Nintendo’s OLED Switch is the right move, just not for you

Nintendo

“I need the TLDR,” a friend texted me a month ago. “Should I wait to buy a Nintendo Switch?”

She’s no gamer but, despite having not picked up a controller in years, knew an updated Switch was in the works. Wanting to secure a birthday surprise for her boyfriend, she had done some Googling and chanced upon rumors on Nintendo’s worst-kept secret. I told her the new model might be called the Switch Pro, might support 4K and might be worth waiting for.

Not so. The new model doesn’t support 4K, and it’s not called the Switch Pro. Actually, I don’t know what it’s called. Switch OLED? Switch with OLED? Regardless, as the name — whatever it is — suggests, its main improvement is the OLED display.

It’ll be 0.8-inches bigger than the regular Switch’s 6.2-inch screen, with deeper blacks and better contrast. Other touted features include an improved kickstand and “enhanced audio.” In other words, it’s anything but a generational leap. These modest improvements come with a modest price hike. The Switch Deluxe launches at $350 on Oct. 8, at just $50 more than the Non OLED Switch.

That seems fair, but the online reaction hasn’t been kind. That’s because, like me, it appears most people anticipated more. An upgraded Nintendo Switch was first reported by Bloomberg some 11 months ago — long enough for imaginations flourish and expectations to soar.

And those inflated expectations are the issue here — not the New and Slightly Improved Switch. If it was a surprise announcement, gamers would have met the new edition with a polite “fair enough.” It’s only against hopes of substantial hardware improvements, and existing owners wanting a decent reason to upgrade, that the reaction becomes “Nintendo ruined everything again!”

Don’t get me wrong. If I had it my way, Nintendo would have announced a Switch Pro with 4K resolution, a new graphics chip and better battery life. I’d also fix the ongoing drift issues with the console’s Joy-Cons, and its lack of native bluetooth support — which is absurd at this point. But with the Nintendo SWOLED, Nintendo isn’t trying to get my dollar. There are millions of people who care about 4K gaming, but there are billions who play games that don’t.

Nintendo is after that second group.