| Sephiran said: I think the problem for Nintendo is that the AAA audience is fully locked down on PS/PC, and people that own both a Nintendo console and a PC/PS buys their AAA games on PC/PS. So if they don't get any benefits of having AAA games on their systems like PS gets from it, then they will just have led to Switch 2 having better specs than it really needed to have and thus led to the console having a higher price point for no obvious gains. Its likely that Switch 2 will from a software selling standpoint remain just a Nintendo and indie machine. Even in the most Nintendo dominated market like Japan, the audience for AAA games like Resident Evil are on PS. We will thus continue to see only PS getting a boost from having such games, while third parties will complain that those games aren't selling on Switch 2, because people will buy Mario Tennis and Silksong instead of Resident Evil 9 on Switch 2. The audience for AAA is finite and already established on other platforms, you won't get that audience to buy those games on Switch 2 instead of the platforms they have bought those games for 20 years on in the future. |
The first thing is just to point out that this is not entirely true.
We've seen in many markets how Nintendo has been able to make inroads with many IPs, most popular of which has been Fifa & Hogwarts. Sure, Playstation remains the biggest platform for these games but its very much in Nintendo's reach to continue growing audience and marketshare of 3rd party titles. Especially with new generations. This is an important area for growth that they have to continue to invest in. When games like RE9 launch day and date on Switch 2, I think you will see the real fruits of having competent modern hardware that scales well. Its also not just about AAA, its also about AA too. Better hardware means more ports and more 3rd party revenue. I suspect in fact that Nintendo was worried about too many 3rd party ports flooding the market at once which is why they've been weird about devkits.
With the second bolded point, we really shouldn't talk about the Switch's hardware like it exists only for 3rd parties. The Switch 2 is not some crazy powerful beast, it is to the PS4 and XBox One what the Switch was to the PS3/360. A system that came out 10 years later and with more modern Nvidia architecture and in a portable/hybrid form. The leap Nintendo has taken is simply the leap necessary for them to create a "new" generation of traditional games. Ninetndo will not be selling a new system on "Mario Tennis" and "silksong", they'll be selling it on the next Legend of Zelda, 3D Zelda, Pokemon, Smash etc.. just as they did the Switch 1.
Just because we haven't yet seen games built around its hardware, it doesn't mean they're not coming.
