Please don’t hurt me PS4 and Xbox One fanboys! I’m a weak little boy called Billy with a stamp collection…
Before I explain my reasoning on why I believe the Nintendo Switch is the future of console gaming, let me preface it by saying I don’t mean Nintendo>Sony/Microsoft or that Sony and Microsoft will eventually go out of business because Nintendo will have market dominance. What I mean by this statement is that I believe eventually the gaming console industry will move towards the hybrid home/portable console concept that Nintendo has pioneered!
Let me explain why I believe it will lead to this:
Gaming Computers/Laptops
That’s right every console fanboys nightmare! The gaming PC. For years gaming computers were mainly used by tech enthusiasts and “hardcore gamers”. However, recently more and more “noobs” who have no idea what the difference is between a GPU and a CPU are purchasing gaming PCs (seriously what is it? which one connects to my dongle?). This is because the gaming PC market is more accessible as there is more support being provided to the consumer. Also, you don’t have to build it yourself as you can just purchase a pre-built gaming PC or a gaming laptop. This lower barrier of entry for consumers coupled with gaming PCs not costing as much as Donald Trumps wig anymore has led to gaming PCs having more market share than consoles. I also feel that YouTube and eSports have had an impact.
PS4 Pro/Xbox One X
Once Microsoft and Sony caught wind of PCs having more market share they thought they could take some back by building stronger more powerful systems, enter the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Unfortunately, the sales figures for the PS4 Pro show that this strategy is not working, which will definitely happen with the Xbox One X as well. Why? Well the reason goes back to the basics of why you would own a gaming console or a gaming PC in the first place:
- Games
- USP (unique selling point)
- Price
Games isn’t an issue as each system has their own exclusive titles, an example for the PS4’s is Uncharted, and for the Xbox there’s Netflix (just joking...Netflix isn’t an exclusive). Price is an issue, however, no one would care if there was a strong enough USP other than gigaflops, FPS and jibberjabbers…I made up the last one. This is because graphics have gotten so good that the regular consumer couldn’t care less! So there is no motive to buy either of these mid generation consoles… If Microsoft and Sony continue with this strategy of increasing the power of their consoles to match PC’s and not focusing on their USP they will undoubtedly continue to lose market share to PCs. This is because consoles will always lack the flexibility, upgradeability and backwards capability PCs have (haha it rhymes).
How does this lead to consoles becoming home/portable hybrids?
If you have been living under a rock (I live under a cardboard box *in Ralph's voice from the Simpsons*) you may not have noticed that the Nintendo Switch has become very successful. And it will continue to be successful. This is because Nintendo did not go the same route Microsoft and Sony chose; instead they focused on developing a USP – hydbrididity (not a word). If they had just chosen to make a very powerful system, they may not have been as successful as they have been so far. Also, recently many third party game developers have started developing for the Switch, most notably Bethesda with Skyrim, Doom and Wolfenstein 2.
Once these games sell like hot cakes on the Switch other third parties will notice and they will start developing games for the Switch too! Therefore, by the end of the Switch’s lifecycle I believe it will sell more or very close to the amount the Wii did because of its hybrididity, exclusives and third party support. This will definitely get Microsoft and Sony’s attention. Once Microsoft and Sony realise increasing power will not lead to more hardware sales, they will look to the Nintendo Switch and create their own version.
Finally, the main and most important reason Sony and Microsoft will copy the Nintendo Switch is because you can take a dump whilst playing console games…come on who doesn’t want that as the future of gaming?
