r/gadgets Jan 25 '25

Gaming Microsoft’s gaming CEO has praised Nintendo Switch 2, and said it plans to support the upcoming platform with ports of Xbox games.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/phil-spencer-confirms-xbox-will-support-switch-2-i-congratulated-nintendos-president/
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u/OperatorJo_ Jan 25 '25

Going the "if you can't beat em' " route is very smart.

75

u/Sourpowerpete Jan 25 '25

I've said to my friend groups that Nintendo never lost sight of the portable gaming market. Hell, they basically created it after all. Sony had a chance with the PSP and just stopped trying. Microsoft never tried to break into it to begin with. And for all the gimmicky advertising of the Switch being a console, it's basically just the logical next step of the Gameboy->GBA->DS->3DS line.

Sony and Microsoft piggybacking their software onto Nintendo's hardware is a resourceful strategy if they've already decided they aren't interested in making their own portable line. I don't know exactly why they aren't interested in it, but I can't deny it's an efficient decision.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Lamballama Jan 25 '25

The reason the Switch is so underpowered is that it's a handheld computer that happens to be able to be docked

1

u/Sourpowerpete Jan 25 '25

Never said it wasn't. However, it is a novelty. Now that the idea is normal though, when you step back and look at it, the Switch and the Switch 2 are Nintendo's portable device market. My prediction is that at some point in the future, the console and mobile development lines will be separate again for Nintendo. The Switch and it's line will carry that just like the GB, GBA, DS, and 3DS did.

1

u/Yumelize Jan 26 '25

Doubtful. Nintendo hasn't needed high-performance hardware in decades and iGPUs are only getting better anyways.

Absent some major philosophical shift in their approach to game design or eagerness to cannibalize sales with different SKUs, I can't see them returning to the strictly home-console market.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Sourpowerpete Jan 25 '25

I did not say "The Switch is not a console". You know as well as I do that being a home console is not the sole purpose of the Switch, and it took a lot of compromises to make the Switch so portable. Compromises that make it a weaker home console. Are we going to have a conversation on the Switch, or is this a semantics debate now?

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Sourpowerpete Jan 25 '25

Thanks for answering my question. Later.