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

R

Raziel

Member
Huh?

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.
Click to expand...

But what if Nintendo is going the way of Apple now, sucked into the vortex of iterative updates and sensible-ness?

Two things worry me. One is that this might be the final form of Nintendo games machines now forever more. Perhaps, as with the rectangular smartphone, we've reached the endpoint in form-factor, from a design point of view. I doubt Nintendo will ever go back to making a stationary console to sit under a television, so until foldable screen technology becomes cheap and reliable enough to factor into a design, this general Switch design might be as good as it gets.

The other thing that concerns me more is that Nintendo might have lost some of its creative nerve, or become more conservative. There has been a change in leadership in recent years, of course. Nintendo's long-running president Satoru Iwata came from a game-making background, whereas the company's current president Shuntaro Furukawa comes from an accountancy background. Does that have something to do with it - has he instilled a more cautious approach? That's not to say it's a wrong approach, by the way. From a business perspective, this - the Switch 2 - might be the perfect play, and a healthy business means a healthy Nintendo, which can't be a bad thing. There's also a chance Nintendo will let its imagination do the talking in the games, rather than in the hardware.
Click to expand...

Look, never rule Nintendo out - I've learnt that the hard way - but I can't shake a feeling of disappointment at the Switch 2 reveal all the same. A feeling of meh-ness. A neutral reaction to something I ought to be excitedly talking about with colleagues and Eurogamer readers. Worse still is a realisation that's probably it for Nintendo hardware for the next handful of years. And so I'll wonder it again: what happened to the Nintendo that used to surprise people? Is that it?
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www.eurogamer.net

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 www.eurogamer.net
 
Sebastian1295

Sebastian1295

Member
My favorite version of nintendo was when they gave a damn about graphics and competing head to head against sony, sega, etc etc. Nes, snes, n64, and gamecube are the best nintendo consoles of all time and nothing comes close to them in my opinion. They all were unique with fun and weird accessories and it felt like nintendo at their best. Now they're content to spam a few franchises, remaster games nonstop, and play it safe.

thats-just-how-i-feel-cinderella.gif
 
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phant0m

phant0m

Member
simpatico said:
Caved-in head take. I'm sure he was aghast when the Super Nintendo released.
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and Wii U their favorite Nintendo platform


sidenote: I think a reverse WiiU with Switch 2 would've been cool. The idea of a 2nd screen isn't terrible, but it was pretty limited and the whole console was dogshit slow. Imagine instead the Switch 2 casts wirelessly to the dock, main display on your TV and switch itself acts as a 2nd screen. You'd use have to mostly use it plugged in, but I reckon you could get 2-2.5 hour session on battery then you just drop it in the dock to charge.
 
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Tams

Tams

Member
Of course they had opposing articles written up.

But I do agree that Nintendo have pkayed it very safe. Those saying 'we barely saw anything' are wrong. We saw enough to see that it's just an iteration, right down to the name.

And no, no mouse mode is going to satiate my desire for a 'gimmick'.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
It seems to me that Nintendo took the right lessons from their Wii U failure, instead of changing shit around for the sake of changing shit around, they actually did some market research into what their customers want and took what works and made it better.

Imagine if they had done this for their Wii sequel.
 
simpatico

simpatico

Member
phant0m said:
and Wii U their favorite Nintendo platform


sidenote: I think a reverse WiiU with Switch 2 would've been cool. The idea of a 2nd screen isn't terrible, but it was pretty limited and the whole console was dogshit slow. Imagine instead the Switch 2 casts wirelessly to the dock, main display on your TV and switch itself acts as a 2nd screen. You'd use have to mostly use it plugged in, but I reckon you could get 2-2.5 hour session on battery then you just drop it in the dock to charge.
Click to expand...
I just don't see the thinking behind asking Nintendo to force a gimmick on us. I don't think a Eurogamer writer is qualified to critique the design engineers at Nintendo tbh. The only thing this fella engineers is probably mental illness and chronic self-harm.
 
Dr. Wilkinson

Dr. Wilkinson

Member
I guess I just don’t agree with the premise that Nintendo isn’t being innovative.

A) we don’t know anything about Switch 2 software so how we can say it’s not innovative?
B) joy con acting as PC mice isn’t innovative?
C) what was innovative about Switch 1? The concept of being a hybrid? The camera on the right joy con that could detect you eating in one mini game in 1-2 Switch?
D) not every console requires some bombastic gimmick like motion control wands or a touch screen and stylus. That was really just Wii and DS. Nothing about GameCube or GBA or 3DS was innovative. It was just “bigger games, better hardware than before”. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Fbh

Fbh

Member
Who cares. There is a reason most Nintendo console gimmicks are referred to as gimmicks.
Also, if a Nintendo with less innovative hardware helps ensure forward compatbility for their titles then I welcome it:

That said, I'm sure it will have some sort of gimmick which they will reveal un April.
 
Trilobit

Trilobit

Member
I want Nintendo to perfect the hybrid thing with Switch 2. Then we'll see where things go. Who knows, maybe they whip up a new Game Boy some day. There's really no telling, but I think they have deserved to take a "creative break" with the S2. It's been some crazy years with Gamecube, Wii, 3DS, WiiU and Switch. 3DS had a very rough start and they had to give away free games as an embassy program and WiiU was a total disaster. I'd be more thrilled to see them do fun stuff with the new console and release fun gadgets to it that brings them back to their toy-roots.
 
EruditeHobo

EruditeHobo

Member
What was innovative about Gamecube?

Iterating on Switch just makes sense... all the innovation that matters already happened in the hybrid console/handheld. Now is time to double down. This is much smarter than trying to reinvent the wheel. That's how you get WiiU.

I'm not even a Nintendo fanboy... this is just that obvious a move. It's a near-guarantee of huge success for years to come.
 
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Nelly_Nel_7.1.3

Nelly_Nel_7.1.3

Member
Switch 2 will be amazing upgrade from the Switch. Nintendo is playing safe with innovations due to Switch not using a lot of its innovations that was developed for it.

Nintendo will always be king of the innovation when it comes to being different in many Nintendo fans eyes. Rather Nintendo play it safe or go hard with their future systems. The Nintendo fans are going to buy it regardless the amount of innovations it have.
 
SweetTooth

SweetTooth

Gold Member
Nintendo is making very reasonable moves, I just hate that they didn't make the hardware more capable throttle this gen even further.
 
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GigaBowser

GigaBowser

The bear of bad news
nobody care about innorvation wii u and wii were crud buuuuuut mouse is cool because i arm a pc gamer

switch 2 will make all the sells game over bookmark confirmed
 
lughnasadh123

lughnasadh123

Member
Doubling down on the awesome premise of the original with some small improvements is the winning strategy I just don't understand how people can be disappointed by other than "weird shit for the sake of just having weird shit'. So glad they didn't try to Labo this.
 
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