Actually I do think it could be the future, but not in a good way (even for Nintendo). 

As smartphone chips get more and more powerful I think a some point they're going to reach a point of graphical fidelity which is "good enough" for most people (probably right around PS4 levels of visuals). 

Once that happens a hardware manufacturer will have a light bulb go off in their head, and basically you won't really need a home console anymore. Just sync your phone to your smart TV, have a Bluetooth gamepad handy, and voila ... you'll be able to play fairly high end games, with the phone streaming the video signal to the TV. 

You'll still have dedicated "big box" consoles like the PS5 but it'll become more and more something for really hardcore players who must have super high-end performance in their games, but for people who just want to play a "pretty looking" Madden or GTA or COD game ... I think one day your phone will basically be able to run those games at a fairly high end fidelity to boot. 

Dedicated PC HW will remain more powerful than mobile HW for the foreseeable future. When a phone can run AAA games like consoles, than we can start talking.

I also forgot to note that the Switch doesn't use CD's, but Cartridges. Hasn't been in place since the N64, but in all their handhelds.

We're talking more about "when" though, not so much "if". We know mobile chips increase in power every year by a good amount at that. 

.... meanwhile at Nintendo headquarters.
-"we need to make more money on the 3DS"
-"increase the price"
-"it won't sell as much"
-"call it a "" hybrid"" and increase the price"
- " good idea"

Which is fine. For some people, PSVita TV is also the only console they would need. 

For the *mass market* though this sure as hell is not going to be their home console of choice though. Especailly with virtually no price advantage. 

If you are going to use it as a home console only you're basically getting bent over and paying $300 for something that really is probably $150-$200 of hardware at best. You're paying for an LCD screen + battery that you'll rarely/never use. So there's that too. 

You need to use the portable features of this device to really get any proper value out of it, otherwise you're paying a pretty inflated price for a micro-console. 

Kind of... Sort of.... Not really...

It's still going to offer a home console experience, but of course it's not going to offer AS good an experience as it would if it was tailored specifically to that.

So if you're only interested in playing games on your TV at home then it's certainly a negative move away from that market but the Switch is still a functional home console.

So no, they've not exited the market. They're just putting a lot less emphasis on it, which will be disappointing to some and equally good news for others.

Barney ever since the Switch reveal youve just been retreading the same thing ever one else is saying, albeit with less personality and more assertiveness. You dont know what will come of the Switch, I don't either, none of us do. But if your going to make a thread make it a little more original.

Then why are people expecting XB1 powers? Why are people expecting the next Cod, BF, Assasins Creed on a handheld? 

Portable is just better for Nintendo anyway.

They're just not that good at selling consoles in the post 1990s world, you shouldn't have to beg and release a "big" game every 1-2 months from your internal studios to even get half way decent sales or have the mother of all controller miracles to be relevant for a few scant years.

It's not supposed to be that hard.

Portable is better for them. People accept more cartoony/less violent styles of games and you don't need to have as many games either because people don't need that many portable games.

The expectations for a console are higher in terms of library diversity and support and people also want the big gun games if they're playing on their 50 inch HDTV. 

Their little 5-inch portable device though? Not so much.