The Switch follows Nintendo’s hit portable playbook: talking point
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With the OLED model of the Nintendo Switch now just a couple of weeks away, we’re heading into the system’s fifth holiday season with three distinct ‘tiers’ in its family of hardware. We’ve previously written about how each iteration of the Switch offers something different, in terms of features and price points, and how it compares to other gaming systems as we move into the most competitive and important shopping season of the year. Nintendo is in its own ‘bubble’ with its own games and the Switch’s different role compared to other hardware, but it still competes for many of the same dollars as Sony and Microsoft.
What OLED has also unleashed since its announcement, of course, is a lot to talk about hardware strategy, if Nintendo is doing well, etc. There are more takes on this subject than a dubious movie straight to DVD, as it balances the Switch’s huge bestseller with the online clamor for more powerful hardware. There’s a lot of factors that have also been at play. There were shutdowns and a big outage until 2020 and well into this year, then there’s an ongoing and problematic chip shortage in manufacturing. It is difficult to produce electronic products at the moment, and that will undoubtedly have influenced Nintendo’s thinking and approach.
There is a possibility that Nintendo’s plans have changed or delayed due to the chaos of the last 18 months, but it is impossible to be sure of that. However, looking at the company’s history and trends with wearable hardware, one could argue that the Switch’s path has been entirely typical. Yes, it is a hybrid device, but in terms of technology, it is basically a tablet / handheld that is bolstered by a smart controller and docking solutions. Nintendo is now a one-system company after decades of balancing handhelds and consoles, but it has almost always sold more laptops than TV-based systems. It’s no wonder, then, to see the company use a familiar portable gaming manual as it moves into the Switch generation.
The similarities to the DS and 3DS generations are interesting enough to be worth stating, as plain as day, as a reminder to anyone who feels the company has been “slow” to move to a more powerful system.
Nintendo Switch (Original) – March 2017
Very comparable to the original 3DS, with the key difference that a strong start and continued positive sales have helped drive its bottom line. It is still the foundation of the “family”, but perhaps unlike the original 3DS and indeed the initial DS design, it is still the cornerstone of the range, which is not surprising considering its popularity.
Nintendo Switch (Review) – August 2019
The ‘HAC-001 (-01)’ model was a very minor overhaul with a notable boost to those who picked it up, and has replaced the ‘original’ as the standard model on the market since its initial arrival in August 2019. NVIDIA’s most efficient Tegra GPU, which increases battery life substantially.
Comparisons to the DS and 3DS era are less direct – the DS Lite was physically very different from the original. It’s no match for the ‘New Nintendo 3DS’ either, as that system improved some features (more stable 3D) along with slightly improved performance and a handful of exclusive games. With this Switch review, Nintendo locked performance to match the original model, and battery life is the only feature that gets any kind of improvement. Everything else about the hardware was identical.
As for why was released, it is possible that it was related to supply and manufacturing, and may have been to close vulnerabilities and weaknesses inherent in the original Tegra chip.
Nintendo Switch Lite – September 2019
The most notable launch of 2019, at least in terms of branding, was the Switch Lite. This comparison is easy, as it serves an extremely similar purpose to the original 2DS. To recall, the 2DS eliminated the stereoscopic display from the 3DS, was priced lower, and was designed as a rugged tablet-style device to survive the rigors of children’s play.
The Lite, like the 2DS, eliminates some key selling points of the standard model while offering an affordable price and a more robust design. In this case, it eliminates the very definition of the Switch tone, without the ability to dock the system to a television. Joy-Con controls are built into the unit (although you can use the controllers wirelessly) and there is no support, so this is the true experience for portable devices only.
Although it had a sales boost in 2020 during a period when standard models were hard to come by, trends are pointing to the system returning to 2DS territory, being a valued member of the family and contributing decent numbers, but ultimately instance, secondary to the kernel. device.
OLED model of Nintendo Switch – October 2021
This is another easy comparison, ultimately, that matches the DSi XL and 3DS XL models very well. The increase in screen size from 6.2 inches to 7 inches is not as substantial as those XL systems, but it will be noticeable enough next to the original model. Unlike those XL units, the case and basic dimensions will feel very familiar (although there are small adjustments to those as well), but the model’s approach and its place in the market will certainly be comparable.
A notable part of Nintendo’s marketing of the XL models in both the DS and 3DS era was emphasizing their ‘premium’ role in the range. With the OLED model, the focus is on the display, improved speakers, a greatly improved kickstand, and an updated LAN adapter in the base. It is very It’s debatable just how much these luxuries will drive current Switch owners to upgrade, and depending on packages and deals, this writer suspects that the standard model will easily outgrow OLED variation in the holiday season.
It will be interesting to see the sales it generates (assuming Nintendo can make enough to meet your demand). At the higher end of the Switch family’s price range, it may have more similarities in numbers to Lite than the standard model, but for the same reason, it will likely give Nintendo a higher profit margin per unit. Ultimately, like previous XL models, its role is to be the premium option for those who are happy to pay more for their upgrades.
So has Nintendo been ‘slow’ with the Switch family?
The internet is a very impatient place, at least if you spend too much time on social media. However, a common thread of complaint when OLED was announced is that Nintendo is lagging behind and shows little initiative. In other words, one opinion is that Nintendo should move to improved hardware, even if it follows the ‘Pro’ / ‘X’ approach adopted by Sony and Microsoft on the latest generation of consoles: iterating and adding power, while still supporting the original hardware for all o the majority games.
But how does Switch’s evolution and timeline compare to the DS and 3DS eras (using NA’s launch windows)? Let’s take a look, focusing on the key (not necessarily everybody) iterations.
Change → Change Lite → Change OLED – 4 years and 7 months
DS → DS Lite → DSi → DSi XL – 5 years and 5 months
3DS → 3DS XL → 2DS – 2 years and 7 months
3DS → 2DS → New Nintendo 3DS / XL – 3 years and 11 months
We’ve done several 3DS timelines above to add context, as the 3DS family was particularly ‘busy’ from Nintendo, and it’s extremely debatable that the New 3DS is equivalent to the next OLED. What we see is that with the incredible sales of the DS, and then the addition of download games on the DSi, Nintendo took its time as that generation sold so impressively. The 3DS, however, got off to a particularly poor start, and Nintendo stepped up with revisions and new models, along with various initiatives and big game releases, to build momentum. The 3DS eventually recovered from its bad start to post very respectable lifetime sales, but Nintendo continually iterated and pushed the range to appeal to consumers.
With the Switch, there are two factors that help explain why it has had fewer reviews and activity than the 3DS. One is that its sales drive has more in common with the DS / Wii era, as it is a popular system that is at the heart of gaming culture. Second, we cannot ignore the enormous impact of closed closures and related challenges in 2020 and indeed well into 2021. Manufacturing in the tech space has been and continues to be under great stress, struggling to face. existing demand, regardless of new products. Nintendo, like many companies, has also dealt with long periods of work from home, travel restrictions, etc. All of this has significant implications when it comes to working through the logistics of designing, manufacturing, and then selling hardware (and software, for that matter).
Maybe OLED was originally going to come out around this time last year, it’s also possible that an improved system was on the cards at some point. Only Nintendo knows this, internally, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. It could be argued that the hardware plans in late 2019 were heavily adjusted, broke, or simply delayed as global events took over.
Even if that’s the case, what the timeline shows is that Nintendo is still following a variation on its usual pattern for portable hardware. Should we be surprised that Nintendo is in no rush to release entirely new hardware when the existing Switch and its iterations are selling so well? Like in the DS era, Nintendo doesn’t have to rush.
On top of that, the Switch is yet less than five years. Some of us definitely crave better performance from the third-party game in particular, and to see a Switch logo at the end of more cross-platform trailers. Ultimately though, there has also been impatience, and when you look at reality, Nintendo has just been making pragmatic moves, especially with all the unexpected challenges of the last 18 months.
If, a year from now, there is still no news of new and improved hardware, perhaps the argument that Nintendo is being too cautious and inactive will be more compelling. However, the reality right now is that you are following your own, often successful formula.
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