Nintendo fans are going to bizarre lengths to confirm the Switch Pro
At what point does it become sheer desperation?
The wait for Nintendo Switch Pro is starting to get frustrating.
After over a year of rumors and leaks about the supposed mid-generation hardware refresh, the latest reports suggested that an announcement for the system would come before E3 2021. As of June 7, the start of E3’s media days approaches, Nintendo still has not confirmed the existence of the Switch Pro.
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As such, some fans are now taking it into their own hands to investigate and reach out to third-party retailers and learn more from retailers to try and confirm the existence of the Switch Pro before its official unveiling.
Why do fans think a Switch Pro announcement is coming soon? In May, Bloomberg reported that a Switch Pro announcement was imminent. Xbox Era’s @Shpeshal_Nick then claimed that it would be unveiled on June 3. Speculation and rumors about Switch Pro increased as that date approached.
To start, CentroLeaks on Twitter claimed, “We have received and verified a screenshot from a big retailer's internal system that shows a new Switch hardware-related listing will go live on June 4 (around midnight).” This directly plays into the hope that it will be announced on June 3.
When it comes to major retailers, Amazon Mexico listed the Switch Pro over the past week. On June 2, a Nintendo Switch Pro listing then reportedly briefly appeared with Best Buy.
An upgraded version of the Nintendo Switch will reportedly be announced before E3.
How have fans tried to confirm its existence? The link contained an SKU number for the device. As that was enough to go on, multiple fans reached out to Best Buy support to learn anything they could. Surprisingly, their efforts have been fruitful. ResetERA user Slash got a response from a Best Buy Customer Care agent that seemed to confirm an impending announcement.
“New Nintendo Switch Pro is currently not released by the manufacturer,” the representative said. “The console should be announced in the next few days.” Unless this is just a guess from a customer support agent that doesn’t actually know what’s going on, this suggests Best Buy knows a version of Nintendo Switch Pro is real.
Adding to Best Buy’s credence is another conversation (with video proof) posted to Reddit by Spheromancer. “I have checked with the details for you. I see that the product will be release it in the coming days (sic.)” It’s promising that more than one person on the Best Buy customer service team is saying that it will come soon.
In fact, this agent told Spheromancer that “You can see the coming update on the product within 24 hours, I request you to please check with the website regularly,” suggesting that a reveal is planned for June 4.
The Inverse Analysis — It’s fairly late on June 3, and there’s still no Nintendo Switch Pro announcement. As such, it’s hard to know if these Best Buy agents and the rogue listings are indicative of an actual announcement or if they’re making guesses based on information available elsewhere on the internet.
With Nintendo’s software-focused E3 Direct slated for June 15, Nintendo will need to show off the Switch Pro soon if it’s actually real and launching this year. Regardless, it’s impressive if fans managed to confirm the Switch for themselves ahead of an official announcement because they were tired of waiting. That demonstrates just how much fans want the Nintendo Switch Pro.
