Nintendo recently held a Nintendo Switch event in New York, following the company's event Thursday where key details of its forthcoming flagship hybrid console were revealed.
The event ushered in fortunate folks who were able to try a slew of titles for the Nintendo Switch, one of them Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Shortly after, and to no one's surprise, system-captured gameplay videos surfaced online, proliferating YouTube en masse. With these video also came side-by-side comparison clips pitting the Wii U version of the game and the Switch. So which version of the game is better?
Differences Between Wii U And Switch Versions Of Breath Of The Wild
Turns out, save for primarily cosmetic touch-ups, the two versions don't really hold a lot of differences, and if they do, it's not something significant that alters the game to such an extent that it becomes a selling point.
Truth is, the Switch features crisper visuals, more vivid colors, and visibly more subtle details — muddier and fuzzier on the Wii U — that just hands it a better oomph in terms of eye candy, but beyond the moderate visual disparity, not a lot has changed — or at least that's the conclusion gleaned from Wii U demos of the game culled from E3 and 20-minute Switch demos uploaded recently.
The comparison mirrors a similar one back when Twilight Princess was released for the Wii and the GameCube. The game looked virtually identical across the two platforms, but the Wii version eclipsed the GameCube version in terms of sales, according to Forbes.
Still, keep in mind that Breath of the Wild was originally slated for the Wii U. Even if we don't know when Nintendo started developing it for the Switch, it's still safe to say that the decision came at a time when the game had already been brewing. What this means is that the Switch version may not be wholly representative of the system's graphical performance, given that the developers of the game didn't build it for the Switch from the ground up.
Anyhow, the Switch is still a ripe platform, and the longer it stays out in the market, the more developers can tinker with it and, in turn, learn how to properly design and code games for it from the ground up.
Breath Of The Wild Release Date
It's still a wonderful thing that Nintendo decided to release the game on the Wii U instead of just yanking it away from the system entirely. While the embattled console has had a very troubling stint in the home console market, it's good to know that its farewell coda at least includes a proper Zelda adventure.
The game has suffered an inordinate amount of delays, which was welcomed, needless to say, with a chorus of dismay from fans frustrated at its plod through development. That will be quenched come March 3, when the game finally hits shelves both for the Wii U and the Switch, with the latter console concurrently hitting shelves as the game.
Which system will you get the game for, the Wii U, or the Switch? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
