Switch 2 Ideas

I’ve got some Switch 2 ideas for you. Based on everyone else’s speculation, based on existing patents, based on the mood of the gaming world, I’m giving my idealized Nintendo Switch successor system.

These aren’t predictions, per se. It’s my idealized-but-realistic version of Switch 2 ideas. Not going full-on dreamer here–there ain’t gonna be an official FPGA modular Nintendo console with a Wii disc drive add-on–but still probably cooler than the actual console will end up being.

When I was sixteen, I accidentally predicted the Wii U and Switch weeks before the Wii U leaked, and my dreams of asymmetrical multiplayer were briefly real. I didn’t predict anything for the Switch itself, because it was too obvious a concept.

Here, though? I got me some Switch 2 Ideas. (Legally speaking, I release all these ideas to be used without credit or compensation. You should share the ideas and link this post though.)

Hear My Switch 2 Ideas

For one, I don’t care about specs. It’ll probably be a slight upgrade to the Switch, and not much more. 1080p screen, 4K level gameplay, enough processing power to compete with the PS4 Pro if not match it. 8GB of RAM, almost certainly. Getting too specific is just arguing in the weeds, though.

With the Steam Deck killing it on PC, we are finally in a world where lower-spec ports of intense games are totally normal without gatekeeping. Switch 2’ll be able to play Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Halo Infinite–just graphically stripped-down versions of them.

I don’t think Switch 2 will aim for core gamers though. The canceled Switch Pro from a few years ago? That would have been for core gamers, people wanting to play advanced games not possible on the stock Switch model. But this is a full console upgrade. They’ll want families to buy a Switch 2. Three or four, optimally.

They’ll want to keep the brand. Probably keep the joycons, have backwards compatibility, and keep on trucking with the old Switch for a few years yet. That’ll probably require an extra chip, based on weird nerd stuff I don’t understand. Overall, though, it’ll be a smoother transition than Nintendo’s usually had. BUT, they don’t want to do another Wii U. It’s got to be clearly another console, and it’s got to have gimmicks that make people want to pick it up.

So with that in mind, here is the central focus of my Switch 2 ideas:

Dual Screen Gimmick Is Here

Hell yeah, let’s call it the Nintendo Snap or something.

This parent from a couple weeks ago made huge waves. Now, lots of Nintendo patents don’t turn out to be used in anything. But they often predict where Nintendo’s brain is headed, and I think this is the big one.

And turning the Switch 2 into the next DS is a pretty good way to flip everyone out. Oh maybe it can be the Nintendo Flip.

Two screens that work together, but can apparently be split apart! That’s huge. You can have two players play Mario Kart together, or you can play a big adventure game by yourself with the map on the bottom screen, just like those old DS days. I’m assuming these screens work together for processing and stuff, so it’s not just literally two separate consoles together. Whatever magic’s there.

Alternatively, with increased power, you can use the second screen for multitasking. Not every game will use two screens, obviously, so it might be a good idea to make use of that extra space. It’s not super Nintendo-like, but playing a shooter game, plus Nintendo Online chat with your friends on the bottom? Or a Netflix video stream, or a Discord channel feed, or a web browser with a game guide? It’s all great second screen uses that could make their way into any two-screen platform filled with one-screen games.

Nintendo’s hardware patents tend not to be totally accurate to the end product, though. So it’s highly unlikely the Switch 2 will look exactly like this.

Expanding Switch Online

Switch Online’s pretty expensive so far, but they’re obviously gonna want to keep expanding it, keep making people invested in it so they can inevitably increase the price like we know they’ll do in a few years, sigh.

DS games for free on Switch Online are a no-brainer with two screens. Less of a no-brainer, but still a big game changer, are Wii U games. Maybe they port or emulate Nintendo Land, Game & Wario, and Affordable Space Adventures, just give the three away for free with the Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription. That way, they can sell people on the idea of multi-screen gaming without investing a bunch of extra capital into it, and beef up their service.

Gamecube games? Yeah, some will get added, although it sure seems like they’re remastering most of the games people care about most… Wii games will probably get the same treatment. It’d make them a lot more money to just bring back Virtual Console and let people buy the dang games for $20, but I can’t see Nintendo being smart enough for that.

I’m almost certain we’ll see more subscription services on consoles over time. Xbox Game Pass on Switch feels like a foregone conclusion at this point. And I’m sure Ubisoft+ and EA Play are just gunning to get added. Maybe Humble Bundle/Choice will extend to Switch? Like it or not, online services are probably going to ramp up in a big way.

Docking & Streaming: My Biggest Switch 2 Ideas

Here’s where the two-screen detatchable Switch 2 makes the most difference. At home, you don’t have to have the two screens at all; you can dock one screen and then play on the TV. It’s the Wii U all over again, but as an actual hybrid console this time. You’ve got the two screens, but you can play at home just the same. And half the games probably won’t even use the second screen anyway.

At home, the Switch 2 becomes more like a hub. With actually good processing power, you could run a single console with multiple screens at the same time, each playing–well, not full games, but maybe each of them could play a different SNES game at the same time, or something.

Or hell, maybe full games too. Based on this 2015 patent, Nintendo has developed systems to connect multiple systems together to share processing power. I’m pretty sure this was the basis for the Switch dock, but it could keep going further, even wirelessly. Make use of your old Switch consoles around the house by letting them all connect to the Switch 2 hub and play games at the same time, much more powerful than before. Smartphones, too, could easily work for this. This won’t be particularly common, but there’s definitely some games that would love to have it.

Mainly, it’d let people each play games off the same system, yeah. So a Switch defeats the purpose since the Switch itself already has games. But for large multiplayer experiences, that’s where I think it’d get fun.

Local Multiplayer Bonanza

Remember the really cool two-switch mode in Mario Party? That’s the kind of thing you can do with multiple screens linked together and all contributing processing power together.

You could run a whole dang Minecraft session at the same time. I think the Switch lets you do two players splitscreen now? The Switch 2, linking everything together, could get six or eight players all in one room.

My dreams of a TTRPG campaign management game could finally be realized… Actually you can probably do this with your phone now, but whatever.

LAN Party first-person shooters suddenly work way better with everyone getting their own scrceen. Super Smash Bros. tournaments go so much faster when everyone can play their matches at the same time (the lack of wired controllers available kills this one, but Nintendo wouldn’t realize that before implementing the idea). Xenoblade Chronicles X and Monster Hunter become wonderful local multiplayer experiences.

There’s also tons of asymmetrical multiplayer options, like Jackbox type stuff and evolutions on Nintendo Land. I doubt too many games will make use of crazy local multiplayer options like this, but it’s very much a great way to make sure there’s a Switch 2 in every household, perfect to demonstrate on Thanksgiving and Christmas with the whole extended family connecting their smartphones and playing together.

I’ve wanted this for ages, and Nintendo has skirted around it for years, but this might finally be the time where the tech is ready for it, and Nintendo doesn’t have to discard nearly a decade of system adoption in the process. Well, they might still anyway, but whatever.

Wild Unsubstantiated Idea: Creation Studio

You may know from my Rareware-Nintendo Alternate History that I have a soft spot for that N64DD, Gamecube, early Wii type of creative freedom kick Nintendo was on.

The Mario Paint Studio on N64DD is legitimately amazing. A full 3D modelling suite on the dang Nintendo 64!

They don’t make them like that anymore, not as much. Miis were a big deal in the early Wii, and Miiverse drawings were popular, but not that much beyond that. These days, Nintendo’s main creative endeavors have been in Labo cardboard stuff or the Game Builder Garage title that flew under the radar.

I’m not suggesting Nintendo’s going to try and make a whole game creation suite on Switch 2, though. I’m thinking more on the social sharing side of things. The Miiverse side. But without the burden of running a whole closed-space social network this time.

I’m thinking Nintendo will double-down on creatio and customizing. The fashion in Splatoon, the towns in Animal Crossing, the screenshots of Smash Bros. and Pokemon Snap, the stuff that made Nintendo a bazillion dollars from viral content and “metaverse” type stuff, that’s what Nintendo will go hard on.

So the last part of my Switch 2 ideas is that we’ll see an overarching creative studio shared across multiple games, and even platforms. You can create models and artwork, share them, and use them in certain game aspects–like digital, self-made Amiibos. Players can express themselves and Nintendo can make a lot of money off the synergy between otherwise disconnected games–just like Amiibo sought to do, except everyone saw through that as crappy on-disc DLC. This time it’s genuine connections, just as long as programmers are willing to add it in.

If Nintendo’s really willing to go crazy with social sharing stuff, I can also see 3D screenshots becoming a big thing. The Switch records gameplay videos, but what if you could capture a whole scene in 3D and share it online? It’d require a special platform to host and embed these 3D images and rotate them around on a PC or smart phone, but it’s totally doable and totally weird in that Nintendo way. Imagine taking a Smash Bros. screenshot of that moment you spiked your opponent right at the best moment, and anyone online being able to see it. There’s so many cool ways to implement it.

My Switch 2 Ideas Finished

That’s just my ideas, though. There’s a lot more stuff out there the next console might do. VR, for example.

But for me, that’s the end of it. I’m going to stay out of the hype cycle from here on out. My Switch 2 ideas are here. Now, I’m just ready for the thing to release in November 2024 or March 2025.