— Wario64 (@Wario64) November 6, 2024 At the very least, Nintendo is sticking to its guns and says it plans to announce the console this fiscal year, which ends in March 2025. Having a sequel Switch on the horizon hasn’t done anything to help hardware sales. Nintendo reported it lowered its sales projections for both Switch hardware and software. The company now expects to sell 12.5 million units instead of 13.5 million. Hardware sales for the base console, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite were down 31% year over year for the three months ending in September. Nintendo blamed the drop in sales numbers on a lack of high-profile games and tie-in properties, specifically Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The company still claimed sales were better than past consoles going into their eighth year of existence. That’s why Nintendo is going out of its way to let consumers know they’re still safe buying Switch software for friends and family this holiday season. There’s the release of Mario & Luigi: Brothership to look forward to on Thursday, Nov. 7, plus a few more revamps and re-releases previously announced at Nintendo’s June Direct. Otherwise, no big tentpole franchises are coming just yet. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is supposed to arrive next year. We still think it will be the big game to straddle Switch 1 and Switch 2, but we suggest if you buy anything now, you look at the digital version first.