| Kyuu said: 2. Switch's horsepower was perceived to be just above PS360/Wii U levels. It turns out it was much more capable and closer to a middleground between those systems and Xbox One, and maybe PS4. |
I feel like the power question is always misleading. Because the WiiU probably had more power than was used, but nobody bothered to really invest time, effort and money to make it work, because it was not seen as a system which made the investment back with game sales. For Switch on the other hand that works, which means with more effort studios are able to create "miracles". And that is not something specific for Switch and WiiU. More successful system especially in regards to game sales will result in games that make much more of the hardware available.
The second misleading thing here is the assumption of how much the horsepower influences success. This is a pretty clear lesson of game system history: the most powerful system seldom wins. Overall power has only a minor part in success. Much more important is how the perceived (subjective) value measures up. And that is strongly defined by the games on display. Switch could early on build a high perceived value, just because of how Breath of the Wild is a great game everyone wanted and still wants. More power doesn't automatically leads to more desirable games, which is why power has only minor influence on success.
