Nintendo’s Switch is a hybrid console that splits the gaming experience down the middle with a device that can be docked for home gaming and also taken on the go for mobile play. Nintendo continues to deny the existence of a Switch mini or any other new model but a notable leaker may have revealed what one of the rumored refreshes of the Switch looks like.
BGR reports via WinFuture that leaker Roland Quandt received images of what the Nintendo Switch Mini will look like, along with images of an accessory for the new device. The accessory image is the most notable because it sports retail packaging that matches the leaked image of the mini.
There are murmurs that Nintendo will be releasing at least two new models of the Nintendo Switch. One will be focused on hardcore users while the other will focus on handheld play. The hardcore version is said to have “enhanced features targeted at avid video gamers,” but there’s no telling what those enhancements will be. The second and arguably most interesting of the rumored new models is one that is being positioned as a lower-priced successor to the 3DS.
There are major caveats attached to both of these images. Regarding the image of the console, just about anyone can work up a concept based on the rumored specifications of this new Nintendo Switch. The idea is that Nintendo is working on a device that is handheld only and an artist could have gotten to work on some mock concept art depicting such a device and sent it off to the leaker. Quandt, however, vets his sources well and this image could have come through trusted, official avenues.
The second caveat is that the accessory is a third-party product. If it were a leaked Nintendo product, that’d all but confirm what the Switch Mini looks like. This is a product that has been manufactured and packaged, though, so one could assume the company wouldn’t go through with it without having something official to work with. Beyond these leaks, the word is Nintendo is already manufacturing these new Nintendo Switches and should release them in the near future. If so, official news should be coming soon.