For years, Nintendo has been the unpopular brother who hangs out with his own crowd but doesn’t have a lot of friends.
While Sony, Microsoft and Steam have been fighting over customers, using various tactics to attract people to their platform, Nintendo has been off to the side. Yes, Nintendo does have a different target audience, one that’s generally younger than those of other platforms, but nonetheless, business hasn’t been up to par.
Sales on the Wii U weren’t spectacular, and nearly three times as many PlayStation 4s have been sold compared to Wii Us. So, with its newest release, Nintendo needed a change of pace. With this in mind, last week Nintendo released a trailer for their newest product, the Nintendo Switch.
The centerpiece of the Wii U was of course, the GamePad. A twist on the traditional controller with a screen at the center and controls on the side, it differentiated the Wii U from the rest of the gaming market.
With the Switch, Nintendo took this idea and ran with it. Essentially, it’s a GamePad with the processing power of a full console. It can connect to your TV or you can take it on the go. The controls slide out to allow for multiplayer usage. In the trailer, there was also some functionality of plugging something into a laptop and playing on there. For PC gamers, this is an exciting prospect.
But for me, the most exciting feature was more extensive third party support. This has been Nintendo’s biggest drawback for years. Game consoles are expensive, so when the console I’m buying doesn’t have the titles I want, I’m much more reluctant to purchase it. So, seeing in the trailer that you can play Skyrim, NBA 2k17 or a variety of other third party titles was exciting to say the least. But alongside this, the trailer had a section focusing on controllers in what looked to be a tournament setting. Though, in the past Nintendo has offered traditional controller options, this seems to be their attempt at pushing those into the forefront.
Altogether, this seems to be Nintendo trying to fit in better among the traditional console community.
To be honest, it’s a welcome change. I think the third party support is a great idea in that it accommodates a wider community while not losing the games that make Nintendo so ‘unique.’ Plus, many of these games that are featured in the video appeal to Nintendo’s core demographic, children. This prevents parents from having to dish out the dough for two different consoles. This, alongside with the possibility of being able to take Skyrim on the go is making me actually consider purchasing the newest Nintendo console, something that did not happen with Wii U.
Despite the fact that I’m a cheapskate that probably won’t buy it at full retail price (after the 3DS’s price drop, I know better), I’m seriously considering Switching back to Nintendo.
