What should Nintendo's next-gen approach be?

I think the biggest thing they need to do is get their online service up to snuff with the rest of the industry.

@jaydan: Buh...buh Miyamoto said Nintendo online is great and is not lagging behind the rest of industry!

LOL

If I was nintendo:

Invest in mobile/smartphone games at affordable prices. Super Mario Run should have been $1 at launch and it would have got $1 Billion. Don’t overprice future games.

I don’t care how, but Nintendo needs to force Pokémon Company/GameFreak to make a Pokemon MMO(PC). Charge $10 per month and make $1 Billion a month from subscriptions. Each expansion pack is a new gen/new city. You are set for 10+ years.

And finally, Nintendo should go 3rd party because they suck at making hardware.

If I was Nintendo, I sure as hell wouldn't listen to your ilk.

Honestly the hybrid idea seemed to work. They were dead in the water as a main console supplier thanks to the failing of the wii u (partially because the wii was a joke fad that hurt them long term) but by taking them away from sony and ms and solidifying their handheld grip on the industry they have relatively prospered.

Another hybrid.

from a technical standpoint the switch certainly leaves them in an interesting spot.

If i was them i would be looking to spring out from just having 1 device. the hybrid idea is great but it leaves all their eggs in one basket. If they focus everything on a new hybrid only next gen and it doesnt work out...that will hurt.

but i would look to do it in a way where its all running on 1 common platform and all devices share the same library. basically break it up into 3 pillars.

1: console. the most powerful (though not necessarily re-entering the hardware race with sony and MS). will offer the best visuals and performance. power draw not really too much of a concern.

2: handheld (possibly a mobile): optimised more for battery life and the least powerful. The form factor would be much more pocket friendly. think a slightly bigger GBA or maybe something like the xperia play (4.5" screen roughly).

3: the hybrid: like the switch in form factor. in between the 2 power wise. to be used more for around the house and throwing in a backpack when travelling. in docked mode it wouldnt be as powerful as the console but it would be significantly more powerful than the handheld. around 65% of the console in terms of horsepower when docked.

games would be distributed on carts (all 3 devices would read the same carts of course) and DD. the textures (and maybe audio) on the cart would be optimised for the handheld and hybrid (to minimise downloading out of the box). when inserting the cart into the console the player would be allowed to download a texture pack (and maybe better audio) to get textures more suited to a bigger screen.

all 3 device would be ARM based. the GPU would be the same from an architecture standpoint. just clocks, core counts etc. would be different to accommodate the different requirements of each device.

It's a tough question. The days of a dedicated handheld device are likely gone. Tablets, phones,+sized phones, are a dime a dozen (though the gaming on them sucks.) Nintendo still has the same two problems it has always had, online gaming being with the times, and third party titles. The third party problem is more of a "lack of power" problem. When the other two consoles have a lot of horsepower, and Nintendo's doesn't, then gamers and developers will gravitate to the best experience. Other than that, the online is still trash.

I really think Nintendo needs to develop a high powered console so we can get some even better graphical fidelity. The irony is Nintendo themselves always seem to get a lot of out of nothing in their consoles. At the same time, they should have a hybrid because in the gaming world, they control that market. I think they'll go hybrid again, hopefully they figure out a way to get a lot of power out of the console. Perhaps have a dock that actually has increased specs in it...

I think that continuing with the hybrid approach seems to be the most logical course of action. Will consumer trends change in the future? It’s certainly possible but as of now it seems like a very logical direction to be going.

Hybrid for sure and power equal to a PS4

So I think their hybrid design works very well. It's freeing. I highly prefer this style of play over a classic console like the PS4/XB1. I would love for them to stick with this idea until it doesn't make sense anymore.

I have been a little disappointed with the lack of development moving from 3DS/DS to the Switch. We are seeing Pokemon going to the Switch. We'll see Monster Hunter Stories move over. Professor Layton is coming. Town. Fire Emblem. A Zelda game that would normally have been handheld. Collection of Mana, etc. So they're on their way, but I just expected to see more of these titles earlier. I don't know what Nintendo could do (or could have done) to improve on that. I do think that the Switch has a very bright future ahead because of the handheld side starting to catch up.

Keep doing what they're doing imo. They have monopoly on their segment. It's a brilliant position to be in. Actually because they don't even have to do the gen thing. Just incrementally improve the Switch.

4-5 premier first party titles/year, a lot less attention on marketing and a lot of attention on diversity in the gaming situation.

The super mega franchises IMO are really killing In Nintendo and the growth possibilities... there one was a time when they were more ambitious and diverse and I think it would be

cool to see that back again.

Hmm... Maybe a system that can be motion-recharged? Have people outside, swinging their consoles in circles to recharge them of a morning?

Would have to make the outsides pretty durable...

Make a better Switch.

Have their legacy games available. All of them, not just 0.2% of their NES library.

Make an online service that works.

Use more of their dormant IPs.

And I don't know.. expand? They barely have time for their big ones like Mario and Zelda. Which means we don't see much else. To use all their dormant IPs, they probably need more people. And stop working on crap like 1, 2 Switch. Pretty sure more people would rather have and turn their heads to a new Metroid, Pikmin, Paper Mario, F-Zero, Animal Crossing, Earthbound, etc.

Animal Crossing should've been a launch title. That it isn't coming before 2020 is just insane.

Metroid and Animal Crossing both have new games coming, Earthbound doesn't have interest in continuing it from the developers, Pikmin 4 has supposedly been nearing completion for over a year, and supposedly Paper Mario is getting one of their games as a Switch remake. F-Zero and Earthbound are about the only ones dead in the water, pretty much.

1. Yes, but way too late.

2. Which is weird, since the demand from consumers is there.

3. Pikmin 4 was "nearing completion" shortly after Pikmin 3 released. Since then there's been complete silence for years.

4. Just a rumor.

5. Yup. Again weird, since people want them.

Consumers: "Hey, Nintendo. Do the thing we love and we'll throw money at your face".

Nintendo: "Nah, don't feel like it. Here's two more minigame collections though! One uses cardboard!"

Nintendo’s turned into a company that’s fairly foreign to the one I grew up and fell in love with. I fundamentally disagree with nearly all of their business decisions, if not in execution, then the underlying philosophies that dictate them.

What mostly precludes me from enjoying their offerings is their adamant refusal to acknowledge the importance of power. More power makes better games possible, that’s a fact. It doesn’t need to be the most powerful system out there, but I’m sick and tired of not even being able to play decade old games on their current hardware without serious technical compromises. I don’t even look at what is coming out on their systems aside from minimalist indies because I know I’ll be playing it at sub 30 FPS, struggling to maintain 720 resolution with a few hours of battery life. Their stubbornness in adhering to their hardware approach hurts the enjoyment of many releases on their platforms. Only their first party titles excel technically, but it’s always the same tired franchises that receive this love.

Nintendo always tries to reinvent the wheel every generation. I’m all for innovation, but what works doesn’t need constant upheaval to the degree they do it. It’d be wonderful if Nintendo placed a little more oomph into their silicon to enable more innovations in their software instead of constantly sacrificing power to enable a different way to play it. Much of the time what’s offered affords not much more than gimmicky superficialities. It’s just not worth the sacrifice.

Nintendo doesn’t do power and has gone down this path because Iwata infused the company with a meek, mild, defeatist, non-competitive attitude that plagues the company to this day. That they don’t feel the need to compete is the PRECISE reason much of their services reside in absolute mediocrity, years behind everyone else. It’s the reason many people view Nintendo’s name as synonymous with incompetence, and is what’s led to them becoming the butt of jokes.

So I suppose what I’d like their next gen approach to be would be....not to be Nintendo. They’re simply not as good as they used to be, and the old legendary company they were is now one that’s a shadow of its former self subsisting on the legacy of that legend. The entire upper management needs to desperately be fired and hungry young blood needs to take over so the true potential of Nintendo can shine once again.

Nintendo has abandoned home consoles. Their is no next gen home console for them.

Definitely stick with the hybrid model... just refine and improve.

Nintendo should continue with the Hybrid concept. but try with a more powerful tablet with the best next Tegra processor. Allow for the standard tablet apps like netflicks and watching movies. Since Xbox and Playstation do. This would be the safe thing to do. But....

Nintendo will do something bizzare for a Switch successor. Since that is what they do

They have no choice but to do hybrids from this point on.

Personally I hate hybrids, jack of all trades, master of none.

Aside from the software, I consider the Switch to be a pretty bad system. Ergonomically it's terrible.

I'd say stick with hybrid it works so effing well... unless Sony and M$ copy the format for next gen, then abandon it and go for something else we wouldn't have expected. When everyone else zigs, Ninty zags. Thats why they're still relevant.