Can third party support on the Switch mimic the DS?

I think it's clear at this point that for now at least, securing 3rd party support for the Nintendo Switch is easier said than done. While the system is pretty powerful and developer friendly, it still falls short of the PS4 and Xbox One, meaning some of the more graphically intensive games probably won't even be ported at all. That being said, I do think there are plenty of other ways Nintendo can secure third party support. Aside from the obvious indie, Japanese, and less graphics intensive games, all one needs to do to look at third party support done right on a modern Nintendo console is the Nintendo DS. The DS was a weird handheld with dual screens, specs barely more powerful than the PlayStation, a very basic online system, and seemingly useless control gimmicks that at first many developers didn't know what to do with.

Fast-forward today, it's only the second best-selling system in the industry, following very closely behind the PlayStation 2. The combination of Install base, unique features, and being dirt cheap and easy to develop for led the DS to have a lot of support from 3rd party developers. It's easy to forget with the 3DS's relative lack of it, but the DS actually had some great western support. EA managed to get nearly all Need for Speed and Sports games on it, along with Skate it as well. Ubisoft brought Assassin's Creed to the thing. Activision brought custom versions of every Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare to it, and even Guitar Hero, Rockstar brought it's biggest franchise to the system. Plus, there were plenty of exclusives from smaller developers as well like Renegade Kid with Moon and Dementium, which showed what the DS was capable of graphically when in the right hands. And of course, Japanese developers brought a lot of exclusives as well.

I think the Switch could be the same way. If the install base is there, big 3rd parties will bring their IP to it. Maybe not always in the form of ports, but exclusive entries that can only be experienced on it, as well as any new IP tailored to the system. The Switch much like the DS, sounds dirt cheap to develop for compared to its contemporaries (development kits are only $500), so as long as the system can keep up it's momentum, the likes of Activision, EA, and Ubisoft could potentially make room in their development budget for it.

We could especially see a return, to the kind of quirky, innovative exclusives that defined the DS, especially with the added benefit of indies and the eShop. Look, Nintendo will never be the place to play all the latest and greatest from AAA developers, that ship sailed years ago, and Nintendo's made it clear that's neither the audience or market they primarily focus on. But, they can provide a place for developers, where ideas, not budgets can shine through.

The NAND shortage is restricting current Switch numbers, probably through to the beginning of next year if we have to believe the lady working there. Then it will be able to be produced/sell more. (I'm expecting that around March 2018 we'll see a surge of Switches available.) Once it 'takes off' even more than it has now, we'll very likely see Nintendo drop 3DS support and the Switch become the handheld successor.

I do think that it will secure 3rd party support because of being the one handheld system at that point. Especially Japanese support.

Companies like EA and Activision and Blizzard will not care about the Switch or any niche market. They will only make things that cost as much as possible to potentially make bucket loads of money. Like 20 million profit is not worth spending a couple years on for them. So I don't think we'll see their support. That is likely to stay confined to PC (and PS4/XB1 ports).

I'm not super interested in those large companies anyway. They make mostly the generic games, and games you can play on many devices. Every gamer has a system they can play those games on. I wouldn't mind it, because of the portability but I'm not jumping a hole in the air if COD gets a port on the Switch. I'm much more interested in niche titles, indie support and creative support. New IP's, new ideas, and the franchises we saw on the DS.

Not without being as cheap to develop for along with filling out a unique handheld niche. The Switch may have the latter though.

Isn't it just as cheap to develop for? You don't need to make something more elaborate than on the DS... The only thing that might up the cost is a higher resolution. 240p wouldn't fly on the Switch... 720p isn't insurmountable though in today's world... That's kinda phone game resolution these days.

Switch dev kits are super cheap, too. A DS-lite dev kit was like $1800. The Switch dev kit is like $500. Plus, unlike with the DS, you wouldn't need a physical release. That saves a lot of money.

I don't think cost will be a factor.

itll be interesting to see how fifa does on the system in terms of sales. i think that will be a big green/red light for other publishers.

It depends what the plan is for the 3DS, it will be at least a couple of years before we see what is really going to happen.

Switch still has stock issues and 3DS is still getting good support throughout the next year.

Should sell close to a million. I wouldnt expect more. Fifa doesnt have a big fanbase on Nintendo. But Mario Strikers 2 to follow Fifa would sell like hotcakes. Make it happen Nintendo!

@iandizion713: you're probably right on the estimate. i just wonder would they get any major profit from it. if it was a DS or 3DS game then a million would be brilliant sales. green light the sequel and all that. but the switch is not that cheap to develop for. at the end of the day the switch is more powerful than the wiiu, PS3 and 360 and a big title selling just a million on those consoles was not necessarily a success. its not like fifa is just a port of the PS4 version either. its running on its own engine (ported 360 engine?) with its own assets n such like as i understand it so its not a trivial expense.

does mario strikers sell well? could be an interesting partnership between EA and nintendo to do something like that perhaps (a bit like mario+rabbids with ubisoft). i think those kinds of partnerships are the best approach for nintendo and 3rd parties. share the risk and get more exclusive content onto the switch.

I have a Switch, Xbone and a PS4. However for me to possibly buy a third party game/s they need to come to the Switch. I don't want to be limited to playing a game on my TV at home when I can play it anywhere.

I would be thrilled with DS-level support.

An aside, but I never understood this narrative of DS as a gimmick. In fact, it actually offered a LOT that became standard that was not at the time. Touch input, WiFi, microphone, etc. And personally, I thought developers had some creative concepts for the two screens in the beginning. They just got lazy over time.

well DS triple AAA support was all spin offs..... there was never any real port of a console game to it.

also that was back in 2008.....1 gen has past in that time....the 3DS and the vita......neither got any of the same support....

AAA 3rd parties can't afford that kind of stuff anymore....times are tough now. a lot of companies are going under.

While we probably won't reach DS levels of Dirt Cheap game development anytime soon with major developers, the Switch is very cheap to develop for by today's standards. It's basically an Nvidia Shield in everything but name, and development kits are only $500. I don't think the Switch version of Fifa costs that much to make really, not compared to the console versions at least.

I am surprised there's no mention here of what I think is, pretty obvious - the handheld market has changed significantly since the DS's formative years. Game developers produced games for the DS in part because of its unique hardware, but also because at the time it was the best way to reach mobile and on-the-go gamers. Western developers have, over time, left behind the handheld market and drifted over to the smartphone market for their off-shot games, many of which are obviously not high quality but bring in some added revenue for dirt cheap development costs; exactly the type of thing I feel like TC is talking about.

A Switch game is a much larger investment than a smartphone game. When it comes to serious game development, I think most large devs would rather reach the bigger market (PS4, One, PC) and deal with less technical constraints during development. That doesn't mean the Switch won't receive quirky games, because I'm sure indies will love the platform (but will probably also support other platforms, as much as they have the manpower to do it; certainly PC).

As far as unique Switch exclusives, it'd be surprising to see much outside of the Japanese market, just as it was with the 3DS. There's no advantage Switch has that the 3DS didn't, really, to promote third party development.

@SakusEnvoy: One advantage Switch has over 3DS is that its easier to port third party games since Switch is very developer friendly and supports good engines. This allows Nintendo to sprinkle quality third party games that complement Nintendos philosophy.

@SakusEnvoy: The thing about the Switch is that unlike the 3DS, it not only has proper engine support as someone mentioned, but it also sets itself apart from conventional mobile devices. I think the reason the 3DS didn't do that well in the US was simply because it never made it a point as to why you should have it. I know it sounds silly, but aside from 3D, the 3DS didn't really make it clear why or how it was different from your smartphone. Consumers simply saw it as an outdated, redundant product that never made a serious effort to stand out. It was too similar to its predecessor in too many ways, and the idea of carrying around another device with no advantage or differentiation compared to your phone became an outdated concept as mobile gaming took off.

The Switch by contrast, instantly distinguishes itself from smartphone gaming in a compelling way. You can play it on your TV, or take it with you on the go, you can even split the controller with a friend and play together on the same screen anywhere. Even if you play games on your phone, the fact that you can do stuff like that is reason enough to buy one, and it's a big reason the Switch is so successful right now.

Also, because the Switch is made with off-the shelf PC based tablet parts, it's also very cheap to develop for. Maybe not DS cheap, but those coming from developing on iPhone or Nvidia Shield should have no problem developing for the Switch.

not if Nintendo keeps supporting the 3DS like the Switch isn't even there

@TheMisterManGuy: To state the obvious, 3DS has buttons. To me that is the differentiator.

Isn't this what Sheep have been claiming all along?

I remember guys like charizard for example saying both echo systems would be combined (handheld and console) into one ultimate gaming library.

@EnergyAbsorber: It's going to take time for the Switch to grow as a platform. It's not the sort of thing that happens over night.

You mean Mario Strikers 3 right? Charged on Wii is the second one.

@TheMisterManGuy: thats still not cheap though. i mean the cost of the dev kit is a trivial expense in the grand scheme of a production budget for a big game. breath of the wild, for example, needed to sell at least 2 million to be profitable. as i said: lets not forget that the switch is more powerful than the PS3, 360 and wiiu and big games on those systems usually hit the 40million mark (with some outliers like GTA 4 to be at 100 million and 5 said to be at 265 million (though that does include marketing)).

it certainly is cheaper to make a big switch game compared to a big PS4/X1/PC game but its not very cheap by any standard.

If your trying to make a AAA experience from scratch on the Switch, then yeah, it's gonna be expensive, same with most other platforms. But these days, many developers reuse assets from major projects for smaller ones just to save money and time. Let's say, A new Assassin's Creed comes out for the PS4 and Xbox One. Well, many of the assets from those games can be downscaled and reused for a Switch gaiden game for much cheaper than it would be to build one from scratch on the platform.

Plus, the Switch supports just about every modern engine under the sun, and many developers have said it's very easy to port to. So many developers can get a mid-tier level project out very cheaply in that case. Like I said, we probably won't reach DS levels of dirt cheap simply because the Switch is an HD system, but I don't think it's as expensive to develop for as you may think. At the very least, developing for the Switch shouldn't be more expensive than developing for a tablet.

O yeah, thats right. I forgot about there being two.

@KungfuKitten: I don't know. I can totally see Hearthstone coming to Switch.