Topic: Do you think nintendo should make a successor to the nintendo switch or should they make a "standard" console to catch up to the competition?

Yeah, if you want a "standard' console, just get a PS5, or maybe a Series X if Microsoft's ecosystem appeals to you more.

Nintendo hit a winning formula with the Switch, and there still isn't anything that's really competing it. The Steam Deck is as close as anything comes and that's being outsold by the Switch at a ratio of around ten to one right now. It's about as much of a competitor as the Wii U was to the PS4.

A more refined and powerful version of the same in the next year or two is all that's called for, but being Nintendo, you know there's probably going to be a new gimmick too.

It's definitely going to be a hybrid. Nintendo isn't going to split up their two hardware divisions again/make a console and handheld. The hybrid form factor just works.

Might be time for Nintendo to be boring and just add 2 to a console.
But we'll get the new Nintendo Podia, the console you play with your feet.

No, this would be foolish for a multitude of reasons.

1. Part of the reason they made a hybrid was because they were having difficulties supporting two platforms in the HD era (HD assets are a notorious time sink). Consolidating two platforms into one is what gave us the amazing library the Switch got, reverting from that will be going back to the days when the Wii U had "NO GAEMZ!!!".

2. Few others are emulating the hybrid console idea, and no one else is doing it well enough to be a serious competitor. It gives Nintendo a niche for the foreseeable future.

3. The Switch is extremely popular, and going away from success is shooting yourself in the foot.

Nintendo is far more likely to build on the Switch with its successor than go away from it completely. Very good chance that the successor is to the Switch what the 3DS was to the DS, they'll retain everything the OG Switch can do with the next gen Switch and simply come up with some new gimmick to layer on top of the Switch.

Now I do foresee a situation down the road (maybe 1 or 2 gens after the Switch's successor) where Nintendo might want to reinvent the wheel yet again. If more competing hybrid consoles pop up that threaten Nintendo's place in the market or if Nintendo can fold in even more forms of gaming (such as PC, mobile, and/or VR), they might reinvent their form factor yet again to adapt, but for now there's no need to radically diverge from the Switch. Build on it, make the next gen successor stronger, more versatile, add things the OG Switch doesn't have, but keep it a Switch at heart.

Yeah the switch is doing terrible, sales-wise and Nintendo definitely need to copy something like the Xbox to get a grip on their finances for their next machine.

But yeah, as everyone has said, the technology is there, so Nintendo just need to keep to their section of the gaming market, and hoover up the 10s of millions of sales.

The idea of competing with Xbox/ps died a long time ago.

Happy for Nintendo to just keep doing their own thing without giving a f***. It's refreshing. Sony and Microsoft can tear each other to pieces, meanwhile.

I don’t understand the mindset that it wouldn’t be standard Nintendo behavior to release a “Switch 2”. If we think in terms of home consoles, perhaps not, but if we think in terms of handhelds, I think it’s extremely possible.

GB to GBC / Switch to OLED
DS to DSi / Switch to OLED

GBC to GBA / OLED to [Switch Successor]
DSi to 3DS / OLED to [Switch Successor]

They’ve even made two console sequels before, though with varying success: SNES and WiiU. I could see how they’d be concerned about doing it again after the WiiU burned them, but I think the Switch’s hybrid nature will lead them to treat it like the handhelds of the past - continuing the same concept but elevating it on stronger hardware.

Of course, there may be some Nintendo twist involved. 3DS was a raw power upgrade, but it also added glassless 3D out of left field. We could get something just as odd / neat with the Switch’s upgrade.

@KidSparta
To be a pedant I'd argue that Switch -> OLED is more like GB -> Pocket, DS - > Lite or 3DS -> 3DS XL. And that the GBC, DSi and New 3DS were mid gen "Pro" revisions given in all cases they doubled internal specs like RAM, Core count or clock. We haven't got anything like that for the Switch, the OLED has a better screen sure but outside of that it's still the original hardware

@skywake that’s actually quite true. GBC and DSi were much more significant upgrades than OLED. DS Lite may be a closer example, though I didn’t consider it initially because I felt it was less of an upgrade than OLED, but OLED wasn’t as big a jump as DSi either. It’s somewhere between the two imo.

I think people also forget that Nintendo's strength has consistently been the handheld market. Even the 3DS, which was around at peak "Nintendoom" time, sold about as many units as Microsoft's most successful system ever (XB360).

The Switch has succeeded because it plays to Nintendo's strengths, and fills an important niche in the market. To abandon the idea is to set themselves up for failure.

To corrupt the words of the not-so-great Don Mattrick: Fortunately there are products for those who want a powerful system: they're called PS5 and Xbox Series X.

@KidSparta
It's hard to describe now how significant an upgrade the DS Lite was because the DS Lite these days seems like the minimum standard especially for the screen. But still, the DS had one brightness setting while the Lite had 4, with the lowest being what the DS had. Also the battery life was significantly better on the Lite although IIRC it was a tad lower on the highest brightness setting

But yeah, was pretty much just a screen upgrade. Which while significant didn't really change what games you could play or how you played them. Very much like the OLED

I wonder what percentage of Switch owners use it hand-held 0% of the time, 5%, 10%, 50, 90%, 100% . Presumably Nintendo has that data. I assume the majority do use it in both modes, even if they use one mode far more often than the other. The fact that they made a Switch lite but not a Switch heavy perhaps says something about usage.

I don't even know how to count this for myself because nowadays my normal Switch stays docked only and I use my Switch lite for portable. So technically I am not 'switching', but I really appreciate that my cloud saves can follow me from one to the other and that most of my games can play on both.

@FishyS I remember Nintendo put out a report six months after the launch of the Switch.

It was around 25% docked only, 25% handheld / tabletop only, and 50% that flip-flopped between both.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/10/nintendo_gamers_pre...

We're definitely 50% flip-floppers in my household. Anyway, to answer the original question, there's no need for Nintendo to re-invent the wheel to appeal to 3rd party developers. Most of their customers bought the Switch for Nintendo published games, or for the hybrid feature. The niche of PC gamers who wanted to play their games mobile (all 2-3 million of them) now have the Steam Deck. And the Switch successor will outperform the Steam Deck, while still being around the same price in real terms as the Switch was in 2017.

I wonder if the new types of games, existence of Switch lite, massively larger player base, and 6 years has affected those numbers.

NintendoLife made a 2020 survey suggesting 8% only docked, 12% only handheld, and 80% flip-flopping. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/10/poll_do_you_play_yo... If that is true, it would be even more insane to change the hybrid model, although NintendoLife survey responders are definitely not average players. A different 2022 survey suggested 51% of people play 'mostly' docked but didn't break up the specifics. Since they broke up the Switching mechanic with Switch lite, I have always at least wondered at the possibility of having a Switch in 2 parts... one which stays docked and has some performance improvements and one which is basically a Switch lite and can play by itself.

@FishyS
For me it really depends on the game. I've only played TotK once or twice in portable mode and usually for games of that scale I'll play on TV mostly. Sometimes portable is just more convenient but a large OLED with Surround is probably a better fit for a big game. I do find that if portable is an option I'm more likely to finish a game but that's not really a huge risk for the Zeldas and Mario's anyways

But a game like Mario Kart? That's been pretty much entirely portable for me. The exception being if I'm actually doing local multiplayer because then docked is the way to go. Also if I'm on holidays or something portable is the only option so there's that

There's a third option here that people forget though. It's not just docked or not docked. It's not docked, docked at home and docked somewhere else. I very regularly use the Switch itself as effectively a "game cartridge" that I can swap around for games nights. Like we might play a bit of Smash on mine then swap to someone else's for Jackbox then go to a third for Boomerang Fu or something

I'm not sure why people would want to throw that kind of flexibility away

I used to be a true 50/50 on docked and handheld, but then I got waaaay into Splatoon 3. I love the gyro aiming, but I hate doing it in handheld since it makes the whole screen move. I can play it handheld, but I perform much worse and can feel it the whole time. So lately I mostly play docked because of Splatoon specifically.

@skywake I sometimes bring the Switch and use it docked other places also. But tbh, I used to do that with Wii also 😆 As long as it can fit in a backpack, it is "portable" in that sense.

I also tend to only play certain types of games handheld. Mario Kart I definitely don't do portable because I normally use portable when I don't have internet access on trains and such. But I guess that's the point; different people can play games how they prefer.

I think they made a Switch Lite but not a "Switch Heavy" for cost reasons, the point of a Switch Lite is to be a cheaper model and the console capabilities are what's likely adding to the expense.

Anyway, I use 90% docked, 10% handheld. I tend to spend most of my time at home, so I don't have much need for handheld mode, but when I do travel I like to take my Switch with me.

@Bolt_Strike
Nah, the parts that make the Switch portable are relatively expensive components compared to the components that allow you to dock. We're talking screen and battery vs a DP -> HDMI chip and some plastic. They could easily make a TV only Switch and make it cheaper than the Lite

Problem is portable play is their strength. And more to the point the cheaper end of the market isn't interested in a home console. The Lite is, primarily, for kids. Like the 2DS was primarily for kids. You know what kids generally don't have? Their own TV. Especially when they're in the back of the car being annoying

The Lite isn't portable because docked was the most expensive thing to remove. The Lite is portable because docked was the low hanging fruit of things they could remove without significantly reducing the value