Nintendo console releases have followed a bit of a pattern over the last ~20 years. They’ll release one and it’ll be great (N64), and then the next one sells poorly (GC), then the next one does great again (Wii), and then the next one flops (WiiU)… The Switch is doing great, so I’m not holding my breath for the Switch 2, unfortunately.

I feel like the executives at Nintendo get too full of themselves whenever they have a successful release, and get sloppy with their next one, only to get slapped by the industry and player base and realize they have to actually try again if they want to win back their base. With Nintendo riding high on the Switch’s success, I’m a bit pessimistic and assuming that their next console is going to sell very poorly. With the new console rumored to be another handheld, it’s very likely that the hardware will be significantly underpowered compared to its competition at the time, which will once again hold Nintendo back from a lot of big AAA releases. And I’m not sure players will put up with Nintendo’s stubbornness for much longer, especially if the next console isn’t another huge hit like the Switch.

While I don’t think it’s likely, I think it’s very plausible that the Switch’s successor may end up being one of the last pieces of hardware Nintendo develops. I just don’t have a lot of faith in Nintendo’s leadership these days to imagine them sticking around the hardware scene for much longer. Their IPs are absolutely priceless, though, so I have no doubt that they’ll continue making “Nintendo” games, but my prediction is that it’ll be for other platforms.

I’m still a Nintendo fanboy at heart, though, so I hope I end up being way wrong.