There's no doubt that the Nintendo Switch is a huge success. To date, the Switch is one of Nintendo's best selling consoles, rivaling even the Wii as a platform with broad appeal. The Switch has plenty of high quality games to offer, too, from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to Metroid Dread, and there's more Switch exclusives on the way. Inevitably, though, the era of the Switch will someday draw to a close and Nintendo will have to release a new platform for its games. When it does so, Nintendo will have to ask itself what features of the Switch it wants its next console to inherit.

It used to be that Nintendo always produced two lines of gaming platforms at the same time: one line of home consoles, and one line of handhelds. From the Game Boy to the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo has seen broad success in the handheld field, even as flagship consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Wii thrived too. When it introduced the Switch, Nintendo merged those product lines, creating a unique modular design that allowed both handheld and TV play. The Switch's design is clever, but Nintendo will have to weigh its benefits against its costs when it eventually makes a new console to compete with the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.

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The Switch's Ups and Downs

nintendo switch system red and blue

From the moment Nintendo revealed that players could use the Switch both on the go and at home, it sent waves through the game industry. The multiple ways to use a Switch and the ease of handing off a Joy-Con to a friend for multiplayer games make it hard to compare any other console to the Switch. Nintendo is known for producing innovative but user-friendly hardware in consoles like the motion control loving Wii, and the Switch is another great example of that skill. The elegant fusion of handheld and home console capability makes it seem like Nintendo's next console could stand to gain a lot from mimicking the Switch's modular abilities.

Unfortunately, though, it's also no secret that the Switch sacrifices a lot in order to be modular. The Switch may be flexible, but it's also not as powerful as its peers from Microsoft and Sony, sometimes struggling to run games that pose no issues for the Xbox One and PS4. Aside from processing power, some have criticized the low resolution on the Switch in handheld mode, something that the new Switch OLED model didn't improve upon. The modular hardware may be useful, but in order to make such a console, Nintendo had to make some compromises on the Switch's power.

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The Need for a Powerful Nintendo Console

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As fun as the Switch is, the state of the gaming industry may force Nintendo to let the Switch's flaws eventually outweigh its strengths. The PS5 and Xbox Series X are serious steps up from their predecessors, and they're far stronger consoles than the Switch in terms of processing speed and rendering powers. Nintendo's next console has to be capable of playing the same games as the latest Xbox and PlayStation, or else a lot of consumers are bound to look at the new Nintendo console as inferior to competitors. That means the next Nintendo console might not be able to afford being modular.

Of course, if Nintendo produces a traditional home console next, it'll have to address its place as a developer of handheld consoles too. Going back to developing a separate line of handheld consoles could be seen as a step backwards, but Nintendo's history of high-quality handhelds is a big part of its identity. Maybe Nintendo's next generation of consoles will feature two devices: a modular Switch heir optimized for handheld play, and a wholly new home console with special hardware of its own. A hardware duo like that might be able to simultaneously retain Nintendo's handheld legacy and provide a worthy rival to the other major consoles.

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