I still remember standing in line at a Target in Iowa for the launch of the Nintendo Wii . I got the next to last ticket for the system which I grabbed and rushed to work only about five minutes late. I skipped lunch that day in favor of going to Best Buy to pick up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess . More than one employee asked if I already had the system. Setting up that night Wii Sports entertained and Zelda mesmerized as the series often will. The system was simple and fun and allowed for easy access to even casual gamers. As the years passed Nintendo lost focus, stopped getting unique third party games and by the time they announced the Wii U, a disaster on many fronts, I had moved completely into Xbox 360 gamer and Playstation 3 world.
So I’m surprised by my excitement for the Switch press conference next Thursday. But there it is.
I can not wait to stay up late to watch a stream of a press conference happening at Nintendo of Japan for the latest (and all signs point to last if a failure Nintendo console) The Switch.

Here’s five things Nintendo needs to do get me in on launch day.

1: Price point. The machine needs to come in at under $300. Anything above that is a joke as the much more powerful and robust PS4 and Xbox one’s are lower than that and Xbox’s successor Scoprio on the horizon for next year. If this machine tops $400 its dead on arrival. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was though.

2: Games. Solid launch lineup. We know were getting The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and possibly a Mario game or the rumored Rabbids/Mario Rpg. But what has doomed many nintendo systems is a launch with just five or six games and then nothing for months. This thing needs ten retail games at launch to be a hit and a robust digital library day one to matter to the gaming audience. Gone are the days you can sell a system with Zelda and Mario alone.

3: Proof on an online system. I’m as solid as a single “Campaign” player as you will find. That being said Nintendo’s online system is a joke compared to it’s competition. I’d gladly pay $50 a year for a reliable service especially if it follows the Playstation Plus or Games with Gold model of providing free games with the service. They could even be…..

4: Games from legacy systems. There is no reason we can’t have a large library of Nintendo classics day 1 as they are all small roms at this point and easy to emulate.

5: This is the last thing but I think it’s important. Don’t overestimate your own hype Nintendo and make a plan not just for year one, or even year two. Sony has first party games in development for release into 2020 and beyond. I imagine Microsoft does as well. If your Nintendo with your vast array of characters, classic game franchises and legacy systems, you should have a plan if you want this to succeed that goes beyond coming out of the gate strong.

I’m excited to see the next step for Nintendo, especially in the middle of Sony and Xbox fighting for the most power. Sometimes it’s the unique team from Japan that ends up winning. It happened before with the Wii, and couldn’t hurt gaming if it did again.