At this point, the code name “Switch 2” is pretty much burned into all of our minds. Rumors have been swirling around for some time now, and we’ve only recently received official confirmation from Nintendo that the new system exists at all. In fact, it’s being announced during this fiscal year, which means we’ll at the very least know its name before March 2025. In the meantime, we figured it’d be a good time to think about Nintendo’s next console and some of the features we’d most like to see on it.
Better controllers
This one is a must. The Switch’s Joy-Con are a neat idea in theory, but they’re somewhat lacking in execution. Their control sticks are notorious for drifting, which makes playing games with precise movement (or any game at all, really) very difficult. Joy-Con drift is perhaps the biggest issue with the Switch, and one that hasn’t been directly addressed or outright fixed by this point. The Switch 2 absolutely needs better control sticks at the very least, lest they run into the same problem again. That being said, the controllers do have one advantage, and it’s one we’d like to see retained on new hardware: they’re separate from the console itself. Back in the day, if you broke the Wii U GamePad, you’d have to send the whole thing back to Nintendo – and you can’t do a lot on the Wii U without the GamePad. In the Switch’s case, you can send the faulty controller back to Nintendo and pop on a spare. Detachable controllers are both convenient and customizable, and we’d love to see a Switch 2 keep this feature.
A little bit more personality
Compared to its predecessors, the Switch’s user interface is kind of plain. The Wii U and 3DS had music for everything – the friends list, the news feed, system settings, the eShop, and much more. There’s no such equivalent for the Switch, however; all of these are instead silent and don’t have any unique sound effects. That uniqueness is something we’ve come to know Nintendo by, and we’d like to see a bit more of it in Nintendo’s next console. This isn’t even mentioning the “extra” apps the Wii U and 3DS had – things like Swapnote, the Internet Browser, the Nintendo Badge Arcade, the theme shop, and others. Speaking of themes…
Themes
How haven’t we received themes on the Switch yet?! The Switch has a dedicated system settings section just for themes, and yet the only options available are Basic Black and Basic White. Themes would be a great way to customize your console (and maybe earn Nintendo a bit of extra money). On the 3DS, themes not only changed the appearance of your home menu, but the music that played on it as well. Nintendo can pull from a ton of different franchises and characters – there would be something for everyone. If themes really do make their return on Switch 2, we’d also like to see the return of the theme shuffle feature from the 3DS. This let you decide a pool of themes that the console would randomly load every time you accessed the home menu.
An improved eShop
If you’ve used the 3DS or Wii U prior to trying out the Switch, then you’ve probably noticed that the Switch eShop is a little bit lacking in features compared to the stores that came before it. The Switch eShop has a particularly prominent issue with its approval process. Games often go on sale for mere cents to gain higher visibility; others use what is clearly AI-generated art on their store page, and there are tons of games with questionable content that randomly pop up during searches. Gone are the days of the 3DS and Wii U eShop’s rating systems, so it’s difficult to tell which games are legit without having to do some research yourself. That’s not even mentioning how sluggish and laggy the Switch’s eShop feels at times – plus it doesn’t play any music! We’d love to see a straight upgrade here that brings back some of the Nintendo eShop charm we’ve been missing.
More Nintendo Switch Online platforms
It’s probably a safe bet that Nintendo’s current Nintendo Switch Online infrastructure will carry over to the next console, whatever that ends up being. In fact, Nintendo itself has specifically confirmed that its Nintendo Account structure will carry over to the Switch’s successor. Hopefully that means we’ll have the entire Nintendo Switch Online library from day one, and won’t have to start over with a few NES games for a third time. It’s no secret that most fans would like to see a GameCube platform – we do think that’s somewhat unlikely, however. Super Mario Sunshine was already available via Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and perhaps more importantly, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Metroid Prime Remastered, and Pikmin 1 + 2 are all already on Switch as standalone releases. A GameCube NSO would have to exclude all of these prolific titles, so we think there’s a higher chance that Nintendo opts for more ports and remasters in the future instead. Still, the possibilities don’t end there! The Wii U Virtual Console brought back Nintendo DS games, and that’s certainly a possibility here even without a built-in microphone. While we’re at it, let’s bring back individual purchase options for Virtual Console titles on Switch 2 as well.
Friend messaging
Nintendo has never been great with online features like friend messaging. The closest thing we’ve got is Swapnote back in the 3DS days, and even that was discontinued far before the online servers ever shut down. Pokemon X, Y, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire actually had Game Chat, an option that allowed you to use the 3DS’ admittedly low-quality microphone to talk to friends while battling or trading. The Switch doesn’t have a microphone, but maybe the next one will. At the very least, we’d like to see its successor introduce the ability to send actual messages to your friends on the Switch itself. It’s possible to send friend requests to people playing games like Splatoon or Super Smash Bros., but from there it’s impossible to actually communicate with them.
Cloud saves for every game
Admittedly, this isn’t something we should be waiting for the next console to get. Cloud saves are a key perk of Nintendo Switch Online, as they allow you to restore your progress if something were to happen to your Switch. Unfortunately, all of the games you’d want to restore your progress to do not support cloud saves. No main series Pokemon games on Switch support them, Splatoon 2 doesn’t support them, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons doesn’t support them traditionally. Sure, there are reasons these games don’t support cloud saves – the in-game economy and such – but these are all arguably some of the biggest time investments the Switch has to offer. If you’re paying for a Nintendo Switch Online membership anyway, you should at least get a little security that your Pokemon collection will be okay in case you drop your Switch and need to get it repaired.
A more detailed Activity Log
The Wii U and especially the 3DS had in-depth Activity Log programs. They showed you your exact play time on each title, how many times you’ve launched them, and your average play time. Unfortunately, Switch only gives you a rough approximation of your play time in intervals of five hours and nothing beyond. If you don’t play a game for several years, the Switch also seemingly takes hours away from your play time – that’s happened to us on a few separate occasions. We’d love to see a detailed activity log on Switch 2 – not even for any practical purpose, but as a nice little time waster between games.
Backwards compatibility
Fortunately, the odds are in our favor here, and for a very specific reason. Recently, Nintendo has changed the packaging of its new amiibo figures to remove any mention of the 3DS, Wii U, and Switch. Though it technically doesn’t confirm anything, it does make sense that they’d make this change if a new console is on the horizon. That would imply that the new console supports amiibo, which means the odds are good that it supports Switch games, too. Besides, we find it doubtful that Nintendo would release a bunch of Mario games on Switch (Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD) only for them to be rendered unplayable on the next console. Niche theories aside, with a library as strong as the Switch’s, we’d like to be able to keep playing those games on Switch 2.
Handheld mode
This one’s definitely obvious, but for us it’s a must that Nintendo’s next piece of hardware retains its docked and handheld modes – and doesn’t just stick to one or the other. It’s an excellent gimmick, and it’s one that everyone understands (whereas something like the Wii U GamePad wasn’t immediately obvious to people who hadn’t seen it before). We don’t think it requires much innovation or thought — as long as Nintendo’s next console retains that signature versatility, we think it’ll be off to a strong start.
What’s most important to you on Nintendo’s next console? Themes, backwards compatibility, better control sticks, or something entirely different? Feel free to let us know all your thoughts and visions for the Switch’s successor below.
As we mentioned earlier, it might be a little while before Nintendo is ready for a full reveal. That being said, the longer they take, the higher the chance their next console is something even better. In the meantime, feel free to check out both Nintendo’s official site and our own for further news updates.
