What's Next for Nintendo?

Mario is looking into the future

Nintendo recently had their latest Nintendo Direct. To my surprise, a summer direct did happen. The event revealed more new games than I expected and has completely shifted my belief regarding the Switch’s successor’s release and how Nintendo will end things with their most successful home console of all time.

The June 2023 Nintendo Direct had many new announcements, especially for Mario fans. We have the remake of the beloved classic Super Mario RPG, the return of 2D Mario in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Luigi’s Manion: Dark Moon remaster, and even Princess Peach has her own game coming in the pipeline. The surprise for me was those last two games being announced for next year. I believe the Switch successor (which I think will be a much more powerful Switch) will be out around March to April 2024. Now, I think a holiday 2024 launch is more likely.

Nintendo seems to be focusing on nostalgia and its legacy content to end the Switch. As someone who has been begging Nintendo to lean into their nostalgia and classics, I’m happy about this turn of events. A few rumors are going around about several more remasters and remakes, specifically from the GameCube era. It seems this will be how Nintendo finishes off the Switch and starts to look toward the future.

I think Nintendo will play it safe with the next system. I’m a big believer in the slogan, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” All the smoke is saying a Switch successor will be the same concept with what I believe will be about or slightly better than PS4 type of graphics, which should produce some beautiful games with the company's art style focus. They’ve even started hinting towards the following system by revealing it will use the same Nintendo Account Switch supports and stating they plan to transition their users slowly to the successor.

So, my guess now is that the next Switch will be revealed in the first Direct of 2024, with a launch around early Fall (September?). I believe Metroid Prime 4 will be the big launch title, and it could also be a cross-gen game that works on the current Switch. I think the next big 3D mainline Mario game will be close to the launch and be the most significant transformation to the Mario series since Super Mario 64 (yes, I have a gut feeling it’ll be that big of a change). Switch’s last year will be all about nostalgia and remakes to finish off the iconic system. However, I think the system will still get a steady stream of games even in 2025 before being discontinued. It will be like how Xbox took a rolling generation approach.

I could be wrong, but this is my guess after watching that direct. Nintendo is in the Switch's swan song years, and gamers are itching for what’s next. I think we will have more information by the start of next year. So let’s hop on the rumor and speculation train that always comes before the reveal. Remember, new consoles take longer to come out now, so enjoy the ride.