Is two weeks a "necrobump"? If so, sorry, but I was thinking about this today and didn't want to shoehorn it into another thread.
We're all thinking hybrid as the obvious play for Nintendo's next hardware design, but what if their next gen version of the Switch concept was instead a streaming-focused home console, like an inverted Wii U? Local streaming is not a new idea--I mean, you can stream today from existing consoles--but making it standard/the core concept for a system would open new possibilities, just as making docking/undocking the core concept of the Switch enabled an experience that the PSP docking station couldn't match or making the Wiimote the Wii's main controller made it take off in ways that eye-toy/the wand never did.
Anyway, imagine an XSS-level console built using NVidia mobile hardware that:
- beamed "Generation 2" software to local Gen 1 Switches OR any device with the app installed
- used virtual machines to beam "Generation 1+" gameplay to up to four local Switches/devices
- streamed Gen 2 games over the internet to distant Switches/devices (a likely disaster, but anyway)
- could physically dock (for charging/exchanging save-states, etc., not processing) with a Switch, Switch Lite, or even multiple Switches/Lites via cheap (to manufacture) USB-C stands
The main advantage for Nintendo is that they would get to have their cake and eat it too with
every aspect of the generational transition. Think about it: they'd even get to keep selling high profit margin Generation 1 hardware (hello OLED Lite) alongside Generation 2 consoles without cannibalizing either's sales. Plus, they could eventually put out a Generation 2 hybrid once they were able to cheaply miniaturize that chipset. Then, in a perfect world, they'd leapfrog their Gen 2 hybrid with a "Generation 3" home console a few years later, and the cycle starts anew.
For consumers, the gimmick brings relatively cheap/powerful hardware that integrates with existing Switches but also can stand alone; it makes local multiplayer/split screen possible for every game (a
very Nintendo-esque gimmick); it hopefully brings Gen 2 joycon and pro controllers to the table; it might even make an inexpensive wireless VR solution possible down the road; etc.
I doubt they'll actually do it (because Nintendo), but it suits their philosophy and ecosystem, and it's about the only non-hybrid successor I'd be interested in. *shrug*
Watch them put out a smartwatch instead.