Polygon has run an extensive interview was a number of developers to find out what they think about the Nintendo Switch which launches this Friday. A number of people are interviewed so I suggest checking out the full article here. For now here’s a few choice extracts:

Goichi Suda
(CEO, Grasshopper Manufacture, directing untitled Switch game)

I’ve worked with Nintendo on lots of different projects, and I think most of the time Nintendo does a good job of challenging developers with new ideas. … That’s kind of the essence of game design. So this time, I feel like Switch is new and offers something really interesting. … Being able to go from a handheld to a console hooked up to your TV is pretty cool and revolutionary. For example, a game like The Silver Case [an adventure game Suda is working on, which has not been announced for Switch] would be perfect because that’s something where the story makes you want to keep going and take it with you.

Yoshinori Ono
(Series producer, Street Fighter, overseeing Ultra Street Fighter 2 on Switch)

When Nintendo presented their concept for how to enjoy the Switch, I interpreted it as, “This is a platform where you don’t have to be restricted by opportunities, places and situations where you play games.” I’m sure there were a lot of creators and team members that felt the same way, so I imagine that inspired them to bring other popular games from the past back. … At the very least, that’s how Ultra Street Fighter 2 came to be. … Since Street Fighter 2 spread around the world on SNES … we thought it made perfect sense for us to develop Ultra Street Fighter 2 for the Switch and get as many players as we can to play Street Fighter 2 again on a Nintendo console.

Christian Svensson
(Chief Operating Officer, Sixfoot, publishing Rime on Switch)

Our reasons for [porting Rime] were we wanted to reach a broad audience, and it’s the type of game that feels like it belongs on a Nintendo platform. I don’t know that you could say that for every game out there. Everyone’s gotta have their own reasons for porting. From a technical perspective, the amount of work is not trivial. There are definitely easier platforms to get to. Without getting into details, a lot of it has to do with RAM limitations relative to the PS4 and Xbox One, as an example. So it’s a trickier — even notwithstanding processing differentials between those platforms. As far as why more people are doing it, here’s an obvious one: better support for certain engines. Obviously Unreal never existed on Wii U or 3DS, and it exists — or will more properly exist eventually — on Switch. … That’s a huge thing. I think there are certain tools that exist on Switch, for performance and optimization, that never existed on Nintendo platforms before. It’s a huge step forward on those fronts. So maybe that’s what’s giving developers a little more confidence to say, “You know what? We can figure this out. We’re not sort of feeling our way through the dark.”

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Filed under: Nintendo, Switch Tagged: developers, nintendo switch