Nintendo Switch's unexpected allies; Microsoft and Sony
I read an article a week or so back (can't find it now) which basically said that the Switch is currently at it's height and things are only going to get worse from here. At the time, I was a little unsettled by the remark because it "felt" wrong, but I hadn't really come up with any reason for the feeling. In fact, at the time it was probably more emotional than anything.
But, then as I read about a Batman game getting an Xbox One X enhanced version it dawned on me; Sony and Microsoft have actually made a longer term reign of the Switch FAR more likely.
To recap. With the Xbox One X and PS 4 Pro both Microsoft and Sony did the same things. They released an iterative version of their hardware with a lot more power, but forced developers to support the old hardware.
For games which aren't built on an Engine which can support some sort of scaling, this means a rewrite of at least the game engine. This is a lot of burden and we've seen that developers in this space are dragging their feet.
But, developers won't be bitten twice. This is the new world. The new reality. And there are already ways to address that. You simply build a gaming engine built to scale up or down based on the hardware. PC games already do this through user tweakable settings. But, consoles are doing it now as well. They are effectively coded the same as PC games with different consoles getting different profiles.
All of this means two things. Firstly, console game developers are already developing games with less powerful consoles in mind. And while the original Xbox One and PS4 may still be more powerful than the switch, you can bet that a lot of the problems are the same. And secondly, an increasing number of high profile console games are switching to using more adaptive renderers.
At the end of the day, all of this means that developers are actually aligning themselves with a strategy which makes it more realistic to deliver a game as a Switch port.
Interestingly, I would say that all Nintendo has to do to increase the odds further is release a more powerful 2nd gen Switch and NOT enforce developers to support the original hardware. Which, would be a very Nintendo like move indeed. If they can close the gap a bit more between Switch and the lower powered Xbox One and PS4 and simply ensure that the next iteration of the Switch can support the existing Switch games. Then, beyond that, they can make sure it is easy for developers to target both if they wanted to, but allow companies not be shackled to the weaker performance of the original Switch and I think it would be even easier for devs to justify jumping ship.
That being said, it is even possible without a hardware refresh. The original arguments I made still stand. Devs already need scalable engines to be competitive in the Sony and Microsoft world. This opens a lot more titles up to move to the Switch. So, I don't think that this is the height of the Switch's popularity at all.
In fact, couple this with new Pokémon IP, and if anything, the peak is yet to come.
But, then as I read about a Batman game getting an Xbox One X enhanced version it dawned on me; Sony and Microsoft have actually made a longer term reign of the Switch FAR more likely.
To recap. With the Xbox One X and PS 4 Pro both Microsoft and Sony did the same things. They released an iterative version of their hardware with a lot more power, but forced developers to support the old hardware.
For games which aren't built on an Engine which can support some sort of scaling, this means a rewrite of at least the game engine. This is a lot of burden and we've seen that developers in this space are dragging their feet.
But, developers won't be bitten twice. This is the new world. The new reality. And there are already ways to address that. You simply build a gaming engine built to scale up or down based on the hardware. PC games already do this through user tweakable settings. But, consoles are doing it now as well. They are effectively coded the same as PC games with different consoles getting different profiles.
All of this means two things. Firstly, console game developers are already developing games with less powerful consoles in mind. And while the original Xbox One and PS4 may still be more powerful than the switch, you can bet that a lot of the problems are the same. And secondly, an increasing number of high profile console games are switching to using more adaptive renderers.
At the end of the day, all of this means that developers are actually aligning themselves with a strategy which makes it more realistic to deliver a game as a Switch port.
Interestingly, I would say that all Nintendo has to do to increase the odds further is release a more powerful 2nd gen Switch and NOT enforce developers to support the original hardware. Which, would be a very Nintendo like move indeed. If they can close the gap a bit more between Switch and the lower powered Xbox One and PS4 and simply ensure that the next iteration of the Switch can support the existing Switch games. Then, beyond that, they can make sure it is easy for developers to target both if they wanted to, but allow companies not be shackled to the weaker performance of the original Switch and I think it would be even easier for devs to justify jumping ship.
That being said, it is even possible without a hardware refresh. The original arguments I made still stand. Devs already need scalable engines to be competitive in the Sony and Microsoft world. This opens a lot more titles up to move to the Switch. So, I don't think that this is the height of the Switch's popularity at all.
In fact, couple this with new Pokémon IP, and if anything, the peak is yet to come.
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