Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

There are advantages that a handheld only 3DS successor would have over the Switch like:

• Price
• Clamshell design
• Small enough to fit in pockets
• Backwards compatibility with DS/3DS
• Easier development if not HD

I don't think the quieter 2018 lineup is a result of a 3DS successor rather a result of HD development but it wouldn't surprise me if one happened at some point.

@NEStalgia Well I'm sure I'll love Bloodborne. I'm down for a more aggressive Dark Souls.

@EvilLucario That's what NG+ is for. You very well may love Bloodborne. To me, it feels kind of hollow compared to Dark Souls (pun intended)

I'm still looking forward to Sekiro though. That looks to take the lessons of Bloodborne and Souls and make something better from both.

@Grumblevolcano Isn't that what the New 2DS is? A machine to play the BC library on? I can't imagine new handheld development on a weaker machine. If you make it more powerful it nears Switch. If you don't, why not just make those simpler games for mobile where kids already are?

@NEStalgia the new 2ds is no where near switch in power. There is room for something in between.

I think a cheaper entry model can live alongside the switch.

They can of course just wait a couple of years and release a pro and lower the price of the current.

@Therad Is there a market space for a model like that? Yes. Can Nintendo manage to support it with enough exclusives for it to survive? Nope. There's a reason they're only doing one system now, and it's working for them. Splitting their development teams in half again for an entry system is incredibly reckless at the current point in time.

@Therad What would really be the point of "another Nintendo handheld that's worse than Switch?" There's always the argument of "I want a pocketable system", but the question is, with the more powerful Switch one one side, and the ubiquitous, always present phone on the other side......are there 30+M people that want such a thing instead of a Switch? Because if not, there's no business reason to do it. And would it run Switch games (if so then there is a business reason to make it), but most of the people that want such a thing want different games on it. A split library, once again, of Nintendo and third parties dedicating resources to making smaller spinoff games and light fare that would probably reach a larger audience through their mobile initiative.

I think we're really on the same page in terms of price point, and using current Switch or a lower end SKU for the same software. As long as the software base isn't split there's no problem catering to all form factors. But most of the people that want "a 3DS successor" also want a separate game library. I'd like to direct those people to their nearest Apple Store. That crowd isn't looking for a smaller Switch to take in their pocket, they want a dedicated handheld platform with traditional handheld style games, that isn't running Switch games, as though phones haven't taken that market over.

@NEStalgia The "New" line has always felt like a stopgap, just like the XB1X. A way to extend a console's lifespan so that the next true console is released at a more suitable time.

@Grumblevolcano
I can't argue that logic, certainly not the first time, certainly won't be the last.

@Grumblevolcano Certainly it is. But in the case of New 2DS it was more significant in that it changed the actual form factor of the hardware from this:

to this:

It didn't much change the spec but it radically changed the actual market of the product.

just opinion, but that tablet-ish 2DS was an uber fail, the return to the clamshell was a great call,
but again, just "Opinion"

I wish they had kept it tablet like and with the same size.

@Grumblevolcano
I asked someone else to come up with the (realistic) next gen "DS", I guess my parameters I set were a little too realistic,
you want backwards compatibility, 2 screen clamshell, AMEN, but first there was DS, then DSi, an only slight improvement, then a jump to 3DS and N3DS, other than a couple buttons, again, only a slight improvement, your next "DS" is due for a big boy evolution or no one will buy it,

so, in a REALISTIC manner, what would the next dedicated handheld you design be and how would it significantly set itself apart from the N3DS AND Switch

@Yosheel Isn't that basically....Switch?

@PCkid The website you linked talks about a reveal in the December edition of CoroCoro; I believe it comes out in three days. They sometimes leak as early as the 10th or the 11th, but that's usually only for Pokemon news. Anyway, seems like we may know more in a couple of days.

@NEStalgia I see the New 2DS more as a no 3D version of the New 3DS, as stereoscopic 3D support for games has been very limited the past few years.

@Nemodius I'm not saying that a true 3DS successor would sell well with the existence of Switch, rather that Nintendo's the type that would try anyway. I could see a true 3DS successor be essentially a more powerful 3DS that has 480p screens and is powerful enough for 480p resolution games, better battery life, buttons that withstand more use, etc. and the library being the selling factor. So for example after Pokemon 2019, Switch only gets Let's Go games meanwhile the 3DS successor gets games more like the handheld entries.

@NEStalgia the 2DS is not a switch, silly.

@Grumblevolcano and switch becomes wiiu2, and nobody but Nintendo makes games for 4ds since nobody else is developing sd games other than phone games that make more money. Not that Nintendo doesnt do inexplicably stupid, but they aren't Squeenix.

So Black Friday will be a good night for me.

• Will be picking up my PS4 at GameStop for $199 with a $50 gift card just to play that digital copy of Bloodborne I got from a sudden flash sale. Don't care about the Spider-Man bundles since I don't care about that game and it's going to be mega-discounted soon anyway. How is Horizon: Zero Dawn WITH DLC already $20 extremely quickly or God of War already like $40??? With that in mind I ain't getting Sony first-party games on release, I'd just wait.
• Will also be picking up Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate at Target for $35. I could always get World with the Steam sales, but Generations Ultimate might tickle my fancy just as much, and I'd be able to play it more often because it's a portable.
• If Steam is good to me, I'll pick up games from my wishlist.

Time to spend spend spend!!!

Also, reminder to buy Xenoblade Chronicles 2 at Walmart for $35!!!!!!!!!!

@Snaplocket I said after Pokemon 2019, so like Pokemon 2019 being the only pre-Let's Go style game on Switch.

@NEStalgia I agree that I don't see a new handheld as super successful. Personally I would like them to move in a bit more aggressive in the mobile market.

But some of the interviews Kimishima and Iwata gave make me think they will release a new handheld. And I think there is a market for it, especially if it has the same eco system as the switch. Smaller titles would be able to run out of the box, while bigger would need some downscaling. Ie Odyssey out, let's go in.