So tonight I read an old interview with Miyamoto in January 2017 about the Switch and Nintendo gaming/development philosophy. Following a trail on Reddit I came across another speculation about the so often speculated and discussed “Switch Pro”. When reading about VR Switch Pro I got really frustrated and wanted to share my thougths. I am curious to see what other people think about it.
When I was thinking about all the Switch Pro rumours I couldn’t help but make the ridiculous comparison to a SwitchPro and the WiiU. We pretty much collectively agreed that the WiiU was a flop by so little people buying a WiiU. Part of the blame is definitely the name and branding where everyone thought it was just an add-on for the Wii. That is very wrong, it’s actually a really cool innovate piece of technology that is a mix of a Switch Prototype and a Wii Pro.
With the Switch Pro everyone is hoping and dying for an upgraded Switch with better graphics and improved everything. Pretty much like they always did with all their handhelds. I think that’s unrealistic in this day and age of technology. Especially if you upgrade it so much where you have to make 2 versions for Switch and Switch Pro games, just like 3DS and New 3DS. I mean it was the same handheld but it was not. It had similar features but had improved graphics. Isn’t that what we are asking for right now with the Switch Pro? Do everything you can with the Switch but better. Let us play cutting edge console gaming on this console with a different purpose than what it was designed for “creating a new fun social way to experience games”.
​
>As a company, we take in all different kinds of new technologies as they become available. The tendency for some companies is for their technical people to be more important or treasured. Companies like that tend to want to move forward and be at the top end of everything. But at Nintendo, we really place importance on finding something unique, something that only we can do.
>
>So there’s nothing specific from Mr. Yokoi that went directly into the Nintendo Switch. But as a company, Nintendo really puts the idea of fun up front, and I feel like that perspective was something Mr. Yokoi had established. Mr. Yokoi had this way of stepping back and calmly observing what’s going on, too. In my younger days, we had a tendency to want to move forward so quickly, and we several times had Mr. Yokoi kind of hold us back and say, “You need to look, step back and observe everything.”
I feel like Nintendo treats gaming and games similar as an artstyle. You should not follow what everyone is making. You should combine knowledge, observe what’s going and happening. Only then you can see where innovation and creativity is possible. If you do what everyone else is doing you can not reach the top. “You will never be number one”. You can see this as cocky and beat everyone like you’re the best and win the gold medal. That’s way too competitive and focused on making money. Being number one simply means being the first to think outside-of-the-box to offer something new. Similar to art where the famous artists don’t copy other artists and try to perfect someone else their work they try to create something that is true to them and stands out from the rest. Artists recreating what Mozart composed or what Queen made are impressive but not innovative. Artists that make the same paintings as van Gogh or Dali are super passionate but do not get remembered for decades/centuries.
>If you want to be in second place or third place, you can do what other people are doing. I mean, you’ll have to put a lot of effort and work into it. If you’re doing something on your own, something unique, when the spotlight hits, you’re already at the top before you know it. So that’s why I feel like, in the world of fun, there’s only number one. And that’s why I think you’ve got to take risks to become number one. If you want to be number one by doing the same thing as other people, you’ve got to be kind of tough.
When I look at all the consoles of Nintendo ever made, every single one of them had at least one (groundbreaking) new feature that pushed gaming into different and other directions. Sure not everything was great, sure some ideas flopped. But that’s not even considering how many fucking playtests they probably did at Nintendo where so many ideas that we don’t even know about got scrapped because it was not feasible or up to standard. Improved graphics were definitely possible at the time Nintendo made the Switch but it was necessary for Nintendo to discuss when development got more expansive than planned again as planning for set amount of money and sticking to it disrupts the creative flow of trial-and-error. So Nintendo made the decision that at that point in time the cost of going all in graphical fidelity would only be playing a losing game as the only thing you invest in is to compete with what’s already being done by Xbox and Playstation.
​
>And because we’re not tough, we can’t fight with other people. \[Miyamoto holds up his fists and laughs.\] I think this really coincides and equates to what the entertainment industry is like, anything with the creative industry, and it links to terms like [blue ocean or red ocean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ocean_Strategy#Blue_ocean_vs._red_ocean). This is something that Mr. Iwata did, to really link the philosophy of Nintendo to some of the business and corporate jargon, while also being able to convey that to all of the employees at Nintendo.
Nintendo and mostly Iwata made this decision from the Gamecube onward and formulated it so clearly that everyone at Nintendo could understand and follow Nintendo’s philosophy and vision. But you can’t completely do something else in terms of powers. A clear example is the GameCube where straying too much comes with a lot of complications. How do you compete with a Playstation that totally played in on the DVD and massive technology advancement of watching movies for a cheaper price at home.
So for their next console I really hope they continue by again doing something completely different, quirky, weird and a definite headscratcher. I honestly hope Nintendo their next console will be VR. Tonight I had my first experience with VR gaming and since then my mind has been going into a speculation tunnel vision about Nintendo. To me VR really is the new creative Blue Ocean Nintendo can delve into. My roommate told me about Half Life Alyx, basically the Half Life 3 that everyone asked for but no one was ready for yet. I haven’t played it (yet) but I mean that is an “new generation” action adventure game in VR. I just recall the Resident Evil game that also came out on VR but know nothing about it and how that plays/feels.
Okay so still some hype speculation a la Nintendo Direct Craziness for the Nintendo NX 2. But honest talk, if you pay attention to the small things they are trying. Mario Kart VR, Nintendo Labo and AR. The Switch has been giving such a long life span of 8-10 years because they know what they have planned needs a long ass time before it’s ready. I am just sooooo curious what Nintendo will do with something as crazy as their own VR. And hopefully make fully fledged VR games.
Sorry, I got really excited just trying to imagine this. I have 0 clue how Nintendo could pull of something like this but if some company is going to pull this off. It is definitely Nintendo. Bring Mario to VR and call it Mario 360. Or make everyone’s dream reality: Pokemon VR.
Thanks for reading and curious what you think about this.
P.S. If you got the time to read the entire article, please do. It’s such a nice and eloquent view of Miyamoto on all different kind of subjects.