On The Nintendo Switch's Success

Switching things up.

 It's been no surprise that Nintendo's latest hybrid gaming system, the Nintendo Switch, has been a worldwide hit, selling over just 2.5 million in its native Japan and becoming the fastest selling console in Nintendo's history. As a successor to the Wii U, the Switch succeeds in many areas where its predecessor has failed. For one, the marketing for the system has been great as the name is simple and the consumer has a clear idea of the Switch's capabilities as a home console and a portable handheld. Additionally, many indie and triple AAA studios have expressed great support and interest in the system as well. Within the first months, the Switch has received some impressive exclusives and high-profile third party titles such as the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, respectively. There are more exclusives to come in the following months with Grasshopper Manufacture's Travis Strikes Back and Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei V slated for a release sometime next year. Recently, Platinum Games and Nintendo announced that a Bayonetta 3 was in the works for the Switch and that the first two games will be ported over as well.

The long-awaited Zelda has been nominated for many

year-end awards.

 However, that was also the case for the Wii U in its early years. It received many stellar first and third party hits over its cycle before losing momentum once games started to become more and more technologically demanding every year that the system couldn't handle the demads, one could wonder if the Switch would meet a similar fate. It's understandable that the Switch isn't as powerful as the PlayStation Pro and Xbox One X, let alone the base models of those systems, but considering the fact that you can take games such as Zelda and DOOM on the go, it's a worthwhile trade-off. Though it would be interesting if Nintendo would follow suit and release a mid-generation refresh of the Switch somewhere down the line to keep up with hardware demands.

The concept of having DOOM on the go is pretty impressive.

 As an early adopter of the Wii U back in Christmas 2012, I enjoyed my first weeks playing Nintendo Land with family, though over the course of the following months, I haven't touched the thing and it has been collecting dust. It wasn't until late 2013 to 2014 that I dusted the system off since first-party hits such as Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U began to grace the system. After that, it was back again to the drawer until the release of Xenoblade Chronicles X in late 2015. Investing in the Wii U early on seemed like a reasonable choice at the time since many third-parties and indies were showing strong support. Reflecting back, I wish that I could've waited an extra two years when many first-party exclusive began to surface. While that doesn't seem to be that way with the Switch so far, I'm still on the fence at the moment about investing in one. Maybe with time and the release of some of the aforementioned exclusives that I would feel encouraged to buy one. For now, Nintendo should be commended for taking the shortcomings of the Wii U as a learning experience and taking the time to release a quality system with stellar first-party exclusive accompanying it. 2017 has been a kind year to Nintendo, and here's hoping they'll maintain that success in the coming years as well.