Nintendo Has Involved Third Parties "Since The Beginning" With Switch, Says EA's Patrick Söderlund

I hope there will be a lot more EA games on the Switch, even though I won't be buying or playing them myself.

Feels dumb to me that third parties spoke with Nintendo to get their support and then they don't bring anything to the table

Lmao what a bunch of bs. This just smells like Wii U all over again.

Everything we know so far tells us that they haven't learned a thing from their past mistakes.

@Yasume
Right now its a little bit worse. Wii u launched with quite a number of third party games.

Not a good sign. EA will bring FIFA and then leave without saying good bye. I'm not bothered about Battlefield, Fifa and the like but they do help shift boxes.

I'm going to do what EA are doing in regards to their support for Switch.
I'll wait and see if they release a game I want to purchase.

Dead Space would be a good start, although funny enough dead space is what EA's release schedule looks like on Switch at the moment.

I think the first year of Third-Party support [unless there's more to be announced at E3 2017] shows that Nintendo including third-parties from the beginning hasn't convinced them to back the Switch to the required degree.

It's nice to see EA commit FIFA and NBA 2K17 to the system but will this be a one-time only thing as it was with Wii U? Moreso, f the Switch ver. is custom built as EA states then that shows they don't understand what fans want. We want parity with FIFA on other systems, not our own 'special version' built on an outdated engine from last years game.

I'd love to see big third parties get on board, the bottom line is they won't until they see the numbers. I feel we will see some third party action 2018 and 2019. As for 2017 it will be a Skyrim port and Fifa game

Believe it when I see it.

I don't believe a word.

At the end of the day EA are only doing what a lot of potential Nintendo customers are doing- they're waiting for Nintendo to get the party started.

Be honest to yourself; are you saying 'I want to get all 3rd party games for the Switch, then I may consider buying the Nintendo titles'? No, if you're coming to the party you're here to see Mario and Link and Pikachu, and while you're there you may consider talking to the guys who love guns and sports... possibly. EA and all the other companies just want to make sure they won't be left in the corner next to a potted plant on their own.

It's great that Nintendo are at least trying to get third parties on board. That comment about going where the gamers go sounds worrying unless Nintendo can make the Switch a success, but it makes sense from EA in a business perspective.

"Wait and see". I'm beginning to loathe those three words.
When it's "wait until the console is out and then you'll see how many amazing games it'll get", it's an approach I can understand.
But right now, especially given their record, EA's stance seems to be more of a "wait until the sales don't satisfy us and you'll see how little we care about it" affair.
Really, once the sales start "disappointing" publishers, they'll stop considering this approach "different" altogether.

Although (on PS4) I jumped ship to PES 2017 last year I will be pre-ordering FIFA on Switch this year.

Firstly I want to show my support for Switch and encourage EA (and other publishers) to bring more titles our way. Secondly, pretty much by default this is likely to be the best portable football game available.

I've recently tried an older FIFA on Vita and an older PES on 3DS and both leave a lot to be desired. My on-the-go football fix is currently sated by FIFA on my Android tablet and phone but that is far from ideal.

I'd definitely like to see EA bring Madden and NHL to Switch. Not the least bit fussed about Battlefield or Battlefront, but would like to see future Star Wars titles come across. I think they've already said no to Titanfall 2 and Mass Effect Andromeda, sadly.

I hope Nintendo and 3rd parties can turn the tide and 3rd party games start to be more successful with Switch.

I'm not surprised that publishers are cautious. These games aren't cheap to develop and if those who buy your games aren't hanging out at the Switch, why go there? That said, the vibe with the Switch is different, I saw on the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter page that lots of people want to switch their order to Switch and I'm not talking about those who ordered it on Wii U. People are interested in this device and providing the marketing is there, it will attract customers. By Xmas 2017, the game prices will have come down and public awareness will be high, I won't be surprised if it's the no.1 gift.

I maybe wrong, but didn't Nintendo reach out to 3rd party developers when they were making the WiiU.

amazing to hear!

@Yasume don't be so hard with EA

Know what would be cool? If we could stream out steam games to the switch. Doubt it, but man I'd love that!

@Folkloner custom build does smack of motion controls again.

"they've listened to EA, Activision"
In other words, they made a PC in disguise?

@Andrzej777 The n64 launched with 2 games for the first month worse then this line up

Sounds like there's some kind of Unprecedented Partnership going on.

I really, really doubt EA's words until we see some actual deeds. That means more than just FIFA 18 announced to be coming for it.

@Slim1999

Indeed, and it wasnt really that successful in direct comparison with the psone.
Its a funny thing btw, people complain about the launch line up and possible lack of third party games, but I dont really care about third party games - they might have a negative impact on overall sales and mass market appeal. I am talking western third party games here. I am more interested in games like dark souls (which I have heard will come) and games like monster hunter or ace attorney - basically japanese third party games.
I couldnt care less about games like cod or assassins creed and many others - but thats taste. People like different things in gaming. Chances are the majority of nintendo gamers have a similar taste so many will not care about mainstream third party games. I certainly wont.

@Yasume really? Explain? Because like Sony they have put a lot of work into supporting indies and have given them as much time as high profile titles. And we know they have over 80 games in production - right now it feels like Xbone has less than 10.

We already know they have more to show us before launch - and have hinted that all our old retro games may be ready at launch. GBA and N64 launched with less games.

They have also shown quite a bit of 3RD party support too - getting Skyrim alone is special.

So how what's your basis?

@FGPackers Then it is Nintendo's fault: it didn't offer anything enticing to bring them aboard.

"...so we'll go wherever the gamers go", besides the 3DS.

EA aren't on board. Their support looks good on paper, but in reality is likely designed only to burden Nintendo's place in the console market.

Soderlund has a massive history of lying through his teeth. From when he was DICE all the way through being promoted to an EA suit. I'll believe random people in comment sections before I believe this guy.

Considering FIFA is custom built rumoured to be from the PS3/360 version, which doesn't surprise me you might as well buy the proper version from PS4, Xbox or PC. I honestly doubt Nintendo went to 3rd parties as i cannot see 3rd parties being happy with an underclocked Tegra X1, the Tegra X1 cannot even run at its full potential in console mode. One of Respawn designers when asked if Titanfall2 would come to the Switch Said, no, thats the same Zelda as on the Wii U. And people really think 3rd parties are fully aboard? the games are all ports from last generation hell even the Wii U had its own exclusive on launch from 3rd parties, i will not believe it until i see the sales of the Switch and only then if good Will 3rd parties come aboard like with the Wii.

Sigh, EA's seeking a second Wii U. How do I hope the Switch is more in the line of the Wii's success so they have to bite their tongue and rush to release their games.

I don't think I'll get them, since they're not my style but it would do wonders for third party support.

I would of liked a starwars battlefront port from launch.. or anything starwars related, dead space trilogy would of been cool, to be fair anything from ea would of been nice but I don't expect anything other than fifa unless nintendo money hats a game for the switch from ea

I guess we will still play the waiting game for now.

Lets hope Nintendo doesn't listen to them about making games!

Also like we know with regard to EA etc. , if the switch sells well and they decide to port games. Brilliant all we'll get is rushed ports of games with no consideration for the consoles features. aka the wii, and that didn't work for us gamers either.

@TbobB Is your name a M.A.S.K reference?

I think this news is very promising and quite a departure from what happened with the Wii U. While there was talk of developers being onboard for the Wii U, there was also a lot of talk behind the scenes (and in tech forums) from those same developers on how difficult & expensive it was to develop games for the Wii U... making games much less likely to have been released.

The Switch however has been almost universally praised for being easy to develop for & having matching, if not better development tools than it's rivals. This makes games easier and cheaper to develop for... much less risk for EA, Activision, Ubisoft and anyone else that wants to bring their games.

Another thing I feel we need to realise is that the Wii U did launch with more games (as currently announced), but that was followed by an unprecedented games drought. Can anyone blame Nintendo for spreading their IP out a bit more? Is this a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't?

FIFA is, despite how crap I think football is, one of the TOP selling games in the World & is a good start from EA... better than Battlefield. If we as fans can throw our money instead of shade at Nintendo and it's games then we will definitely see a good amount of AAA coming to the Switch.

@banacheck Please don't partially filter profanity. Just omit/censor the whole word. Thanks.

Could the joy cons be responsible for a custom build?

a) To exploit the HD Rumble they'd need a custom approach.

b) In two player mode using a single joy con each, neither player would have a second analogue stick, so a custom control scheme would be needed.

EA are parasites. They want the table laid out ready for them to feast and, no, they won't be helping with the washing up afterwards!

Yes they're a business and have to make decisions that maximise their revenues but they also have a role as one of the market leaders to help develop and grow the market. Switch has the potential to bring in big numbers of future console gamers from smartphones/tablets - it's important for the industry. In theory at least...

...It's possible that EA have decided that the only model they really want to support and help grow is one where there are two manufacturers of identical consoles differing only by marketing strategy (allowing you to sting both for "marketing support") with a FTP business on the side. There may be an benefit for EA if Nintendo fail badly and it does sometimes seem like they've got an internal brief to undermine Nintendo.

I think that philosophically they are diametrically opposed to Nintendo in terms of how they view games and the ways in which they want to monetarise them. Nintendo is all about the long tail and a premium up-front cost whereas EA is all about making big sales quickly followed by big sales and hoping to leach additional revenue through micro-transactions.

I don't think they'll ever work well with Nintendo.

@DanteSolablood
I loved that little robot scooter!

Involved from the beginning.....and yet no gameplay footage.

@Andrzej777 yep I agree I could Carr less about certain games.I'm goof with Zelda and bombeman to start my switch collection.If funny how these guys keep complaining about the launch line up.I was born in 1980 84 I played pacman I was hooked then I got the nes Nintendo ever since.there have been worse launches out there.but at least we got games coming on a regular bases.i agree with you 100%

At this point Nintendo could do everything right and still not get enough attention. They could have the most powerful system with the most memory and it won't matter. 3rd parties were leaving Nintendo since the N64 because of bad decisions. Ever since then Nintendo has been known as a 1st and 2nd party system. Wii was lightening in a bottle and left 3rd parties scrambling to make games quick but only because the system made too much noise to ignore.

You see comments here and all we see is talk about 1st party games. I want only Zelda, Mario, and Splatoon 2 and that's it for me. Can't say I blame them since there isn't much 3rd party support.

Really starting to hate the games industry as a whole...

The only game I buy by EA is Battlefield.

I said it before and I say it again (and will keep saying it).

E3 2017 is where the Switch will be made or destroyed. I strongly doubt there will be any coming back if that is a disaster. Too many potential customers may be completely turned off.

If third parties are willing to truly back the Switch with AAA games then we will know at E3.
It is great to get ANY game on your console (maybe even shovel ware) but I want to see a real big budget third party on a Nintendo console again before the world ends.

@Slim1999

Exactly, nintendo fans will get some good games.

Relax this is a portable, also the user base is much bigger. So, let those companies play it safe. This is not a WiiU. This portable is a console with console graphics. I don't think we have that from the big three. Do we?
I do think Nintendo will get a chunk of the 3DS/Vita users and the companies that bring out those games. So it is always like this in the beginning.
This is not doom. I remember hating on these companies when they stopped releasing games for the WiiU. The WiiU did so many things wrong despite having great games. The blame cannot totally fall on EA, Ubisoft, or what ever company that doesn't choose to have there games on the Switch. I would give it a year.

@Hotfusion
I doubt there will be great AAA titles ported, maybe a select few. I think third parties know that, too. So they are cautious. Nintendo gamers are different, care about different things in gaming. Games dont need to be realistic for a nintendo gamer. The graphics must be colorful. Nintendo games have mostly a positive vibe to it. Many third party games are about gore and violence. I am not saying that this a bad thing (I would like to play dark souls!) but thats the general vibe of many games on sony and ms platforms.
I liked castlevania games for gba and ds but didnt buy any for 3ds because the art style changed and it didnt appeal to me anymore.

@River3636

The only game I bought from Ubisoft was Zombi U - it was on sale for 10EUR two years ago. I havent unsealed it yet, maybe I will sell it. I strongly dislike companies like Ubi, Ea or Activision.

I read it as more than enough gamers will go to the Switch for EA to bring a few games to it.

@Andrzej777 Ubisoft supported the Wii U much more than any other third party,even taking losses on some ports and still coming back.

edit: WB also supported the Wii U especially with LEGO games but also other stuff like Injustice.

@Andrzej777 That is OK. I did the same with ZombieU and I loved it. Child of light was great as well, but I bought that cheapy at full price. It is there job to bring this user base back that they offended. Mass Effect 3 was just ridiculous for WiiU. I would of liked to have played the first two first on WiiU. I did that on the PS3 after words. FifA was ok though.

@MadAdam81
I know and thats fine with me. Its just am not gonna buy any games made by them. To me, these games are uninteresting, reiterations of the same game. Nothing special for me, but to each his own. The only game that I was actually considering a purchase was Rayman legends but then I thought I will give it a pass.

@MrGawain I honestly don't care for third parties in Nintendo consoles. If they release something I always support the Nintendo port of the game but I have a PS4 so I really don't need third parties in the Switch. If they come good but if they don't it does not matter to me.

@Jessica286 Exactly, but there some games out there that I would like to play on the go.

I'd really love for this to be more than hyperbole, but only time will tell the true story. . . .

after what nintendo did with the Wii U...and what nintendo did with 3rd parties on the Wii U...sorry to say, it's nintendo's fault. They may have become more sincere with 3rd parties, but after the failure of the Wii U, they're waiting to see if the Switch will have a stronger user base, before bringing games over to it. If there's not a big user base on the system, why make a big game for it in hopes that only a few would purchase it...this all makes sense to me as to what 3rd party companies are doing, and I agree with them all of waiting! I'm sure they have other games ready...not fully, but ready on if the system sells, but I honestly don't blame them on waiting! Nintendo has a lot to show them and consumers to get us all back! They can't rely on just their close fans to support them, and they lost many people now with basically stepping away from Wii U supporters.

Anyways, if the Switch sells good, we'll see more games released in 2018 or beyond...if it fails, count this as most of the 3rd party support. Hopefully there's more to announce by E3, as I'd like to purchase the console, but I'm holding off until 2018.

@MadAdam81 So did Sega...those 3 were basically the only ones who did support it.

@Slim1999 There were more than just two games in the first month—certainly in the UK*—and both of them that were there on launch day were genuinely brand new cutting-edge next-gen titles, and one of them was truly and utterly mind blowing at the time and is still regarded as one of the greatest games ever made. And the system itself launched at a more affordable price, and it had more confirmed third party support by that point already too (I'm talking about actual games we could physically see; not just company logos on a infographic), and it was beyond par with the other systems technically, and it wasn't coming off the back of the biggest home console flop in Nintendo's history . . .

There is a difference, but you're too blinded to see it.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_Nintendo_64_games

EA: Yes this time we will really support Nintendo with the Switch (with fingers cross).

I'll believe it once I see all the games.

@Andrzej777
I totally agree with you and facts support much of what you said, at least in theory.

That is the conundrum of Nintendo.

BTW when I was talking about AAA third party games I wasn't referring to ports.
I was talking a proper, new, full, big budget same day release title on all consoles including the Switch.
That is something I will hope to see in my lifetime again, such a game on a Nintendo console.
Maybe that is asking too much.

@Hotfusion It is not asking too much. That is what offended me.

"I don't want a lot of for Switch.
There is just one thing I need.
I don't care about FIFA.
Inside of Nintendo Switch.

I just want this for my own.
More than EA could ever know.
Make my wish come true.
All I want for Switch is The Sims 4."

I've given my opinion multiple times already on this type of article, so I'll say something different this time. It's a very tricky subject when you talk about supporting a system and taking a "wait and see" approach. A system cannot sell itself on hardware alone-- A point I'm sure we all agree with. But SOMEONE has to put SOMETHING on the system though to MAKE the system a SELLER-- Rather than wait to see if your AAA IPs are worth bringing over, why don't you bring over the AAA IPs that are guaranteed to sell systems? If you build it, they WILL come. Wait and see is a game business' mantra, not a game developers' mantra, and it's a BS cop out. Sorry, that's how I feel. The age for hard feelings against Nintendo is over. Simply be clear that you won't support them, and move on, but if you want in, GET in and develop something.

The new typical pr talk. Or, another positive reassurance comment from a 3rd party dev. Either way words are better weighed out by actions. We'll see what happens... Meanwhile, I'm sure a majority of potential Switch players will make the most of our fun playing 1st party games anyways.

@impurekind I'm in the USA here is a thing I googled which you can do the same.here us something for your no and eyes...
Nintendo was the last to release a fifth generation console with their Nintendo 64, and when they finally released their console in North America, it came with only two launch titles.super Mario 64 and wave race 64. So like I said before Zelda and bomberman will be fine for me at launch

@Yasume
I'm not concerned a lot because maybe it doesn't surprise me. But yeah it definitely does seem fishy or off with all this 3rd party talk.. Actions proves better..

I believe that for launch Nintendo has done the right thing in not having too big a line up as most peoples priority will be getting Zelda. It is the only game I am getting and will play it to completion before thinking about getting another game.

Therefore more 3rd party titles can be released steadily throughout the year and will have a better chance of selling.... which is the most important thing so we get more.

That's some pretty big, and very direct (insert DIRECT hand gesture here) statements from EA. It's encouraging. They're using similar language about Nintendo listening to them since the beginning (and even including a competitor mentioned by name). The language here feels very similar to the language used regarding PS4 prior to its release.

Not that we didn't have an "unprecedented partnership" on the WiiU, but that wasn't a lie...that partnership was truly unprecedented, possibly exceeding comparison to EA's relationship with Sega's Saturn.

But EA making bold statements about believe it will put Nintendo "at the forefront" again means much more coming from EA's perspective compared to their "well...you know...I wouldn't ever count Nintendo out..." language for WiiU.

Soderlund speaks directly and openly regarding perceptions and intentions and makes EA actually look like a competently managed publisher. They really need to keep him as their public face, and duct tape Moore's mouth any time he's near a microphone or reporter, if only for his own safety, as one day the insertion of that foot will leave a scar.

Well, it doesn't show so far. Only downloads. And Retail games who are NOT coming to Switch!

For as much poop as gamers give EA, can you blame them or any other publisher for taking a "wait and see" approach? Sure, releasing ports of older games is lazy but so is investing millions of dollars in a game that NO ONE buys. It's a slippery slope and the Wii U damaged Nintendo's relationship with 3rd parties. Plus, Nintendo didn't put more effort into the cpu or gpu (it would seem) like some 3rd parties would have liked (you know, the Titanfall 2 guy?). I'm hoping the Switch is a bit more powerful than what Eurogamer claimed it is. I mean, it can run the Unreal 4 unlike the Wii U so one would think it is more capable. But the on-board memory, battery life, and lack of original all content can be ball busters. I'm getting one in hopes that Nintendo has accomplished a better deal than what they have presented. They NEED TO knock this one out of the park.

Some of you guys are depressing. Forget about the subject of third parties giving Nintendo a chance, the real problem is that you won't.

What did you want EA to say, that they hate the Switch? Would that have been more satisfactory for you. If you hope for Nintendo's success, why do you keep ignoring every indication of the company being on the right path with the Switch?

I can see that you have no problem processing troubling news, so why don't you try letting good news be good news, and be glad for it.

@Hotfusion

We will see. hard to tell. The nintendo only user base is much different from sony or ms I believe. Those with xb1 or ps4 might consider nintendo as an alternative second or third console and will probably buy aaa 3rd party games for the other system and buy exclusives on the switch.
People who buy only nintendo consoles arent probably that interested in many third party games. Maybe occasionally or something. I own a wii u and a 3ds, my backlog is huge. How much time is there any way to walk through a game. The older I get the less energy I have left for gaming.
A game like botw will require dedication, of course I will dedicate my time to thoroughly explore this world but I cannot do that with every game that comes out. So I choose zelda over skyrim. After that its gonna be xenoblade 2 and fire emblem hopefully. Games have gotten so big in the last years that you have to decide if its really worth getting to know a new location of assassins creed. No offense, I never played that franchise. The first title seemed boring to me and at about that time I started to stay away from ubi games alltogether. Zombi u was the first title in years that I bought from ubi. Still sealed, i doubt i will ever open it.

@Slim1999 I didn't dispute that it launched in the US with only two titles. And it was Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 that it launched with; those were the two titles that every major territory saw at launch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_console_launch_games#Nintendo_64

However, in Europe the launch list for N64 basically pooped all over the current European launch list for Switch in terms of the gravitas and importance of the titles, with FIFA Soccer 64, Pilotwings 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Super Mario 64, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, zero of which were last-gen ports and pretty much all of which were AAA titles for their time (both first and third party). Also, the list of confirmed titles coming to N64 in the next few months and years after launch was far more impressive than what we've seen confirmed for Switch so far, imo, and certainly if we go outside of the first party stuff.

So, the fanboys can keep defending the Switch's launch situation all they want but right now the actual truth speaks volumes: It could and really should be quite a bit better.

PS. Also, Wave Race 64 was a pretty groundbreaking and technically stunning game in its time (and it was a great little racer to boot)—I doubt anyone was left unimpressed by those wave physics when they first saw that game back in the day—whereas Super Bomberman R looks like an $15 indie title (even though I'm sure it will be decent fun too), so all things being equal/relative when it comes to that second launch day game (outside of Nintendo's main franchise truly AAA first party offering) . . .

I imagine the reason a lot of third party games aren't announced yet is because Switch released in March instead of the holidays.

@CircuitWrangler3 That would be too logical.

@NEStalgia "That's some pretty big, and very direct (insert DIRECT hand gesture here) statements from EA. It's encouraging. They're using similar language about Nintendo listening to them since the beginning (and even including a competitor mentioned by name). The language here feels very similar to the language used regarding PS4 prior to its release."

Interesting observation. 🤔

@Rei So much this. 3rd parties don't ask for much, just a carbon-copy architecture so they can port everything to everything.

Either that, or EA's saying "Nintendo's finally come to their senses and modernized their microtransaction backend," but that's just a pet theory.

bah, EA is lying again.

This had been said for every Nintendo console since theWii. Remember that sizzle reel of third party games most of which did not come to the Wii U? Either show us what you have or keep your mouth shut until you do so. Oooo...you showed off FIFA as if that is going to guarantee money in your bank account.

@MeloMan
While I understand what you mean, I dont think it would make sense to any developer. Ubisoft made zombi u. That was an exclusive title and how did it sell?
Aaa third party games will be primarily at home with ms and sony.
Lets be honest which aaa games would buy on the switch if they came out? I could only think about dark souls. Maybe xcom. No ubi, ea or activision titles for me. Third parties know this and thats why they are hesitating.
Imho nintendo shouldnt rely on third parties at all. They made mistakes with wii u, i would say they were complacent. If I were nintendo I wouldnt have sold rare to microsoft - what kind of a decision was that anyway. I would have bought, set up and invested in other studio so as to have a potentially large first party support. Cing was a good company imho, they went bankrupt, nintendo could have stepped in.
More first party studios would have meant more games. Maybe more new ips. More experiments. But hey that sounds like a risk. Nintendo has been playing it safe in the past, apparently not taking too many risks. How can we demand risktaking from third parties if nintendo doesnt shine as an example.

Just btw its not like nintendo isnt taking risks at all. They take a lot of risks when it comes to controllers and controls. I meant aaa games and not some 1.2 switch cow milking which I think nobody had asked for and I would even come and say nobody would have ever gotten such an idea. So they indeed must be creative. Cow milking? Give me a break

No duh.

@DanteSolablood: I certainly remember all of the "nightmare to develop" for talk from developers, which is contrasted nicely by all of the glowing statements we hear from third party developers working on Switch projects. Staying optimistic.

@impurekind I'm always puzzled when people go on about how great the N64 was, and compare Nintendo's current console, be it Switch or WiiU or Wii to the N64. The N64 was, generally speaking, a dreadful affair. It had some games that were absolutely amazing, no question, but as a total console ecosystem it was a disaster which marked the end of the NES/SNES era Nintendo and is the precise cause of the Nintendo that we see before us today. N64 is not a fantastic comparison. The only reason it performed better than the GameCube at all was the unabashed revolution that was Mario 64 and Ocarina, combined with the fact that it was the next evolution of a Nintendo that at the time, was synonymous with video gaming itself, coming off the NES, SNES, and GB. Specifically relating to 3rd party, the N64 marked the turning point when 3rd parties avoided Nintendo (yes it had some but that was when they peeled away) and the lack of 3rd party today can be traced right back to the N64 and it's avoidance of optical media.

I'm not bashing N64, like the WiiU, the content it had was fantastic and is rightfully a fan favorite among the Nintendo loyal, but the N64 is still the start of today's situation for Nintendo, most missteps, even the Wii era itself, draw a path right back to N64. They've been trying to right the ship ever since (why am I endlessly using nautical references when referring to Nintendo today?)

@Anti-Matter LOL, I started reading that with the melody and thought "nah, that can't be what it is", and then, sure enough, it was!

@Spoony_Tech From a 3rd party perspective that's a core point. Not just that "Nintendo fans only buy for 1st & second party" but more importantly, the "walled garden" ecosystem is what a Nintendo is. No other platform has it's own complete stable of exclusives both from Nintendo and 2nd and favored 3rd party studios that can fill out a complete release schedule year after year. On Nintendo "3rd party" means "3rd party". They're the somewhat generic games that are also on the system to fill in gaps that the system's own exclusive ecosystem leaves behind.

For the other consoles the 3rd parties are the ecosystem. There's not much in the way of 1st/second party. Sony has a few big franchises, and a few experiments. XBox has...uhm...had...errr....yeah I've got nothing other than Halo, Gears, and a few also-ran titles. Point is, Mass Effect, COD, Watch Dogs are the ecosystem for those consoles. There's no competition against a fully rolled out closed platform ecosystem there, so 3rd parties just dump software on it and it's all equal to all other 3rd party software save the occasional exclusive from the platform holder to create a cause to buy theirs vs. the other guys.

If you were a 3rd party, choosing platforms to support, you'd have no choice but to view Nintendo separately from your other ventures. It's a different market and you're competing against the platform holder as a primary publisher who has a catalog that is overall larger than your own that's exclusive on that platform. Nintendo would not have much appeal to you to work in. Who wants to compete against Nintendo in their own market? Who wants to compete against Apple's utilities on a Mac?

Nintendo's definitely had real struggles with third parties, but the very nature of Nintendo's business as a closed ecosystem makes even an ideal relationship with 3rd parties visibly very different than what Sony/MS are going to have. Rather than expecting (or trying to court) the full catalog of AAA IP's there really needs to be a mutual search for which specific AAA IPs would be mutually beneficial to have on their platform. Nintendo is inherently curated, that's aprt of the appeal.

I find it interesting that Mr. Soderlund just casually namedropped Activision in his response to the question, despite being an EA executive.

Aside from that, actions > words.

@NEStalgia #92 good post.

EA is waaay at the bottom of my list of companies I'd look to have Nintendo's back. Granted the ones on top are more about the eShop.

@NEStalgia At the time the N64 was frikin' amazing. Very few people on the planet who actually owned one and played games like Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, F-Zero X, Wave Race 64, 1080 Snowboarding, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Conker's Bad Far Day, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Turk Dinosaur Hunter, Turok 2, Majora's Mask, Rogue Squadron, Mario Golf, Pokemon Puzzle League, International Superstar Soccer 98', Starcraft 64, Excitebike 64, Killer Instinct Gold, Resident Evil 2, Doom 64, Duke Nukem 64, Quake 64, Quake 2, Mortal Kombat 4, WipEout 64, Ridge Racer 64, Rayman 2, Ogre Battle 64, Paper Mario, Sin and Punishment, Super Smash Bros. . . . and probably owned four different coloured N64 pads with rumble packs too, would argue otherwise.

'Wait and see' EA sure as hell didn't take that approach with the PS4 & Xbone. They were backing those systems even before they were revealed, and they still supported the Xbone despite the negative press it got for always needing an online connection, DRM, Kinect being mandatory and the initial $500 price tag.

@impurekind Coming off the NES and SNES, N64 was a mixed bag. Technologically it was quite amazing and definite presented a whole different way of thinking about games starting with Mario64. Certainly most people that had it loved it. Most people that have a WiiU love it too. Despite the complaining, the common thread is "I still play my WiiU way more than my XBO/PS4 which gathers dust." The two consoles are similar in a lot of regards.

But the N64, from a library and particularly 3rd party perspective, aside from its very excellent exclusives was the beginning of the unwinding of Nintendo as it used to be and transition into Nintendo as it is. NES, SNES era they were what Playstation is now. The defacto standard that nearly every company made sure their games were on. No matter what game it was, it was guaranteed (almost) to be on Nintendo. N64 was the beginning of the "here's our curated mostly exclusive library, and we've determined that's all the games you should need" strategy. Mostly because many 3rd parties were making space hogs, storage-wise, and required their optical media.

It was a great system, but vs. the NES, and SNES Nintendo it was the start of the very inward looking Nintendo we see before us, and the end of "3rd party supported Nintendo."

@Yasume I was thinking the same thing. From watching the Switch reveal press conference in Japan, watching EA's Patrick Soderlund on stage with his stoic demeanor. It almost seemed like he didn't want to be there. But maybe they just needed someone a little more animated on stage or via recording, but then again the crowd seemed pretty dull.

EA as a business I'm assuming will play the Switch like the did the Wii U with a few low quality ports, before bailing out completely if the Switch doesn't perform very well in the first few months. I'd love for them to produce more on the Switch, but at the end of the day they are a business and do what makes sense to them. It's just difficult watching their efforts on the Wii U and them expecting better results than the effort they put in. I could give many reasons on this and have in past discussions, but will spare the detail here and now.

@NEStalgia I can agree with your assessment. Personally the N64 is my all time favorite console. I had a NES, and SNES growing up as a young child and the N64 was the first I bought on my own working my first job at 14. It was almost magical in how it rendered completely 3D worlds complete with anti-aliasing and near zero load times thanks to its RAMBUS memory. Yes it had it's limitations like its emaciated memory, and I get why many developers would bail out in favor of the Sony Playstation. Technically the N64 was a powerhouse but games like Final Fantasy VII couldn't have existed on the console because of Nintendo engineering choices like sticking with cartridges. And since that time Nintendo themselves have traditionally been the only ones to develop the best looking and playing games on their own consoles. Hopefully that changes with the Switch, hopefully it's open development platform works for third party developers as well. It seems like today's architecture of mobile platforms and game consoles allows for more parity between platforms and Nintendo's Switch can be the bridge between mobile and traditional consoles. I will say I'm glad Nintendo is sticking with cartridges for both power consumption and load times.

@NEStalgia I'd agree with most of that, but so far it doesn't put the Switch in any better a situation that it's in right now—and right now there's a lot of worrying and potentially large issues developing from where I'm standing, far more so than just the relative lack of third party support on N64.

@impurekind
I think it's a lot more sensible to compare Switch to 3DS than to anything else from a game library perspective. I think everyone that wants to compare it to Playstation will end up disappointed because that's not what it's really trying to be. It's a super amped up Nintendo handheld (the N64 of handhelds if you will) that is so overpowered it can play a good bulk of console games should the studio port it. But at it's heart, I'd expect to at minimum see the full variety of games of the sort that would other come to "4DS" were it to exist. Plus the ones that the single-stick handheld couldn't really muster. I honestly expect it will have a library much larger (with much more third party, albeit Japanese third party) content than N64. The only real question mark is how much Western AAAs are willing to try it out. Western gamers will see it as a failure if the big AAAs aren't on board. From Soderlunds statement, it's encouraging that they seem to see dollar signs when they think of tapping into the Nintendo handheld market (who WOULDN'T want a piece of that significant pie if you can actually gain a foothold, which is the unknown.)

I think in Japan it will sell fine, as Nintendo handhelds tend to do, and that will attract Japanese developers. That will fund the rollout of a largely Japan focused library that appeals to the usual niches. BUT that gets the almighty install base numbers up that makes AAA experiments more tempting for publishers, along with the allegedly ease of development (testing the waters on WiiU cost a fortune.) It'll never ever see parity "every game announced at E3 will be on XBox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch, Sept 17." but having a big bone thrown by all major publishers every year or two sounds like a good possibility. Unless early attempts are dismal, of course.

One thing a lot of people overlook is the big "western style" games that came to N64 were part of an internal NoA push by Howard Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa....but I don't think NCL really thought much of that effort and didn't really see big results from it and really wasn't going to return to that experiment again. Switch is the most "western focus" we've seen them try since that time (WiiU launch notwithstanding.)

@Nico07 It's funny because the N64 started the trend of Nintendo making really weird design decisions. It was an overpowered beast of a console in the day, and then they hamstrung the graphics with such little memory. But I don't fault them for the most segmenting issue of N64, the cartridges. Cartridges are and always have been so much better than optical media in everything except capacity/price, but more importantly, after the Nintendo Play Station debacle, there was no way they were going to pay royalties to Sony, and there was no way to use CD media without paying Sony, so it was what it had to be. It's such a shame the N64DD never came to fruition in a real way. That could have been one heck of a console at the time.

The big difference today is really the middleware for most studios. Your game code can be pretty generic so long as your middleware supports the platform (be it something like UE4, or something in-house like Frostbite at EA.) For the big studios like EA the main question probably comes down to how much work porting Frostbite to a platform is. It sounds like in this case it's easy (and should have some nVidia support too, behind the scenes.) Doesn't mean EA will go full force but they might be a lot more willing to dip their toes if it doesn't cost that much to test the waters. So long as they set realistic expectations...which seems to be anathema to everyone in the game industry including Nintendo

And as a huuge cartridge proponent I still think the cartridges are the Switch's single biggest feature. Give me a free Scorpio and PS Pro and offer me a game on all 3 and I'll buy it on Switch for the cartridge! True, flash carts aren't quite the same as the daughterboard carts of yore, but it's still so much nicer a format in every regard! Console installs are just frustrating.

It will be interesting to see what the switch version of fifa is like first. But I don't blame them for waiting to see first as I will be doing the same, but maybe they are just holding stuff till E3??

They should port EA UFC 2 to the Switch. I already bought it for my PS4 and XBoxOne, but I'd happily buy it a third time if it was portable.

@NEStalgia Well, the problem with that thinking is that Nintendo itself is pushing it hard as a new home console, and it might live and die by that approach because it simply doesn't match the competition as a home console.

After EA's 'unprecedented' support of the Wii U I wouldn't believe anything they say. Yes they brought games to the Wii U but they were designed not to sell, I mean why pay $60 for ME3 when the entire trilogy was available on 360 for $40, or NFS for $60 when it's $30 on 360/PS3, or FIFA 13 when FIFA 14 is on 360/PS3. Lazy overpriced old ports would never sell but EA used them as a reason that games wouldn't sell on the WiiU. The Wii U needed parity with the 360/PS3 releases and maybe then they'd have sold better.

I stopped buying EA games in 2014 partly because of their treatment of the Wii U and partly because of EA's insults towards me. They found it funny to poke fun at Wii U owners and make disparaging remarks about them; so I voted with my $s and stopped buying their games (on all systems). If they did release a game I wanted then I'd simply buy it used.

If they release games for Switch on an equal footing to PS4/XBO then I'll consider buying them, but if they pull the same crap that they did on the Wii U and start calling Switch owners 'morons' etc then they'll cement themselves as a company I won't buy from.

@CaPPa
I think EA learned their lesson from the WiiU treatment, and I get the impression their WiiU treatment resulted from tensions they had with Nintendo internally becoming visible to consumers. Bad form all around from them. But they're being careful to speak positively of switch, and they seem to genuinely want inroads to the market (their own best interest.)

The last thing I would expect from any 3rd party though is "parity with PS4". Nintendo isn't setting Switch up to be "box #3" of the same setup. They want SOME key 3rd party IPs very intently, but I don't believe anyone should be under the illusion the Switch is going to share equal libraries with PS4/XBO + Everything Nintendo exclusive. That neither benefits 3rd parties nor Nintendo.

@impurekind Very true, and I can't excuse their very very very bizarre choice of marketing it as a home console. The very first press release that said "The new home console from Nintendo" I winced. It's like pitching an iPad Pro as "the new webserver from Apple." Especially after they got it so right in the promo.

I'm guessing it's fear of harming 3DS, mixed with battery life concerns with Switch. But I can't help but feel they're pandering the "home console" messaging for the west, and in Japan I wonder if most of the marketing focuses on its portability. (C'Mon NL, give us that Japan perspective article? Do I really have to visit Kotaku for this (shudder))

We should also keep in mind that pitching to the early adopter crowd at a January presser doesn't guarantee that's the messaging they'll stick with post-launch and into Holiday '17. Nintendo's an expert at sticking their finger in the wind and wandering whatever way the wind was blowing.

@Fath I was not saying that happily actually: I find this utterly stupid to have almost identical machines from every sides apart from the aspect. (maybe that's because I grew up during the 8-64bits period)
If this is the case here (Switch being a lower "clone" of the concurrence and old PCs), then the next step for Nintendo will be a machine with no specific ability either.

@JLPick If only Sega had supported it with Football Manager Wii U edition.

@MadAdam81 I think if there were more sports sims period...the Wii had too many that were compilations or cartoony ones, instead of realistic ones. Don't get me wrong, I love Mario Baseball, Mario Tennis, but I'd also love to play realistic ones...Wii U seemed to miss out on all of these...with the exception of the first few in the first months. I honestly, wish nintendo would have kept their own sports franchises around...Triple Play Baseball, NBA Courtside...never got why they just left them go, even Microsoft left their really good ones go...NFL Fever, NHL Rivals. Sega just needs to bring back their World Series Baseball, Sega NFL and Sega NHL ones!