The Nintendo Switch has been out for 3.5 years now, and the Lite has been out for a whole year. Now, it seems there may be a superior model in the works. There have been some whispers of a new Switch that will be releasing in 2021, and a pro version of the Switch has been rumored to be in production for some time now.
The Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, 2017 to a lot of fanfare, managing to beat out the lifetime sales of the Wii-U in less than a year in Japan. There’s a lot to like about the Switch and the Lite: its portability, wide range of games, and unique games are all points in its favor. However, there are problems that the next version should fix, but most likely won’t be able to or can’t.
While Nintendo made some improvements in the battery life of the Switch in 2019, players still have complained about the short life of the console. Considering that everything the Switch does, including running a rather large and clear screen, Wi-Fi connections, and powering the controllers, it’s not a surprise that the batteries drain in just a few hours. But if Nintendo were to release a Pro, higher resolution version, this problem might actually get worse.
If the next-generation release of the Switch has the rumored better graphics, the drain on the battery will be even more noticeable without massive upgrades to it. Battery technology hasn’t come far enough to keep a beautiful, high-res screen running with all the other power-draining features for very long at all.
Many would agree that the Joy-Cons are fairly good controllers. The easy conversion from handheld to TV and back makes them a great addition to the portability and ease of use of the Switch, but the controllers are not without issue. Many players have complained about the Joy-Cons randomly disconnecting, even when there is nothing between them and their Switch. Although Nintendo has updated the hardware in the newer Switches to make the Joy-Con connection better, this can still happen regularly while playing.
But the biggest problem with the Switch so far has been controller drift. The problem has been so large and widespread that Nintendo has been facing legal action and the President of Nintendo publicly apologized for the drift issue himself. While Nintendo has been fixing the Joy-Cons and Switch Lites with draft problems for free, mailing them in and waiting for them to be fixed and sent back is a hassle. Also, Joy-Con repair was suspended for a while due to Coronavirus, which means some may not even be able to get them fixed at all for the moment.
While Nintendo offers some incredible, single-player games that don’t need an internet connection on the Switch, connecting to the internet is important to watch streaming content, download games and updates, and to visit other player’s islands in Animal Crossing. But the Switch is known for poor connection quality and disconnecting without connecting again. The Wi-Fi connection issues are one of the problems that Nintendo has improved on, but there are no permanent fixes for. That means that it will most likely be a problem with any new Switch models released.
Many Switch owners have dropped their consoles into the cradle, turned on their TVs, and gotten some weird error messages with no sound. Or the Switch just isn’t charging. Or even worse, there’s no image on the TV even though the Switch is in the dock. It’s a big annoyance to have to stand up again and re-seat the console. The cradle/docking station could have been better designed to allow the Switch to sit in a way that makes the connection stronger, preventing many of the docking problems. Most likely, any new Switch models will continue to have the old cradle, which is probably best considering how expensive a stand-alone Switch dock is.
Many Switch owners facing a broken dock or drifting Joy-Cons have looked into buying new ones, only to balk at the price of the accessories. Although the Switch Joy-Cons are sold at a loss, they still aren’t cheap. Peripherals for the Switch Pro most likely wouldn’t be any cheaper so long as the Pro has the same design as the original, which seems likely.
Most people use their consoles for everything. PS4 and Xbox users are known for not just playing games, but also streaming, watching DVDs, chatting with friends, and more, all things that are a lot harder on the Switch. The Switch has an internet connection but no browser to browse the internet, and while there is a “Secret Hack” that allows Switch users to connect to a hidden web browser, it’s not something most people could find easily. It would be fairly easy to add a browser to the Switch as most of the components are already there, but since it’s been three years and Nintendo hasn’t given original Switch users a browser, it doesn’t seem to be high on the priority list.
It’s a real shame that older, beloved games like Ocarina of Time and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon can’t be played on the Switch. The Wii had a fantastic variety of the games available through the eShop, but the new eShop has very little in the way of older games. The online service does come with an ever-growing selection of NES and SNES game, but gamers have to pay a monthly price for it. The Switch gaining backwards compatibility would be well-received by fans, giving them a massive new collection of games to play.
The Nintendo Switch is still a great console, even though its by no means perfect. But if a Pro edition does come out, it would be nice to see some changes to the Switch implemented that would make the consoles even better.
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