Microsoft should drop out of the hardware game, drop out and do what they do best, software. They’re already painting themselves into this corner not having exclusives, even of their own IPs so why keep on with the expensive overhead of putting out hardware like the XBox that no one needs to buy because “everything is an XBox?”

Some people may think of Nintendo as a kid at the table but in gaming, they’re the OG. This might be the age where grandparents played Mario. This year 2025, for some reason I’m excited about a new Nintendo. The way that sounds, the 90s kid in me finds something nostalgic in it. Looking at the Switch 2 and the landscape of the gaming market and this lackluster gen, this type of system is what’s needed. Of the Big 3, the younger one is looking like the runt of the litter. I don’t think they plan to do well, they’re not doing exclusives for their own hardware. So what’s the plan for their hardware that’s already struggling to move, a PS5 might be more expensive but you wouldn’t be missing out on any Xbox games if you got one would you?

just an expanded thought…

I don’t have a degree in business but what I think would be a smart move for Microsoft would be to partner with Nintendo and put out a better Switch product somewhere down the line. They’d still have their foot in hardware a little but not as heavily as whatever it takes to put out their own dedicated console. All the money that goes in to research, development, production, marketing, etc put elsewhere. Step away from most of that, split the cost of production with Nintendo to bring the consumer a more powerful product. The Switch 1 lasted 8 years and now the 2 is coming. What limited it for a lot of devs was the hardware specs, Nintendo builds for their own needs, which is great and they did amazing things with it but others needed it to do more. The Switch 2 might change that for a lot of titles it previously missed out on.

Given their new gaming business model, stepping away from hardware seems to me like the best move for Microsoft. If Nintendo were down for it, the Switch 2 MS OLED sounds like a better future. If the Switch 1 lasted 8 years and will still get support well after the 2 is released, how much longer will the run be for a beefier successor? If it ran for 10 years or more, that’s 10+ years for Microsoft to remaster the best of their back catalog and put out new games without worrying too heavily about hardware because a giant customer base will always be there. Kids who are only old enough to play games like Pokemon now, could play Halo, Modern Warfare, GTA, or Street Fighter on the same system when their older. This could be the generation where a person’s childhood games and their adult games are all on the same system. The games their parents and grandparents used to play is also on the same system.

A production partnership between Nintendo and Microsoft could also potentially ease the cost of such a system on consumers. It only needs to be so powerful performance wise. Devs are always pushing the hardware, never working within it, maybe it’s time to go back to that. Games now are too expensive to make and mostly full of bloat. Multiplayer games have turned into trinket gathering, they’re more like RPGs now. I’ve seen people spend more time in shooters doing inventory maintenance than actually shooting at other players, kits not kills.

One thing I’ve noticed about gamers is that despite what we say, graphics aren’t all that. Games need to look good not realistic, but they also have be good. I personally don’t care about the particle physics in the lighting when bullets are flying in my shooters. My gameplay doesn’t need to look like a pre-rendered cinematic. That’s mostly all the hardware is being pushed for with each new system, minuscule texture improvements. There’s no need for a Microsoft console if no one needs a Microsoft console, but I think we need Microsoft in the hardware gaming hardware space. Console hardware has peaked and iterations now from the PS4 to PS5 for example aren’t big leaps in quality worth the jump. There’s no great improvements and most people don’t have a TV capable of appreciating its full specs. I think gaming hardware will go the same route cell phones did, a shrunken hardware market. Nintendo proved we can have a handheld console, they chose to limit it’s performance because console wars isn’t their bread and butter, the games are.

With a partnership with Nintendo, Microsoft could work in their own dedicated e-shop in the OS as well as putting out physical cartridges. With not being so invested in hardware, funds can shift to software. An easy start there could be to remake the best of their back catalog Metroid Prime style, don’t change anything just rebuild for modern hardware, improve what’s already there. Microsoft being Microsoft could also improve Nintendo’s online services, and still put out peripherals like controllers, mics, etc.

Microsoft does have GamePass. It’s their preferred method for pushing their games to new players on other platforms. There’s nothing Microsoft is doing which they couldn’t do on a hybrid system they helped create. They would still be able to offer their GamePass but myself and many others wonder how long this new business model will keep them in the hardware space. As it looks, the Xbox is an anchor that’s soon to drag them down. As I said their business model makes their system redundant.

For game collectors a single console with most if not all their favorite titles on it is a dream. Being able to take it with us anywhere sounds like paradise. Why can’t it be so? I also don’t see a downside for Nintendo with franchises like Smash and Mario Kart, what kind of potential would having access to Microsoft’s catalog bring? As much as the switch sold, there was definitely overlap with Xbox owners, so why not combine them all? And what are the third parties going to do, not make their games for one of the only two consoles on the market?

A partnership like this would realign the gaming industry to what it was prior to November 2001, Sony, PC, and Nintendo but now with Microsoft having a foothold on all 3 and maybe perhaps the iPad down the line. The downside is the brand identities these companies have built up which makes them hesitant to try something like this. They all have their own internal priories about market shares and investor returns, branding, etc. One console to rule them all does sound kind of awesome though, Nintendo brings their magic and Microsoft the muscle. Does the world need a redundant Xbox if every Xbox game can run on a better Switch or available elsewhere?

Nintendo IS the hybrid-console space and with their line up of IPs to choose from, they’ll forever be a hard force to overcome in any generation. A good Zelda, Pokémon, or Metroid is all it takes. Something as simple as modern remasters of games like Pokemon Gold, Silver or Crystal would be instant hits and move millions of consoles, rumors of those titles would move units. This latest gen has been pretty lacking and with a new Nintendo on the horizon, the old ways just seem like, well… the old ways. It is literally the same old setup as before as it’s ever been. Hardcore gaming is at a point we can take it all with us, someone just has to make it so, can’t gaming truly be a mobile thing? Gaming as a whole in my opinion has reached its peak in terms of hardware progression. The next step is to make progress on the experience itself, take it all with us.

For a gamer like me this all sounds great, there’s nothing here that doesn’t sound good to me. How it would work out for these corporations on the back end, I don’t know. I know all these companies talk in their marketing and interviews about being communities, sharing experiences, good times, etc. Gaming can be a singular thing but it often isn’t, this is just an expansion of that same energy. It’s breaking boundaries and trying something new… ish. The truth is, this wouldn’t be too new for Nintendo. The original PlayStation was designed by Sony for Nintendo however their partnership fell apart. The experience may have left a bad taste in Nintendo’s mouth, however time heals all wounds and Nintendo is doing better than ever today. For them it’s a matter of making what they’re already making anyway, better. For Microsoft it wouldn’t be throwing in towel on hardware, but sticking to their guns of what made them Microsoft; One of the largest software companies in the world. Is it worth it for Microsoft to give up the piece of the hardware space they have in order to share in that and more? For Nintendo they wouldn’t have to change much of what they’ve been doing, it’s more performance to play with at no extra cost to them if worked out correctly. Seems better to bow out gradually rather than wait for gamers to ask why you’re still in there. Rogan saw their business model and said “stop the fight. There’s no future in this for you.” Microsoft can’t be champ but they could be a great coach, a great one to be teamed up with.