Xbox Co-Creator Loves the Switch, Says Sony and Microsoft Shouldn't Imitate Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch is one of those special machines that you can't truly "get" until you actually own one. The beauty of the Switch doesn't really sink in until you spend all evening playing one of your favorite games, and then lift it out of the dock to take with you to bed. That experiences changes you, and it makes you want to tell everyone about it. Ed Fries, who co-created the original Xbox, recently gushed about his Nintendo Switch and how much he loves Nintendo Labo in an interview with Geekwire.

"When I first saw it," Fried recounts, "I thought it was creative, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be successful. Some of the ideas we had actually talked about at Xbox, like having controllers you could separate and hold in each hand. I first played Zelda on the Wii U and enjoyed the game, and thought, maybe I don't need a Switch. Eventually I buckled and got a Switch to play Mario, and I was really surprised how many different and creative ways they use the controllers, how they can be joined onto different supports, or you can separate them and hand them to another player and turn them sideways. It's something that's really won me over as a cool machine."

Fries also fell in love with Nintendo Labo when it was revealed. I think we all had that moment when watching the reveal trailer when we said "Wow, that's so Nintendo," and Fries shares that adoration. "I love how creative Nintendo is," he said. "Now they have this Nintendo Labo with the cardboard. When I saw that I thought, good for you Nintendo, I just love how they're always thinking outside the box. This cardboard thing ties into the whole maker movement, and it's great to have kids building something physical."

Fries no longer works with Microsoft, but he obviously is closely associated with the Xbox brand. It's interesting, then, that he thinks Microsoft needs to stay its course, and not try to replicate Nintendo's wildly successful approach. "I don't think the right thing for Microsoft or Sony to do is imitate Nintendo or try to be Nintendo. I don't think they'll succeed by being Nintendo. I think they've gotta figure out what it is that they do well and continue to do that well." He's a smart man, and that's smart business.

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(via GoNintendo)