Well here's one way of getting yourself some free advertising: casually announce your product will be releasing alongside Switch 2 this “September” so everyone excitedly thinks you might have just accidentally splurged Nintendo's big secret, then, when you're confronted about it, give a little shrug and admit you were just “guessing”.
That's pretty much what happened today when audio company Altec Lansing shared a press release unveiling a partnership with GameShark (now AI Shark) that'll see it release a new AI-powered GameShark successor – an announcement casually tossing in the sentence, “The official launch is planned to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 in September 2024.”
Unsurprisingly, Nintendo fans desperate for Switch 2 news following persistent reports the console is launching this year (hello, I am one of these people) immediately began to wonder if Altec Lansing – not a small company by any stretch of the imagination – might have just inadvertently shared some highly confidential information they shouldn't have.
Enter website Digital Trends which, having admirably spotted this curious revelation among a whole avalanche of AI-related press releases emanating from this year's CES, got in touch with Altec Lansing's PR to find out just what was going on. The company's first response was to backtrack on its initial claim of a September release for Switch 2 but – while acknowledging Nintendo hadn't as yet officially announced a release date for the console – insisted it was definitely coming in “fall 2024.”
Then, in a further follow-up to Digital Trends, it backtracked again, withdrawing its “fall 2024” claim and instead merely noting, “Nintendo has not officially clarified launch.” So had the glowing shadow of Miyamoto suddenly manifested over at Altec Lansing, threatening to rain down untold (but also immaculately designed and unfailingly charming) miseries if the company didn't immediately and furiously pretend it hadn't just leaked some top secret information?
Probably not – Bloomberg's Jason Shreier also reached out to Altec Lansing, where upon the company admitted it was “just guessing” about Switch 2's launch date. So stand down Nintendo fans – the wait for official news continues.
But what do we know about Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) so far? While Nintendo is yet to publicly confirm the existence of the console, Eurogamer understands – as we reported last September – the company held developer presentations for its new hardware behind closed doors during Gamescom 2023. Nintendo has since insisted on the claims – including a similar story from VGC – are “untrue”, but persistent reports (including news that Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick was briefed by Nintendo on Switch 2 in December 2022) have increasingly pointed to a “late 2024” release for the new hardware.
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