yawn. ridiculous statements. the Switch is nothing like the Wii U, its a portable hybrid for gods sake.

This is coming from someone who is a huge Nintendo fan but DIDNT like the Wii U but has preordered the Switch.

all of the doomsayers are either deliberately being ignorant or just aren't very aware, as acting like the Switch is anything like the Wii U is ridiculous. a HYBRID console is nothing like a home console that simply has a tablet mode for walking around your kitchen. 

no offense, but a lot of you Nintendo doomsayers seem like people who didn't like the 3DS either, a system that is still doing very well and sold out over the holidays. 

And its irrelevant if you're a Nintendo fan, it doesn't magically make your opinion any more important than someone who isn't a Nintendo fan, simply because there's a bit of parallel between what you claim to like and your predictions.

I also find it hilarious though that you criticize the the price of the Switch (and presumably the accessories)- that's sort of the point, Nintendo almost always makes profit from simply selling their systems or accessories. The concept that they should go third party when they've made loads of money from selling their own gear for years is just absurd. 

Some of you seem to think its impressive to be negative about a company you like. Its not. And there are tons of people (like myself) who didn't like the Wii U but have already bought the Switch. The concept that the market is aiming for at all the same people is just absurd.

Good luck with your negativity and disappointment with Nintendo, sounds like you're wallowing in it. Nintendo will be perfectly fine.

1. Started WHAT without competition? And when?

2. Where there was no competition?

3. What is the bad business model you're talking about?

I'd appreciate it if you read the OP properly and not strawmanned this out of nowhere. I've already included facts about why the Switch is a terrible predecessor on BOTH fronts.

After a previous generation of over 140 million, yeah, 60 million pales in comparison. Sorry, your argument is terrible.

yours doesn't make any sense to be honest, some companies have best selling products and then they sell less, if that was the case then a lot of corporations and companies would be dead. If they're making a profit doesn't matter how much they sell. And your prediction and opinion about the switch are just that, not "facts" overall a terrible thread with bad arguments of why a very healthy company with no debts and owner of the majority of it shares should give up their core business model to please your uneducated point of view.

It would, but I'm not seeing this much larger userbase. PS4, Vita and Xbox One barely have a larger userbase than Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo likely believes they can do better with Switch so it's worth giving it a try. 

It doesn't seem like we're ever really going to agree, but in the end I just feel that more hardware choices is better for me personally. If one of the console makers had to go, I'd prefer it not be the unique one of the 3. If you disagree, thats fine. 

That's curious.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/262074/worldwide-sales-of-the-nintendo-3ds-since-2004/

Now this chart only goes up to FY 16 (which ended March 16), but its total is 58.9M, which means, assuming vgchartz is correct and its total before black friday is correct, the platform has done 61.6 million total up to Black Friday, or 2.7 million between April 1 2016 and November 26th 2016 . So unless you're willing to argue that the 3DS sold or will sell 4.2 million units between Black Friday, and March 17, with the release of the Switch 3 months from now, then no, you're dead wrong.

Shipments for the first 2 fiscal quarters this year are at 2.71 million compared to 2.28 million the year before. It needs to ship 4.08 million in the next two quarters to remain flat.

NPD leaks have said 3DS is up over 200k YoY in October+November add in December and that number could very well be 300k. According to Media Create, 3DS is down about 300k YoY in October December so USA & Japan pretty much cancel each other out. 3DS sales trends in Europe typically follow closer to USA than Japan and i believe we got confirmation that 3DS was up YoY in the UK so i would think its safe to assume Europe as a whole was up YoY during the holidays.

Based on that its likely that 3DS shipments in the last quarter were up YoY, extending the current lead it had in the first 2 quarters. Even if shipments werent as high, the 430k lead probably wasnt erased so either way its looking like 3DS shipments are equel to or greater than last years shipments in the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year.

The only way i see 3DS shipments being down YoY for the full fiscal year is if Nintendo is trying to reduce the amount of stock at retailers which is possible do to Switch releasing in March.

If the argument is that reduced sales are a result of makret contraction, the first point makes sense. If the company can remain profitable with diminished sales, the second point also makes sense. If the market contraction is indicative of a disappearing market, then Nintendo needs to adapt their business model.

Ohh yes, because they get all of the $59 a game retails for. The stores sell it at a 0% margin (they donate their employees labour and other overhead costs), the distrubutors warehouse and ship it at a 0% margin  (they also donate their employees labour and other overhead costs), the manufacturer of the phyical game itself does so at a 0% margin (they donate their employees labour, the materials to make the game and other overhead costs), and Nintendo themselves don't actually pay their employees to make the game, they make Mario Kart for free. Nintendo's overheard? Donated because the utility companies, the equipment manufacturers, etc all love Nintendo that much!

That $59 is going staight into Nintendo's pocket, paid for by the free labour and material of those who made that game happen, and got it out to the consumers simply out of the goodness of their hearts.

yours doesn't make any sense to be honest, some companies have best selling products and then they sell less, if that was the case then a lot of corporations and companies would be dead. If they're making a profit doesn't matter how much they sell. And your prediction and opinion about the switch are just that, not "facts" overall a terrible thread with bad arguments of why a very healthy company with no debts and owner of the majority of it shares should give up their core business model to please your uneducated point of view.