Halo: Master Chief Collection would be a perfect port for Nintendo Switch

It's been nearly two decades since the first Halo game released on the original Xbox. Feel old yet? With Halo Infinite on the horizon and anticipation in the air, now would be an excellent time for the Master Chief Collection (opens in new tab) to get ported onto Nintendo Switch. I know it's never going to happen, but there are so many reasons why these classic games coming to the hybrid console would make sense.

First off, seeing as how the Master Chief Collection is pretty old at this point, getting the included games to run on a Switch wouldn't be that difficult. Hell, within the last couple years we've gotten ports of The Witcher 3 (opens in new tab), Doom (opens in new tab), the Borderlands Legendary Collection (opens in new tab), and Bioshock: The Collection (opens in new tab) on this device. It really doesn't seem far out there for Halo to be ported decently on the Switch. We wouldn't expect too much graphically (obviously), but the ability to play Halo's single-player campaigns or multiplayer on the go would be amazing. It would definitely help the hours pass during long airplane trips or car rides.

Speaking of multiplayer, Nintendo has basically become the local co-op gaming company within the last decade or so while Sony and Microsoft have drifted towards mostly online multiplayer with occasional couch co-op options. So, the local multiplayer aspects of these classic Halo games would feel at home on the Switch. Just think how great it would be for Switch owners who've never owned an Xbox console to play Halo while splitting their massive TV screen four ways with friends. Who knows, maybe it would even be possible for people to play together on their own screens while using a local connection.

Granted, Nintendo's online multiplayer capabilities really aren't that impressive compared to what's offered on Xbox One, so that part would be a gamble. However, the multiplayer aspects of some other ported games, including some of the ones listed above, have worked out decently well. It would just depend on how much effort Xbox Game Studios put into the online portions of the Switch port.

By restricting themselves solely to Xbox, the Halo games have been unable to reach some audiences. But bringing the Master Chief Collection to Switch would not only give long-time players who've never owned a Halo game access, but would also provide a way for younger players to experience the thrills for the first time. And the original games are so old that it wouldn't be as much of a hit for Microsoft if they were to create a port for these classics on another console.

It's all a pipe dream, I know, but classic Halo really ought to make its way to Nintendo Switch. The games are old enough that they'd probably run decently on Nintendo's gaming system, and the local co-op gaming sessions would feel so right on the hybrid console. There would likely be a few bumps as many ports haven't worked perfectly on Switch, but it would allow more people to engage with these extraordinary games and would probably increase interest in the upcoming Halo Infinite.