Our first look at Nintendo's next home console is here! The Nintendo Switch - previously codenamed the Nintendo NX - isn't too surprising to those of us who have been following Nintendo's recent patent applications and leaks, but I think it would be fair to say we're in the minority of this trailer's audience. And gosh has it gotten me excited anyway!
I had been feeling lukewarm about the NX up to this point - did I really need another new console? It doesn't feel long since I bought a Wii U and money's tight anyway, so I have less time and money for gaming now - and although my brain knows this is a slick and shiny trailer designed to get me to spend my money, my heart just says, "Yes! YES! Take my money! Be mine!" Because capitalism.
Okay, but why does this trailer work so well for me? What heartstrings is it tugging?
For me, it's not about the hardware or the titles on display (if that was all I cared about, let's face it, I'd be more interested in Sony and Microsoft). I'm not interested in graphics, or Skyrim. It's about the SHARING.
For me, gaming is all about sharing. A few weeks ago I went to Scarborough for a holiday with some friends. Most of us only knew about half of the other people there. Scarcely an hour after arriving, friends, who knew I always carried tabletop games wherever I went, prompted me to produce Werewolves and Two Rooms and a Boom, two of my favourite social deduction games. Everyone got involved, got excited, really got into, and, best of all, got to know one another. "Never trust Bayly in a bluffing game," we'd tell each other. "You're a sneaky motherf**ker!" we'd exclaim endearingly. "She can't lie," we would say, only to be proven disastrously wrong five minutes later. I shared a game, and we all now share a terrific memory. Games are engines for making memories - you put in time, energy, personality, and you get out memories with your friends.
Tonight, I'm going on a scout camp. "I can't wait to see what game you introduce to us this time," a fellow leader told me. Last year, I brought along Love Letter and Ligretto to play after the kids have gone to bed. They're both excellent little games to carry around and break out in front of people. None of the other leaders thought they would be interested in tabletop games, but before long they were fully converted and had bought copies of their own. Yesterday I went out and finally bought my own copy of The Resistance: Avalon - my other favourite social deduction game - against my bank balance's better judgement, because I was excited to share the experience with friends.
Imagine when I can do that with the Nintendo Switch. Rock up at a camp, or a holiday, or for a drink in the pub. Pop down the Switch and pass a controller to a friend, who takes it, trepidatiously. "What am I letting myself in for?" And it surprises them. They surprise themselves. Maybe they even surprise me.
And of course I already have similar memories with video games. Back in 2004, at the tender age of eleven, my older sister's friends came round to the house and we played Mario Kart: Double Dash together. We had hours of fun racing, giving tips, trying shortcuts, shouting faux curse words like "SHOES!" (there was an eleven-year-old present, after all). Within 48 hours, at least four of them had gone out and bought a Gamecube. You're welcome, Nintendo.
Racing against friends in Mario Kart. Training a Pokemon team specifically to take on that one friend (I'm usually that one friend). Hiding behind the sofa as a friend plays a scary survival game, offering tips in between shrieks. Just hanging around in the same room, playing single player Pokemon, without saying a word to one another.
Because don't get me wrong, I love solo player games too. I love exploring the landscape in the Legend of Zelda games, I love tending to my village in Animal Crossing, and I love creating spreadsheets full of character progression and optimisation for Fire Emblem games. They also produce my second-favourite kind of conversation: "Have you tried doing this yet?" "Oh my god what level are you up to?" "Have a look at my spreadsheets!" (Perhaps one day that last one will really happen)
But my favourite kind of conversation is the kind that erupts after a game like Werewolves, or The Resistance: Avalon. Games of deception and deduction and bluffing. "Oh my god I thought you were doing this so I did that!" "Are you kidding? My whole plan was that but then she did this!" Games are an engine for making memories and the truly great games are the ones where the experience can't be confined to the game and the memories have to be vocalised, spilling out of the confines of the game like cake mix oozing out of a tin that's been overfilled.
You get these conversations in video games too, and the first time I really saw it happen was after playing the Mario Chase game on the Wii U's Nintendo Land. "I was hiding here the whole time you were stood there!" "I was so nervous when you ran past, that's why I ran in this direction!" The Wii U paved the way for more video games to include more asymetrical gameplay, where players in the same physical space could keep more secrets from each other, and the Switch looks well poised to carry that on.
Secrets and deception will always be my favourite game mechanics because there's that moment when you reveal and conversation erupts. Next time you play a game of The Resistance: Avalon or Two Room and a Boom, just take a moment to watch the room the second the game finishes. Everybody bursts into life and laughs and shares plans and theories. Next time you play a game like that with me, just watch my face as we reach that moment. I guarantee it will have a big smile plastered on it as I watch my friends shout and rant and rave. There's nothing I like more than taking a step back and watching everybody share these moments, feeling confident that my work here is done.
These are the sort of experiences the Nintendo Switch trailer reminded me of. That's probably a pretty unique reaction, but it's the one I had and it's the one I felt the need to write down. I don't know if the Switch is going to offer me these experiences. There's the question of games, computing power, battery life, and oh my god cost. But I will be fascinated to follow it as more news comes and we learn more about it.
