The Nintendo NX still remains a mystery, although the hints and rumors that the next Nintendo system will come out this year are continuing to increase. Will it be a console and handheld hybrid? Will it be a home console? Will it have a strong launch lineup? These questions are some of the biggest in the video gaming industry in 2016, and a lot depends on them. It’s tough to answer what we should expect from the Nintendo NX—but today, I’d like to take a look at what we should hope we don’t get. These are the things Nintendo should ditch.
Nintendo NX Features: What We Don’t Want
The Wii Name
First up on what the Nintendo NX should leave behind: The Wii name. The company’s incredible success with the Wii led it to grow complacent with the Wii U launch and marketing, and many people early on didn’t know that the Wii U was even a new console. Some people still don’t know. That failure wasn’t an inevitability from the Wii U name, it was a marketing issue—nobody was confused about what the Xbox One was. But still, the Wii name is now tarnished… and old. It hearkens back to the heady days of 2006, before mobile games, before full HD graphics, to the age of motion controls. Nintendo needs to start fresh.
Wii Remotes
Now, I won’t go so far as to say that the Nintendo NX should ditch motion controls entirely. The Wii U cut back on Wii-style motion controls a lot, instead in favor of more controller-based action or (less often than we’d like) cool gyroscopic stuff that made use of the GamePad. Motion-control heavy games like WarioWare, Wii Sports, even Skyward Sword didn’t have a place on Wii U. With the Nintendo NX, Nintendo should ditch the oldest-school form of motion controls, that is, the Wii Remote.
The Wii Remote isn’t a great controller. It’s too small and has too few buttons for anything that doesn’t involve motion controls. The Nunchuk is crazy cool, but when’s the last time you used one? Wii Remotes aren’t fun for multiplayer, and holding them like an NES controller hurts like hell after a half hour or so. Screw that. The Nintendo NX should keep some motion controls, keep the GamePad, but ditch the Wii Remote in favor of something like the Wii U Pro controller.
The Form Factor
The Wii was a revolutionary design when it came out. It was so small, so sleek! It looked like it was made by Apple, and it was a vast step above the hunking box of the Xbox 360 or the fat, bulky early PS3. The Wii U just did the same design, but slightly bigger and rounder. That’s all fine, but that style isn’t in vogue anymore. And it looks too much like the Wii, which—again—Nintendo needs to move away from. Come out with a whole crazy new design, Nintendo. Wow us all over again.
And honestly? I think that’s all the Nintendo NX needs to get rid of in terms of consumer-facing features. Yes, the company needs to dramatically improve its online offering. It needs more third-party games; heck, it needs more first-party games. The eShop needs a big overhaul too. But other than that, the core is sound. Off-screen play is great. The GamePad is fun, although not enough games make good use of it. Amiibos aren’t going anywhere, whatever you think of them.
But Nintendo is evolving, and for the Nintendo NX, some old standbys need to be left behind… even if it’s a little painful at first.
