Unearthed magazine shows Nintendo laid the groundwork for the Switch 27 years ago with Pokemon Stadium and a failed N64 add-on
Unearthed magazine shows Nintendo laid the groundwork for the Switch 27 years ago with Pokemon Stadium and a failed N64 add-on
by Turbostrider27
11 Comments
loztriforce
Thats quite the stretch to say that’s what lead to the switch
mierecat
The idea of having a home console you could play on the go is both older than this and not even unique to Nintendo. Atari and Sega went after something like this around the same time the gameboy was released. Heck I remember being a kid and dreaming about the day something like the switch would come along
Maddox121
Funny thing is that nearly every innovation Nintendo has done has been in the plans for an insanely long time. Nintendo Power had an April Fool’s issue, which showcased “upcoming real life style games”, one of them was Muttroid, which simulates taking care of a dog… gee… that sounds familiar…
thought they were talking about the switch 27 for a second.
g0dSamnit
The core idea is “portable device with A/V outputs”, which, if we’re being honest here, pretty much every functioning person was always disappointed that their Game Boy/DS/3DS couldn’t hook up to the TV.
What’s really novel is how they solved so many problems at once in one simple package:
– Focus resources on one platform instead of being split between home/portable.
– Extremely versatile Joycon controller system that can do everything in one: motion controls, standard btn layout, simplified btn layout, merge with the main unit.
– Party games, gimmicky Wii games, Soulslike games, the controller system covers basically everything you could need.
– Quick/easy switching of every permutation in which it can be used, including portable/TV usage.
– Game progress and even session, carries across when switching modes.
Would’ve been interesting to see it happen in the Wii U era, though the most they probably could’ve done was have the 3DS output around 360p, or significantly compromise the art style of Wii U games that still look amazing today. (i.e. Mario Kart 8)
penguinReloaded
Whoever wrote this article is a clown. This is ridiculous mental gymnastics.
ScootSchloingo
Articles like this are why 99% of game journalists are paid $5-10 an article
The_Majestic_Mantis
The idea of buying games digitally is more older than people think. Sega also had an adapter in the 90s that did the same thing, but the technology was just too early and primitive.
hectoByte
I mean, I totally agree that Pokemon Stadium was revolutionary and the kinda thing that could only exist in 1999 and future generations who weren’t 8 years old in 1999 will never be able to understand what made it special. But what does that have to do with the Switch?
11 Comments
Thats quite the stretch to say that’s what lead to the switch
The idea of having a home console you could play on the go is both older than this and not even unique to Nintendo. Atari and Sega went after something like this around the same time the gameboy was released. Heck I remember being a kid and dreaming about the day something like the switch would come along
Funny thing is that nearly every innovation Nintendo has done has been in the plans for an insanely long time. Nintendo Power had an April Fool’s issue, which showcased “upcoming real life style games”, one of them was Muttroid, which simulates taking care of a dog… gee… that sounds familiar…
Click through to the real article: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/01/hiroshi-yamauchi-talks-64dd-in-newly-translated-1997-conference
thought they were talking about the switch 27 for a second.
The core idea is “portable device with A/V outputs”, which, if we’re being honest here, pretty much every functioning person was always disappointed that their Game Boy/DS/3DS couldn’t hook up to the TV.
What’s really novel is how they solved so many problems at once in one simple package:
– Focus resources on one platform instead of being split between home/portable.
– Extremely versatile Joycon controller system that can do everything in one: motion controls, standard btn layout, simplified btn layout, merge with the main unit.
– Party games, gimmicky Wii games, Soulslike games, the controller system covers basically everything you could need.
– Quick/easy switching of every permutation in which it can be used, including portable/TV usage.
– Game progress and even session, carries across when switching modes.
Would’ve been interesting to see it happen in the Wii U era, though the most they probably could’ve done was have the 3DS output around 360p, or significantly compromise the art style of Wii U games that still look amazing today. (i.e. Mario Kart 8)
Whoever wrote this article is a clown. This is ridiculous mental gymnastics.
Articles like this are why 99% of game journalists are paid $5-10 an article
The idea of buying games digitally is more older than people think. Sega also had an adapter in the 90s that did the same thing, but the technology was just too early and primitive.
I mean, I totally agree that Pokemon Stadium was revolutionary and the kinda thing that could only exist in 1999 and future generations who weren’t 8 years old in 1999 will never be able to understand what made it special. But what does that have to do with the Switch?
The super Gameboy before that