Nintendo seems to be struggling with the age old problem of releasing games at a consistent pace, and has become too reliant on revisiting its back catalog.
We waited 532 days for a Nintendo Direct, and all we got was a lousy Wii port for Nintendo Switch. Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but its announcement was indicative of Nintendo’s biggest problem: the Japanese giant simply can’t stick to a healthy release cadence without reverting back to its tried and tested strategy of releasing older games, most of which we’ve played countless times before. I’ve already expressed my frustration at how a disappointing number of Wii U games have been ported to Nintendo Switch, often with little to no enhancements to speak of (did we really need a ‘Funky New Mode’ in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze?). But now that the well of Nintendo’s failed console has seemingly run dry, the company has turned its attention to the Wii and even the Nintendo 3DS. We’re getting Skyward Sword HD, one of the most divisive Zelda games in recent memory, and a game that I don’t recall anyone port-begging for, Miitopia. Really, Nintendo? Instead of creating games that take full advantage of the Nintendo Switch’s feature set, Nintendo is seemingly content with padding out the Switch’s games library with yet more ports from its past systems. And, in fairness, it’s easy to see why. These re-releases sell in their millions, as people flock to revisit classic titles or games they simply may have missed the first time around. But what about aging Nintendo stalwarts, like me? Does Nintendo care about the day one adopters of its hardware who, perhaps foolishly, turn up every generation to experience something new? Honestly, when it comes to new experiences on Switch, Mario might as well jump on my head and say “fuggedaboutit.
