Earlier today Nintendo revealed Switch 2. In many ways, it’s what everyone was expecting and hoping for: a novel version of the Switch that’s more powerful, sleeker, and supports all the elderly games. But is this novel console also… sheltered? Boring? This is it Kotaku staff debated shortly after the reveal, and here’s our lightly edited debate straight from Slack.
John Walker: God, I’m so bored with Switch 2.
Zachary Zwiezen: Speaking of Switch 2… Is this the first time Nintendo has done something like “Whack It 2”? Like Sony of them.
Karolina Petit: Yes.
John: I think this is very typical of a company that has suddenly become terribly insecure.
Zack: Oh, exactly the opposite!
Caro: Oh no, I think they know exactly what they’re doing. It’s not a “fun” name compared to the Super Nintendo Switch, but it’s a shrewd game.
Kenneth Shepard: IMO they want to avoid the WiiU situation.
Zack: YES. In many ways lol.
John: You see, I disagree. I understand that they are VERY confident that this is a well-thought-out marketing move and that they are on the right track, and so on and so forth.
But 15 years ago they would have called it something much better and made it much weirder. Hence the self-doubt. They don’t believe that the “Nintendo” way of doing something will work.
Caro: But everything was different 15 years ago. The Switch still remains an outlier in the console space.
Zack: Yes. 15 years ago Nintendo was still selling a home console AND portable console.
Ethan Gach: RAD Iwata
Zack: I think so too Switch 2 it will still be weird in some ways we don’t know yet. This mouse is weird! Cool too
Caro: I mean, doing something “weird” in this case would almost certainly be a failure from a business standpoint. The Wii, while “weird”, was also shrewd from a business perspective because it made no sense for Nintendo to compete with Sony and MS on their own game.
John: Yes, but it was weird.
Zack: Just like the virtual boy.
John: Nintendo just announced a version of its current console and put a “2” in the name. This is REALLY not like them. It’s weird because that’s what everyone else does.
Caro: Yes, but today there is no opportunity for them to do something that is both “weird” and, IMO, successful.
Zack: I also bet if you asked Nintendo’s designers, they wouldn’t call any of this stuff weird. They were just trying novel ideas
Caro: The SNES wasn’t weird. it was basically the equivalent of the Switch 2 era.
Zack: The Gameboy Color was basically just a Gameboy, only in color. Nintendo doesn’t exceed iteration.
John: Nobody expected the Wii, and then everyone said it was a mistake because it was too technologically faint.
When the Switch was announced, there was a lot of discussion about how it couldn’t compete with other consoles because it was so faint.
I think if Nintendo did something completely novel, weird, and original, it could still be a huge success. And of course, make a Switch XL at the same time.
Caro: Like what? What’s your awesome “weird” idea that could make gangbusters for Nintendo today?
Zack: And they don’t ruin compatibility with hundreds of games.
John: That’s what it’s all about! Only Nintendo could come up with this!
Yes, I mean, times are changing. I just don’t see that as an option today. Perhaps he would reappear in the future, but for now, that was the trick.
John: I think you’d say the same after N64, after GC, etc. And publish the Wii!
Caro: I wouldn’t do that.
John: Apparently the Wii U was NOT a move, but I like that it WAS a move.
Caro: I mean, maybe after the N64, Nintendo didn’t really get “weird” with consoles until the Wii.
John: Here are my two AMAZING suggestions in my Switch 2 article: Disappointed:
“It’s a wearable device that uses holograms, or a weird twist on augmented reality where Mario’s flagship game uses our home furniture as platforms.”
Zack: I hate it.
Caro: Sure, that sounds like shit.
Zack: Ask Apple how well AR is doing.
Caro: There is no way the adoption rate is high. No way.
John: THESE ARE NOT REAL BALLS!
Zack: Well, my reaction was very real. Lol.
Caro: I know, but you’re just assuming that Nintendo can, under any market circumstances, generate console ideas that would be both groundbreaking and wildly successful. I don’t see any basis for this at all.
Zack: Furthermore, after the last decade of all software being merged into ONE platform instead of two separate divisions (portable/home), Switch 2 was always intended to be a game.
John: If you had told me after the GameCube, “Come on, figure something out,” I wouldn’t have said, “Hmm, something with a sensor and two sticks that you swing.” And if I did, you’d say “I hate it.”
John: “Oh, you mean like Kinect? Yes, GREAT idea.”
Zack: The thing is, Nintendo continues to do weird things in the Switch era. They’re just things you buy Down Switch. Just like Labo. Which way is better.
Caro: Yes.
John: Everyone should read my brilliant article.
I still hope that Switch 2 will bring some surprises. This little lens spotted on Joy-Cons is something Nintendo will likely exploit in some truly creative ways, even if other developers never notice it. I often think about one of the greatest aspects of the Switch – the vastly underrated Labo. These cardboard packages combined with peculiar controllers that could be used to build working pianos, fishing rods for fishing games, and even a remote-controlled vermin creature. It used the Joy-Con touch to move around, and the infrared sensor acted as a little camera! It was fucking amazing! It was amazingly inventive, and I really hope Nintendo has similarly inventive plans to exploit the novel Joy-Con technology. I like to imagine they’ll be pushing a little harder on third-party developers this time around so we can see some of the wonderful madness that came with the first few months of the Nintendo DS.
Zack: Yes, that’s what I mean! You don’t have to create something weird, just attach weird bits and build it.
John: You would never allow the greatest gaming device of all time, the Nintendo DS.
Zack: God, I hate DS. Lol.
John: “Two screens, only one of which is touchscreen and an inch apart? And this is a flop? Fuck off, you British idiot.
Ethane: Weird bits are found in 5 games that aren’t very good and everyone moves on.
Zack: We should post this chat, slightly modified as a VG chat, for tomorrow morning/later.
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