3 Reasons to Be Hopeful For the Nintendo Switch

NINTENDO LEARNED THEIR LESSON WITH THE WII U

Nintendo’s new console, the Switch, launches worldwide on Mar. 3. Nintendo just recently had a live streamed presentation, announcing the price, launch line-up, and other key features of their new hybrid console. With the Wii U’s lackluster sales, 13 million sold, it lacks in comparison to its sibling, the Wii. With that console selling like it did, what reasons do we have to be hopeful for Nintendo’s Switch?

Miyamoto did an interview with Fortune in 2015, talking about how the Wii U crashed and burned. “I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do,” he mentioned. “Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it.” As you can see, Nintendo is aware that the Wii U was a mistake. This time around, they’re not boasting the Switch as a tablet, but as a gaming console first. The Switch is its own thing and has no affiliation with Nintendo’s past two consoles; no Wii-motes, no nunchucks. Nintendo dropping the Wii name is going to help them when it comes to selling this piece of hardware. Consumers associate Nintendo with Wii and motion controls, but the Switch puts motion aside for the most part and will be all the better because of it.

Nintendo’s President, Tatsumi Kimishima, says that, “It’s possible the Switch may sell as well as the Wii,” in an interview with Nikkei. Truth be told, the same thing was said about the Wii U before it launched, but that’s mainly because Nintendo thought people would purchase anything with the name Wii in it at the time, especially after the insane of amounts of units the Wii sold. The Wii U showed that this isn’t always true, Nintendo wants their systems to sell. They may over estimate sales from time to time, but this isn’t the Wii U. They’re not just relying on the name of the console alone to have it sell, they’re putting in the work with their titles and advertising.

Nintendo knows what they’re doing when it comes to making money. They’ve been doing great in the mobile world this past year and the Switch advertising has been on point. Nintendo decided to only show millennials’ in that first Switch trailer and no kids. This shows fans that they’re thinking about the older crowd; the people who used to play Nintendo consoles in the past but slowly backed away from the Japanese company. The trailer shows Skyrim, NBA, Mario Kart, and a few other titles that made the console just look insanely fun. It’s catering to hardcore and casual players at the same time. The Switch could end up being Nintendo’s next big hit by getting the attention of all gamers everywhere. With the Nintendo Switch reveal being the most viewed video on Nintendo’s YouTube page, it’s clear that people are interested.

NINTENDO GIVES PEOPLE A REASON TO PLAY ON SWITCH

Let’s make one thing clear, the Nintendo Switch will most definitely not be getting ports of big AAA titles like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Red Dead Redemption 2. The console is just not as powerful as its competitors, but it does have something that the other consoles do not: the ability to take any game and play it on the go. There are no limits like the Wii U, you can take it on a train or a plane, something the PlayStation and Xbox can’t do without the use of peripherals. The PlayStation Vita tried to do this, but it couldn’t play PS4 games without connecting to the system via WiFi, creating a latency issue. Developers tried creating unique AAA experiences for the Vita exclusively but it turned out that people didn’t want a watered down iteration of Call of Duty on a handheld. Switch is different; it’s giving you home console quality titles that you happen to be able to play anywhere.

This feature is a big positive for the hybrid console, it’s bringing something fresh to the market that consumers haven’t seen before. Mention the fact that you can play Skyrim, FIFA 18, and Breath of the Wild on the go, and anyone would be intrigued.

If the third party support that Nintendo is boasting actually blooms into something noteworthy, there will be a slew of AAA titles that you can play anywhere. This gives an actual reason to sacrifice performance to go with the Switch as your console of choice.

While the Switch has some issues when it comes to its performance and likely won’t be tackling the PS4 and XBO head on, there’s still hope that if developers see the Switch as an option, so will the consumer.

NINTENDO IS SERIOUS ABOUT ONLINE THIS TIME AROUND

The Switch will be the first Nintendo console to provide a paid online subscription service. With the news of a dedicated app meant for matchmaking and voice chat, this means that Nintendo is truly serious about it. “Online play with Switch is going to be something that’s key to the business,” Kimishima said in an interview with Time. They of course want to make money with this service, so it has to be fully realized. Kimishima has confirmed that the service will cost less than $30 a year, giving players access to online play and a free classic game download each month. The game expires each month, so you don’t necessarily get to keep said game like the competitors’ subscription services, but this service costs significantly less than PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold.

Nintendo hasn’t fully explained how the app will work and what we’ll exactly be getting from this subscription, but this means that Nintendo is surely confident in the Switch’s online endeavors. The company is going to make people excited to play Mario Kart and Splatoon online with voice chat and matchmaking. If they do it better than friend codes, then it’s already miles ahead of every past console.

This is a something that Nintendo is charging for, so they will feel compelled to deliver the best service that allows friends to connect and play together. In an interview with Time, Kimishima stresses this with, “I just want to make sure that everyone understands that we will be going above and beyond to make sure that our customers are getting a service that is worth paying for, so we’re paying special attention to make sure that this is, again, a valuable service that they will appreciate from us.”