Anyone would say, seeing the overwhelming commercial, critical and public success of recent titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomthat Nintendo Switch still has a lot of life left to do, and the truth is… that there is nothing true. Even if Nintendo were to introduce its new console tomorrow, the current one would still be around indefinitely for one simple and repeated reason: it’s successful.
Now, neither the success of Tears of the Kingdom is shared by all the games that come out on Switch, whether from Nintendo or from third parties, nor is the fact that the console maintains its good health, an obstacle for the inexorable passage of time to denote that a relief is becoming necessary. This, precisely, is noticeable in the latest Zelda adventure, a true delight in every way that only suffers from one thing: a greater graphic power with which the sublime artistic section of the game shines even more strongly if possible.
That said, not everything that could be asked of a future Nintendo Switch 2 is more power. That is why, as a longtime Nintendo customer, someone who has owned all of their consoles from the beginning, including the Switch, I would like to share my views on this with what I consider to be The five things you want to see when the successor to Nintendo Switch arrivessomething that is not expected to happen before the middle of next year, although you never know with those in Kyoto.
This is a fact. I already said that it is not the only thing, but it is the essential leg on which to support the launch that takes over a whole phenomenon as it has been and is Nintendo Switch. That graphics are not everything is obvious; that are a capital part of the experience, also. It makes as little sense to lock yourself in one position as in the other: yes, it is true that most Switch games look good as they are, but it is no less true that depending on the distance between your hardware and the standard of the industry grows, everything is going to get worse.
It’s no longer just about playing Tears of the Kingdom and notice those small visual errors, or that intelligently sought lack of sharpness in the graphics with which to camouflage some textures that in normal circumstances -without the aforementioned artistic section of the game, quite a feat also at a technical level- would be very difficult. It’s all about moving forward, and doing it a little in unison with the rest of the actorsfrom PlayStation to Xbox or the same PC, everything in its proper measure, of course.
I put the new Zelda as an example because it is, worth the redundancy, an unbeatable example of how with a conscientious optimization you can squeeze hardware like the Nintendo Switch to unsuspected levels.
It is not necessary that the successor to Nintendo Switch catch up with the new generation of consoles, and most likely it will not because the bet is risky. But that the technical leap reaches at least so that you can enjoy the launches third party, albeit with slightly trimmed versions of the gamesIt seems the minimum required. There will always be someone who despises her for that, but this would achieve a balance that is missing.
To all this, if you are interested in reading about what a future Nintendo Switch 2 could bring, talking about specific news and not just generic ramblings, we recently dedicated another in-depth article to the matter with updated information: you have it at this link, Do not miss it.
Despite being one of the most traditional companies in the sector, Nintendo has also been throughout its recent history -since it has been dedicated to making video games- one of the ones that has innovated the most in one way or another. And, as usually happens in these cases, sometimes it has gone well and others not so much, or nothing at all. The question now is Does Nintendo’s current proposal with Switch need a twist? In my opinion, no.
Before explaining, a bit of context due to the innovation of Nintendo. For example, the Japanese company was the creator of portable consoles with its Game & Watch, long before GameBoy redefined the concept, which they would later renew with the dual screen and touch capabilities of the Nintendo DS; It was the first to introduce innovations such as the crosshead, the four typical front buttons, the triggers, the vibration or the stick analog on the controls…
And more things, although as I say, not everything went well for them. As an example, the success of the Wii and its concept was a cultural phenomenon that, however, did not last over time, despite the fact that they did not try to. And dismal failures? From the original virtual reality system -helmet included- of Virtual Boy, to the unparalleled fall they had with Wii U, just after the success of the previous one. With Nintendo Switch they not only resumed flight, but success with innovation.
The hybrid paradigm of Nintendo Switch may not be an original idea of the company, but there is no doubt that its approach is what has established it in the market. Without the Nintendo Switch, inventions like the Steam Deck and the like probably wouldn’t exist. Although, be careful, because innovation with Nintendo Switch is not limited to the hybrid model: the controls, the Joy-Con, have a lot of weight in it. In the innovation factor, I mean.
For all this and, honestly, I think that This is no time for Nintendo to try to reinvent the wheel.: with improving what has room for improvement, plenty. It is true that something better than what already exists can always fall, but the opposite can also happen. I only mean hardware here huh?
Speaking of Nintendo’s successes and failures, as well as innovations, I have to focus on that conceptual and practical wonder that the Joy-Con is. Being able to play with them while sitting on the sofa without having your hands together, that they respond to movement… Only those who have enjoyed the experience know how incredible it is… Until the drifting and the suffering begins. But suffering. He drifting of the Joy-Con goes beyond what he has ever seen in the industry before, which already has crime.
From the theme of drifting or drift, we have spoken on numerous occasions in these pages for different reasons: complaints, lawsuits, investigations, more lawsuits, de facto assumptions of guilt… Just in case, this refers to the drift of the analog sticks, and that is that with the use and the passage of time and in an irremediable way, the Joy-Con will fail (also the Pro Controller, be careful, although to a lesser extent) until reaching levels in which it is almost impossible to play.
In summary, the Joy-Con, one of the jewels in the Nintendo Switch crown for all that they contribute, are also a terrible piece, created with design flaws for which there is no solution. It has reached such a point that, at least in the European Union, Nintendo has promised to make unlimited repairs, because the failure will always end up reproducing. And no, it is not a forgivable mistake for a company of the level of Nintendo, also known for manufacturing durable and quality products.
Seriously: it’s been more than six years since Nintendo Switch went on sale and there’s no solution, when this doesn’t happen on the rest of the consoles, it’s like a bad joke. During this time, initiatives have emerged that claim to eradicate the problem, an old acquaintance -but much more circumstantial- of analog controls. The worst thing is that the companies that are innovating with this are nothing compared to Nintendo. Ergo, Joy-Con without drifting Yes or yes (and if they are a little bigger, better).
This point derives in a certain way from the issue of power, which in the end is defined by the hardware that mounts the console and is quickly understood: it is worth that with the change of media, the new consoles cannot read cartridges or digital discs, but there is no excuse for the successor to Nintendo Switch not to maintain backward compatibility with it. Well, yes there is: that the graphics processor and the system change a lot and make it extremely complicated, but with foresight, it is not an obstacle.
Of course, there is no obstacle in the format of the games this time either, given that the Nintendo Switch “cartridges”, called Game Card, are a rehash of formats such as Secure Digital (SD and MicroSD cards). By format, even those used on the Nintendo DS and 3DS seemed potentially compatible, although it is likely that the effort was not worth it and they preferred the virtual approach and cutremulation in the style of what was done with Super Mario 3D All-Starsbut…
But unless Nintendo does something unusual, backward compatibility with Nintendo Switch is essential.
Finally, a pending issue that goes far beyond those that come after Nintendo Switch: enough of plundering us generation after generation, of wanting to charge us over and over again for the same game. I mean, enough.
Nintendo made its debut with online game stores with Wii and its WiiWare, whose life cycle was important: it launched at the end of 2008 and remained open allowing content to be downloaded until 2019, although it had occasional reopenings of which Nintendo DSi, the second to jump on the Internet bandwagon, also benefited. Then Nintendo 3DS (early 2011) and Wii U (late 2012) arrived and, in both cases, activity in the store has been extended until April 2023, although since then and for an indefinite period, it will only be possible to Download what you have purchased or its updates.
There is no downside in this aspect: a company cannot be required -or maybe yes?- to maintain support for obsolete devices and systems forever, because all this has a cost that cannot be assumed when benefits are not generated. However, many of those games are available on the Nintendo Switch eShop, you just have to pay for them again. Because? Why such a continued robbery?
Why, as long as I have an updated Nintendo device and spend money in their store, I can’t continue downloading what I already paid for and that is still available in the store? For compatibility issues? For lace issues? Or because they want to make cash as many times as they can with the same product? There are companies that with the next generation consoles are having free game update policies that are presumed impossible for Nintendo. But I don’t even mean that.
I also understand that this is a complex issue, because many of the games that are added to the digital stores require maintenance to ensure their compatibility, which brings us back to the issue of backward compatibility. However, not the bulk of the “legacy” catalog does not happen like this. If not even Nintendo does it! There is the mentioned cutreport of Super Mario 3D All-Stars to confirm it… and the most recent Metroid Prime Remake To qualify it, not everything is to apply a definition jump without further ado.
The truth is that I don’t have a solution to this problem, but paying in each generation for games that I bought in previous ones seems to me to be an inappropriate shame for the year we are in. A decade ago I was still playing Wii and buying games on WiiWare. I did the same on Steam. Today I can still access my entire Steam catalog, but with Nintendo it doesn’t happen. This is something that should change, for once, for the benefit of the user.
And here is my list with the five things I would like to see when the successor to Nintendo Switch arrives.
