StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)

[RennanNT]

Sorry for the late reply to your comment, but my rebuttal was your what if scenario of Covid never happening, the Switch would've only sold 60-90 million units, which I very much disagree with. It most definitely wouldn't be over 140 million units, but I'm still of the belief that the Switch would reach over 110 mil units at most.

Yeah. Switch ended 2019 at 52.5M, so 60M LTD without Covid is completely unrealistic.

In a similar timeframe, 3DS was at 42.7M and Wii U was at 10.7M (53.4M total). And even though the 3DS was frontloaded and in decline at that point while the Wii U was dead, they still sold 89M combined. No way the Switch, which was still peaking, wouldn't have crossed 100M at least.

And the Switch sales curve was basically identical to the PS4's for the 3 years before the pandemic aside from launching in different months. The PS4 sold almost 120M and it would be closer to 130M had Sony not kill it for a faster transitios's sake. So, 110~130M seems like a better range for the what-if-no-covid.

 

[Secu]

I don't agree with people's views on COVID.
Acting as it only happens to a certain console or game. It is normal for Switch's peak sales to occur in 2021.
I have seen the saying that Covid promoted the Animal Crossing a hundred times. What about other games? Have they all disappeared.
And the follow-up sales of the Animal Crossing are also much stronger than those.
Covid is just an early release or suppression of demand, and in the long run, it is not important.

 

[Concernt]

BC with incompatible architectures haven't really been possible until recently (unless you literally ncluded old hardware).

GBC wasn't merely backwards compatible, it was COMPATIBLE, more like 3DS software on New Nintendo 3DS than Wii software on Wii U. For comparison, GBA was backwards compatible but it wasn't 'compatible' - it had a discrete system for dealing with GB/C. NG Switch lands somewhere in between these, with the main CPU probably compatible and needing virtualization for graphics.

As for "until recently", Nintendo did have a software layer for N64 on GCN. It didn't have a port for N64 of course and it struggled with anything dependent on the Expansion Pak, but software "BC" with the previous generation has been around in the most general sense for a long time, just not what we might call readily available and commercialised until 360 on Xbox One.

These are mostly semantic I'll admit, but GBC was an update rather than a new generation way beyond just branding.

 

[Hocot8]

I don't agree with people's views on COVID.
Acting as it only happens to a certain console or game. It is normal for Switch's peak sales to occur in 2021.
I have seen the saying that Covid promoted the Animal Crossing a hundred times. What about other games? Have they all disappeared.
And the follow-up sales of the Animal Crossing are also much stronger than those.
Covid is just an early release or suppression of demand, and in the long run, it is not important.

I'm so confused by this

It also boosted sales of other games. Like I don't think people are really just talking about Animal Crossing. It's just bought up because it came out right when states and countries were shutting down. That friday and the previous friday were kids' last day of in school teaching for that current school year lmao. The timing brings it to people's minds especially when we got the first sales data from it. It's just the poster child for pandemic boosted game sales but it's pretty accepted that all of gaming whether it be the purchase of it, the playing of it and even the consumption of watching it went up because of covid.

And covid has been so important we're still dealing with the impacts of it. From release dates to even the layoffs we see nowadays.

 

[Beansy]

From my understanding, the GBC is just a Gameboy with a 4-Bit(?) color channel added for devs.

 

[Secu]

I'm so confused by this

It also boosted sales of other games. Like I don't think people are really just talking about Animal Crossing. It's just bought up because it came out right when states and countries were shutting down. That friday and the previous friday were kids' last day of in school teaching for that current school year lmao. The timing brings it to people's minds especially when we got the first sales data from it. It's just the poster child for pandemic boosted game sales but it's pretty accepted that all of gaming whether it be the purchase of it, the playing of it and even the consumption of watching it went up because of covid.

And covid has been so important we're still dealing with the impacts of it. From release dates to even the layoffs we see nowadays.

If you bought a Switch during Covid, you won't buy it again later. This is just an early release of demand. When you look at it from a long-term perspective, it doesn't matter.
Will someone mention that the successful sales of Wii or PS2 are due to a certain financial event? No one.
The reason I mentioned ACHN is its strong follow-up sales, which is different from the Covid theory that people believe in.

 

[Concernt]

If you bought a Switch during Covid, you won't buy it again later. This is just an early release of demand. When you look at it from a long-term perspective, it doesn't matter.
Will someone mention that the successful sales of Wii or PS2 are due to a certain financial event? No one.

I don't think this view is accurate at all. The pandemic didn't merely accelerate adoption, it created demand that wouldn't have been there otherwise. It also created economic crises - and the cheapest console you could buy new, and the ONLY affordable handheld for much of it, was Nintendo Switch. Disposable income among Nintendo's target demographics first exploded as travel expenses disappeared, then rapidly contracted as pandemic and greed driven inflation scalped the world as it prematurely reopened. In both cases, Nintendo Switch was set to benefit, first from people who could suddenly afford it and had nothing else to do, then people who couldn't afford anything better. We're still in that economics crisis.

Wii was the most successful console of its time in no small part because there WAS an economic crisis in 2008 and it was the cheapest option. For many families then it was Wii or no console at all, for many now, it's a Switch or no console at all. Especially in Japan where the price gap between it and PS5 is growing.

PS2 was a cost effective DVD-console combo in an atmosphere of global uncertainty and market strain following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the dot com bubble.

Wii, PS2 and Nintendo Switch all unequivocally, absolutely benefited in sales numbers from economic crises, it's hard to argue any one of them didn't.

 

[Secu]

I don't think this view is accurate at all. The pandemic didn't merely accelerate adoption, it created demand that wouldn't have been there otherwise. It also created economic crises - and the cheapest console you could buy new, and the ONLY affordable handheld for much of it, was Nintendo Switch. Disposable income among Nintendo's target demographics first exploded as travel expenses disappeared, then rapidly contracted as pandemic and greed driven inflation scalped the world as it prematurely reopened. In both cases, Nintendo Switch was set to benefit, first from people who could suddenly afford it and had nothing else to do, then people who couldn't afford anything better. We're still in that economics crisis.

Wii was the most successful console of its time in no small part because there WAS an economic crisis in 2008 and it was the cheapest option. For many families then it was Wii or no console at all, for many now, it's a Switch or no console at all. Especially in Japan where the price gap between it and PS5 is growing.

PS2 was a cost effective DVD-console combo in an atmosphere of global uncertainty and market strain following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the dot com bubble.

Wii, PS2 and Nintendo Switch all unequivocally, absolutely benefited in sales numbers from economic crises, it's hard to argue any one of them didn't.

If 30% of the videos and posts mentioning successful sales of PS2 or WII mention your point of view. Then you are right. If not, it means people think it's irrelevant

 

[Hermii]

GBC wasn't merely backwards compatible, it was COMPATIBLE, more like 3DS software on New Nintendo 3DS than Wii software on Wii U. For comparison, GBA was backwards compatible but it wasn't 'compatible' - it had a discrete system for dealing with GB/C. NG Switch lands somewhere in between these, with the main CPU probably compatible and needing virtualization for graphics.

As for "until recently", Nintendo did have a software layer for N64 on GCN. It didn't have a port for N64 of course and it struggled with anything dependent on the Expansion Pak, but software "BC" with the previous generation has been around in the most general sense for a long time, just not what we might call readily available and commercialised until 360 on Xbox One.

These are mostly semantic I'll admit, but GBC was an update rather than a new generation way beyond just branding.

I had no idea that gc had n64 compat. That's interesting.

 

[Hocot8]

If you bought a Switch during Covid, you won't buy it again later. This is just an early release of demand. When you look at it from a long-term perspective, it doesn't matter.
Will someone mention that the successful sales of Wii or PS2 are due to a certain financial event? No one.
The reason I mentioned ACHN is its strong follow-up sales, which is different from the Covid theory that people believe in.

I don't even know what to say.

A game can be boosted by covid and still have strong follow-up sales. The existence of the latter does not invalidate the former. I'm sorry but if you don't think covid helped boost the sales of ACNH you're wrong. Many of us saw it happen in our own lives and circles. At best you're just weirdly misinterpreting the "covid theory."

You really undersell the impact covid had on our society. Do I really need to describe the human psyche, depression and the ways humans escape or dissociate from the world especially in the form of entertainment? Like look at the current state of things. We are getting robbed by billionaires and still buying their streaming services cause we need to dissociate lmfao.

 

[Concernt]

If 30% of the videos and posts mentioning successful sales of PS2 or WII mention your point of view. Then you are right. If not, it means people think it's irrelevant

'videos and posts' are not arbiters of truth, if 99.9% fail to mention them, that doesn't make it any less the case.

 

[Secu]

'videos and posts' are not arbiters of truth, if 99.9% fail to mention them, that doesn't make it any less the case.

This is a post.

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

Even looking at the sales curve, the potential impact of the outbreak on total switch sales is only an increase of ~2000w units, and I'm not really in a position to say if that's a big or small number.

 

[Concernt]

This is a post.

I'm not continuing this if you're not going to engage with the point and minimise the pandemic. It's not just dishonest, it's distasteful.

 

[Secu]

I don't even know what to say.

A game can be boosted by covid and still have strong follow-up sales. The existence of the latter does not invalidate the former. I'm sorry but if you don't think covid helped boost the sales of ACNH you're wrong. Many of us saw it happen in our own lives and circles. At best you're just weirdly misinterpreting the "covid theory."

You really undersell the impact covid had on our society. Do I really need to describe the human psyche, depression and the ways humans escape or dissociate from the world especially in the form of entertainment? Like look at the current state of things. We are getting robbed by billionaires and still buying their streaming services cause we need to dissociate lmfao.

Regarding ACHN, if the sales of a game are due to Covid, then its subsequent sales will not have the same persistence because the reason for improvement disappears. Of course, this is more of a% issue.
If you have observed, during COVID, ACHN experienced an abnormal decrease in speed in Japan, but now it is gradually increasing again. This fluctuation is clearly unrelated to Covid.
Strengthening the argument once again, when ACHN was released, the COVID situation in Japan was not as bad as in other regions. ACHN's sales performance in Japan is far better than those countries heavily affected by COVID,

 

[Hocot8]

Regarding ACHN, if the sales of a game are due to Covid, then its subsequent sales will not have the same persistence because the reason for improvement disappears. Of course, this is more of a% issue.
If you have observed, during COVID, ACHN experienced an abnormal decrease in speed in Japan, but now it is gradually increasing again. This fluctuation is clearly unrelated to Covid.

alright yeah you are just speaking past me at this point. Cause NOBODY SAID THE ENTIRETY OF THE SALES ARE DUE TO COVID BUT THAT IT WAS A CATALYST IN BOOSTED SALES RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE!

You continue to misunderstand and misrepresent the very theory you want to say you don't agree with. So I'm done. There's nothing to be gained from this conversation so i'm just gonna put you on ignore. Cheers!

 

[Shoulder]

I agree with the broad strokes, but "family of systems" has been used by Nintendo in the past only for, I believe, systems of the same generation. The most notable and recent example is of course the Nintendo 3DS Family of systems. They didn't include 3DS in the DS family of systems despite being an extension of the brand, I recall.

Similar to what I mentioned earlier, this is a new Nintendo that we have not seen before. For almost 4 decades, they had two separate systems in different form factors, as well as for difference audiences. Now they’ve combined those into one device, a new family of systems.

I think even though Nintendo only previously mentioned Family of Systems within a generation, doesn’t mean they can’t change that designation.

I was so against the idea of a hybrid system prior to the Switch being unveiled because past precedent said they had a home console, and a handheld. And then Nintendo comes out with the Switch, and the rest is history.

 

[chocolate_supra]

If 30% of the videos and posts mentioning successful sales of PS2 or WII mention your point of view. Then you are right. If not, it means people think it's irrelevant

If youtube and twitter don't talk about it then it's wrong?

That's a hell of a viewpoint

 

[Secu]

If youtube and twitter don't talk about it then it's wrong?

That's a hell of a viewpoint

Of course, I know what you mean. I am currently posting on Famiboard, which is also a community. What I am sending out may not be a fact, but a post. This may be a bit complicated.

 

[Discostew]

From my understanding, the GBC is just a Gameboy with a 4-Bit(?) color channel added for devs.

That's not really accurate, and there's quite a bit more going on. If you're into technical documents, you might find this interesting. It goes over the inner workings of the GameBoy and GBC.

https://problemkaputt.de/pandocs.htm

 

[Discostew]

My opinion about COVID and Switch sales is that I think Switch would have still sold very well, even to hitting current numbers, had COVID not happened. My reasoning involves "who" was buying Switch during COVID. Honestly, a person not interested isn't very likely to just throw their money out to get one, especially with how tight budgets would be for some. But, a person already interested and planning to get one at some point would certainly be influenced to get it earlier than planned. What I'm saying is that COVID didn't necessarily pop sales into existence that would otherwise not have happened, but caused a frontloading of sales that probably would have happened anyways at a later date. Switch was already selling exceedingly well prior to the pandemic.

Then there's the situation that COVID did cause. If there's one thing people were expecting but never happened is Switch getting a permanent discount. With the boost in sales during COVID, what reason would Nintendo have to do so? Even 7 years after the system first launched, it has not happened. But, if COVID never happened, and those sales were not boosted, it's possible that Nintendo might have felt the need to set a discount to incentivize consumers, and the folks who were waiting would finally get one. There was the possibility of the OLED Switch doing more than what it currently does based on findings in the hardware and software, and our understanding of what stopped that was "COVID".

 

[goombaicebro]

i hope the expectations today and tomorrow of 'nothing at may or june' is the final dooming and we get to see nintendo make an announcement...

 

[Hermii]

As for "until recently", Nintendo did have a software layer for N64 on GCN.

Do you have a source? Nothing came up on google.

 

[bayonetta]

i hope the expectations today and tomorrow of 'nothing at may or june' is the final dooming and we get to see nintendo make an announcement...

if not then it would be ...

 

[Soralink91]

I believe that we will know if this is releasing this fiscal year or not very soon. I find it very difficult to believe that Nintendo will go through this meeting where the goal is to give guidance for their year and not at least hint that new hardware is due to arrive. They have always been very open about whether new generations will be arriving.

 

[Angel Whispers]

Saying the Switch’s success was because of a pandemic will never not be wild to me. It’s a wholly lazy analysis which doesn’t hold water when put under proper scrutiny, in my opinion. Also, the portable element is very much redundant when people have been asked to stay home. One would’ve thought that home consoles would’ve seen a boost while people were in quarantine!! Especially when their versions of games had a better performance and cost less than late Switch ports. Still, since restrictions were eased, and more people were vaccinated (the pandemic isn’t over, btw…), there has been no “course correction” to support that idea. A lot of the time, it feels like a desire to kill off the Switch, downplay its success, or latch onto something, as if they wouldn’t have achieved those heights. It’s all the more remarkable because it’s reached this point without a COD, Madden or GTA5. That’s before getting to the fact that Nintendo has been here multiple times before, with the GB/GBC, Wii, DS, and now, the Switch. Or the fact that the masses are good with low-powered hardware. I just find that there’s a lot of projection in so-called “enthusiast bubbles”, and it’s my observation that there’s just as much detachment from the reality, just as much disconnect in the community as there is with developers, publishers and sections of the gaming press.

 

[chocolate_supra]

Saying the Switch’s success was because of a pandemic will never not be wild to me. It’s a wholly lazy analysis which doesn’t hold water when put under proper scrutiny, in my opinion. Also, the portable element is very much redundant when people have been asked to stay home. One would’ve thought that home consoles would’ve seen a boost while people were in quarantine!! Especially when their versions of games had a better performance and cost less than late Switch ports. Still, since restrictions were eased, and more people were vaccinated (the pandemic isn’t over, btw…), there has been no “course correction” to support that idea. A lot of the time, it feels like a desire to kill off the Switch, downplay its success, or latch onto something, as if they wouldn’t have achieved those heights. It’s all the more remarkable because it’s reached this point without a COD, Madden or GTA5. That’s before getting to the fact that Nintendo has been here multiple times before, with the GB/GBC, Wii, DS, and now, the Switch. Or the fact that the masses are good with low-powered hardware. I just find that there’s a lot of projection in so-called “enthusiast bubbles”, and it’s my observation that there’s just as much detachment from the reality, just as much disconnect in the community as there is with developers, publishers and sections of the gaming press.

Are people saying it was successful because of the pandemic or that it got a boost because of the pandemic? Because I certainly remember it being all over news and social media in 2020 that people were buying Switches like crazy once the lockdowns started. Animal Crossing was a big part of it because (according to both media coverage and the people buying it) it was the right time for a cozy life sim game where you could go out into town and socialize and do in-town things while towns were shut down and empty. Hell I remember even Danny Trejo started posting videos of himself playing ACNH during the lockdown. 2020 was basically the year of "we're all stuck at home so let's buy a Switch and play Animal Crossing and Mario Kart" from what I was seeing. And the thought that home consoles would've been more successful during a quarantine is offset by the fact that the home consoles were 1. more expensive than the Switch and 2. experiencing major stock shortages due to logistical problems that were caused by covid.

Does that mean the Switch would have been unsuccessful without covid? Absolutely not. But is it fair to say a ton of people were buying Switches while stuck at home and that the Switch (and ACNH in particular) got a major visibility and sales boost during the pandemic? Yeah, I'd say so. And that's not trying to b reductive towards the success of the Switch, that's just.. literally reporting what I saw that year. And what a lot of other people saw that year too, because it was literally in the media.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I believe that we will know if this is releasing this fiscal year or not very soon. I find it very difficult to believe that Nintendo will go through this meeting where the goal is to give guidance for their year and not at least hint that new hardware is due to arrive. They have always been very open about whether new generations will be arriving.

They're typically pretty open about projects they have already announced at these meetings. They have never entered the fiscal year that they're launching a console in without it having already been announced before.

 

[SoldierDelta]

Are people saying it was successful because of the pandemic or that it got a boost because of the pandemic? Because I certainly remember it being all over news and social media in 2020 that people were buying Switches like crazy once the lockdowns started. Animal Crossing was a big part of it because (according to both media coverage and the people buying it) it was the right time for a cozy life sim game where you could go out into town and socialize and do in-town things while towns were shut down and empty. Hell I remember even Danny Trejo started posting videos of himself playing ACNH during the lockdown. 2020 was basically the year of "we're all stuck at home so let's buy a Switch and play Animal Crossing and Mario Kart" from what I was seeing.

Does that mean the Switch would have been unsuccessful without covid? Absolutely not. But is it fair to say a ton of people were buying Switches while stuck at home and that the Switch (and ACNH in particular) got a major visibility and sales boost during the pandemic? Yeah, I'd say so. And that's not trying to b reductive towards the success of the Switch, that's just.. literally reporting what I saw that year. And what a lot of other people saw that year too, because it was literally in the media.

I agree with the above. For people who disagree, here are some figures from the Wikipedia page for Nintendo Switch:
Nintendo Switch Hardware Sales as of 31st March 2019 - 34.74 million (this was 17 million sales from last year)
Nintendo Switch Hardware Sales as of 31st March 2020 - 55.77 million (this was 21 million sales from last year)
Nintendo Switch Hardware Sales as of 31st March 2021 - 84.59 million (this was 29 million sales from last year)

It's clear there was a boost from before covid but it still falls in line with the gradual increase in sales the Switch was going through. Furthermore, 55.77 at the start of 2020 was very close to the 58 million of the Xbox One at the end of it's life. I think the Switch was doing just fine without the pandemic, COVID just gave it a little nudge into further success.

 

[Pooroomoo]

It also created economic crises - and the cheapest console you could buy new,

except it wasn't really the cheapest at the time, especially so when you include everything you need. And PS5 only released end 2020/beginning 2021

and the ONLY affordable handheld for much of it, was Nintendo Switch.

Please run by me why would most people who are told to stay at home, and definitely no longer want to travel, want to buy a handheld

Disposable income among Nintendo's target demographics first exploded as travel expenses disappeared,

Also I honestly don't get, who is this "Nintendo's target demographics" that only got disposable income as travel expenses disappeared. I hope you don't mean kids?

I do think that the entire gaming world (including ALL gaming hardware, including PS4 and later PS5) temporarily benefited from COVID.

Edit: Added because I noticed that some people are mixing up some timelines together here - Animal Crossing released and was at its most successful period (when everybody and their neighbor seemed to be playing it) around March-May 2020, there was no PS5 yet back then

 

[Concernt]

except it wasn't really the cheapest at the time, especially so when you include everything you need. And PS5 only released end 2020/beginning 2021

You don't "need" anything extra but for a game, two controllers are in the box. And some games on it, quite a few, are free to affordable!

And PS5 releasing in late 2020 means it was available for most of the pandemic, so.

Please run by me why would most people who are told to stay at home, and definitely no longer want to travel, want to buy a handheld

...you understand handhelds are mostly used at home, right? Many bedrooms don't have TVs. Certainly not KIDS' bedrooms. Often not kitchens or playrooms, too.

Handhelds are handy, affordable, and great for kids.

Also I honestly don't get, who is this "Nintendo's target demographics" that only got disposable income as travel expenses disappeared. I hope you don't mean kids?

I do mean kids. Kids and families. Parents. They are a very, very significant portion of Nintendo's target demographics, no amount of indignation will change that. Families are their bread and butter.

I do think that the entire gaming world (including ALL gaming hardware, including PS4 and later PS5) temporarily benefited from COVID.

Indeed it did, but it's also true that Nintendo Switch uniquely benefitted due to its target demographics, stage in life cycle, price bracket, library and form factor. Oh, and actually having stock available.

 

[Pooroomoo]

You don't "need" anything extra but for a game, two controllers are in the box. And some games on it, quite a few, are free to affordable!

And PS5 releasing in late 2020 means it was available for most of the pandemic, so.



...you understand handhelds are mostly used at home, right? Many bedrooms don't have TVs. Certainly not KIDS' bedrooms. Often not kitchens or playrooms, too.

Handhelds are handy, affordable, and great for kids.




I do mean kids. Kids and families. Parents. They are a very, very significant portion of Nintendo's target demographics, no amount of indignation will change that. Families are their bread and butter.



Indeed it did, but it's also true that Nintendo Switch uniquely benefitted due to its target demographics, stage in life cycle, price bracket, library and form factor. Oh, and actually having stock available.

Right, Nintendo Switch is for kids. I'm out.

 

[chocolate_supra]

Please run by me why would most people who are told to stay at home, and definitely no longer want to travel, want to buy a handheld

because of the software library

Playstation and Xbox did not have the games that became super popular during the pandemic. Switch did.

Plus as @Concernt said, plenty of people play their Switches in handheld mode at home. I know three people immediately off the top of my head who bought their Switches so they could play games without tieing up the tv, and they play in handheld on the couch or in bed. People do not only buy handhelds so they can take them out of the house.

 

[Danny]

We will see with Switch 2 if Switch popularity was because of low price and Covid. If Switch 2 gets big with much higher price and no covid then the covid boost and low price will not explain the reason why Switch exploded. But if Switch 2 dramatically declines compared to Switch then yes the low price and covid played a big role in Switch success.

 

[Concernt]

Right, Nintendo Switch is for kids. I'm out.

That isn't what I said, and bluntly, you know it. It is a simple fact in how they market it and how it is used. Children are a major target demographic for Nintendo and always have been. It is as ridiculous to deny this fact as it is to suggest it is a bad thing.

 

[Discostew]

Nintendo's target demographic is "everyone". Does it include kids? Yes. Does it include teens? Yes. Does it include adults and the elderly? Yes.

Technically speaking though, there are more Nintendo games that include teens and adults than there are Nintendo games that include kids because of the whole rating system. "E" does not exclude folks that fall into "E10+", "T" and "M", "E10+" does not exclude folks that fall into "T" and "M", and "T" does not exclude folks that fall into "M".

 

[Langstonboy]

Nintendo's target demographic is "everyone". Does it include kids? Yes. Does it include teens? Yes. Does it include adults and the elderly? Yes.

I think a better way of saying that is that non gamers are the primary demographic buying Nintendo, they might get some fans and hard core gamers on the way but they aren’t the main demographic. This isn’t a good or bad thing, just a thing.

 

[lexony]

Plus as @Concernt said, plenty of people play their Switches in handheld mode at home. I know three people immediately off the top of my head who bought their Switches so they could play games without tieing up the tv, and they play in handheld on the couch or in bed. People do not only buy handhelds so they can take them out of the house.

That‘s me! I have my Dock connected to a TV to play Multiplayer Mariokart locally or to play Games like Ring Fit Adventure. But otherwise I am Handheld only.

It‘s much easier for me to just pick up my Switch and play a game here and there for shorter Sessions during the Evening. Like when I come home, while something is cooking, Before taking a shower, while sitting on the Toilet (Where else).

When I start a console/PC and TV just to play a game I feel much more obligated to play it for a few hours (I mean I took the effort) and I‘ve to be in the right mood for that.

 

[Soralink91]

They're typically pretty open about projects they have already announced at these meetings. They have never entered the fiscal year that they're launching a console in without it having already been announced before.

Yeah you are right. But that still puts us in uncharted territories if its coming out by march 2025, or it's just going to be released next fiscal year and Nintendo will talk about when they are ready.

 

[Concernt]

Demographics in mind, I continue to expect the next system to have a mix of "light enough" and "comfortable" so all of their audiences, from 3 to 130, can comfortably enjoy it. It can't, I don't think, afford to be Steam Deck sized. Slimmer, hopefully comfier, and as slim bezeled as they can mange are about my expectations. Though I expect the actual thickness to be the same as this generation for reasons. Comfort while using it as a tablet, enough room to attach controllers, fitting a fan, and so on.

 

[Discostew]

I think a better way of saying that is that non gamers are the primary demographic buying Nintendo, they might get some fans and hard core gamers on the way but they aren’t the main demographic. This isn’t a good or bad thing, just a thing.

I wouldn't say non-gamers as that kind of gives the connotation that Nintendo doesn't really make games. They definitely do, but they aren't pushing for certain elements, like games with a heavy emphasis on story. Many of Nintendo's games are the kind where one can pick it up and play for a little, so my thoughts lean towards casuals as opposed to the hardcore. But again technically, casuals make up the majority of any of these platforms simply because there's so many. What we hear and read about, like in this thread, are generally from the vocal minority.

 

[Cuzizkool]

Not to be too off topic, but is there data out there that shows the recent sales demographics for the big three? Obviously Nintendo would have the wider audience, but I wonder after 25-30 years if Xbox and PlayStation have held on to their original audience.

 

[lexony]

It‘s important to keep in mind that you simply can‘t divide the Userbase in Hardcore and Casual anymore.

I have a friend with an insane Gamer PC Setup. The games he mainly loves to play are Sims 4 and a buch of Strategy Games from the late 2000s. Is he a Casual player because he dosen‘t play the newest titles? Or is he a hardcore player because he has played games since forever and has no issue to play a title that dosen‘t have the conveniences and accessibility options of modern gaming?

The Switch shows this userbase of people with multifaceted interests very well. It‘s for sure a console for people who want to play Exclusives by Nintendo, but it‘s also for those who might like a specific genre like Platformers or Non-Western RPGs. It‘s interesting for someone who likes to play on a Handheld or for people who mainly play on PC and want to have a simple to use console as addition. And let’s not forget that many use it for Casual games, Party and Local Multiplayer games.

With all this, many people have more than one of the described interests at the time of course.

And this is just the Switch. Other consoles, PC and Mobile have countless additional Target Groups, including different Age Groups. The market today got broader even compared to Switch in 2017 and there is still a lot of potential.

I think Nintendo has recognised with Switch that they need a diverse Userbase to survive and that there are various ways to achieve that outside of just having the few major Third Party Titles (besides their First Party offerings).

Edit: Grammar

 

[Dimensio]

Nintendo did have a software layer for N64 on GCN.

Are you talking about OOT and MM in the Zelda Collector's Edition? Because those were 100% emulated, using an emulator made by the same guy that went on to develop the emulators for the N64 Wii VC games.

 

[Hajeman]

It‘s important to keep in mind that you simply can‘t divide the Userbase in Hardcore and Casual anymore.

I have a friend with an insane Gamer PC Setup. The games he mainly loves to play are Sims 4 and a buch of Strategy Games from the late 2000s. Is he a Casual player because he dosen‘t play the newest titles? Or is he a hardcore player because he has played games since forever and has no issue to play a title that dosen‘t have the conveniences and accessibility options of modern gaming?

The Switch shows this userbase of people with multifaceted interests very well. It‘s for sure a console for people who want to play Exclusives by Nintendo, but it‘s also for those who might like a specific genre like Platformers or Non-Western RPGs. It‘s interesting for someone who likes to play on a Handheld or for people who mainly play on PC and want to have a simple to use console as addition. And let’s not forget that many use it for Casual games, Party and Local Multiplayer games.

With all this, many have more than one of the described interests at the time of course.

And this is just the Switch. Other consoles, PC and Mobile have countless additional Target Groups, including different Age Groups. The market today got broader even compared to Switch in 2017 and there is still a lot of potential.

I think Nintendo has recognised with Switch that they need a diverse Userbase to survive and that there are various ways to achieve that outside of just having the few major Third Party Titles (besides their First Party offerings).

Edit: Grammar

Yup true. I myself not only playing 1st party games on my Switch Lite, but also 3rd party games likes HL, Dragon Dogma, Final Fantasy 12, Mortal Kombat 11 and of cause Fortnite etc. That's why I'm so ready for next gen Switch

 

[Shoulder]

They're typically pretty open about projects they have already announced at these meetings. They have never entered the fiscal year that they're launching a console in without it having already been announced before.

First time for everything in the world of Nintendo, and they’re more unpredictable than ever I would say. Using past precedent isn’t even always a guarantee anymore, nor is relying on analytics to determine their next move.

We know a once in a century global pandemic had an effect on Nintendo’s plans, plus its aftermath. I wouldn’t say it’s THE reason for Nintendo’s decision making lately, but I don’t think the adage “stay the course” isn’t in their wheelhouse anymore. More “adapt or die” I would say given Iwata is no longer with us.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Never say never. Switch 2 could probably run GC emulation fine. Switch can run some of it fine now.

On a technical level, yes. The question is why they would give them to NSO subscribers rather than selling them as they've already started doing. Unless they just want NSO GCN/Wii apps full of games nobody would pay for.

Do y'all think an 8" screen is enough to fit a virtual DS in ?

This is the post you're looking for.

 

[Hocot8]

Saying the Switch’s success was because of a pandemic will never not be wild to me.

who is saying this?

 

[Pokemaniac]

First time for everything in the world of Nintendo, and they’re more unpredictable than ever I would say. Using past precedent isn’t even always a guarantee anymore, nor is relying on analytics to determine their next move.

We know a once in a century global pandemic had an effect on Nintendo’s plans, plus its aftermath. I wouldn’t say it’s THE reason for Nintendo’s decision making lately, but I don’t think the adage “stay the course” isn’t in their wheelhouse anymore. More “adapt or die” I would say given Iwata is no longer with us.

To be clear, this is sort of the point I was trying to gesture towards. You can't say "Nintendo will definitely mention hardware in the first investor briefing of the fiscal year because they've done that in the past" without also acknowledging that that wasn't the first time they mentioned the hardware in any of the past cases where that has occurred. We are in very uncharted territory wrt hardware announcement timelines, where past precedent is of limited utility.

 

[ziggyrivers]

i don’t think there’s an empirical way to conclude whether or not the COVID pandemic/lockdowns boosted the Switch’s hardware sales.

There’s no way of knowing if the COVID era boost was really a one kind of thing, or if it was a phenomenon of the Switch reaching a higher peak before time because, with how consistently well the console is selling, it’s possible the Switch could have sold what it sold in the COVID year in two years or something like that.

Which leads me to think that, if not for COVID, the Switcj could have lasted an additional year as a very active console