Something lost in the Switch reveal is that we are for the first time seeing a Nintendo Console with all available software resources working on it. Games that may have been bound for a handheld or console are now all in the same place. The most notable example of this shift is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There was a lot of confusion upon its reveal, and a lot of fans are saying "How? XCX was just released a year ago" The assumption is it's either a long way off, or it's rushed if it's being released in 2017 as stated. But neither is true. Way back in 2013 Monolithsoft was recruiting for its 3DS team, for a fantasy adventure. Concept art was shown on their webpage, and fans speculated as to the type of game:
Four years later we have yet to see the title for 3DS... but we now get XC2 for Switch. The concept art above seems very much in tune with what we have seen from XC2: traditional fantasy, a giant tree, riding a creature... It should be clear that the 3DS game changed when Nintendo changed its hardware plans. So this is probably a game in development for 5+ years in some form.
The story is probably similar in some form for Super Mario Odyssey, which would likely have been bound for the next handheld if they were doing the two system thing. But it's not limited to 1st party. Octopath Traveler was shown, and seeing as it's from the Bravely Default team, it almost certainly would also be a handheld oriented title. But with Swith, it will now be avaialble to home console owners.
Looking at the lineup overall, you can probably group titles into ones that would have been home games or portable:
Home: Zelda BotW, Splatoon 2, 1,2 Switch, Arms.
Portable: SMO, XC2, Octopath Travelers.
If Nintendo was still supporting two systems, you would see those games split. They would either be still supporting Wii U and launching a handheld, or launching a home console but half the titles would need to be saved for the next DS.
What do you think of this change?
