By Reinier Macatangay
Only a few months remain until Nintendo’s Switch console releases in March, ending the troubled Wii U era and ushering in new hope. It is no secret Nintendo has made mistakes when it comes to home consoles.
With the Switch, Nintendo can get back on track again, if they keep a few key points in mind.
Games
No console is successful without a wide variety of high-quality games, from a varied list of developers. Yes, beyond the trusted Nintendo classics, the Switch needs third-party companies to bring their best games to the console.
Remember when there was excitement over Square Enix bringing their Final Fantasy franchise to Gamecube? It turns out, Square brought over a “B” list game in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
Crystal Chronicles poured over onto the Wii, but the point is, Nintendo needs the “real” Final Fantasy. The Switch needs games that are not “leftover” material created by a company’s spinoff division.
That is not to say Nintendo can rest and stop making the best first-party games either. It goes without mentioning that the Switch must offer original Mario and Zelda titles, as they are the lifeblood of the company. The Wii U, as of this moment, has not offered one original “mainline” The Legend of Zelda game yet (it will in March … or June?).
As for Mario, the Wii U did give us Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Maker. The video Nintendo presented for the Switch showcased an original series entry, and hopefully it will fulfill the same high expectations.
Online
The Switch needs a competent online infrastructure. Because of Nintendo’s catering to younger gamers, including small children, the company has been slow to encourage a system where gamers can freely communicate online.
Take a look at the “online” games for the Wii, such as Mario Kart Wii. No one can talk to each other. No one can text each other. Gamers just trust the fact they are playing real people rather than robots, but can anyone know for sure?
The Wii U is more difficult to evaluate in terms of online infrastructure without owning one. From reading articles, it seems Nintendo moved in the right direction and towards a username system, instead of friend codes.
For the sake of Nintendo and its fans, let us hope adding people and communicating is not a hassle on the Switch.
To be clear though, no one wants to see children harmed by a more open system. Nintendo simply needs to make the parental controls easy to use and clear, and if so, there should not be any major problems.
Price
Over the years, trust in Nintendo eroded away along with the abandonment of major third-party developers. With the Switch, a welcoming price of $200 would go a long way towards saying “I’m sorry. Things will be different.”
Part of the reason the Wii started off strongly was the lower price of $250, compared to the outrageous $600 for the PlayStation 3. Nintendo might get away with a $250 price point as well with the Switch. If the number goes higher than 250, expect failure.
After all these years, Nintendo still exists as a hardware and software developer. If Nintendo is not careful though, especially in an era where most laptops already play excellent games and smartphones offer decent libraries on both Android and iOS, the company could end up like Sega and turn into a third-party developer.
Then again, for those who abandoned Nintendo consoles and never will look back, it would be a welcome surprise to see Mario and Zelda on their PlayStation or Xbox.
from Nerd Reactor
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