Hypothesis over Nintendo’s new console, a successor to the wildly standard Change, reached a fever pitch on Thursday (Jan 16) with specialist media predicting an imminent announcement from the Japanese gaming large.
The Eurogamer web site stated it had heard “trade whispers” that the brand new gadget could be unveiled Thursday, the identical date leaked by an influential podcaster.
A reporter from tech outlet The Verge stated Tuesday on X: “I’ve heard it must be the Change 2 reveal this week”, additional fuelling buzz amongst followers.
Gamers have lengthy been hungry for information on a follow-up to Nintendo’s hybrid Change console, which will be handheld or related to a TV display.
Because it hit cabinets in 2017, greater than 146 million models have been bought worldwide, making the Change the third-best-selling console ever after Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s DS.
Nintendo estimates it has bought 1.3 billion copies of Change titles, together with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which turned a must-play amongst all age teams throughout COVID-19 lockdowns.
However because the blockbuster Change ages and gross sales decline, the Kyoto-based firm stated final 12 months it will reveal its subsequent console by the top of March 2025.
A Nintendo spokesman instructed AFP on Thursday that there was “nothing we are able to share” relating to the announcement.
In November, Nintendo promised customers that video games made for the unique Change could be playable on the brand new one.
Whereas the agency has saved tight-lipped on particulars of the brand new {hardware}, that hasn’t stopped a gradual stream of leaks.
Some purport to point out the gadget in manufacturing, or equipment designed to suit the following console.
A producer referred to as Genki even confirmed off a life-sized reproduction mannequin of the console, that includes a much bigger display than its predecessor, on the CES tech present in Las Vegas this month.
However the brand new Change is probably going already being made at factories “to make sure there’s sufficient inventory, as demand for the brand new console will definitely be very excessive”, stated Darang Candra from recreation trade analysis agency Niko Companions.
Gaming rival Sony confronted a provide bottleneck that led to empty cabinets when it launched the PlayStation 5 in 2020, one thing Nintendo might be eager to keep away from.
One fan, 29-year-old Animal Crossing streamer LottieRoseGames, instructed AFP her viewers is “notably excited” given the newest rumours.
“Individuals are simply trying ahead to the prospects of what a brand new console will convey by way of new options – and naturally largely new video games,” she stated.
