The rumored Nintendo Switch 2 could launch with a new Mario game, according to a somewhat reputable tipster.
Zippo, a claimed Nintendo insider with a decent reputation for accurate leaks and tips, noted on their site that: “a little birdie has told me that a brand new major Mario title in the works for Nintendo's next system will be using Unreal Engine 4. Here's hoping that's one of the first games we see running on this thing."
Nintendo hasn't given any hint that a new games console is coming or whether it’ll be a successor to the Switch or a completely new machine. But going by the rumors and information tidbits that are beginning to gather pace, we’d be reasonably confident that we’ll see a new Nintendo console next year and that it’ll carry on the hybrid form factor established by the original Nintendo Switch.
And as is normally the case with new Nintendo consoles, a fresh Mario game will surely launch with it, or at least arrive within the first six months of the console’s life.
Itsa time for a new Mario game
We’ve not had a new 3D Mario game since Mario Odyssey, so it doesn't take a huge leap in imagination to posit that Nintendo is likely working on a new entry for the mustachioed jumping plumber series.
Zippo said this Mario game will run on the Unreal 4 engine, which gives us an idea of the potential power of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Unreal 5 is the latest game engine from Epic, but it’s still reasonably new. Unreal 4 is the most established game engine and thus will have gone through optimizations to run well on all kinds of hardware.
From that it wouldn’t be hard to predict that the Switch 2 could have in-game performance that sits above the last generation of games consoles (Xbox One and PS4) and maybe nip at the heels of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, thanks to advancements in chips and software optimizations. I'm not expecting home console gaming power in a portable device. But in terms of frame rates at, say 1080p, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a big performance boost in the Switch 2 over its predecessor.
Of course, take all this with a dose of skepticism as Nintendo hasn’t said anything about a new console or Mario game. But I’d be surprised if we didn’t get a hint that a new console was coming before 2023 is over. In the meantime, check out the best Nintendo Switch games you can play today.
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