Nintendo on how Switch reaffirms the value of portable gaming, has an advantage over smartphones
Nintendo describes Switch as a console first and foremost, but it’s one that you can take anywhere. In an interview with IGN, Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning and Development Division general manager Shinya Takahashi spoke about the hardware’s portable nature.
When asked if they’ve seen many people playing Switch out in the world and its success thus far, Takahashi replied with the following:
“Certainly in Japan, especially when people are in a long line, and maybe a lot of these are game product-related lines, you definitely see a lot of people holding a Switch and playing there. That’s something that of course we hoped to see in the U.S. as well, trying to fulfill that promise of being able to play anywhere, anytime, with anyone. When we started to see evidence of that, we were very gratified.”
“Before the release of the Nintendo Switch, in interviews I would often talk to people about what their impressions were, this idea of game hardware that you could either play as a console in front of a television or take with you on the go. What I most looked forward to was hearing people’s impressions after release, when they really tried it on their own, and started to realize the comfort and the charm of those experiences for themselves. What I think we were able to reaffirm at that time was the value of portable gaming in the Nintendo Switch. But because it is a hybrid that allows both, it allows us to very flexibly approach [console gaming] as well.”
Switch producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, who also participated in the interview, says that the system has a distinct advance over smartphones. The ability to remove the Joy-Con and have multiplayer sessions anywhere is a big plus in his view.
Koizumi stated:
“Just to add a little bit to this idea of how people viewing smartphones as an influence on the future of portable gaming, I certainly wanted to see all the possibilities of having controllers that could be separated from the hardware, so that you could be able to hand one to another person in a variety of different environments. I think that really represents an amazing advantage over smartphones. That was something that we had focused on very clearly as something we could achieve to reach that distinction.”
