A Voice In A Chorus, Or the Lead Singer?

As I stated before in a previous blog, when Nintendo started this journey into the hybrid-console world, they were a lone voice on stage. Microsoft and Sony were still fully engaged in the norm of the set-top box model which has been a successful strategy for nearly 50 years. However, things in society are rapidly changing, and the need for the gaming industry to change with it has become apparent to everyone. Even Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo saw where the industry was heading, and got out in front. Noah didn't wait to build the Ark until after it started raining. He started building it right after God told him to. Nintendo saw the storm coming and got busy. Fortunately for them, where the industry was going fell right into the wheelhouse of an area where Nintendo has always been dominate. So, it was an easy transition for them. In many ways, it was probably a weight lifted off of their shoulders. At first, Nintendo stood on stage by themselves with the Nintendo Switch. One stage, one microphone, and all the attention on them. They had it this way for 5 years. Then, Valve walked onto the stage with the Steam Deck. Their voice may not be as loud as Nintendo's voice, or command the same level of attention, but a lot of people like that voice and these are people that if the Steam Deck wasn't there might be listening to Nintendo's voice. Then Ayaneo stepped onto the stage. Then ASUS stepped onto the stage. Then Lenovo stepped onto the stage. Then several other smaller companies stepped onto the stage. While it had been rumored and supposed for quite some time, both Microsoft and Sony have CONFIRMED their intentions to jump up on that stage as well. Now, instead of Nintendo just being the lone musical act, now you have a bunch of people on the stage singing. So, all of the clutter that Nintendo was trying to get away from has followed them. Nintendo built the Ark, but now everyone is jumping in at the last minute before the flood comes. Hybrid-gaming is DEFAULT. It is NORMAL. It is not niche' anymore. My question is this. Whenever Nintendo decides on releasing the successor to the Nintendo Switch, what are they going to do to standout again from the competition now that the competition has taken what made the Switch unique and made it into normal functionality? Now, for the Nintendo fan, the FIRST thing that is usually brought up is Nintendo's FIRST-party titles. Fair enough. Nintendo's first-party titles are very strong and very important as they are with every console manufacturer. One MAJOR reason why Microsoft is struggling so mightily is because they all but destroyed their first-party division. With Sony, they have the bangers for their first-party division, but we are only getting like 1 or 2 per year because of the "hindrance" of high-end machinery. In other words, why have a powerhouse game-console, but not have your first-party titles showcasing all the power that it has? The games will be spectacular masterpieces..........when FINISHED, but we will see them few and far between, AND have to wait long intervals between when we see them, IF we want "quality" and not just shovel-ware with a pretty coat of paint on it. So, that is the catch-22 with the PS5, and to a lesser extent the XSX. Instead of the supreme high-end power being an asset, it has become an albatross around the neck of Microsoft and Sony. They could make a lot more first-party games that still look pretty good, but maybe not enough of a bump over the best-looking games on the PS4 Pro and XBOX One X, which makes the PS5 and XSX a pointless buy. Especially if you have PlayStation Plus or XBOX Game Pass. Some Nintendo fans will say that Nintendo's first-party titles will separate it from the pack. Well, for Nintendo fans that most certainly is true, but not everyone is a fan of Nintendo's first-party. The vast majority of the install-base of the Nintendo Switch are casual gamers who probably do have a few first-party Nintendo games, but that was not the determining-factors as to why they own a Switch, or why they bought one in the first place. Who has the "best" first-party titles is a matter of opinion to begin with. So, there is no right or wrong answer there. It just comes down to what each individual consumer likes. Put yourself in this scenario. You are NOT a Nintendo fan. You DON'T care about Mario. You DON'T care about Zelda. You DON'T care about Pok'e'mon. You DON'T care about any of their IP. You just wanted a hybrid-device and at the time, Nintendo was the only company offering one. Now that we have set the stage, let us ask the question..... "Why am I choosing the Switch successor????" That is the question of the day. I'm not saying someone shouldn't. I'm just asking. What is Nintendo going to do to make it stand out from all the competition? What is the hook at makes it a more attractive buy for non Nintendo fans? Nintendo has to have an answer to this question. If you are selling hamburgers and some people don't like the taste of your hamburgers, you don't just give up on those customers. You add different entrees to your menu in hopes that customers that didn't like your hamburgers will like something else on the menu, and thus, will have a reason to come to your establishment even if they don't like the main entree that you sell, or it is just mid to them. I mean, back in the day when McDonald's was still good, the burgers were certainly tasty, but those fries..............WHOO! I've been known to get my sandwich from one burger place, but get the fries from McDonald's. I still do that today. I might get a sandwich from Culver's, but then get curly fries from Arby's. The point is that each establishment has something on the menu that I like that I can eat even if I don't care for their main entrees. Even though it is just an opinion of some (not me personally,) if we go out on a limb and say that Nintendo has the "best" first party games in the industry, what else do they have? You see what I'm saying? It's gotta be more than that. It's even gotta be more than it just being "more powerful." Steam Deck, Ayaneo 2, ROG Ally, and the Legion Go do not have the first-party library Nintendo has, but they have a lot of things that the Switch does not have and Nintendo has no intention of making those things available anytime soon. I'm sure that the Switch successor will be more powerful than the current Switch, but it still may only be on-par with the current Steam Deck. There is a Steam Deck 2 coming and Valve has stated it won't release it until they know it can be a generational-leap over the current Steam Deck. The Switch successor will still be less powerful than the ROG Ally. There is a ROG Ally 2 coming. It still will be less powerful than the Legion Go. There is a Legion Go 2 coming. We KNOW it will be less powerful than whatever Sony and Microsoft are working on. With Sony, you'll most likely have access to PlayStation Plus. With Microsoft, you know you'll have XBOX GamePass. With Nintendo, what are we getting excited about? Are we supposed to get excited about them trickling out 30 year-old Game Boy titles on their online library every couple of years, for FULL PRICE? Are we supposed to get excited about Wii game remakes or remasters for FULL PRICE (here's lookin' at YOU Donkey Kong Country Returns HD?) C'mon, now. I mean, be honest. We ALL complain about them doing that. Don't we? We know that Nintendo will not be allowing a third-party OS like Windows, Linux, or Steam OS onto the Switch successor which cancels out a LOT of features and abilities. We DEFINITELY know that emulators will be as far away from the Switch successor as we are from the Delta Quadrant. So, that is a lot missing that the competition will have. They gotta do better than that. Here's the thing. I think they will. I honestly think that Nintendo might be working on some type of streaming-service with access to a lot of their old games and possibly even video content. This could be why Nintendo is going after emulation so hard all of a sudden. I mean, why buy a streaming-service with access to all the NES titles or something like that when I can just emulate them? Now, most people that are in that line of thinking already have ROM stashes and emulators safely tucked away where they can play them whenever they choose, but not everyone is into emulation. Not every is tech-savvy enough to deal with emulators, but they still want to play those old games. Well, this is where the streaming-service comes into play. You can either pay a service to have access to play these old games, and/or buy selected titles for your own library. Seeing that Nintendo is fully committed to producing visual entertainment now, the possibilities are endless when you think about all the IP that they have, and the potential for movies, TV shows, cartoons, and anime to air on their streaming-service. There are patents out there that suggest such a thing. IF this is a real thing and not just conjecture on my part, and IF they are planning a simultaneous launch between it and the new console, it could be a reason why Nintendo has been so quiet, and why they are taking so long. Once last thing. One of the things that Nintendo does best is take ideas other failed with, and make it a success. The inventor of the motion-control Nintendo used for the Wii failed everywhere he tried until he finally sold the patents to them. We saw what happened with the Wii. It was a success. Hybrid-devices go all the way back to the Sega Nomad in the mid 1990s. It didn't catch on. Probably three years too late. We saw what happened with the Switch. It was a success. Game-streaming services have been around for awhile also. The most recent large-scale game-streaming service was Google Stadia. That had a promising start, but it also failed............ ............I'll let you fill in the blanks here. I guess that this blog was a long-winded way of me saying that I honestly believe that Nintendo is cooking something and that the Switch successor will NOT be "just a more powerful Switch." I'm not gonna be Boo-Boo the Fool and say that can't happen. I'm just saying that I honestly feel that they won't