Cita:
In other words, what Nintendo needs to do in order to be successful this time around - not necessarily to "win", or to beat Sony's installed base, but simply to build a sustainable, profitable platform that's appealing both for itself and for some third-parties - is to avoid challenging the PS4 directly. It needs a different concept, something that defies direct comparison; something that many PS4 owners will want to buy as a second console (even if it does gather dust for several months of the year in between major releases), and that might even appeal to people who don't usually buy consoles at all. In this regard, many of the metrics being used so far to see if the Switch "measures up" simply aren't all that important.
What is important is software. There's no doubt that Switch is light on the launch line-up, though I wonder if this reflects uncertainty about the company's ability to manufacture the hardware in volume early on. It is at least launching with a big Zelda game; there's no doubt that the Wii playbook is in full swing here, and that game alone will sell a lot of units. The dark horse is 1-2-Switch, which is an unusual game that the company no doubt hopes will help to define Switch in the way that Wii Sports defined the Wii. In that case, though, it should really be packed in with the console; the lack of a pack-in game with mainstream appeal that demonstrates the console's features effectively feels like a major strategic error if Nintendo really wants to recapture the Wii audience.
By Christmas, Switch will have a lot of big titles under its belt; new Zelda, new Mario, new Splatoon, sort-of new Mario Kart. That's a solid line-up for a first Christmas, and will hopefully be supplemented by a few decent third-party titles. Christmas should give the company some cards to play, with pack-in bundles and hardware deals that could appeal to a market that's somewhat fatigued with the existing consoles on offer. On the other hand, Christmas will also presumably see Scorpio on the market (if Microsoft hits its dates), and there's a big danger that Switch loses momentum after E3 as the specialist market starts thinking about the next new thing. Once again, the risk is that Nintendo's greatest strength, its great software, turns out to be its greatest weakness, due to the long timespans between big launches. But if that does come to pass and the Switch can't compete effectively, it won't be because of tough comparisons with the PS4; freed by timing and design from the need to measure up to Sony's device, as its predecessor was forced to, Nintendo's newest console will succeed or fail on its own merits alone.