Nintendo Switch Thread

[yourbeliefs]

I figured we should finally retire the Wii U thread from being a generic Nintendo thread, and that the NX deserves its own thread.

The NX is finally getting officially revealed at 10 AM EST on 10/20.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/19/13341216/nintendo-nx-reveal-date

 

[yourbeliefs]

The console has finally been revealed. It is called the Nintendo Switch, and as has been rumored for months, it is a portable and console hybrid. Reveal trailer here.



One thing worth noting is all the games shown being played. Looks like we're getting Mario Kart, a new regular Mario (That we can only hope is more like Galaxy as opposed to those 3D World Games) Splatoon, and also 3rd party releases with NBA 2K and Skyrim. Also, it appears to use memory cards.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Not sure what the first game shown was but the graphics looked HORRIBLE on that one. I wouldn't have led off with that game. The other ones looked decent. I imagine them selling lots of replacement remotes for those things when one accidentally pops off and gets lost someplace.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Not sure what the first game shown was but the graphics looked HORRIBLE on that one. I wouldn't have led off with that game. The other ones looked decent. I imagine them selling lots of replacement remotes for those things when one accidentally pops off and gets lost someplace.

That first game was the new Zelda..

 

[king3pj]

The console has finally been revealed. It is called the Nintendo Switch, and as has been rumored for months, it is a portable and console hybrid. Reveal trailer here.



One thing worth noting is all the games shown being played. Looks like we're getting Mario Kart, a new regular Mario (That we can only hope is more like Galaxy as opposed to those 3D World Games) Splatoon, and also 3rd party releases with NBA 2K and Skyrim. Also, it appears to use memory cards.

I'm thinking that was a game cartridge and not a memory card. All the previous leaks suggested that games would come on cartridges and that thing definitely doesn't look big enough to have a blu-ray drive.

I'm not a fan of the naming but I guess anything is better than Wii and Wii U. They do have my interest with this console. It looks solidly built and the portable screen looks to be bigger than what is available on the 3DS XL and PS Vita. I also really like the idea of getting the full experience for every game in portable form. Previously that really only happened with indie games that were ported to the Vita.

The fact that all Nintendo studios only have to focus on one platform instead of being split between Wii U and 3DS can only help the game library. People will finally be able to play Pokemon and Monster Hunter on their TV and the next big Zelda and Mario Maker games on the road.

The last thing I need is another console to buy games for that I don't have time to play but the fact that you basically get two platforms for $299 means I will probably end up buying one.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I'm thinking that was a game cartridge and not a memory card.

Well I mean it's a game that comes in the body form of a memory card, not meaning that it's a traditional memory card. I'm sorry but when I hear the term cartridge I think of things that look like this:

 

[king3pj]

Well I mean it's a game that comes in the body form of a memory card, not meaning that it's a traditional memory card. I'm sorry but when I hear the term cartridge I think of things that look like this:

Unfortunately when I hear memory card I think of this.

I have slightly better memories of these but the Vita memory card sting is still pretty fresh in my mind.

 

[king3pj]

I wonder if we can have a mod change the name of this thread now that we know the console is called the Nintendo Switch and not the NX. Scott Greczkowski KE4EST msmith198025 ?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

What you want me to "switch" it?

 

[yourbeliefs]

Looks like Nintendo has quite a few 3rd party developers lined up.

WTF is Konami doing on there? Last I checked they weren't making any new games other than PES, and I seriously doubt they're going to develop it for that.

 

[king3pj]

Looks like Nintendo has quite a few 3rd party developers lined up.
View attachment 121334

WTF is Konami doing on there? Last I checked they weren't making any new games other than PES, and I seriously doubt they're going to develop it for that.

I can see this being like the Wii U launch were they port over third party games that came out months ago on other platforms. Wii U did that with Mass Effect 3 and Arkham City. We already know that Nintendo Switch is doing it with Skyrim Remastered and NBA 2K. I wouldn't be surprised to see something like Metal Gear Solid V ported over from Konami or maybe the Castlevania Lord of Shadows games.

There are a couple other names on that list that stick out to me as being a weird fit too. I've already mentioned Bethesda. Maybe they think that the new Zelda game is similar enough to Skyrim that there will be some crossover there. Does this mean that games like Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout, Doom, and Dishonored 2 will also get ported over? From Software is a weird choice too. Maybe Dark Souls is coming to Nintendo. Square Enix and Epic Games also stick out to me.

 

[Derwin0]

only bad thing that I see, is that each of my kids will want their own console.

 

[yourbeliefs]

After an initial surge early on due to news of the reveal, Nintendo's stock price dropped 7% due to the Switch reveal. The main reasons given were that the lack of specific information about the device has investors worried.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/21/13359078/nintendo-switch-stock-price-drop

 

[dangue]

This is interesting, but for it to be portable and have decent battery life, I imagine it will be significantly under-powered. Which may eventually kill third party support (since porting xbox and playstation games to it will be more difficult). Maybe I'm wrong, I hope so. The wild card here is that this will converge 3DS with Nintendo's home console, so assuming the 3DS gets retired, all those developers and franchises likely would end up on Switch and could offset any problems with ports from other current gen game consoles. At the same time, how much better would things be if Nintendo focused on what they do best (software) and made games for PC and the current gen consoles?

 

[yourbeliefs]

This is interesting, but for it to be portable and have decent battery life, I imagine it will be significantly under-powered. Which may eventually kill third party support (since porting xbox and playstation games to it will be more difficult). Maybe I'm wrong, I hope so. The wild card here is that this will converge 3DS with Nintendo's home console, so assuming the 3DS gets retired, all those developers and franchises likely would end up on Switch and could offset any problems with ports from other current gen game consoles. At the same time, how much better would things be if Nintendo focused on what they do best (software) and made games for PC and the current gen consoles?

Word is that the device isn't going to be weak to accommodate battery life, but rather than battery life will be lower to deal with extra power.





The DS line will likely be retired. Why would you have 2 portable devices competing with each other?

For over 30 years Nintendo hardware and software have been tied directly to each other. If you wanted to play games by Nintendo, you needed hardware by Nintendo. They're only now branching out slightly with Pokemon GO and the upcoming Mario app. Things would have to get REALLY bad for Nintendo to do what Sega did 15 years ago when they abandoned hardware and just went all in with software. And even though Nintendo has had some rough patches lately, fact of the matter is that they have a TON of cash in reserves, like to where they can run in deficit for 30 years without running out.

 

[king3pj]

For over 30 years Nintendo hardware and software have been tied directly to each other. If you wanted to play games by Nintendo, you needed hardware by Nintendo. They're only now branching out slightly with Pokemon GO and the upcoming Mario app. Things would have to get REALLY bad for Nintendo to do what Sega did 15 years ago when they abandoned hardware and just went all in with software. And even though Nintendo has had some rough patches lately, fact of the matter is that they have a TON of cash in reserves, like to where they can run in deficit for 30 years without running out.

That's true but many people, including myself would be fine with seeing that come to an end. There is nothing all that impressive about recent Nintendo designed consoles. I don't own a Wii U but my 3DS XL feels like a cheap toy next to my Vita. Their UI and social features are terrible when compared to other modern consoles too. Not only that but there is no reason they couldn't make Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash, and Mario games for PS4, Xbox One, and PC that are every bit as good as what we saw them do on Wii U. Think how many copies they would sell of those games if everyone could buy them for their platform of choice instead of just the 12 million Wii U owners.

Sure, they might have enough cash on hand to lose money every year for a long time before going out of business but their shareholders would never accept that. The stock price would plummet and another company would end up buying them out just to get the IP.

The fact is that every Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo has sold less units than the console before it with the exception of the Wii. They are clearly on a dangerous downward swing. The Wii sold amazingly well but that was an anomaly fueled by a bunch of people who don't normally buy games but had fun with Wii Sports and decided to buy one. The problem is those people didn't continue to buy games during the Wii generation and they certainly didn't support the Wii U. Even the PS Vita, which most people consider a failure, outsold the Wii U.

You say things have to get really bad for Nintendo to follow Sega's lead but I would argue that things are already pretty bad for them.The last time it was reported the Wii U had sold 12 million units. Sega's last console, the Dreamcast sold 9.13 million units. They are in the same ballpark and if it wasn't for the 3DS sales numbers things would be looking pretty bleak for Nintendo right now. Those 3DS numbers and the massive amounts of cash they brought in from selling the Wii are the things that separate Nintendo from where Sega was after the Dreamcast.

They still have some rope because of those things but if the Nintendo Switch does not do significantly better than the Wii U I think it will be their last console. luckily for them the buzz around the Switch seems to be incredibly positive right now. Instead of people mocking them like they did when the Wii U was announced people seem genuinely excited about it. Also it would be really hard for them to not outsell the Wii U. The number to beat is really low and they are going to get sales from people upgrading from both the Wii U and the 3DS.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Just because the Wii U was a massive bomb doesn't mean Nintendo is in bad shape overall. This is thanks to strong software sales of first party games on the Wii U, combined with the continuing success of the 3DS.

Another thing to remember about Sega was that the Dreamcast essentially marked at least the 3rd Hardware failure in a row for them. The Saturn was handily beaten by the PS1 and N64, and once the SNES got it's footing it was able to outsell the Genesis even though the Genesis had a healthy head start over it, not to mention the public embarrassment of all the failures of the Sega CD and 32X. Sega did what it had to do to survive. Nintendo has had some bad quarters lately but it's nowhere near survival mode. It sold over 100 million Wii's worldwide, and unlike most hardware sales, they didn't suffer loses. Every Wii sold had a significant profit margin. Yes the thing stuttered at the end but by the time that happened they had sold 90 million units, so they were just fine.

Believe me, I'd LOVE to see Nintendo abandon their current model and start developing games for other systems, but remember that Nintendo has been a family company since 1889, and Japanese companies have traditionally been very hesitant towards drastic business changes. Point being, I think they'd have to be in that "survival mode" in order to do what Sega did, and given their current standing in the games industry I just don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.

 

[Derwin0]

While the Wii U is pretty much a failure, Nintendo's hardware sales is fueled by the handheld market (DS), which they pretty much own. A plus to the at market is households with multiple children, as that translates to multiple hardware purchases per family unit.

The Switch lends itself to that, in that families with multiple children will likely get multiple units.

 

[Derwin0]

Word is that the device isn't going to be weak to accommodate battery life, but rather than battery life will be lower to deal with extra power.

Somewhat a disapointment, as battery life is one of the things that helped Nintendo own the handheld market.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Somewhat a disappointment, as battery life is one of the things that helped Nintendo own the handheld market.

True, but also with charger ports being as common as they are, I don't think this is a major issue, assuming they make the tablet part easily chargeable on the road.