After the Switch

[PAOerfulone]

Mnementh said:

PAOerfulone said:

I honestly think Nintendo has found their PlayStation here. (At the expense of pissing off all those people who want them to go 3rd party.)
Meaning they've found their system that has great potential to have long-lasting appeal that can span multiple decades.
Just take what they have with the Switch and make it better and more advanced.
So, what's next after Switch?
Switch 2, Switch 3, Switch 4, etc.

The main reason Playstation is holding is good brand image for customers and game makers. Customers flock to Playstation even in bad situations (PS3 was expensive, but still many got it, PS4 started out with mostly ports but had record sales) because they expect it getting lotsa games and game makers go for it because they expect lotsa customers that buy their games. both together it creates a situation of self-fulfilling prophecy.

If the hybrid concept gets copied by Sony, Nintendo is in the worse situation if they don't think of anything new. Good thing for Nintendo is, I'm not sure if Sony is willing to go for it. Bad thing for Nintendo is that someone surely will try a hybrid console. But if it isn't Sony they might not have the game advantage.

Here's the thing though, the Switch is part handheld. And the good image that PlayStation holds for customers and game makers for the console market, Nintendo holds the same image for the handheld market. So, if Sony were to try to copy the Switch's design, they would have to consider various things.

1) They would need to sacrifice power, so that they could compete at a reasonable price and more battery power. The main things that Nintendo had over their competition in the handheld market was that they were more affordable and they lasted longer. By doing this, Sony would be able to give out a hybrid console with a similar performance, price, and battery life, but in order to do that, they're going to have to bite the bullet on something. Otherwise, we're looking at potentially $599.99 all over again. And given how Nintendo has an iron grip on the handheld market, the last thing you want to do as someone who's trying to compete is given that much of an advantage in price.

2) They need to place more emphasis on the Japanese market, the #1 market for handhelds. Let's say that they get Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest all exclusive to PlayStation. Ok, very, very solid core to have right there. What does Nintendo have to compete? Pokemon. Animal Crossing. Splatoon. Mario (3D, 2D, and Kart). Smash Bros. And a whole bunch of lower level, yet solid IPs that can support that core. (Fire Emblem, Kirby, Tomodachi, etc.) Nintendo dominates Japan. And Sony will have to concentrate a lot of effort, both internally and externally to break through that barrier.

3) Nintendo isn't their only competition. They have to take Microsoft into consideration as well. If Sony goes the Switch route with PS5 or whatever their next PlayStation console may be, that leaves the dedicated console market solely to Microsoft, and seeing as how they're pushing for power, power, and more power with Xbox One X, rest assured, the next Xbox system will be pushing hard for that. And I'm sure Microsoft would love nothing more than for Sony to release a system that doesn't come close to matching theirs in that department. OR if it DOES match the new Xbox in power AND is portable like the Switch, we're looking at a system that FAR exceeds $599.99, which I'm sure Microsoft would love even more. At that moment, Sony will be sacrificing a considerable amount of their marketshare that they have in the U.S., and even part of Europe, to Microsoft. Because now we have one of two situations where the Xbox line of consoles are the most powerful systems OR they are tied for most powerful system on the market but also being significantly and drastically cheaper. This could lead to one of two directions.
1 - Powerful Route) 3rd Parties decide to make more exclusives for the Xbox or push more emphasis on the Xbox versions of their games.
Or 2 - Portable Route) If 3rd parties decide to scale down their games so that they can work and function on the PlayStation Switch, they no longer have any logical excuse for not putting those games on Nintendo's system as well, opening the door for franchises like Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, FIFA, Madden, NBA, RDR, Assassin's Creed, and Grand Theft Auto on Nintendo, releasing consistently and alongside their Microsoft and Sony counterparts.
Because ever since the Super Nintendo, the last Nintendo system to get regular, healthy, consistent 3rd party support, every Nintendo console has had at least one thing that held its hardware back from get those same 3rd party games that Sony and Microsoft get. With the Nintendo 64, it was cartridge-based during the revolution of disks. GameCube - Those little mini disks and their just as small storage space. Wii & Wii U - Their forced gimmicks and being far less powerful than the other two systems. With the Switch, it's a step in the right direction, because the only gimmick is that you can take it with you like a handheld, which is an appealing feature that can last. But it's still considerably less powerful than the other two. If PlayStation opts to compete with the Switch and wants a realistic shot of doing so, that gap in power between them vanishes. If not, then they have to deal with selling a powerful, portable, but absurdely expensive system, probably the most expensive one in history, to a market that has 2 other options that are much more affordable, especially the Nintendo one.

I apologize for the essay, but that's my long winded explantion of why I think Sony may opt not to attempt the Switch formula and stick to what is working great for them at the moment.