Nintendo has been around since 1889
They have been producing top-notch games since the 1980s and really, no one is complaining. Who doesn’t love Zelda, Mario, and Donkey Kong? However, over the years, Nintendo has been known mainly for bringing out games geared towards a younger audience.
They have been playing it safe, relying on the continued success of these titles, and they have only been available to play on a Nintendo console up until very recently, when Super Mario Run and Pokémon Go were released on mobile. It has probably been one of the Japanese company’s biggest pitfalls.
But has the Mario franchising company stalled after all these years producing the same content?
Nintendo has learned from the errors made on the stagnant Wii U and subsequent Wii U Plus, both of which had poor sales. By upping their marketing game to widely promote the versatility of the Switch, Nintendo is showing that they are more than just a console for kids. You can pocket the controller and take it with you, play games with a friend, and even pair up with a friends console to double your players. These are all promising developments and seem to combine the best elements of all past Nintendo consoles into one.
Nintendo have confirmed that they have doubled the production numbers of the switch from 8 million to 16 million in anticipation of the serious gamer market growth. Between the launch in March 2017 and April 2017, almost 2.75 million consoles were sold, making it comparable with the early launch figures of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and the fastest selling Nintendo console ever.
Nintendo has plans to team up with other third party games developers to open the Switch up to a larger audience. Early indications support platform development from Bethesda, Electronic Arts, and Activision Blizzard to bring a fourth console into their realm.
Hardcore gamers are likely to rejoice at this news, that now they can buy games intended for a more mature audience and play them on same console as the Mario of their youth. There has already been hype surrounding this announcement and I know that I’m quite excited to get my hands on the Switch, I’d love to be able to cart some Skyrim around with me.
Other exciting titles out on the Switch are of course The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Mario Odyssey, with Super Bomberman R, Ultra Street Fighter II, and FIFA set to be released later this year. A full list of released and confirmed titles can be found here.
Personally, I’m excited for all the games that will now be released on the system because of it’s portability. The possibilities are endless and I hope the third party developers work quick to make the Switch even more appealing than it already is.
