Why is Nintendo Switch So Cool?
Despite a Small Launch Game Lineup!
Nintendo Switch feels almost like a
minimum viable product when it comes to software – the menu, when you boot the
console initially, looks like a placeholder with big, empty square blocks
suggesting some future software arrival. This is where games you download or
insert via cartridge would show up, but it feels very work-in-progress. Jump to
the store and the situation’s not much better: There are nine games available
in total, and arguably only one or two that most console gamers would consider
top-tier.
And yet, the Nintendo Switch is one
of the best console experiences you could ever have out of the box, and one
that suggests tremendous potential future success once its game catalog starts
building.
First, if the Nintendo Switch had
to have just launched with a single game, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
would’ve been sufficient to make it a success. It’s hard to overstate how
terrific the game is, starting from the way it essentially hooks you up into a
rich world with a minimum of direction and plenty of really natural ways to
figure out how best to progress. Zelda also offers a wide range of ways to play
– you can skulk and sneak around, build up your combat prowess, run past most
difficult enemies or just spend hours wandering, picking fruit and catching
critters, depending on your play style and preferences.
But the success of Breath of the
Wild is already well documented; what’s less obvious is how well Nintendo has
selected the small handful of other launch titles to prove Switch’s worth as a
social gaming device, and demonstrate how its myriad different use
configurations are actually super useful and genuinely innovative.
Take for example, relatively
underhyped launch titles Bomberman R and Snipperclips are actually both
fantastic games. These both feature plenty of multiplayer options, which take
advantage of the Joy-Con’s ability to act as two separate input devices.
Bomberman R can also demonstrate the local networking multiplayer capabilities
of the console if you have more than one handy. The Bomberman game also
features mechanics you’ll be familiar with from playing previous titles in the
series on older consoles, while Snipperclips offers adorable visuals and
terrific, novel gameplay mechanics that feel a bit like the multiplayer aspects
of New Super Mario Bros Wii, but with more intentional focus on collaboration.
Both of these can offer the most
local multiplayer fun you could ever have on a console. That’s a high bar for
the Switch to leap over on what is essentially day one, with a software library
that doesn’t offer much in the way of options if you’re not a fan of one or
more of the available games.
Switch may not have launched with
much in the way of on-device media options (no Netflix), and only a small
handful of games, but Nintendo focused on delivering the experiences that would
make the new console stand out, and stick – and it’s managed to nail both of
those. Now we’ll see if it can turn that momentum into something that can
sustain itself and grow over the long-term.
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