[COLUMN] That’ll Do, Switch. That’ll Do. | by Marty Sliva

As of the time of this column’s posting, we’re 23 hours away from Nintendo’s big Switch 2 showcase, which will shine a light on the next near-decade of what the company has in store for us. Deep dives into new consoles are always an exciting moment, especially from a company that has a tendency to zig when all others zag.

While I’m sure we’ll see new entries in beloved franchises, some neat hardware innovations, strong third-party support, and a few surprises, this column isn’t about looking forward to the Switch 2. Rather, I wanted to look back at the original Switch, and how its big swing managed to help pull Nintendo out of a bit of a tailspin and into a spot near the top of the console mountain.

I noticed a lot of folks online bemoaning the lack of heavy-hitters when it came to last week’s (final?) Switch 1 Direct. A sense of disappointment that Nintendo focused on some of their stranger franchises in Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, in between other small/surprising announcements like Patapon and Hot Shots Golf making their way to modern platforms.

The thing is, this was a showcase for a console over 8 years after it originally released. That’s a nearly-unprecedented amount of time to still be highlighting new games coming specifically to that piece of hardware. And it just goes to show you how much Nintendo’s risk to marry the console and handheld halves of their business really paid off with the Switch back in 2017.

Remember the doldrums of the Wii U era? That near-immediate sense of “uh oh, this might not have been the best decision” as third parties started to back away, and first-party games dripped out at a slower and slower pace? That feeling of the GamePad gimmick arriving not-quite-fully baked, and the whole thing coming off as a bit chintzy, especially compared to its competition in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? Yeah, those weren’t the best of times, especially when you consider that on the handheld front, the 3DS never quite managed to hit the meteoric highs of its DS predecessor.

In that sense, the Switch felt like a hail mary. Instead of chasing trends and conforming their hardware to what the competition was doing, Nintendo decided to double down on walking to the beat of their own drum. There was a confidence that the Wii U was a half baked concept, and instead of shutting off the oven and starting a new recipe from scratch, they turned the heat up and pressed on through. And in doing so, they arguably reached their own creative pinnacle while simultaneously ushering in some real change throughout the industry at large.

Part of that has to do with the fact that the slow death of the Wii U meant that they could focus their attention on making sure the first nine months of the new console’s life was filled with high-quality first-party games at a consistent click. Obviously launching with a generation-defining game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild helps, but so does having a new game drop every month or so, including the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Super Mario Odyssey.

And honestly, that pace never really slowed down. By the time the dust had settled, the Switch saw top-tier entries in the Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Luigi’s Mansion, Pikmin, Kart, Smash, Party, Paper Mario, Xenoblade, and Kirby franchises. When you combine all of this with the wealth of remakes, remasters, and classics featured on Nintendo Switch Online, the Switch feels like the closest thing to a Nintendo Museum, outside of booking a flight to Kyoto.

Of course, the console certainly isn’t without its flaws. Nintendo’s online infrastructure still feels generations behind its competition, from the eShop to voice chat to the fact that there are still Virtual Console games from the Wii-era that are MIA on Switch. Not to mention some truly baffling decisions, like the planned scarcity of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, or the fact that Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are still bafflingly missing.

But in the grand scheme of things, these feel like minor bumps along an otherwise smooth upward trajectory. I love that the Switch has helped usher in a new era of powerful handhelds – I spend so much time on my Switch and Steam Deck, and am looking forward to Xbox and PlayStation rejoining the race in their own way outside of stuff like the PS Portal. On top of this, it’s also clear that third-parties and indies have seen some major success on the Switch, which is a far cry from the previous generation. 

And so, more than 8 years after its release, and less than 24 hours before the full reveal of its successor, I’m raising a glass to the Nintendo Switch. It’s provided me with thousands of hours of entertainment, including countless first-party bangers, a ton of my favorite indies ever, and a great portal into gaming’s past. As for tomorrow, I don’t really have any predictions. No hopes, no fears. Nintendo has earned back my trust over the past generation. I'm excited to see what they have in store, and I just hope everyone has a good time.

And please announce an official Mother 3 localization. Thanks in advance.