INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Release Date For Switch Not Likely: Michael Pachter Blames Nintendo’s Non-Mainstream Approach

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 05:28 PST, Nov 5, 2016

What does the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date have in common with the Nintendo Switch? Currently, they only share the day they were both announced, but according to Michael Pachter, an industry analyst at Wedbush Securities, that’s all they’re likely to share. Of course they’re both video game related, but that’s obvious.

Ever since the mainstream success of the original PlayStation, Nintendo has been fighting the urge to compete with a similar format. They have been using cartridges for a long time, save for their final semi-mainstream console GameCube. Even that one used smaller discs and a drive which spun in reverse, making it highly improbable for the average gamer to make pirated copies.

Now Nintendo has revealed the Switch, formerly known as the NX, and it successfully marries the concepts of mobile gaming and home consoles, making a core system which can be removed from a cradle and played almost like the later GameBoy series. In fact, you can play games on the Switch any way you want, even removing the controller sections from the portable screen.

One thing the Nintendo Switch isn’t likely to do, however, is play Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar’s latest addition to its killer IP Western series was designed for mainstream consoles and controllers. Rockstar has no plans to release it for PC either, according to GameRant.

Michael Pachter explained why RDR 2 isn’t likely to come to the Switch.

“I can’t remember any game other than – there was a GTA made for the DS, which came out in 2009. I’d be really surprised if they wasted their effort to port anything for Nintendo. I just think that Nintendo has wandered too far away from the mainstream for most of the publishers, so you’re just not getting mainstream games produced for Nintendo consoles- not ones made for other consoles, at any rate.”

One major problem with the idea is the controls. It’s like porting Mortal Kombat to a smartphone. You would have your fingers on the screen the whole time and probably won’t be able to see the action in a fighting game. Sure, you could watch the game’s AI fight itself, but that’s not as fun.

Playing an open world kind of game with the Switch’s controls would be a stretch, considering games these days often depend on several buttons to handle the full scope of the action. Controllers on major consoles have 10 main action buttons, not including the PS4 touch pad and the ones in the middle for menus and application control. The Switch simply doesn’t have enough buttons, so RDR 2 would have to be “dumbed down” to make it work.

As Pachter explained, there was a Grand Theft Auto made for the Nintendo DS, but it was simplified into a more action-style game from a bird’s eye view. Open world games require being able to see from the protagonist’s eyes and use target crosshairs to attack from a first-person perspective.

If the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date does eventually come to the Switch, you can expect it to be simplified even further than Red Dead Revolver. It simply won’t be the same and definitely not an online title like what’s currently heading to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year.

This could easily be the same reason why Nintendo hasn’t had much support from Ubisoft, one of the heavyweights in game development. Assassin’s Creed and anything Tom Clancy related would have to be changed into a different kind of game due to the control scheme.

At least Nintendo still has Super Mario and Zelda to rake in the money.

[Featured Image by Rockstar Games]

Share this article: ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Release Date For Switch Not Likely: Michael Pachter Blames Nintendo’s Non-Mainstream Approach
More from Inquisitr