Love it or hate it, The Nintendo Switch is Nintendo's greatest console yet. This presumption isn't based on sales figures or hardware specs. It's based on the console concept, a hybrid gaming machine that can be played at home or on the go. This concept also makes it an essential device on the gaming market, as evidenced by the sales.

In fact, the console is so essential that its availability in the market could exceed its predecessors. Although this idea might seem purely speculative, it's also highly sound given the enormous success the Japanese gaming giant has carved out with this wonderful niche.

So could the Nintendo Switch's popularity lead to it having an extended life cycle?

Nintendo Switch does it all

The idea of the Nintendo Switch receiving an extended life cycle due to growing popularity shouldn't surprise anyone if and when it happens. Besides incredible sales, there is a valid reason the big N would want their current platform to stick around beyond the generation. The thing is, the console's very concept transcends what's already available on the market and perhaps beyond.

That's because this thing isn't really a console or a handheld, for that matter. It's actually a transformative smart device that consists of a tablet with two detachable controllers and a dock for plug-and-play on the TV.

Nvidia manufactures the device, and as such, it's built around the company's Tegra X1 chip, the same one found in the Nvidia Shield TV console.

Admittedly, its graphical capabilities lag far behind even that of the last generation of consoles. However, it's still capable of running today's Video Games admirably. This would also make it the most powerful handheld on the market if perceived as one.

Also, Nintendo has been gradually upgrading the Switch's capabilities with updated software and slightly newer hardware throughout its life cycle.

So despite the facade, the device can give consumers an excellent bang for their buck. Another more important fact about its novelty is that it has solved a big problem that every gamer has each generation: Quantity versus quality.

Before the Switch, most video games' avid consumers required more than one console to satisfy each generation. Unless they are apostles to a specific hardware provider, they likely own multiple consoles per household and perhaps a handheld or smart device to boot.

The problem here is these platforms and their games can really add up depending on what's being offered. Fortunately, Nintendo's non-console platform provides both gaming standards, all at an average console price. Frighteningly, however, this is also the reason why it might not be going away anytime soon.

Nintendo Switch is too revolutionary

Hands down, the Switch concept is so revolutionary, and it can't be abandoned once the next generation rolls in.

In fact, it's too revolutionary for Nintendo itself to come up with a better concept to effectively replace it, and that's no joke.

Since the dawn of the 21st century, Nintendo has focused on improving its consumers' quality of life through unique gaming hardware. This new direction led to the creation of its revolutionary Wii console and DS handheld. Since then, each console and handheld from the company would be built around a revolutionary feature that not only changed the way they play games but their very lives.

What's so interesting about the company's latest device is that it offers a plethora of life-changing features. In fact, the company once described its device as one that encapsulates what these and every other device before it had to offer the gaming market.

Of course, there are some flaws that range from deceptive to dumbfounding. But the Switch does more than enough with its offerings to warrant purchasing. At times, it also gives the impression that Nintendo might have hit a wall with its latest blueprint. Hence, why it seems highly possible the device could surpass its own life cycle.

This isn't to say the move would be bad for Nintendo. In fact, the company's President Shuntaro Furukawa admitted a couple of months that he felt the platform is only halfway through its life cycle and the company should try to increase its momentum heading into the new year. Hence, the big N knows the Switch has surpassed its own value on the market and will adjust its availability to suit it better.

This could also prove that a new model is indeed on its way in 2021.

Conclusion

Realistically, the big N will eventually move on from the Switch. But for now, there are two likely paths for it to take for the next generation. Either the company extends the device's life cycle much as it did with its predecessor, the 3DS, or develops a more powerful model to serve as its successor. Only time will tell, but the signs are already there.
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