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Gaming

04th Oct 2018

An upgraded Nintendo Switch is reportedly coming in 2019

Wil Jones

You should still get one for Christmas though

The Nintendo Switch has been a revelation. It hasn’t really been able to compete with the Xbox One or PlayStation 4, but that’s not the point of the console.

Nintendo knew they could never match the power or dominance of Microsoft and PlayStation’s machines – a lesson they learned with the Wii U – so instead they did something different.

Nintendo have always excelled at handheld consoles, so they developed a console that was somewhere between a portable machine and home system. You could plug it into the TV like a PlayStation, but also take it away and play it on the bus.

And this being a Nintendo machine, there have been some instant-classic titles on it already – in particular Super Mario Odyssey and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Despite this success, Nintendo does have a habit of updating their consoles to extend their lifespan – the humble DS birthed the DSi, 3DS, 2DS and 3DS XL.

And a report in the Wall Street Journal Japan suggests the same could happen to the Switch. An unofficial source says the plan is to update the hardware, and in particular replace the “low-end” LCD screen.

The new version could hit shelves as early as the second half of 2019. So if you get a Switch for Christmas this year, you can get a Switch XL, or whatever it is called, next year.

The Switch has already sold nearly 20 million units.