Is Nintendo going to announce a "Bundle" instead of Switch Successor?

There has been a lot of chatter as of late as to the imminent unveiling of Nintendo's next-generation device that most of dubbed with the moniker of "Switch 2." At this time, Nintendo has not given us a name or even a code-name for the Switch successor other than just that. "Switch successor." There are a few things that I want to discuss. First off, a post made by Billbil-kun on dealabs.com states that Nintendo will soon announce a new bundle for the OLED Nintendo Switch which would pack-in Super Mario Wonder. Credit: Billbil-kun https://x.com/billbil_kun/status/1831963584404013314 More than likely if true, this bundle would be available for the Holiday rush. Billbil-kun also goes on to say that this bundle is the "announcement" that Nintendo is preparing for in September and NOT the reveal of their Switch successor.

Now, this is entirely possible, and I want to go on record that I'm not saying this WON'T be the case, but while I agree that another Holiday bundle is probable from Nintendo because it's kind of a standard practice with them almost every year, I do have some push back on this. While these claims cannot be confirmed, the part where I break company on this is the whole "instead of" aspect. Billbil-kun is suggesting that "instead of" an announcement for the Switch successor, we will get an announcement for the OLED Super Mario Wonder Switch bundle. First of all, there is no reason why Nintendo cannot do both. One has nothing to do with the other, and I'll explain why. Some people tend to think that if you announce the Switch successor too soon, that will greatly impede if not kill the sales of the incumbent product. Historically, that is incorrect. Many people erroneously refer to the "Osborne Effect" in these types of cases. That principle does not apply here and people that try to use this did not properly research just exactly happened with the Osborne. In Laymen's terms, the Switch has far exceeded what Nintendo could have ever hoped or even dreamed with this hardware. Plus, they gave a market-cap of 13 trillion YEN which exchanges currently to 91 billion US dollars with 14 billion cash-on-hand. In short, they are in no danger of bankruptcy which is what ultimately doomed the Osborne company. To add to that, historically, consoles that have been this successful have continued to have consistent sales into the next-generation. Currently, the PlayStation 4 at 117 million units is still selling, while at an infinitesimal rate. However, because of the chip shortages a few years ago for the PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series family, it was still selling pretty well. While we are on the subject of the PlayStation, let's look at the best example. The PlayStation 2. That console launched in the year 2000, and did not cease production until January of 2013 which was only 9 months away from the PlayStation 4. The PS2 stayed on the market for two complete console generations having inferior tech compared to all three major consoles each generation. Only the Sega Dreamcast was less powerful, but we know what happened to that. Furthermore, the PS2 sold more than the GameCube and Wii combined and respectively sold more than the XBOX and XBOX 360 combined. The point is that the announcement of the Switch Successor is not going to hurt sales of the current Switch that much, if at all. Consumers already know that the Switch successor is coming. It's not like it's a surprise. Knowing "when" it is coming is not going to stop someone from buying a Switch bundle or a Switch period that already had their mind made up to buy one at this point going into it's eighth-year or being on the market. It's not like back in 1983 when you didn't have internet and social media and you got your news from the TV, radio, tech magazines and newspapers. You weren't privy to every single development by a company, or could easily track their activities. Outside of special circumstances, we all learned about new tech at the same time. There also is no advantage for Nintendo to basically carpet-bomb us with Nintendo Directs in late August with 3 of them within the span of two weeks (which is something they have NEVER done before,) just to have a Nintendo Direct discussing a bundle, which as I stated earlier is something they do almost every year. Do I think there will be a Super Mario Wonder OLED Switch bundle announced soon? Possibly. Probably.

Do I think it necessarily has to happen in September? No. Business-wise, it doesn't make a lot of sense to announce it so far away from Black Friday. You've already announced all the games coming to the Switch this year. What else would you have to announce FOR Black Friday if you announce the bundle now? It doesn't make since to have put any effort into anymore MAJOR 1st-party IPs just to put them on a console on it's way out the door. Those games should be on the Switch Successor whether it be a new Zelda, F-Zero, StarFox, or even remakes of previous first party gems. Save that for the Switch successor. Do I think it will be "instead of" rather than "in addition to" a teaser-trailer for the Switch successor? NO.