5 Features a New Switch Version Needs to be Worth it

It’s been a little over 18 months since the Nintendo Switch launched. In that time, it’s proven itself a worthy contender in the modern console market with top-notch games and design features that make it make it easy to pick up and play at any time.

Like any console though, it has areas where it needs to improve, and with the recent leak that Nintendo is developing a new model of the console, we’ve got five features we’d want to see from a new Nintendo Switch.

5 Features We’d Want From a New Nintendo Switch

Longer Portable Battery Life

One of the coolest features the Nintendo Switch offers is its portable play option. In addition to basic play at home through a television, players can take it on the go and enjoy their games through the built-in screen.

Some titles are even better optimized for play in portable mode, with tighter controls and less lag in bigger titles.

Unfortunately, portable-play comes with a hard limit on how long it can last.

The current model of Nintendo Switch starts with a battery life of roughly three hours, and dies more quickly should players play more demanding titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In a new model, one of the primary additions should be a more powerful battery that can extend portable-play by at least an hour.

Not only would this allow players to enjoy time on their consoles longer, but it would allow them to see games optimized for the mode at their best for as long as possible.

5 Features We’d Want From a New Nintendo Switch

Higher RAM Speed

For all of its impressive design and accessibility features, the Nintendo Switch does have areas in terms of its tech where it could improve. Case in point: The Switch’s memory bandwidth speed is 26.5 GB/s, which is considerably lower than that of the PlayStation 4 (176 GB/s) or Xbox One (68.3 GB/s).

That’s to say nothing of their newer models, the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, both of which increase this significantly.

Improving the Switch’s RAM would surely have a big impact on how software runs on the system. Consider the dicey framerate that blighted Breath of the Wild, for example.

With better ram, the vast expanses in Xenoblade Chronicles and the sweeping galactic vistas offered through Super Mario Odyssey would look and play better. Not only that, but it could also prove itself a suitable console for ports of today’s hottest (and more demanding) AAA franchises, from Assassin’s Creed to the upcoming Red Dead Redemption.

5 Features We’d Want From a New Nintendo Switch

A Pre-installed Game

If we’re being completely honest, some of the Nintendo Switch’s launch titles didn’t maintain their value as well as others all these months later.

Sure there was some fun to be found in titles like 1-2-Switch and Snipper Clips, but compared to the quality and lasting value of Breath of the Wild, it’s easy to see which titles will live out the rest of their days in bargain bins.

That said, this does present the opportunity for Nintendo to give players a pre-packed experience to go along with their purchase.

Their new Switch model could come with one of the console’s launch titles available as a bonus to those who purchase the hardware, offering a glimpse of how the motion controls work and how much potential for fun its multiplayer experiences provide.

It would be similar to how they offered Wii Sports free of charge back in the day, but hopefully with less broken TVs and windows.

5 Features We’d Want From a New Nintendo Switch

More Ergonomic Joy Cons

For all of the innovations the Nintendo Switch’s design brings, it continues Nintendo’s unfortunate trend of having less than ideal controllers.

Sure, there’s a separate attachment which allows players to adopt a more natural holding position, but if for whatever reason they only have the Joy Cons, it could lead to an uncomfortable play session full of hand cramps and wrist pain.

Which is a shame, because for the beautiful half hour or so when it doesn’t hurt, it feels surprisingly nice to have extra space in between your hands while playing.

Nintendo should use this upgrade as an opportunity to alter the shape of the Joy Cons to better fit the human hand, ensuring longer play time while still maintaining the sleek look of the console.

It could be as simple as grooving the backs of the Joy Con, or creating a bigger model for those willing to shell out the extra cash.

5 Features We’d Want From a New Nintendo Switch

4K/HDR Support

For all of its strengths, the Nintendo Switch suffers from an issue many a Nintendo console has been criticized for over the years. That issue is a lack of graphical fidelity or at least a lack in term of its peers.

Where the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have offered more visually impressive experiences through their Pro and One X models, the Switch is limited to 1080 HD and thus has trouble scaling up when attached to 4K televisions and monitors.

If Nintendo could offer a Switch console capable of 4K and HDR support, both in portable and on TVs, it would be a monumental step forward for the console and the company.

Not only would it be enough to lure in even the most particular of graphical snobs, but it would allow Nintendo to step back onto the main stage of platform developers in earnest. Plus, with a better resolution, it’s already visually impressive titles would look even better.

What features would you want to be included with a new Nintendo Switch console? Let us know in the comments below, and check out our list of the 10 cutest Pokémon while you’re here.