What do you guys think Nintendo would be doing right now in 2020 if the Switch failed?

IMO if the Switch failed I think Nintendo would continue supporting the 3DS since it was still selling well even when the Switch released and down the line around 2019 I think Nintendo would've launched a direct successor to the 3DS to stay afloat through the dedicated handheld business.

As for the Switch, I think it would've been another rough time to be a Switch owner similiar to the Wii U where Nintendo stops giving a shit about the Switch due to low sales and we'll barely get games outside of Wii u ports and unambitious filler games, and knowing Nintendo, they probably would try to sweep the Switch under the rug as fast as possible and maybe release a new dedicated console in 2021, or maybe just give up in the console market entirely and focus on the 3DS & its sucessor.

Many people expect Nintendo to go 3rd party if the Switch failed, however I don't really believe this because Nintendo has a ton of money and they could afford to fuck up their consoles several times. Also, knowing Nintendo's strict philosophies I don't think they'd ever want or consider becoming 3rd party since they believe they need their hardware to create innovative experiences with their games that the other console makers can't offer.

They'd still be releasing no games for the rest of the year, that's for sure!

Hmmm. Well the Switch would still be available, and getting some games.. They manufactured the Wii U for over 4 years despite the fact that it tanked. They would've rode out the 3DS even longer than they did, likely releasing non-remake/port 1st-party games well into 2019 or 2020. A dedicated handheld successor more powerful than PlayStation Vita but weaker than the Switch would launch in 2019.
I have no idea what they would do in the home console space. For them to make a home console at with at least Xbox One X specs (let alone Xbox Series X and PS5) would take so much time and investment. I'd say they would try a beefy home console like this, but I don't think they could even get it out by 2021 or 2022.
Basically Nintendo's hardware division would be pretty screwed for a while if the Switch failed, considering they've been behind on specs in the home console market since the Wii.

The switch has been the sum of Nintendo's best decisions for quite some time. They picked the right hardware by going with Nvidia which helped them bring third parties in as Nvidia knows what third parties need to develop for the platform. They also had heavy hitters from the start which greatly helped with sales and third party commitment. They made it a portable which means it doesn't directly compete with the console twins. It has Joy-cons and multiple ways to use the console such as portable, table top and TV mode. And the list goes on.

If that failed, hot damn. I'd assume they would try to go with something with a cheaper launch price but portables has been the one category that Nintendo dominated over the years with great success. So if that flopped, maybe they would go third party.

Hmm, if a high end portable like the Switch failed, and presumably they would continue not wanting to make a triplet system to the Microsoft Sony twins, so I think would probably have come out with a portable only system....but then again, they did that anyway with the Switch Lite! It's hard to contemplate if the Switch failed cuz basically you are saying that means Nintendo's portable business failed. Since the Switch Lite is basically what I would expect if the Switch failed (because the Switch failing pretty much just means people weren't willing to buy a $300 portable system and didn't care that it is hybrid). If they came out with the Switch Lite at its more normal handheld price and we're saying even that didn't stop Switch's failure then we are pretty much saying portable game systems are dead, and nobody wants a hybrid system. Nintendo's options would then be to either make a triplet graphics powerhouse to compete directly with PS5/SeriesX, go third party, or build an audience for an emerging market like a VR set or a streaming service.

I think they'd chose to try one more hardware system over going third party. I don't know if they would try to just do the Sony/Microsoft just more power thing or if they'd try to corner one of the possible emerging markets. I think probably their best option though would be to start selling a classic game subscription on other platforms. Offer the Nintendo Online VC subscription everywhere they could, but ya know, actually add a good amount of games and systems to it regularly, and try to build up tens of millions of monthly members while they work on whatever their new hardware would be.

Depends. If it was a Wii U level flop, then they'd be done with consoles. Sure they have money in the bank, but they also have investors, and they're not going to put up with two failures of that magnitude back to back. They'd be a third party dev.

If the Switch was more in line with with the XBox One, then things would probably be similar to where they are now, but with a push to get something out within the next year or two that is more similar to the PS5 of Series X.

They'd be done with consoles and just focus on 3DS successor

They would try to make a VR system that was low spec and affordable. I mean real VR not red Game Boy in 3D.

They would focus on partnership with toy makers, board game makers, smartphone/tablet software makers and maybe micro console makers for vintage games.

Or they would make the Nintendo Classic system, basically an all in one Classic console. Fully digital. You pay a monthly fee and can download NES, GB, SNES, N64, GBA, GC, and DS games. Basically what Switch has but with like 10x more games. They even release occasional brand new games in the graphical style of the different systems. All multiplayer games have online play. $50 for the system. Comes in home and portable versions. They get 100 million monthly subscribers and five years later reenter the modern console market sitting on king maker cash, with a load of AAA first party games they've been making over the past 5 years...

...Third parties give in and port all their recent AAA games to the new system. Sony just keeps supporting the PS5 but gets out of the hardware business, Microsoft moves entirely to a streaming subscription that plays on PC and Nintendo. Nintendo then moves into mobile, racking up billions in yearly profits off the mobile market. But Nintendo starts getting cocky, starts pushing third party developers around. Suddenly Sega, buoyed off the profits of releasing highly popular new games on the Nintendo Classic system and then becoming a major developer for Nintendo's new system, announces the Sega VR glasses that blows away all previous attempts at VR, to be launched in one month. Third parties rush to this new VR revolution. VR finally goes mainstream. Sega is the cool thing to play. Nintendo follows suit a year later but, infamously, their VR takes large cartridges thus making the headset uncool looking and far larger than the Sega VR glasses. Nintendo stock plummets, people cancel their Nintendo Classic subscriptions en masse, their current gen system sales die off, fans demand that Pokemon Crustacean/Jelly be brought to the Sega VR. Nintendo refuses, a global boycott ensues, and Pokemon Crustacean/Jelly fails to sell a million copies on a system with 250 million sales. Forced to sell, Nintendo's major share of the Pokemon company is bought by Sega. Sega then offers a $50 discount if you trade your Nintendo system for Sega VR. Tens of millions of people trade in their Nintendos, Sega burns them all in a giant bonfire on a piece of land they bought near Nintendo's NOA headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Nintendo gives total executive control over the company to Shigeru Miyamoto. He lays everything on the line on a last ditch effort game, 200 million dollar budget. It's a forest simulator where the goal is to grow the flora healthy enough to feed the animals. It fails miserably - 10 million copies of Nintendo VR Forest Simulator cartridges fill the back of stores around the world, it only sold a few hundred copies to ecology departments. Sega, still desperate to buy Nintendo's IP to put the final nail in the coffin, offer Miyamoto a staggering amount of money. Miyamoto sells Nintendo to Sega for 1000 Bitcoin, in what is the largest corporate sale in history. NOA headquarters turns into a hip movie theater with hammocks and screens on the ceiling. The following year Sega releases Sonic Mario Bros, it sells 100 million copies in its first year. Miyamoto now lives a quiet life in the desert, far away from any forests.