7 Reasons Why You Should Be Worried About The Nintendo Switch

Are you jazzed about the Nintendo Switch? Or faintly curious, skeptical, side-eyeing the pre-order posters and wondering if it’s worth dropping half your lottery winnings to play at launch? The days of prolonged and concerted marketing blitzes for Nintendo consoles that were wham-bam-in-your-gamer-face, bringing joy to literally every gamer’s heart, have gone. They died sometime around 2007.

I mean, sure, Mario and Zelda are always going to be awesome - like a Spielberg movie, even the bad ones are better than the next best thing (mostly, anyway). Starfox could go either way at this point, and for the console itself, it's touch-and-go.

I'm sure many would love their hearts to pound over a new Nintendo console, but that probably hasn't happened since the 'purple fun-box' that is the GameCube. The Wii was novel, sure, but designed for people who like playing games with their gran, and like around 5.75 billion other people, I’m still trying to work out what the Wii U actually was.

Can the Switch turn Nintendo’s luck around before they go the way of Sega, or worse, Konami, psychotically churning out mobile games? It won’t be easy, there’s plenty about the Nintendo Switch to concern core gamers.

This message brought to you from a place of love, not hatred.

Hey, remember the NES? You know, that games console your parents couldn’t afford so you had to play exclusively at your friend’s house? That was one of the greatest video game systems ever created. Totally utilitarian, from the powerful console to that effortlessly designed joypad, the NES offered the most convenient way to play.

But that wasn’t enough for Ninty. They had to start getting creative, and like a band that’s been together 40 years, somewhere around their sixth studio album, the quality dropped off and desperation replaced innovation.

They want to be the Apple of gaming; they’re acting more like Sinclair. It started small enough: Play around with the controller, add shoulder buttons for the SNES and then the overall 'novelty' of an N64 pad - one wholly inadequate for balanced ergonomics.

Then they had to start bringing the whole damn system into it. The GameCube with its carry handle, Wii motion controls you almost immediately tired of, a Wii U Gamepad that you’ll never use, on a console you’ll never play.

I get the need to evolve your console, but this is a bit like a cat developing tails for teeth: It’s an evolutionary cul-de-sac. Nintendo went from creating ideas that enhanced the traditional gaming experience, to plain ol’ gaming gimmicks.

Oh, hello Nintendo Switch...