That’s right, for hardware that’s now eight years old and never got a price discount. It currently sells for C$400 – but they’re about to jack the price.
There are Android tablets that are much cheaper than the Switch, more powerful, more battery efficient. Also, play games better.
Yet, Nintendo is jacking the price.
…So basically mediocre Android games and rare ports of older games. Nobody is buying a handheld console to play these.
Buddy, you’re completely out of touch with reality.
The Android gaming market is leagues larger than Nintendo’s—and it’s not even close.
Better games, better hardware than the original Switch. Other than first party titles, there’s no reason nowadays to buy an eight-year-old Switch.
You’re comparing apples to oranges.
The mobile gaming market is leagues larger than every other market combined. That doesn’t mean the games are even remotely comparable to console games.
It’s an entirely different target audience. Mobile games are focused on quick sessions and design patterns designed to encourage spending money on microtransactions. Games made for the traditional gaming market are mostly designed for longer play sessions with more mechanically complex gameplay. I as well as many others prefer the latter.
Nintendo’s store is full of shovelware, but at least you’ll find more traditional games than just ports of indie hits. Or, buy a Steam Deck and enjoy something better than both.
To me, this is one of the funniest things in gaming culture right now.
I mean, have you looked closely at most Nintendo releases lately? They often feel like glorified indie games. They just happen to have big-budget marketing that indie developers lack.
Meanwhile, people act like Nintendo is some untouchable giant of innovation. Let’s be real: when was the last time a Mario game genuinely pushed boundaries? Nowadays, most releases are cash grabs riding on nostalgia and brand recognition.
No one, and I mean no one, is out here mistaking Mario Kart World for a visually groundbreaking, ambitious masterpiece like Black Myth: Wukong.
Maybe instead of throwing shade at indie devs, you should appreciate that indies often deliver fresh, daring experiences Nintendo no longer risks taking.
Which part of my comment was denigrating indie devs? Indie games are great. Android gaming is currently not.
If I’m looking for a good non-mobile game, I don’t go looking in the mobile game store. I go looking on PSN or PC, where the focus is on the kind of game that wasn’t designed as a phone-first experience.
The fact that Android has some good traditional games or ports of indie gems isn’t something inherent to Android. The overwhelming majority of those games were on PC or console first.
Android doesn’t just have ports of good indie games, it’s got lots of indie games that originated on mobile first – only later ported to console or PC.
Examples: Alto’s Adventure, Monument Valley, Endurance, Désiré.
If you’re unaware of these games, it’s not because Android as a platform sucks for gaming. It’s because discoverability is simply bad.