I don't know whether it's the fact that the controllers on this Nintendo Switch concept kind of remind me of the handle of a super soaker I had when I was a kid crossed with a pool float, or that the whole thing just gives me a bit of a 'Bop It' vibe, but this definitely feels like something I would have seen staring back at me from the local toy shop back in the 90s. There's something about the cylindrical controllers that takes me back to the days of finding toys in Onken yoghurts, foam baseball bats, and transforming toys.
In other words, my childhood.
This concept from Braz de Pina, who coincidentally happens to be the principal designer at Microsoft, is called the ISEKAI Deck_01. It looks futuristic in a sense, but again, the sense of the future that we thought we'd see back in the early 90s. Still, I'm not complaining as it's evoked more nostalgic memories for me this morning than I've had in the past month, so I'm here for it.
This Switch is far more modular than the unit we currently have, with detachable controllers that also allow the screen to be rotated while playing. It would be perfect for angling your console out of the sun when playing on holiday while still maintaining a comfortable grip. The purple shoulder buttons look super chunky; I can almost hear the sound that they would make and imagine how they would feel like from a full decade of playing with plastic toys like Weebles and tennis rackets I used to pretend were guitars.
The yellow sticks, along with those purple buttons, take me back to the days of the GameCube, and the white colour scheme brings the Wii to mind. So, in essence, Braz has managed to capture the spirit of multiple generations of Nintendo consoles in one concept. That's a pretty impressive feat!
Apart from the 1-4 buttons, I dig everything about this concept. Admittedly, I'm looking forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 more, which is arriving in a couple of days as I write this article, but still, it's a cool idea and one that shows a lot of ingenuity. It's also made me want to go back and search for Power Rangers swords for some reason, which could be very dangerous for my bank balance!
