The Haymaker
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- Feb 21, 2018
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Ok I will flesh that out, since you think I was dismissing the 2DS for the sake of my argument. It's the only exception because it's the only instance that Nintendo has intentionally made a console with strictly fewer features. However, in this case, it was to address the concerns that Nintendo had with the console early on, and it had nothing to do with pricing."The 2DS is the only exception because my argument doesn’t work with it..."
The option to play it in the preferred way will be always there though. Why is this so hard to understand?
The new Switch will target users who think that the handheld switch is currently too big (it’s around the size of 3DS XL without Joycons iirc. There's currently nothing for people who’re used to the smaller handhelds they could take anywhere.
It would also work for the cheaper market which doesn’t care for the console aspect (they probably wouldn’t want to play games like ARMS, but the option to play would be there in handheld, and if they want to play it so much in console mode they can get a dock.
The Switch design will also be sturdier for children since it wouldn’t have the JoyCon rails.
The handheld focused Switch that can still Switch will also be geared towards a larger market.
It will also help to promote multi-Switch households which Nintendo has already begun to see a need for. They already sell a dockless Switch in Japan. It’s just the next step for that.
If that happened to the 3DS to make a 2DS then why not for Switch?
So addressing the point about size being a reason for a cheaper model - compared compare the 3DS, I don't see how this is as pertinent or as widespread of a concern that Nintendo would view as worthy of a new model with fewer features. Nintendo has pretty clearly made this a console-focused system, which is why I don't see them making drastic changes to the model when it comes to downsizing. It's venturing from Switch territory to the point where they would be better off making a new DS model, which won't happen.
I'm not saying there aren't reasons Nintendo couldn't go for the minimalistic approach, but there's no precedent for them catering to demands for a cheaper version of a console, especially when upgraded versions inevitably cause the older's price to fall anyway. And for the case where they did downgrade, it wasn't for cosmetic reasons, and there isn't a similar concern with the Switch. Combined with the approach that Nintendo has taken for the Switch, the long amount of time between the original and next model's release, history of DS models, and the lack of any information that indicates otherwise, I'm skeptical of the beliefs that the next Switch will not be an upgrade. There's definitely a lot of room for improvement for the engine and graphics to be closer to standards set by Sony and Microsoft, which is the other half of the debate on what the Switch needs to do.