Ubisoft just can’t stop gushing about the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo’s new upcoming handheld-console hybrid. In a sense, I suppose that follows, given that they allegedly have a fair few projects, including exclusive collaborations for it with Nintendo, in the works for it. But it does get amusing listening to their optimism for the system after a while.
For instance, take this. In an interview with Polygon, Ubisoft French Studios director Xavier Poix said that the system may unite handheld and console systems, and that games on the system may have their design sensibilities affected by the Switch’s mobile nature.
“We are thinking that if Nintendo’s philosophy is really to gather those two worlds,” Poix said, “if adult players and console players could be the same community, then what’s the best user journey of one player that would own the Switch? Not necessarily only with the Switch mind you, but we tried to consider this in the way our upcoming games are being designed. We thought about the time needed for a play session in this game to fit the experience of a handheld.
“When you are playing a game, an adult console game or mobile game for instance, you are spending less time than you then when you are at home in front of your TV for hours. So that’s something that we have in mind for the games that we are producing right now.”
All of which makes sense- you would think that the portable nature of the Switch has to be the factor that you cater to primarily, since it is the limiting factor at play here. I can’t wait to see how something like that influences the design of games on the system.