Considering the difficulties Microsoft had buying up Activision, I don't think they will be allowed to buy up another game company of any remotely big size.

shudder

Last time I checked they had no plans for a Switch 2. The sales are still climbing

Their track record on consoles is hit or miss because they don't make the same product every generation like Sony and Microsoft. For every Wii and Switch, you get a Wii. U and Virtual Boy. They're shitty with their IP, but hardware development is literally the best thing they do.

Disagree with the consoles bit, with a caveat; their handheld consoles are always the best in the space (gameboy, DS, switch). I'd be up for them focusing on this and releasing their bigger games (i.e. Zelda) on better hardware.

The Switch is fantastic for what it is. Sure, it's anemic and old, but it's a creative design that more or less created a whole product category and allows for very creative gameplay.

They did push their luck a bit with BOTW and especially TOTK, regarding performance, sure. But most of the time, you really don't need incredible processing power to play a Nintendo game. They're overdue for a Switch 2 (I suspect they planned to release that much earlier but a combination of the pandemic and higher sustained sales than anticipated changed their plans), but I really don't think most of their consoles can be considered mistakes.

IMO Nintendo brings something different and it's very much okay that it exists.

What I'm actually doubtful about is Xbox and Sony. Those are just PC-controller combos, made cheap through standardisation, high volumes and loss-leader tactics, essentially. Microsoft and, to a lesser but similar degree, Sony, are the ones I'm not convinced provide the world with much value by making consoles.

I feel like you get to have the odd "failed" console as long as the next one is a smash hit.

Sega had the Saturn and then the Dreamcast just before it was steamrollered by the PS2.

Nintendo had Gamecube not do so well, the Wii was a smash hit, the Wii U again did badly, then the Switch blew it all away again. They've found their niche. The Steamdeck is poking around in there, but I doubt it will get the traction Nintendo have.

MS are at their second duffer in a row, and frankly it looks like they'll drop out in the future to me. They're starting to be about games rather than hardware, even if it's just to try and push subscriptions. The great cloud migration never happened for them. I think they'll go pure publisher in future, even if they hold onto Game Pass.

Sony only really had a disappointment with the PS3. Every other generation has handily destroyed all competition. Even they're doing a lot of PC ports which is nice.

I’d argue that having them be 30 or 40 years would even be fine. An author who starts in their 20’s should reasonably expect to keep profiting off of their early work until they retire in their 50’s or 60’s. But the current state of copyright is just asinine, because it is basically written by and for corporations.