On Friday, Nintendo made a very special announcement. The Nintendo Switch, the long-awaited successor to the Wii U, will be hitting the shelves on March 3rd. The Switch represents much more than a console; it represents a shift in Nintendo’s development and marketing strategy. Thanks to a great lineup of launch titles, I am actually excited about the launch of this Nintendo console.
Remember how the Wii U had the worst launch ever? It had very few AAA launch titles – only New Super Mario Bros U and ZombiU, and a bunch of ports. Even worse, the name, combined with an awful marketing campaign, meant many casual consumers (read: parents) thought it was some add-on for the Wii. Seriously, whoever came up with “Wii U” should have been fired just for that. Iwata Satoru wa baka deshita.
The console was too gimmicky, and its specs and half-hearted online play made it difficult for major 3rd-party developers such as Activision and EA to get on board. While the console eventually improved in 2014 when Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U came out, Nintendo found itself with a huge wake-up call.
That’s why things are going to be different with the Switch. While the initial line-up only has four confirmed titles, many more will be rolling out throughout 2017. As you probably already know, the headlining launch title for the Switch will be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In addition, the next few months will see Splatoon 2, Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Fire Emblem Warriors, and a rumored Pokemon game. Scores of major third-party developers, including EA and Square Enix, are on board with the console as well.
That said, I do have a couple of concerns. First, the “day 1” lineup itself is rather small. Second, the Switch might end up being too “handheld” for console gamers, and too “console” for handheld gamers. Finally, the Switch still has less technical specs than the Xbox One and PS4, which could be an issue for core gamers. That said, I sense that greater things will be coming in Year 1, which the Wii U could not put out in the same amount of time.
Even if the 3rd-party devs bail again like they did for the Wii U, I’ll still be getting a Switch. Why? Because I’m a Nintendo fan at heart, and I’m looking forward to Fire Emblem Warriors, Xenoblade 2, and the inevitable Super Smash Bros game.
