Do you remember the Wii? That mythical console that Nintendo premiered in 2006 and became one of the biggest hits in its history thanks to its revolutionary ‘motion control’ controls. Perhaps you have forgotten, but this platform received one of the best-selling video games of all time —although also thanks to the fact that it was included—; we refer to Wii Sports, a product that had to wait 16 years to receive a direct sequel (and not a spin-off): Nintendo Switch Sports. Why so long the wait? The great N responds.
Nintendo Switch Sports was released exactly one month ago, on April 29, 2022, exclusively for the hybrid console. Like its predecessor, the game maintains the spirit of competition and sports activities in groups or as a couple.
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With Nintendo Switch Sports we can enjoy games of boxing, football, volleyball, tennis, cakes, badminton And till chambara (the classic sword fight). It’s pretty much the same idea that made Wii Sports famous, but with better controls, options, graphics, and more.
Wii Sports was included in the original release of the Wii in November 2006 (worldwide except Japan) and was the first title packaged with a console since Mario’s Tennis came with Virtual Boy in 1995.
Why has Nintendo Switch Sports taken so long to arrive?
In a recent question and answer session organized by Nintendo, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu Yamashita and Shinji Okane, all involved in the direction of Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Sports Club, Ring Fit Adventure and Nintendo Switch Sports.
In 2017, shortly after the release of Nintendo SwitchYoshiaki Koizumi, a senior executive at the company, commissioned Yamashita to create a new installment in the Wii Sports series.
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Regarding it, Yamashita states the following: “I thought that with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort we had already exhausted the ideas of sports combined with gameplay; therefore, I thought it would be difficult to make a new installment”.
That’s when the team became focused on creating something new no matter what comes out, and lost its way. Little by little, the project ended up moving away from the charm of Wii Sports. “We only realized this after many years,” reveals Yamashita. “We got so far that you almost didn’t have to move the Joy-Con to play anymore,” he added.
“Over time, we realized that we had to focus on making the ‘sports game easier to play’ and, therefore, we focused on an audience from 5 to 95 years old (…) We used artificial intelligence technology with neural networks so that the badminton rackets can determine the direction of the projectile, and so we were able to achieve 90 to 95% detection.”
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Nintendo Switch Sports vs Wii Sports: Graphic Evolution
Nintendo Switch Sports has been one of the hybrid console’s best-received recent releases. Like its predecessor, this title also has a fitness counterpart called Ring Fit Adventure, which allows users to exercise while having fun, just like Wii Fit (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto) for the Wii.
