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Soundwave on 08 May 2020
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Louie said:
Soundwave said:

They never said anything about when a successor could come to market or are bound to any rule about that because some little message board says so. 

The 3DS is still an active platform that Nintendo produces and its now more than 9 years old. You can go into any major retailer and still find a 3DS section of systems and games. Its going to probably end up with the 2nd longest or even longest product cycle in Nintendo history. Its had a longer product cycle than the Wii or DS even despite selling less and not being a huge success. 

That probably is the blue print for Switch - Switch 2, the original Switch will likely continue on for years after Switch 2. 

Just because you define a product cycle as 100% over the moment a successive console comes out doesn't mean a company views it that way. That POV doesn't even make sense, the 3DS for example basically continued to be supported as it would have anyway long after the Switch came out, how can you say that platform is non-active when its obviously still alive and kicking. 

First of all: It's pretty clear that when Nintendo says they will support the Switch for a longer period of time they do not mean it will sell 600k units per year like the 3DS right now. This is obvious, yet you try to argue it. 

Second, please provide the quote where I said a product lifecycle is over once the successor hits the market. I never said so. You missed my point: No matter how you define the product lifecycle, the Switch is going to have a longer lifecycle than the 3DS. The 3DS was replaced after 6 years on the market and was then supported for a whopping 3 years after that (= 9 years). It's exactly as you said: The 3DS was supported for an unusually long time after the release of its successor. What you are arguing right now is that the Switch will be replaced after the same time (6 years) or sooner (late 2022) but then be actively supported by Nintendo for even longer, even though in your very own post you say the 3DS is an example of unusually long support after the successor's launch.

So what you are saying right now is that you think Nintendo is going to support the Switch for at least four years plus after the release of the Switch 2 in late 2022; basically for almost as long as you think said Switch 2 should last before a successor is released? Because if the Switch 2 releases in late 2022 as you are arguing, Nintendo will have to support it for at least another 4+ years to have a significantly longer lifecycle than the 3DS. 

And (serious question, I didn't look into your posting history) aren't you also one of the people saying Nintendo consoles tend to have a shorter lifespan than Sony consoles? If so, how do these things add up? 

Being supported and sold at retail into 2026/2027 is the the definition of a longer product cycle. You saying "well I don't think that counts because 600k a year isn't enough" is irrelevant, the 3DS is still here and now and still even getting new games. It's almost 9 1/2 years old, that is a very long product cycle.

Switch 2 releases in 2023 I think most likely, the OG Switch will get 2 years software support at least past that, which brings you to 2025. It will still then continue to get new games probably even 1-2 years after that and stocked like the 3DS is now. 

That is a very, very long product cycle. A system is not "replaced" just because the successor console comes out, the PS2 sold like 50 million units after the PS3 came out, if Switch is the be all end all for sales, then it should be able to do the same or at least continue selling reasonably high numbers. 

A $350 Switch 2 is going to be selling to people who already bought a Switch like 5-6 years prior at that point, its not going to be taking sales away from a $149.99 Switch Lite. There's virtually no over lap in audience there to begin with. 

The Switch-3DS is probably basically a test run for how they plan to manage Switch - Switch 2 in the future, they'll just stretch it out even longer because the two systems can share games theoretically for even 5-6 years. If they want to make a Kirby platformer or an Advance Wars game in 2027, it likely can run on both systems. 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 08 May 2020