Has Nintendo hardware plateued in terms of new controller gimmicks?

[TheMisterManGuy]

During the lead up to Nintendo Switch 2, the Ask The Developer interview with the system's development team responded to a statement about the system being surprisingly tame in terms of innovations. Producer Kouichi Kawamoto explained this.

"So, you increased the processing capability to allow new kinds of gameplay experiences to be created. Looking back at Nintendo's past consoles, I think many people would expect to see something more unconventional, much like how Wii (8) and Nintendo DS have control schemes unique to Nintendo. During the development of Switch 2, was there any discussion about taking a similar approach?

Kawamoto: From Nintendo DS to Wii U, we offered new ways to play by implementing hardware features that weren't typical for game consoles at the time, and asked software developers to take advantage of them. However, with Switch, we made that less of a priority. With Switch, we prioritized implementing something that could be used with any kind of software, such as the ability to play in both TV mode and handheld mode, rather than tasking software developers to create gameplay experiences that incorporate the hardware's unique features. Just like we did with Switch, we've made having unique hardware features less of a priority for this console. Of course, we did consider various ideas. However, we felt that even if an idea works well for some games, there'll be a lot of games where it doesn't. Also, we thought a lot about whether we should change the design of Switch, a console with a screen and Joy-Con controllers on each side that can be played on a TV when docked. After considering various new ideas, we decided it would be best to keep the Switch system's design and not make any “changes for changes' sake.”

Director Takuhiro Dohta elaborates

"Dohta: From a software developer's perspective, we thought of what we'd want in a console if we were creating a game. In the past, Nintendo developed software that took advantage of unique hardware features, such as the Wii Remote and the Nintendo DS system's dual screens. However, since Switch launched, I think there's been a shift in how software developers create games. Rather than leveraging hardware features to create something unique, developers can now choose which software technologies they want to incorporate to make their games stand out. My honest opinion as a software developer is that just because a new hardware feature is added, it doesn't necessarily mean that various problems will be solved or that new kinds of gameplay experiences will be created one after another. So, with Switch 2, we improved its processing speed in the hope that it'll become a dedicated game platform with a strong and solid foundation that allows software developers to create what they want."

And there is a lot of truth to that. With the original Nintendo Switch, Nintendo avoided betting the entire system's identity on a risky new controller concept in favor of combining and expanding on all of its past control innovations into one device that you can play anywhere. Dohta even says that any new control ideas can come with either a small additional feature that can be used or not (such as Switch 2's mouse controls or Microphone) or packaged as a separate accessory (such as Ring Fit Adventure or Nintendo Labo).

The Switch was already capable of doing nearly every type of game out there. AAA console gaming, smaller portable gaming, touch controls, motion controls, local multiplayer, etc. and Switch 2 expands on that by adding more power and things like GameChat and GameShare. And that's kind of the thing, once you have a console that can do any type of game and control style out there, where else do you go after that?

The Wii U exposed the limits of Nintendo's previous approach to hardware innovation as the GamePad famously was so underutilized that even Nintendo's own internal studios didn't have a ton of great ideas for it. Kawamoto even goes as far as to say that a new controller concept doesn't necessarily lead to new gameplay ideas.

So I think Nintendo has kind of reached a plateau in terms of big new controller innovations it could build its hardware on. Thus the focus now is ensuring an environment where developers can make any type of game they want, with as little friction or trouble as possible.