With almost five years of life, and a whopping almost 100 million units sold worldwide, there is no doubt that the Nintendo Switch has been a success for both the company and players. And it is that the curious hybrid format of portable and table console, together with the popularity of its exclusive franchises and its more and more ports, give this console the potential to become one of the best sellers of all time.
However, the portable console has already shown us some of its possibilities for improvement with the arrival of the Nintendo Switch Lite and the most recent Nintendo OLED, with still strong rumors of the possible arrival of a new second generation version. Thus, although at the moment there is no certainty of what the future will bring us, we wanted to collect and review five major features and improvements we’d like to see if Nintendo renewed this console.
Screen improvements: higher resolution, size, and more OLED
One of the most obvious improvements for the new generation of Nintendo Switch is undoubtedly in its screen resolution. And it is that the three versions of the current console, including the model with a new panel, have maximum resolutions of 720 pixels in portable mode. So that, we would like to be able to see at least native 1080 pixel resolutions, without the need for re-scaling, as well as perhaps the possibility of reaching 4K in desktop mode, thus allowing the entry of new ports to its game catalog.
On the other hand, we would also like to see a better optimization of the screen size, as the latest variant has shown us, which increased to seven inches without affecting the overall size of the console. In fact, this OLED panel should certainly be one of the legacy features for the new console.
However, these improvements should remain an optimization of the screen space, and not an increase in the general size of the console, avoiding the arrival of a larger Nintendo Switch XL and, therefore, less portability.
Switch Online connectivity improvements
Another of the great deficiencies of current consoles is undoubtedly your internet connection system. And it is that although the online game is always marked by the possibility of suffering some punctual connection failure, in the case of the Nintendo console it seems to be something much more recurring.
These connectivity issues for Switch Online are likely due to the fact that most Switch consoles rely on WiFi connections, as the standard dock does not come with a built-in LAN port (now sold separately). If the company is going to charge us for the privilege of playing online, the least they can do is make sure the online games are playable from the start.
Integrated voice chat
Although the console already has its own communications system, honestly, the Nintendo Switch Online mobile application has been one of the biggest headaches that I have never faced.
And it is that this application is not a Nintendo alternative for those who want to use their mobile as an accessory to communicate, but rather it is the only available tool that the console offers us. In addition to the absence of other third-party apps like Vivox or Discord, some games like Fortnite have even seen some of their built-in chat features limited, forcing you to use this app.
In general, the experience with this application can be defined as mediocre, with a rather awkward and clunky user experience, and a not particularly remarkable connection quality even despite using the phone itself or the connected headphones.
Joy-Con improvements
Far from being a secret, the Joy-Con controllers of the current Nintendo Switch have a huge number of operating problems that have even been classified as irreparable, leading to direct accusations from Europe and other official bodies thanks to which the company was forced to offer free repairs even outside the warranty of the devices.
So the obvious improvement would be to correct joystick drift, although it is true that we could still see some interesting improvements such as possible ergonomic design or even the already patented completely independent Joy-Con.
Greater backward compatibility
Currently counting on the emulators of its classic NES and SNES consoles, and after the recent arrival of the first Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color titles, we cannot stop dreaming that the company will continue to bring new installments of the rest of its previous consoles, such as the Game Cube, and even some of the titles of its portable consoles or Nintendo DS.
And it is that without a doubtto backward compatibility and cloud gaming they’ve already become one of the core pillars for Microsoft and Sony, so we can certainly see a lot of room for improvement for the new Nintendo Switch here.
