NintendObs Thinks: The Case for Nintendo Switch Mini.
...Not "Pro." Just putting that out there.
Let’s begin this with some context. Though the latest Nintendo Switch numbers will be revealed on August 5, the Nintendo Switch business so far represents 84.59 million units sold as of March 31, 2021, with Nintendo planning to add another 25.50 million units to that during this fiscal year ending March 2022, which would put the Nintendo Switch’s numbers upwards of 110.09 million units, above Nintendo’s best-selling videogame console of all times, the Wii, and its 101.63 million units. Furthermore, in the words of both Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa and Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser, Nintendo considers the Nintendo Switch to be entering the “middle of its lifecycle,” as they “redefine the lifecycle, and vitality of videogame consoles in its fifth year.”
What this whole mumbo jumbo means is, for Nintendo, more than four years after launch, and disregarding the launches of the latest consoles from the competition, this is only the beginning for the Nintendo Switch business. Gamers may disagree with that, as seen in the prevalence of the belief in a “Nintendo Switch Pro,” but for Nintendo, meaning for the people who actually run the company and therefore make the decisions for their future products and for how and when they will sell them, it is already set in stone: this generation of Nintendo Switch consoles is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
With that in mind, a friend of mine had this idea of a new Nintendo Switch console, an idea I didn’t believe in so much at first but for which I am now currently sold. It would participate in the maintenance of the Nintendo Switch’s momentum alongside the flagship Nintendo Switch hardware and Nintendo Switch Lite, all while proposing a pricepoint similar to Nintendo Switch Lite for a completely different audience. I will now describe to you: the Nintendo Switch Mini. Minimum size, maximum power.™