Damning with faint praise
Michael Pachter is a name you’ve probably heard a few times before, and he’s well known in the industry for his repeated calls for Nintendo to go third party or otherwise second-guessing the company’s business decisions. That’s why it stood out to me to hear that he actually has some words of praise for Nintendo’s upcoming Switch console.
Pachter hosts a weekly show on YouTube called “Pachter Factor” where he answers letters from the audience, and the first question in this episode was about the ease of porting games to Nintendo’s Switch. Pachter mentioned that since the PS4 and Xbox One use PC architecture, it’s easier to port games from one system to another, but that Nintendo won’t be using Windows or PS4’s platform. He continued, saying he’s “actually heard from developers that Nintendo is the easiest of the three to develop for. The issue’s going to be processing power.”
Pachter’s been an industry analyst since 1982, so he’s seen Nintendo at its highest highs and lowest lows. He’s been very critical of the Wii U, but even he overestimated the lifetime sales numbers for the console. It’s an odd job, making predictions, and you’re bound to get a few wrong along with the ones you get right.
Nintendo seems to be eager to move to the new console, and there are rumors they’re going so far as to recall Wii U units from store shelves. We’ve heard rumors that the Switch won’t match up to the PS4 in terms of hardware, but over thirty major developers have expressed interest in developing for the Switch. Lack of third-party support can doom a console, so for Nintendo’s sake, I hope Pachter’s right about this one.
Pachter Factor [YouTube via NintendoEverything]
Apparently, all the Wii Us were recalled at my local Best Buy [NeoGAF]
