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Once again, the next console generation is being kicked off early by Nintendo, whose Switch 2 console will likely go on to become one of the hottest buys of the year – even if they might be more expensive than we’d like them to be. However, even at this early stage in the console generation, it is clear that the Switch 2 likely can’t compete with Sony or Xbox’s upcoming consoles when it comes to graphics. This shouldn’t be a shock because Nintendo hasn’t cared about cutting-edge graphics since the Game Boy came out.

Why am I focusing on the Game Boy, a console that is more than 35 years old? Because that was when it became clear that Nintendo knew no one was going to win the graphical arms race that was heating up in the gaming industry. Just a year later, the Game Gear would be released by what was then Nintendo’s biggest competition – Sega. In many ways, the Game Gear was better than the Game Boy. It had a vibrant, full-color screen and could essentially play Sega Genesis games in the palm of your hand. It was a remarkably powerful handheld for the time.

And yet, 35 years later, the Game Boy is one of the best-selling consoles of all time, with more than 120 million units sold, while the Game Gear was only a moderate success with around 10 million lifetime sales. Why did the Game Boy become the standard against which all other handheld consoles would be measured? Because while the Game Gear was infinitely more powerful than the Game Boy, it wasn’t as much fun to play.

The man at the heart of the Game Boy’s design was Gunpei Yokoi, who believed in the philosophy of “lateral thinking of withered technology.” That is a very poetic way of saying that he believed it was wiser to use dated technology in a creative way than cutting-edge tech you don’t know how to use. With this in mind, Nintendo created a handheld console that could fit in most pockets and, more importantly, had a battery life that lasted for days rather than the few hours that the Game Gear offered. It was just powerful enough to play games like Tetris and Pokémon while having enough battery life to last a long car journey, which was exactly what fans needed at the time.

The focus on functionality over technology was why the Game Boy was so successful when compared to the Game Gear and the other handhelds of the time and it is also why Nintendo has never felt compelled to compete with Sony or Microsoft in terms of graphical power. The DS sought to make the most of its dual-screen system. The Wii, for better or worse, relied on its motion controls to set it apart from the competition.

And the Switch, which is set to become the best-selling console of all time, finally delivered a handheld that functioned as a home console. All without investing in the graphical power that other companies have focused on.

When the Switch 2 was announced, the world was probably expecting a big upgrade from the new system. In many ways that mattered, Nintendo delivered on that promise. The voice chat system sounds like it will make it easier to play with friends around the world and the increased internal storage will be a huge improvement on the original Switch. While there are certainly some impressive hardware specs in the Switch 2, it still isn’t likely to compete with even the PlayStation 5 for graphical power, let alone whatever Sony cooks up for their next-gen offering.

And yet, I do not doubt that Nintendo will do just fine in the next console generation, and their most recent financial report, which forecasts that the Switch 2 will sell as many units as the Switch did in its first year, suggests that they feel the same. Because their focus has always been on delivering a balance between fun and functional to their fans. It is the design philosophy that has guided the company since the 80s and it has led to Nintendo being the largest independent video game company in the world.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
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• How to play every GTA game in order
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And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.