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In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Phil Harrison, a former corporate vice president at Microsoft and executive vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, gave his thoughts on Nintendo, Nintendo Switch and why the Wii U was not a success.
Commenting on current day Nintendo, Harrison said,‘Nintendo has surprised me in a good way. They’ve put some excitement back in, or at least added a dynamic to the console equation that wasn’t there previously.’
He went on to talk more about the Switch, saying, ‘From my focus group of a household with younger children, Switch is definitely the console that gets used. Mainly because of the content types. Surprisingly, the TV-to-mobile use case works way more effectively than I expected. Maybe I should give Nintendo more credit. I really enjoy that.’
Harrison also offered his opinion on the reason why the Wii U wasn’t a big seller, saying that the tablet on the WiiU ‘just wasn’t powerful enough’ and that ‘A great idea is about timing as much as it is about technology.’
Although the Switch has received criticism for the gaming lineup it has, with opinions swinging wildly between it having no launch games and it having loads of launch games, Harrison is very positive about the Switch’s future. ‘The game pipeline they have coming through looks pretty strong, with the greatest hits from Nintendo coming down the pipe in the next 12 months..
Phil Harrison is now a games investor, most recently invested in Dream Reality, a virtual reality experience creator.
