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Thursday, October 20, 2016 was set to be Red Dead Redemption 2 day. After years of speculation and anticipation it was finally time for the big reveal. Yet an hour before what was set to be one of the biggest game trailer reveals of all time, Nintendo dropped a bomb of its own: The Nintendo Switch. In truth, both videos offered just brief glimpses at the products in question, leaving a lot to be confirmed. So, with nothing more than a three-minute teaser to go on, it’s surely too early to have much of an opinion about it?
The Switch, a handheld that can be plugged into a docking station and then played on your TV like a normal games console, looks cool. As a modern bit of tech Nintendo has seemingly made something that doesn’t look too kiddy, which is a massive improvement over the Fisher Price tablet controller that came with the Wii U. But other than the obvious benefits a hybrid-handheld brings, what else is there to go on at the moment?
People have been quick to jump on the list of publishers confirmed to be supporting the Nintendo Switch as a sign everything will be wonderful, but I’m not being so quick to assume everything is rosey in Third-Party Support Land. Hell, the Wii U even saw EA practically announce Battlefield for the system only for it and EA support to die. Even Bethesda seems pretty vague about its support; despite clearly showing Skyrim in the video the publisher wouldn’t confirm the game in the days that followed.
I’m only banking on Nintendo software, and even that is a big question mark going by the teaser video. Splatoon and Mario Kart appear to look very similar to their Wii U editions, while the Mario game is exciting but impossible to get properly worked up about as it’s currently only a few seconds of footage.
What I’m essentially trying to say is that a lot of the hype around Switch seems to stem from the fact that it’s from Nintendo and that you can leave the house with it. I’m not saying it won’t be a success, but a big part of how well Switch does at retail will come down to being able to play good versions of big AAA games while out and about.
It’s not dissimilar to how we all thought we’d be playing PS3-like experiences on the PS Vita, and then we got Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified and a decent game of FIFA that EA re-released numerous times in the years that followed. Nintendo software will undoubtedly be great, as it always is, but it couldn’t sell the Wii U on its own and it won’t single handedly convince everyone to buy a Switch.
We don’t know how powerful the Switch is going to be but if it’s going to have good third-party support it’s going to have to be able to run games with Xbox One-level visuals, perhaps at a lower resolution. And even then, we’re already three years into the current console lifecycle (more by the time Switch launches in March 2017), meaning relatively easy ports will only be possible for another three or four years.
Perhaps more importantly, there’s no price for the Switch yet. While the hardware looks swish and could carry a more expensive price tag, Nintendo will surely run into trouble if the machine arrives at over £300. Launch stock will get eaten up by the hardcore, but once Nintendo actually has to fight for sales it will be tricky to convince consumers that the Switch is a better option than a PS4 – especially when the Slim model will most likely be readily available with a game at no more than £250.
I want Nintendo to find success with the Switch. I grew up loving the consoles and games from the Big N, but for me there are simply too many ‘? blocks’ overhead. There’s currently no way of knowing if we’re going to get a Tanooki Suit or a Mini Mushroom. Nobody liked that bloody Mini Mushroom!
If you always bet on Nintendo you’re likely already refreshing Amazon at regular intervals to make sure you get that pre-order in as soon as possible, but I just don’t know what to think yet. The reveal video showcased a neat looking system, but it’s not currently a system I know anywhere near enough about. If we do have to wait until 2017 to find out more, fingers crossed Nintendo will come out all-shells-blazing as many people will have been gorging themselves on the likes of CoD, Titanfall, FIFA, Gears of War, Forza, Watch Dogs, and The Last Guardian over Christmas. Nintendo will have to hope we all leave a little bit of room.
