TheNintendo Switch 2has been rumoured for years now, and those reports are finally starting to solidify into fact, transmuting from an unimaginable ether of whispers to a physical product that we can try to imagine. As such, everyone at TheGamer is making their predictions and writing their wishlists, but everyone is missing one thing: size.
My colleague Eric Switzer just wantsa better eShop, Jade King wantsupdates to older games, and Josh Coulson just wantsMetroid Prime 4. Across the wider internet, players want more power (even as much as a PS5, which seems a little unrealistic) and a better quality screen. Think 4K, 60fps, that kind of thing. But those people are wrong.
Instead of making a bigger, better screen, Nintendo needs to make the Switch 2 smaller. Much smaller. I miss the days when your Game Boy could fit in your pocket. Yes, I grew up in an era where baggy pants were fashionable, but my Game Boy Advance and SP could easily be secreted about my person, ready for break time at school or a quick grinding sesh on the bus. The DS was a little more difficult, but still pocketable in the right trousers, but the Switch is far too big. Sure, you could pop it in your hoodie pouch, but that risks Joy-Con drift and all sorts of other issues.
A smaller OLED screen would be perfect for the Switch 2. I strongly believe that Nintendo’s biggest competitor isn’t Sony or Microsoft, but is actually more likely Samsung or Apple. Mobile phones are getting more capable of being gaming machines every year, and the advent of streaming via Game Pass means you can play even more demanding games on inferior hardware. Inferior hardware that already fits in your pocket.
Resident Evil Village runs natively on the latest iPhone!
Chances are, you’re reading this on a phone. Chances are, you already carry your phone on your person most of the time. Chances are, if you could legally playPokemon Violeton your phone, you’d jump at the chance. While there are caveats to this – are you packing a controller or using on-screen buttons? – a Switch this small would be perfect. I’d love a return to the clamshell design of the DS to protect the buttons and joysticks, but even a smaller device with detachable Joy-Con like the current Switch would be perfect.
This would also solve the biggest problem with handheld consoles of this generation; the Switch, Steam Deck, and ROG Ally all have the same issue.The battery life is terrible. Each console only holds a few hours of charge, barely enough for a long car journey, let alone a transatlantic plane trip. Although the battery would have to be smaller in itself, a smaller screen would help boost the battery.
If you’re sat here complaining that this would be a downgrade, that the Switch 2 needs to be bigger and better and more more graphics and a more powerful processor and runTears of the Kingdomat 4K resolution with 120Hz framerate, let me introduce you to the core concept of the console: plugging it into your telly.
If the Switch 2 has better upscaling, or a bunch of tech hidden in the dock rather than on the console itself, you could have your cake and carry it around with you, too. A small Switch with a powerful dock to turn it into a monster when HDMIed to your massive telly would be the perfect console.
Even if the Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t hit 4K graphics – and, I mean, what Switch games do you really need to be playing in 4K? – Nintendo needs to double down on the console’s most unique and important trait: the ability to switch between docked and portable mode. The current Switch has that capability, but it’s so unwieldy that it feels like it almost doesn’t want to be taken outside the house. Let’s change that in 2024 please, Nintendo. I just want to be able to fit a console in my pocket again.
