If a Third-Party Publisher Made a Console...

[Moonface]

If a third-party publisher i.e. Ubisoft, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Take Two, etc. were to make a console, which:

1. Do you think would be the most successful?
   
2. Would be the one you would want to buy even if another third party publisher could be more successful instead?
   

Also this isn't meant to necessarily try and compete with the current consoles out there, because I know in that case nothing would stand a chance. I just thought this would be a fun hypothetical since Sega were a console maker and became just a publisher so I was thinking of what if the opposite happened instead.

[ShiraNoMai]

Out of all of those, Bandai Namco would probably be the one to do it successfully. Out of everyone there, they're the only ones with their hands in physical media of every kind. They're well-versed in licensing IPs and have experience in hardware.

EA would be the one I would dread something like this from. That thing would just milk you for everything you had and then some

[queenzelda]

I think if Square Enix made a console for some reason, I imagine it would look like Cloud's Sword or something else ridiculous. But if SE released a third-party console, I'd buy it. I mean I hate they're into nfts but damn it I love their games.

[Maniakkid25]

The only one's of the list recommended I'd trust to make decent hardware is Bandai Namco, and that's because they've done it before. And no, I don't just mean the little toys like Tamagotchi and Digimon; I mean an actual games console. Anyone else rememeber the Wonderswan? Because I sure as hell do as the perennial Digimon fanboy that I am (like, 4 Digimon games are Wonderswan exclusives)! Then again, it never made it out if the Asian market (It DID make it out if Japan and into Hong Kong, and there is a TALE to that!), so maybe that's why you never heard of it. Either way, it's a cult classic system that tried to take on the GBA and failed because, well, it was taking on the GBA. I mean, have you seen those sales figures?! But, for its time, it was an innovative piece of kit with two ways to play it: vertical and horizontal! Not that you could switch on the fly like modern phones; these were built into the game. It's actually a really cool system, and if Bandai Namco were to try again, I'd be down for it.

[Moonface]

But if SE released a third-party console, I'd buy it. I mean I hate they're into nfts but damn it I love their games.

I'd imagine it would be like the PlayStation Stars program except the digital rewards are actual NFT's like people initially feared that program was going to be.

Out of all of those, Bandai Namco would probably be the one to do it successfully. Out of everyone there, they're the only ones with their hands in physical media of every kind. They're well-versed in licensing IPs and have experience in hardware.

Yeah, I could imagine Bandai Namco having a good shot at doing a console because like Sega they have/had their own arcade cabinets. Capcom would be the only other publisher that may have a similar shot but I think out of those three companies they had the least amount of arcade games.

The only one's of the list recommended I'd trust to make decent hardware is Bandai Namco, and that's because they've done it before. And no, I don't just mean the little toys like Tamagotchi and Digimon; I mean an actual games console. Anyone else rememeber the Wonderswan? Because I sure as hell do as the perennial Digimon fanboy that I am (like, 4 Digimon games are Wonderswan exclusives)! Then again, it never made it out if the Asian market (It DID make it out if Japan and into Hong Kong, and there is a TALE to that!), so maybe that's why you never heard of it. Either way, it's a cult classic system that tried to take on the GBA and failed because, well, it was taking on the GBA. I mean, have you seen those sales figures?! But, for its time, it was an innovative piece of kit with two ways to play it: vertical and horizontal! Not that you could switch on the fly like modern phones; these were built into the game. It's actually a really cool system, and if Bandai Namco were to try again, I'd be down for it.

Huh, I've never heard of that system before and seeing it for the first time the design of it is pretty slick. I wonder if Bandai Namco would have ever released it worldwide if it had been more successful and/or Nintendo weren't part of the handheld market already?
Also it's wild to me that SquareSoft going back to Nintendo is cited as a key factor in diminishing sales for the WonderSwan when a reason SquareSoft ditched Nintendo was because they continued to use carts.