Topic: Am I the only one worried about post-2020 Nintendo?

In February 2020, I did the unthinkable. I traded in my entire PS4/PSVR setup, which had been collecting dust for months, for a gray Nintendo Switch Lite. After less than a month with the Switch Lite, I decided I wanted the TV capability too, so I took it back to Gamestop and exchanged it for a full blown v2 Switch. I have been enjoying my Switch immensely. It’s the first Nintendo console I’ve owned since the SNES and with all the COVID stuff going on, I’ve been burning through games like crazy—my top 3 favorites so far probably being Super Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. (Breath of the Wild and Mario + Rabbids were pretty close runners up.) Long story short, I have already spent a large amount of money on Switch software, and not a day has gone by where I haven’t played a Switch game since the first day I owned one. The platform has completely revitalized my desire to play games—something that had been missing for the last year or so.

I think what I’ve been struggling with mentally lately is the upcoming next generation hardware from Sony and MS. Personally, I don’t have much interest in either of those ecosystems anymore—the games just aren’t doing it for me these days. Logic is also telling me that Nintendo is playing in a completely different space than those two and that the convenience in form factor that the Switch offers is a HUGE leg up, pretty much making up for the lack of comparative power and graphics. I do realize that people that love the Switch love it for very unique reasons that aren’t options on other platforms.

At the same time, the radio silence from Nintendo lately on upcoming software and hardware releases has me worried that they’re resting on their laurels and trying to coast right now, or at the very least that COVID really screwed up their plans for 2020. I feel like this is not going to be a good holiday season for them as far as PR and being on peoples’ radar.

I guess my biggest worry is just that as much I’ve been enjoying the Switch, and as much as I plan to keep enjoying the Switch, that it’s going to get completely lost in the next-gen shuffle. And I would hate that because it’s such a positive force in my life right now.

Anyone else have these worries? I feel like Nintendo is kind of the Apple of video games: they always kind of go their own way and interpret things very uniquely, but are perpetually being labeled as doomed in the media. I probably ought to just stop scrolling through negative news stories and enjoy my games.

@spiderman0616 "I feel like Nintendo is kind of the Apple of video games" please do not use that analogy. Apple is the prime example of overpriced trash. Nintendo is not.

In the next gen Nintendo will be good. The Switch is here to stay and show the people that handheld is the preferred way for many gamers to enjoy games.

Yes the Switch will NOT get Cyberpunk or Assassin's Creed Valhalla but who cares?

Nintendo exclusives + 3rd party ports (even from last gen) are welcome for me!

As a die hard Apple user, I’d have to disagree with your first point. But I do agree with the rest.

@spiderman0616 Glad you’re enjoying your Switch - I’d just leave it at that, TBH.

Will the Switch get lost in the next-gen shuffle? Yes, to a certain extent. But it’s already competing against more powerful platforms, and it doesn’t really matter. Is Nintendo testing on its laurels? No, absolutely not. All that company is doing, every minute of every working day, is creating new software and/or working on the follow-up to Switch. That’s how companies work. The best game on Switch probably isn’t out yet - and looking at what it’s already competing against, that should be very encouraging.

I wouldn't worry about it. This year has been terrible for everyone, even companies.

@spiderman0616 That's the caveat of having only one current gen console, knowing other good games are on another console. The Switch is my only current gen console. I plan on getting a ps5, though. I sweat the playstation library. There's so much I've missed on ps4.

Nintendo's silence is partly because of covid19 halting game development & killing E3. Now that I think about it, because of covid disruption of game development, I bet next gen playstation & xbox initial offerings may be slimmer than they originally planned.

Without a vaccine, I think the remainder of 2020 may offer less new games than we're used to from the console companies. On a positive note, after a vaccine, there may be a lot of new games finally coming out

I'm more worried about the rest of 2020 than I am about 2021 and beyond. Mario Odyssey 2, BOTW2, Metroid Prime 4 will all be 2021 onwards.

Not really, I mean we know more about the 2nd half of 2020 for Switch than for next gen. Sure that will change later this month for Series X (there's a big Series X event sometime in July) and probably soon after that would be more PS5 news as Sony tends to undercut Microsoft.

Maybe if Nintendo goes through the entirety of July without announcing anything.

There's over 3000 games on switch, reckon we should be ok.

I assume Nintendo realizes that PS5 and Xbox SX will dominate this Holiday season. But the number of those consoles being made available will be limited. So even if Switch owners only get Pikmin 3 and Mario 3D World between now to Christmas, the Switch will still move 10m+ consoles this Holiday. Nintendo will be fine.

@spiderman0616
Nah.
I'm not so worry as there are too many games out there, both from Nintendo & Sony machines.
I'm not really looking for bigger title as i only have interest with some of them.
Peoples are waiting for BOTW 2 but i'm waiting for smaller games that only me have interest about.
Old games are really made me worry as a collector since some of them are really hard to be founded again.

No.

Why are people still worried as if the past few years of Nintendo announcing games often soon before release isn't a thing? They just did that with Paper Mario!

One assume those have the funding to keep doors open.

I doubt it if they are only releasing one big time wonder then they will have no one but themselves to blame. Don't even bring up VR more like Vapor Reality is more like it.

Last I seen it wasn't fine but a killing for Nintendo and Indie/3rd party develpers. Current game rooster has long way to go before anyone over takes them.

@spiderman0616 People have been "worried about" Nintendo or outright proclaiming its doom since 1996 and the N64 not being a CD based system. Probably longer, but I was too young to follow any media at that point.

Yes, I think Nintendo might have a weaker holiday season this year. Nintendo has already dropped most of it's big first(and second) party titles on Switch:

BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 DX, Pokemon SW/SH, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Animal Crossing New Horizons and Splatoon 2 just to name the ones I think the most important on the system. As well as a bunch of other heavy hitters like Mario+Rabbids, Skyrim, Doom and lots of 3rd party B-tier games and ports and lots of the best indie titles are already on the system.

But that's just it. The Switch already has a stellar library of games. Anyone buying a new Switch (or getting one as a gift) has a fantastic selection to choose from, right out of the gate! Look at titles like Mario Kart, Smash, AC and Pokemon, which keep selling for months and years after release, these are titles almost everyone buys for their Nintendo machines.

When PS5 and XboxX come out and cost as much as 400 or 500 dollars, I would not be surprised to see Nintendo slash the prices of the Switch and Switch lite to 250 and 150 respectively. Nintendo is going to have the advantage of being a vastly cheaper option with an already established library of proven popular titles.

The Switch wont be the hot new thing anymore - but it doesn't have to be. I think the Switch is going to boast the staying power that we haven't seen since the Game Boy line - assuming Nintendo continues to support it with eventual hardware updates.

And another thing to note is that, while I agree the radio silence is annoying and a poor choice - that doesn't mean nothing is coming. It is still only July. The holiday season is still a ways off.

Imagine this scenario. MS and Sony announce their release windows and launch list of games around August, for a Holiday release in late November/early December. Then in early September Nintendo announces a price cut for the Switch, and confirms something like either BOTW-2 and/or Metroid Prime 4 and a nice assortment of ports/3rd party titles for that same holiday season.

I think Nintendo will do just fine.

I'm worried anyone would disservice Nintendo that much by comparing them to Apple.

Anyway, no. There's been a constant talk of doom and gloom and the end of Nintendo ever since the end of the SNES days and they've always done fine. They have their hiccups now and again (Wii U), but always come back with something new.
R&D for the next console comes a lot earlier than most people seem to think. I'd guarantee at least some people at Nintendo are already working beyond the Switch and planning for what's next.

Nintendo drops surprises out of nowhere from time to time. It has been a while since we have had any major announcement, so I think we get something by the end of the summer, at least some sort of Mario remasters, which would be new to you. Nintendo says it wants the Switch to last three more years, so I think we get about a dozen more Nintendo new titles and maybe that many remasters.

As for Nintendo, this has been such a good generation financially, that it bodes well for the future, especially with the WiiU years so fresh.

@spiderman0616 I think the hard thing about this industry is that you really don’t know what’s happening until a game is announced. Best guess is not that they are coasting - more that we just don’t know what’s coming yet. If we heard that they were closing studios or forecasting lower output, I’d be concerned - but I’m not.

It may just feel like we’re not getting a lot - honestly, Animal Crossing, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Clubhouse Games, Mystery Dungeon, and Xenoblade weren’t at the top of my list, while Good Job! probably is - but chances are good that the second half of the year will have more to offer.

The only appealing thing about the next gen twins is that they will be shipping retail games (or at least the larger ones) on UHD Blu-ray discs, which are available in 66GB and 100GB capacities, and will be the only way to own many blockbuster games in physical format (as opposed to PC and partial-cartridge releases on Switch).

But in terms of exclusive games, almost nothing on Sony interests me, and on Microsoft's systems, even less so.

@Silly_G
I just wonder what capacity of BluRay disc for Kingdom Hearts the Story so Far PS4 ?
Did SquareEnix use dual layer BluRay Disc (More than 50 GB)?

@Anti-Matter More than 50GB is BDXL layered discs that are around 100GB in capacity. The PS4 reads up to 50GB (dual layer).

So they could not have used more than 50GB discs.