Download G Switch
Eliecer Brathwaite
The Nintendo Switch[m] is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the Wii U and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4; it also competes with the ninth-generation consoles, Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S and Sony's PlayStation 5.
The Switch is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable device, making it a hybrid console. Its wireless Joy-Con controllers, with standard buttons and directional analog sticks for user input, motion sensing, and tactile feedback, can attach to both sides of the console to support handheld-style play. They can also connect to a grip accessory to provide a traditional home console gamepad form, or be used individually in the hand like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, supporting local multiplayer modes. The Switch's software supports online gaming through internet connectivity, as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other consoles. Switch games and software are available on both physical flash-based ROM cartridges and digital distribution via Nintendo eShop; the system has no region lockout.[n] Two hardware revisions have been released: the handheld-only Switch Lite, released on September 20, 2019; and a higher-end version featuring an OLED screen, released on October 8, 2021.
The Switch was unveiled on October 20, 2016. Known in development by its codename NX, the concept came about as Nintendo's reaction to several quarters of financial losses into 2014, attributed to poor sales of the Wii U and market competition from mobile games. Nintendo's then-president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The Switch's design was aimed at a wide demographic of players through multiple modes of use. Nintendo opted to use standard electronic components, such as a chipset based on Nvidia's Tegra line, to make development for the console easier for programmers and more compatible with existing game engines. As the Wii U had struggled to gain external support, leaving it with a weak software library, Nintendo preemptively sought the support of many third-party developers and publishers to help build the Switch's game library alongside its first-party games, including many independent video game studios. While Nintendo initially anticipated around 100 games for its first year, over 320 from first-party, third-party, and independent developers were released by the end of 2017.
While Nintendo had record revenues, net sales, and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2004 and 2006 respectively,[6][7][8] its revenues soon declined.[9][10] The company posted its first loss as a video game company in 2012 prior to the Wii U's introduction that year and had similar losses in the following years due to the console's poor reception.[11] The New York Times attributed Nintendo lowering financial forecasts in 2014 to weak hardware sales against mobile gaming.[12] Previously, the company was hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would "cease to be Nintendo" and lose their identity if they attempted to be a part of it.[13] About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property".[14] Iwata was able to secure a business alliance with Japanese mobile provider DeNA before his death. The deal developed mobile titles based on Nintendo's first-party franchises, believing this approach would not compromise their integrity.[15][16] Following Iwata's death in July 2015, Kimishima was named as president of Nintendo, while Miyamoto was promoted to the title of "Creative Fellow".[14]
The initial conception for the Switch started shortly after the release of the Wii U in 2012.[17] Kimishima stated that when Nintendo was evaluating what new hardware they wanted to produce, they "didn't just want a successor" to either the Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, but instead asked "what kind of new experience can we create?"[14] In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Kimishima said that the Switch was designed to provide a "new way to play" that would "have a larger impact than the Wii U".[18][19] Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aim emphasized the console's appeal as a device that would provide gamers the option to play at home or on the go and noted that it would enable developers to create new types of games.[20] This approach continued Nintendo's blue ocean strategy for the competitive console marketplace, as rather than compete feature for feature with the other consoles, they would establish unique and difficult-to-copy devices.[21] Miyamoto said that some broad concepts of the Switch extend from the "lateral thinking with seasoned technology" design philosophy of Gunpei Yokoi that Nintendo has used over the last couple of decades.[22]
The commercial failure of the Wii U also pressured Nintendo in the Switch's development. Early sales of the Wii U were weak compared to the Wii, and major third-party studios like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft announced they would not support the console near the end of the Wii U's first year, further hampering its sales. According to Fils-Aim, when it became apparent that the Wii U's life cycle performance would underperform the company's expectations, the Switch became a "make or break product" for Nintendo.[23]
The design of the Switch was aimed to bridge the polarization of the gaming market at the time, creating a device that could play "leisurely" video games along with games that are aimed to be played "deeply", according to Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi, general manager and deputy general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development Division (EPD) respectively.[17] This approach also would apply to the cultural lifestyle and gaming differences between Japanese and Western players; Japanese players tend to play on the go and with social groups, while Western players tend to play at home by themselves.[24] The design of the Switch would meet both cultures, and certain games, like 1-2-Switch, could potentially make social gaming more acceptable in Western culture.[25] Two key elements that were set to address this mixed market were the ability for the unit to play either on a television screen or as a portable and the use of detachable controllers.[17] The "Switch" name was selected not only to refer to the console's ability to switch from handheld to home console modes, but to present "the idea of being a 'switch' that will flip and change the way people experience entertainment in their daily lives".[26]
Part of the inspiration of the Switch's form and design was from feedback players had given Nintendo on the Wii Remote, according to Shinya Takahashi. With the release of games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, players had asked Nintendo if they could make the Wii Remote in a smaller form factor, potentially strapped to a part of their body. This led to Nintendo envisioning what a smaller form-factor controller could provide in both hardware and gameplay, and it led to the idea of a console that was small enough with these new controllers to also be portable.[27] Other concepts came out of critical consumer feedback of the Wii U. Fils-Aim said that one common criticism they had for the Wii U was that while players did enjoy using the Wii U GamePad and would want to play games on it anywhere, it became functionless if they moved a distance away from the main console. This served for Nintendo to design a home console that the player could take with them anywhere.[28] Around five different prototypes were developed for the Switch before they finalized on the released design. This included developing different methods of how the Joy-Con controllers would physically connect to the console, including using magnets to hold them in place.[17]
In addition to the form-factor design, Nintendo needed to balance the power and speed of the console's central processing unit with battery life and the unit's size, coupled with limited development resources and deadlines set by Nintendo's management. One choice made by the development team was to use an existing system on a chip (SOC) rather than creating their own as they had done on previous consoles. Koizumi said that this break from tradition was done to gain more third-party support for the console by using an SOC to which developers could easily port games. Nintendo was not focused on raw processing power but was instead looking to balance the overall features of the system, including battery life and size, as well as keeping in mind their limited development resources and timeline. Koizumi said, "The most difficult part was on how to take an overall balance while we were getting entangled with all of those in complexity."[17] To achieve this balance, they did not opt to use the more powerful hardware they could have used, instead using a middle-ground approach to achieve their vision of the Switch.[29]
Koizumi served as the general producer of the Switch during its development.[24] According to Miyamoto, the Switch's development within Nintendo was headed by younger employees, with him saying "it's really been them that have put this forward and designed this system".[30][31] Miyamoto said of the younger employees: "I always look for designers who aren't super-passionate game fans. I make it a point to ensure they're not just a gamer, but that they have a lot of different interests and skill sets."[31] Junior developers were also used to help brainstorm ideas of how to make sure the Switch had a longer lifecycle beyond the typical five-to-six years as most other consoles had.[32] Miyamoto, Takeda, and Iwata were less involved, but provided necessary oversight on the Switch's development principally around the cost of implementing new features that would make the Switch stand out.[22] For Miyamoto, his limited involvement allowed him to spend more time on Nintendo's software titles being developed at the time, such as Super Mario Run.[30]
c80f0f1006