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Bloomberg suggests that the Switch might be a replacement for the Wii U and 3DS

S

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-19/nintendo-seen-moving-to-one-device-ending-two-punch-strategy?

Some tidbits:

For more than two decades, Nintendo Co.’s twin product lines were the envy of its rivals: a home console and a handheld gaming device. But signs are emerging its new hybrid Switch may upend all of that.
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While Nintendo hasn’t said it’s abandoning the two-gadget strategy, the signs are there. The home and handheld development teams were merged in 2013, with the company beginning work on the Switch the following year. Last quarter, Nintendo stopped reporting separate revenue for handheld and home systems. Then last month, it said a new Pokemon title for the Switch is in development, the first time a main game in the series will debut outside of a dedicated handheld system such as the Game Boy or 3DS.

“The 3DS will hang around for a few years because of the big install base, but ultimately the goal is for the Switch to become their one and only platform for hardware,” said David Gibson, a Tokyo-based analyst at Macquarie. “It’s part of the biggest evolution to the company in three decades.”
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The prospect of Nintendo relying on a single product line has triggered some concern that revenue will take a hit in the near term, as consumers who would have bought two devices end up with only one. The Switch, which debuted in March, gives gamers the option to play in their living room or on the go as it’s essentially a tablet with detachable controllers that can be connected to a TV. The gamble is that any lost sales could be made up by selling more games for smartphones, a market that Nintendo was late to embrace.
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L

Living the Dream

Member
Downsizing their hardware team to one device is a dream come true for Nintendo fans. However, the only real reason they're doing this is because the phone market and sony/MS are squeezing them on both sides at the same time. This is Nintendo's effort to stay relevant before ultimately going to mobile or third party.
 
T

Takat

Member
It was obvious, regardless of what Nintendo says. I think this can only help the bottom line, as it'll have a more focused Nintendo and enable them to create new IPs now that they can't release iterations of the same game both on home and handheld (see MK and Arms).
 
H

Huge Succeeded

Banned
spongebobicon.jpg


SwItcH iSN't RePlacInG tHe 3DS
 
A

antonz

Member
Just want to point out the article is flawed. Nintendo has not stopped reporting revenue by device. They still give a per device breakdown and regional sales for those devices.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Nintendo will make up for lost hardware sales of a dedicated handheld line by continuing to sell me different colored joycons

Famicon joycons when??
 
S

suaveric

Member
It was obvious as soon as they showed the Switch was a hybrid. If they were going to have a direct follow up to the 3DS, why make the "home" console so underpowered?
 
G

Glass Shark

Banned
It's just conjecture from a random analyst, making just as good a guess as any of us could. I hope it's true, though. I believe they can function as a much more capable company if they're fully focused on one platform.
 
R

rudger

Member
In terms of hardware? Maybe. In terms of platforms? No. It's just now their second platform is phone apps.

I still hope they make a clamshell handheld of some kind in the future, but it's looking doubtful.
 
L

Living the Dream

Member
Toni Codrea said:
You really think Nintendo is going 3rd party?
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I have mixed feelings about wanting them to become a 3rd party, but if you replace '3rd party' with mobile in your question; just two years ago people would have laughed at you and say that this will never happen. Now look where we are. Nintendo is literally being squeezed on their handhelds and consoles from HUGE companies.
 
Dee Dah Dave

Dee Dah Dave

Member
Switch Lite in a couple of years is inevitable. It would be crazy to make a dedicated handheld when they have just made a portable, cartridge based system.
 
S

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
Living the Dream said:
I have mixed feelings about wanting them to become a 3rd party, but if you replace '3rd party' with mobile in your question; just two years ago people would have laughed at you and say that this will never happen. Now look where we are. Nintendo is literally being squeezed on their handhelds and consoles from HUGE companies.
Click to expand...

They also have a product sold out world wide (pretty much). I don't disagree that Switch is largely a reaction to market challenges- but I would say right now it appears to be working.
 
B

Beartruck

Member
Living the Dream said:
I have mixed feelings about wanting them to become a 3rd party, but if you replace '3rd party' with mobile in your question; just two years ago people would have laughed at you and say that this will never happen. Now look where we are. Nintendo is literally being squeezed on their handhelds and consoles from HUGE companies.
Click to expand...
Squeezed by who? Isn't Nintendo currently more valuable as a company on the exchanges than Sony?
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
Living the Dream said:
Downsizing their hardware team to one device is a dream come true for Nintendo fans. However, the only real reason they're doing this is because the phone market and sony/MS are squeezing them on both sides at the same time. This is Nintendo's effort to stay relevant before ultimately going to mobile or third party.
Click to expand...

I don't think downsizing means what you think it means, or that you're reasoning is the sound. They're doing it because the costs (both in money and in time) or developing for 2 separate systems is becoming detrimental to releasing a steady stream of first party content for both of them. Handhelds are strong enough that they require the effort of last gen console games. Before you could have a small team develop a handheld game fairly quickly, but now that's not feasible. Look at Sony. They've never been able to maintain 2 systems and they're much larger than Nintendo. It has little to nothing to do with competition, or they would have just stuck with a console only.
 
L

Lord of Ostia

Member
Beartruck said:
Squeezed by who? Isn't Nintendo currently more valuable as a company on the exchanges than Sony?
Click to expand...
That's based on potential, not on actual earnings. Risk means more potential returns. The stock is overvalued, it's way less of a sure bet than Sony's PlayStation business. That said, Nintendo is successful right now and they will continue to be. Switch will keep doing well and mobile will keep doing well. They are definitely on the right track
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
If anything switch is the 3ds successor and we may see a dedicated more powerful home console at some point in the future, or some sort of SCD to accompany a hybrid switch v2 or v3. It sort of depends on how successful the switch is going forward, and if Nintendo thinks it needs to do something to get more 3rd party support in the future to be more successful in the west. I think if they did have an SCD that boosted power to similar levels as Sony and MS competitors, it would do reasonably well in the US and EU if it meant Nintendo was getting most/all of the multiplatform titles. The problem there is you wouldn't really want to fragment software support like that as it's confusing. So they'd probably be better off with a more powerful separate home console with minimal first party support as far as games designed for that system specifically. Nintendo first party would target the portable and just make those games available on the more powerful home console for the west along with 3rd party support. I'm not saying even in the next 5 years. I'm just saying the market might be at some point they feel they could be more successful again with 2 consoles as they were with Wii and DS.
 
L

Living the Dream

Member
UnemployedVillain said:
I don't think downsizing means what you think it means, or that you're reasoning is the sound. They're doing it because the costs (both in money and in time) or developing for 2 separate systems is becoming detrimental to releasing a steady stream of first party content for both of them. Handhelds are strong enough that they require the effort of last gen console games. Before you could have a small team develop a handheld game fairly quickly, but now that's not feasible. Look at Sony. They've never been able to maintain 2 systems and they're much larger than Nintendo. It has little to nothing to do with competition, or they would have just stuck with a console only.
Click to expand...

Most likely a combination of your point and mine. I don't disagree with handhelds now requiring more resources; however, Nintendo stands to lose, as this analyst points out, a ton of hardware revenue when moving to a single device.
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Living the Dream said:
I have mixed feelings about wanting them to become a 3rd party, but if you replace '3rd party' with mobile in your question; just two years ago people would have laughed at you and say that this will never happen. Now look where we are. Nintendo is literally being squeezed on their handhelds and consoles from HUGE companies.
Click to expand...
I also like to replace words with entirely different things while attempting to convince others that the scenario is the exact same.

If you replace "induct a tyrannical new world order" with mobile, we laughed at that two years ago and look where we are.
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
ZOONAMI said:
If anything switch is the 3ds successor and we may see a dedicated more powerful home console at some point in the future, or some sort of SCD to accompany a hybrid switch v2 or v3. It sort of depends on how successful the switch is going forward, and if Nintendo thinks it needs to do something to get more 3rd party support in the future to be more successful in the west. I think if they did have an SCD that boosted power to similar levels as Sony and MS competitors, it would do reasonably well in the US and EU if it meant Nintendo was getting most/all of the multiplatform titles. The problem there is you wouldn't really want to fragment software support like that as it's confusing. So they'd probably be better off with a more powerful separate home console with minimal first party support as far as games designed for that system specifically. Nintendo first party would target the portable and just make those games available on the more powerful home console for the west along with 3rd party support. I'm not saying even in the next 5 years. I'm just saying the market might be at some point they feel they could be more successful again with 2 consoles as they were with Wii and DS.
Click to expand...

Some of you need to realize Nintendo, or any other first party, maintaining 2 separate systems is no longer feasible. Handheld games are no longer relatively small, low cost, low dev time affairs anymore. Developing for them actively takes away development from the "console". I don't see why this would change in the future. Despite dev tools becoming easier to use and more powerful, and middleware being more widely adopted, dev times haven't significantly decreased.
 
B

Berordn

Member
TheMoon said:
The streak of one year since Epic Yarn? :)

You probably meant the Air Ride-Epic Yarn break (2003-2010)
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I don't hate Epic Yarn but I refuse to acknowledge it as mainline.

I will be petty about this, all the way to my grave, for absolutely no reason.
 
J

Jaded Alyx

Member
Living the Dream said:
Downsizing their hardware team to one device is a dream come true for Nintendo fans. However, the only real reason they're doing this is because the phone market and sony/MS are squeezing them on both sides at the same time. This is Nintendo's effort to stay relevant before ultimately going to mobile or third party.
Click to expand...

.....................Oh, it's you.
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
Living the Dream said:
Due to a complete market shift from mobile. Even the iPad has been having decreased sales due to people only wanting to carry a singular device [phone].
Click to expand...

Difficult of development is a much bigger reason than the shrinking of the dedicated handheld market IMO. Not to mention, that reason holds little weight or Nintendo wouldn't have even bothered making the Switch a hybrid.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
ZOONAMI said:
If anything switch is the 3ds successor and we may see a dedicated more powerful home console at some point in the future, or some sort of SCD to accompany a hybrid switch v2 or v3. It sort of depends on how successful the switch is going forward, and if Nintendo thinks it needs to do something to get more 3rd party support in the future to be more successful in the west. I think if they did have an SCD that boosted power to similar levels as Sony and MS competitors, it would do reasonably well in the US and EU if it meant Nintendo was getting most/all of the multiplatform titles. The problem there is you wouldn't really want to fragment software support like that as it's confusing. So they'd probably be better off with a more powerful separate home console with minimal first party support as far as games designed for that system specifically. Nintendo first party would target the portable and just make those games available on the more powerful home console for the west along with 3rd party support. I'm not saying even in the next 5 years. I'm just saying the market might be at some point they feel they could be more successful again with 2 consoles as they were with Wii and DS.
Click to expand...

I just read this and felt like I time-traveled back to the NX rumor days.
 
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