The end of dual screens/touch screens (probably)
It’s been over 10 years since a Nintendo controller resembled those of its hardcore competitors. Even in “tablet mode,” the Switch appears to play in a very familiar way to the current lineup of consoles: face buttons, d-pad, triggers and shoulder buttons, offset analog sticks, plus and minus (likely Start and Select analogues), and most importantly, no second screen or touch screen experience.
Why are we so sure that the Switch unit won’t have a touchscreen? Since the gameplay experience is supposed to be identical when docked at home, having a touch screen component wouldn’t make sense. That would create parts of a game that are only possible in tablet mode, which doesn’t seem to be in Nintendo’s gameplan. And there are the other clues, like the lack of any stylus on the console, the denial to speak on the subject by the company, and that in the E3 2016 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild demo shown on the Wii U (also launching on Switch), the second screen didn’t seem to have much use beyond displaying the in-game map.
The Switch controller is arguably the most traditional the company has seen since the days of the SNES. Even the N64 and Gamecube controllers (while featuring neither motion or touch capabilities) were unique butterflies of their time that didn’t aspire to be like Sony or Microsoft’s offerings. With the Switch, Nintendo is recognizing a controller that’s already good, and rolling with it.
