A budget-priced Nintendo Switch model is supposedly in the works and set to release this Fall.
Financial news outlet Nikkei is reporting that Nintendo is working on a lower priced model of the Switch. The company is supposedly targeting this low-cost, budget-priced Switch model at casual gamers.
This new budget-friendly Nintendo Switch model focuses more on portability. However, it will still be able to connect to a television like the existing Switch model.
To help sell this new model, Nintendo will supposedly revise the strategies they’ve used to sell separate home and portable systems in the past. As part of this, they are considering unifying their software development branches.
Prior to this, the Wall Street Journal also reported that Nintendo was working on two new Switch models. This report mentioned both the budget priced model and a more powerful, enhanced model. However, the enhanced model will not be as powerful as the PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One.
Nintendo is also planning a “next-generation device,” according to Nikkei’s source. The company will supposedly begin development of this after the budget priced Nintendo Switch model is released. Development will focus on a number of things including improvements on the controls, image rendering, and the operating system for basic software. However, Nintendo has not decided on who will lead this project.
Nintendo working on a budget priced Switch, let alone two new models, shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company did the same with its DS and 3DS handhelds. Nintendo looking to develop next-generation hardware is also unsurprising. What’s more interesting, however, is Nintendo supposedly changing the strategies they’ve used in the past. This seems to indicate that the company is now focusing on having only one hardware brand—the Switch—instead of separate portable and home consoles like in the past.
