Nintendo Dispels New Switch Announcement At E3 Rumors

Nintendo has been rumored to be working on two separate hardware revisions for its Switch console–one cheaper model to release in June, and a second modest upgrade to come sometime later. Whatever the company has up its sleeve, it has put to rest any speculation that it will make these announcements at E3.

“As a general rule, we’re always working on new hardware and we will announce it when we are able to sell it,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in an earnings call, per Bloomberg. “But we have no plans to announce that at this year’s E3 in June.”

The statement doesn’t necessarily rule out the cheaper Switch coming this summer, as Nintendo could still announce it at any point before or after E3. The company has made a habit of organizing its Nintendo Direct presentations, sometimes on short notice, to make new announcements–including occasional hardware announcements.

The pared down model is said to be a cheaper alternative that lacks some features, such as rumble, and it may also be more hearty than the launch model. Nintendo has often made its hardware revisions more kid-friendly and safe from drop damage, especially in its handheld models. The “enhanced” model is rumored to be an upgrade, but not on the level of the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X. Bloomberg recently threw some cold water on that particular part of the rumor, though, reporting that the enhanced model is “not in the works.”

Alongside its sales call, Nintendo released new earnings figures, including an updated list of its top software sellers. Two big newcomers displaced several of the older games, as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokemon Let’s Go made big debuts to land in the middle of the Switch lifetime sales list.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-dispels-new-switch-announcement-at-e3-rum/1100-6466472/