Call of Duty is coming to Nintendo platforms. At least, that’s what Microsoft would have us believe.
As part of their proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard, the American console maker has pledged to bring the franchise to Nintendo gamers in an effort to alleviate market regulators’ concerns of anti-competition and monopolisation. And because they like money.
So, Call of Duty on that there baby console with all the Mario games? That’s completely-unheard-of, never-been-done-before, unexplored territory, right? Well, no, actually. You imbecile. You buffoon.
Stretching back almost 20 years and a whopping 15 entries, the series actually has a full, flirtatious, and often fascinating history with the Big N. That is, as long as you consider things like DS Download Play and outsourced Wii ports fascinating. And of course you do – why else would you be here?!
Where it all started
Our journey begins with the Nintendo GameCube, and if the recent releases of Metroid Prime Remastered and Resident Evil 4 have taught the internet anything, it’s that Nintendo’s little purple lunchbox was actually a bit of a beast.
Despite initial misgivings, the quirky little cube outstripped the PlayStation 2 by most performance metrics, a fact handily demonstrated in 2004 when the GameCube version of Call of Duty: Finest Hour not only looked prettier than on Sony’s machine, but also ran at twice the frame rate.
Performance was peachy, but Nintendo’s reluctance to embrace the internet – a trend that you could argue still persists today in some capacity – meant that the GameCube missed out on the all-important online multiplayer mode. Meanwhile, Xbox Live users were enjoying 32-player deathmatches, forming communities, and ultimately laying the foundation for what the series would become.
By the time Call of Duty 2: Big Red One rolled out in 2005, the poor old ‘Cube was all but dead and buried. As a result, the GameCube version didn’t seem to be a top priority for Activision – it was a serviceable port, but it clearly didn’t receive the same level of optimisation the first game enjoyed. We wouldn’t have to wait long to see the series on a Nintendo console again, though...
The golden era
The Wii Remote & Nunchuk is the greatest FPS control scheme to ever grace a home console. That is an objective fact and a hill this writer is more than willing to die on. The combination of pixel-perfect pointer controls and intuitive motion gestures added a layer of precision, immersion and immediacy that simply cannot be replicated with traditional controllers.
The motion-sensing capabilities of the Nunchuk also offered quick reloads and even the ability to lean and peak from behind cover, a feature that wouldn’t become standard on console shooters for some time. To this day, it’s a mechanic that’s never been mapped to a gamepad anywhere near as gracefully.
Starting with Call of Duty: Black Ops, tilting the Wii Remote on its side also allowed you to hold sidearms gangsta style. Sure, divisive launch title Red Steel did it first, but it’s still a super cool addition that feels great to this day.
American studio Treyarch handled all five Wii entries, starting with the somewhat shoddy launch title Call of Duty 3 in 2006, and ending in 2011 with the much more accomplished Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The developer really got to grips with the Wii hardware and control scheme over the course of those five years, and the progression in quality from game to game is self-evident.
The only notable absence for Wii owners during the 7th generation was 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, seemingly a result of Infinity Ward not giving two figs about Nintendo's motion-sensing sensation. When that title dropped on other platforms, Wii owners were instead treated to a retooled port of the original Modern Warfare game – which had initially skipped the console in 2007 – developed by Treyarch, and known as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition.
With a World at War port arriving in 2008, Wii was the last Nintendo home console to receive such extensive support, with a Call of Duty game essentially dropping every year that the system was properly supported. Sure, they were compromised in ways – lower graphical fidelity and reduced player counts online to name a couple – but it was still probably the golden era for this series' involvement with Nintendo.
Portable warfare
If you’re one of those folks who think getting Call of Duty to run on Nintendo Switch would require some sort of voodoo magic, you might be surprised to learn that Activision released no less than five – count ‘em, five! – CoD games for the Nintendo flippin’ DS.
These portable affairs — Modern Warfare (2007), World at War (2008), Modern Warfare: Mobilized (2009), Black Ops (2010), and Modern Warfare 3 (2011) — were pretty far removed from their HD console counterparts, of course, but they still featured fully voice-acted campaigns, local wireless multiplayer and, in the majority of cases, online play. All this on a console that was essentially a souped-up N64.
While these versions naturally weren’t graphical showstoppers, they weren’t just cynical cash grabs, either; developer nSpace – of Geist fame – did a pretty bang-up job, making sure to include additional features like Download Play so that four friends could duke it out wirelessly using just one copy of the game. (Please bring back this feature, Nintendo. I'm begging you.)
Somewhat unsurprisingly for a system that features precisely zero analogue sticks, the control scheme was a bit of a pig. Earlier games made exclusive use of the touch screen to aim – à la Metroid Prime Hunters – which made performing the suite of other actions quite cumbersome. A later control scheme assigned your aim to the ABXY buttons, which was just as clunky and imprecise as it sounds.
Interestingly enough, the series skipped the 3DS entirely, despite it being much better equipped to handle FPS games. As a result, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in 2011 was the last CoD ever released for a Nintendo handheld. We are starving. STARVING, I say!
Wii U turn
The ill-fated Wii U was the last time we saw the franchise hit any Nintendo console, and it was likely the poor sales of these instalments (Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Ghosts) that made Activision wary of supporting any future hardware endeavours from the Big N.
Even at launch, Wii U lobbies were sparsely populated, with player counts often peaking in the hundreds rather than the thousands. Those who did take the plunge, though, were rewarded with two very solid ports that boasted HD visuals – a first for Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms – as well as some pretty compelling upgrades over the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.
The first was of course the pointer control scheme which returned from the Wii editions, and now felt more responsive than ever thanks to an improved frame rate. By 2013, Treyarch knew their way around the Wii Remote better than perhaps any other third-party developer, and the pixel-perfect controls are an absolute dream on Wii U.
But perhaps the single greatest boon of these versions was the asymmetric multiplayer. This feature allowed one player to play on the TV screen as normal, while the other had their own dedicated display in the form of the Wii U GamePad, apropos achieving split-screen multiplayer without actually having to split the screen.
Apropos? Well, you ought to have a basic grasp of Latin if you’re reading Nintendo Life.
With the Wii U struggling to find a place in the market, though, its tepid sales led Activision to abandon the console entirely, with 2013’s Ghosts marking a full decade since we’ve seen the juggernaut series on a Nintendo platform. And that brings us to the present day.
A triumphant return?
At the time of writing, no Call of Duty titles have been published or even announced for Nintendo’s hybrid console, which is somewhat of a surprise given its incredible sales success and comparatively older player demographic.
If Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard does go ahead, that could all change pretty soon, but a release on Nintendo’s as-yet-unannounced next-generation machine might make more sense. It all just depends on how long this whole saga continues.
Do you have any fond memories of playing Call of Duty: World at War on Wii until the wee hours, or is that just us? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments (55)
Call of Duty was never my thing. I am for Halo and Perfect Dark. If still Halo and Perfect Dark games are still playable. I have no interesting in Call of Duty. I am not saying it is a bad game.
i’ll never forget how hard me and my friends clowned the Wii back in the day with black ops 1 compared to the 360 and PS3 versions 😂 anyone that still played on a wii was salty .
Personally i’ll never in a million years play COD (let alone any third party AAA game) on nintendo . just why ? i don’t use my switch as a handheld . But it’s kind of a shame too, because nintendo could’ve easily competed with the tech and capabilities of other consoles and still kept the quirkiness , but they just chose not to because their stubborn .
if the gamecube had a regular size disc and the N64 had a disc , the stigma their known for would’ve never happened, and we would’ve had a gamecube 2 with motion controls instead of the one hit wonder wii .
edit - well , technically the wii was a gamecube 2 -_-
Don't worry as Microsoft said it will be coming back to nintendo.
But will most likely have to be a top down twin stick shooter 😂
The reasoning behind Modern Warfare 2's absence is incorrect. It was actually due to Treyarch devoting 100% of their resources towards Black Ops, including the staff responsible for the Wii ports. Those resources led to a somewhat excellent port of Black Ops with the sacrifice of Modern Warfare 2.
You could clearly tell based on the number of compensational changes made for the Wii port; many of the campaign sequences and segments of the Zombies mode were altered entirely that changed up the gameplay and fit within reason for the Wii's hardware. The game wasn't anywhere as messy as the other Wii entries and really had this polish that no other ports had.
Last I played COD was Ghosts on Wii U.
And I 100% agree, the wii-mote and nunchuck is the greatest control scheme for first and third person shooters and yes, even better than mouse and keyboard.
In terms of COD on the switch, just release legacy collections of the original MW trilogy and black ops trilogy and I reckon that would go down quite well. At the end of the day most people that play COD won't be doing it on the switch but give them the classics with full online support and on the go and I think most people would like that.
I remember playing many of them, despite not really being a fan of military, well, anything, really. But the Wii ports were good, the campaigns were decent to great, online was fine, Wii controls ARE the best console shooter controls (and the Wii U supported them as well), and the DS games weren't BAD. Actually, touch screen aiming worked pretty well too. And gyro aim on handheld Switch is my favourite of current systems.
Funny realisation, that Nintendo has the best options for shooter controls on consoles. RE4 on Wii is still the best version. At least the evil 4resident equipped us with proper ballistics. Getting side tracked here.
I still have 3 CoD games on Wii and Black Ops 2 on Wii U.
I liked the way these games felt on Wii. My Wii favorite is still World at War. I think nowadays the games aged a bit.
Black Ops 2 on Wii U suffered from frame drops and played bad with Gamepad on TV, but it still was a good version to have.
I was also pretty impressed by the Wii U port of Ghosts, nowadays I have this on PS4, well it's not the best CoD but it had a good campain.
Ah yes, Nintendolife, a center of sophisticated reading for people who have a basic grasp of Latin.
@Hunter-D Last time I played COD was Black Ops 2 on the Wii U. I think Ghosts was the first "next gen" COD at the time, for Xbox One and PS4 consoles, while Black Ops 2 was just a 360 or PS3 title otherwise. The Wii U version is probably the best way to play it, even though it lacked the DLC. The online community was always smaller but dedicated, some people kept playing that long after everyone probably moved on from the other platforms.
I have 2 Wii games and Ghosts for WiiU and Ghosts is my favorite, it's true the better frame rate improved the pointer controls. Loved the campaign and player a little bit of online multiplayer too.
Microsoft will get one COD on the current Switch, then I think the next will be on new Nintendo hardware.
I'm not a huge COD player, but I play the main campaign missions, then move on as not into the COD multi player.
As long as its a decent enough version of COD, it will boast Switch sales even more for Nintendo.
They are releasing CoD on the Switch simply to satisfy a need for the courts to look past an anti-trust lawsuit. No, I will not be taking part in this stupid experiment ever. I find it all incredibly distasteful. Frankly, if it works - embarrassing in how it completely bypasses justice. This merger should be stopped.
@JayJ "The online community was always smaller but dedicated". Yep- I actually put some decent hrs into it. Was fun to chill on it occasionally.
I think the Switch has done just fine with out Call of Duty.
For me, even though I do enjoy modern Call of Duty, I feel that the series is kind of a shell of what it used to be, and has lost some of the magic that made Call of Duty a staple in my home back in the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 era. Perhaps I am just a grumpy older gamer, but today's games don't hit the same. I do enjoy playing the new Modern Warfare II from time to time though.
I had a lot of fun with Black Ops on the Wii. Sure it was garbage compared to other versions but it did hold up well and definitely was unique using the gimmick controls.
Plus those were the golden age of internet so you could play online with a modded Wii without bans.
@nomither6 I mean good for you? Personally I could never go back sitting there glued to a computer to play Overwatch now I can play it on the s***er.
Used to play lot during the 360 era and stopped for years until mw2019 and have been regularly playing on PC and PS since, they are making warzone mobile and if they can do that they can easily make a decent switch version... Here's hoping thats sooner than later as the switch truly lacks in decent tactical shooters .. nothing else compares with the customization of guns and tight moment to moment gameplay
This series started with Duck Hunt because that’s all it and it’s copycats are.
the only Nintendo COD I have is CoD3.
The fact that Call of Duty is on Wii U but not on Switch is one of the most hilarious things ever. Glad that'll change soon.
@DKGXX85 I'm pretty excited for MS to bring Cod back to Nintendo. Like you said, the older games touched up would be perfect for me and imagine they would sale very well.
Zombies on the go would be perfect. !
@UltimateOtaku91 When did they say this?
@JONOFTHEJONS Well Microsoft have publicly said call of duty will be coming to nintendo.
But my comment about it being a twin stick shooter was just a joke about the switch not being able to handle it the real version.
Alternatively, "US Army Propaganda / War Crimes Simulator On Nintendo Systems - A Brief History"
@theModestMouse good for you too i guess ?
i hope you wash your hands and your switch.
@sinndec Wouldn't go that far, it's mostly just a fun dakka dakka game.
@CurryPowderKeg79 certainly better than cod without Nintendo. I kinda wonder why there is so much commotion over it, with company takeovers and whatnot. Ever since CoD 3 it's been a 6/10 cute tech demo you can get if it's 75% off, just because the gunplay is fine.
@ComfyAko
https://www.dexerto.com/call-of-duty/us-army-reportedly-offered-millions-to-cod-streamers-in-scrapped-recruitment-plan-2000975/
When it does come to the Switch/Switch 2 I would expect it to be another Fifa situation where playstation and xbox get the full experience and nintendo get a legacy edition.
@Dpullam I think the formula has just stagnated for a variety of reasons. Online play is a way of life now, and isn’t the boom it used to be. Battle Royales made some pretty big waves, but it seems like those have settled down in the last couple of years. There’s no real reason to innovate or even polish because sales are guaranteed profits from folks who just want something to shoot on their nights off.
I mean there is literally a signed contract between MS and Nintendo to bring a 1 to 1 version of core COD games to Nintendo consoles for 10 years. It's not a pledge or a "promise". It's not PR. It's a legally binding agreement, contingent on the MS acquisition.
Given Japan already OKed the deal and the EU has dismissed every argument Sony has brought to them, it's basically a sure thing at this point. Once one trade authority okays a deal like this, it becomes WAY harder for other counties to block it. Essentially, the onus is on them to not only show why it shouldn't go though, but to prove to the WTO why Japan was wrong to approve it.
This will go down as one of the biggest outplay in corporate history. Because the deal is going to pass WITHOUT MS inking a deal with Sony (seeing Sony refused to sign the one they were offered), MS is in a complete power position. If MS refused to bring it to Sony platforms, every gamer in the world will know it's Sony's fault, so the terms of the deal MS is going to offer Sony after the deal passers will basically be "every day, Sony's president has to video-conference MS headquarters and eat a whole big bag of dicks while they laugh at him".
I just could not possibly care less if CoD returns to Nintendo consoles. I haven't bought an Activision game since they owned the Bond license. Bobby Kotick is a terrible human being.
I actually enjoyed playing Black Ops 2 on Wii U. The dual screen play was so much better over traditional split screen. I would love to see such a feature make a comeback. ^^
I played a good amount of BO2 and Ghosts on Wii U. I remember it being pretty well populated and I heard somewhat recently that people still play.
I never played on the Wii - I missed all the gaming between PS1 and the Xbox 360 - but I did play both games on the Wii U, and enjoyed them quite a bit. Nintendo online gamers were generally much more patient and less tryhard than those on the other consoles. I'd certainly play on the Switch, particularly if MS/Activision released a complete Zombies Chronicles with online matchmaking, or (gasp) Share Play so I could play with my sons on their Switches. That would be truly epic for this old dad.
I played CoD 3, MW RE Wii, Black Ops 2 Wii U and I own Black Ops 3 on the PS4. I only really dabbled out of curiosity in the series, tbh.
(I miss the Wii pointer controls. Motion controls with the Switch and New 3DS XL together with thumbsticks is a decent alternative though tbf)
I'd play a MP CoD on Switch if it performed well.
Looks like I’m the only one to get the Alan Partridge reference! Plus kudos on the writer for acknowledging that wiimote controls are the best fps controls ever for a console
Good article thanks!
@andykara2003 I was waiting for someone to get the Partridge reference. A-haaaaaa!
Knew that CoD had a much bigger presence on Nintendo systems than you'd think, but didn't know it in detail before this article so thanks!
Apropos, this word isn't straight up from Latin, it's from French à propos (also found with the original spelling or slightly varied in other languages that inherited from it). My mother tongue Italian also has it and much closer to the original Latin ad propositum being a proposito (found identical except for the graphic accent in Spanish and Portuguese, a propósito)!
@CasuallyDressed Nice obscure reference, only a true fan would have got that!
@JohnnyMind Nice - that was just the partridge reference, you’ll have to blame Alan
I had a good time playing the gamecube and Wii U games.
Went to the Remagen last year only to find the town doesn't look anything like in cod finest hour.
I think it would be really cool if we could get console parity COD over all platforms. Seeing MWII with a switch box art in a store for example right alongside that shiny PS5 copy would be cool as hell and so surreal man.
@sinndec Huh. Well, it's kinda weird how they threw that kind of money on a campaign that was so destined to fail. You can't move a cod player away from the couch without a crowbar and they wanted to recruit them for outdoors activity.
It's amusing and creepy at the same time
Cod ghost was the last I played and it got plenty of play at my house. I can’t play cod yearly, but it’s nice to have one that’s a solid port on my console to play occasionally. I don’t use my Xbox like I used to, and I haven’t looked into infinite warfare on steamdeck yet, which is the most recent that is on there at like 7 years old. So, I don’t play cod anywhere, but instead find plenty of other shooters to play on switch when I do want to.
That's quite the unprecedented partnership.
If cross-platform multiplayer were a thing in the late 2000's/early 2010's, Call of Duty likely would have never left Nintendo systems. With the downfall of the series on Wii U being a result of lobby vacancies, perhaps having players from Xbox and PlayStation join the battle would have helped keep players coming back. But perish the thought to such a thing, was how it was until after Minecraft Bedrock came to Switch in the late 2010's. And even then, it took a year to get Sony on board with the idea of [gasp!] letting players fraternize with players on rival systems. It's reasonable to assume, that when Call of Duty arrives on Switch, it shall have cross-platform multiplayer and therefore not have the same problem that the Wii U ports suffored from.
GameCube seemed alright no online but still. DS seemed alright for NSpace (Geist and other games) did a fair job. The DS got all CODs of that era while the PSP only got a COD3 style entry after all.
3DS not getting one is interesting (sure many games I've seen the scores but no idea how they fair actually for many mature games on 3DS from western third parties compared to most playing the Japanese hits on 3DS or Nintendo games) as they focused on phones then but people know of the Vita one and I think it's odd that BO4 has no campaign people want a campaign. BODeclassifed has a short campaign people say it's bad (sure the multiplayer is what it is in the game too with maps) but it says a lot when the campaign audience is there and the BODC, PS Move Heroes and Resistance Burning Skies dev did what they could with 2-3 projects and however much skill and deadlines to meet.
Wii I'm surprised how they evolved the motion control support, sure sprinting, certain actions, cut content that's too much for the Wii to handle but still impressive.
Wii U I think they did what they could as the split screen is cool. I can't say much more having not seen enough of the Gamepad support but still they seem fair ports.
Switch I'm curious how they do native ports how limited if like the Wii, if motion like the Wii entries, touch screen menus even among just well a fair experience. MWRemastered would have been a good test because it's close even if altered of a PS3/360 era game while the others push a lot more I think.
I don't care for COD but still curious how they pull it off.
@N-MCMXCIX Although I have to ask: As far as existing Call of Duty titles are concerned, will it just be Modern Warfare II that gets ported to Switch? or will we also see other recent entries such as WWII, Black Ops Cold War, and Vanguard?
Call of duty Modern Warfare 2019 Port
Co op Mission allow us Adhoc or offline Solo Extra mission this must be 10/10 game
@UltimateOtaku91 The irony is that I'd be more open to a Call Of Duty twin stick shooter than the usual rubbish, but to each their own, I suppose.
I was gifted World at War on the DS for Christmas one year, despite not being a COD fan. It remains the only COD game I've ever owned, and honestly, I'm not kinda proud of that fact. I had initially figured I would return the game, but against my better judgement I gave it a shot, and found it to be an unexpectedly solid experience. The graphics were basically on par with a PS1, and the controls took some getting used to, but it was otherwise a decently fun time.
Cool article, Rory. Call of Duty on SD systems has always fascinated me. Never tried them, but I love the tightknit community it has.
There's a YouTuber named iConboy who has a great video on his experience and history with Call of Duty on Nintendo consoles that is worth checking out too: https://youtu.be/6fp6YOVkpjw
Tap here to load 55 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...