The Problem Nobody Wants To Admit About Nintendo
Time For A Switch?
Given the colossal failure of the Wii U, many analysts and gamers were genuinely anticipating an announcement from Nintendo to say that they would be pulling out of the console business altogether, and would instead concentrate solely on game development.
These people were very, very wrong, and perhaps incredibly naïve in the first place for counting out the gaming giant. Rather than allowing the failing systems to limp on like a wounded animal, Nintendo took the Wii U out back and shot it in the face years before of the end of the usual console life cycle, and announced the imminent arrival of a new, game-changing system: the Switch.
The Switch's unique blend of both home and portable play, coupled with a library of games which includes everything from Donkey Kong to Doom, and Portal Knights to Postal have seen it smash various sales records month-on-month since its 2017 launch.
The Switch is the place to play the latest and greatest Zelda, the biggest and best Mario, the next Fire Emblem, and the shiniest Pokémon. It has arguably utilised its legendary IPs more aggressively than any of its predecessors, and promises to continue pushing new and exciting titles our way until it has breathed its last breath.
The Switch is a huge success story and a much-needed return to form for Nintendo, but still the old problems persist.
Compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, Nintendo's system is once again grossly underpowered, and it's only thanks to the wizards over at Panic Button and others that many current-gen games are able to run on the plucky hybrid at all. With the arrival of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, however, Nintendo once again find themselves very firmly in last position in terms of graphics, processing power, and - to a certain extent - momentum. So while it is true that Switch sales have continued to impress these last three years, the dawn of the new PlayStation and Xbox generation is a potential threat to the Switch.
Especially when you factor in PSN and Game Pass.