What Year Did Nintendo Switch Come Out

The Nintendo Switch arrived on the game console scene on March 3, 2017, and five years later, non all that much has changed. Since its initial release, Nintendo has improved the Switch's battery life, released a smaller Light model and added an iteration with a larger OLED screen. The idea of the Switch, however, has remained the same. Its models mainly employ the same blazon of CPU and GPU, too.

Read more:Happy Altogether, Nintendo Switch: 5 Years Went By Fast

Last twelvemonth, it seemed like we might get a whole new Switch. Instead, the Switch OLED ended upward being an incremental upgrade. Will Nintendo finally evolve the Switch fifty-fifty farther? Nintendo has historically released new consoles roughly every five to six years, and the Switch came out in 2017. The Wii U, in 2012. The Wii, 2006. The GameCube, 2001. The N64, 1996.

Does that mean Nintendo could dream up a whole new successor to the Switch, something that could be completely different and unexpected? As dissimilar from the Switch every bit the Wii was from the GameCube? Who knows? Only we may still meet a truthful upgraded version of the Switch (a Switch 2, a Switch Pro or whatever information technology's called) in the near time to come, if leaks and rumors are to exist believed. Information technology could be something that's a true boost compared with the more modestly tweaked Switch OLED released concluding fall.

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Reports propose that a Switch Pro might still exist in the works, or perhaps that the Switch Pro will end up condign a Switch 2. Would Nintendo plan that hardware aslope the next Breath of the Wild game later this yr, or early next? Would that be the hardware that the long-expected Metroid Prime 4 is made for, perchance?

Nintendo's comments last twelvemonth suggesting the Switch is midway through its life cycle suggest more iterative upgrades to come, only right now a more powerful chip seems like the logical next move, whenever that might be. Last autumn, Bloomberg reported on game developers already having hardware to work on 4K Switch games, and a recently reported Nvidia leak took social media past storm every bit Twitter users pointed out possible hints to new Switch models in the source code. The buzz came after Nvidia fell victim to a data breach over the weekend.

It would make a lot of sense, but I've been down this road before... final yr, to be exact. Nintendo hasn't indicated that any new hardware is coming, but Nintendo tends to proceed its hardware news under wraps, and surprise announcements (like last twelvemonth's sudden OLED Switch drop) are the norm. Correct now, it's fine to buy a Switch that's already out in that location: Don't wait, specially when news on new hardware is pretty serenity.

Read more: Nintendo Switch OLED vs. the Others: We Played With Them All

Nintendo already checked off a few of my Switch wishlist boxes with the OLED model terminal autumn. But let's dream of that Switch ii, considering at that place are some clear areas to address every bit this hardware hits its five-twelvemonth marking.

pokemon-arceus-field — Nintendo'south latest games similar Pokemon Legends: Arceus are starting to feel like they're pushing the limits of current Switch hardware.
Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

A new processor

4K graphics aren't the only thing Nintendo could adopt: Think graphics that could allow the Switch finally compete with newer Xbox and PlayStation consoles and games. The Switch has been struggling with games that button high-end graphics that tin can run on the PlayStation v and Xbox Series X. Information technology's led to a trend of deject streaming games on the Switch that need to be internet-connected to work. While game streaming is only going to grow, the Switch needs to be able to handle these games amend. Could information technology fifty-fifty, somehow, add graphics processing in the dock itself? That would ramp upwardly the cost, but it'southward an interesting thought. Some computers tin exercise that now, calculation a Thunderbolt-connected graphics unit while docked. But on a console it could become a messy idea (memories of the Sega Genesis 32X first to pop up).

I question with an upgraded Switch processor would exist how Nintendo balances games for the "new" system versus the older one. The Nintendo 3DS got a chip upgrade midcycle with the New Nintendo 3DS, but its advantages were subtle. Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro improved graphics for many PS4 games, acting as a stepping stone between the PS4 and PS5, merely it wasn't an essential pickup for most gamers. Microsoft did something like with the Xbox One Ten earlier the Serial 10/S, so in that location'south precedent.

The Switch controllers are still the same, five years later.
Charles Wagner/CNET

Fix those Joy-Cons

Those little versatile Joy-Con controllers that slide onto the Switch are a brilliant idea… but they've aged awkwardly. Many Joy-Cons end upwards with migrate problems or worn-out buttons over time. I can't stand how small they are, and their trigger buttons, which aren't analog. The haptic vibrations, while ahead of their time in 2017, now seem behind what the Xbox and PlayStation (and phones) can do. The Switch OLED's Joy-Cons are meant to accept subtly addressed the migrate problem, but are otherwise the aforementioned every bit ever.

I'd love a whole new type of Joy-Con, one that could nonetheless work with older Switch games. I'd even say that an improved Joy-Con might be my most hoped-for characteristic on a next-gen Switch.

switch-oled-tabletop — The OLED Nintendo Switch brandish is great, merely still 720p. A future Switch could do even better.
Scott Stein/CNET

An even improve Switch brandish

The OLED Switch has an fantabulous 7-inch OLED screen that's far more than vibrant than previous Switch models. I love it, only it'southward non plenty. That brandish'due south 720p resolution is fine for Nintendo'due south electric current games, but an fifty-fifty amend 1080p OLED would make sense for a side by side-gen Switch. The Switch can already output to 1080p on a Tv set with the dock. Possibly that screen size could be improved fifty-fifty more, creeping to 8 inches? The OLED Switch shrank down bezel sizes considerably compared with the older Switch, but there'south still wiggle room.

Virtually current Nintendo games don't lean on high-res graphics that much, only if Nintendo boosts that processor to allow for more competitive next-gen games to work on Switch hardware, there would be reasons to improve that display.

But when?

Trying to read the Nintendo crystal ball on when its next hardware will arrive is frequently nearly impossible. Nintendo keeps its news extremely locked down, and doesn't tend to denote hardware on whatever normal or event-targeted schedule. Nintendo has frequent Directly video streams announcing games, but its consoles and surprise curveball products oftentimes sally with no advance warning at all. Merely, five years into the Switch'south life cycle, information technology feels like the countdown to a truly new Nintendo gaming device has already begun.

For more, take a expect at CNET'south Nintendo Switch OLED review and the best games to play on your Switch today. Have yous ever broken your gaming console? I take, and there'south a mode to fix information technology.