Nintendo Switch Turns Four!

[Alistair]

curl-6 said:

Alistair said:

Imagine the Series S was Nintendo's next console. For $299. We'd all be happy. If Wii U games had been ported to be 4k/60hz on Nintendo's Series S, I'd have been happy, instead of just Wii U to Switch games barely improved, I would have been excited. Hopefully Nintendo still has a future product for me. Someone that has been waiting since the Wii U died to get excited again.

While I can definitely understand the appeal that a dedicated Nintendo console on par with Xbox/PS has for a lot of us, I don't think it would make much sense for Nintendo; the whole point of the Switch has to unify their production pipeline and console/handheld divisions into a singular piece of hardware. To now make a separate console on par with Series S would require a ton of R&D, and undo that unification, meaning less games and the same droughts that crippled Wii U.

I think it became unified because portable hardware became faster relative to home hardware. Even if they had a Series S device, you can still consciously choose to unify your software platform, since it takes 18 times more GPU performance to get from 720p/30 to 4k/60, there is still much to offer people in terms of upgraded Switch visuals while still having a base Switch game.

What you said earlier about your "experience matters" is so true. For example I paid a fortune for Virtual console titles on Wii U. Still use it all the time. Not only did my purchases not carry forward, I can't even buy most of them for Switch. Zelda: Minish Cap!!!

Meanwhile my Xbox / 360 / One / and Series X purchases are all shared...

Last edited by Alistair - on 11 March 2021