This Saturday, March 3rd, marks the one year anniversary of the Nintendo Switch game system. And, wow. What a year it has been. A console that started primarily as a Zelda machine for the much anticipated Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has now grown into a massive success, surpassing even the very popular Nintendo Wii in terms of its first year sales in North America.
This success has attracted many third party developers to release their games on the console, something that Nintendo has struggled for a very long time. From its initial teaser to today, the Nintendo Switch console has had quite the journey. So, in celebration of the upcoming one year anniversary, we will be discussing this great adventure.
2015
It was March 17, 2015 that Nintendo announced they were working on a new game console they referred to as the NX. Following the disappointment that was the Wii U. Due to the Wii U, Nintendo faced financial hardship and knew they had to do make some changes.
In July of that same year, Nintendo suffered another loss. This, however, was not a financial loss. Rather, it was the loss of Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's President at the time. News of this was followed by many gamers around the world mourned his passing. He was passionate gamer at heart who always knew gaming was for everybody.
In September of 2015, Nintendo has a new President in Tatsumi Kimishima. He will oversee the launch of the new console.
2016
It is March of this year that Nintendo finally announced a release window for their new gaming machine. March 2017 was the release window. Soon after, the launch game "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" would also be announced, sparking a lot of excitement from fans. Later that summer, a new Mario game is announced that the company promises will be different from previous games. Upon hearing this, the fans go to the internet to speculate and discuss what this new game would be. Shortly after this, there is a leak revealing how the console would possibly function. But these speculation would soon be put to rest when Nintendo officially reveals the console on October 20th.
2017
Nintendo hosts the "Nintendo Switch Presentation" online on January 12. They reveal new features, pricing, and games. Niintendo also announced they will be charging for online services. On January 13th, pre-orders for the system go live. Nintendo also hosts an event in Manhattan to give the press a chance to see the console.
On March 3rd, the console is finally released. This release would begin with its biggest game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and a few other smaller games. But only months later, the Switch would see a lot of big releases from first party games such as Arms, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 2, to third party games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Doom. And due to much positive feedback from developers, more third party games are released and the system continues to gain in popularity;
Conclusion
The Nintendo Switch console has had an outstanding first year. And, shows no sign of slkowing down. We can only wait to see what the system, Nintendo, and Third Party Developers have for us in 2018.
Article written by Silver79