Topic: Sonic (classic) characters - pros and cons

Xbox Series X is the most capable console hardware right now and I agree that its a fantastic deal what with the cloud saves, backwards compatibility, and the Game Pass service. Also, while I never used to consider Microsoft a "real" games company, they've certainly been buying enough studios and bringing them into the fold to mean "Xbox" itself if considered separately is definitely a legit games company... but Xbox will never be Microsoft's #1 business priority - the same as with Sony and Playstation. Thats all I meant. Theres something more pure about the old days of Nintendo, Sega, Atari, SNK, Capcom, Konami, Taito, Namco etc all being these huge companies in a small niche. Nintendo is the only one left standing, from a hardware and exclusive first party standpoint. This is why I feel it would be a shame if they went hardware only, like Sega were forced to.

My main concern with Microsoft / Xbox is not what they are doing right now, but more that they don't seem to care about the future of consoles and dedicated hardware. They want Xbox to be a service available everywhere and to switch to a business model with a Steam-like platform and cloud based gaming. I don't really like that idea as while I love PC gaming for the power and flexibility, in general, I prefer consoles for most games of each generation as you know everything will work right away, no worries about what specs you have etc and you can just buy the new console every few eyars or so. As a developer, this also makes it much easier as you know what specs everyone has and can optimise specifically for that exact system.

I was a Wii U owner and really loved the console. At one point I would have described it as my favourite console of all time, and the one that rejuvinated my interest in gaming after getting kinda turned off by the 360/PS3/Wii era. However, towards the end of its life, Nintendo pretty much abandoned it (fair enough from a busienss perspective as it didn't sell much) but continued to release a drip feed of full priced games with almost no content (Mario Tennis Ultra Smash was stupidly barebones compared to previous Mario Tennis games, for example). Nowadays Switch has rendered owning a Wii U mostly pointless... the one game I'm still really hoping gets ported to Switch is Yoshi's Wooly World. I prefer it to Crafted World. Other than than, Wii U is mostly only used for playing Wii Games via HDMI, or softmodding to play Gamecube & Trifroce Arcade titles.

When the Switch launched, I didn't love it. Its a very cool idea but I could moan all day about design and hardware choices I would have done differently. Having so many games I've already been playing for many years being re-released as if they were brand new content, at full price - often £10 more than the original Wii U launch price made sense from a business perspective, and I was glad the games I enjoyed were getting the wider audience they deserved, but as a loyal, long suffering Wii U owner who'd bought pretty much every physical game released plus spent a tonne on the eShop and Virtual Console, I felt it was all kinda insulting and it soured me to the Switch a lot. I purposefully played BOTW on Wii U and waited to get Switch until there were enough true exclusives that felt worth the price of "upgrading".

Nowadays the library is really good and has a decent amount of exclusive titles, and great indie titles and compilations of retro stuff that I love. But I'm still not 100% happy with the main hardware, I don't like how it looks, how it feels in the hand, I really don't like the joycons. By contrast, I love the Switch Lite, probably my favourite handheld ever, but I can't play on the TV. So even though I don't like it for playing portably, I have to buy a "proper" Switch and keep it permanently docked, and play with a Pro Controller. So thats like £300 console + £150 console + £70 controller to be able to play the system in a way I enjoy - and pay £60 each for near identical games I've already owned for many years and originally paid £50 on Wii U. Not to mention that the hardware itself is old and even first party games are having to lower resolution and framerates to run and even then are stuttering and slowing down - theres plenty of great new games I'm looking forward to over the next year but the hardware itself feels on its last legs.

Really, what I personally need/want from Nintendo is a successor to the Switch with a better design, better build quality, more modern specs, and fully backwards compatible, so I can enjoy the Switch Library (which is my favourite console game library) on hardware that fully allows it to shine. If they release a Switch Pro/ Switch 2 and its plays all the games I own both physically and digitally, (and preferably runs them smoother and at higher resolution) I'll be fully happy with Nintendo again. But til then I'm in this weird limbo of feeling like "The Switch is my favourite console... but I also kinda hate it". lol

@samuelvictor There will be Xbox consoles as long as there are consoles because Microsoft is invested in hardware these days as much as in software, not just consoles but tablets, laptops, desktop PCs... even smartphones. Xbox is not Microsoft's biggest business but it's very important for them. Not just for the money but because Phil Spencer is a passionate gamer and convinced Microsoft to give Xbox another chance after those Mattrick's difficult times. I trust more Microsoft regarding my digital and physical purchases than I trust Nintendo and Sony.

Nintendo is "pure gaming" if you ignore their origins, while there are other companies that started as video games companies but I know what you mean. I have a lot of nostalgia for Nintendo but I'm also aware how the company has been changing through the years, not always for the better and how some of the developers and artists have left or changed roles within the company, thus they aren't directly involved in the development of video games now. I know video games are supposed to evolve but much of the magic and quality can disappear as easily. Nintendo is now focused on commercial stuff, they created an Light Assassin's Creed Zelda and then a Light Elden Ring Nuts & Bolts Zelda... with a lot of Kirby and casual Mario in between. Super Mario Odyssey is boring, dull, half-empty and random. I got most of the moons, even those that were as pointless as the Koroks in Breath of the Wild but I have never replayed Super Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild. On the other hand, Super Mario World, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess are four of my favourite video games ever and I replay them and enjoy them. I bought New Super Mario Bros. 2 at launch, beat it and hated it. Everything about it was so disappointing and disrespectful towards what Mario is... Then I read an Iwata Asks and learnt that it was developed by a new team that tried to replicate what they thought made Mario games fun to play. At the end of the day, Nintendo is always changing and they might never be the same. Maybe they create something awesome every now and then, with old or new developers and artists but it's not guaranteed as it used to be.

Wii U was abandoned by Nintendo, indeed. It has gems and also empty sequels such as Animal Crossing and Mario Tennis. Nintendo killed it, delayed Breath of the Wild one year until the Switch port was ready and released its successor while ignoring their 13m loyal fans. I felt exactly how you felt as a Wii U user. I also bought Breath of the Wild for Wii U and waited until the Switch Lite to get one and didn't love it. I also use my Wii U now for Wii U games and for my Gamecube and Wii games as well. On the other hand, buying that underpowered tablet that is not able to run some first-party games properly, plus another pro controller because I can't use my Wii U pro controller to play overpriced ports of Wii U games? Well, no thank you, Nintendo, I've bought enough of that already. The only game I purchased for both consoles is Mario Kart 8 and I consider it the Mario Kart with the worst gameplay in the series. Some new games I won't buy or play until they look and play properly, like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3. A friend asked me, "Why don't you get the Switch OLED?" and I answered, "Well, if I didn't have a Series X, maybe..." He was shocked because I used to be a Nintendo fanboy. Now I'm more fan of retro Nintendo and Xbox. That said, my Wii U is still connected to my TV. I will always love SNES, N64, Gamecube and, partially, Wii and Wii U. The cool thing about Wii U is that it's backwards compatible and has the Virtual Console. It can even play Gamecube games, as you know, natively. I thought as a teenager that Gamecube was so cool and games like Wave Race Blue Storm, Pikmin and Super Mario Sunshine are still awesome. The Switch Lite is in its case on the shelf but somehow I use my (small) New Nintendo 3DS more. My conclusion is that I feel the same about the Nintendo of back then but I don't feel the same about what Nintendo is now.

Sorry I went so long without replying to you - I went on a very needed mental health break from social media, I was becoming obsessive about checking reponses and replying to the point of not getting any work done! lol. Hope you're well and doing ok mate!

I'd like to think that Xbox consoles will continue to be released, but everything Microsoft is doing and saying leans towards them wanting to switch everything longterm to subscription based models for everything, including Windows, Office, and games. It makes sense - almost no investment, R&D, storage or manufacturing, and recurring payments from customers trapped to a platform for brand loyalty. I really like a lot of Mircrosoft hardware - the Surface range, for example. But its a tiny, tiny fraction of their income, and at all their shareholder meetings they talk about how much money they made from switching Windows, Office, and Direct X to a platform model rather than one of sales and fees, and how they want to "expand" Xbox to represent games availabel everywhere, to everyone, and on everything - givign examples of people playing cloud games on their TV or iPhone. I hope they still keep making dedicated console deveices for the hardcore, but it will never be the 100% focus of their business model.

I mostly agree with your sentiments about Nintendo - though I'm more positive about their present and future. The new hardware (should) be pretty exciting and as long as its backwards compatible I won't feel burned like I was in the initial transition from WiiU to Switch.

From a developer's standpoint, I'll be pretty furious if the games I've been working on (and the engine I developed for them) for 3 solid years isn't compatible with the new system... although there will styill be an enormous 120 nillion userbase of Switch owners to potentially sell to, many of them will immediately move on to the new system - just as most people stopped buygin WiiU or 3DS games once the Switch launched, even though new software was still coming out for the old systems. But again, if it IS backwards compatible and I can sell games on both the Switch and the new hardware, I'll be very happy. Even though I make sure my games are compatible with all current hardware, as I mostly make retro style games, Nintendo fans are still my primary demographic.

BTW you asked me to promise to keep you informed about my 8bit Sonic remakes? Here's a couple of videos you might be interested in 😉