The State of The Industwy 2026

Debated on whether to put this on my Nintendo AGENDA page or even make a YouTube, but instead I'm just gonna post this quick'n'dirty here.  I do these every once in a while to take a look at the current and future landscape of video games from my Nintendo biased POV.

X-BOX

WTF.  There's the possibility that Microsoft will bow out of hardware and that's what they should do...publish all their games on other platforms to make back the billions they spent to get where they are in gaming.  Even still, there's some x-bots who are hoping for future hardware in a quickly dying brand.  X-BOX is now lending it's (worthless) brand to portable PC's and Smart TV's a la the old ideals of hardware licensing (like 3DO, CD-i, etc.) which won't work.  The rumors suggest the X-BOX brand will be spread across a variety of platforms with a main system being a PC/console hybrid...a powerful, premium, expensive hybrid running Windows 11 on your TV which also won't work.  The brand is too tarnished and the real money is bringing their games to other platforms.  Another problem is that they're moving towards that "all-digital future" that most people really don't want, game consumers who've been around long enough see right through that garbage.  And even if it's forced down our throats the audience for that would better go to the already established Steam service, which they already have!  Want a PC/console hybrid, Valve will already have Steam Machine ready to gobble that up.  The macroeconomics of the current world make future X-BOX hardware (even if it's meant to be a boutique x-bot niche) look bleak when people could just play those games on other platforms.

PlayStation

With the X-BOX no longer being a "threat" (to be clear, it only ever was a threat in mindshare, never marketshare) Sony has already stated through Mark Cerny (PlayStation hardware architect consultant) that they're approaching a next generation with AMD differently.  Using ideals and verbiage like ai upscaling, lower power consumption and advanced compression they seem to be scaling back the old approach of raw horsepower and going towards more efficient but cheaper and smaller tech potentially for PS6/other PlayStation hardware.  This seems to be the opposite of what the next X-BOX might be.  Together with rumors of PS6 and/or a new PlayStation portable system it makes sense, but is this multiple platforms (console and portable) or like a Switch hybrid?  Two systems could spread Sony too thin (especially if they play different software) like they had before they abandoned PSP and later PSVita.  Nintendo has already been doing the more efficient and cheaper (ai upscaling, low power consumption, advanced compression, etc.) hybrid approach for a while now so that means Sony will be playing catch-up if they're going for a hybrid or portable.  Too soon to know, but I think whether it's two separate systems or one hybrid system they better play all the same (PS5/PS6?) games...which brings the "all digital future" debate back in.  Being portable or hybrid means it won't play discs, and if it doesn't play discs and everything is digital then why buy a system at all if it's games can eventually be played on a PC that Sony has already been porting their games to.  The macroeconomics of the current world make future PlayStation hardware look questionable in the near time...they're making good decisions similar to decisions Nintendo (the market leader) has already been doing but they're stuck between waiting for the world economy to be ready for their "next generation" or letting Nintendo take more marketshare with Switch 2.

Other

PC has a new savior in the Steam Machine and the industwy as a whole is dominated by PC gaming which the "master race" loves to laud over console gamers but they act like mobile (iPhone/Android) isn't bigger (it is).  Then their portable gaming pc religion has a very loud minority also lauding their hardware over Nintendo...all while being outsold 30 to 1. 

Nintendo

Yes, I'm biased for Nintendo, but here's some things to keep in mind: they're the last bastion of physical games in an "all digital future" and they're the last platform with exclusive games that aren't ported to PC.  Diminishing returns in visuals also works in their favor...not arguing that Switch 2 games look as good as PS5 games, no...but most people (regular consumers) won't be able to tell the difference which means the competition loses it's "advantage" once more of their games come to Switch 2.  There is negativity surrounding Switch 2 in price, game key cards and lack of system sellers...yet, it has already sold 15Million+ consoles in 6 months...reality check: that's the fastest selling game system of all time!  Seeing a bunch of them on Walmart store shelves doesn't mean it's not selling, it means it's well-stocked which helps in it's record-breaking sales.  There are things going against Nintendo and Switch 2, sure, but we live in an age where everything gets hate online (not irl) and Switch 2 is selling well without having it's killer app and it's too young to see what it will be established as.  Give it a full year and we'll know more about what it is to people in both it's mindshare and marketshare.  The macroeconomics of the current world make the future of Nintendo look okay with room to improve (lots of ideas for ways to improve in my Nintendo AGENDA page soon) or falter mainly depending on what really matters: the games...Switch 2 is getting games, but it needs games that keep selling systems.

Overall

The state of the industwy is dictated more by the state of the world and the world looks bad right now, plus there's less money being spent on video games and gaming overall seems to be artistically down which is why people would rather spend time with past gaming generations...but that too is rough 'cos there's less of that out in the wild as collectors horde the old stuff.  Piracy and emulation abounds.

2025 TO 2026

I try to do this at the turn of every year, basically going over the past year and outlook for next year.

Personal News

Well, there's a lot to say.  I've kinda been through the wringer.  I am fortunate for where I'm at now 'cos I have to remind myself it could be a lot worse...but even still, I go through a lot and some of it I do to myself.  I keep saying I don't wanna use my Blogger to vent or whine like I did when I had social media so I'll try not to, but I guess I can just make some bullet points on the things I've gone through in this last year:

-I got too lax early in the year 'cos of political things I felt loosened up-

-I fell into a lot of laziness and sin, distracting me from what I should be doing-

-I am under constant spiritual attack...I see it...I need to focus on God more-

-the enemy is trying to hurt me through people, work, home, money, health, everything-

-tried to get "back to work" on things I should be doing, but not enough-

-worked on The DrGAKMAN Secret Menu more, so that's good-

-still have ideas for expanding that, but I'm not gonna rush that-

-have lots of other personal projects I need to get on, but have been lazy/distracted-

-I (stupidly) tried to talk to some girls again, same results, I should've known better-

-depression & loneliness followed, but I had to be thankful for what I *do* have-

-lack of romantic love in my life gets to me...but I have to remind myself I can't have that-

-that's another way for the enemy to get me...and those evil spirits have been all over me-

-this leads me to lust and anger...more aggressively in this last year I see my problems-

-lust will always be a thing, but my anger can be dangerous and I see that more now-

-I am taking steps to de-amplify my anger by SLOWING DOWN on purpose-

-I have noticed that when I'm in a rush, I become more stressed-

-anger already in me boils over when something brings my rushed state to a halt-

-I have already found great results in just slowing down, not rushing everything-

-from others pov, no one wants to be around me when I'm rushed or worse; angry-

-in my anger I've done some stupid shit this last year and had to pay for it-

-speaking for paying for stuff, there's been a lot of major purchases this year-

-Switch 2 came out, Metroid Prime 4, etc., money money money-

-rent, bills & food went up...but that's the same for everyone-

-dental work I was putting off (still more to do) was more money gone-

-wore out my shoes and dropped my phone so there's goes money I didn't have-

-all these money things happened in a row leading up to repeatedly maxing my credit card-

-after a long time of doing this I...finally went with a debt solution company-

-was so worried about it, but...glad I did it and I'm on my way to fixing that now-

-gonna take years, but it had to happen and I'm making adjustments to not using credit-

-actually losing a lil' weight 'cos of it, too...need to do more of that-

-new shoes and new phone are great, so it's good that it happened the way it did-

-purposely set aside time to play games when I got Switch 2...felt great-

-always have projects I could be doing, but relaxing with that would be better than my lust-

-lust + ai = me messing with ai BS too much-

-I need to focus more on God's mission for a Christ believer like me-

-spending more of my time on Him and winning souls for Christ leaves less time for sin-

-I have so many projects to work on and fun to have that sin takes away from that too-

-I need strength and prayer to fight against my weaknesses-

Boy that was a lot without going into too much detail. I pray this year is better. There was good in 2025, but also a lot of bad...I want more good for 2026. I pray for the people of this world to have a better year no matter where the world itself is headed.

Blogger & YouTube News

On my list of projects is my Blogger itself, I've been updating here and there, but I need to do more and create more content for the bleak pages. Wasting time on distractions is a problem, but I plan to do more and am off to a better start this year. Blogger & YouTube plans:

-gonna finish the "Nintendo Is Gonna Nintendo" on my main Nintendo AGENDA page-

-try to make more Nintendo AGENDA subpages if I catch up on other parts of the page-

-edit unneeded stuff out of my BTWB PokéMon GO page-

-try to make daily routine vid for the "Beginners Tips" on my BWTB PokéMon GO page-

-thought of making dramatic reading vids of NeoGAF posts, ha ha, but probably not-

-need to use ai for something better, maybe the "Storytime With DrGAKMAN" idea?-

-speaking of, probably gonna update my DrGAKMAN Profile as it may have tmi?-

-fill in my Japanimation & ASIA AGENDA pages-

-make GAMESWAP GOODIES and DrGAKMAN DIET pages-

-I have more of The DrGAKMAN Secret Menu ideas, but I need to not overdo it-

-digitize, fix & upload some old tapes I did when I was a kid-

-biggest one: make more content for MYSTERY ministries-

-I need to make a vid for my "GOD IN 1-2-3" to start-

Always so much more to say and do, but I'll leave it at this for now. Oh yeah and here's some YouTube vids I made already this year to show off to my Nintendo Collection 2026 Updates and BWTB PokéMon GO 2025 Results:

GAME AWARDS 2025

Maybe I’m getting soft, but I’m not gonna shit all over Geoff Keighly’s awards show this year.  Someday I may write why I poo poo on him, his shows and the gaming industwy as a whole…but not in this post.  Besides it being fashionable to shitpost about the VGA’s I just lump it together with what I don’t like about video games media in general.  Not that I loved the show this year, just that there were enough things I liked so I didn't have to yell at the screen when they were pushing some obvious agendas they wanted to spew.  I’ll tell you the “it takes a village” BS was very yell-worthy, though.  Also, one game being put on a pedestal in every category it was in (except the player voice vote) was a bit ridiculous…all to push the “wow, it’s an ‘indie’ game beating out AAA”...yeah whatever.

What did I like about it though?  CAPCOM, Evanescence (more for Sarah, than for me, but still entertaining), Ralph the dog poking fun at the VGA’s rigged biases and that they dialed back the BS I hate. While there still was some of this in there,  it’s like they had someone more sensible taking out the crap ‘cos there was way less:

filler white-knighting about diversity/culture

industwy puff pieces

talk about the “academy” itself

comparison’s to The Oscars

wowing cinematics/storytelling in games

Kojima worship

Sony worship

CAPCOM…seriously CAPCOM used this show to their advantage.  They had an old-school grunge ad, added a nice little pop-up Switch 2 logo for Pragmata (as a Nintendo nut, I loved that and want more of that, plus did you see there will be an Amiibo for this game), debuting Leon in Resident Evil 9, debuting a Mega Man return, Evanescence doing Afterlife which is the Devil May Cry 2 anime theme and that Street Fighter movie segment with the actors coming out…sorry, that’s hype for me.  CAPCOM made the VGA’s this year, which is crazy ‘cos I heard the USA branch was cut back a while ago, yet they did more good marketing here than they have at their own events in recent years.

The Game Awards also had just more of what matters: games! And they were better game reveals. Not enough Nintendo stuff considering they have a new system…and while the VGA’s were better this year, Nintendo should probably just do their own show.

GameStop also did their own award show which was kinda cute. Blatant self-advertising but also able to poke fun at themselves as a company. Scott The Woz (which I had seen before in my YouTube scrolling, but never actually watched) was a hilarious host and they had other YouTube personalities as presenters. Familiar ones like AVGN, Asmongold & Emiru, but also others I didn’t know much about. One presenter dropped a fun fact I didn’t know, which was that Sakurai married the woman who designed the menus in his games…neat. The categories were silly, yet…some were better than the VGA categories.

Then, there’s the upcoming award show that really matters…

Going Through A LOT!

 Been a long time since giving any updates and it’s past due to post about some things.  I don’t wanna use my blogger to whine or vent or treat it like social media…but I’ve been going through A LOT.

I’ve been financially, mentally, emotionally…spiritually under attack!  Sometimes I think it’s ‘cos we’re nearing the end and that the enemy is out to hurt us before the Lord takes us.  I’m also at fault for my own pain and I’ve been making it worse by falling into an addiction into something I know is wrong.  Don’t wanna air my dirty laundry, but it deals with lust which has always been my vice.

I’ve hit these moments in my life before.  Fall on hard times at work or with money, health, family, friends, girls, etc. and I hole up to myself and shun the world.  Recently, I’ve tried to be nice to (not courting, pursuing or chasing after) some girls I like with very disheartening results.  Preemptively rejecting me, getting weirded out by me assuming the worst, going completely cold or silent and just plain disappearing.  It’s no wonder I’m usually cold, bitter, lonely and have problems with lust.  I know this is the enemy attacking me, knowing my weakness…they won’t win as I didn’t do anything wrong and am always overthinking what people think of me.  I just don’t want anyone thinking I’m a creep or trying to “get” them…if anything, I know love won’t happen for me and I’ve tried to make peace with that.

I don't want to focus on that anymore, but when it rains it pours and the biggest life thing for me right now is my debt.  I always joked that I’ll just have work ‘til the day I die to pay it off…while there’s still some truth to that due to how the world works I decided to make changes.  The way it was for years coming into this year was that I just used my credit card for everything and put all my extra money towards my credit card bill every month.  It finally caught up to me as I had been maxing out my card sooner and sooner every month so all the money I was putting into it meant nothing and I couldn’t buy anything (was mainly using it for food.  So I signed up with a credit debt control company and they’ll be taking my money to get my credit card paid down and off instead of just trapped in paying interest forever.  Very difficult adjustments are being made in my life to live without a credit card, but so far it’s not much worse than how it was with a constantly maxed card and now I’m working towards being debt-free.  Learning to eat out less, shop better, cook more, manage the little money I have leftover after bills better, sacrifice things I would normally buy all the time…sucks but I’ve done this before in the past and I have to.  I’m always in my head about the “what if” of some other crisis that comes along preventing me from committing to a program like this, but I’ve lived in the same place and worked the same jobs since 2012 so I had to do it while I’m stable enough to commit to it before any crisis or change comes.

I really have to thank my co-workers at GAMESWAP and GFS for setting aside food for me and listening to me whine about this.  I also thank my best friend Sarah for being there for me too.  Thank you all.

In Blogger news, I’ve been very slack in updates and working on projects as I’ve been distracted by things I shouldn’t have been distracted by.  I have been on top of my BWTB PokéMon GO page and updating The DrGAKMAN Secret Menu page and items but I really need to do more for my other pages and projects.  I also need to devote more time to enjoy my collections of music, movies & games which I did earlier this year and it felt good to relax/enjoy without always constantly working or worse, being distracted.

2024 Into 2025

 I usually make this kind of post around the new year with DrGAKMAN updates, but I'm running late on all that.  2024 was...crazy...I thought we were headed to the end with how much the "bad guys" were winning.  While I still think the end is near and there's still so much I want to do reach more people with the Gospel of Salvation through Christ, part of me is relieved at how the American election turned out (as well as how quickly it was finished) and I felt some weight off my shoulders and hopeful that maybe we have more time before the end.

In that though, I rested and laxed on some 2024 goals and even though I feel we might have more time, I've squandered a chunk of that time on things I shouldn't be messing with.  Not gonna focus on that here as I know the flesh is weak and I will always have to battle my vices.  I did make some progress on my Blogger (keeping up with updating my MYSTERY ministries, The DrGAKMAN Secret Menu, Nintendo AGENDA, PokéMon GO BWTB pages) hacking some things and actually making new Secret Menu items so that's good.  Trying to make more efforts to be a better person, friend, brother and worker and (futility) trying to work on my budget/debt.

Still though, I always feel I'm way behind 'cos I do waste the tiny bit of free time I have on stuff I shouldn't.  I have to say that again, this last years VGA's were trash (Nintendo should just do their own awards show) and the only awards show that matters is Mega 64's Todd & Aaron Awards:

2025 kinda off to a good start, gettin' some things done and while I have so many things to do, I am also going to purposely make time to enjoy what I've got which is difficult for me 'cos I'm always thinking about other projects I should work on.  I have to keep busy though, to keep from getting distracted by my vices.  I want to work on my Blogger pages more, make new ones and work on newer Secret Menu items, but I also have a lot of games & shows/movies I haven't finished so I need to enjoy those more.  I'm already almost done with Maison Ikkoku (which is a long series, thanks to Sarah for watching it with me) and keeping up with Switch 2 news, my taxes and such...I gotta do a BWTB year-end video (even though we're in February) 'cos I hit lvl 50 in PokéMon GO!

I have to spend less time on BS and take some time to enjoy the time we have, but also not get too comfy 'cos there's more work to do!

Switch 2 First-look Impressions

 To continue with my "moment in time" thoughts on Switch 2 I'm making a Blogger post instead of putting on my Nintendo AGENDA page just to delete it later.

2 minutes...if you're ready to make a negative snap judgement on all things Switch 2 from this, then you're silly.  Reasonable people wanted a more powerful Switch that was backwards compatible, they got it!  Unreasonable people wanted something completely different (without knowing all the features, yet) and crazy power (without seeing what it could do, yet) so they call it boring...there's no satisfying these types!

I know we all wanted more information, but Nintendo saw fit with all the leaks happening that this is what they'd show now.  All the leaks ending being true from this trailer and this first look goes straight to the point to confirm important info.  The continued Switch hybrid form factor, the name, the larger screen & joy-cons, that the joy-cons are magnetically connected and have mouse functionality, that it's backwards compatible...trailer actually showed off a lot if you didn't already know that stuff from leaks & rumors and it conveyed it without a complicated explanation.  I was curious on how the joy-cons would work with a strap and a grip and they showed that off.  Aesthetically it looks the same as the current Switch yet less toy-like in it's colors & contours.  At the end of the trailer they tell us we'll get a lot more info in April followed by Switch 2 Experience live events which is telling us it should launch soon after!

The leaks showed that the extra button was a "C" button but this trailer removed the C marking from the button maybe to tell us about it later?  The "mic" marking for the microphone hole was also missing so maybe that's all related since rumors say the C stood for a communication function?  Communication, community, connect, chat or as one rumor put it: "Campus" (like those old Nintendo Campus Challenge tour events from the '90's?) so it probably has to do with that but Nintendo would make a bigger deal of it later when they reveal more about Switch 2 online features.

From this short trailer we also got how Nintendo was showing off Switch 2 as both a part of the Switch family but also the next-gen machine.  Same red logo branding, same form factor but with a big "2" to make it clear this is an iterative system...but also the NEXT system.  This could be a smart approach if marketed as a continuation as opposed to starting all over.

What we really wanted...and what really matters...is games!  We only got one, the next Mario Kart.  Again, people were quick to say it looked like the Mario Kart we have on current Switch ignoring that it's so much more if you pay attention.  Jumping from 12 racers to 24 is one thing, but this next video really shows how much more this next Mario Kart is:

So that brings us to power, after all: more power = more games, right?  Raw specs really shouldn't matter and don't really tell us much since people gauge "power" in different ways.  Jumping from 4GB of RAM to 12GB of (faster) RAM is one thing, but what's really telling about performance is all the (more current) games already rumored to be coming to Switch 2:

Switch 2 at VGA 2024?

 With rumors of Switch 2 to being "revealed" in January and launched in March, I thought I'd put my 2 cents in.  I would rather post this on my Nintendo AGENDA page (since I was right about them announcing Switch 1 backwards compatibility there first), but with this post being time-stamped it's more "predictiony".  While the above rumor may happen (there's been too many rumors for years now) there's another rumor saying Switch 2 will make some kind of appearance at the VGA's in December.  If the January reveal to March launch rumor is true then I could see something maybe happen at VGA 2024?

If the reveal/launch thing is true then Nintendo (like they did with Wii) would announce the name of the device before the blowout reveal.  No trailer, no controllers or hardware, not even any games...just the name/logo.  A good reason to do it is so that when new game trailers show up at the VGA's people will know that they're also coming to Nintendo's next system.  Reasons they wouldn't though are: the VGA's are more for industwy PC/PlayStation shite and there would have to be a lot of controlled planning way ahead of time with publishers to have that name/logo in the trailers.  Doable, since all they would have to do is tack on a couple of seconds of said name/logo but if it ever were to happen Nintendo would probably reveal the name/logo on their terms separate from (and before) the VGA's.

But do they really want the first games/trailers for the new hardware to be from 3RD parties without revealing a game of their own?  Probably not, but if they did maybe a Metroid Prime 4 (for Switch 2) trailer is possible.  Just dreaming here.  We'll see what happens...

General News About This Blogger

 As I contemplate my future...and the future of this world...I've taken a step back on a lot of things.  One part knowing that I should be spending the little time I have on more important things like seeing souls saved, learning & teaching more about God's Word and spreading the hope & joy of salvation through Christ.  Another part wanting to continue this Blogger as it was with my posts & pages about entertainment, food & work but knowing that the more important part has me putting that on the back burner needing to focus on what really matters.

I'm no longer making individual DrGAKMAN DIET or GAMESWAP GOODIES posts, I will probably end up making separate pages for those topics that I'd occasionally update with stuff...but a lot of that has to be put on hold 'cos there's more pressing topics to discuss.

I have still been lightly updating my main page here'n'there but the page I really want to focus on is the MYSTERY ministries page.

Get Right With God, Continued

 

The last post four months ago seemed like a panic.  I am right with God and I don't fear what is to come for me.  God doesn't want us to be sick with worry or be in constant fear so this isn't talk of fear-mongering...this is more of a warning just in case the end is coming sooner.

I don't want it to come so soon for there's many things I wish to experience in this world (silly things like personal projects, video games, movies, spending time with friends, etc.), but they're quite trivial things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things so I don't want to waste time that would be better spent on helping those who are lost and not right with God be better prepared for what is to come.  But again, at the same time, God doesn't want us to live in a state of worry or fear and not enjoy the life we have.

This "Lion of Judah" channel is interesting, but I don't take the same doctrinal perspective they have on certain things.  But this video is right...our economic world bubble is being set-up to bust with the only solution in sight being an Anti-Christ with the mark of the beast ready for us.  The video also points out that we all have this thought in the back of our head that something Earth-changing is coming...'cos it is!

People have thought the end was coming before in the past...they were correct but the timing wasn't there yet.  Is our time here, is the end near?  I'm always 50/50 knowing that every day that goes by is a day closer...the pieces are in place but we've been wrong before about the timing...I pray we have more time, more of a grace period so more people can come to Christ for salvation...no one will know the time, could be very soon or very far off.  We must live every day fully like it's our last but we should be prepared for our last day!

There's an order of events and I should write more on my MYSTERY ministries page about it...I have squandered too much of the time given being too comfortable in my life...I need to learn & teach more about what is to come.

Get Right With God

 I feel we're running out of time in this world.  I mean, every day that goes by is a day closer to the end and many people in times past have said the end is coming, but then others don't heed those warnings 'cos it didn't happen...

...yet...

...I'm not predicting a when or a how, just that it's coming sooner.  There's so many things in just this month alone that are signs of bigger things to come:

Things like this have happened before...sure, you can say they don't matter or mean anything...but, all at once...within the space of one month?

I'm a believer and I don't base my faith on fuzzy feelings, but this is a lot of signs all at once.  Christ told us that the end of this age comes as the Earth has more labor pains just like a woman about to give birth has more contractions near the end of her pregnancy.

The world is falling apart not just with these signs and what's happening in this month ahead, but as the rulers of this world purposely are leading us towards social, political, economic, environmental collapse and on the brink of multiple wars...just like the Bible said would happen.  All these things have a solution...someone who will come in and offer peace and "fix" this broken world...the Anti-Christ...possibly even in this year of the dragon?

Before that, there is a great falling away...I know where my final destination is as I have accepted Christ as my savior.  He has already paid the sin-debt we all owe to God with His death, burial & resurrection...all you have to do is accept that free gift to make peace with God!

I say all this...to a world that hates us for it...too late...I wanted to do so much more to see souls saved & saints edified with the truth of Christ but I haven't done enough.  I'm not crazy or suicidal or whatever the powers that be will say we believers are when Christ comes to take us away before the Anti-Christ comes to power.  Get right with God before it's too late!