The Nintendo Switch 2 Could Have VR Support

The Nintendo Switch is a one-of-a-kind console that still sells thousands of units every year. Now, despite its popularity, many fans have started to worry that the console has started to show its age. The Switch is a huge deal for Nintendo, and with its successor in the works, they are obviously going all out, as seen with some recently revealed patent documents, which seem to indicate that Nintendo has once again started delving into the world of VR.

It shouldn't be understated how big of a powerhouse the Nintendo Switch is, both in terms of gaming and entertainment industries, standing amongst the gaming console giants such as Xbox and PlayStation. However, unlike its predecessor, which leans more towards the gritty and hyper-realistic, the Nintendo Switch has found a market for more family-friendly games, such as cozy life-sims, mascot platformers, or fun party games. That's not to say that Nintendo plays things safe, quite the opposite as the company has always experimented with gaming technology as seen in previous consoles such as the Wii, WiiU and of course, the Nintendo Switch. So, seeing them dabble in VR should come as no surprise. 

We first learned of this new VR technology thanks to some publicly issued filings, which show that Nintendo has patented a design for a virtual reality device. From what we can tell from the filings, it describes it as “an image display system” in the form of a goggle apparatus, similar to the Nintendo Lab VR system. The United States publication date of this patent dates that it was made on 16 November 2023, but it should be noted that the actual filing was made earlier on 26 July 2023. An interesting detail is that the documents were first filed as far back as 20 March 2019.

The patent filings made on the Nintendo VR device list several uses for the device, which include video games, optical systems or apparatus, stereoscopic video systems, and even 3D model manipulation tools. The are several features listed in the patent, such as: 

• Head-mounted heads-up display,
• Virtual Cameras with changeable parameters,
• Mixed reality, including images for computer graphics,
• Multi-view video systems for image reproducers,
• Optical systems with display position adjustability,
• Input arrangements for transferring data,
• Dynamically adapting a virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum such as tracking a ball or character,
• Head-tracking and eye-tracking.

If Nintendo successfully produces such a device, it could mean that the company is once again shifting its technology endeavors. However, it is yet to be seen if the Nintendo Switch 2 will utilize the VR device. If the rumors about the device's multiple graphical and performance improvements prove to be true, then they will pair perfectly with the new device.