RolStoppable said:
Shadow1980 said:
Usually? Well, there is no "usually," especially if we include PS & Xbox. Permanent price cuts seem to be all over the place when they happen. But Nintendo has been kinda sparse with the price cuts this century, especially when it comes to handhelds. Most models never got a price cut at all, though some new models have been lower-priced ones, meaning they could be viewed as a de facto price cut. Of the models that did get a price cut, the GBA SP didn't get a price cut until 2 months before the DS was released, and the DS Lite didn't get a price cut until after the 3DS was released. The 3DS got a price cut early, but only because it cost too much for what it was and early sales were hurting as a result. As for their home consoles, the Wii & Wii U got one $50 cut a piece; the Wii's was about halfway through the system's 6-year primary lifespan, while the Wii U's was only 10 months after release.
With the Switch, I guess it depends on whether Nintendo approaches it more like one of their handhelds or more like one of their home consoles, and it could very well be more likely to be the former. The Switch Lite could be the closest thing to a price cut it gets, as it was a de facto one by reducing the entry price point by $100. Nintendo may feel like they won't have to cut the price of either Switch model until they get close to releasing the Switch 2 (or whatever the Switch's replacement is).
As for the prospects of a longer life cycle, has it been confirmed that it's something Nintendo is dead set on? Also, does that entail that the Switch won't be replaced before the 6 to 6-½-year mark, or merely that it will continue to get some sort of software support even after it's replaced? They haven't been keen on supporting any of their systems in the long term since the N64 (the NES and, to a lesser extent, the SNES had decent post-replacement support). Nintendo's habit of abandoning a system tends to be preceded by a draw down in development for their current system as they devote more resources for their next one.
Unless they have a lot of massive surprises in store, there's already worrying signs that they're repeating themselves with the Switch. They already blew through most of their big guns by 2019. Of all their games that have sold over 5 million copies, only two (AC and 3D All-Stars) were 2020 titles. Aside from BotW2 and possibly Metroid Prime 4, they don't have any top-tier new first-party games announced for this year. The rest of the upcoming slate of announced titles is mid-tier titles and re-releases of older games. If we don't see something big announced this year like, say, Mario Kart 9 or a new main series Super Mario or Pokemon game, that won't be very encouraging to the prospects of the Switch having a 7-8 year primary life cycle like PS & Xbox.
I'm not saying it won't happen, but Nintendo has yet to give any reason to think that it will happen. Old habits die hard, and I consider the default position to be "Nintendo will keep doing what they've always done since the N64."
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Look at the second paragraph in the post you quoted. Investors ask Nintendo about the future outlook of the company regularly and Nintendo answers that a new console isn't coming anytime soon. And yes, what Nintendo means is the timeframe until replacement, not the entire lifetime which includes support after replacement.
Nintendo supported the 3DS for two years after its replacement, so that's also something to consider. The fundamental point of this continued first party support was maintenance of a broad price bracket. Switch was $300, so by keeping the 3DS around, Nintendo had $100-200 covered with their various 3DS models. First party support for the 3DS was phased out around the time when it was feasible to have a cheaper Switch SKU (Switch Lite), albeit a more restricted one. Going forward, you should expect Nintendo to handle it the same way, because the Switch successor is very likely to launch with a price of $300 again. Also, the GB/C, GBA and DS had decent post-replacement support too. Out of Nintendo's successful consoles, there's only the Wii which didn't have post-replacement support, so your stance to make the anomaly your default expectation is puzzling. (Failed consoles getting cut short is the norm in this business, so N64, GC and Wii U seeing no post-replacement support is nothing out of the ordinary.)
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