Nintendo Admits Its Not "Totally Secure" With Making A Generational Transition

In a financial briefing Q&A, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa shared strategies for a smooth generational transition to the next console.

[Neonridr]

Ultimately it comes down to whether or not the Switch 2 is fully backwards compatible. If it plays all Switch titles out of the box, then I don't feel you have to worry as much. Just make sure you give it a name that's clear that it's a new system. I know they don't like numbers, but just keep it simple.

[jznrpg]

Backward compatibility is important for Nintendo but it also needs to be a good jump in power or why would people upgrade ?

[Neonridr]

I think they can offer both. No reason why the next Switch couldn't play existing games, possibly even with patches for improved performance / resolution.

[fr0sty]

It's Nintendo... Switch is barely more powerful than a PS3, and it was meant to compete with PS4/Xbone, here it is still going up against PS5/XSX. I wouldn't expect much more than a PS4 from its successor.

[DarXyde]

More than anything, I feel the important consideration is whether it *feels* generationally different.

Wii was not at all a big step up from GameCube. It was lagging behind the OG Xbox in terms of performance. But it certainly didn't play like GameCube, and I think that's what Nintendo is good at: where Xbox signals a new generation vertically, Nintendo does so more in a horizontal manner where performance improves, but the emphasis is on doing something in a new way. Playstation is somewhere in-between with a diagonal approach, including big leap in power and—thanks to VR and Dualsense features—can also change the experience in a horizontal manner.

[Cacabunga]

Wii U was backward compatible not only with games but also all wii accessories.. i think it’s not about that it’s the marketing must be done right..
The Wii U is a very solid well built console but people has no idea what it was..

If they follow same principe as Switch they should clearly call it Switch 2 or something totally different not Switch U or something to make people think it’s a switch add-on.

[boing1]

Sounds like it's not fully compatible.

[Profchaos]

It's the curse of Nintendo they need to make people understand this is a new console and not a add on the Wii U had full backwards compatibility but that didn't work

[Nebaku]

I think it's funny that Nintendo's PR have actually convinced fans the Wii U flopped because of "unclear naming".

Because we all know consumers were so baffled by the "Super" Nintendo, Gameboy "Advance", and "3"DS that they didn't sell, right?

The Wii U flopped because it was both underpowered AND a gimmick system. A gimmick that wasn't even that compelling, unlike the original Wii's or 3DS's.

[Wintersun616]

If they're afraid of numbers, they can just call it Swap.

[gerbintosh]

Or just go with Super Switch. Just don't name it Switch U

[ChasterMies]

The Switch 2 has to compete with the Switch.

[gold_drake]

yeh, this is definitely similiar to the "ps2 to ps3" moment.

where the last one was so amazing and sold so much that going forward u dont rly know what to do with it the new one haha

but im sure they figure it out.

[Tacoboto]

The PS2 to PS3 transition was a unique beast of self-fulfilling near-sabotage.

The marketing was a disaster. They suggested customers work a second job. It was a year behind its direct competition and up to $200 more expensive. The development environment was not friendly and was responsible for the PS3 spending the vast majority of the generation with inferior third-party titles relative to 360. The launch controller didn't have rumble and the early games utilizing Six-Axis under-delivered.

Unless the Switch 2 is $500, Nintendo gets arrogant and belittles their customers *and* developers, I don't get how this could be similar at all to PS2 -> PS3.

[gold_drake]

thanks for the technical, production and advertisment aspect of my general statemant, that didnt really ask for anything but "wow sold so much, what to do with the next one" haha.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Lie after lie doesn't make this true.

Sony never suggested you get a second job. The media spread the falsehood that Sony said it. In reality, Sony said that you would work a little more to get a PS3. Which is true. That's what Ken said.

PS1 was $299. PS2 was $299. PS3 was $499-$599 with everything built in and full BC. Obviously, if you have common sense, you WOULD have to work a little more to get a PS3 compared to the previous consoles.

What the media said was stuff like in this Engadget article
https://www.engadget.com/20...

Working more hours to buy a more expensive system isn't saying get two jobs.

It was a year behind yes. But it had more but cost less than if you put all those features in an Xbox 360. The memory cards, the proprietary HDD, the Wi-Fi adapter, the HD DVD player that didn't work for games, etc etc were all more in cost than buying a PS3 with everything built in.

Third parties struggled on multi chip design. The funny thing is that multi chip design is standard today with multiple cores. I'm order to get the most out of them, you spread the processing across them. Moore's Law one chip was hitting a brick wall. Everyone in the tech world knew this.

The ones who did use the cores made better looking games on PS3 and outclassed 360 with games like uncharted, GT, GOW, TLofU etc over 360.

But the lie about getting 2 jobs needs to go. Guess it's true that if you tell a lie enough, someone will eventually believe it.

You can disagree all you like. The truth is slapping you in the face.

[Tacoboto]

@Shadow

Ok. Tell me then. How are salaried workers going to earn more just by working more hours? I'll let you sit and think on that one.

The Cell architecture is not comparable to today's chips. Sony split the RAM pool and that was a significant hurdle for third party developers to overcome.

Your unhinged overly defensive essays continue to paint you as someone in need of help. Focus on yourself instead of defending Sony every chance you can possibly get. The Sony of today and PlayStation of today are so great because they learned and applied the lessons learned from the PS3 era.

[UnbreakableAlex]

I also remember Sony saying rumble was so last gen, nobody needs it ^^
That was so embarrassing like “realistic giant crab” and “you have to work more to be able to afford a PS3”.

[Profchaos]

@shadow I'm not sure how you got to any of those points.

I love PlayStation to I've been playing their systems even since the PS1 saying that I could say the same for Nintendo, Sega also. But I'm not going to rewrite or paint over the history and mistakes they made as anything but bad choices

Multi core chip isn't quite right the cell architecture is not based or related to modern day CPU x86 architecture which is instruction set and is still unique and the cell revolved around programming multiple spus in order. Your examples of those who perfected it were all first party which shows third party games almost always played worse on PS3.

It's important to remember if the cell architecture really was so great why didn't Sony and IBM continue their partnership.

This was the copies and pasted quote from ken so yes never said second job however clearly it's not a good look.
"for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."

PS3 cost that much because of the Blu-ray tech and Sony made a huge loss on each PS3 sold so regardless Xbox was never going to come close to being as expensive even if they had WiFi they didn't need memory cards as the standard model had a 20gb drive the arcade model wasn't the main SKU and no one brought the hd DVD which was why it lost the format wars and that's for the best

Again let's not try and rewrite history because you don't like people insulting your favourite corporation.

The arrogant moments of a corporation blow back and we then get their best efforts to be pro consumer it resulted in the absolute perfection that was the PS4 launch

[Levii_92]

Tacoboto and with all that they ended up turning everything around surpasing MS in the end with sales. Not to mention plethora of awesome things like your console actually not dying, free online, tons and tons of awesome new exclusives and games, BD player and i'm sure i'm forgeting more stuff. That is why PS3 generation was the best Sony gen and my favourite.

[ManMarmalade]

This is starting to feel like another WiiU issue.

[Profchaos]

I really hope not

[Nintentional]

How? Lol

[ManMarmalade]

The WiiU wasn't a huge success partially because it seemed more like an add-on to the Wii and not a new console which was confusing for consumers.

[Hereandthere]

We can tell, they are milking the switch to death.

[Profchaos]

They sold another 15 million apparently they are probably like hey NVIDIA you guys mind waiting another year the switch 1 is still selling

[Nintentional]

Yes because it’s not because of the quality exclusives, no one’s buying Switches for those right? Switch has way more quality exclusive software than PS5/Xbox Series combined.

[badz149]

Yeah... It's not like it was released in 2017 or something, right?

[franwex]

They literally simply need to make it a switch 2. Minimum make digital games backwards in case they want to use a different physical media for games. If it’s the same, make it fully backwards compatible.

[WolfSeed]

Nintendo should stop making consoles.

The general sentiment is vocal and spreading. Nintendo practices of staying a generation or two behind in technology in order to make it cheaper on their greedy wallets, the lack of third party support and failing to deliver new iterations on their successful franchises (reason why most people buy Nintendo consoles) is leaving a bitter taste on users mouth. People are migrating to more competent platforms, and even getting a better experience on substitutions like Steam deck, with much better emulation.

It's time to put all eggs in one basket or become third party, Nintendo. Just focus on making games.

[Sitdown]

Stop...we don't need Nintendo to be a part of the arms race. I don't care if their systems are a generation or two behind, what I care about is having games that are fun...and they deliver on that. Anything else, I have PS5 and Series X for. Sales say the general sentiment you speak of is more so restricted to gaming websites, as the people continue to vote with their wallets.

[Nebaku]

So....what exactly are these successful franchises they aren't iterating on?

If anything, one of the big criticisms of Nintendo is them "relying on Mario and Zelda".

[WolfSeed]

Relying? Where is Metroid? Seriously, how could Nfans be so delisional? Where are the good games Nintendo gets so praised about?

[Nebaku]

"Relying? Where is Metroid? Seriously, how could Nfans be so delisional? Where are the good games Nintendo gets so praised about?"

You mean Metroid Dread? Y'know, the recent Metroid game that was critically and commercially successful?

[northpaws]

I really want Zelda in PS5 level graphics :( but I feel like it would never happen.

[RedDevils]

You can, on Pc Yuzu lol

[Chocoburger]

You'll get it when the Switch 4 is released in 15 years. :)

[neomahi]

Businessmen and Politicians are pretty much the same. Anything said by Nintendo Execs you can't take seriously, just wait until you can get official word. There's no point chasing a phantom, you benefit from it nothing. The industry being so shrouded is pretty pathetic considering Sony has already been working on the PS6

[PassNextquestion]

I think Nintendo should shift to a 10 year life cycle. People don't buy Nintendo products for high end graphics anymore. Just keep making games Nintendo and bring a new switch out in 2027 or something like that 🤣

[dadavis1992]

The switch can barely run its own app store. It's time for an upgrade lol

[anast]

This is like R* saying they are not secure about making a new GTA. Nintendo knows exactly what they are doing. The goal is to squeeze as much money out of their products as possible. They also know that their consumers will pay for anything they throw on the table. The reality is that they don't want to leave any money on the table before they transition.

[terstomp]

You are right. And Nintendo will agree with you. I really think that Nintendo is preparing its fans that the next handheld will be a minor spec bump. Well, the bare minimum that they can get away with.

[Aussiesummer]

It's not like it wont sell regardless but I do hope it is a major upgrade in power.

[Profchaos]

It might not never know the SNES was popular the N64 was outsold 3 to 1 than the GameCube did even worse. The Wii U was catastrophic after the Wii at the time becoming the 2nd best selling console of all time.

Point is you can always count on Nintendo to Nintendo

[fsfsxii]

nintendo as usual holding the medium back with their shit-tier hardware and software

[terstomp]

Sadly, even with all money made from the high profit margins due to the cheap to manufacture and badly engineered Switch, it seems Nintendo is preparing its fans for a minor spec bump only, just enough to get good reviews, that is, what is the minimum spec bump that they can get away with while receiving praise.

[Profchaos]

Says who? The new NVIDIA chipsets will be far more capable don't look at raw numbers here as this switch will likely have access to dlss capabilities and more