Here is the link of Reggie saying it.
First of all, we have to ask ourselves, “Is Reggie going to tell us the truth even if he knows?” Maybe Nintendo doesn’t want people to know. During the Wii Era, people on the Internet (ahem) would trumpet what Nintendo execs said. But let us assume Reggie is saying what Nintendo thinks.
- Portable home console
- Great first party software. Mentions BoW “Wow!” by name and says it is reviewed as one of the best games ever made.
- Indie software makers (Nindies)
I have problems with the first reason. Nintendo is #1 in handheld console sales every generation. Every competitor against Nintendo goes for a ‘home console experience on the go’, and they fail. Game Gear was ‘color’ and failed. Sony’s PSP and Vita failed and were home consoles on the go. You could even play Vita on the TV at home. Nintendo said it was because software and hardware was designed for handheld which is why Gameboy and DS were successful.
So why is Nintendo suddenly saying the reason for Switch’s success is the same reason that doomed Sony and Sega? In many ways, the Switch experience is not that different from a Wii U. Wii U is both home console and ‘handheld’. Yes, we know Switch is so much better hardware, but the hardware of Switch is not impressive. The Joycons are very tiny and annoying. The Pro controller costs $80 and has crappy D-pad. Switch hardware is not impressive.
Wii U also had much of the same software that is on Switch. Mario Kart 8 was on Wii U too, and it was the same exact game. Nindies were on Wii U too. Terraria was on Wii U. Minecraft was on Wii U.
But Reggie mentions Zelda BoW “Wow!” by name for a reason. Even that game spurred increased sales in Wii U despite Wii Us being off the market. There is something different about BoW “Wow!”. Skyward Sword didn’t do anything remarkably like this. Neither did Wind Waker or Twilight Princess.
Zelda is behaving now more of how I remember it behaving, how it OUGHT to behave. Legend of Zelda (NES) is a game from 1986. It was very primitive hardware. Yet, look what it did. It created a perfect scaled open world adventure and popularized the save chip in cartridges. If someone asked me what is the one game that defines the NES, I would not say Mario, I would say Legend of Zelda. It is because Legend of Zelda did what arcade games and computers could not: create a fluid, responsive open world. This was 1986!!!!!
Ocarina of Time, I believe, has largely been misunderstood by its fans and Nintendo developers. They think Ocarina of Time is a ‘formula’, of a type of ‘story’, of ‘items’ and shit. Really, I think Ocarina of Time was the Open World of its era. Ocarina of Time was the Grand Theft Auto of its day. People thought they could do anything. Remember Ocarina of time was using very primitive 3d technology at the time.
I think Zelda BoW “Wow!” captures the spirit of the Open World and really triggers gaming interest because of it. It is amazing we have ALL THESE GAMES, both of today and of DECADES past, yet we drop it all for a really good game. Gamers are constantly searching, constantly reading, constantly listening for the Great Game They Are Missing.
Reggie’s comments are a confirmation of this: that if one wishes to understand Switch’s success, one is going to have to dig deep into understanding why Breath of the Wild is a success. But in order to do that, one will have to understand Legend of Zelda (NES). Since that game came out in 1986, it apparently missed the ‘first generation’ of when the PlayStation came out. Poor analysts! It came from the Land Before Time! And if they study NES Zelda, they are going to inevitably end up studying arcade gaming and computer RPGs (which Zelda was inspired). And then… and then…
Readers used to get angry at me when I would complain about Spirit Tracks (trains!? WTF!) or something else Aonuma was doing. I know how Zelda is supposed to be. It is not supposed to be ‘puzzles’ or ‘Aonuma message to his child’. (BTW, I just got done finishing the third maze shrine in BoW “WoW!” and I LOVED IT. The mazes are great fun!) And now it is crystal clear that Nintendo was doing Zelda wrong between Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild. A misinterpretation of Ocarina of Time created these wrong Zeldas.
Take Metroid. Sakamoto’s misbeliefs and Nintendo’s misinterpretations of Metroid is giving us the Metroids of today which is a shame because Metroid went longer than any Nintendo franchise before we got crappy games. Metroid is for the experienced gamer. Metroid is sci-fi, alien, surreal, difficult, and not for the beginner player. Nintendo themselves admit this in their marketing back in the 1980s:
You hear words like ‘challenge’ and ‘survival’. The player is using a NES Advantage. Why? Experienced gamers rejected the D-pad and went for the NES Advantage. Why? They grew up on the Atari 2600. Kid is using the NES Advantage because that is what the experienced NES gamers used. This is why there are TONS of NES Advantages out there still. Very popular controller.
Not all games have to be accessible in order to sell well. Games can be surreal and be DIFFICULT to become blockbusters. Defender from the arcades was that game. People said it couldn’t sell against games like Frogger or Pac-Man. But experienced gamers flocked to Defender because it was a challenge to them. In more recent times, Dark Souls is that game that sells because it is difficult.
Metroid was the Dark Souls of the NES. People didn’t play Metroid for the story or accessibility, they played it because they knew it was damn hard game and extremely confusing. Sakamoto seems intent on wanting Metroid to be NES Ninja Gaiden with turning Samus Aran into a ninja with cutscenes. Completely wrong.
I consider games like Robotron and some shmups to be doing somewhat a similar job Metroid did. Nintendo makes many games. But all their games are accessible and easy to play. Metroid is difficult and not easy to play. This is why the experienced gamer would buy the NES to get to Metroid, the Gameboy to get to Metroid II, and SNES to get to Super Metroid. Metroid offers a completely different style to the Nintendo ‘happy cute’ style.
I hope one day we get to play a true Metroid just as we get to play a true Zelda with BoW “Wow!” today.