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Friday, November 13, 2020

Pacher Fails to Understand The Concept of the Switch

Several weeks ago, the net was all abuzz over the latest word blunders of industry analyst Michael Pachter. You may have heard of him. If you forgot all about him, I don't blame you. He wasn't taking up space in my brain until he divulged how much of an imbecile he could be showing that clearly, he does not understand the hybrid design of the Switch.

During an interview with GamingBolt, Pachter, in his *ahem* infinite wisdom said "I don't understand the whole hybrid concept... I don't think most people play in both modes, I would say that maybe 20% of Switch owners play both modes; and I think most Switch owners play it handheld only. So I honestly don't understand the whole point of the hybrid. Who Cares? Play it as a handheld."

Oh, but it gets better.

"And Nintendo isn't that smart," he went on, "so you never know what they will do next, but I think the smart thing would be to get rid of the Switch console and only have the Switch Lite, get rid of the docking station, get rid of playing on the TV; maybe offer a Fire Stick style dongle for those who do want to play it on the TV. But I just think that a portable-only Switch makes the most sense, it's the cheapest to make, and they could make the screen nicer and build quality better."

We've all heard someone say something really stupid. But man, that. THAT is some unprecedented levels of stupidity. 

Pachter doesn't get the hybrid concept of the Switch? How can he or anyone not "get" it? What the Switch does is in the name. When the system was revealed to the world in late 2016, Nintendo clearly communicated what the Switch was: a machine that you can switch from a console to a handheld effortlessly. That separates it from anything else currently available and continues to be a major appeal of the system. The Switch has been making money hand over first since day one. In the three plus years it has been on the market, the Switch has enjoyed record breaking sales with over 60 million units sold. 

I cannot chalk up Pachter's ridiculous thoughts on the Switch to the garbage year that 2020 has been. The year could have been the best ever and I could still see him saying something just as, if not more so moronic because he has a tendency to do that. 

Why would Nintendo gut one of the best features about the Switch? The fact that I can use it as a console and a handheld is a huge deal to me. I cannot speak for everyone but most of the time, I play my Switch docked but handheld mode does get some use from time to time. Making the Switch only a handheld just because Pachter has some dumb ideas is just that, dumb. For people that are always on the go, the Switch Lite probably seems like the better option. But for those of us that love the hybrid nature of the Switch, we have the model that let's us play on our TVs and play in handheld mode. Everyone wins. Well, except Pacther but who cares?

Oh and for all Nintendo's faults, they are a smart company. How do I figure? Well they aren't listening to Pachter so that tells you all you need to know.

Nintendo Switch Lite image from Wired

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