Does Nintendo have a focus any more?
Switch is looking like a jack-of-all trades but master of none at this point. Everything from its very nature as a home console and handheld hybrid, to the different types of controllers and long list of built-in technologies and gimmicks pushing their price up, to the weird solutions to online - it's a hodge-podge of ideas.
Literally what I've been saying since the system was revealed back in October.
We want it to be a home console! But it can't be too powerful because we want it to be a portable, too!
We want it to be able to handle graphically intensive games! But by doing so the battery life won't be good!
We want it to offer similar controls to a home console experience! But by doing so it loses a huge amount of portability by having the joycons!
We want it to be affordable! But by doing so the system can't be as powerful as our competitors'!
It's trying to please everyone, but it's half-assing so much and there isn't a single thing it does truly well. Even if you were to say that it does home console-esque gaming portably, can you really call the bulky system and attaching the joycons to it portable? I mean sure, it's portable, but there's no way it'll fit into a pants pocket, even the biggest of pants pockets, but will it even fit into a bulky jacket pocket? Can you really call a system that can't fit into any pocket that isn't a bag's portable?
The bigger issue isn't the system itself, it's the things like overpriced accessories and this god forsaken online system. Unless there's some technical reason for this, there is literally no reason to have this nonsense. And if there were a technical reason for this, what the fuck are you doing making this console then? Wait another year or two before releasing when CPUs and GPUs become a bit more efficient, components become cheaper, and these types of consoles could be more effective at the price point you want.
I'm just struggling to understand what this company is doing. Ever since the Wii came out, its like they're totally delusional when it comes to making a video game console. Have they not even considered that they should make a true Xbox/Playstation competitor and then make casual games for smartphones on the side? I mean that seems like a far more intelligent idea than trying to force this to cater to casuals and young kids.
All in all, I really hope it's just a communication error and this can all be done on the system itself. I'm not saying we should stop and wait, as it seems pretty clear, but I'm really just hoping it's all a mistake and misunderstanding. I hated the very idea of the system from day 1, but they're doing so much dumb shit that's compounding on what I've considered to be a DoA system from the very start. But this is Nintendo. Not sure their fanbase will care that much. The question is will those who are on the fence be able to handle it? Or more importantly, will they realize it's a huge mistake and fix it in the future? Who the hell knows at this point.