Shut up and Take Our Money, Nintendo
We’ve talked about the alleged Nintendo Switch Pro before, and speculation is heating up once again thanks to a source for Gamereactor.
The source claims that Nvidia will stop producing their Tegra X1 Mariko processor this year. This may sound like moon-man talk to the layman, but this processor has been used in every model of Switch and Switch Lite so far. Given the fact that the Switch has sold over fifty-five million copies, and still has some big upcoming exclusives like Breath of the Wild 2 or Skyward Sword Remake which will doubtless bring a lot of new attention to the console – and a lot of new sales – this strategy only makes sense if Nintendo are planning on phasing out the current Switch in exchange for an updated version. It’s also worth noting that this will be far from the first time that Nintendo have taken this strategy with the Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS all getting upgraded versions some years in their lifecycle.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo have generally focused their efforts on areas other than graphics, whether that’s their long-standing domination of the handheld market or their focus on motion controls. While fans aren’t complaining, the sad fact is that the console simply can’t handle games at the same level as the PS5 or Xbox Series X. An upgraded version could mean a higher number of third-party games coming to the console – at the expense of the games not playing as well on the standard Switch – or possibly giving it a miss entirely.
What we can be sure of is that Nintendo have a long future ahead of them, whether there’s truth to these rumours or not.