Sony’s been proving since the PS3 that as long as you aren’t Nintendo, people will give you a free pass no matter how awful your network and associated services are, so they’ve got nothing to learn from Nintendo there!
Clay
2731
There are a few of these articles that come out each week. It’s a gold rush for indies, but word is that it’s also getting crowded and that’s likely not to last much longer.
I’m not sure I entirely understand the point these people are supposedly making. To the extent people doubted Nintendo, they did so before these games came out. And in Zelda’s case, it’s like nothing that Nintendo have ever done before.
In my own case, I didn’t really doubt Nintendo as a software developer (especially not for Zelda and Mario), but I did doubt the Switch would be as successful as it has been on the basis of the pre-launch information. But that was more about whether there would be anything (not already playable on Wii U) other than Zelda and Mario to tide potential customers over in the first year. The quality of Zelda and Mario have no bearing on my previous skepticism.
I think the Vita Indie scene helped Nintendo figure out that courting indies was needed.
And it has also benefitted because they basically have a “greatest hits” collection of indies that appeared elsewhere.
I don’t anticipate a ton of AAA cross platform games – it’s possible that EA will mostly ignore it for instance.
But it seems that unlike Sony-Vita, Nintendo will continue to support Switch with tentpole games. So the future seems rather good for it.
The switch is fantastic, irrespective of the major Nintendo titles. It’s just great hardware. One thing @SadleyBradley didn’t mention is that it’s the system speed in and out of sleep/titles etc. that helps make all that versatility feel so good. It’s so cool to pick up a game where you left off the day before in a couple of seconds. Or put a game on hold nearly instantaneously because someone’s on the phone or at the door, etc. it feels like a mobile device in that way.
Vita had nothing to do with it since they were already “courting indies” on the Wii U and the Wii before it. Nintendo saw the potential from those games with things like Shovel Knight, Runbow, Affordable Space Adventures and many others. It fills out a catalog nicely and the gaps between the AAA games that hit the shelves. They’re the first ones to have an Indie Showcase for their consoles back in like 2013-2014 IIRC. You could argue it was by necessity since Nintendo lost so much 3rd party support, but it was still there and has been for a long while now.
I think the thing that has really propelled the Switch is that Nintendo, since before Iwata’s passing but now even moreso afterward, has decided to look inward for talent they have been grooming and are letting them be creative leaders. The youth has reinvigorated the company since the middle of the Wii U’s sales period. Games like Splatoon just blew up for them and it was something that came from outside the Miyamoto domain. We’re seeing now that those people combined with the “young” (Koizumi is 49) proteges of Miyamoto are building games that have those traditional elements fans of Nintendo glom onto while extending them in all new ways. They’re familiar yet very different. More modern maybe? I’m sure some people see them that way, especially Breath of the Wild.
Of course all that development only goes so far if the hardware isn’t appealing and obviously the portability combined with TV console that is very capable technologically is a huge win for the company.
Also, one thing that will help it sell even more over time is that portability… people will own more than one Switch so they can have their own unit on the go. Sales could truly explode later in its life at a lower price point because of that simple fact.
Chaplin
2736
Zelda bounced off me hard and I have no current plans to buy Mario. The only major release that I liked was Mario + Rabbids. I bought my Switch at a midnight release in March with more FOMO than real interest.
All that said, I freaking love my Switch. It is my favorite console over… possibly all of them ever. The cross release Indy titles are not to be undervalued. And unlike the promise of other devices, this really is freedom. As others have noted the flexibility is not to be dismissed. Also, as @Misguided said, the speed at which it moves out and into sleep also brings freedom. You can share the TV in an instant or pick up exactly where you were in a game in a doctor’s waiting room then sleep save it for literally a 2 minute time slice if you wanted. And sometimes I do.
All of this is not just tech. The Switch has games. A ton of them. I have a backlog on the thing. For some it is the Marios and Zeldas, for me it is the Has Been Heroes, Ironcasts, Battle Chasers, and rebought Darkest Dungeons. Some, it is all of the above plus a lot more. What Nintendo has done with the Switch is like what Apple had done with other electonics in the past: they delivered something that people didn’t know they needed until they had one.
The only thing that could weaken my love for the Switch, would possibly be a Switch-like from Sony or Microsoft. A hybrid “switching” console, is awesome.
Hey speaking of Darkest Dungeon, how does it play in portable mode? I bought it on iOS but hadn’t fired it up until the last couple of days, and I was surprised to see that on my iPad the space is poorly utilized and it is a struggle to read the text. I’d expect that to be a bigger issue on the much smaller screen, but maybe they put more effort into the UI?
Chaplin
2738
It’s not out yet (neither is Battle Chasers). I mentioned it in my list of games as I know the game and have played hours and hours of it, but fully plan to dive deeply back in with the freedom of the Switch.
Ah, gotcha. I’ve already bought Battle Chasers myself. My favorite game on the system so far has been Steamworld Dig 2. I have played a modest bit of Zelda (16 shrines completed). I certainly understand why it is a system seller. I wasn’t sure I’d take to the open world nature, but I’m enjoying my time with it so far. It’s unlikely I will finish it, but that doesn’t bother me. This is the kind of game where I play until I’ve had my fun, then I move on.
Easily my favorite Nintendo console since the GameCube. Had zero interest in another weird waggle machine and thank goodness this didn’t turn into one.
It’s hitting all the sweet spots for me.
Same. I think Zelda is hot garbage but the Switch itself and many other games are just awesome.
Eh, if they learned it on the Wii, they certainly didn’t apply it to the Wii U. In the Wii U’s first 8 months, there were few indies of any note and the platform’s fate was sealed. The stuff you mention was much later and couldn’t change anything.
The Switch is way better on indies early on.
I read that Splatoon 2 is the biggest selling Switch game in Japan so far.
MrTibbs
2744
My fellow Mafia 3 defender hates BOTW? I thought we were on the same wavelength, Rod! This has seriously thrown me. :(
Browsing ResetEra, where I can’t see any way to sign up or create an account for some reason, there was a thread about how Mario Odyssey is already Amazon’s second best-selling game of 2017 based on pre-orders alone.
Yep, Splatoon 2 is selling almost 1:1 with the Switch itself in Japan, and both are on track to hit 2M in Japan by the end of 2017, and absolutely by the end of FY2017 if they don’t manage it in normal-person time.
(Euro shrug) Sorry. But I am sure we can unite in our love for other Switch goodness :)
MrTibbs
2747
Of course! Different strokes for different folks.
My copy of Mario Odyssey just arrived and I can’t wait to jump in!
Likewise I understand why good folks like it. Hot trash was perhaps a little overboard. It just does many things the opposite way I like them in open world games but I respect many gamers feel differently.
That said I am fascinated to see what Tom thinks of Zelda if/when he plays it.
MrTibbs
2749
I would love to read his impressions. I think as a Far Cry 2 fan, he might love it, but there are a number of Vegemite mechanics, like design choices that people either 100% on board with or completely despise, which have soured a number of players experiences with the game (at least on message boards), so who knows.
