Originally Published February 23rd 2017 via The Valley Star
Nintendo’s Switch makes its first appearance during the Super Bowl and sales have been brisk.
Oliver Aston, Staff Writer
It was just a few short weeks ago that millions of people got their first look at the new Nintendo Switch during Super Bowl LXXXII, the system which goes on sale March 3 is something of a Hail Mary for the gaming icon after a slew of disappointing hardware releases and investors calling for the company to abandon the hardware business.
Nintendo seem to betting it all on black for the Switch; the videogame maker has been in disappointing figures since the incredible success of the Wii, which moved over 100 million units in its lifetime and is likely collecting dust somewhere in your home. Their last console, the Wii U, was a spectacular disappointment, only going on to sell a meager 12 million units in just over five years on the market. That is barely over half of Nintendo’s previous worst selling console, the GameCube, which managed to at least move over 21 million units during its lifetime.
Nintendo needs a winner and they are hoping you’ll buy into the Switch, a hybrid console that can be removed from the television and taken on the go. However, just making the system portable may still not be enough; after all, in 2017, we have smartphones and tablets that are exceedingly powerful. In fact, Nintendo themselves have been some of the more successful smartphone developers in recent memory with titles like Miitomo and Super Mario Run garnering massive support from companies like Apple and Google, and when compared with the direct competition from Microsoft and Sony, the Switch is decidedly less powerful than either the Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
The Switch itself is a 6-inch tablet with a special dock for connecting to your TV, and a pair of unique, “Joy-Con” controllers that slide on and off the system or can be used independently for multiplayer action. Nintendo can also boast some of the finest exclusive franchises in all of gaming and they are bring their A game to the new system: a massive, beautiful, new Legend of Zelda is launching with the Switch on March 3. In April, the Wii U’s Mario Kart 8 will come to Switch in a new Deluxe edition. Later in the summer, we’ll be getting a sequel to Nintendo’s newest series Splatoon, and in the fall, Mario will make his big debut in Super Mario Odyssey.
Perhaps it is not a huge surprise that Nintendo has already sold through on Switch preorders at most major retailers, and without a doubt this will be a great launch, what will be crucial however is for Nintendo to keep up the momentum in the months ahead.