Super Mario Odyssey Was Always Planned as a Nintendo Switch Game

There is a general sentiment expressed by a few people that one reason that Nintendo was able to give such a great lineup last year was because it withheld games that may have otherwise come out on the Wii U, and put them all on the Switch instead. And sure, in the case of some games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, that is probably true- but in the case of Nintendo’s other big name Switch game from 2017, that was never going to be the case.

Speaking to Game Informer, the game’s producer, as well as the lead on Nintendo Switch hardware, Yoshiaki Koizumi, revealed that the game had never been planned for the Wii U at all- that it was destined for the Switch from the outset.

“It was always planned for Nintendo Switch. We really were considering a lot of the hardware capabilities specifically for this game, and wanted to make the most use of them,” he said.

Which basically makes sense, too- since Koizumi was heading the development of the hardware as well as of the game, he would have been able to begin development of the new title with Switch as the targeted platform, where many other developers, even within Nintendo, may not have that kind of luxury.