The Nintendo Switch has been doing great on the market, with the console setting out to be much more successful than its predecessor. Developers and publishers have praised repeatedly, but it seems like not every industry personality sees the console as a smashing success.
Legendary composer and programmer Yuzo Koshiro, who worked on some all-time classics such as the first two entries in the Ys series, Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, the first two Shenmue games as well as on the Etrian Odyssey series, recently spoke with Polygon about the new Nintendo console. Koshiro sees the Nintendo Switch as a very Nintendo-like piece of hardware, created to let players enjoy Nintendo titles better than ever. With the Switch, Nintendo isn't being adventurous at all, according to Koshiro.
Switch strikes me as a very Nintendo-like piece of hardware," he says. "The games that Nintendo makes haven't really changed over these past 20 years. They've had recent hits like Splatoon, but looking at the hardware, it seems made for games like Mario, Mario Kart, Splatoon ... it seems like they simply wanted to make a system that would allow them to make those games more dynamic, so they could add more expression to their games. They only really want to have people enjoy their own games more. It doesn't really seem like they are being that adventurous with the system.
Things may be going well for now, but Koshiro thinks that Nintendo will have to change things up in the future if they want to keep the Switch going, maybe even as an eventual replacement for the 3DS. At the end, Koshiro really doesn't see anything novel in the console.
If Nintendo is going to keep up with the Switch, I think they'll need cheaper models, or maybe to make them lighter. If they were to do that, it could become a replacement for the 3DS ... but, of course, Nintendo has said themselves that that is not what they're planning to do. It kind of makes me think, 'Why does this thing even exist, really?' In other words, it's a game system that will allow people to enjoy Nintendo games even more, but at the same time, I'm not really surprised by it and don't really feel there's anything novel about it
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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