@angryguy77: Yeah, that did have the ring of bullsh*t about it, didn't it...?!
I personally feel like Nintendo 'lost it' in the mid-1990s. They'd had it all their own way with the NES and SNES, and persevered with that model when they released the N64 - but Sony had changed the game while nobody was looking, and Nintendo have never recovered. Sega went to the wall completely as a hardware manufacturer one generation later, and the peripheral contenders who'd been dabbling in the console space, like Panasonic with their 3DO, wisely also decided to quit.
The GameCube (a console I love, by the way...) was a peculiar attempt to produce something 'like a PlayStation' but also true to the roots of what had previously made Nintendo successful, and it didn't really work. As for the Wii, sure, it sold gazillions of consoles, but games sales were pathetic by comparison - and that's where a lot of the money in consoles is made.
@worldwartrump: Yeah, I think - if the OP was quoting Einstein - that would be his definition of stupidity.
That said, I agree with the spirit of what he/she has written. Obviously we'll need to see the Switch on its feet, but other than avoiding the Wii/Wii U naming confusion (never underestimate how dumb the general public can be...), I fail to see any evidence of lessons learned.
I hope I'm wrong. I'd love the Switch to be a success. I wouldn't be surprised if it did better than the Wii U, because a disaster of that order surely cannot happen twice in succession - but I don't see it selling as many as, for instance, the 26million units that the Xbox One has reportedly done. It looks too niche, too gimmicky, and like it's trying too hard.
I mean, who really wants to play Skyrim on public transport? Oh, some people will do it, sure, if only to justify the purchase to themselves - but is this something that the World is crying out for...? It feels like another 'death by innovation' misstep, to me.
That's cool, Reggie. But let me give you one reason why it's more likely to struggle than the Wii U... I'm not gonna buy one.
At least, not until it's established itself as something worthwhile. I bought a Wii U on Day 1, and man-alive was that a failure. There were a few exclusive games that I enjoyed, but mostly it was the place to play inferior and/or gimmicky versions of games available on other consoles.
One caveat to that... Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The best way to play that game. Stunningly great, hacking nodes on the Gamepad. But otherwise? Washout... and sure, I'm only one guy - but I don't think I'm the only person who's previously been a day-of-release man saying no, for now.
Oh, and also, Reggie - where's my f**king NES Classic Edition? That's a product of yours that I'm willing to buy this side of next Christmas...
I bought my girlfriend an Xbox One for Christmas in 2013, so we have one in the house. I was very much an Xbox 360 man, and it made me feel a bit dirty crossing the tracks to PlayStation... but, in my honest opinion, the PS4 is the better console.
Although, of course, the Xbox One has the 360 backwards-compatibility programme. Which is magnificent.
Of course that sounds great, moving forward. Though I don't think it radically affects the argument re the merits of going from PS4 to Pro, and Xbox One to Scoprio - in terms of game enhancement, which is what most people are talking about here, it's probably going to be very similar for the next year.
I have to say - much as the unified Microsoft development model sounds marvellous - I fully expect Sony to follow suit insofar as they can with the PS5. I mean, if they don't, the Xbox will have a massive USP over the PlayStation - and I just don't see how Sony could/would allow that to happen.
@sodapoppimpski: It sounds wonderful in principle - and I totally see how this might reap rewards for games being programmed from now on, with Scoprio and its successors in mind - but have all pre-existing Xbox One games been programmed within this ecosystem? If not, then surely the transition from Xbox One to Scorpio will be exactly the same as PS4 to Pro - pre-existing games will have to be patched to run with improved resolutions and frame-rates...?
... if you can point me to an article, I'd be grateful. Because if what you're saying is that all current Xbox One games are going to become immediately enhanced without any further legwork from developers, then that genuinely blows my mind.
@sodapoppimpski: That sounds excellent moving forward, though I don't know how that's going to work with regard to pre-existing Xbox One and Xbox 360 software. They were programmed before this unified ecosystem-thing was conceived.
So - unless I'm misunderstanding something - when Scorpio comes out the existing software is just going to run as programmed for the Xbox One, subject to bespoke patches being released its developers.
RhythmAndBlues' comments