By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - They made us think it'd just be a Super Mario Run promotion.
Last night, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Nintendo makes appearances on Fallon's show somewhat frequently to show new stuff. I'm sure Rawk remembers to this day when they went to his show to showcase Donkey Kong Country Returns back in 2010!
They made it seem like the new stuff for Nintendo's appearance would be all about Super Mario Run, a mobile trash game that KoopaTV is thoroughly uninterested in. (Well, I've written four articles on it already, but they're all critical of it! ...And linked in the related articles section at the bottom of this one.) So... I didn't care to watch it and wasn't planning to.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 7, 2016
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| Catch a look at Super Mario Run? No thanks. |
But... it turns out that they spent only half of their time on Super Mario Run. The other half? An in-person (for Fallon, anyway) demo of the Nintendo Switch!
What?!? THAT wasn't announced at all, yet here it is:
(Start at 4:36 if you want to skip the Super Mario Run stuff.)
I suppose the one thing I want to mention about the Super Mario Run segment, besides how boring it is that it looks like any other auto-runner (with some more verticality than usual, but that's still not that compelling), is that the first thing Jimmy Fallon brought up about the game is that you can play it one-handed. Obviously, Nintendo wanted him to push that line, because it's not like Jimmy Fallon is doing anything important with his other hand.
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| Unless you want to argue that it's a value-added experience to be able to wave your free arm around madly because you got a coin. |
Okay. So. Nintendo Switch. I gotta say, watching a real demonstration of it... it's far from mind-blowing. That's comforting, actually. We've been through this before.
Watching Jimmy Fallon, I realised that the Nintendo Switch is basically an upgraded version of the GameCube's Game Boy Player, but with much faster gratification.
The Game Boy Player let you play your portable games on your television, and with a Game Boy Advance controller if you really wished. (Or the GameCube controller, which would be the equivalent of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.) Just like the Switch, the graphical performance of the games was better on the TV, especially if you didn't have a Game Boy Advance SP and your handheld systems had no lighting source.
Yet, if you had to leave your GameCube and wanted to play on the go, you'd have to save your game file first and turn it off, and then put the cartridge into your Game Boy Advance. For some games, saves don't come on-demand!
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| But all you gotta do now to play on the go from a console experience is just... take the Nintendo Switch from the Nintendo Switch Dock! |
But yeah, I don't view this as a “game-changer” in the sense that this feature will fundamentally change how people play games, or if such a change is even a desirable thing. However, it will be a game-changer if Nintendo consolidates their game development output to one system rather than two. I imagine it would be comparable to the amount of attention I had to share with the other Koopalings before Bowser Jr. was born, compared to the amount of attention Bowser Jr. got after he was born. (If you're wondering about the attention I got after he was born, it's about comparable to the Wii U at the moment.)
...Um, anyway, it's a lot more attention than I ever got, so Nintendo gamers would be quite happy to be getting, as Jimmy Fallon said, “three systems in one.” (...What's the third system?) Whatever the Nintendo Switch costs, it'll presumably be cheaper than the cost of a generic Nintendo handheld added to the cost of a generic Nintendo console. More content for cheaper! Now that's something to be happy about.
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| Shigeru Miyamoto approves! (Not that we value his opinion, but this does allow book-ending of the article.) |
OH, AND FOR YOU DOUBTERS OUT THERE. Jimmy Fallon himself said that the Nintendo Switch would be out and everyone will be playing it in March 2017. And you know what Reggie did? He instinctively nodded.
If the Nintendo Switch was going to be delayed and they knew that ahead of time, or had any feelings that it's a possibility, he wouldn't have nodded.
IT'S HAPPENING!
Be sure to stay tuned to KoopaTV for continuing coverage of the Nintendo Switch. The next batch of substantive new information is due for early-mid January!
In case you need a refresher on all of the different components of the Nintendo Switch package, click here for a break-down diagram!
Ludwig started off mad about Super Mario Run for being a combination of things he doesn't like.
At least Shigeru Miyamoto tried to come up with flimsy activities you could do with your other hand while playing Super Mario Run.
Don't you dare try to drive while playing Super Mario Run, you dangerous person.
Super Mario Run is releasing one week from now; and if you have $10 to spare, you can access its full features! (It's not worth $10.)
The three systems in one that Jimmy mentioned are officially given names in the Nintendo Switch Presentation.
The "three systems" comment was a little confusing to me, too...
ReplyDeleteI think what he meant was:
1. A home system on the TV
2. A portable system you hold in your hands and carry as you play it
3. A portable system you can set down and look at while using wireless controllers, including potential multiplayer.
Combining both Nintendo's home and portable game divisions is the thing about the Switch that would honestly be the best "feature" they could give it, as you said.
Yeah, Rawk later divided the three systems into those three, as well.
DeleteI was wondering, by that logic, how many systems the Wii U constitutes.
It's only been a day and the video is close to 2 million views. I can already see the "Out of Stock" everywhere when it releases.
ReplyDeleteIt's gotten the most views of any Jimmy Fallon video since Jimmy Fallon, Metallica & The Roots Sing "Enter Sandman" (Classroom Instruments) 3 weeks ago, which has over 10 million views for some reason. And more views than any Nintendo channel video since their Boundaries commercial in early November, and I dunno why that has so many views.
DeleteSo will that mean that the 3DS will be a best-seller this Christmas?
The only reason the Boundaries video has so many views is because it shows up as an ad before other videos. Even if people skip it, it still counts as a view.
DeleteThat...that...that counts?!!?!
DeleteThen I suppose combining forces with Fallon got it more eyeballs than if they each went at it alone.
I still dunno if that directly translates to sales.