Switch Pro a no go: Nintendo says no plans for new console in 2020

The Nintendo Switch is one of Nintendo’s best game consoles ever, and one of its most popular, going by the recent reveal that the Switch has now outsold the SNES. There's always room for improvement, however. The Switch has the lowest processing power out of the current Big 3 consoles and it doesn't have a huge amount of internal storage, which is a problem in a gaming market that’s becoming more and more reliant on full game downloads.

There have been rumors that, after making a refreshed standard Switch and the handheld-only Switch Lite, Nintendo was working on a Switch Pro, which was predicted to emerge at some point during 2020, costing around $400 and offering a better CPU, more storage and 4K support. It was also suggested that this could be a TV-only console, in contrast to the Switch Lite.

But now it looks like Nintendo has killed these rumors. In a new financial report (PDF) published by the company (via Kotaku), there's the following line: “Please note that we have no plans to launch a new Nintendo Switch model during 2020.”

This unambiguous language will no doubt disappoint some Nintendo fans. But while there’s no "plans" for a launch this year, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Switch Pro rumors are untrue in their entirety. Nintendo could change its mind and launch something in time for the holidays. Or maybe the company is simply taking its time developing a Switch Pro that it will launch in 2021.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Xbox Series X has already been revealed, and we’re expecting big news about the PS5 any day now. Both of these consoles are all about cutting edge specs and raw power, but that's never been Nintendo's style. So perhaps the house that Mario built wants to wait until the smoke clears from those two launches so it can have the spotlight to itself.

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