5 Reasons You Should Be Excited About the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is coming up on its first holiday season after six months of being on the market. Despite a few successful titles, there are still those who grumble about the console, citing a lack of good games and console power.
We all know where that second complaint comes from, and there’s just no fixing that. But we do believe the Switch has a future worth getting excited over. Here are a few good reasons.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Yes, we know this came out already, but the successful team-up of Nintendo and Ubisoft is very telling of the level of clever innovation being pumped into Switch titles. That the two developers were able to use an IP that wasn’t aging too well and combine it with a Nintendo classic to create a concept unique to both series showed that we may be getting some “out of the box” thinking for the Switch.
The game was a clear collaboration between both developers and a sign that, unlike the Wii consoles, the Switch isn’t going to rely solely on Nintendo’s ingenuity to survive.
Indie Support
The Wii and Wii U weren’t devoid of any indie developer support, but it does seem to be ramped up a bit for the Switch.
Some titles you’ve seen before and are just receiving ports, like The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+ and Shovel Knight: King of Cards. But you’ll also see newcomers like Super Meat Boy Forever, Earth Atlantis, Dragon Marked for Death, Light Fingers, and even a third entry to No More Heroes titled Travis Strikes Again.
L.A. Noire
As polarizing as Rockstar’s deviation from Grand Theft Auto was, the inclusion of a Switch port in the upcoming remaster of L.A. Noire is pretty telling about third-party support. Since it’s not shaping up to be a lazy carry-over from the PS4 and Xbox One versions, some extra work was clearly put into the Switch version.
So what, you ask? One problem with consoles like the Wii and Wii U was that third parties weren’t willing to go the extra mile and build for them. A mix of differing control schemes and lack of power was just an unattractive endeavor. And yet here we have a developer that releases so few games taking the time to put some work into a very specific port.
Bethesda’s Support and M-Rated Releases
Being able to land Rockstar is one thing. Throw a trio of Bethesda games into the release schedule and you may have a clear sign that Nintendo built a console that developers aren’t afraid to work on. With a dev like Bethesda happy to create for the Switch, who knows who else may come to Nintendo’s aid.
Additionally, the Wii and Wii U may not have been completely devoid of M-rated games, but games like Doom and Wolfenstein are on an entirely different level of mature than games like ZombiU, Bayonetta 2, Watch Dogs, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
It’s very possible that the more “adult” games won’t stop there, especially since Bethesda’s port of Skyrim proves the Switch has enough power for attractive, large-scale games.
Super Smash Bros.
It hasn’t been announced yet, but are we really going to sit here and act like the next Super Smash installment won’t be released on the Switch? The console’s name could even allude to a new mechanic–character switching!
Picture it: Super Smash Bros. Switch. You go into every match with two characters that you can tag between, allowing you to create a dream team of pain! Somebody get Nintendo on the phone; it’s a fool-proof idea!
In all seriousness, though, Super Smash Bros for the 3DS proved that battling on the go is something gamers want, so it’d be a very strange decision for Nintendo to not release a new entry for the Switch.
Bonus Excitement:
If all of that wasn’t enough for you, then maybe you’ll like the idea of an achievement system, which was revealed in early September!
Mark LoProto is a horror-loving video game enthusiast. Look for more from him on his horror-themed Instagram or connect with his gaming side on Twitter.
