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Comment by rhacker | Hacker News Reader

I used to be of the opinion that Nintendo should just get out of the hardware market and just sell Mario/Zelda/etc... on XBox/PS. While I wouldn't mind if they did that, the switch has me completely convinced they should never get out of hardware.

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I agree. The switch is really an amazing piece of hardware. I can be playing on my TV and just pull out the switch and continue playing if someone wants to watch something. Nintendo has been innovating gaming hardware for years. Microsoft would have pretty much said "make CPU go BRRR" and left it at.

The multiple Nintendo Labo kits are also an amazing show of the versatility of the Switch hardware. From hand-joystick, to motorcycle handles or a steering wheel with levers, turn-switches, pull-crank and pedal, a piano, fishing rod, etc. The controllers can be augmented to so many forms with just some cardboard and software. No need for specialized controllers like before.

Its ability to accommodate 2 players with a single control-set is also amazing.

They held the record for number of handheld consoles sold at various times and at one point of time, the GBA was the most sold gaming console ever. Usually the hardware also holds up well and has good resale value too. Their games are timeless and run only on their hardware (with few exceptions). Their hardware is sold at a profit.

Why did you feel they shouldn't sell hardware?

Pretty much my experience with the Wii-U. It was so underwhelming and the portable stuff didn't deliver. They fixed all of that with the switch.

I remember back around 2003 when a friend told me that the gamecube would/should be Nintendo's last piece of hardware, (I had recently purchased a used one).

They do seem to follow something of an every-other generation in terms of critical success for their consoles, at least starting with the N64:

  + N64
  - GC
  + Wii
  - WiiU  
  + Switch

(I loved my gamecube, and it does have a few iconic games, but I don't kid myself how it compares to its neighbors in the timeline.)

Hopefully they break that cycle with whatever comes next!

The Switch is a different thing than what came before, though, because it represents the merging of their Gameboy and TV Console systems into a single machine. It's sort of miraculous that it worked out so well. Since the original Gameboy they've had the mobile gaming market cornered absolutely. Even with the rise of cell phones the "good" games aren't there. You can't play The Witcher 3 on your Samsung Galaxy Tablet even if ostensibly it's very similar, hardwarewise, to the Switch. Interestingly, Nvidia tried to make the Nvidia Shield as something like this, but failed and I think uses the same/similar GPU chips in the Switch now.

So the Switch is a merger of two branches Gameboy Advance -> DS -> 3DS N64 -> Gamecube -> Wii -> Wii U

And now these two markets have collapsed into the Nintendo Switch (which isn't a bad thing!)

I remembered that famous gaming journalist in Japan wrote that portable gaming console like DS is getting unpopular in the US so Nintendo designed Switch and Sony never released Vita2. Anyone have thoughts?

The WiiU wasn't as big an innovation as the Wii, but I found the touchscreen controller in the WiiU to enable better participation of a less-dexterous little kid in family gameplay without them being such a drag on the adults' gameplay. Those types of households might have found it a more valuable upgrade than others.

It might be “Switch” as a model like iPhone. They’d do generations but never totally change to something else.

Yeah, the switch was the first and last console I bought since the PS2. The value proposition of a combined console and handheld, coupled with lots of nice games made it well worth it. On the other hand, I'm no longer interested in the Playstation series due to lack of backwards compatibility. I've still got lots of PS1 and PS2 games but no more PS2. If the PS6 will support them, I'd get it. Otherwise, not.

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