Was Nintendo right to opt out of the graphics arms race?

[Chrkeller]

Wyrdness said:

Chrkeller said:

I fully expect the vast majority of ps6 titles to work on the ps5.  

I don't see S1 titles, but I could see Nintendo embracing cross gen with the S3 or even going a pro route.  Plus S2 has a lot of S1 upgrades, with more coming..  because games are scalable.  

Gens are antiquated, just doesn't fit today's world.

I don't get why people keep thinking the Pro route could happen when it fundamentally undermines Nintendo's business model, a pro model only adds a version with significantly more costs that would eat into revenue from license fees that are central to their business model, the one time they did such a thing with the 3DS the newer model just had a slightly overclocked CPU it was nothing like the PS4/5 Pro. Games are more scalable because modern architecture in newer hardware is better resulting in more efficiency that's why engines scale better today, that makes it less likely for Nintendo to go the pro route and more likely for the Switch 2 to just have a longer run than the Switch 1 especially with advancements to features like DLSS, the only pro model coming will be the S3 itself.

The won't be a cross gen approach either, Nintendo said right off the bat after 2026 it's all S2 same thing will happen when S3 arrives because sustaining more than one platform was one of the core problems that hindered Nintendo before, once Nintendo has a new platform going they're done with the previous one.

Except there was a cross gen approach.  S2 launched with Breath and Tears upgrades.  There was a free update for Odyssey for 4k.  Prime 4 is absolutely cross gen.  

So um, there was a cross gen approach, with more S1 upgrades coming.

Generations are only going to get more blurry as time goes on.  

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 12 January 2026