Comment on It’s official: No Nintendo console has lasted as long as Switch without being replaced
Album@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
It’s no mistake that the NES/SNES were held onto for a long time. Literally some of the most popular consoles ever…much like the switch.
Switch lite and OLED version to extend it’s life and people ate that up. New buyers buying for the first time, old buyers re-buying the same console basically. Big Brain stuff.
I wonder whether they’ll only release an OLED Switch, or if they’ll sell the LED Switch first again.
As an enthusiast I’d be pretty pissed knowing to either wait a few years for the OLED or having to buy a second switch at some point. Reason being I can’t imagine going back to an LED after gaming on an OLED for years. My phone constantly shows me what my Steam Deck is missing.
Well the NES and SNES were a different bag. In those gens, Nintendo had a good, affordable console with a solid library of games. Back then, that alone was revolutionary, so they essentially created the market out of thin air and then reaped those benefits. I guess the Switch is the same in the sense that Nintendo struck when the iron was hottest - 2017 was the perfect time to make and release a handheld/TV hybrid console. The tech was just strong enough and just affordable enough to make the concept work, but there weren’t really any competitors yet. Fast forward to 2024 and now we have the Steam Deck and all of its copycats eating that lunch a little, but when the Switch came out, there was nothing else quite like it.
I’m not sure the NES was affordable per se. On release, it cost about $500 in today’s money. And then you had to buy games at extra cost. In a world where you could go to an arcade with your pocket money and have a decent amount of fun, I don’t think it was a great value proposition in the eyes of many.
this is a good point. funny how we got the prices down and then they ended up right back where they started! Well…for everyone except Nintendo, but who knows? Maybe this successor will come with an “inflation” induced price increase?
autumn@beehaw.org 5 months ago
my dad bought a switch for his wife recently. neither one of them are “gamers.” i think they only play mario kart!
theangriestbird@beehaw.org 5 months ago
what percentage of active Switches are “Mario Kart machines”, do you think? I’d bet money on like…10% at least.
BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 5 months ago
id bet its more pokemon machines for whatever system the current pokemon game is on
at least the switch is that for me. animal crossing machine for my gf