we know everyone Nintendo is desperate for news on its next hardware, but an audio company is building its AI-powered successor. GameShark (yes, really) the company claiming to be releasing a product alongside the Switch 2 launch wasn’t on our bingo cards this morning.
As mentioned in a A press release was sent earlier todayand noted by DigitalTrendsaudio electronics company Altec Lansing boldly claims that alongside the September 2024 launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, it will officially launch the Ai Shark, which is claimed to be an artificial intelligence-based version of those old cheat cartridges. The product was announced at CES 2024.
Nintendo hasn’t even announced a name for the Switch’s successor — not even a codename — so Altec Lansing reports both names and the release date is not a bit of a surprise. Here’s the section from the press release that got everyone talking:
“The innovative game software is poised to make a significant leap forward in the gaming experience, bringing an enhanced gaming experience to entry-level users. The official launch is scheduled to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 in September 2024.”
Naturally, this sent the internet into a frenzy. Altec Lansing Leaked Switch 2 Release Date? Is it the official name of Switch 2? Many outlets including DigitalTrends and IGN, reached out to Nintendo and Altec for clarification. And such industry reporters Imran Khan and Jason Schreier states that these are just estimates – an Ai Shark spokesperson takes Schreier to say.
DigitalTrends’ Giovanni Colantonio received two responses from the company behind Ai the shark after the piece was published. The first response stated that “Nintendo has not set an official date, but will introduce it in the fall of 2024.” Which… while not an extremely bold prediction, still isn’t official. Moreover, the spokesperson remained tight-lipped on the name, release schedule or availability of the new console.
However, just 30 minutes later, Colantonio received another response — presumably from AI Shar creator Todd Hays — saying that Nintendo “hasn’t officially specified a launch,” this time pushing back the fall 2024 window. So…it’s really just a guess.
As we mentioned above, it’s understandable that people are desperate for Switch 2 news, but announcing an AI version of GameShark while dropping the Switch 2 “bomb” is probably not the way to go about it.
As a guess, it’s probably not a million miles from the truth. We all hope that 2024 will be the year of the new Nintendo console, but no one knows and everyone wants a piece of the pie. So why not throw a convincing window?
Anyway, as Imran Khan said in his piece tweet, “The chances of an unlicensed company getting any official information about Nintendo’s launch plans are zero”. So it’s just nothing.
What makes it even more interesting is that this the second A story focused on artificial intelligence will emerge from CES 2024. A few days ago, an AI hologram of Mario was making the rounds on the internet after it terrified visitors to a storefront. And earlier today, Proto Inc. “The AI hologram animation seen briefly today is an incomplete proof of concept,” and Nintendo reached out to us to clarify that it wasn’t involved.