Oh, what a joyous five years it has been with the Nintendo Switch. Ever since it was first teased back in 2016 under the codename NX, to its eventual release in 2017. I have to say that my initial opinion of how well the Switch was going to do was skeptical optimism. I will be the first one to tell you that I was not the biggest advocate of the Wii U (the console released before the Switch) and let’s just say that I am not the only one with the sentiment of “We don’t talk about the Wii U era.” Over the years I have come around to the Wii U and do not have the same strong disdain towards it as I used to…but I still stand by the sentiment that the Switch is everything the Wii U wishes it could be. I’m bringing all this up because if we look through the history of Nintendo products, we can see that the Switch might be coming to the end of its cycle and Nintendo will be leading us into the new console era.
We should be excited about the end of the Switch. The Switch has put out some amazing games like Super Mario Odyssey which was a nice stepping stone for the Mario games or even the Breath of the Wild port that has revolutionized the Legend of Zelda series. The Switch was later followed by one of my favorite games on the Switch Astral Chain in 2019 made by the company known for their refined fighting mechanics: Platinum Games. Nintendo then surprised the world with a new entry in the Metroid series after over a decade of no games in the franchise. These were just a few notable games for the Switch and we are getting more this year with an all-new 3-D Kirby game, Splatoon 3, and Nintendo Switch Sports are just some of the upcoming games coming out for the Switch for the last quarter in the Switch’s life cycle.
Let us not forget that the Nintendo Switch was the best console for indie games for a Nintendo product. Yes, the Wii and the Wii U both had indie games available on those consoles but they always felt very lackluster or gimmicky due to the gimmicky controls of the Wii or the weird screen of the Wii U. The Nintendo Switch has a bevy of indie games that I honestly never thought could run on the Switch. We have games like Furi, Cuphead, Hades, Celeste, and my favorite indie game of all time Hollow Knight. I think many developers saw the potential of this era of Nintendo and thus wanted to have their games on Nintendo’s portable device which has, in turn, helped these small indie companies thrive in this space. I have seen many people online loving the Switch for its portability and being able to play certain games on the go.
I feel as though we are in the final stages of the Switch’s life cycle which will be a sad day no doubt but I think it can be an amazing celebration for what is to come. Nintendo delivers almost every console cycle (except the Wii U) and will hopefully continue to make extraordinary games that will keep us playing Nintendo games potentially forever.
Oh, what a joyous five years it has been with the Nintendo Switch. Ever since it was first teased back in 2016 under the codename NX, to its eventual release in 2017. I have to say that my initial opinion of how well the Switch was going to do was skeptical optimism. I will be the first one to tell you that I was not the biggest advocate of the Wii U (the console released before the Switch) and let’s just say that I am not the only one with the sentiment of “We don’t talk about the Wii U era.” Over the years I have come around to the Wii U and do not have the same strong disdain towards it as I used to…but I still stand by the sentiment that the Switch is everything the Wii U wishes it could be. I’m bringing all this up because if we look through the history of Nintendo products, we can see that the Switch might be coming to the end of its cycle and Nintendo will be leading us into the new console era.
We should be excited about the end of the Switch. The Switch has put out some amazing games like Super Mario Odyssey which was a nice stepping stone for the Mario games or even the Breath of the Wild port that has revolutionized the Legend of Zelda series. The Switch was later followed by one of my favorite games on the Switch Astral Chain in 2019 made by the company known for their refined fighting mechanics: Platinum Games. Nintendo then surprised the world with a new entry in the Metroid series after over a decade of no games in the franchise. These were just a few notable games for the Switch and we are getting more this year with an all-new 3-D Kirby game, Splatoon 3, and Nintendo Switch Sports are just some of the upcoming games coming out for the Switch for the last quarter in the Switch’s life cycle.
Let us not forget that the Nintendo Switch was the best console for indie games for a Nintendo product. Yes, the Wii and the Wii U both had indie games available on those consoles but they always felt very lackluster or gimmicky due to the gimmicky controls of the Wii or the weird screen of the Wii U. The Nintendo Switch has a bevy of indie games that I honestly never thought could run on the Switch. We have games like Furi, Cuphead, Hades, Celeste, and my favorite indie game of all time Hollow Knight. I think many developers saw the potential of this era of Nintendo and thus wanted to have their games on Nintendo’s portable device which has, in turn, helped these small indie companies thrive in this space. I have seen many people online loving the Switch for its portability and being able to play certain games on the go.
I feel as though we are in the final stages of the Switch’s life cycle which will be a sad day no doubt but I think it can be an amazing celebration for what is to come. Nintendo delivers almost every console cycle (except the Wii U) and will hopefully continue to make extraordinary games that will keep us playing Nintendo games potentially forever.
Oh, what a joyous five years it has been with the Nintendo Switch. Ever since it was first teased back in 2016 under the codename NX, to its eventual release in 2017. I have to say that my initial opinion of how well the Switch was going to do was skeptical optimism. I will be the first one to tell you that I was not the biggest advocate of the Wii U (the console released before the Switch) and let’s just say that I am not the only one with the sentiment of “We don’t talk about the Wii U era.” Over the years I have come around to the Wii U and do not have the same strong disdain towards it as I used to…but I still stand by the sentiment that the Switch is everything the Wii U wishes it could be. I’m bringing all this up because if we look through the history of Nintendo products, we can see that the Switch might be coming to the end of its cycle and Nintendo will be leading us into the new console era.
We should be excited about the end of the Switch. The Switch has put out some amazing games like Super Mario Odyssey which was a nice stepping stone for the Mario games or even the Breath of the Wild port that has revolutionized the Legend of Zelda series. The Switch was later followed by one of my favorite games on the Switch Astral Chain in 2019 made by the company known for their refined fighting mechanics: Platinum Games. Nintendo then surprised the world with a new entry in the Metroid series after over a decade of no games in the franchise. These were just a few notable games for the Switch and we are getting more this year with an all-new 3-D Kirby game, Splatoon 3, and Nintendo Switch Sports are just some of the upcoming games coming out for the Switch for the last quarter in the Switch’s life cycle.
Let us not forget that the Nintendo Switch was the best console for indie games for a Nintendo product. Yes, the Wii and the Wii U both had indie games available on those consoles but they always felt very lackluster or gimmicky due to the gimmicky controls of the Wii or the weird screen of the Wii U. The Nintendo Switch has a bevy of indie games that I honestly never thought could run on the Switch. We have games like Furi, Cuphead, Hades, Celeste, and my favorite indie game of all time Hollow Knight. I think many developers saw the potential of this era of Nintendo and thus wanted to have their games on Nintendo’s portable device which has, in turn, helped these small indie companies thrive in this space. I have seen many people online loving the Switch for its portability and being able to play certain games on the go.
I feel as though we are in the final stages of the Switch’s life cycle which will be a sad day no doubt but I think it can be an amazing celebration for what is to come. Nintendo delivers almost every console cycle (except the Wii U) and will hopefully continue to make extraordinary games that will keep us playing Nintendo games potentially forever.