Nintendo Switch Presentation

Friday the 13^th of January and I, like a crazy person, got out of bed at 3am. My alarm was set for 3.30 but when I stirred and saw the clock I suddenly got the fear. What if I sleep in? What if I miss the Nintendo Switch presentation at 4am? It will be the geekiest blow out of game trailers and console selling blissfulness I can imagine. 

In hindsight I maybe should have just switched that alarm off. This was not a good show. Before I say any more I’ll confirm that I still have my pre-order in place and I’m buying the Switch on day one. I’m a fanboy though. This was supposed to be the show to convince everyone else, to sway those people who had no interest in the commercial flop that was the Wii U. I doubt they succeeded. Two reasons in particular, the price and the games. 

£280 in the UK. No game packed in. Anyone with a remote interest in games will compare that to the numerous PS4 plus game bundles you can get for £250 and they’ll see an obvious choice. It also doesn’t help that additional controllers are expensive enough to make my wallet cry. There’s a Pro controller (similar in style to the standard PS4/Xbox controller) and then there’s the ‘Joy-Cons.’ These were admittedly impressive during the show. A new HD rumble feature was demonstrated that apparently has such precision they could replicate the feeling of ice cubes being dropped in a glass. No idea how that works but it looked nifty. They also function like tiny Wii remotes, with Nintendo hoping they can repeat the success of that console your parents played bowling on. Also included is a camera which can read your hand gestures, meaning you can finally play Rock, Paper, Scissors against your Nintendo. Who hasn’t always wanted to do that? Oh… You haven’t. Yeah ok neither have I. 

On to those games. If you’re a fan of Japanese RPGS then you probably loved this show. There were teasers for new games with weird names that I can’t be bothered to type properly. There were also developers on stage telling us that they’re making games for the Switch, which led to internal screams from me of “FRICKING SHOW US THEM THEN!!” Not enough games were shown during this show and the more I read up on it after the show the more it looks like they had nothing to show. The launch line up is anaemic and Zelda aside, probably the weakest I’ve seen of nay console launch in some time. 

Arms looked kind of cool initially, with a nice graphical style and gameplay looking like arcade fun. It’s all motion controlled though, like Wii Boxing, and that’s put me off. There was a party game called 1 2 Switch which I don’t even know how to describe. A game in which you look at another player instead of a screen. Sounds completely daft but it could weirdly be that title which convinces non-gamers that this device has something for them. Nintendo have always viewed their consoles like toys in a way and with this game they could be rivalling the likes of Splat Face and Speak Out. But for £280, instead of the £20 they cost. Guaranteed winner there. 

All negative? Nah. Super Mario Odyssey was fantastic. I didn’t expect to be surprised by more Mario but the variety of locales on show and a new mechanic in which you throw your hat had me grinning from ear to ear again. Splatoon 2 is more of the same but then it’s still Nintendo’s newest and most unique IP of the past few years. The closing trailer was Zelda. Oh my…. Voice acting at last, those character designs, that world… I want to get lost in it, to play that beauty until my eyelids take control and force me to sleep. 

So in summary, I’m buying a £280 Zelda machine with my fingers crossed that the futures going to be filled with goodness. I was always going to but Nintendo now need to convince the rest of you. I really hope they do.