So, what did you make of Nintendo’s presentation on their newest console, the Switch? Those Joy-Cons… slick, huh? Or maybe you’re of the big-handed persuasion… Then you’ve got to admit those tiny things look pretty uncomfortable. And the price! Wowzers! What do you say to that? C’mon, I know you’ve got an opinion. After all, everybody else does.
Oh, me? Nah… I don’t even wanna think about the Switch. The fact is, I’m still hung up on another console. I know it sounds strange, but I’m just not ready to move on. Even as I was reading the news about Nintendo’s hot new “HD Rumble,” I couldn’t help but throw a glance over that shiny black box under my TV— and over that clunky-looking controller/tablet charging at the other end of the room— and I just let out a sigh and said: “too soon!” I feel like it was just last Christmas I got the Wii U, and already we’re collectively forgetting about it.
The Wii U is a flop. No one’s disputing that. As I’ll further explain in another blog, the hardware itself wasn’t to blame, but Nintendo’s inept marketing. In reality, the console was everything the Mario and Zelda faithful had wanted since the Wii launched: no gimmicks, all about the games. Problem was it didn’t have the media and public behind it. Nintendo knew that and bailed, starting work on the Switch (codename: NX) rather than giving the Wii U a fair chance. People like a winner, they put their money on a winner.
And that’s just the point: we blame the Wii U’s failure on a dearth of games, but that very dearth was the result of development shifting to the NX upon news of the newly-launched console’s lamentable sales. “Actually, it was the lack of games at launch,” you say. But just take a look: that didn’t stop the Xbox One. The Wii U line-up really wasn’t so bad—in fact, it might make the Switch jealous.
So go ahead and get excited about the Switch. I still haven’t gotten over the Wii U. I know that everything has its time, but I’m not done mourning yet. Production has stopped, times are a-changing, there’s a new kid on the block, and people are saying he’s cool. I don’t want to hear it. People like a winner, but sometimes— sometimes, don’t you just love a loser?
