I guess my point is that I think of the Nintendo dynamic more charitably than I think of independent large game studios making platform exclusive titles just because some business deal was struck, simply because the latter creates the impression of vertical integration when there is in fact none.
Nintendo’s hardware used to have features that competitors lacked. The DS’s dual screens, the 3DS’s 3D top screen, the Wiimote, the Wii U’s controller with a second screen. Even the Virtual Boy did something different, though it didn’t do it well. Nintendo used to innovate on hardware while everyone else was just going for bigger numbers. Exclusives made sense as they made use of those features that you just couldn’t get elsewhere.
The Switch and Switch 2 have this portable/dock gimmick but that doesn’t really affect gameplay in a way that makes the software incompatible with a PC or a Playstation 4/5. And there’s the Steam Deck and a load of other portable gaming PCs out now, so even if it did there’d be no justification for a Switch exclusive other than greed and an unwillingness to prioritize the consumer.
I guess my point is that I think of the Nintendo dynamic more charitably than I think of independent large game studios making platform exclusive titles just because some business deal was struck, simply because the latter creates the impression of vertical integration when there is in fact none.
Nintendo’s hardware used to have features that competitors lacked. The DS’s dual screens, the 3DS’s 3D top screen, the Wiimote, the Wii U’s controller with a second screen. Even the Virtual Boy did something different, though it didn’t do it well. Nintendo used to innovate on hardware while everyone else was just going for bigger numbers. Exclusives made sense as they made use of those features that you just couldn’t get elsewhere.
The Switch and Switch 2 have this portable/dock gimmick but that doesn’t really affect gameplay in a way that makes the software incompatible with a PC or a Playstation 4/5. And there’s the Steam Deck and a load of other portable gaming PCs out now, so even if it did there’d be no justification for a Switch exclusive other than greed and an unwillingness to prioritize the consumer.