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If anyone is wondering why they go from focusing on heaping praise on the design of the controllers to...uh...the side rails and heat pipe of the Switch(?), it'

If anyone is wondering why they go from focusing on heaping praise on the design of the controllers to...uh...the side rails and heat pipe of the Switch(?), it's probably because joycon controllers fail shockingly fast, and Nintendo has done nothing to improve their design despite raking in truckloads of cash. This, however, is tripe: > For more than 30 years, Nintendo has stayed true to its holistic philosophy that making great experiences is about more than any given component or specification. This integrated approach to design, engineering, and manufacturing has helped them remain dominant in a space where rivals have come and gone time and again. More like: Nintendo has stayed true to endless recycling of its IP which keeps game development cheap, while underspec'ing their hardware, figuring that game developers will slave away figuring out how to still make games run and users will grumble but put up with abysmal performance and graphics quality. People might be shocked to know that the switch's giant screen is 720p, 30hz. Even in 2017, that was pretty terrible. They're desperately milking the Switch for whatever they can wring out of it, too - the recent OLED update shows the desperation. They went with a new display technology that adds little to nothing...because the SoC is so anemic, it can't possibly handle higher resolutions or framerates. Describing them as "dominant" is a joke, too. Nintendo hasn't had market dominance since the NES; their console sales numbers are quite in line with Sony and Microsoft.

solarkraft 5y ago
Your points are valid. The hardware is something like a bad Android tablet with a few buttons. Which makes it more amazing that they're still selling a ton of them. RE recycling IP: This won't go well indefinitely (and it seems like they're not introducing anything new), but we're right in the middle of a nostalgia hype, so for now if works very well for them.
- Fnoord 5y ago
  Its not that amazing from my PoV that they're selling these. I can totally imagine a parent being like: I want to give my child a portable gaming device with fun games which are for their age, somewhat modern, yet part of the Nintendo IP. Enter the Nintendo Switch. It just proves the point that the Nintendo IP is strong, even if the games are not graphical high points. Its all about the gameplay and the characters.
- salamandersauce 5y ago
  "Recycling" IP is a dumb complaint about Nintendo. It's not like Microsoft, Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, etc. aren't doing the same thing. There's more Ratchet and Clank's than 3D Marios, more Forzas than Mario Kart, more Assassins Creeds than Metroids, more Call of Dutys than Pokémon games.
  - prmoustache 5y ago
    Exactly, I see the very same reusal of IP on all platforms. For parents nintendo is a guarantee of having access to games made for kids. There are certainly comparable games sold for Playstation and Xbox lines but the price range and advertized games show they are targetting adults. Parents of young kids would tend to stear away naturally.
- prmoustache 5y ago
  Which is the reason they are bought by the truckload. It is akin to an android tablet without the terrible android game ecosystem. As a parent I am happy to have chosen the switch for the following reason: 1. Kids can carry everywhere, like they can play in the plane when going on holidays. 2. They don't have to monopolize the main family screen every time they want to play, yet you can still play in the living room. 3. It cost a lot lower than a playstation or xbox 4. Most games have a decent and long enough offline gameplay, keeping my kids away from being online and be exposed to harassment 5. It is not on a phone, so they don't have to own a phone or use mine. On the cons side it is way to fragile and has been replaced once. Note: my kids are 8 and 11 and not heavy video game players. They don't have free access to the console, which mean they didn't develop addiction yet and they can spend literally weeks without gaming.
- bzzzt 5y ago
  > Your points are valid. The hardware is something like a bad Android tablet with a few buttons. Which makes it more amazing that they're still selling a ton of them. Buy a bad Android tablet or even a good Android tablet and have your pick of thousands of pay to win 'games' and other addiction fuel. At least Nintendo has a machine that lets you have fun with games instead of nagging you for money or likes.
salamandersauce 5y ago
The Switch's screen is not 30hz. It's 60. It's a decent screen especially when you consider the whole device cost $300 in 2017. Do we really need 300+ PPI screens for portable gaming? Higher res screens at that size are IMO diminishing returns. Even Steam Deck is going with a 800p screen. I'm not paying $900 for a handheld console so why bother putting a 1080p or better screen the hardware will never be able to utilize except in the simplest of games? In a phone or tablet where text is the focus and pentile OLED layouts are common the extra PPI is beneficial but for gaming? And when their OLED screen doesn't use pentile? I'd rather pay less for fun games than more for games that aren't fun but look nice. Microsoft and Sony often forget about the "fun" aspect.
bspammer 5y ago
If recycling IP is what allows the games to be so good, then who cares? I'm very much a gameplay focused person, I'm not looking for new stories. Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Smash Ultimate, and Metroid Dread are all best-in-genre level games.
gattilorenz 5y ago
> users will grumble but put up with abysmal performance and graphics quality The reason to choose Nintendo has never been to get top-notch performance or graphics quality (not even in SNES days). Nintendo focuses on delivering a fun experience, often for the whole family. There's more to games than graphical realism and framerate.
pdpi 5y ago
They haven’t been dominant in the home console market in decades, but their control over the handheld market is absolute. The PSP is the only handheld to ever compete, and even Sony have bowed out of the whole handheld market.
- formerly_proven 5y ago
  The dominant force in the handheld market is mobile gaming, is it not? Nintendo sold barely 100 million Switch units in five years - that's about how many smartphones are shipped each month.
willis936 5y ago
The gameboy came out using a processor that was 10 years old, absolutely crushed the handheld market that was flooded with more powerful competitors, and continued to dominate that market using the same underpowered processor for a decade. Everyone makes consoles and games. Nintendo makes things people actually enjoy.

solarkraft 5y ago

Your points are valid. The hardware is something like a bad Android tablet with a few buttons. Which makes it more amazing that they're still selling a ton of them. RE recycling IP: This won't go well indefinitely (and it seems like they're not introducing anything new), but we're right in the middle of a nostalgia hype, so for now if works very well for them.

Fnoord 5y ago
Its not that amazing from my PoV that they're selling these. I can totally imagine a parent being like: I want to give my child a portable gaming device with fun games which are for their age, somewhat modern, yet part of the Nintendo IP. Enter the Nintendo Switch. It just proves the point that the Nintendo IP is strong, even if the games are not graphical high points. Its all about the gameplay and the characters.
salamandersauce 5y ago
"Recycling" IP is a dumb complaint about Nintendo. It's not like Microsoft, Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, etc. aren't doing the same thing. There's more Ratchet and Clank's than 3D Marios, more Forzas than Mario Kart, more Assassins Creeds than Metroids, more Call of Dutys than Pokémon games.
- prmoustache 5y ago
  Exactly, I see the very same reusal of IP on all platforms. For parents nintendo is a guarantee of having access to games made for kids. There are certainly comparable games sold for Playstation and Xbox lines but the price range and advertized games show they are targetting adults. Parents of young kids would tend to stear away naturally.
prmoustache 5y ago
Which is the reason they are bought by the truckload. It is akin to an android tablet without the terrible android game ecosystem. As a parent I am happy to have chosen the switch for the following reason: 1. Kids can carry everywhere, like they can play in the plane when going on holidays. 2. They don't have to monopolize the main family screen every time they want to play, yet you can still play in the living room. 3. It cost a lot lower than a playstation or xbox 4. Most games have a decent and long enough offline gameplay, keeping my kids away from being online and be exposed to harassment 5. It is not on a phone, so they don't have to own a phone or use mine. On the cons side it is way to fragile and has been replaced once. Note: my kids are 8 and 11 and not heavy video game players. They don't have free access to the console, which mean they didn't develop addiction yet and they can spend literally weeks without gaming.
bzzzt 5y ago
> Your points are valid. The hardware is something like a bad Android tablet with a few buttons. Which makes it more amazing that they're still selling a ton of them. Buy a bad Android tablet or even a good Android tablet and have your pick of thousands of pay to win 'games' and other addiction fuel. At least Nintendo has a machine that lets you have fun with games instead of nagging you for money or likes.

salamandersauce 5y ago

The Switch's screen is not 30hz. It's 60. It's a decent screen especially when you consider the whole device cost $300 in 2017. Do we really need 300+ PPI screens for portable gaming? Higher res screens at that size are IMO diminishing returns. Even Steam Deck is going with a 800p screen. I'm not paying $900 for a handheld console so why bother putting a 1080p or better screen the hardware will never be able to utilize except in the simplest of games? In a phone or tablet where text is the focus and pentile OLED layouts are common the extra PPI is beneficial but for gaming? And when their OLED screen doesn't use pentile? I'd rather pay less for fun games than more for games that aren't fun but look nice. Microsoft and Sony often forget about the "fun" aspect.

bspammer 5y ago

If recycling IP is what allows the games to be so good, then who cares? I'm very much a gameplay focused person, I'm not looking for new stories. Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Smash Ultimate, and Metroid Dread are all best-in-genre level games.

gattilorenz 5y ago

> users will grumble but put up with abysmal performance and graphics quality The reason to choose Nintendo has never been to get top-notch performance or graphics quality (not even in SNES days). Nintendo focuses on delivering a fun experience, often for the whole family. There's more to games than graphical realism and framerate.

pdpi 5y ago

They haven’t been dominant in the home console market in decades, but their control over the handheld market is absolute. The PSP is the only handheld to ever compete, and even Sony have bowed out of the whole handheld market.

formerly_proven 5y ago
The dominant force in the handheld market is mobile gaming, is it not? Nintendo sold barely 100 million Switch units in five years - that's about how many smartphones are shipped each month.

willis936 5y ago

The gameboy came out using a processor that was 10 years old, absolutely crushed the handheld market that was flooded with more powerful competitors, and continued to dominate that market using the same underpowered processor for a decade. Everyone makes consoles and games. Nintendo makes things people actually enjoy.