Nintendo Denies It'll Make Increased Profits With Switch OLED, "No Plans" For Other Model "At This Time"

Nintendo said "enough of Bloomberg sh*t"

wow a business is looking to make profit.

I assumed there were quite a few changes within since the system is overall a tiny bit longer. Unless they used the same exact size board and just made wider Joy-Con rails or beefed up the walls of the unit, something made this system wider, even if just 1 or 2mm. Add in a newly designed kickstand and what's required to make that adjustable, better sounding speakers, the newly designed dock and I could see the initial costs going up for the redesign beyond this "$10". Over time, they surely do stand to make increased profit, but they may be correct in saying right now, "no".

Nintendo likes using older technology to save costs. By using newer technology to upgrade the Switch (despite it being minor), prices are obviously going to have to rise. It doesn't seem like rocket science here. Profit margins are probably the same between this and the old model, just a slightly higher cost per unit.

I just consider the OLED model like a Switch XL as with the OG 3DS -> 3DS XL which was also priced higher than the original. Back then for me there's nothing wrong with that because I find value with a bigger screen even if performance is the same.

Nothing more, nothing less. IMO if there was no "Pro" rumors in the first place to hype up customers then they would still treat this as a "XL" upgrade and that's it. I don't remember any "industry insider" went on his/her way to check Nintendo's profit margins on the 3DS XL.

People just want something to talk about especially if they're disappointed with the new product in conjunction with the rumors. They're disappointed that the OLED model wasn't the Pro so they proactively find things to report on to prove a point or make their previous reports more convincing.

People need to chill.

Not that Nintendo had to say or justify this in any way, but of course the profit is based on nothing other than the costs of the parts, and takes no other factors or costs into account.

Nintendo have done what they always do, release a product and revise it with a bigger and better screen, which of course will be fine for the wider mass market, but of course the minorities on niche sties will complain because it's not a portable Ps5.

Sure I guess thats why you bumped it up a 50$.

I can't wait to play Breath of the Wild 2 in 480p at 20fps on the new OLED screen.

@Snatcher,

No other costs than the parts, pretty sure you can't believe that the only cost to this is the different components.

@johnvboy No,No, I get ya, I mean I'm not really mad bc well money, and of course there going to go for money, Big surprise, But man stuff like that still gets under my skin.

@MichaelHarvey,

You don't need to buy one though, buy the valve steam thingy, and just play emulated Nintendo games, and all those awesome triple pay, I mean Triple AAA games on the go.

Ugh, okay sure Nintendo.

Is it bad of me hoping that the Switch OLED sells poorly and they don't reach their fiscal year goal. And that the Steam Deck makes a big profit and takes potential Switch customers.
I want them to try harder and stop being so comfortable just because the Switch is selling well. The current Switch hardware is feeling so outdated with even first party titles dropping frames..

Sure I'll believe the "no plans"

@Snatcher,

It gets under your skin because of silly articles like the other day, which look at things in a very narrow minded way, and then accuse Nintendo of ripping people off, without either considering or stating the full facts.

@johnvboy
The Steam Deck looks promising. I bet you can pair bluetooth headphones with it also.

@MarcelM,

Won't happen, the mass market does not care.

@MichaelHarvey,

I would buy one, but it's a niche product at best.

I wonder if Nintendo Switch will have 3rd evolution form.
Nintendo Switch OLED edition (with the changes of dock design) was like 2nd evolution form.

Doesn't Nintendo ever get tired of it's own bullsh*t? Nobody cares whether they are trying to make more profit, yet they feel the need to lie about it.

“No other models…AT THIS TIME”. Clearly that’s an admission that a system is in the works but they don’t want to announce it yet because they are trying to sell the oled switch. I miss the conspiracy theories, insider information, parsing of words, and optimism of Slowdive around here. Life isn’t as fun without an arch nemesis.

@SkullDragr Yes, the screen.

Nintendo are already making plenty of profit from using ancient internals. Even if the hardware was bang up to date at launch, which it wasn't, four years down the road those same components would now be much cheaper. The fact that the hardware was already three years old at launch means that they are and have always been making profit.

@sixrings Absolutely. it's a tired system, they know it, we know it.

I dont claim to know the law inside out but........If their stock prices dropped as a result of the article; couldnt be considered as defamation?

The fact that Nintendo decided to make a statement (rather than taking them to court in private), kinda suggest to me that the story was true. Even more so when you see how they reacted to various things over the years (like closing down that Smash tournament)

@Entrr_username Yeah, the key is in the wording right at the end...
"...at this time."

Not that there isn't another model being worked on. Not that there won't be one released next year. Just no model, "...at this time."
"...have no plans for launching any other model at this time."

Switch Pro, whatever they call it, will launch when Breath of the Wild 2 does, that's my belief. Maybe BotW2 is getting a slight development delay, and they'll release the system earlier with the likes of Splatoon 3, but I think BotW2 will be it's big launch title in 2022, but I could be 100% wrong.

Still hoping for some new DK game.....

"we have no plans for launching any other model AT THIS TIME."

Which basically means, "from this point onwards we are allowed to change our minds whenever it suits us."

@MarcelM You know what is going to drop frames like their hot? A poorly optimized PC tablet. Surely, the Steam Deck will run most PC games. But don't think it will run all of them 4K60. Or even 1080p60.

In terms of power it's less powerful than an XBOX Series S.
And it will be beaten by the next gen Nintendo console.

So. ENOUGH WITH THE PRO RUMOURS.

Thanks.

Also, are you worried about Nintendo making profits? Comment below.

@Peteykins It won't increase the margin, but selling millions of Switch OLEDs will, ofcourse, increase the profit.

I do not trust Nintendo when it comes to anything like this that could impact public opinion or stock value. 5 or 6 years ago, I did sure but they've damaged their reputation imo, since the joy con issues and other things. They'll do what they have to, I know but without Iwata and Reggie being candid and humble, they come off as corporate as any big game company now.

And if they don't release a oled Switch Lite within 6 months of the standard model, I'll be shocked.

I'd trust Nintendo over Bloomberg any day of the week.

Frankly I am really getting sick of all the negativity around this thing. It's feeling like Pokemon SWSH all over again. People outraged that this luxury item that no one is forcing them to buy isn't exactly what they wanted it to be...

And like Pokemon, you're not allowed to have any other opinions. You gotta fall in line and act like Nintendo has committed an unforgivable sin or something. And if you don't, you're gonna get a bunch of people attacking you if you express that dissenting opinion.

@sanderev
the issue with the performance of 3rd party games on switch isnt so much that they arent 60fps but rather when games start dropping below 30. to use 2 recent examples, MH stories 2 and Ys IX, or in the case of outsourced first party ips, Hyrule warriors AOC.

@RavenWolfe81
technically nintendo has always been as corporate as any big game company. However I do dearly miss Iwata and reggie definitely brought some much needed charisma to the PR.

Nintendo Switch(OLED Model) will launch in October, 2021, and have no plans for launching any other model at this time.
So starting in November we can bring back the Switch Pro Rumours!

I don't appreciate the misleading NintendoLife headline:
""No Plans" For Other Model"

This is the kind of crap journalism that fuels misinformation 🙄

Read the damn quote:
"have no plans for launching any other model at this time."

This quote basically means nothing. "At this time" can mean this week, this month, this year.
And it doesn't say "no plans for any other model at this time", it says no plans for LAUNCHING any other model at this time. Big difference.

@sanderev hilarious that you criticise Steam Deck for possibly not managing 4k 60 or even 1080 60. It will certainly do 1080 60 comfortably. Yet the Switch hardly ever makes 720 30. Didn't Nintendo already state that Switch will have a 10 year lifespan? lol

@WhiteUmbrella hardly? is this a hardware issue or a software issue?

Why are we talking 4K again? You know what's better than 4K?

Why do these people keep asking these asinine questions?

1. Nintendo ALWAYS makes a profit.

2. Nintendo never announces that it is releasing a new console until teh console is ready to release.

@YANDMAN Wait, what? It has a new screen? Post a source. This cannot possibly be true!

Just more "industry insider" BS. Some analyst or other insisted that the OLED Switch only cost $10 more to manufacture, and therefore Nintendo was gouging its customers by charging $50 more. Of course we all know how knowledgeable supposed "industry insiders" really are.

Pretty rare for Nintendo to comment on any rumor, let alone publicly on Twitter.

But it makes sense - that Bloomberg article essentially claimed that the Switch OLED model was $40 more profitable per unit than the standard Switch, which surely caused some investors to get a little too excited over Nintendo's holiday profits.

@Burntbreadman Maybe, but if they took them to court then they'd likely have to reveal exactly how much profit they do make from each unit - I doubt any company wants to do that regardless of whether its more/less/the same as a previous model.

There were no plans for a Skyward Sword HD release, and what are we all playing this weekend. Nintendo lie to cover up releases, it's nothing new.

@sanderev Steam deck is only 720, like the Switch, but can run games on medium/high settings in 60fps. If I remember correctly

@Mgalens I agree, I know they have to conduct business in certain ways and I don't fault them for that, I just feel like they used to listen to the community and hold us in higher regard. They'd admit mistakes and you could trust them to fix things.

All they’ve said is the profit margin isn’t increasing. In other words this is probably the same margin they make on all their hardware…

This is coming from the same company that argued in court that joycon drift is a fabricated issue that doesn't exist. It's also the same company that told several outlets that they didn't have any plans for a Switch revision at E3 and then proceeded to unveil a Switch revision just weeks later. They also did this with the 3DS XL too. I could go on but I think I've made my point. A random black man on YouTube once sang "Why you always lying?" and I think he was asking you, Nintendo.

@RupeeClock It isn't that much of a surprise. Screens seem to get cheaper every year, so if they can start to produce a portable device with a more appealing screen why wouldn't they? The emphasis on the portable side of things shows they aren't trying to compete with the PS5 and XBox, and since a lot of gamers use their switch primarily as a handheld I'm sure there will be some market for it. The thing is we ("core gamers," as Nintendo calls us) WANT a more powerful Switch, but that would likely cost much more for them to produce right now.

I definitly believe Nintendo in this case.
Apart from Nintendo knowing their costs better then anyone, a 10$ difference in material simply sounds too low.
That OLED screen should be more expensive then this alone.
A price difference of 50$ doesn't seem wrong.

Doesn't change the fact, that both models are overpriced at this point, though.

IMO there is not going to be a Switch Pro in the current gen iteration of the Switch. The next console proper will be the next generation. I believe it'll be like a Switch Advance. Much like the GB/GBC to GBA jump.

How do we know Nintendo is telling the truth? It makes no sense for them to release a hardware revision that won't net them a profit. In fact, they are so sure it's going to net them a profit by hungry Nintendo fans that they upped the price by $50.

Did they literally just tell their INVESTORS that "hey, we just made this thing and we don't expect it to profit." Sounds like obfuscation, to me.

@datamonkey I agree with your comment, all Nintendo are stating is that the profits aren't increasing over the current Switch. What does that mean though? Is it factoring in the pandemic and now they are adjusting price increases plus the slight modifications. What were they making on the Switch pre-pandemic?

I don't believe for a minute that Switch has been manufactured since 2016/2017 and the components haven't dropped in price, they had to be making a healthy profit before covid and are just adjusting these prices accordingly.

@BloodNinja They said the profit margins didn't increase, not that it won't make a profit. Meaning the amount of profit they make per unit is the same as the original switch.

@AnnoyingFrenzy Literally saying the same thing, just in a less specific way. It's just corporate speak for hot air. The next report is going to be "surprised" that their profit margins actually increased.

@Snaplocket I meant a “pro” model not a successor. Thanks for the pro tips though.

Of course they would deny it....

Big N-'Please dont buy a Steamdeck! We would never screw you for the sake of profits! (At this time...)'

@sixrings "Clearly that’s an admission that a system is in the works"

An admission they outright made back in 2017, reiterating their usual R&D/production policy? Talk about breaking news.

Investors talk PR.

@MichaelHarvey Right? These fanboys defending this stupidity are pathetic.

@RupeeClock
I disagree. The Switch OLED seems exactly what Nintendo intends for it to be - something that would potentially replace the original model with all of these minor improvements.

Hardware improvements would only slightly increase the amount of 3rd-party support. For Nintendo's own games, they simply don't need it. If a Nintendo game runs bad on the Switch, it's Nintendo at fault for not optimizing the game properly, not hardware limitations.

Sigh. Here comes the "Switch Pro Pro PRO" rumours..

@nhSnork this is what my friends Nate and Slow who are Nintendo insiders told me. I’m just passing on the information.

That's kind of funny that the rumor mill from Bloomberg is so bat at this point Nintendo "we don't discuss rumors" had to actually descent from the ivory tower to dismiss the rumor.

"We don't negotiate with terrorists......but....how much do you want for the guy on the right?"

Of course, "no plans for launching another model at this time"...that all but confirms 4k Switch Pro is coming next year, right? Riiight??

For those keeping score at home, that’s the 5th time Nintendo has put Pro rumors to bed.

@themightyant Yeah, a "pro" model just won't happen at this point. It's year 5. Any late launch of a pro would cannibalize momentum they need for a successor, and that just won't do. My guess is they intended to launch a slight chipset improvement with the OLD, and intended to launch it a year earlier. The shortages got in the way, but they'd already contracted fro the screens, so this is what they ended up doing with it. I doubt they'll return to the bumped model, it missed the time it was needed, this is it until Switch 2.

The "no new hardware at this time" IMO is clearly a reference to a pending Lite OLED that will obligatorily be necessary at some point to refresh the whole line.

Yeah, I'm guessing 2-3 years for a new model. But maybe longer depending on how this sells, if there's a Lite OLED and when it launches, And Takahashi really emphasised they're continuing Switch, long life cycle, etc.

@cookeecut the semiconductor shortage would, more than not, NOT be relevant as these contracts were probably signed years in advance. But the Switch has been out for 5 years now and you better believe the manufacturing costs have come down. I'm sure the first Switch revision brought costs down a lot as I remember seeing teardowns that showed less components being using and changed components. So if the new Switch is only ten dollars more than the old version that would be ten dollars more than the super refined cheaper model. And then I'm sure this revision brought costs down even more! So this is Nintendo straight up lying to customers. But that is nothing new, "there is no new switch coming!" and then a month later a new switch! Nintendo was pissed they didn't price the original switch higher and they would have, had they known it was going to sell this well. So this is an easy way for Nintendo to pocket another $50 and then after this winter the "old" switch will be phased out of production all of a sudden, lol. All the while not fixing the drift issue AT ALL!

@MarcelM
Steam deck won’t sell well. Because most people will look at the price and say oh I can get a ps5 for less. If we are talking about the top 2 tiers. For the bottom tier most will say but the switch is less than this. Plus Xbox,PlayStation and Nintendo are all recognizable brands while valve Most people don’t know about. And I know this because I used to be a casual gamer and learned about games when I saw them at the store. Unlike people on YouTube and this site believe most people don’t care about 4K handheld. They just want it to look good as most first party Nintendo games do which again is what casual gamers mostly get, and they want to save as much money as they can.

Nintendo being really cool about this whole thing. I dig it.

Although, what with the mark-up, I do feel like they should have upped the internal storage on the OLED model to something like at least 128GB.

@RavenWolfe81
Let me give you some news, Nintendo is not our friend and has never been our friend. Same goes for every company in the world. People need to stop thinking this then get disappointed when Nintendo does normal business things.

If Nintendo are not making additional profit from the Old model then it must be making a good profit already. They are in business to make profits.

When they stop production of the existing Switch next year then the only Switch available will be the Oled with the higher price tag. The existing Switch will be bundled off at Christmas. Leaving way for guess what?

@MarcelM The steam deck wont make a profit per unit. Not from cramming all that into a small form factor in a brand new APU from AMD with modern GPU tech inside.

Even Gabe Newell said that yeah, getting the prices that low was painful, but they have Steam: The money will come from there.

@themightyant Haha, well, I think Nintendo does random plenty of times, but I think they're also good at camouflaging otherwise normal business decisions.

The number of 3DS's is amazing. The OG large was kind of a shocker. The NEW models of each, had to be for each (guaranteed Switch Lite OLED will be a thing at some point now considering the handheld-only is now the inferior dedicated handheld.) 2DS was just eye-wateringly surprising, both that it existed, and the form it took. But it was really a "third pillar" to sell 3DS games to otherwise not-3DS customers, so in hindsight it made sense. An ancillary product, not a major product.

I didn't find New 2DS XL surprising. It's like the Wii Mini, PS3 Super Slim, X360 Elite.....it's the cheap parts cut down model you sell for the legacy market after you discontinue your product. I'm guessing there will be a super-cheap Switch Ultra Lite or something after Switch 2 is out, that's probably handheld only, no dock, no joycons, etc, to serve that same niche.

DSi XL was a weird experiment IMO. The 3DS was inherently single player. The DSi XL was pretty ungainly to act as a DS/3DS, it was a heavy monster. It was basically undesirable for an existing DS or potential 3DS customer to actually want to move to. Iwata's conversation around it at the time, interestingly was basically that it would allow for what Switch now dubbed "tabletop mode" - that was the whole focus on DSi XL. He got his last laugh eventually. He just had to wait for the cool rooftop party hipsters to get out of diapers. Assuming they ever did that.

You're kind of right on the cannibalizing, but it's also a strange beast, because at that point we all knew 3DS was coming and would certainly be the more impressive machine. So it was also clear that was for a different market and not in the upgrade path. There WILL be a Switch introduced around the successor's time. But I'm still guessing it will be about cost-cutting to capture the bottom feeders, not about selling a premium model against their new one.

Well, heck, let's not forget that 3DS did fail out of the gate. DSi XL wasn't really the cause, but it's not like "3DS launched just fine in spite of the cannibalizing" - 3DS didn't launch fine until they changed its entire market position.

It's Nintendo. They'll never have hardware you want Switch was the one and only time in Nintendo history they actually had the hardware I wanted that wasn't somehow a Faustian bargain that traded things I needed for things I wanted.

I bought Virtual Boy. I know these things.

Even if they were holding that other model in their hands they wouldn't say that they had another model in the works because that would kill sales for the OLED switch.

@blindsquarel Steam Deck will do very well, but not necessarily so in the "major" gaming markets. Don't forget that in Eastern Europe, most of Asia, etc. Gaming = PC, and largely PC = Steam. A lot of those markets, consoles never really gained traction and PC is king. Yes, there's "iffy" markets like Russia that are very piracy dominated (where Steam Deck will still be viable), and then there's markets like S. Korea that are just all PC because they are. Then there's China, at least until Tencent launches a console inevitably. The #1 language reported in Steam metrics alternates different years between English and Simplified Chinese. Simplified, not Traditional. That means at any given year the majority users on Steam are actually in China or surrounding related territories. And that excludes Taiwan, which would be using Traditional, not Simplified Chinese for their language setting.

So there's a shockingly large international market for Steam Deck, assuming their distribution is up to snuff. But I think in the US, UK, Western Europe you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with one outside the nerdcore on the internet.

I was tempted by it, but didn't jump into preorders since I have a library on 3 ecosystems already and jumping into a 4th wouldn't make sense. Even though I'd have been the core market. Looks like preorders after that first wave jumped to "Q2 2022" so we're looking at almost a year away to get one even if you order now. that alone will really slow its rollout to a snail's pace.

I don’t understand most people’s comments around Nintendo’s hardware these days. Im certain people weren’t this weird about things in the 3DS days..

I call bullsh*t on Nintendo. They always say no plans so nothing is really denied on that. About the margins though. I do believe the minority on this site saying that Nintendo is obviously making more money with switch oled. Probably not a lot more but I definitely think more. It’s still using the very aging internals of the base switch and most technology always goes down on cost sooner or later. The switch oled dock has almost nothing going on for it and they are charging a crazy price for the original docks. This is just my opinion of course. I know a lot of people will bash me here but I don’t care.

@NEStalgia
That is true but Will people look at the steam deck and say I want that or will they say, but I already have a pc.

@blindsquarel I think the Steam Deck is most appealing if you already have a PC. If you're anyone looking for portable play, and you already have a Steam library, it's an easy choice. Obviously, as a supplement to the PC, not as an alternative. Right now, other than streaming there's no way for PC gamers to take their games with them unless they're at a PC that can run games. Switch has been the default choice for those that want that. I'd say that's a pretty good market. Still niche in the West, but may be quite popular elsewhere. And still niche-popular in the West. Valve doesn't have a good track record with hardware, but they've never offered a product anyone really wanted. Steam Box was a joke. It was never a console but a PC spec and couldn't run most Steam games.

@themightyant LOL That thing wasn't easy to get either. The first was was DOA, the screen had a red line through the center of it. It took a lot of trips to finally get it exchanged for a new one. There was only a few months window to do it all and they were out of stock everywhere (Nintendo. Nintendo never changes.)

One thing that I still remember, and still hope is in the box is Virtual Boy Smell(TM) - that thing reeked of the most toxic fumes I have ever smelled short of a dollar store or Harbor Freight (cheap Chinese tools and industrial equipment.) And it lingered forever. But I somehow liked the smell at the time, and remember it fondly. I assume it was the foam-rubber face mask part. You won't read about Virtual Boy Smell(TM) or it's toxicity report on the internet....you need to find a real buyer to hear about that, lol

I definitely think they make it up as they go along. I mean all of us knew back in 2017 a handheld-only switch was going to exist. How could they not know that when they named it? I guess it makes sense, sell the concept, on the name, and then announce that that's not the only concept. 3DS is funnier though. They really probably did make that up as they went along as a response to the backlash on 3D. Having to name the poor thing "2DS". It's like a clothing company that names itself "Luxury Threads" and then has to rename their budget line "Not Very Luxury Threads"

OMG I didn't even think of that. Switch Lite (OLED + Switch Feature) (**Joycons sold separately) $299

I'm still going to stick to calling this Nintendo Switch (prOLED) @rjejr you can take that to the bank!

@Yorumi
So basically it won’t effect the switch, like I have been saying

@Yorumi
I feel the majority of casual gamers don’t really care about indie games. Not to say indies are bad just that they get less exposure. In the end most people who are interested in this are pc gamers. Which most of them already think the switch is worthless due to out of date hardware.

@NEStalgia I'm still calling it Switch UnLEaDed b/c it lacks the rumoured power of the Pro and it's easier for my mouth to just say unleaded than OLED which I'm sorry simply does not roll off of the tongue. Mostly I'm just going to ignore it though like the Switch line-up for the rest of 2021 and wait for Switch 2 and the good games.

"And Takahashi really emphasised they're continuing Switch, long life cycle, etc."

They will continue Switch for a long 10 year cycle, just like MS is continuing X1 and Sony PS4 by making most new gen games also playable on last gen. So we can get BotW2 and BotW2 4k, Mario Kart 9 and MK9 4k, Pikmin 4 and Pikmin 4k. Switch will get the same games Switch 2 gets for about 3 years after Switch 2 launches in 2023, just w/ the usual caveats; less FPS, less resolution, maybe less bad guys on screen. See 3DS vs New 3DS HW.

Pro and X1X NEVER got exclusives. Switch 2 will kind of be halfway between a Pro and next gen 2. Nintendo will market it as a Pro for 2 years w/ all of the same games then when the newer games no longer run on the old Switch models they'll just say it was the successor all along. See DS as the "third pillar" until there were only 2.

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/9250/nintendo-reveals-third-pillar

@johnvboy There seems to be a hell of a lot of people interested in a niche product

@rjejr Switch prOLED rolls off the tongue though. It's fewer syllables than Switch Unleaded. Easier on the jaw. And more snark. It's relally win-win.

Good cynicism though. "Switch 2" will be half-way between Switch and Switch Two. That's nicely Nintendo. I like that. Let's go to Bloomberg with our scoop! Source: Insider. Owned a Virtual Boy.

Don't understand why it's so bad for a company to make a profit anyway.. Feel like the only reason this has become a story is to fuel the "Nintendo bad" narrative.

@NEStalgia Admit it, you only like Switch ProLED b/c it reminds you of Switch proletariat. 😉 Maybe they can name the actual Pro the Switch Bourgeoisies. 🤣

Having owned a Virtual Boy may give you too much credence for Bloomberg. 😝

They won't call it Switch 2 or Switch Pro but I really see no reason for them not to launch a new more powerful Switch that plays Switch games and Switch plays it's games for a couple of years before it gets exclusives. Just like Xbox. I mean why not? Sure, old Switch may hold the games back a bit, but have you seen the graphics in Link's Awakening and Animal Crossing? Not exactly photorealistic. And no camera control. If PS4 can play HFW and GoW yet PS5 get "new" games Switch should do it too.

Long live backwards compatibility!! Death to $60 ports of $50 games!!

@rjejr OBJECTION! All Nintendo hardware is intended for the bourgeoisie!

But Switch prOLED connotates both that the OLED is the only upgrade, that it's the switch prO we were all waiting for and that it's entirely pr. It's so descriptive with so few words.

I rode a pony once. Does that give me Bloomberg credentials as a Sony informant?

Not Switch 2 and not Switch Pro, but not quite next gen Switch Two, but more than Switch (OLED). Switch (2014 version)? So the year an indicate what year the new updated hardware came from? How about WiiU2 (Switch 2023)? Keeps it from being confusing. Maybe I'm too creative. Switch (OLED Performance+). Switch (Rooftop Party Edition). Switch (w/ Special Offers). Switch (sponsored by Monster Energy Drink)?

PS5 has no games. PS4 gets PC game ports that also run on PS4. It's like a worse Steam Deck you can't take with you.

I mean, this is Nintendo. They'll sell the 2017 hardware forever. Then introduce a worse version when they replace it. Then it won't have BC, and you can buy the FHD version of ACNH for $75. INCLUDES ALL DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT!

Just like you can either be early or late and there's really no such thing as on time, only one of two things can be true here. They are either are taking a loss that's less than what the current Switch makes or making a profit that's higher than what the current Switch makes. I highly doubt they numbers are exactly the same.

Why you gotta keep lyin' to us, Nintendo. You always keep lyin' to us.

@hammers1man,

How many people are interested in it, as I said a nice niche machine, but if you think it's going to even make Nintendo think twice, you are deluded.

@Yorumi
I’m not saying that pc gamers aren’t intrested in the handheld market or indies aren’t a huge impact on the switch. But people complained about the steamdeck being 800p. But the casual consumer which is the majority of people using the switch ,and really consoles in general but I am focusing on the switch, will see the switch at 300 and the steamdeck at 400 but really 530 because a lot of pc games are more than 60 g. They will get a switch, also Mario,zelda, Pokémon and ,if there is a new dk that to, are more recognizable than any indie game and most non gamers at least know of some of those. I never hear of hollowknight or bug fables outside of forumns online which are more dedicated gamers

I bet Nintendo did have an upgraded model but was pissed it got leaked, so they were like 'f*ck it, just release a tamer version and knock up the price 50 bucks!' Honestly, the version rumored could easily be the new Switch in a couple years All anyone can do is speculate at this point(like me 😏).

@johnvboy That’s only for people who want to be criminals and not actually buy their own Switch games. No thanks.

the oled was datamined roughly a year or so before it was released so don't expect anything new soon. i think the other parts of the report were technically true but those were probably about talks regarding what their next console should do. anyone claiming that nintendo will release a pro model within the next 1 year or so is full of *****

@Yorumi
The Wii U was because most people thought it was the same as the Wii, GameCube I agree on and 64 came out like a year after the PlayStation and had a head start. And no when people talk about the switch I hear about botw, Mario odyssey, smash and Pokémon. And all the other first party games. Not hollowknight, bug fables, or I or any other indie. All you see this on is the internet which are more hardcore gamers not casual gamers like I am talking about. Further evidence spawn wave did a poll of if you were getting the steam deck and only 33% said yes. Plus early preorders are no where near console preorders. I am not selectively reading your comments, just taking the notable stuff out of your novels you are responding with

@Yorumi
I am talking about the immediate moment yes. Because in the future there will either be a switch 2 or a new home console and this issue won’t be a thing. As I said I am going over the notable things not things that aren’t relative to what I am talking about

Then why the hell did they make it in the first place?

How can you blame a Company to make Money by selling Products and increase the earned Money by optimizing Parts and Processes?

I can't believe Nintendo almost had me drop €350 on a 7 inch OLED screen when I'm looking to get a 60 inch OLED screen for my living room for a few hundred more

@johnvboy So PC gaming is niche to you then.
You have PC desktop and maybe some laptop owners interested in the devices portability to play their library on the go. Or hook it up to a TV in a hotel and play games from their PC library which is all synced with cloud saves
Now you also have people that love portable gaming that can get their hands on a very powerful handheld that will play games that the Switch just simple can't.
A massive library with amazing value for newcomers who want value for money for their games. More options ,you can connect Bluetooth mouse and keyboard even earbuds.
Now if this was a super expensive product you could probably call it niche because it would just be too expensive for most even though it would still be much cheaper to buy your games than any other console.
This is mainstream competitive pricing, unbelievably as this is cutting edge portable gaming hardware.
If this is niche so is the Nintendo Switch which clearly it isn't. I think hybrid gaming systems are going to become more mainstream. A lot of Switch owners who did have their wallets ready for the OLED may well buy this instead, many on this site have said that are going to.
I think Valve will find it hard to keep up the production with the demand for the Steam Deck which is the main problem I see for it's future. It is going to be a while before non Steam users can purchase it.
Many people own two consoles or a console PC combination. Owning a Switch and a Steam Deck will massively open up the portable library of great games available. This is certainly not a niche product.

@hammers1man,

Of course P.C gaming is not a niche, and I never stated that, so don't lie and put words into my mouth, and twist things.

All I think is the amount of people who would rather play big P.C titles on a less powerful smaller screen will be very niche, only a personal opinion though, lets wait an see how well it sells.

@Donkey-Kong-Fan,

The Switch will continue to sell well, and even better with the OLED model, as we realize that only the minorities are upset because it's not a Switch Pro.

@johnvboy It is not just the fact that they are PC titles. This Steam Deck is very inviting for those that love handheld gaming and have a look at the amount of quality titles available.
Also the price of games is a massive selling point, you pay high prices for Switch games just because they are portable. PC competitive pricing compared to the overly expensive nature of the Nintento e store swings massively in the Steam Deck attractiveness. That is a massive selling point and why would I buy the inferior Switch versions of cross platform titles at more expensive prices if I own both machines. I love the Guacamelee games, I could hook the Steam Deck up to my TV and play the game in 4k as opposed to my Switch version that will be limited to 1080p for example.
It is a competitive machine in price to the Switch with way better hardware specs and game software prices it just blows the Switch away. It is a cheaper handheld gaming machine when you put everything into perspective.
You can stream Xbox game Pass titles through this with it's Chrome browser also even if you didn't want to install Windows.
Again hardly a niche product no matter what you think.
I will not buy 3rd party Switch games anymore, why would I if could buy it much cheaper and if it is a bit demanding it will run way better on the Steam Deck.

Of course, Nintendo denies the existence of upcoming hardware to sell the current one, they always do the same. We all know this.

@hammers1man I agree, Nintendo is not the cheapest anymore because the prices are usually higher on the eShop/physical shops. You pay a bit less for the hardware because it's less advanced but you pay more for the software and accessories.

@NEStalgia "OBJECTION! All Nintendo hardware is intended for the bourgeoisie!"

Overruled! 😉

@hammers1man,

I think it's a nice product and may buy one, will have a closer look when it's launched.

As for it being niche, it's just too early to tell.

@johnvboy It is a very nice product but it could be a bit large and heavy for some, battery life is not massively worse than launch Switch.
There will be a problem of non PC Steam users getting their hands on one till Q3/4 2022. But at least it stops some scalpers getting their hand on them as you have to have bought Steam games before July and are limited to one to pre order early. Not to say it is full proof but at least Valve are making some effort. I think the focus for Valve is bringing non PC gamers to their store because like the XBox and PS5 they are making nothing in hardware profits with this, I don't think many realise how hard it is to make a low profile sized PC for under $400, it's crazy.

@rjejr,

This is the very essence of bourgeoisie!

Haha thats a straight up lie.
Man Nintendo is getting even more evil.
Is that bec. King bowser took over? Lol.
No but they def make lots more profit.
50€ extra for a lil bit bigger screen (nothing extra)
The parts in the switch are cheap as hell.
4gb ram worth a penny, an old mobile graphics card, worth a penny. The only thing that would cost a bit more will be the joycons, and they drift a lot.

@hammers1man People keep saying Steam Deck will fail, but I think it's surreal that they mostly just opened the preorders to existing customers, and are sold out for the next YEAR AND A HALF! I don't think Valve's worried.

Seriously anyone interested in the thing now basically has to wait until 2023 at the soonest. I was half tempted to order one, could have at the opening, but chose not to. Kind of regret it, but really, it's not even worth thinking much about the machine when real availability of just "buy one and receive it in 3-5 days" of it is going to be 2 years away at best. We'll be looking at Switch 2, PS5 Pro and Series Z by the time Steam Deck is actually freely purchasable.

@rjejr SLAMS TABLE That's from the Iwata era! If it were today it would be $149.99 and advertising NSO!

@MarcelM Yes. It is bad of you. Why would you want Nintendo to fail simply because they refuse to betray and abandon the 90 million people who have already bought the current model of Switch just four years after launching it? Dumb, dumb statement.

Seriously, what’s with this site getting infiltrated by PS5 bots and the PC Master Race lately? What a colossal nuisance the comments are becoming here.

I kinda feel that the the switch pro was always in the works but it would be either too expensive or to slow to produce because of the chip shortage. So they decides to bring out the OLED version for now and save the switch pro for when the market is more favorable.

This is the second revision that only targets players that play in handheld. There's very little love for the gamers that play on tv.
It also feels like nobody really asked for this upgrade. While the switch has tons of performance issues (it can't even handle their own e-shop very well).

So let's hope they'll announce a switch pro (or even better a switch 2) in 2022 so we can finally run our games with decent performance.

@BAN Yeah, I hear you. I'm not a PS5 bot nor a PC master race. I love Nintendo, their unique ideas and software titles, but Nintendo is greedy, there is no denying that. I believe 4 years is enough for a mid gen upgrade. The New 3DS with better hardware was only 3.5 years after 3DS. And you could have both the original Switch and Switch Pro co-existing. Just running games better.

@johnvboy In a world of $1,000 smartphones and $500 new home consoles $79 is inherently proletariat. (When Sony released the PS3 at $500 and $600 they told people to get 2nd jobs, PS5 at $400 and $500 and they can't make enough.)

@NEStalgia The New 2DS XL was $149, Nintendo came to it's senses, but for a brief period of time Nintendo was thinking of the children.

@rjejr With the obvious room for rising console prices, Nintendo's gouging, and the seeming ability of all early launch consoles to sell from scalpers for untold amounts of money, I fully expect the next gen of consoles (not necessarily Switch 2) to start at around $800. Because "they can." And "the market will support it." At which point, one really has to wonder if consoles are far more expensive than building an elite PC with top tier parts. Or, you know, streaming for like $15/mo.....

@MarcelM Oh I’m sure you’re just head over heels for Nintendo lol. They’re a for-profit company. To say that they’re any more greedy than any other for-profit company is supremely ignorant. They make products and they sell them for money. I’d bet my entire life savings that their profit margins are about identical to those of any other huge corporation, especially those operating in the tech/gaming space.

@NEStalgia Companies have to sell consoles for $800 next gen b/c w/ streaming it will be the last gen. No money to be made in hardware after that. Though since the Big 2 both claim to lose money on hardware they shouldn't see that as a bad thing. 😉

This may be the last gen of physical media as well. And w/ games being 100GB+ each streaming may be the only way to get them to gamers. A sort of planned obsolesce for both physical media and consoles. I think the only real question is if streaming will be priced "per game" - see Switch cloud games - or Gamepass/Netflix like? Probably both I suppose.

Gamers are NOT going to like their future.

@BAN Why are you so mean?

@rjejr idk, with valve entering the fray I think we're securing hardware first for a while. Add pc goes, console goes. Plus internet isn't going to support streaming in many places for a long time. But I can see streaming being for the masses, and consoles becoming like BMWs and Omegas. Or Hilfiger and Nike. Maybe more that.

@NEStalgia Steam Deck is digital only, and it's more Linux PC than game console. If you can game on a PC why buy dedicated gaming hardware? And digital only is the gateway drug to streaming. It's a slow but inevitable process.

@rjejr steam has been digital for 25 years. It hasn't replaced buying, or having gaming hardware. The scalping of new video cards make PS5 look abundant. Physical is dead as a door nail. It'll still exist just as cds do, but nobody will talk about it other than collectors.

You still need dedicated gaming hardware unless streaming, and too much market still can't stream. And I don't see Comcast updating that until long after I'm dead, bezos lives on Mars, and the asteroid miners revolt. Where it works it's great, but it works so few places. Skyrim is still wonky in gigabit fiber. I'm not holding my breath for cellular.

MS has the best concept, stream until you can download. But gaming hardware won't go away soon. Maybe it'll be built into surface pro in 15 years. I doubt it though.

@NEStalgia You may be right, I may be rushing the time line for streaming, but things move fast. We had 5mbps a few years ago, then 10, 20, 100 and now 300. Could have 1,000 for almost the same price but they make you rent hardware for that. Also, no TV channels bleed thru over fiber. 😉

So maybe streaming takes another 2 decades not one. In another decade maybe they can build console hardware into a TV? OK that won't work nobody upgrades their TV often enough. I'm shocked at how big the PS5 is, can we at least get hockey puck sized consoles for PS7 Gen after PS6 is digital only? SSD should be down in size and price by then Switch 2 may have 128GB storage. 😝

Physical media is dead, large consoles will flow - Switch and Steam Deck got the all rolling on that - but some day in the future it's streaming. I think.

@rjejr Things move fast. Telecom does not. They've been rolling out fiber in the US since 1999. They haven't even completed NYC yet, the original promised and publicly funded rollout. Since then gigabit happened. Some zip codes have it. Some don't. And plenty of others still have ADSL. Or worse. And then there's Comcast, which is most of the US and is even worse. Since then Verizon has vowed to decrease or stop the rollout and move to promoting 5G broadband only. Except a lot of "5G" is actually "increasing density of 4G" because almost nobody is ever going to be close enough to the 5G UHF towers to actually use them. But it'll light up the "5G" indicator on the phone while using 4G because it's the 4G failover component of the 5G protocol.

Know what streams like garbage? 4G. Otherwise known as 5G if you're not licking the UHF transceiver. Kind of like USB 3.1 is really just USB 3.0 with a new name, unless it's USB 3.1 gen 2 specifically. And that's the "future" of high speed internet in the US. Big data can declare the streaming future all they want, but most of their market won't be able to use it.

I do think it'll be the future. And data storage requirements are a part of that. But I think a whole new internet topology will need to be in place before it's truly for anyone. The "mobile edge computing" the Verizon E3 showcase was about is probably going to be a big part of that. Moving more of the server farm to the towers instead of the datacenter might help. But it took them 20 years to roll out their last service in a patchy setup weaving from wealthy zip codes to the next.....how long for moving datacenters to the towers?

There's also the problem that nVidia and AMD are going to push HARD on reasons to keep physical local graphics processing in play. Sure they sell to datacenters too, but they love that consumer cash. Imagine GeForce/Radeon just vanishing, replaced with cheap Intel Iris everywhere and streaming? Wouldn't want to be an nVidia/AMD shareholder that day.

@MarcelM I’m not. I just don’t believe in letting feelings trump facts.

@BAN "Oh I’m sure you’re just head over heels for Nintendo lol." I think that's pretty demeaning. Why would I lie about something like that?.. I feel you are so focused to be right you can't have a friendly conversation.

@NEStalgia Don't people only buy video cards to data mine e-currencies? 😉

I guess I see the PC master race as different from consoles. Everybody needs a PC or laptop to shop on Amazon, pron, work from home, but you don't need a dedicated console. So maybe PC games will be downloaded, then you'll stream THOSE to the rest of your house. You know, the way Wii U should have worked if only Nintendo had put a WiFi chip in the Gamepad rather than ONLY their 8' range chip. True story - when using 3DS for multiplayer w/ Smash - yes we owned both versions of the game - the 3DS controller could be used a good 30' from the Wii U, Gamepad only 8'. So all portable games will be streaming from our PCs. Also see PS4 and Vita. A datacenter in every home, forget the towers.

OK I know that sounds far fetched, but so does all future tech.

Nintendo does handhelds from PCs, Xbox games move to PC, Sony will have to figure it out. I can imagine an all digital PS6 but PS7 - another 10 years - I think somethings gonna change.

@MarcelM Why do I need to soothe your feelings? Especially if I find what you’re saying to be absurd and bordering on offensive?

@Yorumi Uhhh okay? That was 30 years ago. And it was in no way comparable to the scenario you’re trying to tie it to.

It was also a completely different era with an electronics industry that was many, many magnitudes smaller than the one we have today. We’ve learned since then that electronics/tech products like video game consoles very rarely come down in price. Instead they just get obsoleted out of the market and replaced before that ever happens. Almost the only time you see meaningful price drops is when a device is either selling poorly or has overlap with its replacement.

But sure, let’s keep up this weird paranoid narrative going that Nintendo are the only ones in the entire tech industry who don’t just give their products away.

@BAN Because I'm a real person and we all deserve to be treated with respect.
I'm sorry I offended you in regards to my comments about Nintendo. My main points are that from my perspective:

• I don't like Nintendo being comfortable

-I think it's not unreasonable to expect/wanting a midgen hardware update for the Switch. Especially when the games are starting to run worse.

-About being greedy, it's also about customers perception. They might make as much as Microsoft and Sony in the end of the day. But it's a fact Nintendo sell their consoles without a loss. Nintendo games, even "remakes" sell at full price and never go down in price(Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a Wii U port still at $50 7 years later, Skyward Sword for the Wii costed less then the HD remake and you even got the gold Wiimote+) while Sony's first party games drop in price over the years.

@rjejr Crypto is so 2019. We're into FIFA FUT grinding now! Want a 3D printed ultra rare Pokemon card? Pft. Bitcoin will never be worth anything compared to a Charizard with a missing tail spike from the 10th print!

That's not really future tech. It's current tech. I mean the consoles can stream to other devices. PCs can stream to other devices. The trouble is still graphics processing for games still takes special hardware most off the shelf computers don't have, so there's still that investment. Cloud replaces that investment by running it on someone else's hardware, but the internet becomes the problem in delivering the gameplay. Local rendering still needs graphics hardware which rules out most laptops (which is most consumer PCs), or a console/gaming rig. So the "local streaming" especially with WiFi6 works, but it just augments what a console does, and like you said, sounds more like WiiU than any kind of new tech.

WiiU was actually ahead of the curve. They put that Miracast chip in while Miracast was still in prerelease. Eventually that's what Chromecast used (which was successful.) The problem is, even in Chomecast, it, frankly, sucks. It successfully eliminates the latency associated with video streaming, but it's so interference prone you constantly get dropped signals and corrupt images at high resolution. WiiU was super low res so it didn't matter. 1080p is a problem. Wifi is higher latency which is why they used Miracast for gaming so it doesn't feel like, well, cloud streaming with perceivable latency. I've streamed Forza Horizon to a PC, both from XSX and from xCloud. The latency is very palpable. You can adapt to it easily enough, but WiiU really did sidestep that issue, even if it wasn't to a good result.

Would someone bring back the WiiU idea of a streaming server in the home? Maybe. Technically PS4/5/X1/XSXS already is that. And any PC already can be. But it's not super popular. And then there's still the issue when out and about that streaming reception is often not good, home upload is often terrible compared to download, and most people's home networks are definitely not set up for punching through the firewall to host servers for themselves.

So we probably still have the most practical options of local (or handheld) dedicated hardware, or dedicated PC hardware (with streaming for enthusiasts), or.....cloud gaming. Which probably would take over everything if it weren't for the fact it's not going to actually work well for a huge part of the market for a very long time. Heck, even Japan doesn't really have perfect streaming coverage everywhere. It's an island. With the best internet on Earth. If they're still not there yet, we've got like a hundred years to go....

It says something that PS Now was supposed to be a streaming-only service, and then they had to acknowledge streaming isn't always reliable and allow downloads after Game Pass came out.

I like streaming. The bargain, the convenience, everything about it does a lot of good things. Both cloud and console streaming, and the only reason I'm using cloud instead of console streaming is because you can't do "game sharing" while logged in for streaming like you can do on the physical console, so a few streaming subs are more practical for that. But if I wasn't sitting on gigabit fiber, I doubt it would even be usable to play cloud streamed games.

I think they'll hit a big market with streaming for budget conscious and mostly mobile players in major metro markets, which is probably 60-70% of the gaming market. But nobody's going to say "well, we're no longer selling games in Nebraska, South Dakota, Michigan, Alabama, Ohio, or the southern half of California, all of Eastern Europe, most of the Middle East, most of South America, any of Africa except the following 3 cities, and the following 15 zip codes in NYC." Matrick tried that. Didn't end well.

@Yorumi One place Steam still absolutely sucks compared to multiple consoles is if you have 2 players. Consoles let you swap consoles and play one library on 2 consoles (simultaneously.) Sony and Microsoft sell it as a feature, Nintendo it just "happens to work." Steam has that horrible "loan your whole library out, but only one person can play any game from the library at a time" system which isn't that different from not having any kind of sharing at all. That detail kept me from even putting $5 on a Deck, which I was otherwise super tempted to do. Great if you're a solo player, but not if you have 2 players that want to play games without buying everything twice, really. I finally got OUT of buying every game twice!

@MarcelM You literally asked if your opinion was bad and I told you it was bad. That’s about the extent of how “mean” or disrespectful I’ve been to you. I think perhaps you’re just a little too sensitive. If you want me to be nicer to you, maybe try learning more about this topic and retuning your “perception.” Let me get you started: Markets dictate prices. The instant Nintendo products stop driving sales, they either vanish or come down in price. Those of us that have been following the company for longer than two years know this all too well.

We had to deal with the horrid flop that was the Wii U. We saw how it eroded Nintendo’s “comfort” and how they attempted to correct by slashing prices. It didn’t work. Their only real solution was doing exactly what you say they should be doing now: doubling down on their core talents and creating a product that appeals so well to gamers that it’s smashed countless sales records and given Nintendo numerous top-selling games.

That product is only four years old. It’s in it’s prime. And yet here we are suddenly flooded with people like you who think Nintendo are being complacent because they aren’t going to reflexively clone the latest in a string of non-starters from Valve, of all companies, a weak PC tablet that desperately wants to be perceived as a Switch Pro more than anything. So no, I don’t need to water down my responses just because you tell me to. Your argument is one of ignorance and near-sightedness. If you don’t like this exchange, stop responding to me. But I’m tired of having to parse through mountains of “Nintendoomed” bullcrap on my Nintendo fan site.

@NEStalgia "we've got like a hundred years to go...."

But do we really though...? 🤷‍♂️

https://www.livescience.com/collapse-human-society-limits-to-growth.html

Did they just indirectly denied all the claims Bloomberg made thus far? That doesn't seem like good PR.
As for another model, it's not surprising it's the only new model this year. The DSi was announced and released in 2009, then the following year at E3 2010...

@Yorumi Sure, GoG does, but their library is a bit leaner by nature, and more importantly isn't a main component of the Deck, stock, unless you side-load Windows (and we still don't know how well that will or won't work or how tweaky it'll be in terms of drivers, etc. I figure by the time it's stable, Deck 2 will be out.)

It's probably not the most common use, but it's something I (and some percentage of other console players) rely on. Switch was the last of the 3 consoles I hadn't swapped out, and I finally swapped that (except Splatoon (FML) and ACNH (IDGAF) saves.)

Only catch is, instead of Steam Deck (which would be a money sink of triple dipping for me) I opted to upgrade my Surface Pro double down on streaming. The catch is, can't play my owned library on Now or Pass (could on Stadia, or GF Now, but then my saves wouldn't carry over to my power-consoles, so, meh...), and I have no idea if Now even keeps cloud saves that are compatible with console (really should ask over on PS), so I'm mostly focusing on GP/xCloud for games that I actually own, so I can continue them any later time on the consoles. It's working for now. My backlog is so immense, whatever they throw on there I probably own and haven't played....

I still have a Switch-only backlog though (or games on PS/PC/Switch that will never be on Now like TCS series.) I'm still hoping someday MS/xCloud lets you stream your owned library. I figure it's inevitable. Their competitors are Stadia, Luna, and GF Now, and they all have that as the main/only option, so xCloud will almost certainly have that eventually. The whole thing's still beta for now.

@Yorumi I'm sure you're not the only one but it's hilarious to hear "I'm buying Steam Deck as a productivity device!"

I'm sure there's line expenses to Valve on every expense report in every IT department world wide this month... "Off-site access mobile compute device - Valve $649.99 (giggle)"

It probably loads fine. But the last time I spent $600+ on "It's probably fine" I decided I'm not going to do that again. Plus, ecosystem #4 and not even sharable, just doesn't make financial sense for me, currently. Value-wise, the other platforms are a better bang for my buck with my current libraries, usage, etc. If this thing had come out 10 years ago, and if I wasn't on dialup and boycotting anything remotely Steam-related 10 years ago, I'd have a collection in every color, now.

I think it was in another thread I said I can't remember the last PC game I bought (all on discs back then) but it was either Farcry 2: Malaria, Fallout 3 (launch day LE), Dragon Age: Origins, or...I can't even remember the 4th choice it may have been. That puts a date on my "steam library" (and none of it was on steam, and Deck has no disc drive) for sure

@Yorumi Oh, so the shine hasn't worn off for you yet.

If console didn't have the sharing thing, the value proposition would be pretty different for me. The sharing matters, and Steam's take on it is almost Nintendo-level offensive (ironically Nintendo got it right.) And I basically don't do indies (very rarely) so the "steam is so cheap" thing hasn't really been all that true. I compare sales and maybe it's a few bucks cheaper here and there but nothing that offsets the cost of reentry. Though lately sales have been pretty bad on all the consoles. Same games every time. Not sure how Steam's been.

At this point it's cost-benefit. The cost of entry, rebuilding a library, lack of sharing etc just doesn't win a cost-benefit by any calculation for my use. And I have a library of 500+ games across the other 3 ecosystems, so it would take basically a free Deck and games that pay me to play them to make the economics work out going back to PC. But Deck was the only thing that might lure me back (other than obnoxious console companies making it uninviting to stay, which will probably happen.)

Even installing Windows on a deck is just too much effort. I don't want to spend time tinkering. I have too little time to play as it is. Push button, play game is about all I've got time for!

It was easy to make a clean break from PC back 10 years ago. My whole library was physical, and most of those games were already starting to not work reliably on new OSes, the DRM schemes were a mess, and newer games always needed new GPUs, new CPUs, new OS that needs a new CPU, etc, etc. PC was moving to Steam and I refused (and was unable to) go with digital anything. Disc or bust. So moving to console was easy. Now that I have a deep backlog, all of it BC on the current consoles, all of it digital.....moving back to PC would need monumental free money resulting from it to make it make financial sense.

Funny thing is all the "kids" talk about with the advent of new stores that it's not like the old days when everything was just on Steam. From my perspective Steam is still the new startup that usurped the industry and broke what worked. I'm still waiting for it to go back to how it was before Steam ruined it. They're the new upstart, to me.

Edit: Now that I recall I started resenting steam when I bought Half-Life 2 at launch and they made me decode the entire physical disc over Steam and install it as a Steam game. I was on dial-up. It took 14+ hours of "decoding" before I could actually play the physical game I just bought. To me, that is Steam. No wonder Nintendo seems less offensive.

@Yorumi Yeah, GoG more or less didn't exist back when I did PC. It may have just appeared right at the end there, but pretty much only had vintage (vintage meaning 90's) games on it at the time, and I think it was just a single page for the whole store.

But yeah, back when I left, PC games were gigs, and PC patches were hundreds of mb to maybe a gig, way too huge for me at the time. Console games basically had no patches, were on disc, and when there were patches, they were a few meg at most. Very different then. But...I was already locked as consoles gradually became closed PCs. Like Apple. But cheaper. Except for Sony.

But I hate tinkering. It was fun in the 90's. I wasted too much of the 90's tinkering. It rapidly got un-fun after the 90's. Any minute spent tinkering and not getting paid for it is a wasted minute I'll never get back. I tinker with other things, but heck no, not electronics/PCs anymore. Some people experiment with pot. Some with meth or coke. I experimented with Win95A, FreeBSD, and Debian Sid. Never again. Buying a console felt like reclaiming my life. Tinker-free (off-hours) (mostly) for 10 years! There's got to be a computer version of AA out there somewhere

I feel you with the mouse/keyb though. It took me YEARS to be able to play a shooter competently with a controller and it still feels weird. I came up with shooters as they developed. Wolf, to Doom, to Quake, 2, HL, Unreal 1, Hexen, Heretic, all the clones.... (dropped out with UT and Q3A...meh...online arenas...the beginning of the end.) Heck, I was Doom before Doom supported mice! Ol' DOS Doom. When I first moved to console I had to have one of those adatpters you can use a mouse and keyboard and it translates it to a controller...it was the only way I could play at all. I've adapted. Though Splatoon (due to gyro) is the first shooter I could seriously play since Q1 due to that. I've yet to hook a mouse up to my XB, but official support was a dream come true even if I'm too lazy to use it.

I still think of Wheel of Time as that new game my hardware isn't good enough for.....

@Yorumi Have you priced computers lately? Or electronics of any kind? I think you’re completely delusional. Like I said very clearly, the only time you see significant price drops is when old models get replaced and have overlap with the new models, or have been on the market for several years and the well of new customers is drying up. This is especially true of video game consoles. And it’s even more true now, with major factors like component supply shortages, insane shipping constraints, and rapid inflation wreaking havoc on the industry’s ability to sell products at all, let alone make the obscene profits you seem to imagine them as making.

And yet again I’m left wondering why people like you even come here. With such a bizarre straw-man-esque paranoia of Nintendo and their fans, I genuinely don’t understand why you think there’s anything to be gained from you regularly visiting a site that literally is nothing more than a Nintendo fan site.