There's always been 3 main console platforms. Losing one (even if just losing relevance of one) is not good for anyone. It's not benefitting PS- the 30m Xbox Series gamers either already had a PS5 or are so loyal to Xbox they'll never buy one regardless. It's not benefitting Nintendo either. Maybe in the sense they're now going to receive Xbox games, but I doubt very many Xbox gamers who value big production values and high end graphics will suddenly buy a Switch 2.
It's why PS5 units sold are essentially neck and neck with PS4 launch aligned, despite Xbox losing half it's install base compared to Xbox One.
If Xbox continues to decline, I suspect Valve will make a move to sell PC gaming as a console-like platform with a new SteamBox. I doubt it'll catch on though because PC enthusiasts would rather spend thousands on the highest end hardware, and the rest will likely already have a PC on par with it. Perhaps they can scoop up the remaining Xbox fanbase, but even then there's a 30m ceiling on it's success.
And I don't see any other player entering the arena. Meaning it's going to essentially be just one relevant dedicated home console (PS), one dedicated hybrid handheld (Switch 2) and PC. It may be the case PS releases a handheld PS6 but at current prices very few will be able to afford both a PS6 console and handheld, especially when $450 can get you a console and handheld experience with different exclusives on Switch 2. I see a 20m cap on their handheld sales, with 100m cap on their console, which in totality would land them around the same as PS4 unit sales.
It's gonna be a world where most people own a PS console and a Nintendo hybrid. Or a PC and a Nintendo hybrid. With no real competition for either of them.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
Was just taking inventory of where we stand currently with Nintendo Switch 2, now that it's 4 months old. I'd say things are looking pretty good. Lots of games I didnt even list like Drag x Drive, Welcome Tour, Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Final Fantasy Tactics, etc. Otherwise the list would just be too long and lose its focus. And I'm almost certainly overlooking some leaked/rumored titles. Still, drilling down on key titles in each category, the future seems bright.
NSW2 1st Party Exclusive + Crossgen
Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bonanza
Kirby Air Riders
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Splatoon Raiders
Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Pokémon Pokopia
Mario Tennis Fever
Pokémon Legends Z-A
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
NSW2 1st Party Enhanced Ports
Zelda Breath of the Wild
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Mario Party Jamboree
Super Mario Bros Wonder
NSW2 1st Party Free Upgrades
ARMS
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Clubhouse Games
Zelda Link's Awakening
Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
Splatoon 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Odyssey
NSW2 3rd Party Free Upgrades
Dragon Quest III HD-2D
3rd Party Exclusives + Console Exclusives + Exclusive Versions + Exclusive Features
@JaxonH I know you were purposely skipping smaller games, but I would consider Pokémon Pokopia and Mario Tennis Fever medium-major games as well.
The list for next year is already packed even though there will definitely be more added, presumably including but not limited to gen X Pokemon.
I bet there will be some type of Switch 2 edition for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and/or Rhythm Heaven Groove as well (maybe using mouse) but I guess we'll have to wait and see for that.
Call me crazy, but I’d like to see Xbox doing well, too. It’ll be sad when we lose one of the big three, and it’s looking pretty darn likely.
I feel like a video gaming vulture but the idea of a cheap Xbox Series X console is really appealing to me. I see Sam's Club in America has been selling Xbox Series X consoles for $279 and if we get pricing like that in the UK then I will be very tempted to buy one. It's a powerful console and I have a large collection of original xbox, 360 and Xbox One favourite games on disc which will all be upgraded playing on Xbox Series X. I have zero intention of subscribing to game pass etc though.
We probably won't get the same pricing in the UK probably lesser discounts but I will keep my eyes peeled for some Black Friday clearance stock.
Extremely hot take, competition isn't always good. Obviously the raw capitalist ideology bit is true, competition breeds innovation and forces the most optimal allocation of resources. It forces competitors to produce better products at lower prices
But there's another side to it. By having multiple platforms you force resources to be wasted repeating the same tasks. In this case porting, distribution, advertising. You also force end users into buying into multiple platforms if they wish to play some games over here and some others over there. These things can easily overcome any gains from competition
It's like with video streaming services. It used to be just Netflix, no competition just Netflix. You'd subscribe to Netflix and get all the things. But over the years more services came out. Which meant some content was kept exclusives to those services to give those services value. And did the prices go down as a result? Of course not. Video streaming was better when there was no competition
So yeah, on the surface it is kinda crap Microsoft is pulling out of the console space. It means less competition which will have downsides. But also..... is it a bad thing that all of the content under MS' control is going multiplatform? Or that they're choosing to make XBox basically just a digital store for games? Maybe not
Publishers win if Xbox goes under since they can then reach their target audiences on 3 platforms instead of 4. Meaning less development cost. But keep in mind, publishers and developers would win most in a monopoly with just one platform, which obviously wouldn't be good for consumers.
More platforms = more variation in hardware. I'm so grateful Nintendo exists. They're the only ones who innovated and brought us a hybrid handheld console. They're the only ones who standardized gyro aiming, and are now attempting to standardize mouse aiming in the console space. Like gyro, it may never fully take over but if it could get as big as gyro is today, where most devs include it automatically, that's a huge win for us.
That all said, I think Xbox is the one platform that has brought little to nothing to gaming as a whole. One could argue they standardized the digital space on consoles, and fair enough. But they never adopted gyro- to this day their controllers don't even include a gyroscope or accelerometer. Heck, they don't even include rechargeable batteries. They don't have HD Rumble. They've failed to even keep pace with the innovations of other consoles, much less innovate themselves.
At least PlayStation controllers can utilize gyro. And we do see it catching on more and more on PS5. That's largely thanks to Nintendo standardizing it first, and now Nintendo fans demand it in multiplats, and the devs then implement for both Switch 2 and PS5. Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion just patched in gyro aiming for NSW2 and PS5, for example. PS5 also added HD Rumble after Switch did, and have put it to great use. In some games, even better than Nintendo. And they've at least innovated in small regards like the touchpad and the trigger resistance (even though I don't like that whole trigger thing, and while the touchpad is mostly gimmicky I'd rather have it than not have it).
Nintendo even added rear grip buttons on their standard pro controller and charge grip. Xbox is still using silly paddles on a controller that costs as much as a Switch Lite. Not that Sony has done any better with their ridiculously priced "elite" controller. The $90 Switch 2 Pro Controller puts all those optional $200+ controllers to shame, and it's not even a "special" controller.
But I digress. What I'm getting at is, losing Xbox doesnt feel like the loss it should be, because they've failed at every turn to actually bring something of value to the table. Literally everything the Xbox Series does, PS5 and/or Switch 2 does it just as well or better. One exception perhaps being smart resume. But... that's not really a big deal to me.
When we lost Sega, we lost an innovator. Dreamcast was so far ahead of its time. At least half a decade. It doesnt really feel like we're losing anything of value with Xbox. Except to say, Sony will go unchallenged. It was competition that kept consoles from having DRM in the 8th gen. Without competition, who will stop Sony from taking similar measures? Not that it'll affect me much since I pretty much gave up playing on other consoles and almost exclusively game on Switch 2 now. But I still care. Because whatever Sony does, it opens the door for Nintendo to follow.
I do think we'll see more 3rd party games on NSW2 as a result. The development costs allocated for Xbox ports can be re-allocated for Switch 2, which developers will rely on more and more to compensate for lack of sales on Xbox.
Believe it or not I haven't really played the game since it launched. I played some free roam but never even tried a full cup to completion. It's fun as heck! Just unlocked Donkey Kong, a new cart and a new bike, and got a silver trophy in 150cc on the first cup. This game seriously rocks. I adored Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But this game is every bit as good. Driving to the next track adds much needed variety. Don't get me wrong, I like traditional 3-lap tracks too, but it's also nice when everything is different.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH
TBH now the Switch 2 is out and probably going to remain fairly stable for the next 5 years at least. The next "console" I get will probably just be a PC running one of these Steam-OS-Like distributions of Linux. Possibly even Steam OS itself if that's how it pans out. And, if anything, the failures of MS in this space is making that option increasingly more viable
So personally I couldn't care less about XBox disappearing as a hardware platform
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
An opinion is only respectable if it can be defended. Respect people, not opinions
Just played an hour of Yooka-Replaylee. This game rocks! Some shadows of NPCs are low quality and stand out (though Yooka and Laylee's shadow is dark and crisp), and I've noticed one or two minor frame drops here and there, but overall it runs fine.
It's really fun. Hard to put down, actually.
@skywake
I dont think I'm gonna buy any more consoles moving forward. I owned a PS2, PS3, PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5, PSP, PS Vita and PSVR. But after Sony abandoned Vita, then abandoned VR, I said enough. Passed on the PS5 Pro because the difference was so negligible, and at the current $830 price it's just absurd. I could almost get TWO Nintendo Switch 2's for that price. Or a Switch 2, Mario Kart World, a 1TB microSD express, Pro Controller and camera. Not that I play my PS5 anymore anyways. And certainly don't play my Series X anymore.
PS5 Pro barely looks any different than PS5. And PS6 is going to be even more negligible vs PS5. IF I wanted to play a game, I can grab a PS5 version. And that'll probably remain true for another 10 years. But I don't have interest in playing on tethered platforms anymore. It's gotta be hybrid. That's the only way I'd buy another platform moving forward- if PS made a hybrid PS6. But it sounds like they're gonna sell a console and handheld separately. Not only would that cost $1200+ I don't want to deal with cross saves over internet and some games not running or releasing on handheld and all that jazz. Besides, I can't even keep up with games releasing on Switch 2. Toss in an entire generation's backlog of NSW1 titles and ya... I'm good.
My PC is hooked up in the spare bedroom. Bought MH Wilds on Steam, and it wouldn't run on Deck. Then I lost interest in the game because they finally crossed that line of excessive casualization. I long for the days of MH World. At least I have MH Rise + Sunbreak (800+ hours I've put in already) and MH Stories 3: Twisted Reflection drops in March for Switch 2.
So even PC and Steamdeck I don't play anymore. I'll hold onto my PC, which has a 2080 ti GPU and i9 9900 CPU. It was state of the art a few years ago, but now it's a 1080p Max settings PC. Sometimes I can get 1440p Max or 4k Max using DLSS but at least I know it can run any game at 1080p Max settings... it's probably roughly on par with PS5, maybe a PS5 Pro, give or take, but I'm never upgrading it or buying a new one. I just don't play it anymore. Same for Steamdeck. I have the Limited Edition OLED with a 2TB SSD installed and a 2TB microSD. But it cant run current AAA games nowadays, and hasn't for at least a year. Don't have my PS5 or XSX hooked up anymore.
As I've gotten older, the need to play every game has faded within me. Partially because I've lost interest in PS exclusives, and the few Xbox exclusives I am interested in are likely all coming to Switch 2. I like Gears 5, Halo MasterChief Collection, Indiana Jones and... well, I would say DOOM but the new one seems to have missed the mark- I love Wolfenstein but MachineGames made Indiana Jones instead. And most 3rd party games I'm interested in will likely end up on Switch. The big ones I wanted were Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, Persona 3 Reload, Metaphor Fantazio and Expedition 33. The first 4 games are already confirmed. Metaphor is leaked to be on the way after P3R, and I'm confident E33 will land on NSW2, eventually. Surprisingly, I dont have much interest in Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2 now. I'd much rather see World ported. But neither will happen. We'll get a brand new Monster Hunter designed with NSW2 in mind, which is the most I could hope for anyways.
There will probably be a couple games that fall through the cracks and miss NSW2, games I want to play. But it'll likely only be a small handful. And that's not enough to persuade me to buy some other console and play tethered to a TV. Those days, I think, are behind me.
It's so much easier when you only deal with 1 platform, and that platform covers all bases- Nintendo exclusives, 3rd party, console, handheld, tabletop, gyro aiming, mouse aiming, Pro Controller, Split Joycon, etc.
@JaxonH
Fair. For me the main reason I want a PC in my setup is for the older games, emulation and just generally the stuff that Switch doesn't cover. My Steam Deck does a fairly competent job of that and, frankly, the compatibility on Linux is good enough
It's just.... I'm pedantic and the Deck isn't a great hybrid platform. I don't really want to have to bother with resolution, controller or dock shenanigans and a bit more power than Deck can deliver for some titles certainly wouldn't hurt. So now that Linux gaming is a bit nicer I'll probably scrounge together a little TV PC. Not this year, possibly not even next year, but certainly before Switch 3
To be fair I've always been PC/Nintendo and have always been pretty keen on using Linux. So none of this is really new. But yeah, not a lot of concern from me about the death of XBox hardware
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
An opinion is only respectable if it can be defended. Respect people, not opinions
I personally am thinking for a windows handheld instead rather than Steamdeck (Xess seems to be amazing??), something like MSI Claw 7AI+ seems to run newest games nicely while not destroying my budget at the same time. 700 bucks, but like, then I can have 2 handhelds for all my needs... (this tbh is borne from wanting to mod Silksong lol, which is impossible to do on Switch)
I used to big big into PC handhelds. I was an original GPD Win 2 owner with custom Nylon back cover to lower shell temps. And of course I got Steamdeck, then Steamdeck OLED, and swapped the NVMe with a 2TB SSD.
My issue has always been for Windows... it sucks. Navigating Windows on a handheld is such a pain. The other issue is battery life. Some models now exist with 80 Whr batteries but they're too heavy. Ive learned the Steamdeck is the max weight I can tolerate. About 675-700g is my limit.
My Switch 2 with adhered magnetic ring on back and a Genki 38.5 Whr portable magnetic battery has a total weight 10g less than the original stock Steamdeck weighed. So it gets 5-6 hours battery life while remaining under my weight threshold.
But Windows handhelds are 800-1000g, sometimes more. The ones that weigh less either have insufficient battery or cost $1500+
Steamdeck really is the only PC handheld I'll even remotely consider playing. In fact I actually really like Steamdeck OLED. I just hate that using it like a hybrid doesnt really work since Steam carries over your resolution and graphical settings, so you have to constantly go into settings and change it any time you switch modes of use. And if youre coming from TV to handheld the increased resolution often means the display is too zoomed in to see anything on the Deck screen which makes it extremely difficult to change the resolution back to 720p.
If Steam could fix that issue and have a separate cache of settings when docked, I would use it more.
Lastly, it can't run new AAA games nowadays, and the games it can run, like Hades 2 and Persona 3 Reload, Switch 2 has. Or will get soon enough. What it is good for, is a nice fat backlog of my favorite older Steam games. It's great for MH World, Spiderman, The Last of Us, Gears 5, Halo MCC, etc. I used to use it for Metroid Prime 2 with gyro via Primehack, but after installing the all in one Emulator Station or whatever its called it screwed up my Primehack settings, and despite 15 hours of tinkering I failed to ever get it working again. Finally gave up and said I'm done. Life is too short for all this tinkering crap. I'll wait for a Switch port with gyro aiming.
But I can understand the appeal, having been a user of them myself. Personally, I may consider Steamdeck 2 whenever that releases, if battery life is sufficient. Then again, if Switch 2 is getting most games anyways, and I already have Steamdeck OLED for my backlog of Steam games, maybe not.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH
Wait, did you say PS6 will be console and handheld?
I still confused to imagine the look of PS6 machine.
So PS6 will be like Wii U or two separated machines (PS5 style and PS Vita style)?
@Anti-Matter There are rumors that the PS6 will supposedly come in two versions. One will be a standard PS6 like the PS5/Pro, and the other will be a Switch-style model with a handheld and dock.
The standard PS6 is supposed to come without a drive, like the PS5 Pro (which you have to buy separately).
And the handheld version of the PS6 is supposed to be less powerful than the standard PS6 because it's a handheld, etc.
But these are all just assumptions so far because Sony hasn't really said or shown anything yet.
Arguing with stupid People is like playing Chess with a Pigeon. No matter how well you play Chess, the Pigeon will knock over all the pieces, poop on the board, and strut around as if it had won.
@Kellvasion
I wonder if the physical games distribution for PS6 will be two version: Blu Ray disc for console version, cartridge for handheld version. And both of them will be labeled as PS6.
@Anti-Matter I think the handheld PS6 (if there will be one) will be purely digital.
And the normal PS6 will be Sony's last Console with physical games, unfortunately.
Arguing with stupid People is like playing Chess with a Pigeon. No matter how well you play Chess, the Pigeon will knock over all the pieces, poop on the board, and strut around as if it had won.
A few years ago I started getting primarily digital games, because I thought it was great being able to play games the minute they released, along with getting a good amount of gold points (which helped me buy some great smaller eShop games that I wouldn't have bought otherwise), and the great deal that was the voucher program. I also loved being able to play my games on multiple consoles, and even played games like Mario Wonder online together with 2 consoles with 1 digital copy of the game.
Now that gold points and vouchers are/are being discontinued, and they updated digital games to only be playable on one console at a time, getting digital over physical feels nearly worthless. It's as if they're discouraging digital purchases now. I decided to primarily get games physically now, very disappointed with how little benefits you get from using the Nintendo eShop now.
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Topic: Nintendo Switch 2
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