"Nintendo is doomed to fail." "They should just hang it up and become a software company." "The Switch is evidence that Nintendo doesn't know what gamers want."
These were all frequently said comments months before and even the week of Nintendo's launch of the Nintendo Switch. Even still there are some who continue to state that Nintendo's constant shortage is only to inflate demand, and not because people are actually gobbling them up whenever they find them.
If you're here to argue that the Nintendo Switch is not a successful console, you've come to the wrong place. At this pace, the Switch will have outpaced the LIFETIME sales of the Wii-U halfway through the year, and could continue on to become one of the companies best selling consoles of all time.
All that said, can we talk about how crazy it is that they're managing to do this while still screwing up even the most basic of features for a modern day console?
Netflix is a platform that literally runs on anything. It's like the Doom of smart devices. If you have a device that is labeled "smart" you can run Netflix on it, and the past two Nintendo generations both had the streaming service...so where is it? Mobile Netflix isn't necessarily an experience I can't have without a Nintendo Switch, but damn does it sweeten the idea of traveling if I can download and watch my favorite shows on the go in between gaming sessions on a long flight or drive. I doubt the issue with the app is physical as I gotta believe if the Switch can run Bethesda games, it can run a fair amount of software.
So what's the hold up? Why are we waiting? Furthermore, why are people ignoring it as an issue.
It's because, despite the popular belief of your resident "Nintendo hater", the Switch has games. They just don't have games either, they have the universally acclaimed Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, the soon to arrive (also to universal acclaim) Super Mario Odyssey, a Mario Kart remaster, Splatoon and a new Metroid game on the way. Not only that, but they have a huge amount of 3rd party support (thanks to rampant sales) and a lot of genres that don't typically thrive on console doing very well.
Which makes it even crazier that the company is still living in 2002 with their Internet service. I guess that's a little harsh, considering they're using the miracle of Smartphone technology to give players the ability to call their friends on the phone to talk during a match. Nintendo's internet is a huge problem, and even the biggest Nintendo apologists (myself included), aren't happy about it...
SO WHY IS THIS CONSOLE SUCCEEDING?!
That's not really a question any of us can fully answer, but you can bet both Sony and Microsoft are taking note the same way they mysteriously created peripherals for motion based technology after the Wii took off. As to whether they'll be emulating Nintendo's decision to make an "everywhere console" or on "making the best damn exclusives" remains to be seen, but we can say in either case we're excited to see what they come up with for the future.
In the meantime Nintendo, If you could get your stuff together and make your already great console greater we would all deeply appreciate it.
