More Thoughts From Me #97: The Switch’s First Year and A Look Ahead
The first year of the Nintendo Switch is almost over! Can you believe its be a whole year (ok, almost a whole year. techically the first year)? What do you think of the system? Hey, don’t answer that yet. Let me tell you what I think of the system’s first year and what I think/hope will happen in year 2 (2018!).
The first year of the Nintendo Switch is almost over. Most of the time, the first year of any console is not very good. With most consoles, you are very lucky if you get one or two really good original games in the first year. The Nintendo Switch has been totally different. The first year of the Switch has been amazing. Lets take a look back!
Nintendo Brought More Just Ports
Yes, the Switch did start out with Breath of the Wild, which was also on the Wii U and Mario Kart 8 but then there was Splatoon 2, ARMS, Fire Emblem Warriors, Super Mario Odyssey, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Those last two games are especially stunning. We got an original 3D open world Mario game on the first year of Nintendo’s brand new console! And Nintendo also came out with an huge JRPG for the Switch too! There were people who thought both those games, especially Xenoblade Chronicles 2, would get delayed. They came out on time though and both are great.
Third Party Developers Are Back
Square Enix, Capcom, Rockstar, Namco, Bethesda, Warner Bros (LEGO!) and more have released games for the Switch. The most surprising was Bethesda, who had never done a game for a Nintendo system before. They brought two games this year to the Switch: DOOM and Skyrim. Both are wonderful games!
Indie Developers Rushed to the Switch
A lot of indie developers came to the Wii U, but much, much, much, MUCH more have come to the Nintendo Switch. We’ve had some Thursdays where there were almost too many indie games coming out. The level of indie games coming to the Switch has been insane. The Switch is getting so many games that the Wii U didn’t. Its just jaw-dropping.
The Start of Video Apps
It took some time, but the Nintendo Switch finally got its first video app: Hulu! Not only that but the app works really well on the Switch. I had all kinds of trouble with Hulu on the Wii U. On the Switch, its just about perfect.
Video Recording
Some games, like Super Mario Odyssey and Skyrim, will let you make small recordings of game footage and post them to social media. This feature is not available on all Switch games yet but I think it will be eventually (or at least available on most of them!). This video recording feature works well and its fun to share video footage. But even when you can’t do that, you can always take a picture of whatever you’re playing and share it!
And thats just the first year of stuff for the Nintendo Switch! What do we have to look forward to next year?
Next year, we know that Nintendo will be bringing us their paid online service. That also means that we’ll start getting Virtual console games! I also hope that 2018 will bring more video apps to the Switch such as Netflix and Amazon.
Also, third party developers are here to stay! Bethesda has announced Wolfenstein 2 for next year and said that that won’t be the last game they are bringing to the system. Capcom just announced almost every Mega Man game ever is coming to the Switch next year, including a brand new one! And there are sure to be a lot more games announced for the system.
Oh and lets not forget indies. We saw a ton this year and we’ll see even more next year. Of course, we also have Nintendo’s very own titles to look forward to! We know that Yoshi and Kirby are coming next year and most likely we’ll get a Fire Emblem and Pokemon title too.
I’m hoping for a Switch Animal Crossing game next year, but I won’t hold my breath.
No matter what we get next year, gamers shouldn’t doubt that Switch’s 2018 will be just as big (if not bigger) as its 2017!
What did you play on the Switch this year? What are you looking forward to next year? Please let us know in the comments!
Next week: my thoughts on Game of the year awards. I might talk about the Game Awards too if I get a chance to watch any of it.
More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Ok, now I have to go play some Skyrim!