Nothing Succeeds like Switch

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Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch in March of 2017 to much excitement and was quickly a commercial success. Just getting your hands on one of these handheld/console hybrids was nearly impossible for months, unless you were willing to shell out nearly double the original cost to an online reseller. With 2017 coming to a close stock issues have been long solved, and the system’s first holiday season was a triumph. But what has the Nintendo Switch done so right to sell so well?

The Hardware

I’m a lifelong lover and collector of Nintendo handhelds, and a lot of the Switch’s design stood out as new right away. The two small analog sticks are a welcomed addition to the handheld, as they feel and perform much better than the “Circle Pad” that has been present on the Nintendo’s 3DS line. The D-Pad typically found on the left side of Nintendo devices has been outright removed, instead replaced by another set of face buttons with directional arrows rather than the typical a,b,x,y. These are the first hint of the Switch’s hardware innovation. The system’s sides come off, allowing the system to be set up as a small monitor in “Tablet Mode” using the included kickstand. While the kickstand is unstable and only has one (less than perfect) viewing angle, this opens the possibility of handing off one of the system’s side sections as a complete controller. Giving players the ability to play multiplayer games without buying a second controller is huge. This is an even bigger deal considering Nintendo handhelds have almost exclusively featured multiplayer through multiple systems, whether it be with a link cable back in the days of the Gameboy, or through the DS and 3DS’ local wireless. Finally, the Switch can be placed into the included dock and “switch” to a home console. That means that with the purchase of any of the system’s games you are essentially getting a console and portable version.

The Games

All of these features would be worthless though, without great games. Nintendo didn’t disappoint, releasing a library consisting of plenty of titles from indie gems to first party steamrollers. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gave consumers everything they needed to believe that the Switch really could offer a console level experience in a handheld format. Players were immersed in a massive game world, unlike anything The Legend of Zelda has ever seen, and let loose. The amount of quality content to explore truly was breathtaking and gave players the long-lasting experience that the Switch needed to tie them over during the first few months of the system’s lifecycle. Excellent indie games available through the onboard Nintendo EShop and ports like Bethesda’s heavy-hitting first-person shooter, Doom, and expansive open-world adventure, Skyrim, provided enough content for most of the remainder of 2017 alongside some smaller first party titles. In time for the holiday season, Super Mario Odyssey hit store shelves and has been praised for bringing together and refining many of the greatest features from past 3D Mario platformers along with new innovations for a modern classic. Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild put Nintendo in a great position to take game of the year, and on December 7th at The Game Awards Breath of the Wild took it. This has left Nintendo with a tremendous amount of momentum and attention, so the pressure is on for them to follow up 2017 with an impressive new year.
 

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A Rough Start

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Photo by Ben Neale on Unsplash

Photo by Ben Neale on Unsplash

Given the state of technology during the inception of digital gaming, it is no surprise that many games relied heavily on puzzles. The limited resources on screen need to be used in conjunction with the player’s mind to create the largest, most engaging experience possible. Some of these games used the limited visuals paired with action gameplay, like platforming in Super Mario Bros. or sword-fighting in The Legend of Zelda, to create a challenging experience. Other games, however, used the limited visuals to present challenges, or puzzle the player. 

Games like Lemmings and Tetris both present easy premises to the player, but put obstacles in the way to make the task difficult. In Lemmings players simply let a group of lemmings walk forward until they get to the gateway at the end of the level. This simple task of watching lemmings walk to the end of a level becomes much more difficult, however, when obstacles are put in the lemmings' way, like tunnels, cliffs, or even pits of lava. At that point the player must think of a way to safely advance beyond the obstacle, whether that be by building a platform for their lemmings or using a lemming to point others away from danger. 

Similarly, someone playing a game of Tetris is given a simple task. The player is tasked with guiding falling blocks of different shapes towards the bottom of the play area, a tall rectangle. They need to make a horizontal line all the way across the play area to break that line of blocks, and cannot let the blocks stack up past the top of the play area, or they lose. This is easy at first, but as more lines are broken the blocks fall faster and faster making survival impossible. Even the best players will eventually run out of time to get their blocks into the proper place.

With only very limited resources, and through extremely different means these games challenge the player’s mind to create a difficult experience that can be enjoyed by people regardless of skill level, but has the depth that allows players to master the game. This concept allowed puzzle games to be a huge part of early gaming by appealing to not only those who played early home consoles but also the high score chasers in arcades used to the likes of Pac-Man and Ghosts ‘n Goblins. If it weren’t for the hardware limitations of the past puzzle games would likely have been significantly less common, and the modern puzzle gaming landscape could be a much more barren one.

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Mitch is an avid player of role playing games, first person shooters, and retro classics. Running NES to PC and everything in between Mitch loves looking into what makes games great, and how that has and will change from the past to the future. Console, handheld, puzzle, or adventure, it’s all about the game.

A Return to Form

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Since the inception of video games in the early 70s, giant steps forward have been made in terms of technology. From higher resolution graphics and advanced physics engines to massive multiplayer capabilities developers are always trying to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Some developers, however, decide to take a step back and create a new gameplay experience using tried and true methods that have been around for decades.

This is easier said than done, however, and it’s a lot more than just copying old ideas. Without enough innovation, developers risk being labeled as lazy unoriginal creators. When yacht club games first launched their Kickstarter back in early 2013, Shovel Knight’s art style alone was enough to excite fans. Hoping to raise 75,000 over the course of a month Yacht Club instead amassed over 300,000. This is a common trend in the modern day of indie gaming. Through crowdsourcing, many devs end up with a far larger budget for their game than expected, and this can pose challenges of its own. If a developer’s expectations for their game differ too much from gamers’, then the audience can feel betrayed. This requirement for innovation seems only amplified by having to adapt a 75,000 dollar idea to 300,000 dollar expectations.

Using mechanics from successful retro games allows for big innovative ideas to be applied to a formula that’s established as fun and successful, even if it hasn’t been revisited in a while. Although Super Mario Bros. 2 seemed to have perfected the side-scrolling/overworld map formula decades ago, Shovel Knight’s usage of similar mechanics feels fresh and without compromise. Developers have the opportunity to create games today that deliver the type of anticipation that hasn’t been felt since someone’s childhood. The nostalgia that this generates means a game can not only target the gamers that remember similar retro games from their childhood but the younger audience of today as well. Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami is a whole different story. Using the visual style and sound design of retro classics, but a mature, intense, unrelenting gameplay style, unlike anything that came before it. 

This is a great example of an uncommon type of game. A game that is unique and original, but created from an outdated starting point. The design of older games lent themselves well to the intuitive controls and the game’s visual style. Dennaton Games knew however that the top down twin-stick shooting mechanics could be turned up to 11, creating a high-octane shooter with a punishing, yet never unfair difficulty level. While the developer could have focused solely on mechanics and created a 3D top-down shooter with extremely impressive graphics, they instead took a look at what mechanics from the past could establish a unique experience. The result was a game that feels both new and inspires a strong sense of nostalgia.

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Mitch is an avid player of role playing games, first person shooters, and retro classics. Running NES to PC and everything in between Mitch loves looking into what makes games great, and how that has and will change from the past to the future. Console, handheld, puzzle, or adventure, it’s all about the game.