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Kai_Mao on 29 January 2023
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Otter said:
curl-6 said:

Games from smaller devs release simultaneously on Switch and PS all the time, it's not some unworkable thing.

It's not, and  I do agree Japanese devs could be more proactive and agile, but it's also not as simple for them as people make out. Especially when everyone is doing based on what a game "looks like" versus how well it actually runs on the platform. All of the great Switch ports have taken a minimum of 6months of dedicated development and the average Japanese dev is not a technical powerhouse, aside from Square/Capcom, they've barely scratched the surface of what the PS4 could do...  A game could look like One piece but run worse on the PS5 than Horizon Forbidden West, optimisation is everything and JP devs are playing catch up here. 

Your point about them starting from the Switch as a baseline is valid but also its understandable why they would have been apprehensive. Firstly we have to acknowledge that many developers have seen their franchises peak globally by orientating them around the PS4. They established their Ips there, whilst Nintendo was struggling in the home console space. All home console development shifted to Playstation after the Wii and 3DS wasn't massive outside of Japan, so devs are comfortable with Playstation. Working on high-end spec hardware offers more marketing potential and can translate into a more hype (See Monster Hunter World and Tales of Arise).

Lastly any game releasing now, began development 3 years back at least... so there's also a level of prediction going on with what devs see as the relevant platforms in years to come. Many may not have felt certain of the Switches longevity. I personally thought the Switch would peak in 2019 after pokemon and then have quite a steep decline, I'm sure I'm not alone.  Either way the PS4 was the market leader in 2019 on a global scale. 

These are all just growing pains that will be resolved with Switch 2. Both due to evolving tech, but also because third parties will have gained trust in Nintendo's ability to create a thriving hybrid platform deserving of AA/AAA resources. In the past japanese devs were working with PS1/PS2 level budgets (3DS/DS/Wii)

My only worry with the supposed successor to the Switch is that we DON’T see those growing pains being resolved as you’re hoping for. I'm hoping for that as well. Will we see games like Tales of Arise, One Piece Odyssey, Street Fighter VI, Final Fantasy VII Remake (and upcoming Rebirth), Resident Evil VII, VIII, 2R, 3R, and/or 4R, Kingdom Hearts series (not cloud versions), etc., come to the Switch successor if it’s as powerful as rumored/leaked?

I would like to say “mostly likely” or “yes,” to a majority (if not, all) of those games, but I don’t know if that’s gonna happen. Let’s say Capcom, for example, I could see them release Ultra Street Fighter IV on the Switch successor, but then leave it at that. Why? Because that’s basically what they did with releasing Ultra Street Fighter II (the anniversary collection is hard to count since it was multi platform anyway). That’s basically all that they released from Street Fighter on Switch, even though they could’ve reestablished a base there as the franchise has history with past Nintendo consoles.

The only other big game(s) I’m more confident in seeing even on the current Switch is the upcoming Dragon Quest 3Remake and even XII despite the latter being developed under Unreal Engine 5. Because Square Enix may still consider the console bases in Japan while developing XII and the Switch has already established itself as the console that started Square’s HD2D initiative so I don’t see any reason why DQ 3 Remake wouldn’t make it onto Switch and/or it’s successor.

I fear that the Switch successor will have to prove itself again. And that is despite the Switch not only dominating Japan, making even the PS4 look small by comparison (despite getting all the big AAA Japanese titles under the sun), but also on the verge of surpassing the PS4 in LTD worldwide sales despite the PS4 releasing a few years earlier with more hype at the start of its life. I hope to be wrong, but it’s hard to be optimistic about third party games on the potential successor.