The Nintendo Switch has seen a ton of success thanks to its unique blend of mobile hardware, PC-quality development tools, and trademark Nintendo quirk, creating a system you can play anytime, anywhere, with anyone. So far, a few companies tried to pitch a portable tablet or phone as an answer to Nintendo's product. But nobody has really tried to create an actual direct answer to the Switch yet. I think it's about time we fix that. Sure they may not be as popular as the Switch, but a Direct Switch competitor or two could actually provide a nice alternative, and more importantly, make Nintendo more aggressive in an effort to compete.
Nintendo is usually a much more competitive company when someone creates a more direct answer to their products. With PlayStation and Xbox, they don't give a shit about what the other consoles do because they don't compete in that market space, the powerful stationary home console. Instead targeting an untapped market, IE they hybrid console you can play anywhere and with friends. So Nintendo has no incentive to compete against the PS4 or Xbox One because there's nothing to compete against really.
However, once someone tries to challenge Nintendo on their turf, and directly at their own game. Then the gloves come off, and Nintendo gets more aggressive.
* Exhibit A - Sony announces the PSP in 2003, which threaten's the GBA's dominance. Nintendo responds with the announcement of the DS that same year.
* Exhibit B - Nintendo rushes the DS to market in NA in November 2004, beating the PSP by about 4 months.
* Exhibit C - Nintendo drastically cuts the price of the 3DS and and strategically rushes key first party titles out in time for Holiday 2011, after the PlayStation Vita threatened its existence with a more powerful system at the same price.
* Exhibit D - Nintendo starts pushing motion plus for Wii, and even baking it into later versions of the Wiimote around the time Kinect and PlayStation Move rear their heads.
The moment Nintendo has a legitimate threat, they start pulling out the stops and do everything they can to make their product as attractive as possible. The Blue Ocean Strategy also gives them a home field advantage as since they have more experience in a market, they have a better chance of outselling any competitor. So we could see that again if the Switch ever gets a competitor. The question then becomes, who will rise up to the challenge? I still maintain that Sony will be the first to create a more direct answer to the Switch, assuming they learned from the mistakes made with the Vita. But I'd also like to see someone unconventional try and take on Nintendo.
