Cons are great, I love ’em, but they’re far from perfect. For starters, there’s the whole issue of Joy-Con drift, which I can’t say I’ve been affected by myself, but I know tons of people, and that’s never good. Fix the control sticks, make them more substantial, and improve the gyro controls. I know Switch was rushed out to the market, but it’s been seven years now, and there is no excuse for this stuff to happen again with the following system.
11. Themes
How have we been stuck with only black and white for so long!? I keep checking to see if there are new themes, and every time I do, I become increasingly disappointed. Introducing themes would be a great way to bring some of that old personality back and another way to sell the system to people who enjoy customization.
10. The Ability To Message Friends
Yet another thing Switch 1 lacks in comparison to modern systems is the ability to message friends on the system without a separate app. We’re for sure going to get a bunch of modern sensibilities on the next console, but this one would be especially nice to have. You could argue that you don’t need it because our phones and tablets already have a way to message friends, but those aren’t the Switch, so I’d like to message my friends on my Nintendo system.
9. A Stellar Launch Lineup
The Nintendo Switch had an average launch lineup, and we already know that, but this time, having a stellar launch lineup is to be expected for the Switch 2 and should not be missed. A new 3D Mario, possibly Mario Kart 9, and some 3rd party ports that were missed by the original Switch are what the next system needs to be successful.
7. Cloud Saves For Every Game
Admittedly, this isn’t something we should be waiting for the next console to get. Cloud saves are a vital perk of Nintendo Switch Online, as they allow you to restore your progress if something happens to your Switch. Unfortunately, all the games you’d want to restore your progress to do not support cloud saves. No main series of Pokemon games on Switch support them, Splatoondoes support them, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons does support them traditionally. Sure, there are reasons these gamesn’tn’t support cloud saves – the in-game economy and such – but these are all arguably some of the most significant time investments that you’ll be paying for anyway, so you should at least get a little security that your Pokemon collection will be okay if you drop your Switch and must get it repaired.
6. A More Detailed Activity Log
The Wii U and especially the 3DS had in-depth Activity Log programs. They showed you your exact play time on each title, how many times you’ve launched them, and your average playtime. Unfortunately, Switch only gives you a rough approximation of your playtime in intervals of five hours and nothing beyond. I’d love to see a detailed activity log on Switch 2 – not even for practical purposes, but as a nice little time waster between games.
5. Improved Battery Life
The current Switch is already working on this one, but they need to make sure that the beefier Switch 2 has a beefier battery to go along with it on launch day. The new Switch model being released can sometimes double the first Switch’s battery life, so let’s keep that same energy when designing Switch 2. Three hours is acceptable, but why not offer something extra? The fewer chargers I have to carry around, the better.
4. More Power
Hey, you like that 720p, 30 frames per second in nearly every game on your Nintendo Switch system? Well, how about we get rid of that, upgrade it to 730p, and make it 34 frames per second? No, seriously, it’s safe to assume the Switch 2 will be as powerful as a PlayStation 4 Pro and going by the games that were available on that system later in its life, Mario is about to look really good. Returning to the Switch is hard when I can play the Resident Evil 4 Remake or Armored Core 6, and they look as good as they do. Like, imagine a Zelda game that looks as good as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Or imagine a Pokemon game that looks as good as a PS3 game…
3. Get Weird With it
Nintendo is already sitting on tons of cash, and there’s no doubt in my mind that all the success will carry over into the next system, even if it is a bit less than expected. So, where’s the new Chibi Robo game, Nintendo!? Seriously, the company has never had an opportunity this big before, and it’s an opportunity to start greenlighting so many games from series that have historically struggled to sell. While PlayStation and Xbox are chasing the never-ending journey of graphics with diminishing returns, Nintendo can stay a little behind with some good graphics and some great games like Metroid and Pikmin. It’s so cool.
2. Keep It The Same
The Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, and its seamless hybrid functionality still impresses me daily. Being able to slide the handheld device into a dock and have your game appear on the TV, and vice versa, in just a few seconds, is still a bit magical, while the freedom to take your library of Mario and Zelda bangers anywhere you want is the reason a lot of gamers still prefer the Switch to any other platform. So keep it the same, make it more powerful, improve the form factor, and we’ll be good.
1. Don’t Mess Up The Switch 2
If you’re new to the world of Nintendo and video games, you might not be aware of Nintendo’s track record of following their biggest successes with failures. Especially the Wii U. So, if they implement all of or at least some of what we’ve discussed here, this new era should continue for a long while. Nintendo is more successful than ever, and they’ve built up so much goodwill with consumers that it would be near catastrophic if they lost it. Keep it real, Nintendo…
Aaaand that’s over two thousand words about a console that we barely know anything about! Should the Switch 2 be like the Wii? Did we miss anything? Let us know!
