Nintendo is getting stronger, but the Switch is losing ground

Nintendo is getting stronger

Since the launch of Nintendo Switch, there have been very few moments in which the Kyoto house has experienced a decline in hardware and software sales. As of today, a Direct that has recently made the happiness of many thanks to the announcement of the launch date of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, some have instead remained more doubtful about the future of the hybrid console.




Then there is the already mentioned Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom plus numerous free updates for games already released which confirm the exemplary long-term support from the company. The next few months and 2023 already promise to be very appetizing for Switch owners who love Big N productions, but those looking for third-party cross-platform experiences that can also be played in portability are definitely left dry.

| ); } The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Of course, in the line-up for the next few months, we find many titles that will also arrive on other platforms, making Switch a considerable alternative to other consoles, but where are the really interesting games? Above all, why do we have to settle for indie and titles designed for the oriental market? In recent years, those who have always remained loyal to Switch have always had to wait to play some cross-platform titles, sometimes settling for technical performances that thwarted the wait.

Even less convincing is the fact that publishers, aware of the limited hardware capabilities, they were forced to publish their titles in the form of cloud versions, practically unplayable if we are away from home. The question we ask ourselves is: is it possible that it is not possible to make the Switch more competitive in the face of the current PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, when the market has known machines like Steam Deck? Since technological advancement involves the development of increasingly impressive and graphically fascinating titles, it is clear that 2017 hardware can no longer compete and that a more powerful machine is needed.


So far, Nintendo hasn't shown that it is particularly keen to boost the performance of the Switch. After all, he knows he can develop stocks that are technically stuck in 2017 and record record sales thanks to them. Think of Zelda itself or the recent Splatoon 3, which even managed to become the fastest-selling game in Japan.

The emergence of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is thus a confirmation period on how the Kyoto house will decide to proceed in the next few years: it will choose to continue with the current hardware, betting everything on its IP and favoring the birth of the "cloud versions", or it will try to realign itself with the rival consoles by finding a new path for the cycle vital of Switch? History tells us that the company has always favored its productions, even at the cost of undermining support from third-party developers.



At the present time, if we think about it, Switch is having a life cycle particularly similar to that of the 3DS: in both cases we saw a cheaper model with reduced functionality, then a revision with functional improvements, and the line-up of the titles has always relied almost exclusively on the internal productions of the Grande N. We are not saying that this is the wrong direction, on the contrary, the history of the company teaches us that it is a path that guarantees it a certainty in sales.

However, we also know that the absence of third-party titles over time undermines the interest on the part of that public who does not love every single triple A Nintendo, but who seeks an alternative rather than exclusivity in a console. So, we'll see what direction Switch will take in the next few years: will it remain a console for exclusives and indie, or will it try to become more competitive?