Topic: Where does Nintendo go after the Switch?

I think everything is building up to essentially Wii U 2.0. The Switch currently trades the Wii U's ability of dual screen gaming and asynchronous multiplayer for an infinite "Gamepad" range (you can take the Switch anywhere instead of being disconnected when too far away). The next model of the Switch or the Switch's successor I think will bring back the dual screen gaming and asynchronous multiplayer of Wii U while keeping the infinite "Gamepad" range of the current Switch.

Theoretically Wii U was a brilliant idea but technology hadn't progressed enough for it to reach its true potential. Combine that with the software issues (system sellers coming too late and lots of game droughts) and it was dead on arrival.

@korosanbo
If Nintendo remaster Paper Mario TTYD on newer machine, i will buy the remaster version since the Gamecube version was insane expensive on Ebay.

Personally I think the Switch is a wonderful formfactor and especially in the japanese market the versatility and compact size of the system is a big pro.

Moving forward I'd wish they stop experimenting with the formula, stick with what worked and improved upon it. Meaning, just make a more powerful switch, maybe even with a dock that as an assist-cpu and/or gpu. That way the base station will provide close to what PS4 PRO now has to offer - closing the fidelity gap to the brand new consoles a little bit - and still you will be able to play a "scaled down" version on your handheld, when away from the dock/base station.

That's what I would wish for, what Nintendo ultimately chooses to do, no one knows.

At the moment I'd be surprised if the next gaming hardware Nintendo releases is a Switch 2. Frequent hardware launches seem to be built in to the company culture, but I don't think it's time for Switch 2 yet.

For Switch 2 to carry on the success that Switch has had so far, I doubt an incremental improvement will be enough to persuade enough of the market to upgrade. Switch 2 needs to be a fair leap from Switch 1, and for that to be achievable and affordable will likely take time.

The only way I can see them getting around the time/cost issue is as @Grumblevolcano suggested - making a Switch 2 that is only incrementally more powerful than the Switch, but that comes with a (perhaps optional) base station like the Wii U. Play your games off the base station and you can get 4k or play portable and get 1080p (sometimes, let's face it, looking at some of the games on Switch, just getting a stable 720p would be a significant improvement). That's what I hoped they were going to do with the original Switch when we heard rumours of the dock boosting performance. The Wii U streaming tech worked so well. Sure, the range was limited, but acceptable, particularly if this time the tablet in your hand is not tethered by that limited range and can be used independently.

But what else could they be working on? They don't seem to be churning out that many games right now; they're supposedly dialing back on the mobile games a bit; N64 mini seems unlikely; anything VR related would likely be tied to the Switch family.

My opinion is very unpopular but I'd love Nintendo become third party and release their games on Series X and PS5 so we don't have to buy underpowered hardware just to play the exclusive games and also Nintendo games would look awesome. Just think about Metroid Prime 4, the next Zelda... This is what I honestly would prefer. Yes, Nintendo would lose the hardware sales but they would also sell many more copies of their games to make up for it.

Same here. I have been playing on Wii U since launch and even now I use it more than Switch but I also use New 3DS more than Switch. Wii U was briefly supported by its creator but it also has solid new games and a few must-have remasters. Twilight Princess HD is a huge update, not just resolution but textures. New games that I see now being played by others on Switch. It also has backwards compatibility and the Virtual Console includes N64 games unlike Switch that only had NES games until SNES games were added not so long ago.

The idea of Nintendo ever becoming third party & releasing games on PS5 or XBox series X is a non-starter because of royalty fees. It's not just that they'd lose hardware sales (these are nice, of course, but not really the business Nintendo is raking the money in from), it's that Sony or Microsoft would take a 10-20% cut of every Nintendo game sold. And when you take fixed costs out of the equation that 10-20% is pretty much all of Nintendo's profit margins. A third party Nintendo would have to sell something like 50%+ more copies of their own software than they currently do just to be in the same position.

It's a mountain to climb - especially when they'd simultaneously find it harder to promote their own games via shop visibility/less consumer interest in Nintendo announcements etc.

On top of that they'd also lose royalty fees that they currently charge third parties themselves.

My analysis is that if Nintendo did ever go third party that you'd see a major decline the number of games they release. They'd rally around a few very reliable huge selling games and anything "second tier" (like Luigi's Mansion or Fire Emblem) would be gone.

A company which controls its own store is - however - still effectively first party. In today's ecosystem based world you sell the hardware primarily so that customers are locked into your store. It's that lock in to the store that is the whole point - not the direct profits from selling hardware.

They'd also kiss goodbye to that cut every time somebody buys Minecraft on the eshop.

And dedicated portable hardware would be...

@gcunit What about instead of a switch 2 with a base unit to accelerate performance what about a new dock for the current switch? I know that add-on accessories haven't done well in the past (64DD for example) but I feel if the marketing was right it could be a win. If they made it so that all games can still be played with the current set up but with the base unit you get faster load times, higher resolution and a better wifi reciever. I know I would be keen for this. It seems like Nintendo are so much more focused on handheld play these days but I for one use my switch docked 99% of the time.

@JoeM103 As far as I know the current Switch doesn't have the necessary tech inside to receive a wireless stream from a base station in the way the Wii U gamepad does, so you'd only be able to take advantage of the extra juice when docked. I don't play docked enough for that to have much appeal. But if I knew the base station was going to be compatible for streaming to a Switch 2 too then I'd be interested.

@gcunit Yeah I get that. If you don't play docked much then it wouldn't get much use and these kind of things are never that cheap. If I used public transport I know that I would use the switch handheld loads more but in my area buses and trains are either impractical or non-existent. One thing that would make me buy an upgraded dock in a heartbeat would be a disk drive to play GC, Wii and WiiU games. I know it would never happen but would be cool.

@whatyoulookingat No need to be rude.

@StuTwo I understand what you mean but I think that the increase of software sales would compensate. About third-party games on Nintendo consoles, considering that the best-selling games are Nintendo's own games, I'm not sure that royalties are as important now as they were in the past for them.

It's been increasingly difficult for Nintendo to manufacture and sell hardware that keeps up with latest technologies and they use a gimmick to sell their latest consoles: Wii, Wii U and Switch. I don't know if that's going to work with more consoles. Even if they don't have their own shop, the potential sales on several platforms is huge. They could sell as much as or more than Activision, Ubisoft... Why not?

Anyways, I expressed that more as a personal wish than as a business decision because so many factors influence a change like that so it's not black or white.

@gcunit Yeah, that's right unless Microsoft releases a handheld console or potential platforms include mobile devices. I mean, Nintendo has been a third party before, on Android and iOS and although those are spin-off games that gamers don't like, the business decision is significant. At the end of the day, it will all depend on how strong Nintendo hardware sales remain but my wish since they started making weak hardware is this and I would love playing Metroid Prime 4 and the next Zelda on Series X instead than on Switch because the possibilities are mouth-watering and I don't need motion controls anymore.

Just my opinion/wish.

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Nintendo probably is going to do a Switch 2, but it's not ONLY going to be a Switch 2, that'd be too boring for them. They'll probably come up with some additional gimmick to add to the Switch's design. At minimum, it's probably going to be like the 3DS where they at least try something and then drop it if it doesn't catch on. Certainly there's going to be SOMETHING unique about the next console, it's just a matter of what.

I brought up an idea earlier about the Switch 2 having detachable screens, if the R&D department can get that idea to work that's exactly the kind of idea I can see Nintendo going for.

I too wish Nintendo would go third party so I could have all my perfect Nintendo gameplay combined with 4k 60fps. That said I am perfectly fine with a switch 2 without gimmicks and here sooner than later.

@sixrings why everyone wants NIntendo to go third party? It's so stupid. It would ruin the industry.

@whatyoulookingat I wouldn't feel like I need to buy a second system to give me the rest of my gaming library. A lot of switch owners own two or even three systems. Personally I don't care about which system it's on, I just care about the content.

I like this idea. Would it not be cool to have a Switch serve as a Gamepad.... and possibly stream games from the console like a Vita?

The hope for Nintendo to turn into a third party publisher has been around for decades. But turning a hardware company into a third party publisher is a move reserved for video companies struggling to remain solvent (Atari, Sega, etc). Nintendo isn't struggling. They're a toy company that takes pride in producing hardware, to varying degrees of success.

Unpopular opinion incoming but I'd honestly be really excited if Nintendo started actually making straight up home consoles again. There was a time where they were basically pioneers in terms of technical innovation, and their earlier consoles used to be either comparable to the competition in terms of power or in cases like the SNES and GameCube, better. I feel like if Nintendo is going to survive the next-gen of systems they can't really rely on the Switch as is to carry them through the entire lifespan, especially based on how much more powerful the PS5 and Series X are compared to their predecessors. I do like the hybrid console in concept but I honestly mostly found myself using my Switch in handheld mode compared to TV mode, and I only really used it in TV mode when it came to games I really had to invest a lot of time into like Xenoblade or even online Smash. I realize the hybrid gimmick is what hooked a lot of people onto the Switch in the first place, but I feel like Nintendo is about to really stretch the amount of gimmicks they can attach to their consoles now after motion controls and the second screen of the GamePad. A back to basics approach could honestly really help them considering their first party catalogue can just speak for themselves and set them apart from the competition.