The Nintendo Switch is a curious example of a console. It was demonstrably weaker than its competitors, yet achieved great success on the market from its "portability" or something. The Switch faced several issues during its lifespan such as hardware malfunctions, extortion level pricing, and failure to accumulate many third-party exclusives. Despite these flaws, the Switch prevailed as the real future of gaming, and Nintendo's hubris has reflected this.
The Switch 2 was announced earlier this year and releases within a month. In the information Nintendo has released, it seems like very few of these issues have been addressed. Whether is be the trailer containing joycon drift (a notable issue in the original system,) or the increase of game prices from $60 to $80. The selection of games is sparse from what has been revealed, and most of the non-exclusive titles will certainly run better on other consoles. As for exclusives, very few have been confirmed, making one of Nintendo's usual selling points rather absent from this console.
The Switch 2 does improve some issues with the original design, namely its increased size. This does potentially stand against the purpose of portability. Is it truly portable if it only fits in a backpack? Despite this, the larger system is likely to come with improved performance quality, which is always welcome, and the original model's controllers were quite cramped in my opinion, so this was likely the right choice. Barely anyone really used the portable features of the original Switch from what I understand. only the hipsters in the commercials.
Another interesting consideration is the actual relevance of the console market in today's society. Microsoft seems to have committed much harder to PC in the most recent console generation, and PlayStation is dwindling in popularity, at least in the US. Nintendo has been one of the only consoles to retain any amount of console exclusives, and has the only console which can really say it's carved its own niche within the market. It must be asked then, is this niche relevant enough to warrant a successor console? Or has Nintendo just run out of ideas?
Much time has passed since the console's announcement, and truth be told, most of us at Big Bohos could not give less of a "hoot" as to what Nintendo is up to these days. The best Nintendo games will always be the ones you played as a kid, and this is pretty much always true. The Switch 2 has promise for investors and consumers, but seems almost destined to disappoint. That being said, Nintendo fans are quite ruthless in their passion for the company, the unstoppable force to the immovable object that is Nintendo's hubris. Only time will tell which of these factions will have a greater impact on the console's economic performance.
- morsh
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