[Eurogamer] If Switch 2 is the end of innovative Nintendo, there's much to be sad about

[Catgirl Rika]

For as long as I can remember, Nintendo has done its own thing. This was never more apparent than in 2005, when I started working for Eurogamer and when Nintendo was prepping the announcement of a new console codenamed Revolution. As far as we were concerned, this was going to be a competitor for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Except, it wasn't. The console, unveiled as the Wii, was something else.

The Wii was the moment Nintendo excused itself from a raw-power console rat race, and focused instead on fun, on being a toy maker. It launched a machine that was comfortably, and confidently, less powerful than rival consoles, but it doubled-down on being different instead. We scratched our heads in bemused delight as legendary game-maker Miyamoto-san demonstrated fitness game Wii Fit on an E3 stage, wobbling around happily on a balance board peripheral, and we held plastic steering wheels in the air to play Mario Kart with friends and flung Wiimotes at our televisions as if they were bowling balls.

I can't have been the only person watching the Switch 2 reveal yesterday hoping to be surprised - the only person hoping to be Nintendo-d. Yes, copious leaks had revealed almost every aspect of the new console in the lead up to today's announcement, but Nintendo would still have a surprise left to play, surely. A Miyamoto up its sleeve. As the trailer wore on, I readied myself for it, for something unexpected, for something unforeseen. A secret compartment lodged in the back of the machine that turned it into a flute or something I don't know! Something. But there wasn't anything. All I saw was a design I know very well already. Joy-cons which behave a bit like PC mice, and a mysterious C button, were as mysterious as it got.

Where's the imagination in it all? Where's the Nintendo in it all, the toy maker?
But what if Nintendo is going the way of Apple now, sucked into the vortex of iterative updates and sensible-ness?

If Switch 2 is the end of innovative Nintendo, there's much to be sad about

For as long as I can remember, Nintendo has done its own thing. This was never more apparent than in 2005, when I start…

www.eurogamer.net

I honestly... I dunno. I like the fact they are going with a Switch 2. I think it'll work out for them in the end. What do you all think?

 

[The Mega Champion]

*facepalm*

NOBODY. CARES. ABOUT GIMMICKS.

Why is this so hard to understand?

 

[Catgirl Rika]

Yes, this is a very...dumb and bad take.

 

[Devalue]

Is not particularly sad. Describes the gimmicks as being very hit-or-miss. Liked the touch screen of the DS most of the time. Plays the Switch in tabletop mode all the time. Basically never used the 3DS's 3D (along with most of the game developers). Hated the forced waggle that permeated the Wii era. Remembers nothing groundbreaking about the Gamecube. Turned out just fine.

Managed plenty of innovation with the Switch post-launch, also. See: the Nintendo Labo and the Ring-Con. Tell the game developers to think outside the box. Create a sword, hammer, and bow accessory for the dungeon crawler of your dreams. Integrate the motion sensor into a Trombone Champ accessory. Design a game that creates enemies out of your friend list and games you have played. Utilize the rumble for some kind of rhythm game or searching-based game. Turn on the IR Camera to scan objects that turn into monsters.

 

[Hermione Granger]

There really is nothing to be sad about, I think the Switch 2 will be a fantastic system with decent third party support. We don't need no gimmicks that might limit what games come to the platform. And there really wasn't any major gimmicks with the OG Switch, all it lacked was the power to get major third party support even though it got some third party support nothing to write home about.

You don't need gimmicks to sell and that could have backfired for Nintendo if they introduced a gimmick that no one wants.