Calling the
relationship between Nintendo and the 3rd Party developers
difficult is a slight understatement. During the Glory Days of the
SNES Nintendos position as the market leader had them grow quite
presumptuous. Their dominance in those days allowed them to treat 3rd
party games on their platforms as a secondary thought. As we know
these days are long gone. In todays market the 3rd Partys
often overshadow the First Party offerings of a console. But Nintendo
still had the mindset of their early days. This lead to the pretty
bad 3rd Party support during the Wii and Wii-U days. And
while the Wii cushioned the shock through it's success and because it
was cheap to develop for, the Wii-U suffered the full brunt of that
failed policy.
Now with the
Switch Nintendo has vowed to change many things and their
relationship with the 3rd Party developers is one of
those. And while Skyrim on the Switch is not enough to quench my
worries, I believe that they truly try to get things right this time.
In todays industry
a solid offering of 3rd Party titles is important for the
success of any console. And because of that today I'd like to share
my five picks for 3rd Party game series that need to be on
the Nintendo Switch.
5: Assassins Creed
I'm not
specifically talking about Assassins Creed in this entrant, but use
the series more as an example for the Ubisoft Open World style of
games. No one can deny that Watch Dogs, FarCry and Assassins Creed
share a similar structure in their world building, but also no one
can deny that these games are hugely successful. And they would
certainly be a valuable asset in the Nintendo Switches Library.
From all the big
publisher Ubisoft always struck me as the one with the best ties to
Nintendo. They even supported the Wii-U for far longer than any other
3rd Party Company. And because of that we got two
Assassins Creed Games for the system. But here is the thing that has
to change with the Switch.
Although Ubisoft
supported the Wii-U it was a rather half hearted support. We got
Assassins Creed but we didn't get any DLC or support for the game. So
from the get go Wii-U owners knew they would get an inferior version.
The natural consequence of this was lackluster sales for the series
on Nintendo Platforms. Why should I buy a inferior version on my
Wii-U, if I can also buy a better one on my PS4/X-Box One/PC.
Ubisof seems quite
dedicated to the Nintendo Switch and I'm sure for the first one or
two years they will support it regardless of its success. But this
time they hopefully do it right. That means no gimped or late ports
of actual games and full support.
4: Fifa/Madden
I know, FIFA has
already been confirmed for the Nintendo Switch, but even the Wii-U
got FIFA 13. No I'm talking about long term support. The Switch needs
to get the yearly release of those games. And it needs to be on par
with the other consoles offerings. Multiplayer, Ultimate Team...
everything needs to be on-board.
Because if the
Switch version is in any ways inferior to the PS4 or X-Box offerings
then it's not a real choice you have. If this is the case and you
have the chance to buy the game on another system you naturally will
choose the best version. And for people, who only own a Nintendo
console, this will be an even worse situation. Because if you buy the
inferior version of the game on the Switch, you'll always be reminded
of that fact. And because of that many will instead choose to ignore
the game. This leads to bad sales and this leads to no long-term
support.
So this time EA
needs to do it right from the start. Hopefully they will.
3: Call of Duty
Love it or Hate
it, but you can't deny that Call of Duty is one of the most
influential gaming series of all time. Year after year it sells
millions of copies and even when it's declining, like this years
Infinite Warfare, it still outperforms nearly every other game series
on the planet. Call of Duty is huge, and honestly it's not a bad game
series. Even Infinite Warfare, which got a lot of flak, is a fine
game. But the yearly release schedule doesn't do the series any
favors.
Call of Duty
should be on the Switch for several reasons. First of all it is a
sign towards the more adult oriented players, that the Switch also
offers experiences for them. And yes I know that the game is mostly
played by twelve year olds.
Still it is a
hugely successful series and the focus on Multiplayer could help
Nintendo promote their Online Services.
It simply would be
a wasted opportunity to get some of the shooter crowd onto the
Nintendo Switch. And even some of the more dedicated Nintendo Fans
probably crave a good ego-shooter from time to time. Just look how
successful Goldeneye was on the N64.
And if Nintendo
can't even get the biggest gaming franchise on the Planet onto their
console, then why should the customer trust them to get other 3rd
Party AAA-Games?
2: The Elder
Scrolls: 6
I know this game
hasn't even been announced yet, but we all know that it is in
development. After the monumental success of Skyrim you can be damn
sure that Bethesda won't let this series die. And you can also be
sure that the next game in the franchise will be an even bigger
success. Building on the foundation of Skyrim everyone and their
grandma will want to play The Elder Scrolls 6.
And that is the
reason why it needs to be on the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo has
promised that with the Switch they won't forget Hardcore Gamers.
People, who love to delve into a game for hours upon hours. The Elder
Scrolls is the pinnacle of such games. Bringing the next installment
to the Switch would be a showing that this time Nintendo truly
intends to follow through on their promise and that the 3rd
Party Developers are on-board for more than the first year. It's a
sign that the 3rd Party truly believes in the Switch and
it's success. And if the developers have faith in the console, then
we, the customers, can too.
1: GTA
Well what else
could be Number One than the biggest Game on the Planet. And yes even
though Overwatch is huge and Pokemon is a phenom, nothing comes close
to the Sales, Hype and Media Attention of GTA. So bringing this
series to the Nintendo Switch would be absolutely massive.
GTA 5 sold nearly
60 Million Copies worldwide. That is a feat that no other game manage
to pull off. And yes Nintendo Fans aren't normally people, who buy
GTA, but with the Switch Nintendos aim is to extend far beyond their
faithful fans. And no other game is capable of doing that like the
GTA series.
So while Rockstar
and Take 2 have shown little to no interest in developing for the
Switch so far, it is now up to Nintendo to provide them with an
environment that makes it desirable to bring their games to the
Switch. If the manage to pull this off, it will be a huge win for the
Switch and a sign for a golden future.
What are your
thoughts on this topic? Which games or franchise would you like to
see on the Nintendo Switch? Let me know your opinions in the
comments.
And as always
thanks for reading
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