I love my Nintendo Switch, and with all the talk flying around about the long-anticipated, much-fabled Switch PRO finally getting announced this year, I can’t help but wonder if Nintendo is going to chase a dragon and come up short.

For decades, Nintendo stood apart from the other gaming giants because they did their own thing. They focused on family friendly games. They focused on games that were bright and colourful. I’m not saying they only catered to children, but they had a specific market in mind. The captured it and have done a great job ever since in keeping people’s attention. I say this with full knowledge that you can’t please everybody. 

Yet, with the launch of the Switch, Nintendo seemed to have come to a turning point. They suddenly had bigger and more realistic games coming to the console. Albeit, stretching the Switch’s capabilities to the limit. We had games like Witcher 3, Doom, and Skyrim. Games which not only push the Switch in terms of capabilities but act as a clear shot at the other core players in the industry. 

Do we need a graphical powerhouse in handheld form?

It’s Nintendo saying, we have a fanbase, and now we are coming for yours too. I get it, I do. But, having playing games on the Switch and then again on an Xbox, I enjoyed the Xbox version far more. The only thing about the Switch was portability, but I don’t want to play a big game like Witcher while sitting on the bus, squinting at a screen. In my mind, you lose some of the spectacle, and the grand staging of it all. 

We Need a Switch Pro but Not for the Reasons You Think

So, when everybody is talking about a Nintendo Switch PRO and the graphics enhancements they would expect, and the games they could foresee coming to this, the little console that could, I’m over here asking why. 

Do we need a graphical powerhouse in handheld form, or should Nintendo just stick to what got them to the dance and focus on building games that are undoubtedly Nintendo?

I don’t mean take away the indie games. I love indie games and how the Switch has become this indie garden of opportunity. I don’t mean gimmicky games like 1-2 Switch, Carnival games or the like. They have a place, I’m sure. I mean Nintendo have proven time and time again, with franchises like Zelda, Mario, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, to name but a few, that they have a style that succeeds. 

I am also not saying they should only publish in those series, but rather, stay away from porting the bigger AAA games and focus on the things that you already do well. It makes me think of Jeff Goldblum’s line of “They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”. 

I’d take high-quality games that play well, over games whose presence on the system is a feat in itself, but whose enjoyment doesn’t come close to playing them on a larger machine.