curl-6 said:
Gotta love how what used to be "Wii U + 3DS combined" has now changed to "Wii + DS combined" now that it's clear it is going to pass the former threshold. Gotta keep moving those goalposts so you can downplay the opponent brand's success.
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This sounds like something of a strawman to me, as do a lot of "someone else said something different so that means YOU are moving goalposts" arguments. You can always find different statements from different people.
I don't think there is anyone who would argue that the Wii U represented a healthy or even viable baseline for Nintendo. No goalposts should be set there, to begin with. Bettering those numbers should be an expectation. On the other hand, I don't think the Wii represented a normal baseline, either, so a new console certainly doesn't need to reach those heights to be successful.
As for the core of the "combined" argument itself, a merged product line does need to cover projected lost profit to some degree, though that would really be held against Nintendo itself rather than the Switch. What makes that murky is the idea that Nintendo faced declining sales in both the handheld and home console markets, which means we really have no idea where the real baseline would end up.
If I were running Nintendo, I'd want strong hardware sales in other to keep production costs low, but I really wouldn't care about any sort of comparisons to "home+handheld" numbers. I would absolutely analyze the economic pluses and minuses of running two hardware production lines against one production line, obviously, but I think a totally new product has to establish its own numbers.
Software is a different beast. It would absolutely need to generate strong profitability compared to "home+handheld" numbers. A drop in revenue is understandable but the final margins need to be higher.
However, at the end of the day, there was one overwhelmingly serious need that Nintendo had to address this generation: engaging new consumers. They said themselves that this was a hugely important issue for them and most of their other measures had failed, as they were mainly depending on a carryover audience. I know I criticized the cheap plastic toy things, and with good reason. That the Switch seems to be a major success in that area really transcends the numbers. This was both what they really wanted and really needed. Nintendo has to be pleased and relieved--though not too relieved, as we know success in one generation shouldn't be taken for granted in the next.
Now, that being said, in dick-waving threads like this, especially when the dick-waving is about beating two product lines already slated for replacement, I think people pointing out negative factors is totally fair game.
