One of the nation’s most respected news papers has confirmed that Nintendo will be launching an upgraded version of the Nintendo Switch in 2019.

The Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki posted an article early Thursday morning, which backs reporting done by NerdBacon back in August of this year: Nintendo is planning on launching a new, more powerful upgrade to the Nintendo Switch, which we are referring to as the Nintendo Switch Pro, in 2019.

“Nintendo Co. NTDOY -1.78% plans to release a new version of its Switch videogame console next year to maintain the sales momentum of the device, according to suppliers and others with direct knowledge of the plan.”

Nintendo is prepping to launch the Nintendo Switch Pro sometime in 2019.

“Sales of the Switch, introduced in March 2017, are still solid but are no longer delivering the favorable surprises that marked the machine’s first year on the market. Nintendo shares, which rose sharply last year, have trailed the broader stock market this year. The move to update the Switch suggests the Kyoto, Japan, company is moving quickly to ensure its flagship product doesn’t lose competitiveness.
 Nintendo is still debating what new hardware and software features to include in the upgrade and weighing the cost of the features, people with knowledge of the discussions said.”

Mochizuki’s report also states that one of the possible improvements to the Nintendo Switch Pro could be an enhancement to the screen; however, no specifics were given as to what type of enhancements Nintendo could provide, other than their not wanting to opt for an OLED panel.

In August, NerdBacon provided details surrounding the new Nintendo hardware, which was a story first broken by internet gaming sleuth Marcus Sellars.

At that time, our sources indicated that Nintendo would be adopting a new custom GPU from NVIDIA, which would be based off of the same Pascal technology used in their GeForce series of graphics cards. Our belief is that the Nintendo Switch Pro will feature graphics capabilities that fall somewhere between NVIDIA’s GeForce 1050, and the GeForce 1060, providing ample improvement of er the performance of the current Nintendo Switch.

“At the heart of the rumored Nintendo Switch Pro lies an upgraded processor, as well as a move to a version of NVIDIA’s Pascal GPU chip.”

We also reported that Nintendo would be looking to improve the resolution of the Nintendo Switch Pro’s screen to 1080p.

“Nintendo’s move to Pascal will vastly boost the capabilities of the Switch Pro while running in handheld mode. A full 1080p experience while mobile will be realized when the unit launches.”

The introduction of the Nintendo Switch Pro in 2019 will add a new wrinkle to the developing video game platform war in 2019.

Just this past week, Google announced (what NerdBacon had been reporting for months) that they would begin a beta test of a new streaming platform currently named Project Stream. This new service would allow players to stream high-end, AAA experiences through their Chrome internet browsers.

Microsoft is expected to provide some further insight to their next generation plans during their X018 conference taking place in Mexico City next month.

And finally, Sony has made a number of moves that lead us to believe that they are planning to launch the PlayStation 5 in 2019 as well.

There are other potential entries that could be arriving in the gaming market within the 2019-2020 time frame as well. Apple is currently working on a streaming platform similar to Google’s Project Stream, and there are also rumors that Amazon may also be working on a similar platform.

Nintendo has not made any official announcement yet regarding the impending Nintendo Switch Pro; however we expect an official announcement to occur in the early months of 2019.

What do you think about the confirmation of the Nintendo Switch Pro. Are you excited? Or do you have hardware fatigue?
Let us know in the comments section below.

Written by The Watchman

The Watchman is a journeyman gamer who has seen and played a good chunk of gaming history.
He’s also an actor, a reporter, a pro wrestling connoisseur, and some say he’s a cat whisperer.
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