By formalizing its Nintendo Switch OLED, the Japanese giant seems to have swept away all the rumors evoking a “Pro” model.
But in reality, does Nintendo have any need to launch a Switch Pro in 2021?
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After the Nintendo Switch OLED, the “Pro” version?
It was yesterday, to everyone's surprise, that Nintendo formalized its new Switch OLED, which will be available on October 8 in stores. A new model that swaps the Nintendo Switch's 6,2-inch LCD screen for a 7-inch OLED screen. Added to this is an increased storage capacity (64 GB against 32 GB), better speakers, a dock with an Ethernet socket and even new support for tabletop mode. A surprise certainly, but also a disappointment for many players, who consider that it is actually the Nintendo Switch as it should have been offered since March 2017.
Note that if Nintendo has not announced any official price, the Nintendo Switch OLED has been displayed for a few hours now on several merchant sites at a price of 359 euros.
No 4K therefore, nor even Full HD in portable mode for this new version, with an OLED screen which will cap again and again at 720p. No new NVIDIA chip either, no DLSS… In short, a Nintendo Switch OLED which is nothing “Pro”, but after all, does Nintendo really need to offer a Nintendo Switch Pro to players?
A Nintendo Switch Pro… but why exactly?
Indeed, it has been a few months now that rumors evoked the imminent presentation of a “more powerful” Nintendo Switch. Sometimes called "NEW Nintendo Switch", sometimes "Nintendo Switch Pro" or "Nintendo Switch 4K", this new version of the console launched in March 2017 was going to have a revised and corrected technical sheet, and many were those (including us ) to have believed in this “premium” version of the Nintendo Switch.
However, with more than 85 million consoles sold worldwide, it is difficult for Nintendo to see any interest today in marketing a more powerful console. Indeed, the standard Nintendo Switch continues to stun the competition over and over again, with ever-increasing sales. The same goes for games, with first-party titles that sell in the tens of millions of units. Ultimately, nothing that can convince Nintendo of the need to urgently offer a more powerful Switch.
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Between frustrations, constraints and non-necessity
Moreover, by launching a "Nintendo Switch Pro", Nintendo would create a real feeling of frustration among some players, harmed by having to settle for an "inferior version". Players would thus be split into several categories, between those who could enjoy an ultimate version of certain games with a 4K display and a better frame rate, and others who would have to settle for a less successful version. Also impossible to imagine games developed only for the Nintendo Switch Pro.
To this would also be added another constraint, on the side of the developers this time. Indeed, with a Nintendo Switch Pro, developers would then have the mission of boosting the performance of their games, which would be able to cause many development concerns. Concerns that Nintendo intends to do without, not to mention the fact that, as stated above, first party games are still sold in pallets, including when the title in question is a bit graphically sparse, like the recent Mario Golf Super Rush.
Finally, it is also wise to ask the following question: is there really a demand from players for a Nintendo Switch Pro? According to the sales figures, no, the Nintendo Switch is seducing the crowds in its current state. Nintendo has already proven it in the past with its Wii (to name but one), hardware that is totally outdated compared to the competition in no way limits the commercial success of a console.
Moreover, we know from experience that Nintendo, unlike Sony and Microsoft, has not played the technological race card for a few generations now. Remember that the Japanese giant took years before finally switching to HDMI, Full HD resolution (with the Wii U), and in 2021 to OLED technology, when a certain PS Vita embarked this same technology from 2011…
One day, no doubt...
Be careful however, it is not impossible that Nintendo could offer, one day, a more powerful iteration of its Nintendo Switch, with an OLED model which would simply be a transitional model. Rather than a Nintendo Switch Pro, Nintendo could even design a brand new, more powerful console, which would not only have its own games (in 4K for example), while being backward compatible with Nintendo Switch. If this is the case, it will then be necessary to be careful not to reproduce the disaster of the Wii U in terms of communication and marketing.
Nevertheless, in the current state of things, with sales in good shape, a very clear offer and games that are appealing to tens of millions of players, the appeal of 4K, HDR, 120 fps, TFlops and supercharged CPU (follow our gaze) does not seem to be on the agenda at Nintendo, which will certainly benefit for a few months, even years, from the exceptional profitability of its Switch. Anyway, that's what we would do.
Pre-order the Nintendo Switch OLED
