Anyone remember the announcement of the NX? For those who don't, allow me to explain. The NX was the project title for what is now known as the Switch. It was unveiled a little while after the release of the PS4 and gave a lot of people hope for Nintendo, myself included. I myself have never been much of a Nintendo guy but I figured a new console was the opportunity for them to fix the mistake that was the Wii U.
And when I say the Wii U was a mistake, I'm referring to more than the tablet controller. The lack of third party titles, low device power, and poor marketing were some pretty big mistakes associated with it as well but the biggest problem for me was that the Wii U had a tablet controller for reasons that nobody seems to have understood, not even Nintendo.
Sure, several Nintendo Executives, particularly Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that nobody understood what they were trying to achieve and he stated that they were trying to incorporate tablet functionality to a console. And, the thing is, it's not that nobody knew what they were going for, it's that nobody knew what the point was.
Many controllers of the past and even now have some functionality that's not quite understood but on the whole when you look at a controller, you can usually see what kind of potential it holds based on either games that are made for it or games that you can imagine can be made for it.
The introduction of the d-pad made platformers a lot easier to deal with. Dual Analog Sticks gave camera control to a lot of games. Motion Controls resulted in Metroid Prime Trilogy and Red Steel 2. And even the PS4's Touch Pad has some potential for mechanics that other devices simply can't use.
When the NX was announced, I thought Nintendo was going to fix up their mistakes, and make a stronger console that can handle really cool games and somehow completely redeem themselves. Of course, at least for me, they didn't. The Switch has roughly half the power of a PS4, most games on the Switch are going to be on other devices, and it still relies on Motion Controls and Tablet functionality.
Of course, I haven't switched around and decided they've redeemed themselves. However, after seeing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in person on the device and hearing for the umpteenth time that it's also on the Wii U, something occurred to me.
Breath of the Wild's initial development as a Wii U title may have influenced how the Switch came out. The dual screens, motion controls, and a large amount of the content was likely already made by the time they started working on the Switch and they needed a strong starter to get the Switch selling. Of course, Zelda is the obvious answer but the thing is that because Breath of the Wild was designed for the Wii U, a lot of its content, controller mapping, and the way things work may not have gone over well if they tried to port it over to something that's similar to a PS4.
This isn't a case of Twilight Princess where the game started off being made with a controller then was given motion controls later, nor is this a case of Skyward Sword where the controls are strictly motion-based but could be effective on a regular controller.
The Wii U's tablet controller has certain facets attached to it, particularly the second screen that may have been unworkable on a console that's not similar to the Wii U so, for that game alone, it would justify rebranding the Wii U rather than replacing it.
This is further evidenced by the fact that most games that are going to be on the Switch have either been specifically designed for it or had enough of it completed in advance that adding the tablet functionality could work out, the former is the new Mario, the latter is something like Skyrim Special Edition.
Of course I could be wrong. Many games are not worth enough to anyone that they justify the makeup of an entire console and the fact that the Switch's screen can remain inactive for long periods of time suggests that removing the screen entirely could've been doable.
However, Nintendo, for as many things as they are and the many things they do, one thing they don't do is think their moves out ahead of time. Pre-planning isn't exactly the most important part of any development cycle but it is necessary for organizing the structure of the product's development and maintaining focus on a final goal.
Nintendo's not completely stupid, they've made some pretty incredible titles and innovations in their lifespan. However, part of me thinks that they've lost sight of what's important to the overall product to the point that they will do things just because they're Nintendo.
If I had to pick a reason why I'm picking on Nintendo so much recently, it's because I feel like a lot of people are too eager to give them a pass. Sure, every device has fanboys, elitists, and general unpleasant people. However, Nintendo is often defended a lot more than other console or device makers are.
Everybody's always eager to attack Microsoft, Sony's an easy target for being popular, and PC elitists are generally not morally sound if piracy and torrents are any indication. However, everybody in these groups has accepted these things. Microsoft players understand that PS4 is winning right now, even if some of them are vitriolic in how much they stick to the XB1. PS4 fans like myself understand that Sony makes mistakes as well, sometimes more than Nintendo. And even many PC gamers acknowledge that the elitists bog down their reputation far more than they would like.
However, everybody save for some exceptions I'm aware of want to give Nintendo a pass when they need to be checked and give Nintendo praise when it doesn't really deserve it. The only other companies I can think of that are frequently defended despite some noticeable flaws in their approaches and technology are Alienware and Apple.
Nintendo's not the worst thing ever but that doesn't mean they should be allowed to avoid scrutiny.
Have a wonderful day.
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