Nintendo Switch

[Alex W.]

One of those obvious-in-hindsight things: it can hardly be a touchscreen console if you can play it with the controllers detached from across the room.

[Alex W.]

46 minutes ago, sid said:

My god why haven't they had the foresight to produce different colours these renders look amazing.

 

Costs more, have to balance stock of each model.

[gone fishin]

God this thread is depressing.

 

Nintendo tease a new console and all I'm reading are comments about how shit the battery life is going to be, how it's going to compare graphically to other consoles or complaints that it won't come with some cable.

 

And yet Nintendo have stated nothing about the technical details, but we get all this negative conjecture.

 

Here's me thinking "a Nintendo console that works as a home and portable console and it's got a cool name? Great!"

[alex3d]

According to Polygon it's first and foremost a home console.

[the_debaser]

You're one of the good guys. 

[Alex W.]

26 minutes ago, alex3d said:

According to Polygon it's first and foremost a home console.

 

Yeah, but they have no more information than we do, which is that video, which says no such thing. 

[Not Thread Owner]

Gimmacks 

[Clipper]

50 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

 

Yeah, but they have no more information than we do, which is that video, which says no such thing. 

The video tells us quite emphatically that Nintendo are marketing it as a home console you can take with you "on the go".

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Alex W. said:

 

Yeah, but they have no more information than we do, which is that video, which says no such thing. 

They claim a company spokesman told them. 

 

http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13347910/nintendo-switch-home-gaming-system

[Not Thread Owner]

 

[gooner4life]

It won't be based on maxwell, Nvidia lost out to AMD for the chips on PS4 and Xbox One, I think they will go all out to show that Tegra can offer just as good performance at similar price points. 

 

nvidia posted a blog and they have been heavily involved in the entire console design, 500 man years of effort has gone into this, i have a lot more faith in the hardware knowing Nvidia are so heavily involved, even in creating the system software and development tools and custom API's, this is big for them, AMD have been undercutting them on cost for years and grabbing the console market, the wii, Xbox 360, wii-u, PS4 and Xbox one are all using AMD chips, that's a lot of consoles sold with Nvidia getting no slice of it.

 

they have said it's based on the current cards so will be pascal based im sure, they can't afford to fuck this up as much as Nintendo can't.

 

 

[Liamness]

It might well be primarily marketed as a home console to begin with, with the 3DS of course still existing and doing quite well. I'm assuming that a couple of years into this console's lifespan though, they will move on from it. A smaller, cheaper handheld-only model of the switch, maybe without the fan vents or the removable controllers, would be an appropriate replacement. There's also nothing stopping them from producing a console-only model without a screen. They've given themselves tons of flexibility.

 

I'm wondering how comfortable the controllers will be to use in a split configuration, like a wiimote + nunchuck, without the thing that joins them together. They'll presumably have motion controls too, but the trailer didn't give away anything on that front. Presumably Nintendo won't be asking us to keep our wiimotes around for motion gameplay for a second console generation.

[DarhkFox]

I really question that Nintendo are still going to make the march 2017 release date.

 

I know Nintendo want Zelda as a launch title but if it's sat there done and dusted then we have to wait a year when Nintendo could have got a decent amount of sales this xmas on wii u? Unless they really will go and spend another 6 months working on it..

 

If they are not going to reveal any more this year then 3 months isn't long... i hope 3rd partys have had kit for a while as well, otherwise they really won't have a lot of time to get games ready for the system.

 

Also, i skyrim must be headed towards it despite comments made that it was just for the reveal - obviously want people to purchase the ps4/xbone version so are not making a big deal out of it.

[Super Craig]

Zelda is going to sell better as a Switch launch title. And it's going to help sell the Switch.

[Not Thread Owner]

I like how we're all saying Switch now like it's always been called that.

[Eighthours]

38 minutes ago, JohnC said:

They claim a company spokesman told them. 

 

http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13347910/nintendo-switch-home-gaming-system

 

That's blatantly 'we're not abandoning the 3DS, guys! We promise!' PR, though. 

 

In other news, surely enough time has passed for the new Mario to be a launch title. Nintendo must be aware that the Wii U launch didn't only flounder because of the name (although that certainly didn't help), but because there was no AAA title at launch. Launching with a new Mario and Zelda on day one would guarantee big sales, and that early momentum will be crucial. Also, the March release must allow them to build up enough inventory to not suffer supply shortages. I think they've been pretty smart with this one, but I guess we'll see a few launch games in the Direct and then we'll be able to decide.

 

I'm pretty sure that there will be cheap-to-develop mildly enhanced ports of Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon (we saw MK8 with a new character and ability to hold 2 items in the video) available very early in the system's life, which will also help. 

[Liamness]

21 minutes ago, deKay said:

I like how we're all saying Switch now like it's always been called that.

 

It's a good name. Now they have to build a good brand around it. "Wii" and "Game Boy" are both a bit weird, let's be honest.

 

Bit disappointed, but not really surprised, to learn that the switch will have its own bespoke "NVN" low level graphics API. I was sort of hoping that it was using Android under the hood and therefore Vulkan, and Nintendo were leaving themselves open to the possibility of letting their games run on generic hardware in the future.

[Cyhwuhx]

2 hours ago, Alex W. said:

One of those obvious-in-hindsight things: it can hardly be a touchscreen console if you can play it with the controllers detached from across the room.

 

But what if it's backwards compatible with (digital) 3DS software? A touchscreen would then be needed. Same for (digital) Wii U backwards compatibility. Also depends on whether or not that Nintendo Network ID is finally going to kick in properly and give us a software library.

[RubberJohnny]

2 hours ago, moora said:

God this thread is depressing.

 

Nintendo tease a new console and all I'm reading are comments about how shit the battery life is going to be, how it's going to compare graphically to other consoles or complaints that it won't come with some cable.

 

And yet Nintendo have stated nothing about the technical details, but we get all this negative conjecture.

 

Here's me thinking "a Nintendo console that works as a home and portable console and it's got a cool name? Great!"

 

It's not negative mate, it's realistic.

 

You wouldn't know anything about that because you're in a mental fantasy world where you think Nintendo will give players free cellular data on a £200 purchase because ???, by cutting a deal with carriers (rather than just paying them for the data) by giving them a share of income from a game they don't own. Like every part of your Nintendo theories involves questioning how you think the world works and what colour the sky is.

[Dudley]

 

13 hours ago, angel said:

No way is it 300, they've fucked up like that before. I say £250 with a bunch of demos, £45 a game, and they sting you £40 for a pro pad.

 

Of course if it was £250 when they planned it, simple currency changes make that £300.

 

 

12 hours ago, RubberJohnny said:

Odd press release where they say Switch is not the end of the 3DS, and is a "home gaming system first and foremost", which implies it's not doing the "all Nintendo games on a single platform" just yet. Maybe why there's so many Wii U re-releases?

 

 

I'm sure it has an equally bright future to that of the GameBoy.

[Not Thread Owner]

Surely someone already did this. Right? Or "did this right", right?

 

Right.

 

h

 

 

[Not Thread Owner]

That "confirmed" set of games, "confirmed" specs, and "confirmed" region lock status?

 

 

[alex3d]

Nintendo shares down 7% by the way. 

 

FT:

 

Although wide swaths of online commentary were positive in response to what Nintendo revealed ahead of the machine's March 2017 launch, many felt that it left potentially awkward questions unanswered as the Japanese games company attempts to lay to rest the ghost of its poorly received Wii U console. 

 

“Nintendo has not come out with any surprises to redefine gaming, as it did with the announcement of the Wii console, but we think the Nintendo Switch addresses some of the issues that came up with the Wii U and looks formidable,” said Nomura Securities’ Junko Yamamura.

 

(...)

 

“They must find a way to release the Switch at US$299 to stand a chance, that's the threshold. It's not impossible by offering the device in multiple versions,” said Mr Toto, who added that Nintendo still appeared to be struggling to define its target audience. “Who else but diehard Nintendo fans will buy the Switch?” he said. 

[scottcr]

Some people just want to see Nintendo fail...

[Luseth]

I'm gonna get one  I love the looks of it, and for me it has some great potential i.e. switching fire emblem from your handheld to the big screen effortlessly

 

My only fear is that no one will buy it and thus the creation of new games for it may not take off.

[Cyhwuhx]

13 minutes ago, scottcr said:

Some people just want to see Nintendo fail...

 

Some people see Nintendo as a god...

[Hylian]

So glad they've gone with the off screen gaming concept again. Wii U was great, this looks perfect. Anyone hoping for a non-portable obviously lives a completely different type of existence to me. I really couldn't care less about 1080 4k nonsense. 720 is fine and 60 frames where it's needed please. Just give me the fucking thing and take my money.

[Jarik]

As a Nintendo fan, of course i'm going to get one, even if I do have questions about how it all works.

 

The detachable controllers for instance.  They slide onto the Tablet/Main Unit downwards, & detach again upwards?  So what stops them from detaching when you use them to lift the unit, like they do in that video?  Some kind of catch?  How sturdy is that?  What happens if it breaks?  And the same question with the kickstand on the back of the main unit.  That looks rather flimsy, so what happens if that breaks?

 

My other question is what is it powered by, especially in Portable Mode?  Another Propriety Charger/Connector like the 3DS?  Or could it perhaps run off USB, which some Airplanes provide now?

 

It has to be a Touchscreen surely?  Otherwise no Mario Maker...

 

I would imagine answers to all these questions will come in time, but the fact remains its a new Nintendo console with new Nintendo games (Mario Switch, at the very least) which means i'm there day one.

[Guest]

Thinking about this some more, why didn't they just develop a handheld and a home console which both run on the same tech (beefed up for the home console) and both use the same media? Surely they're appealing only to a very specific audience with this jack-of-all-trades route. It it was launched as 2 consoles, those who want handheld only can buy that, those who want big screen only can buy that, and those who want both buy both.

 

As it is, I think they're probably going to alienate a lot of people by forcing things on them that they don't want. Personally I've got no interest in handheld gaming, so I won't be paying for a machine that has a defunct screen and lower specs, just so they could make an all-in-one. I'm sure there are people out there who'd just rather it be a handheld as well, without having to pay for the dock.

 

If you are the kind of gamer who'll benefit from both, then great. It looks brilliant for that. But I think they've narrowed their target audience, rather than trying to expand it. I guess only time will tell now if it's the right move.

[Liamness]

I think a major concern for Nintendo is that as the console gets further into its lifespan, it is going to be more and more directly compared to other consumer tablets, and not favourably, in all probability. Going for a relatively fast upgrade cycle might be a necessity.