Of course it will, but its not replacing just the wiiU. Now its pretty sure Nintendo has a back up plans in case of switch not selling enough, they would be awfully dumb to not have one, otherwise they are putting all their eggs into one basket.

So the way we can really mesure the switch success right now, with all Nintendo is saying today, is not by comparing it to the wiiU, but the 3ds, or 3ds+WiiU.

It means that the point of having one system to be a handheld and a home system was to have to develop only one version of the game. Ok? Well they went with one system with two really different power mode. So different we now know that if the developpers wants to make full use of the dock mode they ll have to do a lot of extra work.

Basically, the result would have been the same with 2 separate devices but with an even better gpu in the home system. Still extra work to release it on both, but at least the home console as a chance of being competitive against the ps4 and one.

This is from the official website 

"Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition."

If you think that most people aren t lost by all this, you are wrong. The wiiU was already a mess because it had 3 official controllers, people couldn t wrap their head around the fact that you could only have one gamepad per wiiU. 

I know we are all gamers here, but the market is not just us, it s mainly average consumers who likes simple and easy to use products.

I don t see the switch as a simple product, I see it as a product that tries to do too many thing and does nothing properly.

I own a WiiU, I remember when I bought Nintendoland, that game is a mess, you need the gamepad, wiimotes, wii motion plus, nunchucks, and you spend too much time changing the configurations. It had some nice mini games, but it was just a pain in the ass.

there is nothing wrong with a box and 4 normal controllers. Or a handheld that is just a handheld. The DS with its two screens was a great innovation, but that doesn t mean that every Nintendo console should try to reinvente the wheel

re: concept they would be better off offering separate console to get more power,

the concept of unified game library enabling better game library is coherent,
and a separate console isn't NECESSARILY incompatable with that (buy once, use on both platforms)
but making a LARGER performance delta between the versions would make cross-developing for both platforms ha(irder.
(assuming one tries to leverage the higher performance of separate console, if that is not done then point of higher power is defeated)
as is, both "modes" have identical CPU performance which means core game code can remain exactly identical,
the only difference being GPU performance (on same GPU) which scales graphics code depending on screen output target.

but reality is, if they wanted more power they could trivially make a device using modern 14nm or even 10nm process,
with roughly 30% or more performance per watt just from that, yet that haven't chosen to do so.

BTW, on ergonomics, does anybody have further thoughts on that?
IMHO even for people who prefer asymmetrical joysticks, the portable mode layout sucks.
Because while asymmetrical can work great in normal controller built around it,
the way it's set up on sides of flat tablet just seems like it's horrible positioning,
forcing you to hold the entire tablet in asymmetrical way (strange),
and putting the buttons on that side in more awkward position to instantly push.

I'm getting the impression that you're saying that having options is bad.

All Nintendo games on one platform are nice, but do they really impact software diversity *that* much? I would question some of this. Even if you gave the Wii U a Zelda and Metroid and Animal Crossing game earlier in its life cycle, I think the only real difference is it would've sold 20 million maybe instead of 14 million. Both numbers are still abject failures. Nintendo alone cannot make up for the loss of huge genre diversity that third parties bring to the table

This is from the official website 

"Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition."

If you think that most people aren t lost by all this, you are wrong. The wiiU was already a mess because it had 3 official controllers, people couldn t wrap their head around the fact that you could only have one gamepad per wiiU. 

I know we are all gamers here, but the market is not just us, it s mainly average consumers who likes simple and easy to use products.

I don t see the switch as a simple product, I see it as a product that tries to do too many thing and does nothing properly.

I own a WiiU, I remember when I bought Nintendoland, that game is a mess, you need the gamepad, wiimotes, wii motion plus, nunchucks, and you spend too much time changing the configurations. It had some nice mini games, but it was just a pain in the ass.

there is nothing wrong with a box and 4 normal controllers. Or a handheld that is just a handheld. The DS with its two screens was a great innovation, but that doesn t mean that every Nintendo console should try to reinvente the wheel

Fact that with Switch Nintendo dont need to make any more 2x 2D Mario games, 2x MK, 2x Mario Party, 2x Kirby games...and they can make just one game of each and make something else, means that Switch will have more diverse library than before.

This is so wrong because just that 1st Switch 3 minute video was very clear about controls options and concept even for casuals, it's all very clear and simple.