Brutalyst said:
I don't understand this paragraph. (maybe I misunderstood) How is the Switch proof of concept of the Gameboy Advance connected to the Gamecube? you can't recreate that setup with a Switch as you don't have a second screen, like you do with that setup. The only console to recreate that would be the Wii U - it could also be said that the 2 screen setup for console has largely failed, or at least not taken off on any console that has attempted it. Wii U, Gamecube/boy, even Sony's attempt with Playstation and PSP/Vita. The only place dual screen has succeeded from my (granted, limited) knowledge of the subject is in the handheld market with the DS and 3DS. |
Don't forget the Game & Watch, some of those were also a mildly successful two screen devices.
While there is no doubt a lineage between the Nintendo hardware up till this point. I say the biggest factor is that within Nintendo's own front yard, Japan, their audience was steadily moving away from consoles and buying more portables. The Game boy line was once just a side project for Nintendo's main teams, but Pokemon changed that, with each new portable the market kept growing until critical mass hit with the DS, but even then the 3DS was not a slouch in terms of hardware and software sales either. They recaptured some heat with the Wii but even in their own homeland, it wasn't putting up the same blockbuster numbers. Nintendo however it should be stated has always tried to link their home console and portable console hardware (old school Nintendo gamers must remember the Super Game Boy add on) so that the stronger system could help support the weaker one.
The move toward a portable -home hybrid was necessary as a means as the home console had become a shell of itself in Japan and they weren't getting adequate support overseas either. To recapture their homeland's audience and position themselves in a different factor for those players and developers outside of Japan, they needed a device that did everything. As they learned during the GC era, once developers and gamers choose the primary system, making another system that isn't different in some way will lead nowhere and the Wii U showed them, making it too different also leads to oblivion so they found a practical balance that people love. There was talk that Nintendo had not given up on the idea of a dedicated Handheld device before and a little bit after the Switch's release, much like their 'Third Pillar' talk around the time of the DS, GBA and GC, this was Nintendo giving themselves an out, but at this point it seems obvious that the hybrid (potentially modular which is what Nintendo has always tried to do with their devices) console is the way of their future.
I say all that to say I disagree.
While there is growth and definitely lessons learned from past consoles carrying over to the new ones, the Switch and its hybrid nature was not the original goal for Nintendo. If the Japanese gaming market had not swung so far into the portable/computer/mobile camp over the course of several years and the Wii U not been such a massive failure compared to past systems and their current competition, then we would probably not have the Switch in the current or even the next hardware generation as it would still be more profitable with two systems (including one that is obviously below the high cost of HD development line) to sell for a profit then just having one. They came to this point via necessity and the waves the industry pushed them.
Essay Pro