Project Indy: The 3DS successor that was shelved

[JWeinCom]

Vodacixi said:

JWeinCom said:

Home device is a vague term, so I'd need to know how that's defined, but tentatively I'd say sure, it could be a home device. On the other hand, a laptop is not a desktop as it is different in key functions. For example, I cannot modify my laptop in the same way I could a desktop.

The same logic as to why it is a portable console that happens to be able to connect to a TV can be flipped just as easily the other way. It has all of the features of a home console. It can connect to a TV out of the box, be played on external storage, connect with add ons and external controllers etc. Therefore, the Switch is a home console that just so happens to be able to have a screen.

As for dependence, that's just a clever way to try and frame a feature as a lack of something. You're basically saying it lacks not having a battery and a screen. The more natural and accurate way to say that is that it has a battery and screen.

To avoid getting hung on semantics, let's focus on physical reality. Whatever semantics you want to use, to meet your requirement would not require adding anything tangible, as in functionality or hardware, to the Switch.  You are suggesting that the Switch would be a home console if we took out the battery and screen.  There is nothing we need to add to reach your standard, therefore, it is not lacking anything, it just has something extra. And I don't know why having those extra features would disqualify it from being a home console.

By the same logic, you could argue it is not a handheld because it lacks dependence on built in controllers, a built in screen, or battery power.

So... is any portable console that can connect to a TV also a home console? Is the Analogue Pocket a home console?

It's very simple. The Switch has the form factor of a handheld, the hardware of a handheld and the features of a handheld. The fact that it CAN also be connected to the TV doesn't make it a home console. The Switch is not a stationary device, which is what a home console is. The Switch is a device you can take with you anywhere you want. That's what separates both categories: the ability to take it somwhere else or the inability to do so. Because yes: having certain features makes something one thing or another. A moped and a motorcycle are different kinds of vehicles: one can't get past 50 km/h and cannot be used in freeways and the other doesn't have those limitations because it has different specifications. But nothing stops me from only using my motorcycle at 50 km/h and only driving outside of freeways. Would that make my motorcycle a moped? Of course not, just like the Switch is not a home console just because you can use it as one.

To me it's a very clear matter. If you still want to go on about this... I'm sorry, but it's such a silly conversation to me that I'll just leave it here xD

The analogue pocket far as I'm aware does not include a dock, so if we're talking about the product as a whole, no it is not a home console or marketed as such. One can use it as a home console, but the product in general is not a home console any more than a treadmill is coat rack even if some people may use it as such. 

Again, your argument is easily flipped. The Switch has features such as the ability to use external controllers, controllers not connected to the body, the ability to connect to a TV, to support multiple players on one device, connect hardware through USB/equivalent ports, features that have always been on Nintendo home consoles, and never on their portable line. It can be stationary just as easily as being portable. It has all of the features common to Nintendo's home consoles in the past. So I don't know why you couldn't just as easily call it a home console that can be used portably.

On the other hand, a moped definitionally cannot be a motorcycle. A moped by definition has a an engine of 50cc or less (depending on jurisdiction) and a motorcycle has an engine of 200cc+. They are definitionally mutually exclusive. Beyond definitions, they each do things the others cannot. A moped cannot drive at certain speeds, and a motorcycles won't match the fuel efficiency of mopeds. A moped is lacking something it needs to be a motorcycle (a specific engine) and vice versa. The Switch lacks nothing required of a handheld or a home console. 

Last edited by JWeinCom - on 23 March 2022