Three Months of Switch: A Barely Scientific Comparison

How does it stack up?

The Nintendo Switch is off to a booming start, but some people think that the first party line-up is too sparse. So, I wanted to look into that claim, and evaluate the first few months of Switch compared to Nintendo’s other modern consoles. I looked at the release frequency, metacritic scores, and average play times of the games released in the opening months for Gamecube, Wii, and Wii U, as well as the Switch to really evaluate the beginning of this console’s life. A few important notes before we head in, these are the modern home Nintendo consoles, so I'm not looking into the NES, SNES, or the N64. Secondly, the metacritic score represents only the critical evaluation, the user scores were not counted. And finally, the average playtimes were sourced from Howlongtobeat.com, and represent the “completionist” time frame, as this early in the life of a console, players will try to get the most content out of their games.Without further ado, let’s head back to 2001.

It's a good thing Melee launched so early, there is a lot of
replay value here for new Gamecube owners

Beginning with the Gamecube, between November 18th, 2001-February 18th, 2002, Nintendo released four games. Luigi’s Mansion and Wave Race: Blue Storm released on launch day for the system (November 18). Then, on December 2nd, Pikmin was released. This was followed by Super Smash Bros. Melee just one day later on December 3rd. All of these games were positively received, earning metacritic scores of 78, 80, 89, and 92 respectively. In terms of playtime, Luigi’s Mansion and Pikmin were shorter games clocking in at around 8 hours and 10 hours respectively. Wave Race: Blue Storm took upwards of 30 hours to beat, though because it’s a racing game, the replay value is nearly infinite. Super Smash Bros. Melee had by far the most content, with around 131 hours of playtime to complete and unlock everything in the game. A Smash title really thrives in its replayability, and with the highest metacritic score of the four titles, it definitely kept players busy. Still, that game launched on December 3rd. That was the end of releases for quite a while. The next Nintendo developed game came in August, Super Mario Sunshine.

While not for me, Twilight Princess game Wii owners a
vast (and empty, but I digress) Zelda game to explore

The Wii is up next, and we’ll look at the stretch of time from November 19th, 2006-Febuary 19th, 2007. During this time, Nintendo released the most games for a console launch window at five. On launch day, (November 19th), Nintendo released Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, and Wii Sports. About two months later, on January 15th, WarioWare: Smooth Moves released. The final of the five was Wii Play, on Febuary 12th. While Nintendo was most prolific during this period, this created a dip in critical reception. Those titles earned metacritic scores of 95, 72, 76, 83, and 58 respectively. It’s also worth pointing out that Twilight Princess, the highest scoring game, also released on the Gamecube. While these scores aren’t that impressive for the most part, it’s hard to deny the fun to be had with a title such as Wii Sports. Nintendo also kept the pace pretty well, with their next release, Super Paper Mario, launching on April 9th. In terms of playtime hours, Twilight Princess could be squeezed for about 55 hours, while fellow launch titles held near endless replayability. WarioWare: Smooth Moves is similar to the latter two games, as its charm really comes out in party sessions, making it a bit hard to score it in terms of playtime, considering you can run through all its content in around 7 hours. Wii Play can see similar replayability in certain modes such as tanks, but it is a rather shallow package, and its content could be completed and forgotten about in around 11 hours. While the scores aren’t going to knock anyone out, the cadence of releases and sheer replayability make this a great start for the system, especially with the balance between singleplayer and multiplayer games.

While perhaps the best in the series, New Super Mario
Bros U felt very derivative 

The Wii U was a big departure from the Wii, as Nintendo only released two titles between November 18th, 2012-Febuary 18th, 2013. Both New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land launched with the console on November 18th, and well, that’s all she wrote. Nothing else was released during that period of time. In March, Nintendo co-developed Lego City Undercover, but the next true first party release was New Super Luigi U on June 20th. Not very impressive pacing. Still, the two games that were released scored pretty well, at averages of 84 and 77, respectively. New Super Mario Bros. U didn’t offer too much in the way of replayability, but it had around 25 hours of gameplay. Nintendo Land was much more replayable, at around 43 hours to beat all the attractions, but had many that could be played on end with friends. Wii U owners ended up left out in the cold for quite a number of months.

A great launch title, Breath of the Wild kept Switch owners
very busy as they waited for Mario Kart

Now, here comes the Switch. From March 3rd- June 3rd, Nintendo released three games. However, I’m going to fudge the rules just slightly to include ARMS in the opening months of the Switch. Launching on June 16th, ARMS is so close to the window that I’m going to slip it in. I’d have done the same with the other consoles if their next release had been this close as well. On launch day, Nintendo released both 1-2 Switch, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Again, just like Twilight Princess, it needs to be noted that Breath of the Wild launched simultaneously on the Wii U. The next release came on April 28th, in the form of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Again, this one is a port, but it was a port done correctly. The battle mode adds a whole new way to play, and thus a lot of content not present in the Wii U version of the game. And then, there’s ARMS, as I spoke to above. Nintendo is also working hard to keep the momentum of the system, with Splatoon 2 launching on July 21st, a mere month after ARMS. These games also reviewed quite well on the whole. 1-2 Switch was an anomaly, with a metacritic average of 58. The other games fared much better, with scores of 97, 92, and 77 respectively. You also got a lot of bang for your buck with these Switch games. 1-2 Switch, provided you with a lot or a little replay value, depending on whether you pulled this game out during gatherings or not. Breath of the Wild proved to be the most expansive Zelda game, with around 160 hours of gameplay, if you wanted to see and do everything the game had to offer. Mario Kart 8 and ARMS both offered some things in the way of unlockables and progression, with limitless replayability.

Gamecube owners had to wait until August 25th for the next
first party Nintendo game

Now that we have the stats out of the way, how does the Switch stand up against the other consoles? Well, the Gamecube is up first. With an average metacritic score of 84.75, the Gamecube’s titles just outscored the Switch’s titles by way of consistency. Still, with an average score of 81, the Switch was very close behind, and hit higher highs than the Gamecube, but also hit lower lows. Still, I really cannot commend the Gamecube for its launch simply because of how inconsistent it is. After Melee in December, Nintendo fans had to wait a whole eight months for the next first party title. That is a bit ridiculous. With such close review scores, I have to give this one to the Switch, which sports a much more consistent release schedule.

Warioware Smooth Moves was a lot of fun and also
demonstrated the Wii's gimmicks in a fun way

In terms of the Wii, this is a real toss-up. The Wii’s launch window games had an average review score of 76.8, being the lowest scorer of the bunch. Still, I have to commend the Wii and actually give it the leg up over the Switch. The Wii provided players with a good mix of single player content with games like Twilight Princess and Excite Truck, but also gave players great multiplayer experiences as well. Then, with Super Paper Mario being just two months after Wii Play, Nintendo kept up the momentum for the console. You also cannot deny the revolution and pure fun that came out of Wii Sports. While the set of games on the Switch are of a higher overall quality, the games and concepts from the Wii launch were much fresher, and did not rely on other console’s games to begin their life cycle.

Nintendo Land is an excellent game, but it cannot support
a whole console 

The Wii U clearly loses to not only the Switch, but the other two consoles as well. For as much fun as Nintendo Land was, there just weren’t enough games to support a player looking for first party experiences. The Switch’s games have much more meat on their bones, and games such as Breath of the Wild and ARMS provided fresh experiences. Something that cannot be said of the only other Wii U title, New Super Mario Bros U.

There we have it, the Switch’s opening months eclipse both the Gamecube and the Wii U, and the console is just barely edged out by the Wii. I think Nintendo should be commended for the opening of the Switch’s life, even if it has relied on the Wii U for one of its tent-pole first party releases during its infancy. Usually picking up a Nintendo console at launch has meant a stretch of nothingness, as the big N winds up to release games down the line. However, I’d recommend to everyone interested, that they jump into the Switch right now, because Nintendo has been consistently sending out new content and they aren't slowing down..