Louie said:
I agree with the posters who said a very powerful Nintendo console would be a bad idea. I think there are some common false assumptions people make when they want Nintendo to make a powerful console.
1) Good third party support
A powerful home console wouldn't get better support. The main reason Nintendo's home consoles don't get as much support as Sony and Microsoft is because their consoles and games cater to the lower end of the market. Third party developers are not interested in supporting a console with a different user base. Additionally, Nintendo has a strong software presence on their platforms and they know how to target their customers very well, so third parties have to compete with Nintendo quality-wise (and quality is defined as "the job your customers want your software to do", it is *not* an absolute term).
2) "Hardcore gamers" would buy a powerful Nintendo system
I don't think this is true. People say they want a powerful Nintendo console but you don't buy a console for its specs. You buy it for the games. And Nintendo's games have a very distinct style that makes them less appealing to hardcore gamers but more appealing to the mass market consumer.
3) Everyone thinks "power = quality"
This is not true at all. Nintendo's customer base doesn't seem to care much for powerful hardware. Posters on gaming message forums are not a good indication here: Most of Nintendo's customers don't see much added value in a more powerful system. But they do see reduced value in a system that is more expensive!
4) Nintendo could compete with Sony and Microsoft in a sustaining innovation battle
Sony and Microsoft have more resources than Nintendo and they target the higher end of the market. That's where the money is for them and that's why they make Scorpio and Neo: Because it will make them more money and their customers appreciate stronger hardware. Nintendo's customers don't and neither does their software (with some exceptions like open world Zelda). Simply put: Sony and Microsoft have the motivation to put money into R&D and to put out more powerful iterations of their hardware every other year. Nintendo doesn't. Thus, Sony and Microsoft would always out-compete Nintendo when it comes to targeting high-end customers. Nintendo would very likely lose that battle and what good is a powerful NX if Scorpio and Neo will be even more powerful right after the announcement?
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I think it's also more of a timing issue here.
There are times where having a more powerful console would've helped Nintendo.
If they had launched the Wii U (or better yet just scrapped that concept entirely and made a proper 1 TFLOP "New NES" console) in 2012 with a high end chipset, they had an opening there to gain some traction.
But now? They've given the PS4 a 4-year headstart that is insurmountable, they're even giving the PS4 Neo a head start, they also have the XBOne, and then XB Scorpio which is going to be 6 TFLOPS, so are they somehow going to beat that on power?
They blew their window to maybe make some headway, they should have exploited Sony/MS that had to milk the PS3/360 for extra years because of massive losses both of those companies took early on.
But they were not smart enough to see that.
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