StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (New Staff Post, Please read)

[RedSpring]

I need to be reminded that while the ps5 sells more than xsx and xss combined, it's xss that people choose more between xsx and xss.

I heard that was the case when Series X wasn't readily available but lately, the Series X is the bigger seller of the two from what I've seen.

 

[rick_C]

Anyway, i still prefer it will be 400USD. But it will be hard to sell it in japan depends on exchange rate.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

A lot of kids these days are also happy just playing games on their iPad which is $250? $350?

？？？？ Please take a closer look at the price of the new ipad, I don't know why you would think that the ipad would have such a low price.

 

[Darknut85]

I remember last month it was Thraktor or whichever one had already roughly calculated the numbers after inflation and thought that $399 pricing was the most likely and that over $400 pricing would surprise him, but of course we're sure that Nintendo will be looking at every aspect in terms of cost savings, even if there are new gimmicks and microphones then that means that they'll be chopping down the cost of some of the other parts.

I also think Thraktor made a price estimate based on Smartphone prices 2017 vs now a while back.

 

[ZonaiResearcher]

？？？？ Please take a closer look at the price of the new ipad, I don't know why you would think that the ipad would have such a low price.

The iPad 10th gen is $350 new, and iPad 9th gen is $250 new on Amazon as of right now. I know how much an iPad costs but the question marks were meant to reflect how sales on them can come and go. For example, a few weeks ago, iPad 10th gen was on sale for $300 at several outlets. And iPad 9th gen was $330 or $280 at some outlets. But I don't know why you think I am making up numbers when you can easily search and verify that new iPads are $250 for the A13 model or $350 for the A14 model.

 

[Discostew]

I think 450 or 499 is acceptable. PS3 is 599 when the Wii is 250 and 360 at 399. A 200 premium for Blueray which require a new collection and hypothetical hardware superiority. Now the competition is the 499 PS5 and Series X. There's the digital version at 399 and 350 but the sales have shown that the majority is willing to pay more to get the top end version. And there's the major increase in price outside of US. Would Nintendo price it at 450 or 500? I don't know, I'm betting on 400. But I think people will not balk at Switch 2 being similar in price to the other console if the software are there just like how they didn't balk at Switch being 300 with the PS4 bundle with a game included.

But that's just it. Wii was selling well at $249. The 360 was selling well at $399. PS3 sold horribly at $599, regardless of what it could do. Now we're comparing what's practically a portable to a home console by doing Switch 2 vs PS5/SeriesX, where it's close to the price of a system much stronger. And then there's the Series S. Whatever people may think about it, it sold for $300 at launch, and has a decent attach rate which gets discounted often. Switch 2 is theorized to hit Series S levels in some ways (not all), and putting a price tag of $150+ over that might turn people away. It will have to be more expensive than it with all things considered, but there's a point where the $50 difference between $400 and $450 will put people off.

 

[ZonaiResearcher]

Is $450+ even acceptable? Honestly, there's the market to take into account, where pricing something too high will place it outside of it. Just look at the PS3. Even with incredible specs (regardless of how devs could use it), it did not sell well at launch, even for being the cheapest Bluray and causing Sony a heavy loss per unit. It followed what ended up being the top-selling console of all time. We can't expect people to just flock to the Switch 2 and plop down $450-500 because of the Switch 1. Even if many of us would, we are a very small subsection of the overall fanbase. The OLED selling for $350 was acceptable because any new owner who had never had a Switch before would now have access to 4+ years of games with various improvements over the current Switch, namely the screen.

Also the Switch OLED existed alongside the Switch at $300. If Nintendo wants to do a version with an OLED screen and/or more storage for $450 or $500 fine, but they can't release a new console at a 50% base price increase to their current console. Even Sony kept the base price of the PS4 and PS5 the same by releasing the PS5 Digital Edition.

 

[RedSpring]

I strongly disagree with $499. A lot of Switches are bought for kids, and at $199/299, they are relatively affordable. A lot of kids these days are also happy just playing games on their iPad which is $250 for 9th gen or $350 for 10th gen new if you get the base model. And iPads do a lot more than a single-purpose gaming console. There's just no way Nintendo could retain the family market if they launch a console at $499 when their current console is only $299. Nintendo needs to sell as many of these things as possible, they can't have a split market like Sony has now where most games release on PS4 and PS5, which is crimping their PS5 sales.

Family that are fine with the regular iPad for gaming is not looking to buy a Switch 2. The iPad that Apple is promoting for gaming playing modern games is the iPad Pro with the M series chip which are much more expensive.

 

[Dekuman]

. A lot of Switches are bought for kids

A lot certainly are kids , but from this chart in 2022, the majority of the Switch userbase are GenZ-Millenials.
I don't think the demographic has changed substantially because all the SKUs out in the market in 2022 are still out there now and there have been no price cuts;
though i expect more kids have Switches now than in 2022.

 

[Discostew]

Also the Switch OLED existed alongside the Switch at $300. If Nintendo wants to do a version with an OLED screen and/or more storage for $450 or $500 fine, but they can't release a new console at a 50% base price increase to their current console. Even Sony kept the base price of the PS4 and PS5 the same by releasing the PS5 Digital Edition.

I honestly feel they will cut the price on existing Switch systems around the time the Switch 2 is unveiled. They are making bank on them right now for not having discounted them since each version's release. In one way, with it having a high chance of backwards compatibility, they want to make the Switch 2 enticing, and to me, that comes with having a bigger gap between the old and the new, but not making the new too expensive. Keeping the old ones at the current price would cause those sales to plummet.

With all this talk about the system price, what about the games? Think they will stick to $60 for most of them?

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

I honestly feel they will cut the price on existing Switch systems around the time the Switch 2 is unveiled. They are making bank on them right now for not having discounted them since each version's release. In one way, with it having a high chance of backwards compatibility, they want to make the Switch 2 enticing, and to me, that comes with having a bigger gap between the old and the new, but not making the new too expensive. Keeping the old ones at the current price would cause those sales to plummet.

With all this talk about the system price, what about the games? Think they will stick to $60 for most of them?

Depending on whether the industry still continues to raise the price of games, if it does, there's no reason why Nintendo shouldn't.

 

[rick_C]

A lot certainly are kids , but from this chart in 2022, the majority of the Switch userbase are GenZ-Millenials.
I don't think the demographic has changed substantially because all the SKUs out in the market in 2022 are still out there now and there have been no price cuts;
though i expect more kids have Switches now than in 2022.

If Nintendo give a price-cut for Switch1, and still publish cross-gen game on it, it will surely increase its popularity among kids.

 

[PeachyLaCox]

I honestly feel they will cut the price on existing Switch systems around the time the Switch 2 is unveiled. They are making bank on them right now for not having discounted them since each version's release. In one way, with it having a high chance of backwards compatibility, they want to make the Switch 2 enticing, and to me, that comes with having a bigger gap between the old and the new, but not making the new too expensive. Keeping the old ones at the current price would cause those sales to plummet.

With all this talk about the system price, what about the games? Think they will stick to $60 for most of them?

Indeed, reveal the system around October and Cut the price around October. Means you can salvage whatever you can out of the holiday season while most of us wait for March 2025.

 

[ertaboy356b]

In my last post, based on some circumstantial evidences I suggested that Nintendo might want to incorporate the Switch 2 and Switch 1 ecosystems by enabling remote-play streaming from Switch 2 to older models. Below I’ll take another look at Nintendo’s management policy, trademark filing, and System update, and submit another wild speculation that the StreetPass/SpotPass could make a comeback, as another avenue to bridge the two Switch gens.

During the management policy briefing on 2021-11-05, Nintendo laid out an ambitious cash utilization plan. Up to 300B yen will be invested to “maintain and expand relationships with consumers, centered on Nintendo Accounts” and “build infrastructure”. However, as we all know, what Nintendo account offers presently is rather feeble. What are they spending the pile of money on?

Curiouser and curiouser, Nintendo quietly renewed their StreetPass and SpotPass trademark registrations around the same time:

[JP] StreetPass, 2021-10-11
[JP] SpotPass, 2021-10-11
[US] StreetPass, 2021-11-05 (day of policy briefing)
[US] SpotPass, 2021-11-05 (ditto)
[EU] StreetPass, 2021-11-05 (ditto)
[EU] SpotPass, 2021-11-05 (ditto)

These are not simple trademark renewals. Nintendo took this opportunity to update the “goods and services” descriptions of StreetPass and SpotPass. The original descriptions were clearly describing the 3DS services that we know. Here’s one example:

Spoiler: “One of the original descriptions"

(source)

The new descriptions, however, are describing something that is certainly not the 3DS services:

Spoiler: “New StreetPass/SpotPass Descriptions"

[US] StreetPass, goods and services


[EU] StreetPass, goods and services


[US] SpotPass, goods and services


[EU] SpotPass, goods and services

To me, the more interesting features mentioned are a) “not downloadable” videos and music, which indicates streaming, b) “amusement park services”, and c) “computer aided transmission of messages and images”. The last one is particularly eyebrow-raising, because the latest Switch System update ver. 18.1.0 infamously removed X/Twitter. (Friend suggestions via Facebook was also killed.) Now the user has to go through another device to post to X (“computer aided transmission”). Was this power move already foretold in the 2021 trademark filing?

Within System 18.1.0, there’s also a tantalizing—albeit extremely tangential—data point that might point to a new StreetPass/SpotPass. According to SwitchBrew (h/t @Pokemaniac), the license for FlatBuffers was added to the System’s legal text. FlatBuffers is a serialization library that allows data to be moved quickly and efficiently. Nintendo previously used FlatBuffers in SSBU, but it is unclear why the library is added to the System right at the moment of X being kicked out? Knowing that Facebook app uses FlatBuffers to speed up client-server communications, I wonder if Nintendo is prepping their own social channel to replace X and Facebook. Can that be a revamped StreetPass/SpotPass?

So what does this mean for Switch 2? In the recent earnings Q&A, Furukawa reiterated that the ¥‎300B cash utilization is “centered around Nintendo Account to improve user experience and create new added value”, and the Nintendo Account is “a way to maintain long-term relationships with consumers across hardware generations”. As I reasoned in my last post, Switch 2 being pricier/larger/heavier and the potentially large segment of late adopters may necessitate an ongoing support of Switch 1, or better yet, some system features that will tie both gens in one ecosystem. The aforementioned remote play could be one, and a modernized StreetPass/SpotPass could also get the job done.

And one last piece of irresponsible speculation: The Mobapad rumor claimed that “below the HOME button on the right Joy-Con, there is an additional function button”. The position of the button indicates that it isn’t for gameplays but a system level function. It might be related to the hypothetical StreetPass, remote play, or some other Switch 2 “gimmick”.

Is Flatbuffers the same as Protobuf or MsgPack?

 

[SebastianRooks]

4n or not,... Are there any ways to find out which node is used from some delivery trucks coming from tsmc or something? Can someone observe Tsmc please? To think that we have to wait till switch 2 is released to see what node is used is pure torture,...

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

4n or not,... Are there any ways to find out which node is used from some delivery trucks coming from tsmc or something? Can someone observe Tsmc please? To think that we have to wait till switch 2 is released to see what node is used is pure torture,...

I think focusing on the nodes is putting the cart before the horse, and the fact is that we'll know the clock frequency and power consumption by the end of this fall or year, and as long as we know those two items we won't need to look at the nodes specifically at all.

Because the nodes will not be included in the developer documentation, our specific knowledge of the nodes must come later than our knowledge of the clock frequency and power consumption.

 

[ZonaiResearcher]

Family that are fine with the regular iPad for gaming is not looking to buy a Switch 2. The iPad that Apple is promoting for gaming playing modern games is the iPad Pro with the M series chip which are much more expensive.

Conversely, the iPad Pro is not being aimed at kids or families, certainly not at the $999 price. Right now the Switch is so cheap, that some families will have both an iPad or a Switch or Switch Lite for their kids, I've seen it at airports all the time. Some families might prefer to give kids a Switch instead of an iPad because it's "safer" in terms of not having a web browser or social media apps where they might be exposed to objectionable content. Or the kid wants to play Mario games so they end up getting the Switch as well. In the end, any portable device that plays games is a competitor for Switch 2, because it's going up against smartphone and tablet gaming as well as the Steam Decks and Windows Steam Deck competitors. If people are playing games on a non-Nintendo handheld, that's a problem for Nintendo because they are the dominant portable console maker. They have to make the Switch 2 compelling enough that someone thinking of getting their kid an iPad to play games on wants to (or their kid wants) the Switch 2 instead.

 

[fwd-bwd]

Is Flatbuffers the same as Protobuf or MsgPack?

They are dealing with serialization. Flatbuffers is newer and in some cases faster than Protocol Buffers. MessagePack is more compact than JSON, but still larger/slower than the other two.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Is Flatbuffers the same as Protobuf or MsgPack?

It is the same type of thing. A serialization format, something you would use for persisting data and/or moving it around.

Some cursory research suggests that FlatBuffers are supposed to be highly optimized for efficiency from several angles, with gaming being one of the stated target use cases of the format.

 

[Thombias]

I don't really care what the Switch 2 will cost because i'm gonna rush the stores on launch day in the morning anyway to get it. Ain't no way i'm gonna miss out for a year or two because chances are high it will be sold out in literally all online shops thanks to scalpers.

I just hope Nintendo will be more upfront with the european pricing this time around because last time all they said was basically "lol we don't know, go check your local stores and online shops or something" like what the fuck even.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

I don't really care what the Switch 2 will cost because i'm gonna rush the stores on launch day in the morning anyway to get it. Ain't no way i'm gonna miss out for a year or two because chances are high it will be sold out in literally all online shops thanks to scalpers.

I just hope Nintendo will be more upfront with the european pricing this time around because last time all they said was basically "lol we don't know, go check your local stores and online shops or something" like what the fuck even.

Please don't forget that for the mass market affordability is the deciding factor, which is why I'm sticking with $400.

 

[woodhead]

The iPad 10th gen is $350 new, and iPad 9th gen is $250 new on Amazon as of right now. I know how much an iPad costs but the question marks were meant to reflect how sales on them can come and go. For example, a few weeks ago, iPad 10th gen was on sale for $300 at several outlets. And iPad 9th gen was $330 or $280 at some outlets. But I don't know why you think I am making up numbers when you can easily search and verify that new iPads are $250 for the A13 model or $350 for the A14 model.

Are those prices with or without tax? I just want to compare it with prices where I live. How much tax do you pay in America for electronic devices?

 

[ertaboy356b]

They are dealing with serialization. Flatbuffers is newer and in some cases faster than Protocol Buffers. MessagePack is more compact than JSON, but still larger/slower than the other two.

It is the same type of thing. A serialization format, something you would use for persisting data and/or moving it around.

Some cursory research suggests that FlatBuffers are supposed to be highly optimized for efficiency from several angles, with gaming being one of the stated target use cases of the format.

Cool tech, I just saw the charts. I might use this in an ongoing project with ZMQ as transport.

 

[Thombias]

Please don't forget that for the mass market affordability is the deciding factor, which is why I'm sticking with $400.

I'd also prefer a 399 price tag and expect to see it the most out of all possible options don't get me wrong.
It's just that given how terribly the PS5 launch and the following 2 years were handled, i can't let a price difference of 50-100€ make my decision on whether i'll be twiddling my thumbs for 2 years because you can't buy it anywhere or try to get the thing day one.
It's not gonna get any cheaper as time passes anyway if Nintendo continues their current pricing strategy.

Nintendo is coming off of a very successful console and became popular again after being essentially seen as the clown of videogames during the Wii U era,
so i'm 100% expecting to see the Switch 2 being outsold in all stores within hours on launch day despite what the price tag says. I won't even try to preorder online because i'll know they're gonna be sold out the very first second you can preorder them. (thanks to scalping bots, seriously f them)

Of course 399 would be the most ideal price to ensure the most sells but for me as a die hard Nintendo fan i don't really care for it as long as i can secure a console on launch day. (Feel free to call me selfish, i'll admit i am.)

 

[NineTailSage]

Conversely, the iPad Pro is not being aimed at kids or families, certainly not at the $999 price. Right now the Switch is so cheap, that some families will have both an iPad or a Switch or Switch Lite for their kids, I've seen it at airports all the time. Some families might prefer to give kids a Switch instead of an iPad because it's "safer" in terms of not having a web browser or social media apps where they might be exposed to objectionable content. Or the kid wants to play Mario games so they end up getting the Switch as well. In the end, any portable device that plays games is a competitor for Switch 2, because it's going up against smartphone and tablet gaming as well as the Steam Decks and Windows Steam Deck competitors. If people are playing games on a non-Nintendo handheld, that's a problem for Nintendo because they are the dominant portable console maker. They have to make the Switch 2 compelling enough that someone thinking of getting their kid an iPad to play games on wants to (or their kid wants) the Switch 2 instead.

I'm not even sure I understand conversations like this...

Mario was one of the largest movies in 2023 and those games will only be on Nintendo platforms.
Not to mention isn't Fortnight still missing from iOS devices but playable on Switch. So Switch 2 isn't really in direct competition with Apple products at the moment because they aren't receiving the same software the mainstream gamers are interested in.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

I'm not even sure I understand conversations like this...

Mario was one of the largest movies in 2023 and those games will only be on Nintendo platforms.
Not to mention isn't Fortnight still missing from iOS devices but playable on Switch. So Switch 2 isn't really in direct competition with Apple products at the moment because they aren't receiving the same software the mainstream gamers are interested in.

We're not talking about the software lineup, because that's what Nintendo is supposed to do, and if the software lineup isn't deluxe enough in the first year it'll be a replica of the wiiu's dilemma, however the price plays a pretty big deciding factor as well.

 

[Dakhil]

Although this isn't specifically related to the Nintendo Switch's successor, if HoYoverse decide to release Genshin Impact · Cloud on the Nintendo Switch, I wonder if HoYoverse will use Ubitus' servers , which the Nintendo Switch cloud games released thus far use? Or will HoYoverse's own servers be used for Genshin Impact · Cloud on the Nintendo Switch?

 

[Ojoloco]

Although this isn't specifically related to the Nintendo Switch's successor, if HoYoverse decide to release Genshin Impact · Cloud on the Nintendo Switch, I wonder if HoYoverse will use Ubitus' servers , which the Nintendo Switch cloud games released thus far use? Or will HoYoverse's own servers be used for Genshin Impact · Cloud on the Nintendo Switch?

Dont look the best way to play

 

[ertaboy356b]

I honestly feel they will cut the price on existing Switch systems around the time the Switch 2 is unveiled. They are making bank on them right now for not having discounted them since each version's release. In one way, with it having a high chance of backwards compatibility, they want to make the Switch 2 enticing, and to me, that comes with having a bigger gap between the old and the new, but not making the new too expensive. Keeping the old ones at the current price would cause those sales to plummet.

With all this talk about the system price, what about the games? Think they will stick to $60 for most of them?

From where I live, the Switch OLED is already pushing $250 full price and $200 on sales converted from local currency.

 

[Secu]

When the performance of the console has not yet been announced, discussing the price is meaningless in practice.

 

[Bonejack]

While it's still not a "beefy" CPU, i do think the Switch 2 internals would be sufficient for Hoyoverse to make a native version. It might also be a better financial decision then trying to slap this outrageous expensive cloud thing on the system

Especially if Nintendo wouldn't allow them to do the online play without paying for NSO, too.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

When the performance of the console has not yet been announced, discussing the price is meaningless in practice.

Only the clock frequencies of the gpu and cpu are unknown, and no matter how high they are they can't be higher than the physical specification limits of the drake and A78C.

 

[Darknut85]

Only the clock frequencies of the gpu and cpu are unknown, and no matter how high they are they can't be higher than the physical specification limits of the drake and A78C.

Generally agree, but they’re still some other things we don’t know like battery, cache and thermals.

 

[Hermii]

Generally agree, but they’re still some other things we don’t know like battery, cache and thermals.

Those two last things, we won't actually know until it's out and people have torned it down and tested it, most likely.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

Remember those Nvidia RTX demos? Something like that should suffice. Considering the Switch 2 won't be a major departure from the Switch, concept wise, it might actually need something like this to show the difference and justify the purchase.

Or maybe Nintendo will do the same as the Switch and forget pack-in games were ever a thing. Who knows XD

The theory that performance upgrades and graphics performance demos entice customers to buy only applies to the core gamer community.

 

[rick_C]

I don't think Mihoyo will put ANY games to Nintendo platforms, as Mihoyo is seems allied with Sony in console market.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

I don't think Mihoyo will put ANY games to Nintendo platforms, as Mihoyo is seems allied with Sony in console market.

Yeah, it's a funny thing, the fact that mihoyo has been working with Sony since 2019, and I assumed out of ill-intentioned speculation that Sony wanted a low-end alternative to BOTW. And the super high profits of Gacha games is what Sony wants.

 

[Bonejack]

I don't think Mihoyo will put ANY games to Nintendo platforms, as Mihoyo is seems allied with Sony in console market.

Purposely limiting your potential targets, erm audience, is kinda the wrong thing to do with gachas. ;]

 

[Koti]

A lot certainly are kids , but from this chart in 2022, the majority of the Switch userbase are GenZ-Millenials.
I don't think the demographic has changed substantially because all the SKUs out in the market in 2022 are still out there now and there have been no price cuts;
though i expect more kids have Switches now than in 2022.

Not sure how trustworthy this data it tho, cuz I'm assuming nintendo gets them from the account information. Most people lie about their identity first of all, but I would imagine a lot of kids to play on their parents account or something. I'm not well informed on this matter but I wouldn't really take this face value, although I can see GenZ-Millenials being the majority still.

 

[navierStokes]

I don't think Mihoyo will put ANY games to Nintendo platforms, as Mihoyo is seems allied with Sony in console market.

They did announce genshin impact to the Switch, after it already had been announced for the PS4, iOS, Android, Windows.
Moreover, they don’t have MacOS versions despite the iOS version running on it flawlessly. Does that mean Mihoyo has allied with Windows/Microsoft for the PC market? , nah.

It’s clear that the game is too heavy for the Switch and Mihoyo has set the limit to what baseline level of performance is needed for platforms (e.g. recent announcement regarding reduced visuals).
With the content and scope forever increasing, keeping a platform ongoing that for them has bottlenecks, doesn’t seem beneficial.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

Well I'll reiterate my point, $449 for me personally would also have to wait and see if Nintendo can come up with a deluxe enough first party lineup in the first year before I would choose to buy it, but for the mass market $449 has very little appeal already.

 

[Koti]

Conversely, the iPad Pro is not being aimed at kids or families, certainly not at the $999 price. Right now the Switch is so cheap, that some families will have both an iPad or a Switch or Switch Lite for their kids, I've seen it at airports all the time. Some families might prefer to give kids a Switch instead of an iPad because it's "safer" in terms of not having a web browser or social media apps where they might be exposed to objectionable content. Or the kid wants to play Mario games so they end up getting the Switch as well. In the end, any portable device that plays games is a competitor for Switch 2, because it's going up against smartphone and tablet gaming as well as the Steam Decks and Windows Steam Deck competitors. If people are playing games on a non-Nintendo handheld, that's a problem for Nintendo because they are the dominant portable console maker. They have to make the Switch 2 compelling enough that someone thinking of getting their kid an iPad to play games on wants to (or their kid wants) the Switch 2 instead.

Yea this is a bigger deal than we probably think. When you can play most games for free too on ipad compared to the Switch. The only advantage with the Switch is that it is relatively safe and games aren't impression bait junk. However most parents aren't thinking about that or well informed, prioritizing cost performance, value for money and distracting kids with something to do. There's just so many disadvantage for consoles in the modern state. It's probably better for Nintendo to gradually shift away from kid focused target audience. Which would put them in position to compete directly with PS, Xbox, PC ironically. This is why I think it's really important for Nintendo to expand more to the mobile market moving forward.

 

[rick_C]

Purposely limiting your potential targets, erm audience, is kinda the wrong thing to do with gachas. ;]

Mihoyo have no financial problem right now, they may not willing to do so. Also, that's obviously not about hardware spec, as they don't even release their games on Xbox too.

This discussion and price discussion seems off-topic and i will stop here.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

。

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

Yea this is a bigger deal than we probably think. When you can play most games for free too on ipad compared to the Switch. The only advantage with the Switch is that it is relatively safe and games aren't impression bait junk. However most parents aren't thinking about that or well informed, prioritizing cost performance, value for money and distracting kids with something to do. There's just so many disadvantage for consoles in the modern state. It's probably better for Nintendo to gradually shift away from kid focused target audience. Which would put them in position to compete directly with PS, Xbox, PC ironically. This is why I think it's really important for Nintendo to expand more to the mobile market moving forward.

Note that the mass market will always be the key market to Nintendo's success for the foreseeable future, the switch era brought in a lot of core gamers that's true, but Nintendo refuses to compete with the current pc/xbox/ps out of the same standard precisely because ps and xbox can't compete in this unhealthy competition without getting stuck in a quagmire, and the only winner will be the pc, which is uniquely suited with customization advantages. The pc has the unique advantage of customization, not only is it a semi-necessity with a much higher performance ceiling than consoles, but because it's a semi-necessity most people across the board will have a pc, even if it's just a mac or surface for the office.

 

[Danny]

I don't think Mihoyo will put ANY games to Nintendo platforms, as Mihoyo is seems allied with Sony in console market.

And their strategy seems to take inspiration/copy from Nintendo games and put them onto other consoles, pc, mobile, often in GAAS form.

 

[Danny]

Yea this is a bigger deal than we probably think. When you can play most games for free too on ipad compared to the Switch. The only advantage with the Switch is that it is relatively safe and games aren't impression bait junk. However most parents aren't thinking about that or well informed, prioritizing cost performance, value for money and distracting kids with something to do. There's just so many disadvantage for consoles in the modern state. It's probably better for Nintendo to gradually shift away from kid focused target audience. Which would put them in position to compete directly with PS, Xbox, PC ironically. This is why I think it's really important for Nintendo to expand more to the mobile market moving forward.

I think a main reason why Nintendo is focusing more and more on theme parks and movies is to get children and their parents to want to continue buying Nintendo consoles in the future, instead of turning fully to mobile, Ipads etc. Their goal is to make children see a Mario movie and ask their parents to buy them a Switch, or children visiting Super Nintendo World and asking their parents to buy them a Switch.

 

[Bonejack]

You know, if Mihoyo would be thinking "Actually, we're fine financially and don't have to do anything more" then they really wouldn't try to get everyone and their cat out there by doing multiple gachas with different gameplay.

Companies generally never think "Oh this revenue is enough, we're good!", they think like two very special Hobbits "Yeah, we had a lot of revenue, but how about even more revenue?".

If it's viable without too much drawback to have native versions of their games on the successor to one of the biggest sellers in the console industry, they will do that. ^^

 

[Danny]

That's nearly flat following of inflation since 2017, but we know for near certain this device uses more materials, appears to use relatively more advanced technology for the time, and with parts paid for in dollars, that yen price is taking a GIGANTIC loss especially when Nintendo advertises console prices in Japan inclusive of tax.

Unfortunately I think people, even in Japan, will be surprised by the price and not in a good way.

That would be a gigantic mistake. I do think Nintendo does need to subsidize the price to not see a huge decline in sales compared to the Switch 1. I actually think the price of the Switch 2 will be the difference in the Switch 2 being another 100 million plus hardware selling device or not. If Nintendo subsidize the price, they can get the device into people's hands and ensure another successful 10 years for the company.

And its doable as well. The Switch 2 will have more GAAS and microtransactions heavy games than Switch 1. Meaning that they can lose a bit of money on every Switch 2 being sold and still increase their profits because people will be spending money on stuff like CoD on Switch 2 like never happened with Switch 1.

I don't think its doable to sell the Switch 2 for $450-500 and not see a collapse in sales compared to Switch 1, especially on the japanese market. The only solution is to end the long standing Nintendo strategy of selling the system at a profit day 1, and instead pivot more to growing revenue from services, rather than hardware.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

That would be a gigantic mistake. I do think Nintendo does need to subsidize the price to not see a huge decline in sales compared to the Switch 1. I actually think the price of the Switch 2 will be the difference in the Switch 2 being another 100 million plus hardware selling device or not. If Nintendo subsidize the price, they can get the device into people's hands and ensure another successful 10 years for the company.

And its doable as well. The Switch 2 will have more GAAS and microtransactions heavy games than Switch 1. Meaning that they can lose a bit of money on every Switch 2 being sold and still increase their profits because people will be spending money on stuff like CoD on Switch 2 like never happened with Switch 1.

I don't think its doable to sell the Switch 2 for $450-500 and not see a collapse in sales compared to Switch 1, especially on the japanese market. The only solution is to end the long standing Nintendo strategy of selling the system at a profit day 1, and instead pivot more to growing revenue from services, rather than hardware.

There's simply no evidence for the claim that $450 is required to make a profit, in fact even doing a conservative estimate it's safe to assume that $399 will guarantee break even in the first year, there's no reason for Nintendo to be subsidizing costs, and they've learned from their poor initial pricing of the 3DS, and considering they still have the whole selling the WIIU at a loss thing going on I'd argue that if Nintendo expects that the battery tech won't be able to make the generational leap anytime soon and that the development timelines are still lengthening they're just going to prolong the lifespan of the switch2 even further, and they'll have long enough to have that piece of the console making a good profit for them.