For more than two decades, Nintendo Co.'s twin product lines were the envy of its rivals: a home console and a handheld gaming device. But signs are emerging that its new hybrid Switch may upend all of that.
Starting with 1989's Game Boy, the Kyoto-based company has effectively doubled its market audience by getting gamers to buy one device for home and another for outside. That also allowed Nintendo to market consoles like the Wii as the higher-end product, with game titles costing more and averaging nine per household, versus five for handheld systems.
While Nintendo has not said will abandon the two-gadget strategy, the signs are there. The home and handheld development teams were merged in 2013, with the company beginning work on Switch the following year. Last quarter, Nintendo stopped reporting separate revenue for handheld and home systems. Then last month, it said a new Pokemon title for the Switch is in development, the first time a main game in the series will debut outside of a dedicated handheld system such as the Game Boy or 3DS.
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