God, I want the Nintendo Switch to succeed something fierce.
The Wii U was a complete blunder from a popularity standpoint. I think some of my favorite games from this current console generation were found there, but it just did not catch on. As a complete Nintendrone, I would love it if this new console was able to break through unlike the Wii U, but I have my doubts. Nintendo is a company that is very set in its ways, and in order for it to succeed in a console market already littered with Playstation 4s and Xbox Ones, some things need to happen. Here are five of those.
1-) The digital library needs to be across all platforms
I remember when the Playstation Vita first offered the ability to play Playstation 1 games. All of my PS1 games that I had bought on the PS3 carried over to the Vita and I could just play them again, without purchase. If you own a Wii U and a 3DS, you know what I’m getting at already. Why do I have to buy SNES or other virtual console titles more than once to play them on different platforms? When you buy an app on the iTunes store, you don’t have to pay extra in order to play it on your iPad also.
2-) The virtual console library on the Wii U and 3DS needs to be available Day One on the Switch
Making the Switch completely backwards compatible with the Wii U is not possible since the proprietary format is different. So immediately, Wii U owners are going to be let down. So on top of just letting them own all the stuff they already bought digitally for other consoles, why not just have that available right out of the gate? Then the Switch will already have a library of very great games and folks can feel confident just putting aside their Wii U and 3DS and embracing the new mack daddy. I should be able to buy a Switch in March, download the copy of Earthbound I’ve already bought twice digitally, and play it on my TV.
3-) It should be fully backwards compatible with the 3DS
Nintendo is out there saying that it will not stop supporting the 3DS after the Switch launches. This reminds me of when the DS came out and Nintendo tried to spin it as another brand that would live parallel to the Gameboy brand. Since we’re not playing on Gameboy SUPER advances in 2016, you saw how well that went. Since Nintendo wants the Switch to be this all-in-one console that can be played at home and on the road, why not allow the Switch to play 3DS cards? Every Nintendo portable has been backwards compatible with the portable that came before it, so since this IS the new portable it should be able to play 3DS games.
Its implementation could be tricky. But what if there were latches on the vertical sides of the console in portable mode for you to place your controller? We already know it works horizontally. Then half the screen could be the original 3DS touch screen and the other half could be the top screen, Obviously, this is not a perfect solution, but this also - with the suggested day one virtual console line-up - gives the Switch a huge Day One library.
4-) There should be a Pokemon game at launch
Obviously, the seventh generation of Pokemon launches later this week, but that does not mean something should not be in the works for the Switch. Pokemon is Nintendo’s most popular franchise and is the king of handheld gaming. Since the Switch is Nintendo’s handheld and console hybrid, Pokemon should be there right out the gate for two reasons. One, it would sell a crap load of copies and two, it shows that this is where you need to go if you want to enjoy the franchise for the foreseeable future. If I was in charge of Nintendo, Sun and Moon would not be 3DS games at all. They would have launched on the Switch. So instead, the Switch should either launch with the ‘third’ game in the Sun and Moon generation (think Pokemon Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, etc) or should launch with a remake of a previous Pokemon.
Red and Blue have already been remade once, but I honestly think those get made again before Diamond and Pearl get their chance to shine. Imagine how insane a Switch launch would look with a redone Red and Blue standing right alongside it? I’m always in favor of new content instead of repackaging old content, but that’d have the Switch selling like gangbusters right out of the gate.
5-) The price can be no more than $250
Nobody is going to invest in this system if it’s out there looking the way it does and selling for as much as a PS4 or Xbox One. If it comes in and undercuts the other systems while offering the hybrid portable and console nature, I think that would be enough to see it emerge as a viable third option. I think because of how well the Wii sold and how underpowered it was compared to the 360 and PS3, it is well known by not just hardcores but everybody that the Nintendo console is underpowered compared to the others. The Switch is going to be less powerful than, at the very least, the PS4 Pro and Scorpio. The casual gamer knows this, even without seeing specs. So if it launches at like $300 and then right beside it the casual gamer sees a PS4 for $300, why would they choose the underpowered console? I think slotting it at the Wii’s $250 is perfect and should go a long way into making it competitive.
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