Games

The problem to me isn't so much that their hardware has been underpowered, that's been a thing for like 20 years at this point, since the release of the gamecube or therabouts. The problem to me is that they've been incredibly unambitious this generation in terms of making their console something that has an appealing form factor compared to it's potential competitors, not just in the ps5 and whatever the new xbox is, but with the mobile gaming handhelds like the steam deck, which can apparently pretty easily emulate most of the switch's library and also serve a bunch of other functions.

I know that the hardcore gaming audience really disliked the motion controls as a central gimmick of the wii, but I really thought it was fun, pretty decent, and that now, with the switch, the technology has actually become good and not a flickery unstable half-mess. The only motion control stuff I can think of is mario party, 1-2 switch, which is old and nobody played, and some aiming mechanics in other games like splatoon or the new zeldas. For a console that is as easily positioned for casual multiplayer as it is, they've been consistently very iffy with their output on that front. Combine this with a a resurgence of shitty management practices like their litigiousness, charging more for subscription based access to their older games library, charging for online play, and it's kind of made me reticent to engage with the switch that I have and reluctant to engage with any new console they might put out.

I'm also going to keep banging the drum that the switch is the most optimally positioned console for playing all of nintendo's library. If they had wireless connectivity to the dock, probably the hardware wouldn't be good enough to run it, but you could theoretically run both DS games and Wii U games. Obviously, the console's already suited well for Wii games, and the rest of their backcatalogue before that. With only their recent library they could provide a pretty good alternative to actual emulation alternatives, but instead it seems they'd rather take a much less effective route.

Also they could probably make it a pretty easy VR experience as they've shown with the cardboard shit they had, but fuck that I guess, easier just to do absolutely nothing.

And I'll just hold my breath until it comes.

Interestingly (and understandably), doesn't actually say too much about internals. If the new target is 1080p portable, though, that's a decent bump in specs.

Never give Nintendo money.

I'm curious to see how this goes. Nintendo really is the only company I'd consider buying a console from anymore. Sure, they're hardware isn't very powerful, but it's pretty hard to justify an Xbox or Playstation when a good gaming PC is a better long-term investment. Nintendo, for all if its faults, is constantly innovating what a system can be, while it's competitors just release the same product with upgraded graphics.

That being said, the Switch 2 sounds like exactly that: a slightly upgraded switch without any real innovation. Usually, even Nintendo's failures are interesting, like the Virtual Boy or the Wii U. They almost never release a slightly upgraded product (the only exception being the Game Boy Pocket, which they only made because the Virtual Boy flopped)

No matter what you think of Nintendo as a company, the industry does better when they're pushing the envelope. For all the (well deserved) praise the Steam Deck gets, it wouldn't exist if the Switch hadn't laid the groundwork for it. I'd much rather see Nintendo take a big swing, like integrating AR or VR, into a less powerful system than see them push out a next gen Switch every 5 years. Hopefully there's more to the Switch 2 than just a hardware upgrade, or else Nintendo (and maybe even consoles in general) might be in trouble.

great emulation device

Will you people stop complaining about the switch being underpowered? Why does it have to be powerful? If you want something powerful, don't buy it. Simple as that.