5 Years On, The Games Media Remembers Its First Impressions Of Nintendo Switch

The moment from Direct on 12 January 2017, i was shocked and felt really happy when i heard Nintendo Switch was Free Region.

Milk.That.Cow. #1-2-switch

I was there. Great day and free lunch too

Snipperclips impressed me the most that day

Ah I remember when the leaks where going around. Oh man when it was shown off, it was great! But You know the switch mini rumors where going about so I waited for that before I picked one up.

Now we're in the era of the switch pro rumors LOL, good times.

I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the UK event in Hammersmith 5 years ago.

The January presentation left me excited but I had my reservations, especially about the price and the emphasis on more casual/gimmicky titles like 1, 2, Switch and Arms.

However I was immediately sold on the system when I got my hands on it in Hammersmith. Just playing Mario Kart 8 in handheld mode was enough to sell me on this thing.

I’d like to hear from everyone who was posting here on the forums (and there was a lot) that Nintendo was doomed and would soon be owned by Microsoft.

I attended the hands-on event in NYC.

It was fantastic, and convinced me to get 1-2-Switch (everyone was laughing hysterically as we wore hats and milked the cows), Fast RMX, Snipperclips, and Sonic Mania, in addition to Breath of the Wild of course.

Fas RMX's production team even gave me a business card to remind me to buy it. So honoured to have gotten the chance there.

I was so freakin' hyped.

Didn't get to play Zelda that day because in-event lines were insane, but I had gotten my hands on BotW a few months earlier when they showed it off on Wii U at Nintendo NY and let us run around the Great Plateau.

@Nintendolife, you guys should do an article / video about what you expected to happen with the Switch and how that compares to what actually happened.

Kinda surprised by all the "We had no way of knowing!" comments from people in the article. Like, yeah, we kinda did? You just had to be paying attention. I knew it'd be successful and I'm by no means an analyst. A LOT of people (many smarter than me and many probably dumber than me) knew the Switch would do well because A) Nintendo had never made an unsuccessful handheld and B) the Switch would combine Nintendo's handheld and console franchises into one library. The Switch played to Nintendo's strengths in every way. All the doomsayers and/or well-meaning critics doubting its ability to succeed were only looking at home consoles for historical context and ignored handhelds entirely or somehow deemed them irrelevant.

I definitely thought it would struggle. I thought the price for the tech was too high. I still think it’s priced too high (I bought a PS4 for less money instead back then). Obviously the general public don’t agree with me!

I stuck to my guns though. I still haven’t bought one as I wait for a price cut. Happy to wait as I’m still enjoying my PS4 and I’ll be able to get an OLED model which didn’t exist at launch.

I have bought a few Switch games ready for when I do eventually get one. Mainly special editions or ones I anticipate being hard to get hold of and scalped in the future.

I never went to any events and always expected Switch to be a big success. What do I even comment on?😥😆

The presentation was mostly more assertion of the magic from the earlier trailer plus more game announcements. The only retrospective bummer about it is Ubisoft shelving the Steep port, but at least they have since stocked Switch library with many other delicious open-worlders.

I was on my way to work when I saw that Nintendo Switch reveal.
I knew it could be a runaway success immediately upon seeing its hybrid nature. And I was not wrong.
I remember feeling worried that Nintendo wouldn't stick the landing though. And while there have been some stumbles over the last 5 years, and still some gaping holes in Nintendo's game output, there is no doubt that the Switch is THE best thing Nintendo has done in years, if not decades ❤

@GravyThief There is probably not gonna be a price cut until the next Nintendo system, and even then, that's unlikely.
You have the games for it, you clearly want one, so if you have the 300 + tax to spare, you should just get one.

I remember people thought there’s no way it’ll even get close to the Wii’s 100 million but now it’s poised to beat the PS4 and the Gameboy and challenge the PS2 and DS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles

Great timing for this article, looks like the Switch has just passed the Wii's worldwide sales.

@johnvboy Look at the source, no update from Nintendo. This edit will get reverted, since it's probably based on VGChartz, which is banned from being used on Wikipedia as a source, since it's not official nor accurate enough.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the Switch premiere in NYC. I brought a friend with me. I played SF2, Bomberman, Mario Kart, Sonic, Splatoon 2, ARMs and 1, 2 Switch. I purposely didn't play BoTW because I wanted that to be a completely fresh experience when I got the game and system.

Anyway, I cam away from the event completely positive but knew I would be a pro controller only player and the joycons never felt right. My buddy on the other hand was nitpicking every little thing he could about the system and the games he played. He's now a Switch lover and I always remind him of his negative reaction five years ago.

I was also invited and went to that event, on my birthday on the 15th. My friend and I were (apparently) the first pair to have completed the Snipperclips demo that day, I got to try Sonic Mania & Splatoon 2, she got to try Breath of the Wild (watching her play is what sold me on it), and we both tried 1-2-Switch and ARMS, neither of which I was keen on then (or now). BotW, Splatoon & Odyssey are what kept me hopeful at the time.

I was sold on it partly because I knew Nintendo's portable franchises would be forced into HD and I could play them on my TV.

@BTB20,

You do not need any source, the Switch was always going to pass the Wii's total by 2022, it was pretty much a given, but hang on for something more official if you like.

@CharlieGirl you’re probably right, Nintendo aren’t exactly renowned for price cuts but I’m happy to wait for now. I’ll (begrudgingly) pay full whack if I have to.

@johnvboy I know that, just saying that the number in that Wiki article is not accurate.

@johnvboy I am sure Switch will outsell PS1, PS4 and maybe Gameboy eventually next

Life changing. Switch, that is, not this article. No offence.

Mine was coming back after having previously made PreOrder for my first Nintendo Switch for pickup March 17 midnight release. There was about 20 people including me that midnight release waiting for our PreOrder day. I spent a whopper of money that night for everything and haven't looked disappointed every since. For the price and all the ads and talk before the NX became Switch was alot of excitement knowing we had a replacement for the aging New 3DS XL that need a new system. We didn't get anything like a invite like the bigger cities did and wished we had that opportunity when it was still NX. But nerveless the fact that the Switch came out and came were on Cart that made it all the worth while to purchase the Switch and collect Physical games-it's been priceless and a welcome relief that I can Game AnyWhere/AnyTime/AnyPlace and not be restricted to being a Couch Potato all day long just to race carts or kill bad guys(Crysis) or go JPRPG/RPG whenever I pleased.

@anoyonmus Also remember Switch is doing it in less time then those other consoles did and if you factor their lifespan numbers and factor for Switch in those same time years then there is no comparisons.

I figured it would be a success. Nintendo found a niche (that ended up being a lot larger than most of us expected) that wasn’t being served by current gaming companies. It was also a high tech piece of portable kit at the time of release, which appealed to the traditional Nintendo handheld fan who was clamoring for new hardware. Plus it was the first console Nintendo had made in a long time that drew lapsed Nintendo fans (like myself) back to their ecosystem. I didn’t jump on the train until late 2019. But I’m so glad that I did; the Switch is probably my favorite console (solely from a hardware design and the huge variety of unique titles) since the PlayStation 2.

I knew it would succeed. But I had no idea it would blow the hell up like it did. I was expecting 3DS levels of success. The Switch destroyed the 3DS like a year and a half ago and will surge past the Game Boy line later this year.

I love my current set up. PlayStation 5 sitting on one side of the entertainment center, the Switch sitting on the opposite side. Covers all of my needs.

@Alex78 This is exactly it. By this point Nintendo had owned the handheld market for nearly three decades and for a lot of that time the handhelds had carried them when the home consoles struggled. The 3DS also held its own long into the smartphone era, which was yet another thing that the "industry experts" had predicted would kill off dedicated gaming hardware.

Nintendo has been "doomed" since 1996 and yet here we are. Strange, that.

@anoyonmus

It’s definitely going to outsell the Game Boy this year.

The only question now is whether it can reach the DS and PlayStation 2. In a world without the pandemic I would say for sure yes. In a world with scarcity of components, I’m not so sure. But I hope it gets close at least.

@Rosalinho

I’ve never thought Nintendo was doomed.

I will admit that for a bit in the mid 2010s, I thought they would completely abandon the home console market and go strictly with handhelds for the future.

Which in a way they sort of did. Or more accurately, they pulled a Uemada and a Yokoi. They looked outside the box for a solution, found it, and went 100% on it. The hybrid console. Good enough at both tasks to make it appeal to every kind of gamer.

The Switch is the realization of what three different platform ideas tried to do in the past but failed one way or another.

GameCube with Game Boy Player (the first attempt)
Wii U
PlayStation Vita with PS4 remote play

All three tried to unify console and handheld in different ways. None of them were successful because they lacked one key ingredient.

Convenience and ease of “Switching.” And the utmost importance of a unified library. And in the case of the Wii U and PS Vita/PS4 remote play you were confined to your house.

@BTB20,

I bumped the thread on NeoGaf and said as such, we do need a more reliable source for total confirmation, but I would be very surprised if the Switch has not passed the Wii's total.

Wii U didn't fail gamers, gamers failed the Wii U

@iflywright

I’d say Nintendo failed it. Marketing was terrible. It had almost no third party support after 2013. They didn’t really have a convincing reason why you should have bought one.

Had some great first party games though.

Pre ordered, collected, unboxed, and enjoyed it since, I didn't doubt Nintendo would deliver. I mean, I had enough fun out of my Wii U as well, and back then most of it was even exclusive to it. My Wii U has gone mostly unused since Switch, but so have all of my other systems except for 3ds initially and still occasionally. Now gaming is Switch and Switch is gaming. If it's a game not on Swich it might as well not exist. Still have a PS4 with VR and Gamecube hooked up to my tv that has no use other than being a gaming screen, and all of that isn't even plugged into the wall anymore. When I plug it in, it's to replay Eternal Darkness most likely. I may revisit Killer7 soon. Or Wind Waker. Given that none of those get the Switch port they deserve, but would have almost expected by now... Can't be that hard, and certainly wouldn't LOSE them money or respect.

@TheRedComet

It was a joke, I was joking. We all know what happened...

@TheRedComet You forgot the Super Game Boy 😁 Though I do think that that and the GBP are different, as they're just about playing handheld games on a TV, not taking TV games on the road. But yes the Switch is what I thought the Wii U would be when it was first announced. The hybrid concept was something I'd wanted for a long time and clearly millions more did as well.

I was sceptical but that first year convinced me quite quick. 2017 was a great first year and I honestly wonder if it hadn't been for that (and having THE pandemic game that was Animal Crossing in 2020) I'm not sure if it would have been this successful. Switching (pardon the pun) to one hybrid console and producing all your games for that was a bold move that paid off.

@Rosalinho

I consider the Game Boy Player (and Super Game Boy as well, thanks for the reminder) to be sort of a very early prototype for the concept. You have one game cart. You can play it on the road and when you get home you play it on the TV. Most importantly, your progress can be saved and you can continue where you left off. That’s how I used my Game Boy Player back in the day. At the house, I was using the GBP. On the road, my SP.

I think Nintendo really flubbed the marketing with the Wii U, because I felt like that was what it was as well. When it was first shown off I was thinking “neat, you have a home base where you can install games and then transfer them to that tablet thing to play on the go for a few hours.”

I was way wrong on that one lol.

Sony was important in this development too, with Remote Play. Of course on their end it was due to solely to the fact that the Vita was flopping hard and they needed some kind of way to get people to buy the thing.

@TheRedComet
that whole wiiu reveal definitely didnt do it any favours with how much it kept mentioning "the new controller" and barely showing the wiiu box itself, the switch reveal trailer definitely felt like they learned from that since it clearly showed what the system was about.

seeing you mentioning the gameboy player gave me a lot of good memories, i loved the idea of having a game you could play on the TV and take with you, i remember also back when psone games came to ps3 and psp, just how cool it was to be playing FFVII on a console but then also be able to continue my save file on psp, so i was overjoyed to see that for the first time since the GBA that nintendo's handheld games weren't confined to the handheld itself.

I was sold at the 30-second mark when it was 100% confirmed that it was a dockable handheld device. The Switch is everything I wanted in a console. I'm going to continue to be disappointed that Sony and Microsoft would rather make an all digital console as a secondary rather than a handheld/hybrid device.

Well i've definitely had lots of fun over the years with my Switch, but to be honest i was more excited when the Wii U launched. Probably because the switch seemed so similar in many ways (except with game support lol)