I do sometimes wonder if the Switch will be remembered for not a specific game, but for in general it’s limitations and the fact it didn’t really hold any of it’s titles back from being mega hits. While I know people have been saying this since basically the 360 generation, but I do think that consoles really have gone as far as they can really go, especially if there is some kind of “pro” refresh during the mid cycle. They have effectively caught up to the PC now, with only really the most high end out matching them and usually in fairly gimmicky ways. Now when PC cracks the 8K, 500 hz market as per standard, then consoles have room again but that doesn’t exist yet – and may never exist, for all we know.
This is why, if there is even a console generation after this one, what we might see from them is a reflection upon the Switch. And the fact that it didn’t need to have the best – or even necessarily competitive – hardware to succeed, because it offered a hybrid model the others didn’t. It filled a lot of niche markets, the others didn’t. And most importantly, Nintendo have a fiercely beloved collection of first party IP you can’t play anywhere else and so people embrace the Switch’s conventional limitations for the opportunities to play those titles.
I really do think Microsoft and Sony, should they wish to stay in the console space, will look back at the Switch as a case study to really help each of them carve out what exactly their niche is and how to double down and protect that, in a way that’ll keep their consumers coming back, even if they can’t offer perhaps the next big leap in hardware performance. That doesn’t mean I think suddenly the future is handhelds, but I just think the most memorable thing about the Switch is in a lot of ways it went against the conventional grain of what we believe a console needs to be competitive and thrived.