Available this Friday 3rd March for 299 €, the new Switch Nintendo video game console promotes a new philosophy in the world of gaming. Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi, development managers at Nintendo unveil their vision.
In the lounge or on the move, the new video game console Switch Nintendo wants to blow the winds of change in the world of gaming. With it, its creators want to seduce both fans of Mario Bros, the legendary hero of Nintendo, that casual players.
What are the Switch’s arguments to convince new players to adopt it?
Shinya Takahashi: It’s a video game-approachable by players and non-players. Thanks to its versatility, the Switch can be used anywhere and with anyone. It allows to share experiences and becomes, in fact, a universal console.
Is it a home console or handheld?
Yoshiaki Koizumi: This is a home console that you can also can carry!
In the era of mobility, is the portability the new success?
ST: We had in mind the desire to adapt to the nomadic side of today’s users. The Switch is a console that we feel is very convenient to the extent that you do not have to choose when you play. It can be connected to TV, but it is also possible to continue some started to show in mobility. This is a console that fits the lifestyle of its user.
Why will casual players prefer Switch, rather than playing on smartphone or tablet?
ST: The difference is its Joy-Con controllers. They are packed with technology, with sensors and sensors that allow, for example, transmitting vibrations to the players. Sensors can provide forms of entertainment that it is not possible to get a mobile phone or a tablet.
YK: The Switch is also not of a direct competitor of the smartphone, as it uses. With it, parents can register their smartphone in the console interface. Who will prevent them if their children play too … It is also possible to pair a phone to switch to whatever is voice chat when playing online.
Can we also disconnect the remote console?
ST: It’s not an idea with which we feel comfortable necessarily, to the extent that such a feature can create dramas. But actually, it is possible to interrupt a remote part if you feel that your child is playing too long. This is an option that exists, but we suggest you to talk with family before using brutally!
The Switch does not have a web browser? Why this choice ?
YK: The Switch is primarily a machine video games and such is its main reason for existing.
The maximum resolution of the Switch is in full HD on TV. Why not going to 4K, the new standard?
ST: We could propose a machine 4K, but it would have been twice as heavy and three times thicker! Our choice has been dictated by a simple question of balance. Some technical options have imposed sacrifices. For us the balance we were looking for between performance and practicality is now achieved with the Switch as it is in terms of size, weight and power ratio.
What direction will it take to switch from the virtual reality (VR)?
ST: We’re still waiting to find extremely entertaining idea that will move us into the VR market.
But technically, is this console-compatible VR?
YK: Today, if you wanted to make the VR with the Switch, it could. And if you wanted, you could also create a compatible headset.
At a time when technological changes are extremely fast, which today could be the life of a home console?
ST: The life of a console is the time during which people will find it entertaining. It is therefore difficult to evoke a machine of life to the extent that this is something very subjective compared to people who bought it.
The price at which it is launched, how will the Switch successfully find its place among the very famous and sold consoles or less the same price?
YK: Yes, because it offers things that other machines do not offer. It is possible to separate the console, to share joysticks and play with in any location.
