I am so tired of the word "innovation" in the hardware market. No one is innovating in any meaningful, significant way. It all ends up as a gimmick. We've heard this word since the Xbox 360 generation and Xbox and Microsoft are the worst abusers of it since that time. Where is your Kinect TV TV TV NFL SPORTS TV TV COD COD TV SPORTS COD NFL now? You are smart to move your brand to a more digital space and availability across platforms, but that's been a necessity since you totally mucked up what you had in the market lead with the Xbox 360. Again, this is all because people who were passionate about making video games got the boot in favor of corporate suits and investors who have bastardized video games into big business for greed.
Focus on great software that is fun and feature-complete on release.
Focus on video games first and profits second. Yes you are a business, but nickel and diming customers isn't cool. Stop catering to the whales and investors to line your pockets. You can still make money and deliver great games at reasonable prices. VR, cameras, motion controls, handhelds, are all gimmicks that will not "innovate" anything. Hardware innovation involves better performance and memory out of the box. Software is what should differentiate your console, not shitty UI that takes backwards steps every generation or mangling the online experience.
And I will offer my rebuttal for the "B-b-but Nintendo innovates!" crowd here and now.
-They launched 3 years earlier than PS5/XSX and at $300 if you want to use console sales as a metric.
-The console is weaker than last gen consoles despite Nintendo fans always wanting to champion their belief that Nintendo is always "next gen." Rumors of Switch 2 running like an XBS tells us what we need to know about Nintendo, hardware, and "innovation."
-They are not doing anything they haven't done before. Switch simply perfected what the Wii and WiiU attempted. Being a hybrid will fit the basic definition of innovation to degrees, but we've since seen Steam Deck prove that good handheld gaming isn't innovative anymore.
-Nonsense like LABO was quickly and correctly put to bed. The market does not want that gimmick nonsense.
-You're playing the same tired franchises with slightly better graphics.
-You're paying again to play the same old games again in the same old franchises. Again. Nintendo nickels and dimes you every generation to play the Original Zelda and SMB games. It is quite frankly embarrassing and disgusting.
-You have no real online infrastructure of note.
They made a nice handheld that lets you play the same old games on your TV, too. Sure, the experience is seamless but all they did was combine what they were already doing. That ship has sailed so the next iteration will be advancing the concept instead of doing anything new with it.
TLDR: Fun and complete software will carry you to success if you let it. Hardware "innovation" is just buzz for clueless non-gamer investors to line your pockets so you can try to sniff out the next fad. Ultimately the gimmicks you sell your hardware on are not going to innovate anything.
).
.
