It’s exciting to think that in a few days time, we’ll finally know a whole lot more about the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch. After officially announcing it back in October, the publishing giant has remained tight-lipped about their mysterious console–leading a lot of us to speculate about the potential announcements they have planned for the Thursday night stream. Considering how little we know about the system–aside from the general idea of how it transforms (seen in the trailer below)–a lot is still up in the air. Here’s a round-up of what we hope to see, as well as some of the rumors that have been going around.

Pricing

The current word on the street is that Nintendo is planning on listing the Switch somewhere in the $250-300 price range. With the New Nintendo 3DS XL currently listed at $199.99, my bet is that the console will be on the lower end. That puts it in that sweet spot between their own handheld and the base version of their competition: PS4 and Xbox One, which both cost $299 right now. Unless the system is as (if not more) powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One, it needs to hit below $300.

Considering the system’s portability, and the likelihood that it will be close in price, it will be interesting to see whether the company decides to eventually phase out the beloved 3DS, and move forward with the Switch. A lot of that depends on how it runs once you’ve taken the system on the go.

Performance

Aside from how games run on the system once you’ve removed it from the dock, the other big factor that’s important and contributes to the 3DS replacement theory is battery life. The 3DS ranges about 4-7 hours at the moment, so 5-7 hours would be a pretty decent amount of time. For reference, the Wii U game pad lasts for around 3-4 hours. In order to be worth it, the Switch needs to surpass that.

It’s also important that the “Switching” itself is as simple as sliding the console in and out of the dock. In other words, hopefully it’s as easy as it looks in the trailer (above).

4K and VR

The obvious assumption is that the console will run better while docked. With the competition already producing consoles that are 4K-compatible it would be nice to see Nintendo allow 4K video-steaming to your television. 4K gaming on the other hand is probably still a long ways off (and probably not that necessary for Ninty games, to be honest).

The other wildcard prediction is that the system will support a VR peripheral. Now, that doesn’t necessarily refer to something along the lines of Sony’s PlayStation VR; rather the device might be somewhere along the lines of Samsung’s Gear VR headset that is compatible with the line of Galaxy phones. I mean who wouldn’t want to play Metroid Prime in VR, right? Right.

Games

Speaking of Metroid Prime, there are a ton of franchises we want to see on the switch. We already know that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be launching with the system, but what will be joining it? We won’t know until Thursday night, but my hope is that our girl Samus will be in the cards at some point. It’s been too long since we’ve had a Metroid Prime game.

From the trailer, it also looks like Skyrim will be making the trek to the console, as well as a new Splatoon, Mario Kart, and Mario titles. There are currently rumors that a third version of the latest Pokémon Sun/Moon generation will make it to the Switch,  and that Ubisoft and Nintendo are working on a Rabbids/Mario RPG, and more. With both Bethesda and Ubisoft already thrown into the rumor pool, hopefully that means Nintendo has plans to sustain third party support throughout the Switch’s life-cycle.

Robust Online Network

Last but not least, I really want to see Nintendo progress more towards supporting a more robust online network like Sony and Microsoft. They’ve made small strides in the past, but I think you’ll agree with me in saying it’s about time the digital titles we purchase remain connected to our Nintendo ID, and are re-downloadable once we grab a new system.

As an added bonus, it would be great if Nintendo incorporated an evolved trophy/achievement system, similar to that of Microsoft and Sony but with a fun Nintendo twist.  While not exactly a necessity, it’s a fun way to track and share your progress with friends.

At the end of the day, we won’t really know which direction Nintendo is headed in until they announce it themselves. Here’s to hoping we see a Nintendo Renaissance as they move on from the Wii branding.

Images: Nintendo