Last week, Nintendo finally showed off its new console, the Nintendo Switch . During the reveal event, Nintendo said more than 80 Switch games are currently in development from multiple publishers, both big and small.

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“ Unless you’re willing to think about something unconventional, it’s going to be hard to break ground.

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“ This is our way of showing we’re going to be there. We’re supporting the platform.

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Among those publishers is EA, which announced a new version of FIFA headed to Switch. In the wake of that reveal, IGN spoke to EA’s executive vice president Patrick Soderlund, a self-professed Nintendo fan whose son’s middle name is Luigi , about why EA is supporting Switch at launch.“We’ve been with Nintendo for a very long time,” Soderlund told IGN, pointing out both EA’s history with Nintendo platforms and his own. “I’m a Nintendo fanboy since I grew up. Nintendo is the reason I got into gaming.”According to Soderlund, Nintendo’s consistent pushing of boundaries is what draws him to the company, and why he thinks they’ve continued to stand out.“They’ve done that in the past to great success, and sometimes not so much, but I think unless you’re willing to think about something unconventional, it’s going to be hard to break ground.”“Nintendo forces us to think differently,” he continued, adding that Switch “challenges conventions," and, "as game makers, makes us think about the platform in a different way.”As for why EA chose to start with FIFA specifically, Soderlund explained that he feels it’s the brand with the widest appeal.“It’s our biggest brand,” he said. “It’s the brand that spans across the most markets. It’s the brand that spans the biggest age demographic. It’s a mass market proposition. It’s a game a lot of people want to play.”Still, Soderlund says FIFA may be just the beginning, adding, “this is our way of showing we’re going to be there. We’re supporting the platform. We are not announcing anything [else] yet, but you can expect us to be there once the platform launches and takes off.”“We have the benefit of being a platform agnostic company,” he continued. “We will be at whatever platform the consumers are. New hardware is always a positive for our industry. It allows us to push forward.”“I think it can, I hope it will,” he told us. “There’s no denying [smartphones are] the biggest platform today. That’s not going to change in the foreseeable future. But I think the types of game experiences you can get on the Switch will be different than what you can get on a smartphone. The power of it and the types of games will, I hope, bring a renewed interest in portable gaming. That’s what I hope.”Soderlund said, aside from FIFA, the game he’s most looking forward to playing on Switch is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild “It’s on the top of my list for 2017 as one of the games I’m looking forward to the most,” he said. “I’ve played every single Zelda since the first one. And having completed all of them, even if I forget about my job, just as a gamer, from what I’ve seen and what I’ve played, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.” later this year .” For everything else announced during the Nintendo Switch event, including a full Nintendo Switch pre-order guide , check out our wrap up of all of the big Nintendo Switch announcements

Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and can’t stop pre-ordering Switch accessories. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter