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The Next Nintendo console enigma!

Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
Nintendo is in a very difficult spot right now. Making a successor to the Nintendo Switch is more complicated than just adding more horsepower. People on this forum and others like it are what are called hardcore gaming fans. We keep up with the latest trends and know what is going on behind the scenes. Your average consumer (the masses) do not read gaming news regularly, keep up with trends, or care what any of our opinions are. Having a higher resolution screen and higher framerate means dick to your average consumer. For people to invest in a device it has to offer then much more than what they already have now. Lets look at some trends on devices that offer just hardware upgrades.

-Outside the Apple freaks who buy into the apple cult, Cell phone sales are down by every major brand. The Decline has been tremendous to certain companies. Why? Because the masses are not going to spend hundreds of dollars more on new devices that just offer simple upgrades.

-Lets look at the console market specifically Sony in this case. Granted the PS5 had massive shortages combined with the scummy scalpers inflating the issue until recently. But even if it's not the case this is still true. The vast majority of Playstation players still game on a ps4. Despite there now being PS5's available to buy, many are just happy playing their Playstation 4. Why? Because again many just see it as a minor upgrade to something they already have. Hell most people still do not own 4k TV's and those will not see much benefit at all from upgrading. Eventually the masses will come over when most of their games stop being available on the PS4 but they are content. The PS5 has sold tremendously since launch. Despite that many do not care to upgrade at the present time.

-Lets look at the PC market. There are cards out there with Teraflops that will make your eyes melt. Hell it's to the point you can get a good graphics card for under $250 that beat the ps5/xsx in performance if you know where to look. I have seen refurbished 3080's for under $300 on the market. Depsite all the options, the vast majority of pc players play on ancient hardware. For various reasons, many do not see enough reason to spend hundreds more to upgrade older stuff they already have.

My point is Nintendo is in a bit of a bind here. Yes an improved Switch 2 would be successful and reach the gamers but I do not seen it enough to replicate the Mass Appeal the original Switch has gotten. If they come up with something really unique it could alienate the fans they have made with the Switch. It's kind of a Damn if you do and Damn if you don't situation. Yes releasing a Switch with just improved Hardware would be mildly successful. I just don't think improved visuals and framerate is going to be enough to convince the masses to buy the Switch upgrade.
 
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Calverz

Member
If Nintendo abandons the Switch brand I'm out. I have invested too much into it to just start over again.
first time GIF

Welcome to the Nintendo fan club.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Dude you're overthinking this. Nintendo has sold 125 million of this underpowered console, most of them to people who don't care about anything you just said. If Nintendo times it right they can drop a similar money printer into the slot the switch is in right now and just keep going.
 
yeh obviously it never going to be as successful as the first switch, but as long as they have compelling games , they should get 70-80 million sales easily.
 

lachesis

Member
They really design their HW around the games they plan to release... so I'm looking forward to whatever they'll release.
It will be budget friendly, and it will deliver its own unique exclusive games.
Cinematic AAA is covered by other consoles that I have - so I am enjoying the enigma of next Nintendo system.

Not everything has to look/feel/perform like high-end consoles. I like Nintendo's strategy of how they deliver goods in their own fashion.
To be honest, I would love PS and Xbox would differ much more significantly from each other and focus on more unique experiences in hardware level.
 
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I think games bought digitally from Switch would carry over. There's a chance Nintendo will go all digital for their next console, anything is possible at this point.
 

blacktout

Member
Charging publishers for carts is a key pillar of Nintendo’s business since the NES days. The ghost of Yamauchi would haunt Furukawa for eternity if they changed it.
Now I desperately want a ghost emoji reaction.

Also, it's going to be a long fucking year if we're already averaging two of these threads a day.
 
Nintendo is in a very difficult spot right now. Making a successor to the Nintendo Switch is more complicated than just adding more horsepower. People on this forum and others like it are what are called hardcore gaming fans. We keep up with the latest trends and know what is going on behind the scenes. Your average consumer (the masses) do not read gaming news regularly, keep up with trends, or care what any of our opinions are. Having a higher resolution screen and higher framerate means dick to your average consumer.
Then explain every PlayStation and Xbox.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
The next nintendo console is as simple as just add more horsepower. The switch is selling like cupcakes.

As long as their next console is titled "Switch 2" or any other name which emphasises it is the successor of the switch, it is guaranteed to succeed.

This.

All Nintendo need to do is release a Switch 2 with more horsepower. That's it.

If they for something completely different that doesn't allow BC with Switch games it'll be a huge risk.

I know the Switch itself was a risk, but it was coming off the back of the Wii U, which was a massive failure for Nintendo. They had no choice but to change it up for the Switch.

The Switch is a massive success. No need to rock the boat.
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
This.

All Nintendo need to do is release a Switch 2 with more horsepower. That's it.

If they for something completely different that doesn't allow BC with Switch games it'll be a huge risk.

I know the Switch itself was a risk, but it was coming off the back of the Wii U, which was a massive failure for Nintendo. They had no choice but to change it up for the Switch.

The Switch is a massive success. No need to rock the boat.
You are totally correct. But I really don't think they will add just horsepower. It's probably the right thing to do, but they will not do it.

I'm willing to bet a whole day of food over this. If they have nothing major in terms of innovation, other than horsepower, I'll fast for a day. If horsepower is center stage for their next system.

Won't happen though. I'm pretty certain, comfortably.
 
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OK this will sound really weird but I'm hoping for Nintendo to do something completely different (again) this time and have it become a flop like the WiiU. Why? Because I actually liked the small, limited library. I don't like the ridiculously large Switch library with tons of shovelware and all the buzz around the console since its launch. Let it have a small but dedicated user base, only a handful of first party releases a year and so on.
 

Fbh

Member
I don't know, I think they could have a lot of success with a regular straightforward follow up to the Switch.

To the more core gamers you talk about improved resolution and frame rate.

To the more casual audience you just let know that there's a Switch 2 and it has a new Mario Kart and a new Animal Crossing and a new Pokemon "only available on Switch 2".
If the games incorporate some sort of upscaling tech you can also throw the buzzword "4K" in there because that's something most people are familiar with.
 
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Zannegan

Member
How about a more powerful Switch plus a gimmick?

Something weird and wacky, but neither expensive nor limiting. That way no dev HAS to use it, but Nintendo can work their magic. Something like gaze tracking might not be too expensive, for example. We'll use it to aim in Metroid, collect Star Bits in Mario Galaxy Remake, and then for literally nothing else. The obvious VR headset add-on will be rumored, discussed ad nauseum, and never materialize.
 

Laieon

Member
The reason we haven't seen ports of Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD yet is because the next console isn't the Switch 2, but actually the Gamecube 2.
 

Woopah

Member
They are not really in a "very difficult spot" at all. They can launch a more powerful Switch 2 that is backwards compatible and has an interesting, optional control innovation.

Then they just need to continue releasing a steady stream of first party games while continuing to improve their third party support.
 

Mozza

Member
Who asked for these threads?

Is it salt over Tears of the Kingdom?
Threads always come out like this, when Nintendo show there is still clearly a demand for their current hardware. The core gamers hate this as they just want shiny new more powerful tech, and feel robbed because of all the constant Switch pro rumors have come to pretty much nothing.

The Switch sold around 17 million consoles last year, which is still pretty amazing for a console in it's 6th year, and will probably still sell between 15-17 million again this year, all of this without any significant price reduction, If I were Nintendo I would just purely produce the OLED model, get more special editions out, and get the price to somewhere between $199- $250.

Also love the way these threads always state Nintendo are in some sort of trouble with the whole transition to their next console, they need to wake up and smell the coffee, the Switch and Nintendo are in a very very different position to both the Wii U and 3DS.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
I miss when Nintendo had both a handheld and a home console each gen.
We have both a handheld and home console this gen. That's the entire point of the Switch.

I can't see them ever going back to making two separate consoles again like a WiiU and 3DS. Switch is a huge success and they will hopefully continue with it instead of making something different. Why waste the time and energy making two consoles when the Switch is so popular and it has the best of both worlds.
 

cireza

Banned
They will face the same challenge as they did after the Wii : having the people who bought Switch buy the next console. Casuals are likely to be satisfied with their Switch for several more years. A smooth transition to whatever comes after, while maintaining Switch for a few years, would be a good course of action I think.
 

Rat Rage

Member
It has never been easier for Nintendo to produce a console successor.

All they need is:

- a 3 to 5 teraflop console (same concept as the Switch)
- to name it Switch 2 (very important)
- DLSS in the dock for 4K upscaling
- Hall Effect Sensors for their analog sticks (so they don't break down easily)

That's literally it. Nintendo would be the most idiotic company in the world, if wouldn't follow these 4 simple steps.
 

Zannegan

Member
It has never been easier for Nintendo to produce a console successor.

All they need is:

- a 3 to 5 teraflop console (same concept as the Switch)
- to name it Switch 2 (very important)
- DLSS in the dock for 4K upscaling
- Hall Effect Sensors for their analog sticks (so they don't break down easily)

That's literally it. Nintendo would be the most idiotic company in the world, if wouldn't follow these 4 simple steps.
Yes, but... Nintendo is Nintendo. They are almost guaranteed to fall short on at least one of these metrics. I'd bet on Hall sensors first, then teraflops, personally. And though I think DLSS is something Nintendo will chase, it will be in the GPU not in the dock (justification below).

Then again, they may well decide to swerve, ditch the hybrid concept altogether, and put out a gaming watch that tracks your finger movement for input and narrates the entire game to you, thereby bypassing the need for a GPU entirely. Brilliant!

In all seriousness, you just never know what they're going to do. Nintendo is crazy: sometimes like a fox, sometimes batsh*t, but always nuts. That's what makes them so fun to follow though. There's no one in the industry like them.

DLSS NOTE: Unless I'm mistaken (entirely possible), all of NVidia's DLSS implementations rely on the tensor cores in the GPU. Putting an additional chip in the dock would make that already overprices accessory even more expensive. It would also mean handheld games would have to render at native resolution, whereas, if you ran DLSS on the Switch 2 GPU, they could save battery and better regulate performance (and MAYBE even pull off a bit of light raytracing) by upscaling from a lower internal resolution.

They could feasibly put out an upscaling dock for the OG Switch, I suppose, since it lacks tensor cores, but what a waste of time and money that would be. And if they were going to do it, the time was when they released the OLED. Still, never bet on Nintendo doing the sensible thing.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
As long as they follow the same Nintendo Switch Philosophy (Region free, Mature and uncensored Games, Maximum support for Third party, Maturation and quality of Nintendo IPs) They are welcome with me.

Nintendo Switch for me is one of the best Nintendo consoles.

I would be upset and disappointed if it had the philosophy of N64 and Wii.
 
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