Nintendo Will we see another dedicated Nintendo home console?

[CastletonSnob]

The Switch is selling like hotcakes laced with crack, but I'd really like Nintendo to make another dedicated home console. Will we ever get another dedicated home console from Nintendo?

[SimpleG]

15 minutes ago, CastletonSnob said:

The Switch is selling like hotcakes laced with crack, but I'd really like Nintendo to make another dedicated home console. Will we ever get another dedicated home console from Nintendo?

Unlikely 

They have shown they can play in both worlds, so really no need.

[best3444]

5 minutes ago, SimpleG said:

Unlikely 

They have shown they can play in both worlds, so really no need.

 

Sadly this is true. 

[Paperclyp]

Not in the way you mean, though to me the switch is just as much of a “home console” as anything else they’ve made the last 20 years. It’s not like they’ve tried to push power one iota since the cube. 
 

But no, they’re not going to split up their development time between two machines again. And with streaming looming in the future I think they’ll hedge even more toward the mobile platform. In the not too distant future theoretically you can have the most powerful console via an app on your tv, so I think having a nice form factor mobile device will maybe be the way they lean toward. 

[BloodyHell]

Yes.

Nintendo has shown that they aren't afraid to pivot on a dime and go in veey different directions from generation to generation. It might not be their next console, but their will be another.

[Guest]

[imthesoldier]

Interestingly, I am surprised Nintendo hasn't created a Docked-Only version of the Switch, especially since the handheld-only Lite exists. You'd think it'd be a shoe-in for another SKU. You could sell it at the same price as the Lite, and bundle it with the Pro Controller. 

 

For next-gen Switch, I anticipate they'll continue with the hybrid design, though I'm questioning if they'll go with another off-the-shelf part such as Tegra Xavier, or Orin. Given their past history, I wonder if the next-gen Switch will end up being a custom SoC using the X1 as a base, but with souped up components, so maybe double, or triple the CPU cores (could even use newer A7x Cortex cores), and RAM, and a more powerful GPU core. This would help them I think reach full backwards compatibility. Even with a custom SoC, you could expect at least PS4-level performance, plus added feature sets, and the holy grail would be DLSS. This of course is provided they stick with nVidia, which given the current success of the Switch, they probably want that relationship to continue. 

[TwinIon]

I wouldn't want to extrapolate too far into the future, but I think we can be confident that the follow-up to the Switch will be portable.

 

I do think it's worth remembering that the Switch hardware was rushed out and that even at the time and for the money the Switch was under-powered. I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch 2 is a bit closer to state of the art. It won't be state of the art, because Nintendo still wants to make money selling hardware, but I think it'll be closer.

[GameDadGrant]

I hope they continue making portable systems. I care less and less about dedicated home consoles as I get older.

[imthesoldier]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

I wouldn't want to extrapolate too far into the future, but I think we can be confident that the follow-up to the Switch will be portable.

 

I do think it's worth remembering that the Switch hardware was rushed out and that even at the time and for the money the Switch was under-powered. I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch 2 is a bit closer to state of the art. It won't be state of the art, because Nintendo still wants to make money selling hardware, but I think it'll be closer.

 

It was also a perfect storm for Nintendo because while the Tegra X1 may have been "underpowered" for a mobile SoC, there was literally nothing else on the market they could've used for the amount of chips they needed for the price. Nintendo knew they had to go beyond PowerPC, especially when they were using a chip that was originally built in the late 90s. 

 

Like you said, it wasn't state-of-the-art, but what it did provide was cheap, powerful, and readily available. In a perfect world, the kind of leap in hardware for next-gen Switch would be akin to what the Wii to Wii U was rather than GCN to Wii, which is how I look at going from Wii U to Switch. 

[Phaseknox]

1 hour ago, imthesoldier said:

Interestingly, I am surprised Nintendo hasn't created a Docked-Only version of the Switch, especially since the handheld-only Lite exists. You'd think it'd be a shoe-in for another SKU. You could sell it at the same price as the Lite, and bundle it with the Pro Controller.

If there was a much cheaper docked-only Switch then I would own it, because I have no interest in the portability aspect of it as I only game at home.
 

29 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

I hope they continue making portable systems. I care less and less about dedicated home consoles as I get older.

It’s the opposite for me, I care less and less about portable gaming devices as I get older since I’m retired and rarely leave the house these days especially during the current pandemic.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Nope!

[Ghost_MH]

3 hours ago, imthesoldier said:

Interestingly, I am surprised Nintendo hasn't created a Docked-Only version of the Switch, especially since the handheld-only Lite exists. You'd think it'd be a shoe-in for another SKU. You could sell it at the same price as the Lite, and bundle it with the Pro Controller. 

 

For next-gen Switch, I anticipate they'll continue with the hybrid design, though I'm questioning if they'll go with another off-the-shelf part such as Tegra Xavier, or Orin. Given their past history, I wonder if the next-gen Switch will end up being a custom SoC using the X1 as a base, but with souped up components, so maybe double, or triple the CPU cores (could even use newer A7x Cortex cores), and RAM, and a more powerful GPU core. This would help them I think reach full backwards compatibility. Even with a custom SoC, you could expect at least PS4-level performance, plus added feature sets, and the holy grail would be DLSS. This of course is provided they stick with nVidia, which given the current success of the Switch, they probably want that relationship to continue. 

 

If Nintendo was able to, I could imagine them releasing a console stick that was digital only. Cooling would be the biggest issue, but isn't impossible to overcome. I would totally buy one...or a couple. I'm not sure they feel they could get away with releasing a Switch variant that didn't accept cartridges, though.

[CastletonSnob]

Would you say Nintendo left the home console market?

[Mr.Vic20]

1 minute ago, CastletonSnob said:

Would you say Nintendo left the home console market?

No, I would say Nintendo did what Nintendo does, which is make toys that a lot of people buy. The switch is a home console and a portable. We could say that its lack of power indicates that its "left the home console market" but the Wii and WiiU were nothing to brag about in the power department either, and no one was making that claim in those generations. 

[BloodyHell]

3 hours ago, GameDadGrant said:

I hope they continue making portable systems. I care less and less about dedicated home consoles as I get older.

Im literally the opposite. Ill use handheld when I travel or am away working, but the older I get, the less interest I have in gaming on a tiny screen in my hands. 

[stepee]

Next time you visit your parents, they probably still have a Wii hooked up.

[best3444]

I have absolutely 0 interest in handheld gaming so I'd love them to make a home console again. With the success of the switch I don't know why they would change their modeling, though.

[GameDadGrant]

4 hours ago, Phaseknox said:

It’s the opposite for me, I care less and less about portable gaming devices as I get older since I’m retired and rarely leave the house these days especially during the current pandemic.

 

51 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Im literally the opposite. Ill use handheld when I travel or am away working, but the older I get, the less interest I have in gaming on a tiny screen in my hands. 

 

That's cool. I know I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to handhelds, but I just love the convenience of them. I still travel a lot (actually just got back to Michigan from California not too long ago) so being able to take my games with me is a huge bonus. Even when playing at home, I really like being able to play in ANY room of the house, or even switch rooms during the game. Or when my wife wants to watch TV, I can keep gaming while sitting next to her (kinda "spending time together" haha). I got good use out of my various Game Boy units, the DS, 3DS, PSP and Vita that way. Even got some use out of the Wii U via "off TV play" as well...despite that being kind of a trash console overall, haha. But I get that others like playing on a TV, and don't wanna deal with a smaller screen that they hold in their hands. To each their own! 

 

2 hours ago, CastletonSnob said:

Would you say Nintendo left the home console market?

 

Yes. I would, anyway. 

 

The Switch is a handheld. Some models have a dock so you can play on a TV, but don't be confused. The dock is not a console. Without the dock, you can still play all the Switch games out there. But without the Switch itself? The dock can't play ANY games. So IMHO, yes. Nintendo is a handheld-only company as far as video games go. Heck, the only other platform they make games for are mobile devices...! 

[Paperclyp]

^ there’s no reason to be that strict about it @GameDadGrant

 

It’s a hybrid machine. Doesn’t have to be any more complicated. 

[GameDadGrant]

2 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

^ there’s no reason to be that strict about it @GameDadGrant

 

It’s a hybrid machine. Doesn’t have to be any more complicated. 

 

I thought I was making it *less* complicated, haha. It's just my personal opinion though. Anyone else can label the Switch however they want. 

 

But to me, it's clearly a handheld. Heck, the last two hardware "updates" they made to the standard Switch benefit only the handheld side of things. The Switch Lite is *factually* a handheld-only system. And the OLED model really only gives the player a fancy new screen to look at...when playing handheld mode. (okay, I guess the dock got a new outlet to plug in an Ethernet cable, but that was technically already possible on the standard dock, so whatever!  ) 

[Paperclyp]

1 hour ago, GameDadGrant said:

 

I thought I was making it *less* complicated, haha. It's just my personal opinion though. Anyone else can label the Switch however they want. 

 

But to me, it's clearly a handheld. Heck, the last two hardware "updates" they made to the standard Switch benefit only the handheld side of things. The Switch Lite is *factually* a handheld-only system. And the OLED model really only gives the player a fancy new screen to look at...when playing handheld mode. (okay, I guess the dock got a new outlet to plug in an Ethernet cable, but that was technically already possible on the standard dock, so whatever!  ) 

It is basically a handheld what you can hook up to your TV, so I don’t really disagree. 

[Keyser_Soze]

9 hours ago, Phaseknox said:

If there was a much cheaper docked-only Switch then I would own it, because I have no interest in the portability aspect of it as I only game at home.
 

It’s the opposite for me, I care less and less about portable gaming devices as I get older since I’m retired and rarely leave the house these days especially during the current pandemic.

 

You don't have to go somewhere to play a handheld device.

 

I've never docked my switch and I don't go anywhere either.

[Phaseknox]

35 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

You don't have to go somewhere to play a handheld device.

 

I've never docked my switch and I don't go anywhere either.

If I’m at home and can play video games on my big TV, then that’s usually my preference. But I also know from having handheld game systems in the past that there’s an appeal to being able to go anywhere in your house and game on a small self-contained portable gaming device. There’s a bit of a freedom to it compared to being confined to where your TV is at.

[Xbob42]

lol, people trying to predict what Nintendo will do next. Nintendo basically operates on whims, not trends.

[crispy4000]

The Switch gets a performance/graphical features boost in many games by playing docked.  There’s never been another Nintendo handheld that’s done this when connected to power.  Furthermore, you can only tap into this (typically) improved performance and fidelity mode by playing on a separate screen.

 

Devs having to accommodate for those two different performance profiles strongly implies it’s better to think of it as a hybrid.  I really hope Nintendo keeps with that feature for their next system.

 

The Deck actually won’t do this apart from resolution, so I’d classify it more as a portable with optional TV output.

[imthesoldier]

11 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

lol, people trying to predict what Nintendo will do next. Nintendo basically operates on whims, not trends.

 

True, though we can make some fairly accurate assessments based on their past history. We do know they tend to rely on withered technology aka readily available, and cheap. So things such as Ray Tracing, and VR? Fat chance next-gen Switch will have it. But 4K, and perhaps DLSS, provided they stick with nVidia? It's possible.