The Nintendo Switch is fast approaching.
Nintendo’s newest home console is set to hit store shelves in March, and it promises to be one of the must-have gaming items of 2017.
There are plenty of murmurs around about the console’s games library, and there seems to be a healthy lineup of third-party titles on the way.
We know that the likes of Seasons Of Heaven, Stardew Valley, Skyrim, and a host of EA games are coming to the console.
On the first-party front is word of new Mario and Splatoon games, a rebooted Wave Race entry, and potentially even Pokemon Sun And Moon.
It’s still very much business as usual at Nintendo HQ as the company plans to launch into the new generation.
The campaign potentially faced a derailing, however, when rumours started circulating of Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto‘s retirement.
He has brushed off these rumours, however, stating that his role has simply shifted towards more of an advisory one, and that a young generation of designer was working on the development for Switch.
“There was a misunderstanding around my supposed retirement,” he said in an interview with Glixel. “Really at the time what we were talking about was giving more opportunity and more leadership opportunity to younger people in the company. So rather than me leading everything we were really expanding that role out to others that had come up within the company. Somehow that got misinterpreted as the fact that I was retiring.”
Miyamoto says that the young people in the company have been put forward to take the lead on Switch development, and that it’s “really been them that have put this forward designed this system”.
“They’re the ones that have really shepherded it through the process,” he continued. “Because of that, what it’s allowed me to do is focus on other projects like Super Mario Run or the Universal theme park.”
Nintendo appears to have awoken from a temporary slumber with what has turned out to be a surprisingly active and successful 2016.
The death of the Wii U appeared destined to send the company into a long period of nothingness, but the release of Pokemon Go, the announcement of Switch, the launch of Pokemon Sun And Moon, and the company’s collaboration with Universal Studios theme park, has helped improve the company’s standing among diehards and skeptics alike.
As it stands, 2017 looks to be a very positive year for the company. Let’s also not forget that Super Mario Run launches on iOS tomorrow, and that it will undoubtedly prove to be an insane money maker for the Japanese gaming giant.
And with a young generation working under the guidance of industry legends such as Miyamoto, you just know the future of Nintendo is as bright as ever.
