this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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Said it before, I'll say it again: I wish Nintendo would go the way of Sega. Make video games, get outta the hardware game. They make good games, and while briefly I was enamored by the switch, their track record with consoles is hit and miss. I'm tired of buying new systems for Zelda, it's basically all I play on Nintendo (though, I'm not a big gamer, so probably not most representative example). Give us Nintendo games on PC, Xbox, PlayStation.
I feel like you get to have the odd "failed" console as long as the next one is a smash hit.
Sega had the Saturn and then the Dreamcast just before it was steamrollered by the PS2.
Nintendo had Gamecube not do so well, the Wii was a smash hit, the Wii U again did badly, then the Switch blew it all away again. They've found their niche. The Steamdeck is poking around in there, but I doubt it will get the traction Nintendo have.
MS are at their second duffer in a row, and frankly it looks like they'll drop out in the future to me. They're starting to be about games rather than hardware, even if it's just to try and push subscriptions. The great cloud migration never happened for them. I think they'll go pure publisher in future, even if they hold onto Game Pass.
Sony only really had a disappointment with the PS3. Every other generation has handily destroyed all competition. Even they're doing a lot of PC ports which is nice.
Their track record on consoles is hit or miss because they don't make the same product every generation like Sony and Microsoft. For every Wii and Switch, you get a Wii. U and Virtual Boy. They're shitty with their IP, but hardware development is literally the best thing they do.
The Switch is fantastic for what it is. Sure, it's anemic and old, but it's a creative design that more or less created a whole product category and allows for very creative gameplay.
They did push their luck a bit with BOTW and especially TOTK, regarding performance, sure. But most of the time, you really don't need incredible processing power to play a Nintendo game. They're overdue for a Switch 2 (I suspect they planned to release that much earlier but a combination of the pandemic and higher sustained sales than anticipated changed their plans), but I really don't think most of their consoles can be considered mistakes.
IMO Nintendo brings something different and it's very much okay that it exists.
What I'm actually doubtful about is Xbox and Sony. Those are just PC-controller combos, made cheap through standardisation, high volumes and loss-leader tactics, essentially. Microsoft and, to a lesser but similar degree, Sony, are the ones I'm not convinced provide the world with much value by making consoles.
This is actually their design philosophy: "Lateral thinking with withered technology," or, "what can we do with old technology we're really familiar with?" Nintendo was much slower to market with their 16 bit console than Sega, but they took their time to understand the new tech, and developed the first handheld cartridge console with 8 bit technology at the same time. Sega tried to emulate its success with a color handheld system, but it was large, had poor battery life, and didn't sell very well. Instead of rushing to catch up with a color handheld, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, which was very popular. and released an entirely superior product in the Game Boy Color a few years later.
This philosophy isn't always a benefit to them; they lost the Final Fantasy franchise because the cartridge system on the N64 wasn't powerful enough to run it. However, it's usually a boon; the switch has been incredibly successful despite its graphical inferiority, and despite being comically underpowered compared to its competitors, the Wii is the secon-best selling console of all time, behind only the PS2.
Disagree with the consoles bit, with a caveat; their handheld consoles are always the best in the space (gameboy, DS, switch). I'd be up for them focusing on this and releasing their bigger games (i.e. Zelda) on better hardware.