As a Nintendo nut I have been loving their success with the Switch and wanting it to continue…but in that, it may have clouded my thinking on Nintendo's plans for the future more towards what I want. This post is my personal wants for Nintendo's future vs what they might actually be planning.
I want a GameBoy to GameBoy Color like transition and for them to be counted within the same sales so the Switch (family) can keep going, outsell PS2 and become the best selling system ever! It's for Nintendo's success (which leads to a higher userbase…which leads to more games) but it may also personally be for bragging rights as a Nintendo fan. And for what: the "industwy" won't recognize said success, forum analysts will say it doesn't count 'cos it's just a portable/hybrid, the "hardcore" will still shit on Nintendo and certain games still won't come to a Nintendo platform 'cos of the above bias. So, in the end, I shouldn't care what they say/do nor my own bragging rights…in a way, it's a bit like how I felt with Nintendo's success with Wii…but different.
Switch & Wii (with DS) successes are similar yet different. The Wii was an absolute sales monster but its sales fell off a cliff after its new play control charm didn't last and thus its sales, support & games dried up especially in light of the "Wii HD" cloud over it. By comparison, the Switch has had even more success & support and still an active userbase 'cos it's hybrid nature still sells even with it's own "Switch Pro" cloud over it. So yes, similar yet different. The Switch is in a better position to keep selling as-is than the Wii was so many years in.
The "Wii HD" came too little too late in the form of Wii U and was a disaster. The Switch still could last a long while before a "Switch Pro" or "Switch 2" transition, though naysayers would say new hardware needs to come sooner if not already should've come. I personally want it to keep going 'cos there's plenty of content coming and opportunities for different kinds of content due to it's large and active userbase...in other words, games that may seem niche or risky can do much better on the Switch platform as even if a game sells to 1% of it's users, that's still a million-seller! I also believe that we should do away with the old ideas of generations 'cos the diminishing return jumps aren't worth starting over with a new platform for a set number of years. Instead, I feel the Switch should continue as long as it's selling...yes, the video game market can be fickle but I think people would still buy games on older (even retro) consoles if they were still properly supported. And with the economy the way it is, people would appreciate if their investment (console platforms are an investment) still continued to get content.
Nowhere am I saying that they shouldn't make a new Switch, no...I think they should have a new upgrade to Switch family every few years kinda like how cellphones are. I think to maximize game sales most of them should be made to work with the basic Switch...do ports/remakes/remasters of older games all need the latest hardware, do retro game compilations need a new system to run, do smaller publishers/indies need the latest tech to be make games? And for newer games that do need that they could work on the latest Switch or on the cloud for the basic Switch (and to that end, I think Nintendo should make a higher-tier NSO subscription to access those cloud games). Plus there's plenty of innovation that could be had with the basic Switch with different kinds of Joy Cons or even VR (which would be the easiest, cheapest & most mainstream way for VR content).
Yes, there are people who want a new Switch that can play the newest Madden, COD, GTA, Resident Evil & Final Fantasy...but all I can think is these games should've already been on the Switch due to it having the most marketshare and I think the reasons that they're not is less about Switch not being powerful enough and more about an industwy bias against Nintendo. Is a newer next-gen higher-spec Switch gonna fix all that...especially when it has to start it's userbase all over again losing it's best advantage? It might help...or will publishers just whine that it's still not good enough to do easy PS5 ports or that the userbase is too small/new/kiddy or the same old anti-Nintendo BS they've given us Nintendo fans for years.
I guess, overall what I'm getting at is I don't want a repeat of the Wii to Wii U transition in-where Nintendo tried to reach for the "industwy" and the "hardcore" that don't want them and that a "Switch Pro" would fall short of what it could be 'cos Nintendo makes bad moves. You've heard what I want (continue the Switch family with iterative upgrades every few years) but maybe Nintendo wants different? A bad move could be to try something *too* different aka "innovative" or go all digital or brick wall the current Switch to try to force everyone to the new one.
Switch is in a better position than the Wii was as it was transitioning to it's next generation and I would hope Nintendo wouldn't go too crazy with the next Switch let alone abandon the current Switch to do so. I don't think they will. We'll know more early next year (before Tears of the Kingdom comes out) when I'll suspect they announce the next Switch...if they don't announce it before then...then I really don't know what they'll do? I think a new Switch will come alongside Tears of the Kingdom but it shouldn't be touted as a "next-gen" replacement to the current Switch, just a better Switch that upgrades older games and will over time have newer games exclusive to it but that the basic Switch will still be supported for a long while. Again, a GameBoy to GameBoy Color like transition would be best.