Honestly, this sounds like they won't have backwards compatibility. I wonder if the new system will be substantially different, like going from Gamecube to Wii.
I wasn't impressed with Mario Wonder, if they make Mario boring then I don't have much hope for their next console. They have basically been getting by on their IP for a few generations now and that's not on a good projection now.
So whilst you obviously feel this way, it's good to hold perspective. Mario Wonder sold north of 12 million copies. It was a massive success.
If you're projecting from that, you should be projecting success even if you don't like it. I didn't even play it because it seems totally not for me. But it's silly to look at that success and say ,oooh, that's not good for them"
Same, absolutely loved how wild and crazy they went with the underlying Mario mechanics. It felt like a real breath of fresh air, something I saw in lesser amounts in Odyssey already.
And to the DS, the second-most sold console and just 0,6% behind the first.
And to the Switch, the third-most sold console, and ~10% behind the first.
And to the Gameboy, the fourth-most sold console.
And to the Famicom, which more or less recovered the video games industry after the crash for at-home video games.
You do realize that many of the features you think of as "less unique" are things that Nintendo thought of when they were highly unique, as they did them first?
The famicom wasn't unique and the console didn't save the industry. What saved it was Nintendo's stringent eye for quality assurance and not letting any random developer make games for the system. The system itself is just a video game console with newer hardware than it's predecessors.
The Switch isn't unique, either. It's a culmination of other ideas that were unique prior to it being put into one unit. It didn't do anything new in and of itself. It's a Gameboy mixed with a WiiU.
The NDS isn't very unique either. It's a gameboy with a touch screen. The 3DS was more unique while also not being new, just using a gimmick piece of tech that, by most accounts, wasn't very widely used by players because it was headache inducing. Touch screens and glasses free 3D screens were already things in other hardware, just not used for game systems.
I see you left out the Virtual Boy, which actually was unique for the time. Too bad it sucked.
Their idea of uniqueness in hardware is just novelty and gimmicks, and has only been a success once. With the Wii and its motion control systems.
Making unique systems is part of Nintendo's identity. Xbox and PlayStation compete on maximizing specs and slowly evolving features (though even they throw in one or two gimmicks per generation). Nintendo competes on creating new experiences that draw in people outside of core gamers. The Wii was about using motion controls to draw in people who don't want to waggle a joystick. The WiiU was about asymmetrical user experience. The Switch (like the GameCube) is about bringing the games to social situations (the opposite of other systems emphasis on online gaming).
Overall, as someone who is not a hardcore gamer, I love the Nintendo philosophy. It encourages developers to experiment with the hardware and create novel interactive experiences.
I am not saying that you are wrong for wanting a more powerful system, but I would be disappointed with a Nintendo system that does not have a big gimmick.
No they won't. They will continue to make the same 5 games with tweaks until they die. Nintendo hasn't done anything interesting or new that has made an impact on the software in 20 years. Zelda being the sole exception. On the hardware side we have the switch. N64, nothing new, infact behind on power and Internet. Wii, all of the hardware is garbage once the casuals got over it, wiiU lmao