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The Switch 2 feels like a repeat of the Famicom/Super Famicom transition, but with a massive improvement (BC)

Shifty1897

Member
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The tooth pick is the C button
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Doesn't feel like the 8-bit > 16-bit transition yet, not until there's games shown that look better than what Switch 1 was outputting.

But perhaps in April this will feel more correct, if they can properly show games that look high-end. Remember SNES games visually were ahead of the competition, hardware in many ways brought visuals we never had seen before, with the Mode 7 from FFIII and Chrono Trigger and other games. Even without that, the 8-bit > 16-bit resolution bump was very noticeable.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Once the novelty/amazement factor is gone, you can't quite repeat the magic. The masses can only be super impressed once. The first time you are catching new people's attention. The second time with the same product you are only iterating. The hardcore will come back but not most of the casuals. They have seen the product/they have a version.

Same thing with movies. New Hope Vs Empire. It's just a continuation and people were wowed enough with Hope, no rush to see Empire.
Switch 2 will do well, will not outsell the Switch.

Nintendo would have to come out of left field with something new to repeat the success of the Switch. I guess when the Switch was new they didn't think about how many devices would run with the portable idea, and it's probably more shocking to them that it was on the PC side and not Microsoft and Sony. But they had the focus for the next console and had to run with it. Can't stop plans mid-gen.
Now Xbox and Sony will most likely throw their hats into the ring as well, and Nintendo has to think about what to do next in this handheld saturated market for the next console.
 
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Thaimasker

Member
Once the novelty/amazement factor is gone, you can't quite repeat the magic. The masses can only be super impressed once. The first time you are catching new people's attention. The second time with the same product you are only iterating. The hardcore will come back but not most of the casuals. They have seen the product/they have a version.

Same thing with movies. New Hope Vs Empire. It's just a continuation and people were wowed enough with Hope, no rush to see Empire.
Switch 2 will do well, will not outsell the Switch.

Nintendo would have to come out of left field with something new to repeat the success of the Switch. I guess when the Switch was new they didn't think about how many devices would run with the portable idea, and it's probably more shocking to them that it was on the PC side and not Microsoft and Sony. But they had the focus for the next console and had to run with it. Can't stop plans mid-gen.
Now Xbox and Sony will most likely throw their hats into the ring as well, and Nintendo has to think about what to do next in this handheld saturated market for the next console.
I mean, the sequel to avatar is still the 3rd highest grossing movie ever. James Cameron can't be upset at that.

I can't imagine Nintendo wanting to change their plans because the steam deck sold a couple million units. These other devices aren't even close to a wii U level of success lol.

Everyone except Nintendo has a massive uphill battle in this market to sell anywhere close to 20 million.. 50..100 million units
I don't even thinks it's possible without exclusive software. Only Nintendo will have that.
 
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SScorpio

Member
And the switch destroyed the ps4 😱

NES was a phenomenon. Its life span went into the snes life span. The nes had zero competition. The snes had big competition from sega. Yet the snes only was 10 million behind the nes total sales.

Again the dumbest take.
Just don't look at Europe or South America where the NES was non-existant and the Master System and computers. Or Japan itself where the PCEngine was the outselling the NES before the SuperNES came along.
 

SScorpio

Member
I mean, the sequel to avatar is still the 3rd highest grossing movie ever. James Cameron can't be upset at that.

I can't imagine Nintendo wanting to change their plans because the steam deck sold a couple million units. These other devices aren't even close to a wii U level of success lol.

Everyone except Nintendo has a massive uphill battle in this market to sell anywhere close to 20 million.. 50..100 million units
I don't even thinks it's possible without exclusive software. Only Nintendo will have that.
It not about how many Steam Decks Valve has sold. It's that total sales across Switch, PS4/5, and Xbox combined are less than PC. And don't even look at mobile.
 

Thaimasker

Member
It not about how many Steam Decks Valve has sold. It's that total sales across Switch, PS4/5, and Xbox combined are less than PC. And don't even look at mobile.
Even with pc and mobile the switch still sold 150 million and has still sold great in recent years for an end of life console. Maybe the switch 2 will sell "only" 130 or 120. But again, that's still a massive success.
 

ADiTAR

ידע זה כוח
Once the novelty/amazement factor is gone, you can't quite repeat the magic. The masses can only be super impressed once. The first time you are catching new people's attention. The second time with the same product you are only iterating. The hardcore will come back but not most of the casuals. They have seen the product/they have a version.

Same thing with movies. New Hope Vs Empire. It's just a continuation and people were wowed enough with Hope, no rush to see Empire.
Switch 2 will do well, will not outsell the Switch.

Nintendo would have to come out of left field with something new to repeat the success of the Switch. I guess when the Switch was new they didn't think about how many devices would run with the portable idea, and it's probably more shocking to them that it was on the PC side and not Microsoft and Sony. But they had the focus for the next console and had to run with it. Can't stop plans mid-gen.
Now Xbox and Sony will most likely throw their hats into the ring as well, and Nintendo has to think about what to do next in this handheld saturated market for the next console.
How many more delusional takes like this can this forum take?

It's as if PS1/2/3/4/5 had any iteration on them, or didn't compete with PCs and other consoles all this time.

The handheld market isn't saturated, no one cares about those products besides the ultra-hardcore.
 

Aldric

Member
Only because history shows that iterative systems sell less than groundbreaking ones
That doesn't really mean anything. Calling the Wii U "iterative" for ex doesn't really make much sense because its concept was significantly different from the Wii even if it technically shared the same branding. The Wii U wasn't focused on motion controls and the Wiimote like the Wii, it was based on the concept of asymmetrical gameplay through the Wii U gamepad. In fact it's one of the main factors explaining why it failed so hard (among many others), people didn't understand its concept and even devs themselves never really took advantage of it showing that it was an ill conceived system from the start.

Also some of the arguments in these threads are very sketchy, like saying that Gameboy Color sold less than the original Gameboy for ex while ignoring that Gameboy Advance sold far more than GBC and was selling at a much faster pace than the original before the DS overtook it (81 million GBA sold in four years vs 118 million GB including Color sold in 12 years). Lots of people trying to fit square pegs into round holes to support their preconceived notions.

The reason why Switch 2 will likely be successful is because the Switch branding and concept is strong, the Switch audience isn't in majority composed of nongamers that abandoned the Wii and DS quickly once mobile gaming took off as demonstrated by the original Switch and its games still selling well 8 years in, Nintendo's franchises are the most popular and mainstream they've ever been and will likely continue to be thanks to Nintendo's multimedia strategy and the system's more modern features as well as the sorry state of the rest of the industry will probably ensure solid third party support. Nintendo are in the best position they've been arguably in their entire history, butthurt console warriors desire to see them finally crash and burn notwithstanding.
 
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Sorcerer

Member
How many more delusional takes like this can this forum take?

It's as if PS1/2/3/4/5 had any iteration on them, or didn't compete with PCs and other consoles all this time.

The handheld market isn't saturated, no one cares about those products besides the ultra-hardcore.
Not saying the Switch 2 will flop at all. It will sell greatly. It simply cannot repeat the success of its predecessor.
It's basically "been there, done that".
 

ADiTAR

ידע זה כוח
Not saying the Switch 2 will flop at all. It will sell greatly. It simply cannot repeat the success of its predecessor.
It's basically "been there, done that".
Yes, like all previous systems.

Unless.. there's another lighting in a bottle situation of software. Like Animal Crossing. Labo and Ring Fit Adventure were developed specifically for the IR sensor, I'm assuming Nintnedo has something similar for the optical laser thing.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
An interesting shift in strategy from Nintendo. They are going from betting the house every generation, to a PlayStation like generation model and branding. Which kinda makes sense, because they really nailed the product with the OG Switch.

Nintendo has a short history of incremental branding and consoles - Super NES / Super Famicom, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance. All other instances, competition compelled Nintendo to blow everything up. PlayStation forced Nintendo to abandon the NES lineage, and PSP forced Nintendo’s to abandon the Game Boy. Wii U is an example of incremental branding, but blowing everything up in terms of product concept. I am still not sure what compelled them to blow everything up, but keep the branding.

Each time Nintendo has been wildly successful is when it has bet the house on a new concept and new brand. This has happened three times - Wii, DS and Switch. Their success in incremental branding and concept is pretty mixed, if not poor. But that is not to say it couldn’t happen - Sony has made it work for three decades. Maybe when the concept is exactly right, and games are there, it works.

The reveal trailer - well, aside of beautiful 3D rendering, there is not really much to say. It looks the same, we can scrutinise the smaller details like magnets, mouse functionality, and an extra button, screen bezels. But it’s a night and day to the OG Switch reveal trailer, which bursted with gaming joy and showed how much fun we will have with the new revolutionary console. This one just screams - ‘Please understand.’

I has similar thoughts, copied above from the reveal thread.

EDIT - Actually forgot the DS - 3DS incremental transition

So, incremental branding and concept updates:

NES/Famicom > Super NES/Super Famicom
Game Boy > Game Boy Color > Game Boy Advance
DS > 3DS
Switch > Switch 2

Incremental branding update, blowing up concept:

Wii > Wii U

Blowing up concept and branding:

Super NES > Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64 > GameCube
GameCube > Wii
Game Boy Advance > Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS > Switch
 
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tr1p1ex

Member
it's the most samey looking transition for Nintendo yet.

Looks virtually identical to a Switch. I guess there's 'if it isn't broke don't fix it.' And keep costs down as much as possible. They probably only changed the way the joycons attached so they could sell new ones. ;) The mouse-ability better be good.
 
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It's the first time in a long time for Nintendo where they've had some momentum moving into the next generation. It's also the first time in a long time where strong third party support is assumed.

Plenty are questioning if it'll ultimately live up to the crazy success of the original, but no-one seems to be arguing that this thing is going to bomb.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Once the novelty/amazement factor is gone, you can't quite repeat the magic. The masses can only be super impressed once. The first time you are catching new people's attention. The second time with the same product you are only iterating. The hardcore will come back but not most of the casuals. They have seen the product/they have a version.
The iPhone says hello.
Sure, different product for different needs. But it’s still in high demand with its 16th iteration.
 

synce

Member
lol Not even remotely the same. Graphics and games were still advancing back then. Kids wouldn't have seen anything like SNES graphics on NES. The Mario Kart footage they showed is on the level of Xbox 360, which came out 20 years ago. Where's the wow factor? I think the only people excited are the dudes literally counting pixels in comparison videos.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
I felt more of a Wii-to-Wii U transition vibe.
interesting, how so? Wii to Wii U was pretty huge, but stupidly marketed and named. This feels to me more like a standard fair sequel, like a PS4 - PS5. Nothing exciting or ground breaking, just more power.
 

dcx4610

Member
As someone that grew up in that era, I feel it too. The Super Nintendo felt like well....a Super Nintendo. Better graphics, upgraded controls but still in the same universe. Switch 2 feels like an upgraded Switch and that's all you really need sometimes.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
I mean the biggest change was storage medium - the rest was just straightforward iteration of the hw (and like most, over-correcting for previous gen 'mistakes' in places).

35 years later and the Switch to Switch 2 transition feels very similar.
Just wish they'd name it Super Switch to really go with the 90ies wibe.
Then MS can release their 'MegaBox' handheld a year later and we can all pretend it's 35 years ago.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
I has similar thoughts, copied above from the reveal thread.
I would disagree that Sony did incremental branding(unless you're literally talking about JUST the name, and I don't think that's what brands are built on at all) - PS1->PS3 gens were anything but.
Incremental concepts - yes, but branding was all over the place - arguably still is now although they settled somewhat with PS4 gen.
 
Nah, the SNES wasn't an evolution of the NES in much of anything, it was just a next generation machine with improvements that made it a graphical manipulation power house in its days (especially when it released in japan, 1990!).

256 colors on screen (that was pretty hard to come by at home, most people had PCs that barely displayed CGA graphics back then!)
transparencies
tons of sprites
sample based sound
mode 7
Controllers that would define the direction controllers would go in gaming
etc.

The switch 2 is a slight upgrade over the last one, not even making it up to par with PC counterparts.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Shit ? I think you meant "Facts".

Can you people engage in discussion without being emotionally invested ?

Lmao. You’re the one arguing the Switch 2 is likely to be a Wii U situation. A colossal failure.

That’s an emotional ass claim, right there. Because logic certainly isn’t involved.

The switch 2 is a slight upgrade over the last one, not even making it up to par with PC counterparts.

Source?
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
256 colors on screen (that was pretty hard to come by at home, most people had PCs that barely displayed CGA graphics back then!)
PC had SVGA for 3 years by then - with 24bit and all. The same way people will compare Switch 2 to 5090 as the 'standard' - noone cares whether it's actually mainstream or not in these discussions.

transparencies
tons of sprites
sample based sound
mode 7
These were all iterative though, concepts of 2d acceleration that existed before even NES was released.

The switch 2 is a slight upgrade over the last one, not even making it up to par with PC counterparts.
I mean - depending how you look at things - there were NO PC counterparts to 2d acceleration in x86 PC space when SNES came out - so it's not really comparable situation.
Or if we look at other PCs (Amiga etc.) then many capabilities were around 5 years prior, so not that favorable for SNES after all. They just weren't nearly as broadly sold as either the console OR the x86 compatibles.
 
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xanaum

Member
interesting, how so? Wii to Wii U was pretty huge, but stupidly marketed and named. This feels to me more like a standard fair sequel, like a PS4 - PS5. Nothing exciting or ground breaking, just more power.
My impression is that Nintendo will use the same strategy of "gently" introducing the successor, very tied to the image of the previous one, while also trying to ride the success but without killing the hype of the previous console's sales, giving it just a sense of an update, like what happened with Wii > Wii U, which even confused casual shoppers in stores.

In my view, the problem with the Wii U wasn’t just the name or its marketing, but Nintendo’s strategy of saying,

"Hey everyone, this is still the Wii you bought and love, but now it’s a Wii U. Yes, it’s still a Wii, but with new accessories."

I could be wrong, but that’s how I saw the initial push for the Switch 2.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
I would disagree that Sony did incremental branding(unless you're literally talking about JUST the name, and I don't think that's what brands are built on at all) - PS1->PS3 gens were anything but.
Incremental concepts - yes, but branding was all over the place - arguably still is now although they settled somewhat with PS4 gen.

I guess I was mainly thinking of the brand naming scheme, but you do raise an interesting point about how the other branding has evolved.

PS1 branding was very cool, contemporary, cutting edge, energetic. The symbols, techno, SAPS, consumer electronic like design.

PS2 branding was futuristic, surreal, mysterious, otherworldly. A monolithic design, the coolest PS logo ever, David Lynch films, bizarre print ads.

PS3 branding was bold, brash, massive. Shiny curved console, ultra wide italic logo, Spiderman association, Killzone and Motorstorm fantasy.

In the PS4 generation they somehow lost that creative momentum and energy. They introduced that bland and rather tacky blue 3D symbols pattern.

PS5 generation follows very much the bland PS4 branding, although they did go all out to make the most inexplicable shape of a console, to a point where they ship it with small transparent plastic pins to stop it from wobbling.
 
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Hudo

Member
Repeat of the SNES you say?

So we'll get a new Chrono Trigger, a new FF that is as good as FF6 and a new F-Zero, then! Sounds good to me!

Also: I would love to have a new Metal Marines game!
 
Back in 1990 when Nintendo was releasing the Super Famicom in Japan, they were coming from a position of total dominance.

With the Famicom (and NES), Nintendo enjoyed ownership of 98% of the entire video game industry. This was mostly due to Yamauchi's iron-fist policies that put both third parties and retailers on their knees at his feet. When they released the Super Famicom in 1990, they had a captive audience of fans that led to the company's continued domination.

The console didn't shake things up in terms of designs or gimmicks. It was just an iteration of the NES. More powerful, and adding more buttons to the controller while maintaining Nintendo's patented d-pad.

35 years later and the Switch to Switch 2 transition feels very similar.

The Switch 2 is just an iteration of the Switch, while being more powerful and with minor updates to the console and controllers. Like the Famicom, in Japan Nintendo is the video game industry enjoying a similar level of dominance they did in 1990 although for very different reasons.

Except this time the transition has backwards compatibility. Honestly even if they could do that in 1990 I doubt Yamauchi would allow it because he still wanted to sell the New Famicom models. But now everyone's Nintendo account carries over and they don't have to restart their library due to BC (unless they're hardcore Labo and Ring-fit fans, then too bad). So this has a potential to be even bigger than the Super Famicom/SNES transition in comparison.

I agree OP and I was just thinking the same thing today and then I saw this post.
 
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