Soundwave said:
Neither the Wii U or 3DS were "mid-generation" releases though and both flopped. Technology did not stop Nintendo from making a comparable system to the PS4/XB1 either, 1 TFLOP processors tech was available then. They are the ones who banked on the Wii formula again of outdated hardware + casual mini-game centric library and thought that would carry them the next 5-6 years. It didn't. There's nothing wrong with launching a bit early, the Sega Genesis and Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 and XBox 360 are examples of systems that launched 1-2 years before their main competetion and were better off for doing so. People think Nintendo can't get access to powerful hardware ... they can. They made the SNES and N64 and GameCube. They purposely chose not to in the last couple of gens because of strategy of aiming for casuals ... which worked great for a while and then it didn't as it's a fairly unpredictable audience. |
The 3DS got off to a slow start but didn't flop. Also with the Wii U, that is more along the lines of the Dreamcast and Saturn in releasing before everyone else but being outclassed when other more powerful devices dropped on the scene later.
And the mid generation label is something to be weary of, for every Genesis or Xbox and a case can be made for the N64 as well that bucks the trend there have been Turbo Graphix 16, Jaguars, 3DO, Wonderswans, Neo Geo 64 and other units that launched and failed years after the generation started. The issue with Nintendo dropping a full blown console in 2016 is that should it prove successful enough to get them a second place finish this generation, Sony or MS ( although given the business realities and their general directional shifts I wouldn't be surprised if MS dropped out of the console market altogether and are working on a STEAM type market platform for Windows) dropped a new device in 3-4 years. Nintendo is a wealthy company but they don't have the deep pockets to go toe to toe with Sony or MS for an extended period, that is the main reason why they went with the weaker hardware for the Wii and Wii U, they don't want to go overboard and they recognized a lot of developers that aren't in the pockets of one of the handful of major publishers can't either.
And the worst case scenario, they release a new system in 2016 that barely does better then the Wii U or Xbox One currently, they would have lose a good sum of money and be left in a weaker position. It isn't that I don't want the NX to come out, but the timing has to be curcial as a failure to get the most market early on and secure enough support with major games not just average ports and multiplatform games especially outside of Japan will lead to basically a repeat of what they just went through.
