This

Nintendo is better than ever...

No... that's why I said I'm forced to buy the hardware IF I want to be able to buy the games.

Not for nothing, but you know that people are spoiled in life when the thing that bothers them the most is being privileged to go out and spend extra money on something that is already an expensive hobby! People are starving in the world, dying of cancer and other diseases but a company must go under to meet my entitled needs simply because :) 

Sounds about right... 

Well that's the thing: you DO want it. You may lament the fact that Switch is underpowered compared to PS4/XOne (which are both underpowered compared to high-end rigs) but you want to buy the system to play those must-have games. That's financial proof right there why Nintendo should stay in the hardware game. It can use its attractive software to sell hardware, accessories, DLC, subscriptions, etc. And then it can use that leverage to recruit more developers who have to pay Nintendo to put their games on its hardware. I'd be floored if several million more copies of Nintendo software on other systems would replace those licensing and subscription fees, plus revenue generated by hardware and accessories.

As for the request that Nintendo put its must-have games on a more powerful system: there's no guarantee Nintendo would use the extra power and no way to predict whether individual franchises would survive the leap from hardware/software to software only. Those must-have games might disappear altogether or change in unexpected ways.

I dunno, I just don't see it. It's a short-term, near-sighted solution at best. At worst it's a death knell for Nintendo, which I imagine is what a lot of console partisans actually want.

What the hell?

Ok so we're not allowed to talk about the price of games / game systems on this site anymore. Where on earth did I say it "bothered me the most"

What an amazing post. "You mentioned money in relation to video games??? PEOPLE HAVE CANCER AND NO FOOD!"

That would make me so happy. PS4 sales have peaked, mid gen upgrades and VR have flopped so they have to try something.

Sony was destroyed when they went up against Nintendo's handheld games, going up against a system with both mainline Zelda and mainline Pokemon would be suicide.

It's probably better for Sony if they stick with a regular PS5. Switch 2 is likely going to equal/surpass PS4 specs. If Sony wants their PS5 (4K-PS4) to beat a portable PS4 with Nintendo games (Switch2) they'll need to stay focussed on a single system.

Personally, I kind of like the quirky system ideas Nintendo often comes up with, like the DS, Wii, and the Switch. Playing games on their wonderfully original hardware is often its own reward, I find! I don't think it would necessarily be the same to play Breath of the Wild or Arms or Splatoon 2 on PlayStation 4 for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being that the Switch is portable, for example, and that blend of handheld and traditional console features is something that I think only Nintendo could've come up with!

What's up with people and the Nintendo going 3rd party fetish?

Pssst, I think it's Sony and Microsoft fans admitting that Nintendo makes awesome games that they want to play too. ;)

(Another example of why I'm not big into brand loyalty.)