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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Meet The Original Nintendo Switch From 1995 Brought to You by SEGA

Matsku on 13 May 2018

This is just what modern Nintendo does they find existing tech and make it better.



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Cerebralbore101 on 13 May 2018

Genesis launched in 88, and Nomad came out in 95. This was back in a time when console generations still only lasted four or five years. So for today that would be as if NIntendo launched a portable version of the Wii just as PS4 and XB1 were coming out. Very few new games were being made for the Genesis at the time, and the Saturn was either already out, or coming out in a few short months. The battery life was two hours, and it cost $179, which is about $300 in today's money.

So you have to ask yourself, would you spend $300 on a portable Wii, with 2 hours of battery life, in 2013?



Jaicee on 13 May 2018
RolStoppable said:
It's not hard to see why Switch is a success and why neither the Turbo Express, Nomad and PSP Go were successful. The most important factor is that Switch is actually a different concept, because it's a true hybrid, meaning that all of its design from hardware to software was about home and portable gaming from the get-go.

Both the Turbo Express and Nomad were afterthoughts and consumers noticed all of the blatant problems, like bulky design and very poor battery life which went against the entire idea of portability and rendered both devices virtually pointless. Being able to play games of consoles that were already on their way out wasn't enticing either, because the money was much better invested in competent new consoles that had already launched or were about to launch shortly. TE and Nomad were all about selling old games.

The PSP Go's idea of a hybrid (if you can even call it that) is the opposite of Switch's. Switch allows people to play home console software on the go, but the aforementioned Sony device was about getting handheld games on the TV display.

The point about systems like Nomad having been about selling old games is a good one. As memory serves, for example, the Saturn was already out at the time of the Nomad's release. Now had Sega launched the Saturn in a dual home/handheld fashion, THAT might made a bigger splash.



PortisheadBiscuit on 13 May 2018
shikamaru317 said:

I always wanted to get a Nomad when I was a kid but never actually did sadly.

My childhood best friend had one, man that battery life was horrible. I also remember the system being somewhat laggy, I remember us just saying F it and playing on the Genesis instead.