Switch 2? Say it ain't so Nintendo!
What happened 2 the Nintendo I love?
Nintendo introduced the Switch Slightly Bigger (SSB) today.
That they didn’t name it that may speak volumes about the future of a company once known for its crazy inventiveness, and surprising willingness to push the envelope on gaming hardware.
Afterall, Nintendo is the company that introduced a motion-controlled game console called the Wii, and pointed to Blue Ocean Strategy as the reason why it was zigging while the rest of the industry continued to zag.
While Microsoft and PlayStation were dug into an expensive, exhaustive war over chip speeds and graphic quality, Nintendo focused on the fun, turning their little white box into the fifth-best-selling home console of all time.
The Switch, which came out after the release of the disastrous Wii U, managed to combine the best qualities of Nintendo hardware into a single hybrid system that could be played on the go or on your TV. It became the third-best-selling gaming system of all time, bookended by the Nintendo DS and the Game Boy.
Today, Nintendo broke its silence following months of anticipation (and leaks) with a video briefly showing off its next console: The Switch 2.
It’s the first time in the company's long history that they’ve simply added a number to a successor console. That may not seem like a big deal, but I think it could foreshadow a troubling evolution of the company.
Look at the Game Boy, for instance. When the company came up with an improved version of its massively successful handheld, it wasn’t called the Game Boy 2, it was the Game Boy Color. The same is true of its iterative improvements, which gave us the Game Boy Light and the Game Boy Pocket. I bet you can tell how those four systems differed from each other, even if you didn’t own them.
The Game Boy Advance was, well, a more advanced version of the original. And it received an SP (special) and Micro versions.
Then there was the DS, which led to the DS Lite, the DSi, the DSi XL. We later got the 3DS, which gave us the 3DS XL, the New Nintendo 3DS, the New Nintendo 2DS XL.
That Nintendo never used a number to define a new or iterative console says a lot about both the way the company viewed its creations and how it intended to market them.
A numbered sequel in hardware has traditionally been shorthand for “the same thing, but better.” PlayStation might not agree, but strip down its console and what you have is the same system, the same approach to gaming improved with more powerful chips and reworked software architecture.
The PlayStation 3 didn’t introduce a whole new way of playing games over the PlayStation 2, it just increased the system’s capabilities.
Now, look at Nintendo. The Game Boy popularized handheld gaming. The DS introduced touch-screen gaming and two-screen gaming to the masses. The 3DS delivered glasses-free 3D to the world. The Wii made casual gaming and motion gaming a massive hit. The Wii U attempted to deliver a hybrid system of sorts. The Switch nailed that idea with a system that was the best of both home consoles and handhelds.
But what about the Switch 2? So far, officially, all we know is what was shown in the roughly 2-and-a-half minute long video. It looks like the Switch, but bigger. The Joycons appear to have a mouse-like sensor and I’m sure the chips are much improved.
The Nintendo we all mostly grew up with would have likely called this something to connote that this is an iteration. Maybe the Switch XL, or the New Switch XL. But instead Nintendo decided to go with Switch 2.
I hope I’m leaping to conclusions here, but to me that sounds like a Nintendo that is giving up on its lifetime of innovation, its desire to thrill not necessarily with cutting edge technology, but with fun toy-like experiences.
If this is the Switch 2, then should we be expecting a Switch 3, Switch 4, Switch 5 down the line? Will they all be the same thing but with an added feature and better chips?
I hope not.
Elsewhere
How Delta Force sets its sights on established blockbuster shooters