Growing up with the 3DS and Wii U I really miss those times of the highly immersive systems. For me this was what made Nintendo so great.
I know that nowadays everything seems to be optimized for efficiency and practicality in this highly connected world where everyone has a smartphone and is seeking this quick pleasure.
But I’m craving these small things that made life so great. I miss these times so much of collecting StreetPass points, finding strangers Mii’s in Mii Plaza when going to a mall or connecting with friends, having all these mini games like Camera, AR games and even the immersive Mii makers where I spend hours creating Mii’s and watching them walking around. And of course, the customizable home menu with music and all these responsive animations.
It was like there was an entire world inside the 3DS and Wii U that could suck you in where you could spend your lifetime in without a sense of time and it was amazing. It gave you a home environment where you could feel comfortable, secure and relaxed. And I’m wondering where this went.
My thought is that Nintendo in a way might’ve intentionally made the Switch’s UI so soulless and depressing to have a bigger differentiator with the Switch 2 since they can only do this much in terms of hardware. Cause they didn’t even give us something as simple as an internet browser with some update which even the DSi had (and I think even the DS with some cartridge expansion. And not forgetting that the Wii U had YouTube and Netflix etc.). Because so far all we’ve seen is a slightly bigger Switch with magnet Joy Cons and a new Mario Kart.
I’m really hoping that they will go back in that direction cause this really was Nintendos DNA and I miss it so much. What are your thoughts on this?
The UI has been largely static since launch in 2017.
If anything they would have been differentiating from 3ds/WiiU.
True, maybe they had already considered a potential Switch successor if the platform became successful, and they mainly experimented with the hardware first to see if it has ground. I think now is the best time to integrate immersive software again. I think the Switch 2 already kind of gives off Wii U looks and could be the perfect solution of combining the Wii U and Switch and give us the perfect solution that the previous iterations never fully lived up to. Maybe it will not be the case but I will be optimistic and hope for the best.