The Nintendo Switch was announced recently, and either I am really out of touch with what people and, "The kids," want these days, or the new device is confusing. By, "The kids," I don't necessarily mean actual tiny children--which
Nintendo seems to be avoiding aiming towards, in fact--just more-so the, "Young and hip," demographic it seems video-games are being marketed to more-and-more outside of the titles that explicitly geared towards a fan of old-school-style games (Oh, hey, "
Wasteland 3," you look cool) or really easy, "Casual," games for smart-phones. I'm just befuddled about this device, though.
I mean, is the Switch supposed to be more of a home-gaming device or portable tablet? Does the fact it has multiple possible control-schemes mean games can be played a variety of ways or will certain games require certain control methods? Why can the controller both attach to the screen or be separate, and will that be useful? Is this really something I want to have to carry around with me if I were to be an owner of this device? I read articles
about the Switch on Wired that supposedly answer my questions but I still just find myself asking, "Why don't I get it or feel excited at all?" The more details that, "
Dribble out," the more bewildered I become. I get to the point I feel like I'm behaving in the same manner as Principal Skinner:
Are the, "Children," wrong, or have I truly become out of touch when it comes to a lot of gaming these days? Gone are the days where I want to explore every nook-and-cranny in a game with an obsessive-compulsive glee. Now I just like to breeze-through what appears to be the most interesting content in a game and find I'm often perfectly happy to sample a title and then quit it when it becomes apparent it wants to demand way more of a time commitment than I'm willing to give (the last game I did a deep-dive into was, "
Fallout 4," and I didn't even get that far considering all the content it offers). I enjoy multiplayer games that let me jump in for a few quick matches and then quit because I don't always have the time to dedicate to a full-fledged campaign (hence a love of, "
Overwatch," and my excitement for "
Titanfall 2," which will have single-player but I'll probably focus on multiplayer).
There are so many games on older consoles (and old computer titles) that I still haven't gotten around to playing that buying an
expensive new console like the PlayStation 4 Pro or even dreaming of a souped-up gaming PC seems absurd. I still like to rent games and dabble in new titles, but the days where I was a huge gamer seem to have passed in favor of a more balanced entertainment-focus where I've got my comics, television shows, movies, books, music,
and video-games too. The need to learn a bunch of confusing control schemes for a game can sometimes put me off it, and I realize as this article proceeds I'm sounding more and more like a crotchety old man or, "Casual gamer," whining about how games used to better even though admittedly many today are more impressive than ever before...but darn it, I want to complain. I mean, don't even get me started on the exact 0% of interest I have in V.R. Headsets. If I may use another, "Simpsons," joke I realize this is probably me in your eyes:
I admit it, I'm out of touch. I'm not so removed I don't play games at all or enjoy following the news about video-games, but more and more often I shrug at the latest console announcements, bemoan when game seems to have hours of filler, or skip something that possibly looks interesting because I just don't have the time to play it and do other recreational things I want to do by myself or with my wife. So yes, I really don't understand what the deal is with the Switch and find myself less enthused by developments in the gaming world as time goes on, to sum all of this up.
I hope the day doesn't come I completely quit gaming, however. I doubt such a day will as I can always enjoy some games on my phone, but perhaps more and more I'll turn into that aforementioned, "Casual gamer," the internet seems to love hating on. Time will tell, time will tell.
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