Nintendo was one of the last companies trying to innovate with each console they released. Whilst Xbox & PlayStation simply went the “more power = better” route.
But it feels like Nintendo has caved in, and is just following suite. Are there any gimmicks left to sell consoles? Or is it just gonna be like smart phones, we just upgrade because that’s what we do.
I’m gonna miss the era of Nintendo giving us never before seen technology on the mainstream
Gameboy (Handheld) N64 (Analog Stick) DS (Touch Screen) Wii (Motion Control) Switch (Hybrid Console)
GBA was awesome at the time. Up to that point, all other color portables were jokes that could kill a fresh set of 6 AA batteries in a single play session. Backlight tech was bad; Game Gear had a tiny fluorescent tube! IndiGlo watches were fancy… there was Game Boy Light but only in Japan. I can’t remember why these companies were so slow to go to LED especially since third-party LED “worm lights” were so popular on GBC then GBA. Probably patents?
Nintendo was right to invest in RISC tech like Super FX, leading to GBA’s 32-bit ARM CPU able to run for many many hours on 2 AAs. I felt that only adding L+R buttons to the Game Boy control scheme was a mistake especially when ports and sequels of 16-bit favorites started appearing, but obviously that didn’t hold the console back.
Sega were the innovators putting the mini-screen/portable in their controller but trying to keep the price down made it way too limited, and Nintendo almost took that to next level with the GBA to GameCube link.