If you’ve recently bought a Nintendo Switch, prepare to weep into your copy of Smash Bros. Rumour has it that the tech giant is about to launch two brand new Nintendo Switch models at this year’s E3. Oh yes.

Now there’s been some speculation about an ‘updated’ Nintendo Switch for some time. The news was first touted by The Wall Street Journal last year, who surmised that a Switch Version Two could be arriving in 2019 (I wrote a speculative post about it here.) This latest rumour comes from the same source, with The Wall Street Journal again citing this year as a possible arrival window.

However, the biggest difference on this occasion is that no less than two new Nintendo Switch models are to be unveiled, and they’re expected to debut at this year’s E3, followed by a physical release later in the year. This of course would tie-in with the much-anticipated Pokémon Sword and Shield which are due out before Christmas.

The first of these models would be a simple hand-held, something that TWSJ considers to be “a cheaper option for casual gamers” without any vibration functionality. Apparently, Nintendo deems this ‘liter’ Switch to be a successor to its popular 3DS, which has been kicking around since 2011.

However, more excitingly (or annoyingly, depending on your financial situation) the second model is set to be somewhat more impressive. Alas, nobody has said what this souped-up console would feature, but Nintendo did recently file a patent for an intriguing 3D gaming experience, so perhaps you’ll have an army of Charizards leaping out of your television screens? Wouldn’t that be something.

TWSJ does, however, indicate that this more powerful Switch would be intended for gamers of a more hardcore persuasion, so it wouldn’t be pulling any punches.

Anyway, E3 2019 is due to kick off on the 11th June, so I guess we don’t have thaaaat long to find out. Personally, I think this is very interesting news, and even if the Switch 2.0 doesn’t look quite like this, I’d be very surprised if Nintendo didn’t announce some new hardware iteration in 2019.

How do you feel about these potential new Nintendo Switch models? Excited? Frustrated? And which way would you bat – Switch-like, or Switch-hardcore? Let me know in the comments below!

In the meantime – if you can’t contain your excitement – click here to order your own Nintendo Switch and help support this website 🙂