What to expect from Nintendo in 2024

Of the three mainstays in the console market, Nintendo is often the hardest to pin down. While Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox tend to have definitive, regularly drip-fed marketing beats and messaging that heralds the coming of whatever's coming in the near future, Nintendo often feels like it's doing its own thing. The short answer to what to expect from Nintendo in 2024 is: who knows. But the long answer is certainly an interesting one.

It all really just depends on whether the rumors and reports of a Switch 2 or Switch Pro or whatever you might want to call it finally pan out. There is essentially nothing definitively pointing to new hardware out of Nintendo this year, and the company itself has denied and downplayed all reports to the contrary thus far. But if reports are to be believed – from several reputable outlets, no less – it is entirely possible that we see whatever's next for Nintendo's console by the end of 2024.

The future's bright

Details beyond that are hazy, though some reports, not least the one linked above, suggest the new hardware will still include a cartridge slot, a handheld mode option like the original Switch, and perhaps an LCD screen to keep costs down. None of that is guaranteed by any means, but if nothing else, the timing does feel right considering Nintendo's history.

The Wii U launched roughly six years after the Wii, and the Switch launched just five years after the Wii U. This year marks seven since the launch of the Switch, and while there's certainly an argument to be made that console generations are only going to last longer and longer, that's still quite a bit of time considering the PS5 and Xbox Series X are roughly half that age.

And let's be clear here: Nintendo is still putting out bangers, despite the Switch's age and perceived limitations. While there's plenty to be said about the performance woes of the latest Pokemon games, Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are both incredible pieces of work. And while the release calendar for Nintendo is relatively barren after March of this year, there's still Mario vs. Donkey Kong in February and Princess Peach: Showtime! in March. (Not to mention Another Code: Recollection this month!)

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are also both set to release for the Switch at some point this year, and there's every indication that Nintendo will announce a Nintendo Direct at some point in the coming months that will at the very least lay out a goodly chunk of what else to expect in 2024. 

But if I'm being entirely honest, Nintendo doesn't actually need to do much of anything this year to continue being my platform of choice, and I suspect I'm not the only one. Especially when you take into account the OLED model, I regularly find myself skewing toward the Switch when it comes to anything multiplatform. Sure, I'm still going to play Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the PS5, but anything that isn't entirely locked down typically ends up being installed on my Switch over anything else.

For me, the Switch is right in the sweet spot of being just good enough for the vast majority of what I want to play that it doesn't matter that I'm not getting the most impressive, realistic graphics in the world. All that matters is I can boot it up and immediately jump into Vampire Survivors or Dave the Diver or any number of first- and third-party titles that work and look perfectly fine.

So while a small, technically-driven coat of paint would be nice, there's really little that Nintendo absolutely must do to make the Switch 2 a smashing success. In fact, for my money, there are essentially only two major shifts that would really make it a worthwhile upgrade: a fix for Joy-Con drift and something resembling actual online functionality.

There are plenty of other little quality-of-life changes that Nintendo could make, and the company is known for zigging when others are zagging so there's no guarantee that some wild new method of control or play isn't bolted on. But the two most prominent issues with the Nintendo Switch being resolved with its successor would go a long way.

So, what can you expect from Nintendo in 2024? Definitively, there will be a handful of first-party titles – some of which, I'm sure, are yet to be unveiled – and a bevy of third-party games that will inevitably end up on the Switch as a preferred platform for many.

While the rumor mill has constantly reiterated each year that this time there really might be a new version of the Switch on the horizon, 2024 does actually feel finally poised to prove it accurate. There's no denying that Nintendo has to be working on something, after all, and I for one am looking forward to seeing behind the elusive curtain.