Nintendo Switch
I admire Nintendo&#x27;s effort but I think they need to make a phone to really compete and they need something graphically powerful. That is to say, they need to raise prices at launch of a new device to ensure the hardware has enough of a shelf life. Spending $300 on a portable for gaming after spending twice that on a phone capable of gaming seems like a hard sell to the mass market&#x2F;casual gamer.<p>Will this really be able to stand up against iPhones and Android devices in a year or two? I sadly don&#x27;t think so... the maxwell X1 it&#x27;s shipping with will be under power as soon as a device is released and woefully as soon as other device manufacturers start shipping X2 (I think that&#x27;s the name) Pascal or whatever new PowerVR chipset debuts soon based devices.<p>I think a lot of the tech going into VR like motion controls and low latency displays will destroy some of Nintendo&#x27;s technical advantage they&#x27;re as no longer the only game in town with it.<p>Finally, while making the SDK better by using open standards I think most devs would prefer a larger market; which, both iOS and Android provide.<p>I&#x27;ve been a Nintendo fan in a big way for 25 years and want to be wrong but I worry if they don&#x27;t go big in another decade they&#x27;ll be in the same place as Sega. I bought a Wii U solely for Smash Bros and will buy a Switch when it&#x27;s (Smash Bros) ported but I don&#x27;t think most folks are quite so obsessed or willing to invest that much for one game.<p>Glad to eat my words in a few months, hopefully I do.<p>Edit: updated with reference to another GPU manufacturer. For my point it&#x27;s not the exact SOC that matters it&#x27;s the speed of iteration&#x2F;capabilities on the near horizon.<p>Edit 2: Here&#x27;s a year old benchmark showing how the maxwell X1 stacks up:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;wccftech.com&#x2F;snapdragon-820-benchmarks&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;wccftech.com&#x2F;snapdragon-820-benchmarks&#x2F;</a><p>Edit 3: added &quot;casual gamer&quot; after mass market for clarity.