Nintendo had one of their biggest Directs today. It was roughly 45 minutes. To disclose, I haven't had the chance to watch the Direct, and probably won't. I just haven't had the time. I did glean from the news outlets all the pertinent information that stemmed from the Direct, though. Two of the biggest surprises, and honestly bigger surprises than Metroid Prime 4, were Doom and Wolfenstein 2 coming to the Switch.
When I first read the tagline, I was thinking, "Oh, that's cool. Play some old school Doom and Wolfenstein ... " But then the connection was made. "2? Wait a minute..." I read the article, and there it was. This was Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. This is the sequel to 2014's Wolfenstein, which I have yet to play. So that means Doom... yep, this isn't the original Doom. This is last year's remake of Doom.
So, let this announcement sink in for a few minutes. The Switch is criticized by many to be so weak that there's no chance third parties will support it, and third party support has always been one of Nintendo's greatest weaknesses. If that's the case... why is Bethesda bringing over two graphically intensive games? Doom and Wolfenstein are both highly acclaimed games, and the Switch will be receiving Wolfenstein's sequel along with the other platforms (albeit at a later date). Skyrim was one thing, a port of a six year old game, but Bethesda is keeping current with the Switch. They're showing faith in the Switch. They're not afraid to make these games work on an undeniably weaker console. This isn't just some rinky dinky third party company supporting the Switch. This is the Bethesda, a publisher so big, they get their own press conference at E3. This. Is. Huge.
What this moment means could very well open the doors for other companies to look at the Switch from a new perspective and realize that they could see success on Nintendo's hybrid platform. EA is already supporting the Switch with a version of FIFA, granted a far inferior version. Ubisoft has already released the amazing Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and a Switch version of Rayman Legends (not really worth the mention to be honest). I wish they'd factor in a Switch version of Assassin's Creed: Origins, but who knows... maybe they will. Rockstar is also playing ball with a version of L.A. Noire. Yes, the game's six years old like Skyrim, but it's a ROCKSTAR game! ROCK. STAR. They completely skipped over the Wii U. If things go well, could a Switch version of GTA 6 be in the cards? Depends....
These third party companies are testing the waters. Rockstar's putting one of their old games on the Switch, same with Bethesda and Ubisoft, but at least Bethesda is upping the stakes with a much more recent game and an upcoming sequel. They're looking to see if there's enough interest to possibly release more games on the Switch and this won't happen unless you buy them. If you're a Nintendo fan, you're more than likely to be the kind that wants third party support, but when third party games come along, you don't buy them. You just stick to Nintendo titles. Well, it's time to put up or shut up.
If you've always complained about Nintendo not having third party support, then you owe it to yourself to buy these games. If you're a multi-platform owner like myself, you need to make the Switch versions the versions you'll buy. Yes, you might be buying inferior, downgraded and... fuck... even pricier versions, but remember what platform you're buying it on. The Switch! You can take it anywhere and play at any time! No amount of graphical performance can replace that kind of functionality! These games HAVE to succeed! These companies need to know that there is interest in third party titles. Nintendo needs to see that their fans want these games so that more third party titles get release and Nintendo's library continues to become more appealing. But they can't do it by themselves. They need YOU!
They've got me. I've already pre-ordered Skyrim and I'll be getting L.A. Noire as well, even though I already own it on the PS3. I've actually never gotten around to it, so this will literally be the first time for me. You can be rest assured that I'm making the Switch my platform of choice for Doom and Wolvfnstein 2 as well. I know some of you are probably balking at me being excited about inferior versions of multiplatform games... but to be honest, I'm sick of the graphics wars. I honestly have way more fun playing games on the Switch because I can take them with me. Who knows? Maybe this will lead to third-parties trusting Nintendo more and Nintendo not having to rely on gimmicks to make up for lack of third party support and will make their system finally graphically competent, and then we Nintendo fans get to enjoy the best of both worlds.
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