Five years ago this past March, Nintendo changed the gaming landscape with the release of the Nintendo Switch. A “hybrid” console that could be played on the go and on a traditional TV set up by simply using a dock. With the Steam Deck readily available, there is a challenge to the value of such a console. How will the Switch hold up now? First, we have to ask what kind of value the switch brings to gaming in general and does it live up to the “hybrid” title. What makes a portable console valuable to begin with?
Handheld gaming and portable console have always sat in a strange area in gaming. If we start with the Gameboy, we can see an appeal that lasted years and reached quite a large market. A simple screen with two buttons and a D-pad were enough to bring people in, and titles like Tetris, Mario Land and Pokemon kept audiences around. With software that held its own against it's Famicom orgins, the Gameboy solidified it's place in history.
Handhelds were also a testing ground for new ideas and innovative tech on both a hardware and software level.
Games like Kirby Tilt n’ Tumble used an accelerometer in the cartridge on the GameBoy Color. Motion controls just 6 years later would become a staple in not just the portable, but home console space. Hideo Kojima’s Boktai : The Sun is inYour Hand for the Gameboy Advance would use a simple solar panel to affect your gameplay in the moment. What better way to dispatch vampires than with the sun itself? Rhythm Heaven (天国) would give us the creation of microgames, bite sized challenges that would go on to become the beloved Wario Ware series we see on home consoles and handhelds alike.
Peripherals were also on the cutting edge in handhelds. We had digital cameras on our Gameboys and functioning GPS on the Playstation Portable.
The PSP was ahead of the curve as a multimedia device, storing music, video and online gaming.
Metal Gear Portable Ops allowed you to use the GPS to recruit soldiers into your army in game. Bridging the gap between gaming and daily utility was first pushed on handhelds. Pictochat on the Nintendo DS was using a touch screen to send local text and drawn messages through a local wireless network. Streetpass on the 3DS family of systems was a gamers best friend, trading info and giving benefits to players passively.
Handhelds continued to add features as they were newly released and many featured considerable backwards compatibility. We can see that with both the Nintendo 3DS and PSVita offering titles via their online shops that span all the way back to their first consoles. Even today (but probably not for long) you can get a retro game for a reasonable price, on the go from the console shop rather than deal with those quarantine price hikes.
At the moment we have the Switch. The last handheld gaming device from Nintendo that has any hold on the market and is actively supported by developers. So one would hope that we would have all that the 3DS gave us (within reason) and improvements that were outside its predecessors hardware limitations. What did they learn from the Wii U and can they implement the old tech more effectively, efficiently to give us something new?
This expectation was not met. To be blunt, we got a tablet with interesting controllers. Controllers that are mostly under utilized on most software. While it’s a fine console and has some amazing titles (especially first party) there is so much left desired. The touch screen is basically unused. The HD Rumble was an incredible feature that was just ignored and even left out of the cheaper model, a testament to its application. Something that really stands out in the last generation of handhelds was their awareness of their surrounding. Pedometers, GPS, Local Wireless Networks that communicated passively. You were encouraged to take it on the go and were rewarded when you came across someone else who did the same. Here in Japan, there were special promotions with convenience stores where you could get special items and products just by bringing your 3DS in store. The software worked in tandem with the hardware in a way you just don’t see in home consoles, or the Switch. Does being able to play the Witcher 3 on the go really enhance the experience and make it worth the price tag? For some it does, but we leave behind a history of innovation and pushing what a game console could be. Your handheld had to compete for your attention out in the real world and compliment your life.
Since the loss of Satoru Iwata, it has seemed that Nintendo is content to focus on software and ignore innovation on the hardware side. They seem to be doing just enough and to be fair, it makes sense. Why change anything when business is booming? For the sake of handheld and gaming innovation in general, there need to be changes. Nintendo is in a unique position where they have to offer something more since Valve has raised the stakes. The bar is set at “make console and PC games portable” but that feature alone will not be enough when stacked next to the massive Steam library. Looking back on the past there are some steps they can take that would benefit the industry as a whole.
First, Nintendo needs to take risks. Expand the market as they have before by using interesting and well understood tech in new and innovative ways. A feature of the last two handhelds and even the Wii U was the ability to connect with others. Mii verse was an interesting idea but was lacking features. Whatever comes next should support connectivity and strengthen your internet options through your device. Less so in the way of applications like video streaming services but in a way that compliment the games on the system. The more users are told to use their phone to chat with people, the less likely they are to look at your screen. In an attention economy, interactivity is the way to keep user engaged. Nintendo also needs to follow though on their designs! The wii remote was denounced as a gimmick, just as the touch screen. In retrospect, they opened the doors to a wave of new users, new experiences and markets hungry for innovative ideas. Wii sports, Nintendogs, Brain Age, and so many other games were made accessible to many through intuitive controls that were simple to understand at first glance. In other words, Nintendo needs to do more to separate themselves from the competition because the last thing developers or consumers want is another arms race. The Steam Deck will be winning that in spades and uphold the hefty price tag to back it up.
The future of handhelds is uncertain, but whatever happens at this juncture will shape how interactive media is received and produced for years to come. There’s nothing but wind at their backs. If any group is capable and in the position to make great change, its Nintendo. For the sake of the medium, let innovation win again.
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