5 ms·

That would not be very Nintendo to just deliver a powered-up version of their console, after already delivering an improved OLED model. The last incremental ite

by mrpopo 3y ago

That would not be very Nintendo to just deliver a powered-up version of their console, after already delivering an improved OLED model. The last incremental iteration would have been the GameBoy advance, but even then, the form factor changed a lot.

cultofmetatron 3y ago
they stumbled on the perfect form factor. why rock the boat?
- mcphage 3y ago
  Nintendo is like simulated annealing with high temperature—they'll drop successful designs in favor of something new, to prevent getting stuck at a local maximum. The Gameboy Advance SP was a fantastic design, and then dropped it in favor of the Nintendo DS. That was a good change.
- slothtrop 3y ago
  Newly increased competition with the Steam Deck and others, and more than one iteration of the Switch already. Maybe a novelty factor to draw in consumers. The Wii U bombed, a console that played it safe, and the story we're told is it was because the name confused consumers / was improperly marketed. I'm not sure that's the whole picture, but this is a risk yet again with the release of the OLED and Switch lite not that long ago. They still have the "Nintendo advantage" of their products being unique and family-oriented on the market, but that's not always enough. At any rate the timing seems to be right (notwithstanding supply issues), it's roughly a decade since the Switch was originally released. Sony and MSFT already made the jump. Another consideration: I'm not sure what the innovation/novelty options are at this point. Maybe they don't have much of a choice but to capitalize on a rock-solid 1st party line-up. Right now I think Nintendo does couch co-op better than anyone else, so they could drive that even further.
kemayo 3y ago
More recently, there was the New Nintendo 3DS. It was mostly backwards-compatible, but did have exclusive games.
joe__f 3y ago
The GBC and GBA were both pretty successful
dangus 3y ago
I disagree. The “New” 3DS was a souped up version of the 3DS, including some games requiring the upgraded hardware. Same deal with the DSi.
swashboon 3y ago
They were also incentivized to release new models to fix the unpatchable root vulnerability of the first gen.

by mrpopo 3y ago

cultofmetatron 3y ago

they stumbled on the perfect form factor. why rock the boat?

mcphage 3y ago
Nintendo is like simulated annealing with high temperature—they'll drop successful designs in favor of something new, to prevent getting stuck at a local maximum. The Gameboy Advance SP was a fantastic design, and then dropped it in favor of the Nintendo DS. That was a good change.
slothtrop 3y ago
Newly increased competition with the Steam Deck and others, and more than one iteration of the Switch already. Maybe a novelty factor to draw in consumers. The Wii U bombed, a console that played it safe, and the story we're told is it was because the name confused consumers / was improperly marketed. I'm not sure that's the whole picture, but this is a risk yet again with the release of the OLED and Switch lite not that long ago. They still have the "Nintendo advantage" of their products being unique and family-oriented on the market, but that's not always enough. At any rate the timing seems to be right (notwithstanding supply issues), it's roughly a decade since the Switch was originally released. Sony and MSFT already made the jump. Another consideration: I'm not sure what the innovation/novelty options are at this point. Maybe they don't have much of a choice but to capitalize on a rock-solid 1st party line-up. Right now I think Nintendo does couch co-op better than anyone else, so they could drive that even further.

kemayo 3y ago

More recently, there was the New Nintendo 3DS. It was mostly backwards-compatible, but did have exclusive games.

joe__f 3y ago

The GBC and GBA were both pretty successful

dangus 3y ago

I disagree. The “New” 3DS was a souped up version of the 3DS, including some games requiring the upgraded hardware. Same deal with the DSi.

swashboon 3y ago

They were also incentivized to release new models to fix the unpatchable root vulnerability of the first gen.