10 Best Launch Video Games Ever
2. Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Nintendo Switch)
It might be pushing it to say the Switch needed to be a success, given the staying power of Nintendo’s biggest franchises and its almost unrivalled dominance in the handheld market. However, after the Wii U squandered the Wii’s good name and failed to capitalise on the potential home console market, another flop would be a huge disappointment.
It’s safe to say that with Breath Of The Wild, they came out swinging. Arguably the best game of the generation, you have to wonder how different the Switch’s sales figures would be without it. Now it has Smash, Let’s GO! and Mario Odyssey sharing the load, but at launch Zelda was doing all the heavy lifting.
The Wii did well but was always thought of as a very different type of console; most gamers would consider that their second or family console, with a 360 or PS3 for the less cartoony games.
With monster titles like God Of War, Spider-Man, FIFA and Red Dead Redemption all releasing around the same time as the Switch, the same thing could have easily happened again. 1-2-Switch is fun, but it’s hardly a killer app. Breath Of The Wild stopped that from happening.