It’s the second day of Geekscape’s 12 Days of Switchmas and that means it’s my turn! For those just joining us, Nintendo is making a big announcement about their much anticipated new console, the Nintendo Switch, on January 12 and the writers here wanted to share in the excitement. We will be taking turns sharing our hopes, concerns, predictions and family recipes, all centered around the Switch. You can read Adam’s Day 1 predictions here!
My main concern actually centers around amiibo, specifically their implementation in upcoming games. In my opinion, the use of amiibo lately has been kind of lackluster and gave the feeling off being tacked on at the last minute. I would hate for them to become obsolete. We already know that the Switch is not backwards-compatible so that already limits some of their use right out of the gate.
My hope is that with this new console, developers will bring about a new renaissance for these accessories. It has been confirmed that Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild not only is compatible with several already-released amiibo but will also be bringing several new amiibo to the table as well. This points to a promising future for amiibo collectors but that is still just one title. It will take more that that to keep amiibo in demand and worthwhile. And while we are at it, maybe they can do something about the way their amiibo have been supplied, in small batches that are easy prey for scalpers. I swear, it was like stumbling onto a pot of gold when you found the amiibo you wanted in-stock. You might want to fix that, Nintendo.
As for predictions, I suspect that launch day for the Switch will have a larger library than the Wii or Wii U. It will have to, if Nintendo expects this thing to succeed. I believe that with a wider range of developers from all around the world throwing their support behind the system, we will see more third-party titles make it to the U.S. Not only that, I predict companies will be more adventurous in selecting which titles get localized. I have particularly high hopes for companies like LEVEL-5, Nippon Ichi Software, and ATLUS, all of whom have announced support for the console in some capacity.
Another prediction I have slightly mirrors what Adam said yesterday about Nintendo making a Launch Day announcement regarding the Virtual Console. I suspect that there will be some big update to the eShop that day that will effect the way our game purchases are recorded. Currently, our purchases are tied to our console but I believe that utilizing some sort of other system (perhaps finally putting My Nintendo to good use?), transferring purchases from one console to the other will be less painful. This ties into the Virtual Console because those purchases would ideally be transferable to the Switch.
If I had to make one crazy, probably-not-going-to-happen wish for this new generation, it would be that Nintendo upgrade the NFC chip in upcoming amiibo to include more than one save file on it. I understand that this isn’t exactly Switch-centric but it is relevant nonetheless. Now, I am not even sure that such a wish is even in the realm of possibility but this is a safe space for sharing our dreams, isn’t it? The reason I bring this issue up is that a good portion of the amiibo already have data saved to them and have I have run across this dilemma in the past. I can already foresee many a Smash Bros. player having a bit of a crisis over whether or not to delete their fighter profile on that Bowser amiibo that they lovingly trained.
And thus ends my portion for the 12 Days of Switchmas. Stay tuned tomorrow for another one of Geekscape crew’s take on the next Nintendo console. Merry Switchmas to all and to all a good night (or morning or afternoon)!