13 years in the past, I used to be sitting in a packed auditorium at E3 2011, ready for Nintendo to disclose the successor to the Wii. When former Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aimé stated the phrases “Wii U” out loud, I turned to my colleagues in disbelief and stifled fun. It wasn’t simply its title that caught me off guard—the entire idea didn’t make sense to me.
Was a cumbersome controller with a 6.2-inch display screen slapped on what Nintendo thought folks needed after the success of the Wii and its modern, easy distant? My considerations turned out to be justified, because the Wii U failed to draw a fraction of the viewers that the Wii did, however as we method the debut of the Switch successor, it appears as if Nintendo realized its lesson.
Without the Wii U, we would by no means have gotten the Switch, which was a transparent evolution from its instant predecessor. Nintendo, as is usually the case, was forward of its time. That stated, the Wii U was a bust, and even in mild of the Switch’s record-breaking success, some followers are anxious that Nintendo is due for one more huge swing and a miss.
Thankfully, the current avalanche of Switch 2 leaks suggests in any other case.
If you’ve been maintaining with the leaks in current weeks, you’ll know {that a} multitude of sources have been zeroing in on the ultimate design of the Switch 2. First had been the accent makers, which have been very happy to share photographs of instances for the console, together with some with a 3D render of the console contained in the case.
Then got here the Reddit leak. u/NextHandheld claimed to have gone hands-on with a retail unit of Nintendo’s subsequent console, getting an up-close take a look at the {hardware} earlier than its announcement. He despatched proof to mods on the r/NintendoSwitch2 subreddit and The Verge, and everybody who noticed that proof was satisfied the leaker was telling the reality.
What we’ve realized from all these leaks is that the Nintendo Switch 2 is shaping as much as be a real sequel to the unique. Rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel, Nintendo seems to be taking what labored concerning the outdated Switch and easily upgrading it, from its show to the Joy-Con controllers to the inner specs. It could be “boring,” however that’s precisely what all of us need.
That’s additionally what Nintendo ignored 10 years in the past with the Wii U. All avid gamers needed was a Wii 2, not the experimental Wii U that they bought. Switch 2 leaks recommend that Nintendo received’t be making the identical mistake twice. At a look, the Switch 2 seems to be little greater than a bigger Switch. The show is 8 inches as a substitute of seven, the Joy-Con controllers are bigger and fix magnetically as a substitute of on rails, and the chip ought to be much more highly effective.
Nintendo even appears to be naming it “Nintendo Switch 2,” primarily based on an image of the dock seen by The Verge. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Nintendo console if it didn’t shock us in a roundabout way, so we’ll be searching for that when the console is unveiled within the coming weeks.
