Analyst: Nintendo Switch will be easier to develop for than PS4, Xbox One

By Gabe Gurwin December 22, 2016

Pachter Factor Episode 47: The Power of Nintendo Switch

In stark contrast to the Wii U, it appears that Nintendo’s upcoming Switch console will actually be easier to develop for than its competitors, at least according to famed industry analyst Michael Pachter.

Speaking on his YouTube show Pachter Factor, Pachter, who works as a game industry analyst for the firm Webush Securities, answered a question on the extra work developers will have to do in order to move games from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to the Nintendo Switch. Though he agreed that the Switch will likely not be easy for simple port jobs because it almost certainly won’t use a PC environment like the other two consoles, Pachter isn’t convinced that developers will mind.

“I’ve actually heard from developers that Nintendo is the easiest of the three to develop for,” he said. “The issue is going to be processing power. If the processor is a lot slower, and it doesn’t use the same configuration of cores and the same graphics capability, they have to do something different.”

This means either “dumbing down” the PC and console versions of the game to run on the Switch, or creating an entirely new game for the platform. Unlike the success Nintendo saw with performing this task on the Wii, Pachter doesn’t believe that third-party developers will be willing to develop entirely different versions of a game in 2017. If this is the case, the Switch could very well go the route of the Wii U and fizzle out quickly.

“You saw the lineup — I don’t even remember — 30 publishers are supporting the Nintendo Switch? It was a big number,” Pachter added. “So the question is, are they supporting it with NBA 2K8, or are they supporting it with FIFA 18?”

We’ll find out closer to the Switch’s launch, but conflicting reports from the Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki and Eurogamer make it unclear exactly how much power difference we’ll see — the portable configuration’s screen could sport a 1080p display, and not the 720p display that many had assumed.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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