I think things would’ve worked out differently if Nintendo hadn’t messed up the naming of the Wii U. We probably would’ve had a line up like this:
• Wii
• Wii Pro (Wii U)
• Wii Portable (Switch)
They’re at that crossroad again with the Switch name. What do you think the Switch successor should be called? Keep the Switch name or nah?
I think the issue with the Wii U was a combination of marketing issues and the name issue. To look at the Wii U’s box, unless you’re actually aware it’s a new console, one may naively assume that the Wii U is actually just the gamepad, and a peripheral to the actual Wii. Like you have the Wiimote, Wiipad sounds a bit off, yeah Wii U sounds fine.
If they keep the Switch name, they need a strong indicator it’s a sequel console, rather than something similar. “Switch 2” is the most obvious choice there, but not very in tune with their naming aesthetics. “New Switch” seems more Nintendo-esque but I’m not sure they’d go for it.
I think it would be wise to avoid the Switch name, but also emphasise that it’s backwards compatible with the Switch in the marketing. It also depends on what gimmick they give the console, if it has the same gimmick as the Switch, calling it something like the Nintendo Swap might work? Maybe not the best, but neither was “Wii U”.