Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@WanderingBullet: I figured as much with the way they worded it.

@Tasuki: Do you think that they'll eventually (maybe in 2018) make certain actual Switch games free to play instead of just NES or SNES games?

@Octane I remember hearing about Nintendo losing profits, so maybe that is a big reason. Investing in a better system may not pay off for them. Though now that I type that, it's a bit weird to me that they'd rather bank on the Switch, which isn't a conventional gaming device.

@get2sammyb Agreed. Those four titles bring quite a haul of cash wherever they go, and they have no association with Nintendo what so ever. It proves just how bad the lack of 3rd party games has been for them. Because of that, they really can't gain headway in the console market.

@Tasuki Tis a fair point. I can vouch that my generation aren't familiar with Nintendo at their best, and the ones that are either grew up with a hand-me-down SNES or are hardcore gamers like us. I seriously know maybe five people my age that have played Pre-Gamecube Nintendo games. That's a shame in of itself, but it shows how far Ninty has fallen these days. The "kiddy game" stigma doesn't help either.

@WanderingBullet: Maybe if they see that their "rental" program isn't working. Of course I would say yes because MS and Sony do that, but lately it seems that whatever they do Nintendo is obligated to do the opposite. Maybe next Gen they will do that.

After the Switch event I'm confident we are gonna be playing Mario on PS4 by 2018 at the latest

The Switch presentation was ok, but I won't get it day one. That Mario game looks pretty awesome though. I'll probably get the Switch when that game comes out.

They've confirmed it now. No voice chat. You have to do all your matchmaking and communication through a separate app on your phone.

Edit: And just in case you're interested, here's Nintendo's reasoning behind not having voice chat in the Switch, with a little bonus explanation as to why they're not using Street Pass just for fun.

Or they could offer both options and let the players choose, you know, that would be convenient...

On retrospect, I think the issue is that this console is doing too much. I think the mobile/home console idea was actually a nice little niche - Sony/MS aren't going to intrude and the Switch could happily sit next to either a PS4 or XB1 on a tv stand. I think developers could make money back on porting releases across to an almost mobile platform. Plus, Nintendo first party games are, on the whole, excellent additions as opposed to competitors for Sony/MS games. If they could have kept the price low, I could have seen it doing good and steady business - enough to keep publishers onboard. I can see a lot of family's being interested - a game platform that can keep kids quiet at home AND in the car? Cheaper than a new PS4 or XB1? Family friendly titles? All really good unique selling points.

That is what I thought the point of the Switch was. However, the presentation was showing complicated features that you just know aren't going to be supported by many developers. Movement controllers? Online MP via a WIFI network? Split controls? Pay to play online? Mobile apps to support it? The price was not cheap and extras to get all the features do cost more.

I love Nintendo - the Wii U and 3DS are the only Nintendo consoles I haven't owned and I liked the concept but I will just need to wait till prices drop.

For around the £200 mark, you can buy a 3DS XL or Vita. Both of these offer portability of course and the Vita links up with your PS and can benefit with free games via IGC. Neither of these though offer the same power or potential that the Switch does. Pricing it that low would affect sales of the 3DS no doubt. You can buy an Xbox One or PS4 for the same money but then lose out on the portability and flexibility - something that doesn't bother me personally. In a 'family' situation, you are not limited to playing at home and only if no-one else wants to use the TV. If the parents decide you are having to go with them somewhere but you wanted to at least reach the next level/checkpoint etc, you can simply just take the console out of the dock and continue. As an adult, maybe you want to play in bed or if the other half/kids are watching TV, you can still play. Maybe for a lot though, this isn't an issue or something that crops up.

Cost wise its not that much more than the WiiU and yet offers more in a lot of ways so whilst I do think it seems expensive compared to Sony/MS consoles, its not that expensive compared to a regular handheld or even Nintendo's current home console. I do wonder whether or not it will be successful but again that depends on how you define success or more importantly how Nintendo will define success. We know that PS4 is selling far more consoles than Xbox One but the Xbox One isn't a failure either - its still sold more units than the XB360 managed in the same time frame. I bet if you asked MS if they would take the sales figures it has had before launching, they would. Compared to the PS4 it may seem a failure but I still think both can be considered a success. Maybe the WiiU was a success for Nintendo, maybe they see it as a failure. We don't know whether or not they expected or counted on more sales in its lifetime. Its like a Kickstarter asking for a £1m - if they get £10m its a success, if they get £1.5m its still a success. If they get £500k its a failure. Maybe Nintendo only hoped to reach 10m people with the WiiU and therefore was a success to them - even though both the XB1 and PS4 outsold it. If they hoped to reach the same sales figures as the Wii though, its a big failure.

Most devices/products etc have a starting price. However, most products will tend to find their 'right' price over time - a price that sells. Most new products do start 'expensive' because its not just the cost of the components (which will drop over time generally) but the cost of all the years of research and development, the cost of patents, the cost of dev kits, cost of advertising, shows, demo/review units etc etc. Its not just the hardware though that can bring in an income to offset that as game sales will help which is another reason why prices will drop. Nintendo may have to drop the price down and forego some of replacing the R&D costs via the console and get it back via the games instead.

Someone spoke about Nintendo quitting as a 'console' manufacturer. I don't necessarily think they should. In someways though the Switch is a sign that they are not looking to compete as a Home console maker. In terms of sales, MS and Sony can only dream of selling as many consoles as Nintendo have if you look at their Handheld sales. In many ways, this is the evolution of the handheld and keeping a foot (or toe) in the home console market too. Its more a handheld that can be docked to a TV and a lot of the talk was about portable and table-top gaming with the added bonus of docking it to play on a big screen in a 'home' console fashion. I don't think Nintendo want to market it this way because of the effect it may have on its 3DS XL but that's essentially what it is. A device to take on tablets/mobiles with the added bonus of replacing the WiiU when at home.

Sorry if all ready posted.

Accessories prices are ridiculous.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/13/official-nintendo-swit...

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller — $69.99
Joy-Con Controller Sets — $79.99
Individual L/R Joy-Con Controllers — $49.99
Joy-Con Charging Grip — $29.99
Nintendo Switch Dock Set — $89.99
Joy-Con Wheel (Set of 2) — $19.99

@KratosMD: Yeah, I agree. It's true for all companies. In a way I agree with people that PC is looking like a better platform every time something like this happens. It's as if the console manufacturers want some kind of monopoly on how we enjoy games. ''This is the way you're going to enjoy it''. I would love to see what happens if one of them starts to become more versatile and allow for a multitude of options instead of what they think is best.

The worst part is definitely the fact that Nintendo is asking us to pay for their online servers this time around, and they still require you to use your own network for voice chat. What kind of backwards thinking is that? People always told me that the reason for the lack of voice chat on Wii U was the free servers, would be too expensive otherwise. Now you need to pay and they're telling you to use alternative means to use voice chat. So weird, don't understand it at all..

@Splat: Pro Controller should've been $50 or $60 at most, and those Joy-Cons should've been 30 a piece and 50 for both. At that price I'd be willing to pick up another set, but no way I'm going to pay $70 or $80 for a second controller. The one that baffles me most is the dock; $90!? For what? A plastic shell that has a USB-C to HMDI 1.4 and AC cable splitter? That's all? Maybe it's not surprising considering they're selling plastic wheels for the Joy-Cons for $20.

@BAMozzy: You can buy an oled vita for £90, real life humans need a grip £10, the a 32gb memory card £70. So your not far wrong. £170 a fully prepped vita. Difference is the library of acclaimed games for a pittance.

@themcnoisy: You can buy an OLED Vita for £90 but that's not the current latest version. The latest one though is a lot more expensive. You can also buy cheaper DSXL's too but I was comparing the price with the latest versions.

@Tasuki: Yeah, I also think its important how much they decide to price the online subscription.

The Switch's internal storage is only 32GB but the Legend of Zelda's game is 13.2GB if you plan on downloading the digital version.

I have real concerns about this system. It obviously has close to zero third party support. The launch line-up is abysmal. Online isn't ready. It's going to be six months before Mario hits. At least. The Switch is more expensive than a PS4 or Xbox One and those come with a game (or more than one) and huge libraries and communities you're able to access. You can take the Switch on a bus if you want to though, so that's alright. It doesn't really balance out, does it?

I am interested in picking up the Switch for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I didn't buy a Wii U. It looks like the Switch will be getting a number of remasters so the library will be larger for me than it would for a current Wii U owner. Secondly, with the portable and home console developers focusing their efforts on one console, the game library should grow at a faster rate than in previous generations.

My concerns are a little petty to be honest - but the issues still resonate with me personally. First of all, I would really like some kind of trophy support. I know it's daft, but it seems like such an easy thing to implement I wouldn't understand it if Nintendo left it out. I enjoy trophy hunting in games I enjoy - There, I said it! Secondly, the power of the console would mean it would still be better to buy 3rd party games on other platforms. This may have an effect on developer support.

I will preorder today most likely with the option to cancel as a when we begin to see the full picture.

@johncalmc: @Shellcore: Like I said, the Switch is a portable WiiU in essence. Its also a bit more powerful when docked to increase the visuals presentation as the screen is most likely going to be much bigger and higher resolution than the 6.2" 720p screen the Switch uses. If you were to blow up the portable image without increasing the visuals, it would look a lot worse.

Yest the console is more expensive than an XB1 or PS4 but look at the price of a brand new 3DS XL, Vita and even the WiiU itself. The Switch isn't that much more than all of these yet combines them all into one console - as well as features from the Wii. Its cheaper than a lot of tablets/smartphones too.

Its possible that the Switch could have a much greater library of games than either of the rivals will. Nintendo have a massive library of games going right back to the 80's. Maybe the games won't all be 'new' and built for the Switch but you could have NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii and WiiU games as well as Gameboy and DS games.

3rd Party support could come in number of ways. I doubt very much that the latest AAA games will be ported to the Switch so don't hold out hope that you will get the same games available, with the same content as the PS4/XB1. They could scale some of this down to fit but more likely, the Switch could get PS3/XB360 era games and some of the 'Arcade/indie' style games from big publishers - like Assassins Creed: Chronicles, Child of Light, Trials etc as well as any 'mobile/tablet' games they may have. Minecraft is coming for example and maybe some of telltales games and no doubt Lego games will be on Switch as well as PS4/XB1 but I can't see games like Mass Effect, Call of Duty, Battlefield etc (at least not like they will be on PS4/XB1). Fifa is coming but I doubt it will be as extensive or visually impressive as the other console version will be but then you can play this on the bus or with friends anywhere - not just sat at home in front of a TV. With the touchscreen, the motion controllers and IR camera (not sure if the switch has a built in camera which could be used for games like Pokemon Go), this could give 3rd Party developers more options. Games they were designing for tablets for example could now come to Nintendo too because of the touchscreen. So you may not get RDR2, Cyberpunk, Assassins Creed 7 (whatever they decide to call it) or whatever big AAA franchise you are looking forward to because of the power limitations of the Switch but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Switch can't or won't be getting any 3rd Party support. Chances are though that if you own a PS4 (especially Pro) or XB1 (or the upcoming Scorpio) you aren't going to buy many of the 3rd Party games if they also released on Switch - unless you spend more time gaming away from a TV. Would you buy Skyrim if you only game at home? I doubt it if you own the other consoles - even if you only have a 1080p TV, chances are it won't match the others visually and will be cheaper too on disc to cartridge. Not saying it will be ugly but I doubt it will look as sharp and may not offer the same draw distances or as high quality visual settings - like shadows, lighting etc either - of course we will see exactly when it releases but I wouldn't be surprised if its a 720p game on Switch. If Zelda, a game that looks far less complex, more 'empty' and less detailed visually (I know its the artstyle) can only manage 900p, I would be surprised if the 'remastered' Skyrim can manage more than 720p. Of course resolution is not a major part of gaming but given the choice, I think most people would buy the game on the platform that looks the best (if everything else was equal - like frame rates, social aspects, no need for portability etc). I have a PS4 Pro and XB1s and at the moment, I am far more likely to buy Single Player games on the PS4 Pro - online games other factors come into play like friends/family etc but SP its generally down to which looks and plays the best as everything else is the same.

What the Switch offers is a WiiU portable, a tablet/mobile gaming platform, an enhanced WiiU home console and Wii style controller options (as well as standard inputs) - it essentially combines a Vita, a Wii and WiiU into one versatile and relatively small package. Yes it is expensive compared to the other consoles but its more versatile even if it can't match up in terms of power and unlikely to get the big AAA 3rd party new releases - at least not to the same standards.

It doesn't appeal to me because I always game at home in front of my 4k HDR TV and its too expensive to buy for the few exclusives that appeal. I don't own a Wii so even if I wanted Zelda, I am not paying £280 for the console as well as £60 for the game. I am not buying a WiiU and paying £40 for it either...

@BAMozzy: But my concern, primarily, is that the Switch will struggle because the versatility of the system won't be appealing to enough people. They've sacrificed power for the sake of portability, which means third party support will, as a consequence, suffer. The only way they'll get strong third party support is if they sell enough units, and that means they're going to need a killer app. It doesn't look like they have one.

I'm just looking at this thing and I'm really expecting it to struggle. I don't think enough people will see the benefits. A Switch for £280, an extra controller for £70 and a game for £50. Online subscription if you're so inclined for whatever that costs. As a second console it's a pricey investment for what will probably only play a handful of games a year, and if you can only afford one console then either the PS4 or Xbox One will be cheaper and give you a lot more bang for your buck.

It's a seriously tough sell.