4 ms·

> Honestly, I don't know how Nintendo survives as an independent console maker in the years to come By doing the same thing they've been doing for the last 40

by pdpi 3y ago

> Honestly, I don't know how Nintendo survives as an independent console maker in the years to come By doing the same thing they've been doing for the last 40 years. Keep innovating on cheaper, older tech rather than relying on pushing out the most FLOPS to sell the next generation of hardware, and keep producing a consistent supply of solid first party games.

rapind 3y ago
Something else they've excelled at with the Switch are the indy games. Xbox really should have dominated the indy scene, especially with their subscription service IMO, but their licensing must be garbage compared to the Switch. Or maybe it's just that a lot of indy titles are targeting ARM already? Indy games sell really well on the switch compared to Steam (at least that used to be the case, I'm not really up to date). One other thing that I think really helps the Switch is mobile gaming. Gaming on your phone / iPad is basically horrible due to predatory monetization schemes. As a parent, I would much prefer my kids play games on a Switch than a phone or tablet. Apple sort of addressed this with "Arcade", but the library doesn't even compare to the Switch.
- ajmurmann 3y ago
  Indy games, like all third-party games, go to the console that has the users. That's why it's important for a system to hit critical mass of good games to attract users and get a flywheel started. IMO that's why it's great for Nintendo to only have a single system. Much easier to hit critical mass of exclusive games if they don't have to make games for a handheld and a home console. The Wii also had decent support of indie games despite it being so different from other systems because it sold like hot cakes
sorenjan 3y ago
The Nintendo 64 was very advanced for its time.
- rolltrunhert 3y ago
  UltraHLE was a very advanced emulator for its time (played Mario64 and more in January 1999).
jtuple 3y ago
TBH, its only been 20 years that Nintendo has focused on cheap hardware. SNES was more powerful than Genesis, N64 arguably more powerful than PS1/Saturn but lacking CDs (and thus unable to rely on prerendered FMVs that defined that generation), and Gamecube more powerful than Dreamcast/PS2 (Xbox wins, but was unexpected new entrant) Nintendo definelty pushed graphics advancements as key selling points back then. The Wii is when they stopped competing on graphics, and switched to innovating in other areas (motion controls, 3D, connected tablet, hybrid gaming, etc).

by pdpi 3y ago

rapind 3y ago

Something else they've excelled at with the Switch are the indy games. Xbox really should have dominated the indy scene, especially with their subscription service IMO, but their licensing must be garbage compared to the Switch. Or maybe it's just that a lot of indy titles are targeting ARM already? Indy games sell really well on the switch compared to Steam (at least that used to be the case, I'm not really up to date). One other thing that I think really helps the Switch is mobile gaming. Gaming on your phone / iPad is basically horrible due to predatory monetization schemes. As a parent, I would much prefer my kids play games on a Switch than a phone or tablet. Apple sort of addressed this with "Arcade", but the library doesn't even compare to the Switch.

ajmurmann 3y ago
Indy games, like all third-party games, go to the console that has the users. That's why it's important for a system to hit critical mass of good games to attract users and get a flywheel started. IMO that's why it's great for Nintendo to only have a single system. Much easier to hit critical mass of exclusive games if they don't have to make games for a handheld and a home console. The Wii also had decent support of indie games despite it being so different from other systems because it sold like hot cakes

sorenjan 3y ago

The Nintendo 64 was very advanced for its time.

rolltrunhert 3y ago
UltraHLE was a very advanced emulator for its time (played Mario64 and more in January 1999).

jtuple 3y ago

TBH, its only been 20 years that Nintendo has focused on cheap hardware. SNES was more powerful than Genesis, N64 arguably more powerful than PS1/Saturn but lacking CDs (and thus unable to rely on prerendered FMVs that defined that generation), and Gamecube more powerful than Dreamcast/PS2 (Xbox wins, but was unexpected new entrant) Nintendo definelty pushed graphics advancements as key selling points back then. The Wii is when they stopped competing on graphics, and switched to innovating in other areas (motion controls, 3D, connected tablet, hybrid gaming, etc).