Will The Switch Successor Be Called The Nintendo Shift?

With no major news about the console that is likely going to be replacing the Nintendo Shift in the next calendar year, people have taken to speculation about what this console will be able to do, what it will cost, when it will come out, and what it will be called. Some observant Redditors may have figured out the name of the new console which has yet to be formally announced.

So comicbook.com did a pretty solid breakdown on this but here is the Cliffnotes version:

• A mod on the Switch 2 Subreddit posted a screenshot of a tweet by Nintendo of America as a joke about it teasing the impending date of the announcement for the successor to the Nintendo Switch.
• This screenshot included the option to view engagement metrics, something only available to account holders, implying the screenshot was taken by an account holder of the Nintendo of America Twitter account (I'm not calling it X).
• The mod who posted this moderated subreddits for the Nintendo Alarmo (announced the same day this post was made) and "Nintendo Shift" which has not been announced to relate to anything.
• In defense of the mod in question, the post has been taken down and the mod himself has issued an explanation claiming he does not work for Nintendo. The explanation has also since been taken down.

So let's take all of this with a grain of salt because it is mostly Reddit drama boiling over because there has been no concrete news on the console from Nintendo themselves but let's run with it anyway. If this is going to be the name, Nintendo has to do a lot to explain what this is and how it is different from the Switch. More importantly, they are going to have to explain it in the marketing so casual players will be able to understand that the console is new, different, and essential for them to buy. This was the big issue with the Wii U announcement, it was unclear that this was a new console and not just a peripheral for the existing Wii.

The other issue with this name is that it lends itself to mockery. If you think that at the first sign of performance issues people won't take to social media calling it the Nintendo Shit, I have a bridge to sell you. The other alternative is that the "Nintendo Shift" refers to the marketing strategy as Nintendo shifts from Switch to whatever the successor is called but I certainly hope Nintendo took this into consideration if they are looking at naming the next console the Nintendo Shift.