You can always get kids, that is one thing Nintendo always has going for them, if they miss the boat with one generation of kids, it's not like kids ever run out, lol. There's another generation of 'em coming on up now, these kids first gaming device will be a tablet/phone ... it's Nintendo's job to get them to buy a Switch.

I just think we don't know what we don't know. We've managed to convince ourselves that "hardcore" gamers want this and "casuals" want that, and that the groups are mutually exclusive. We project our own preferences on the general population, which is often very difficult to predict. 

Well lets see. 

If 1,2 Switch sells very well, then maybe you're right. 

I mean lets put into perspective here too -- Nintendo after making the gimme sequels to Wii Sports and Wii Fit that were of course going to be successful ... since then they've had little/no luck with casuals. 

Wii Music - underperformed badly. Vitality Sensor? Didn't even make it out to market. Nintendo Land? Decent game, but crushed under the expectations that were put on it. Nintendogs + cats? Huge dissapointment that caused Nintendo to go into a panic and have to resort to an unprecidented price drop and suffer their first fiscal year loss since coming into gaming. Brain Training 3DS? Straight up tanked, maybe the largest gen-to-gen drop in sales this industry has ever seen. 

Wii Fit Plus was the last casual "blockbuster" Nintendo had ... that's now going to be *8* years ago. Does Nintendo even know this market anymore? Doesn't seem like they've had any luck for almost a decade now and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where that audience has gone. 

Be honest, would you pay $50 for 1,2 Switch if you were a casual gamer if you knew there were 20 different party apps on your phone/tablet that are available for free/$1? 

Too many people look at things like everything is black or white with no middleground.

There are two types of games:

1. "Hardcore" gamers that play $60 shooter, sports & open world games on $300-400 consoles.

2. "Casual" gamers that play free to play games with micro transactions on their phones/tablets.

These are the only types of gamers and no type of middleground can exist that appeals to both sides or people who like neither side.

I don't think people who play COD, Madden, GTA are neccessarily "hardcore". 

They also range from casual to even kids.

I would bet money there are more 11 year olds playing GTA or COD (in secret if they have to) than Nintendo Land or Wii Sports Club or even Mario Kart the last 5 years. 

The problem that Nintendo fans don't want to wrestle with casual gamers is this reality -- yeah you can make a fun casual game. What you guys don't understand is that's not good enough. You think you can just make a fun game and people will fork over $50 + $300 for a seperate piece of hardware on top of that and everything will be rainbows and sunshine. 

The reality is you're grossly underestimated the price/value/time ratio here. Smartphone games get the job done and get the job done for free and there's only so much time "normal" people have on a daily basis to play video games when outside the house.  Unless you are pertpetual 8-year-old, things like social life/friends/work/school/love life kinda eat into any time you have outside the home. 

You guys don't understand the power of smartphone games and don't give them their due. Even Nintendo ... what's their biggest game of the last 8 years? It's Pokemon Go (which I guess is kinda theirs, even though Pokemon Company made it) not anything else. 

Smartphone is actuality is the toughest competitor Nintendo has ever faced. I would say it's not even close either. 

Without games bundled in to atract the normal consumer I struggle to think of a good reason to spent 350+ bucks on a machine that seems to have such a limited library. The portability factor could make the deal for many buyers, even those that aren't big fans of Nintendo, but the lack of most games is what it's going to make the system a failure. Maybe not a WiiU-level catastrophe, but a failure nonetheless. Will sell decent in Japan though.

Yeah..........that literally has nothing to do with what I said

Yes the 3DS collapsed from 150 million to 60 million and smartphones have had nothing to do with it and a small 20% bump for 3DS in its waning years from like 100 million people playing Pokemon Go makes up for that. Sure boss. 

I'm glad the Wii casuals are gone and playing games on their smartphones and tablets instead, why would I throw a fit over them not showing up? They weren't Nintendo fans to begin with really. 

Lets see how 1,2 Switch does, if there is this magical audience out there willing to pay $50 for games like this, it should be evident. But if it goes the same way Wii Music and Wii Fit U and Wii Party U and Wii Sports Club and Nintendogs + cats and Brain Training 3DS did ... with all these games flopping or underperforming does Nintendo even understand this audience anymore? The results say no and they haven't for a long time.

My points are clear. If you want to argue that smartphones have benfitted Nintendo hardware overall, please proceed and make that case. 

I'm happy the Wii audience left. Good riddance, they were never willing to give games like Metroid or anything more complex than a 2D Mario a fair chance and they can enjoy stuff like Clash of Clans and Flappy Bird for what they value gaming for -- free or 99 pennies. So that point about me being upset that they're gone .... nope. If Wii U had to die to show that to Nintendo, so be it. 

I hope they stay away too, and it doesn't look like I have much to worry about if 1,2 Switch is what Nintendo thinks will bring them back. Nintendo have been horrible at reading the casual audience for a long time now, the last time they had a casual blockbuster hit Britney Spears still had a career. This isn't a 2-3 year slump, they haven't done anything new and exciting for this audience for like a decade now, not just with Wii/Wii U but DS/3DS too. Touch/Waggle Generations has been a whole lot of fail for a long time. 

@Soundwave

1,2 Switch doesn't need the screen, it just acts as a referee. I can't think of any smartphone games that do that. 'Hide the wiimote' on Wii Party is the closest I can think of. Ton of fun.

1,2 Switch has you looking into people's eyes and shit talking. That's what makes local multiplayer so good. No griefers spoiling everybody's game because they're losing. Spammers/cheaters get a punch in the arm if they don't stop. Smartphone games aren't suited to local multiplayer. Have you ever played a local multiplayer smartphone game because I don't think I have outside of taking turns on flappy bird.