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Wyrdness on 28 January 2019
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Jumpin said:
Wyrdness said:

All platforms have the year 2/3 peak bringing out platforms every 2-3 years is dangerously close to what caused the crash back in the late 70s/early 80s as you begin to over saturate the market and part of the appeal with consoles is that you have that guaranteed 5 or so period of it being supported and fully pushed not only that you have to factor in costs mobiles can do yearly to 2 year releases because people don't have to pay the 800-1000 quid price upfront due to contract deals.

a 6/7 year release plan is better as it maintains the current release structure of consoles while allowing the potential to have a bigger more viable jump between each model not to mention it allows a bigger library to be built up from the previous model for BC on the newer model.

If they were running a mobile iterative strategy, they wouldn't cancel support for the previous hardware when the new model comes out; that is not how mobile platforms work. For example, iPhone mandates that software several generations of hardware in order to be approved to the app store - while there are a few exemptions, these are rare, and usually not based on chipsets, but rather new exclusive features. Software support can still be mandated for 5 years, so Switch 2 won't have any software unplayable on Switch 1 until around the time Switch 3 releases. That's the same as mobile and PC, the newer the model, the longer it will be able to play software.

The problem with 6/7 years is it means fewer people are buying hardware each year for half the generation, this is not a healthy strategy; and for Nintendo has ended multiple times with massive brand disinterest and sales crashes; they basically have to start all over again each gen, and can't maintain momentum. Due to the nature of Switch's hardware, following this sort of strategy is no longer necessary. A person buying a Switch 1 will still see the same jump in hardware from their old model in 6/7 years when the Switch 3 is out, and then it's only another 1/2 years before generation 2 Switch owners see a similar gap in power with the Switch 4.

Hardware sales are the lower end of Nintendo's earnings most of their money is earned through software and peripherals sold on the hardware this is why on top of cost issues on newer hardware a 6/7 year approach is the only path they can go as dedicated gaming platforms aren't sold on contract deals like mobile phones it also gives developers time to push the hardware with their games.

The GBC approach may have elements similar to mobile releases but it's not fully identical as the consumer sees the products differently from mobile hence why the chaos with Atari back in the 70s as the market doesn't react well to being over saturated with hardware releases plus we're in an era where platforms are on the market for longer than 5 years I'd say with a GBC like approach announced the next version in year 5 but release it in year 6.