• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Why I don't expect a traditional Nintendo Handheld successor.

Not for me. I personally wouldn't care for a cheaper device, but there's no denying that the market for one is there. I struggle to see how people are convinced the Switch can effectively succeed the 3DS when so many of the people who bought a 3DS got one at near half the Switch's price. Just because they are both portable doesn't mean they target the same market.

It's at least nice to see there still are people here who think 3DS will get a non-Switch successor. Pokémon announcement (rightfully) killed most doubts.
 
They wont be making one. It's pretty obvious after Switch was revealed. Nintendo's next hardware will be a smaller switch with no joycons. Basically a Vita. It will come out in two years. Next year for the holidays, there gonna release a Gameboy color classic to fill the Gap between the end of 3DS and the switch mini. I'm calling it now.
 
You can already take it on the go. In any case, I don't see why Nintendo wouldn't include a dock in any revision.

Because the controllers wouldn't disconnect from it, making it a terrible inclusion since it can't be properly used as a selling point?

Besides, a smaller Switch intended to be handheld only would likely skimp on the things that required active cooling, meaning the best it could output to the TV is 720p. Considering how outright offended some people appear to be that the UI is only 720p in docked mode, I doubt many people would want their games that way on the TV, as well.

If Switch sales continue at their current pace I don't see the incentive to cut the price anytime soon. Remember, it took the Wii three years to receive it's first price cut, and a) it only went down $50 and b) its margins were likely a lot better than the Switch's. The Switch going down $100 in the same time frame just doesn't seem realistic to me, and I don't see Nintendo going without a console at or below $200.

The hardware is the delivery mechanism for more software sales. Hardware makers make the majority of their profits from royalties and first-party sales. Anything above a 10-15% profit margin on hardware is usually a waste of potential. You sell hardware once, but you sell software a LOT when you get that hardware in more hands.
The reason Wii never saw such a price cut is:

a) they were in the highest of high demand for several years
b) because they were still a better price than competing devices in the video game category
c) because they were selling so many of them that the software attach rate didn't suffer

Switch may be selling out now, but it will reach an equilibrium faster than Wii did in terms of supply/demand, and Sony and MS have devices that are price-competitive. So yes, it will see a price drop sooner rather than later and likely a handheld-only SKU for an even lower price.
 
Not for me. I personally wouldn't care for a cheaper device, but there's no denying that the market for one is there. I struggle to see how people are convinced the Switch can effectively succeed the 3DS when so many of the people who bought a 3DS got one at near half the Switch's price. Just because they are both portable doesn't mean they target the same market.

Alright, the way I see the Switch and Nintendo's Smartphone games is that they will kill Nintendo's traditional handhelds the same way Nintendo's home consoles killed their arcade machines.

Edit: I forgot to add another comparison, the Switch will kill a traditional Handheld successor the same way the DS killed the GBA line even though the DS was a 'third pillar'.
 
They will probably release a cheaper, portable-only version of Switch in time for Pokémon. $300 is too expensive for that market.

What they won't do is release a walled-off handheld that has its own library of games.
 
Well, yeah... The Switch was the successor to both, I thought that was abundantly clear this was the direction they were going like four years ago when they merged their handheld and console divisions. I could see maybe a smaller, more portable friendly revision at some point but that's about it.
 
Yeah, it's hard to say if this is a real console success or a continued handheld success.

Will people buy a handheld after buying the switch? Not sure.
 
The Nintendo Switch is a handheld, to 100%. No matter what Nintendo says or how badly they try it to market, it is technically a handheld with a simple HDMI out. That's it.
The HDMI out is in this case a big plastic box, but it's still exactly that. Of course we won't get another handheld, that would be dumb as fuck.
This is the 3ds successor, accept it. Nintendo just won't say it because they still want to milk the 3ds and would make less money if they publicly admit it, but the switch is exactly that.
 
If anything they will make a smaller switch. But it will have the same innards and share the games library. That's the whole point of the thing.
 
Will people buy a handheld after buying the switch? Not sure.

Personally, no. I can hardly go back to the 3DS after having played for hours with the Switch 's great screen.

A Switch mini with a kickstand and compatibility with all software and control inputs would be ideal. Though considering they already packed the biggest battery they could in the current unit, I'm not sure if this form would have better performance if it were smaller.
 
I see a "switch mini" only portable in the future, and thats also when I will buy it.

I mean, they did the ugly 2DS without the shell closure, can't they release a mini switch portable only?
 
They will probably release a cheaper, portable-only version of Switch in time for Pokémon. $300 is too expensive for that market.

What they won't do is release a walled-off handheld that has its own library of games.

This. It would defeat the purpose of the Switch. When Nintendo does release any new hardware, it's probably going to try to have a single library of games shared by the Switch and anything that comes after it.
 
Top Bottom