Nintendo has released the first trailer for the game Nintendo Switch in 2016. Roughly three and a half minutes long, the video mainly focused on people playing the console in various real-world scenarios. While the trailer was likely intended to show off the flexibility and adaptability of the console with the ability to connect to both handheld devices and a TV, it ended up showing some pretty silly – and seemingly unlikely – scenarios in which people could play on Nintendo Switch. At one point, two women pull out their Switch at a rooftop party in the fading featherlight of early evening to play a game while a crowd of people holding red plastic cups gather around to watch. At another point, a person is playing Switch while walking their dog.
Nintendo has shared very little about the Switch 2 and left experts to speculate on essential questions regarding its price and internal hardware specifications. But of all the essential questions that arise right now, the ones I focus on are smoking: Would an outdoor rooftop party be a good place for my Switch 2? AND Would my dog be comfortable if I took my Switch 2 with me for a walk?
These types of questions seem stupid, and they kind of are, but they’re also not.
Showing a console in utilize is a clear way to demonstrate its main features and show how the developers imagine people will utilize the console. Sure, the idea that someone would play the original Switch in a boisterous outdoor environment may have seemed silly at the time, but it at least highlighted its portability and showed how individual Joy-Con controllers would work once they became available. If we saw people playing the Switch 2, we could gain key insight into lingering uncertainties, such as whether the Joy-Con will have computer mouse functionality and how enormous the console will be.
So, while the scenarios seemed a bit unlikely at the time, while watching the substantial Switch 2 launch, I started to miss all the weirdos playing Nintendo Switch on the roof.
