Nintendo Switch News and Discussion Thread

[Nicolai]

This is such a great idea, and its going to be hugely popular. This is probably the first time a game console has properly competed with phones and tablets by being both on-the-go and multiplayer through a single device, while being hardware-heavy. It may actually be a serious contender to smartphone/tablet games by capturing one of the main appeals of those devices.

That's not to say it will completely overrun that market, cuz smartphone and tablet games have the appeal of simply being on something you already own. But I'm sure there's a big desire for a powerful Nintendo device with the same conveniences.

 

[Jamie]

Doesn't look bad, but I wasn't fond of the trailer...it's basically people trying to take a ridiculously large "handheld" and play it in unrealistic situations:

-I can't even play a 3DS while walking my dog. This would likely result in me landing on my face...
-I'm not going to be gaming when other people are trying to socialize with me. That's rude. It's worse than texting on a date.
-Why would I bring my console to a back alley? Seriously, that's just begging to be mugged.
-"Hey guys, let's stop playing basketball so we can play a video game of basketball." Seriously? Come on. XD
-Doing it while being driven on a plane is the only realistic one...and...maybe a car if it's for 3 hours or something. But very situational.

Also where are the kids and teens? ...The people who are most likely to buy this. How about show a kid gaming during recess? That's the most realistic situation I could see this being used.

I plan to buy it and I'm sure it'll be great, but from a business perspective this looks like a bust. It seems like a full repeat of the Wii U. Poorly marketed with many people thinking it's just an accessory to the Wii U, horribly underpowered, and complete with a gimmick that will likely turn 3rd parties away in the long run.

And apparently they might not even be getting Skyrim according to Bethesda's tweet that they currently have no planned titles for the Switch. ...Yeah, I'm sure that's not going to piss anyone off. I don't even like Skyrim and even I recognize it was a ridiculously stupid move to dangle it like that without any guaruntee that it will be on the system.

I would bet a copy of the Switch that Skyrim is coming out for it. It just isn't announced and Bethesda noted that. Of course it's coming out for the Switch. Not even Nintendo is that stupid.

 

[DarkestLink]

On one hand..."Yes, of course, Nintendo is going to make sure Skyrim comes to the Switch after showing it."...but on the other hand..."Why wouldn't they just make it official then? They heavily suggested it was coming and a lot of gamers are looking forward to it....there's no logical reason not to announce it."

 

[RolyPoly-Rampage]

To me it basically looked like the Wii U on steroids. It seems as though you can take it with you just like you would a 3ds. This really in itself would be revolutionary. I've always wanted the opportunity to play full on console games on a portable unit. There is also the possibility that it could be too gimicky for it's own good with the whole slide in and out of the controller and tablet thing. Seems like it could cause some issues. Either way I am super excited for it and am going to pre-order one as soon as I can.

 

[Robert Jonas]

It looks cool, but a bit fragile. Well, since it's a Nintendo console I'm getting it!

Even though it looks a bit fragile remember that Nintendo has had crazy standards in the past for how durable their consoles are so unless they had a big change of heart it'll be fine.

To me it basically looked like the Wii U on steroids. It seems as though you can take it with you just like you would a 3ds. This really in itself would be revolutionary. I've always wanted the opportunity to play full on console games on a portable unit. There is also the possibility that it could be too gimicky for it's own good with the whole slide in and out of the controller and tablet thing. Seems like it could cause some issues. Either way I am super excited for it and am going to pre-order one as soon as I can.

The slide in/out gimmick is something that it totally optional. If you never want to take it out you most like won't have to bar an indie title going risky.

 

[pyjamas5189]

As wonderful as this console is and regardless of how much I want one it's going to be a while until I have the money to comfortably buy it and get through the month. I'm normally a console behind so at least I might be able to get a second hand wii u fairly cheap to play botw

 

[Nicolai]

@DarkestLink, I gotta say, if they show Skyrim running on the system and they don't actually end up porting it, it's gonna be one of the biggest PR f*** ups in my memory. I, for one, am really looking forward to Skyrim on Switch, as so far, I've only been able to experience Skyrim on friend's consoles.

 

[Emrys412]

So I scoured this video trying to find every small detail and here's what I found. We'll start with the big ones
•3 controllers with several uses each
-regular controller
For at home gameplay (with friends if you have spares)
It's controls consist of a, b, y, x, two analog sticks, shoulder buttons, start (+), select (-), home and a small unknown button.

-square controller
Also for home but uses the sticks rather than a regulate button layout (probably if you prefer those controls vs the regular controller.

-gamepad controller
A screen with the two stick controllers. The controllers come off and the gamepad has a kickstand if you want to place it on a table or something and don't want to hold the pad itself. The sticks can also be used for two players. Aside from both stick controllers (see below) the gamepad has two shoulder buttons, buttons across the top (most likely power and volume) a cartridge slot, and a headphone jack (better than iPhone 7!)

•The sticks
These are two controller buttons layouts that can be removed or rejoined as you wish. They each have identical button layouts of a, b, y, x, an analog stick, and two shoulder buttons.

===Less obvious features===
•The transition from TV to mobile is instantaneus, simply remove the gamepad.
•No stylus was shown and you're not able to use the gamepad at home. This means no touchscreen which means no compatibility with Wii U games whatsoever .
•One stick has a miniscule D-pad and the other a minuscule - button, I have no idea what these are
•In the car sequence where they play Mario Kart it shows them sliding the pad into some holder of sorts. It may come with the device or it may be sold separately but at least you don't have to hold it.
======shown games======
•Zelda BoTW
•Mario Kart
•NBA 2K(17?)
• an Elder SCROLLS game?
•a new Mario 64-esque style game.
•Splatoon 2


Overall I'm very excited for this console. The only thing I'm unsure of is battery life and controlling something like Mario Kart with one stick. What are your opinions?

The mini d-pad is the + button (start) the - button is select.

 

[DarkestLink]

@DarkestLink, I gotta say, if they show Skyrim running on the system and they don't actually end up porting it, it's gonna be one of the biggest PR f*** ups in my memory.

I don't even like Skyrim and I agree...and with that said, I would think Nintendo would make damn sure they get it, and yet...I can't help question why it wouldn't be confirmed at this point. Why isn't Nintendo on top of this? Are they just trying to give off the illusion of having more 3rd party support than they really have? There's no business sense in delaying and confirming the release if they plan to do it at all.

 

[the8thark]

Call the Switch a home console.
Then show off the Switch in a video where 90% of the video is showing the Switch being used outside of the home.

So Nintendo considers inside a plane, in the car and a basketball court as being the home now?

*******************

Also this means RIP the VC of any games that requite two screens (that can't be done split on the same screen) because this is a single scteen experience. A shame as a few WiiU games would have made great Switch selects titles. But yeah no dual screen capability RIPs them.

 

[Nicolai]

Also this means RIP the VC of any games that requite two screens (that can't be done split on the same screen) because this is a single scteen experience. A shame as a few WiiU games would have made great Switch selects titles. But yeah no dual screen capability RIPs them.

Yeah... It's definitely a weird and sad change, but even though Nintendo consoles have always contained every feature included in previous consoles (the one exception being analog triggers), at the same time you've got to remember that the plausibility of it is getting more and more complicated with every new console. It was wild how the Wii U supported everything the Wii and the DS could do. At somepoint, Nintendo had to realize that, for the sake of moving forward, they couldn't include everything in a device trying to master being affordable, powerful, and portable all at once.

Sony and Microsoft realized it when they decided against backwards compatibility for the PS4/Xbox One, even though backwards compatibility was way more feasible on their devices than for Nintendo to try to include the Wii U's features. But hey, corporations have to decide what features will sell.

 

[Lozjam]

I don't even like Skyrim and I agree...and with that said, I would think Nintendo would make damn sure they get it, and yet...I can't help question why it wouldn't be confirmed at this point. Why isn't Nintendo on top of this? Are they just trying to give off the illusion of having more 3rd party support than they really have? There's no business sense in delaying and confirming the release if they plan to do it at all.

Using this logic,
Why haven't they officially confirmed Mario Switch, Mariokart 8 Switch, Spla2n, NBA Jam. This is because games weren't really the focus of the 3 minutes. Once we get a direct/conference, likely airing in January, we will know a lot more.

Call the Switch a home console.
Then show off the Switch in a video where 90% of the video is showing the Switch being used outside of the home.

So Nintendo considers inside a plane, in the car and a basketball court as being the home now?

*******************

Also this means RIP the VC of any games that requite two screens (that can't be done split on the same screen) because this is a single scteen experience. A shame as a few WiiU games would have made great Switch selects titles. But yeah no dual screen capability RIPs them.

Dual screen gaming didn't really work, especially with home consoles.

Like Star Fox Zero? Yeah, no that didn't work. But really, don't you find it odd that the few games that did very well on the system, used the Gamepad in such a limited fashion. This often relegated the Gamepad to a map screen really.

Even titles such as Mario Maker.... The dual screen didn't make it important at all. It was the touch screen, of which the Nintendo Switch does have, that made them important.

I mean, looking at the most popular and fondly praised Wii U games right now:
Xenoblade Chronicles X: The game pad was relegated to the map. They can easily have a map button, and clean up the UI to work everything better.
Smash 4: Didn't really use a dual screen mechanic at all
Splatoon: This was a map.
Super Mario 3D World: Didn't use the Gamepad except for a few gimmick levels.
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze: Didn't use absolutely anything.
Pokken Tournament: Didn't do anything
Bayonetta 2: completely optional touch screen controls.
Hyrule Warriors: Used a map
The list goes on an on.

Dual screens on the Wii U console didn't work. The few games that used this mechanic didn't work. Touch screens made the Wii U somewhat interesting. But the Nintendo Switch has a lot of what does actually work.

DS virtual console will still be possible as well. As it can create the 2 screens within the portable portion of the NS.

 

[Azure Sage]

Call the Switch a home console.
Then show off the Switch in a video where 90% of the video is showing the Switch being used outside of the home.

So Nintendo considers inside a plane, in the car and a basketball court as being the home now?

What? I would think it's obvious that they're showing off its portable capability. It's a home console with the ability to be portable. We don't need to see what a home console can do because it's obvious, you play it on the TV. There isn't much else to it than that. What they needed to focus on was the Switch's unique characteristics. Why would they not focus on that in a trailer designed to show off what it can do?

 

[DarkestLink]

Using this logic,
Why haven't they officially confirmed Mario Switch, Mariokart 8 Switch, Spla2n, NBA Jam. This is because games weren't really the focus of the 3 minutes. Once we get a direct/conference, likely airing in January, we will know a lot more.

In order:

Belongs to Nintendo.

Belongs to Nintendo.

Belongs to Nintendo.

Likely because nobody cares or because EA didn't go on twitter and say they had no current intentions of making the game for the Switch.

 

[Zora the Greek]

I know the basketball thing seems weird, but it's actually right on point. Many people who like to play sports, also like playing their video game counterparts. It's common to finish a game, then go home and hop on 2K and continue to compete there. Also about your point with the Wii: the market just isn't there anymore. Nintendo intentionally kept children/kids out of the reveal cause they (hopefully) learned that their main audience isn't kids or 'non-gamers' anymore. That market has moved on to Apple and Samsung products. I don't think the reveal backfired because they weren't trying to spread the message of a 'family together' console. They did that with the Wii U and it failed miserably. The message is direct to/for gamers. It's pretty much telling us that we don't have to stop gaming if we don't want to anymore, and that's awesome.

Oh, yeah. I totally get that. It's not an objective criticism - I know I'm not the target market anymore, but it still makes me sad. I suppose the problem with catering to "casual anything" is that by the very nature of our casual investment, we're just not going to spend a lot. Catering to a family like mine that will only buy one or two games ever isn't a sustainable market-base. But I enjoyed it while it lasted.