Since getting my DS long, long ago, I’ve always been Team Nintendo. The wave of excitement around new hardware used to sweep me up thinking about what they might pull out of the bag next, and the Switch was the culmination of this. The best of all worlds console was ground-breaking and a breath of fresh air for a company that was struggling. The Switch is now 6 years old, and it shows. The flaws in the console are getting clearer but there doesn’t seem to be much change on the horizon. This may seem like a niche thing to complain about, but I think it reveals a wider problem with Nintendo.
When we all reminisce, we often look back on things much more fondly; I have that with the 3DS. One feature that stood out to me was the themes on the 3DS. They completely changed the look and feel of the console and made the whole experience more personal. This might seem a bit over the top to some but it showcased the deep connection gamers had with the many famous brands and properties that Nintendo owns. I have a funny feeling I’m not going to have that same reminiscent feeling when I reflect back on the Switch. The basic black and white feels devoid of any fun and I think it shows the extent Nintendo has toned down its user experience – and not in a good way.
There seems to be a new trend emerging during the last few years of offering less for more. What spurred me to write this article is the debate going on at the moment over the revelated £60 price tag for Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, the highly anticipated successor to Breath of the Wild. The game has been in development for 6 years, and is bound to be a success, but charging that price for a game to run on such old hardware is going to be a hard sell to some. Compare this to a new AAA game on the PS5 that will run 4K/60FPS for the same price. I know that PlayStation and Nintendo aren’t aiming for the same market of gamers, but the comparisons aren’t worlds apart. It reminds me of the debate over Virtual Console – the old way to buy games from old Nintendo systems. This was scrapped on the Switch in favour of putting them behind a paywall. This unsettling theme is only going to put more gamers off and slaps as another corporate money grab. The dust has settled on that debate now but the similar themes remerging now, after all this time, highlights a weak point of the Switch. Nintendo used to pride itself in its difference compared to conventional consoles, but now the overlap is greater than ever.
Charging that price for a game to run on such old hardware is going to be a hard sell to some”
Whenever the next generation of Nintendo consoles arrives, I hope it addresses the concerns of the players. With the cost of living bearing down on all of us, these kinds of purchases are not as easy to justify. Good value doesn’t have to just be a low-price tag but offering products and services that add to the value – however small or niche they may be.