If you were still hoping the Nintendo Switch OLED was just a precursor to a possible Switch Pro reveal, maybe it’s time to lower those expectations. In a statement released this week to cool investor speculation, the company said it has “no plans to launch another model at the moment.”

It’s a splash of cold water, of course, especially in the light of Steam Deck recently announced by Vavle, but we don’t need Nintendo’s statement to know that a more powerful Switch model isn’t very likely. The truth is rooted in the company’s history: Despite years of fan expectation and industry pressure, Nintendo has never created a “pro” version of an existing console.

At least not if you define a pro console as fundamentally more powerful than the original.

In fact, Nintendo only came close to making a pro version of a console three times: when the GameBoy Color was released, the Nintendo DSi and the new Nintendo 3DS. While these portable revisions were improvements over their predecessors in terms of power, in practice they weren’t all that different. The GameBoy Color had a decent library of exclusive color games, but it wasn’t a much different experience than the original Nintendo handheld. Although technically twice as powerful as the original DS, the DSi only had a handful of games that used that extra power, and it was mostly marked by a better screen, a thinner chassis, the novelty of a device. photo and the ability to download games directly to the system.

What about the new Nintendo 3DS? It loads the games a little faster and offered a better stereoscopic 3D experience, sure, but the biggest upgrade its processor offered was the ability to play Super Nintendo games. Everything that made him special was available in the 3DS Circle Pad Pro, a bulky accessory that gave the original 3DS a second controller and additional shoulder buttons.

And that’s much more typical of Nintendo’s console design philosophy: minor upgrades and clunky add-on hardware. In fact, it’s been part of Nintendo’s console design language from the start. The original NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube all had expansion ports, and most of them were only used in Japan. None of them gave the console any real professional upgrades; most have added a new multimedia format that allows gamers to purchase games: magnetic disc players, game downloads, or the ability to play Game Boy Advance games on your TV.

Instead, Nintendo seems content to be just one step behind its competition, riding the generation with outdated features until it’s time for a full upgrade. Just take the Nintendo Wii: despite an overwhelming demand for an HD upgrade, the “Wii HD” has never been anything else than rumors and speculation. When it was finally time to upgrade, Nintendo did not ship a Wii pro, but a full, new console with a brand new gimmick.

It does not our desire for a more powerful Nintendo Switch unreasonable. Just unlikely. Instead, Nintendo took a similar path to the one it took for its previous handhelds: small upgrades that aren’t needed for most but offer something new for people who haven’t purchased yet. and for diehards who want to spend a little more. Things like longer battery life, better kickstand, OLED display.

Nintendo’s statement that there are no new Switch models in the works “at the moment” does not mean that there will be no more revisions of the hybrid console in the future – but if the story of the company is something to follow, it won`t be the pro console we are looking for. Realistically, 4K TV playback and better graphics will have to wait for whatever comes after the Switch. And knowing Nintendo, whatever it is, it’s likely to be something new, strange, and unknown.

And maybe it doesn’t matter. After all, if you’re really looking for a more powerful portable gaming device that can play the latest AAA games, there is still the Valve’s Switch Pro type Steam Deck.