Andrew Webster on Nintendo’s A+ “Verge 2017 tech report card”:

Hardware has rightfully been the focal point of Nintendo’s 2017, but nobody would be talking about the Switch if it wasn’t for the games. And Zelda isn’t enough to make a successful console. That was one of the Wii U’s biggest issues; while it had some excellent titles, there were often months that went between notable releases. Since the Switch debuted in March, Nintendo has released a steady stream of acclaimed games, several which were ports or sequels to Wii U games that not enough people played. Mario Kart 8 got a deluxe edition, for instance, while the colorful shooter Splatoon received a revamped sequel. And while most of the third-party games on Switch were ports, with older games like LA Noire and Skyrim, they felt new and exciting again on the hardware.

I still believe there is a valid debate for Nintendo’s greater achievement of 2017: The Switch or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

(Note: Nintendo received the first A+ Verge tech report card.)

Justin Charity, The Ringer:

These alternative histories are false — but thrilling. My playing through them isn’t exactly productive, but I can’t say that my year-long gaming retreat has felt any more wasteful than the supposedly more mature engagement with politics by way of media, including social media. Wolfenstein II is escapism; and so, for the most part, is the ongoing debate about whether classical liberals should punch Nazis: They both induce fantasies about power and choices that most of us are unlikely to prosecute in the real world. Ideally, we organize. We lobby elected officials, we activate our neighbors and whatever followers we have, and we vote. But American progress is a long haul. In the grand scheme of Trump’s presidency, a 100-hour role-playing game is still a much more sensible way for me to squander my downtime than reading viral strains of conspiracy theory, surrendering what little serenity I have left in these dire times. If I want to obsessively watch the world collapse at the hands of a corporatist egomaniac, I’ll replay Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Nintendo:

Nintendo of America has released the very first episode of its new Nintendo Power Podcast. With Nintendo Power Podcast, Nintendo employees, developers and special guests discuss the world of Nintendo – from Mario to the Legend of Zelda, and everything in between.

The first episode of the powered-up podcast features an in-depth interview with Nintendo developers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi about the making of the Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild game.

Also, Nintendo of America employees Chris Slate (previously editor-in-chief of _Nintendo Power_™ magazine), Damon Baker (from Publisher and Developer Relations) and Kit Ellis (co-host of Nintendo’s weekly YouTube show Nintendo Minute) take a look back at Nintendo’s action-packed 2017.

I missed the boat on the original Nintendo Power magazine. As a Genesis kid, Nintendo Power was the extra flair that made me envious of my NES and SNES owning schoolyard peers. A brilliant marketing gimmick that helped build Nintendo’s IP into cultural touchstones for our generation.

Hearing word of Nintendo’s newly launched Nintendo Power Podcast rekindled those old memories — a new marketing gimmick and bolstering of IP for a new generation. And I’m happy to report that the podcast is a quality production that extends beyond news and marketing fluff. The banter from hosts Slate, Baker, and Ellis is honest and really no different than some of my favorite podcasting cross-talk, but with nice perspective from within the company. The quiz section is a great hit of nostalgia. And the interview with Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi sheds light on much of the design origins and thinking behind one of the greatest games ever made.

It is with relief that I see potential for depth in this show. It seems Nintendo understands the overlap of podcast consumers and Switch owners — 77% of podcast consumers range between the ages of 18-54; 80% of Switch owners range between the ages of 19-44. That’s not a market for pure marketing fluff.

The final touch of polish is that n the theme; an evolution of of Nintendo console sound design. It reminded me of the logo I designed for the Ported Key:

Wow. 10 million units in 282 days.

Note the Wii U had lifetime sales of 13.56 million units. The highly successful PS4 sold 10 million units in 268 days. The Xbox One sold nearly 10 million in 355 days.

What a year it has been for Nintendo and the Switch.

[Correction: I originally posted that the PS4 sold 10 million units in 10 months, out-paced by the Switch. This was incorrect.]

Victor Luckerson recapping Nintendo’s year as “The Best Tech Story of 2017”for The Ringer:

It all seemed like enough to burn through the last of gamers’ goodwill for the often maddening company. But then Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and a lifetime’s worth of anti-consumer transgressions were suddenly forgiven. In an era filled with cynical IP cash-ins across entertainment, Nintendo used a formulaic, nostalgic franchise to deliver a fresh reinvention of open-world gaming mechanics. The game is an adept mix of old and new, borrowing elements of Skyrim and Minecraft but augmenting them to recreate the whimsy, mystery, and intrepidness that a lot of gamers felt the first time they booted up the original Legend of Zelda or the seminal Ocarina of Time. The gushing praise for the game, the best-reviewed title of the year, proved that endlessly cynical gamers will always have a soft spot for a Nintendo classic done right.

Zelda immediately transformed the Switch from a curiosity to a must-have gadget. Gamers like Yai Torres, a 30-year-old resident of Arlington, Virginia, who had skipped out on the Wii U, got the system the day it launched. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a Nintendo product but I’ve always been a follower in terms of the latest games,” Torres says. “The fact that they had such a cool console with such a cool game clicked for me.”

I’m still pondering whether The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may be a bigger achievement than the Switch. Would Nintendo have had such a stellar year if the Switch launched with Super Mario Odyssey?

(Aside: Fun to see Victor end his piece where I was originally going to begin mine: the insanity of 2017.)