Nintendo Switch

[Hitcher]

55 minutes ago, scottcr said:

ha! True story! Guy in work knows I'm a Nintendo loving manchild... He saw this 'switch thing' on the internet over the weekend.  

 

"I haven't played a game like Mario/Zelda etc in years and years as I just don't have the time to sit and play them, so being able to on the train is a game changer"

 

That's ONE!  30000000000000 MORE TO GO.

How did he not know about the DS/3DS?

[scottcr]

11 minutes ago, Hitcher said:

How did he not know about the DS/3DS?

 

He'd rather a big telly console... didn't view either of those (rightly or wrongly) as a 'proper console'.  He's not been a gamer since his teens really.

[robotattack]

2 hours ago, Darren said:

I think it will have a touchscreen. Get ready to quote this back at me as you point and laugh later but I also think the screen will have the New 3DS' head-tracking 3D effect. I see the new platform as being the culmination of all their developments to date, complete with waggle, touch and 3D. None are essential but all are available for any games that want to use them.

 

 

It doesn't appear to have a camera so that seems unlikely.  Not only that, but I doubt they'd allow any play mechanics that differ from docked mode and handheld mode. If it does have a touchscreen I would expect you to be able to interact with the UI with it, but not have any touchscreen-specific games. Maybe I'm wrong and they'll specify what mode a game should be played in, but it would make a mockery of the whole concept behind it.

[barkbat]

Nintendo would be kind of crazy not to allow this to work as a standard touch-screen tablet as well. Why go to all that trouble to have removable controllers if it doesn't also work as a tablet without them?

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I'm always amazed that Scottcr manages  to sell more consoles singlehandedly through passing conversations than the entire Nintendo sales department through million pound marketing  campaigns.

[pelago]

I wonder if the central portion of the Joy-Con Grip works as a touchpad - not a screen, but a pad like on laptops and the the DualShock 4. That way you could do things like swipes and what have you even without a touchscreen. This wouldn't help if you were using the Pro controller, though.

[robotattack]

21 minutes ago, pelago said:

I wonder if the central portion of the Joy-Con Grip works as a touchpad - not a screen, but a pad like on laptops and the the DualShock 4. That way you could do things like swipes and what have you even without a touchscreen. This wouldn't help if you were using the Pro controller, though.

 

 

I thought of that as i was writing my last post. It's a possibility. The Nvidia Shield controller has a similar feature; with that you get a cursor appear on the screen. However, it doesn't replace the full touchscreen experience you would have with most games. And yeah, the Pro controller doesn't appear to have that kind of feature on it.

[angel]

1 hour ago, scottcr said:

ha! True story! Guy in work knows I'm a Nintendo loving manchild... He saw this 'switch thing' on the internet over the weekend.  

 

"I haven't played a game like Mario/Zelda etc in years and years as I just don't have the time to sit and play them, so being able to on the train is a game changer"

 

That's ONE!  30000000000000 MORE TO GO.

 

Has he missed the last 30 years worth of nintendo portable hardware?

 

I love my 3dsxl, such an intimate gaming experience with headphones on.

[Shimmyhill]

Maybe it will just have portable games that use touch screen controls labelled up as such, it sounds a little complicated but Nintendo... its not like it wouldn't work on the machine just not on the big screen?

[robotattack]

38 minutes ago, barkbat said:

Nintendo would be kind of crazy not to allow this to work as a standard touch-screen tablet as well. Why go to all that trouble to have removable controllers if it doesn't also work as a tablet without them?

 

 

It has removable controllers for when you dock it at home and the multiplayer gimmick on the move. But yeah, I'd agree with it being crazy for it not to have a touch-screen in this day and age. I think most people expect handheld screens to have a touch-screen interface these days, and it would seem a step back after the DS/3DS/Wii U had one. But as I say, I doubt they'd want a game to be touchscreen-specific when you can't play it like that on the TV.

[Alex W.]

Yeah, if they do touchscreen games, they'll be purely touchscreen games that only work when it's undocked. No weird complicated hybrid control schemes that only work with one controller but not another, god knows that didn't work very elegantly last time.

 

I can't see them doing 3DS/DS back compatibility, if only because there's no way to have one screen above the other and be able to reach the bottom screen with your thumbs. So a touchscreen would be purely for Switch-specific touchscreen games.

[robotattack]

11 minutes ago, Shimmyhill said:

Maybe it will just have portable games that use touch screen controls labelled up as such, it sounds a little complicated but Nintendo... its not like it wouldn't work on the machine just not on the big screen?

 

 

I think the complication/potential confusion is why they'd want to avoid doing that, especially as Nintendo aren't the greatest at communicating things over to the end-user. The thing is, it's being marketed a console that you can continue your gameplay on the move or on another TV. If you had a game that can only be played in its portable state it eliminates the whole home console part of it. 

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I guess it's a minor  miracle  they didn't call it the WiiDS.

[Jackson]

I wonder if they'll sell the 'Split in 2' controller seperately. Would be perfect to only have to buy one more to be 4 player ready

[gizmo1990]

I reckon that will come included. Otherwise you'd be locked to holding the joycons in either hand while in TV mode.

 

 

Confirmed it will be seperate then!

[Alex W.]

I think Jackson means the complete thing as an accessory, so you can have 4 controllers total. 

[dataDave]

1 hour ago, Jackson said:

I wonder if they'll sell the 'Split in 2' controller seperately. Would be perfect to only have to buy one more to be 4 player ready

 

Surely they will think about people that want replacements this time?

[pulsemyne]

Latest rumour is that one of the joycons contains an IR point like the wii remote so that you can use the TV screen like a touch screen i.e click on icons drag things etc. Would make sense and could also be why the top of the Swicth sticks out above it's dock. Could be an IR sensor bar at the top of the screen (like the wiiu's gamepad has)

[NEG]

 

[SpagMasterSwift]

I've had an iPad for just over 5 years and tbh I'd be completely lost without it at this point. It pretty much goes with me everywhere in the house and, while I don't use it outside of my home's wifi I do actually take it with me into work everyday - like a mental. I've been thinking lately up upgrading it so if the Switch brings a reasonably good challenge to the latest iPads then that will be all the excuse I'll need to buy it. 

 

How big is the tablet, around the size of an iPad mini?

[BruceBruce]

17 minutes ago, pulsemyne said:

Latest rumour is that one of the joycons contains an IR point like the wii remote so that you can use the TV screen like a touch screen i.e click on icons drag things etc. Would make sense and could also be why the top of the Swicth sticks out above it's dock. Could be an IR sensor bar at the top of the screen (like the wiiu's gamepad has)

 

Yea I saw that rumor on youtube earlier.  It could also explain why they decided to put the right analog stick below the buttons this time.  On the wii U it was on the top on both sides.  But this way, when you're using it as a remote, the analog will sit more to the center instead of at the bottom.

 

And now we have close thumb access to the buttons in standard mode, similar to the 360/xb1 controller, so it's win win.

 

To further drive the point home, in the trailer for the Switch, when the woman goes on that rooftop and hands her friend the joycon controller, you can see a reflective panel on the bottom which closely resembles an IR pointer.  And most the people in the trailer have their systems dead center below their televisions except for the first guy.  But they're all front-facing, not a one is sideways.  With the top sticking out, it does seem that the top contains a couple IR sensors for reading movements.

 

So yea, it seems Nintendo has finally contained 10 million controller combinations into a single device without making it seem super gimmicky.  I'm excited.

[RubberJohnny]

That IR sensor rumour is here: http://letsplayvideogames.com/2016/10/report-nintendo-switchs-right-joy-con-offers-ir-pointer-functionality/

 

Sounds like rubbish to me, especially when they say you have to turn the controller upside down so the tablet can see it. The fact the highlighted bit they think is the pointer looks like a rubber foot to stop the bottom of the device getting scratched doesn't help.

[Alex W.]

They're saying that it will let you use touchscreen functions while the console is docked which is monumentally stupid. Yeah, now you can use touchscreen functions but you can't use the right hand controls any more.

[pulsemyne]

32 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

They're saying that it will let you use touchscreen functions while the console is docked which is monumentally stupid. Yeah, now you can use touchscreen functions but you can't use the right hand controls any more.

They mean that the pointer essentially becomes your finger for your non touch TV screen. Bascially just like we all did with the Wii.

[angel]

The last time they made something this complicated we got the Wii U, I do fear for this treading the exact same path.  Nintendo being extra cagey about it all is a massive alarm bell too. Customers and Publishers don't want that approach, Nintendo need to learn how to be approachable IMO.   I mean, not even confirming if the screen is touch? "More to share later", it's all so unfriendly at a time where they really need to be reaching out.  

 

This could go 2 ways, an amazing super console that receives the volume and quality of Nintys best handheld software,  or another weird overpriced hybrid that does nothing fully right for anyone and only manages 2 years in Supermarkets before the shelf space is given to someone else.  As much as Id like it to succeed, if I had to bet my life one way or the other, I'd have to pick the latter.

[Alex W.]

24 minutes ago, pulsemyne said:

They mean that the pointer essentially becomes your finger for your non touch TV screen. Bascially just like we all did with the Wii.

 

Yeah, but you lose the right hand controls as a result, or they're upside down. So you've lost the parity between handheld and docked that this approach is meant to give.

 

(No trigger would be a bummer, for instance.)

 

A far simpler explanation is that you just don't use the touchscreen for most games, docked or no. If there even is one.

[Chooch]

Yeah, the top bit sticks out of the dock so it easy to grip and remove. 

[Not Thread Owner]

1 hour ago, BruceBruce said:

 

It could also explain why they decided to put the right analog stick below the buttons this time. 

 

Nope - that's obviously so that the two halves both have the analogue stick on the left.

[Fatsam]

True.

 

No way are they going to have you turn the right one upside down. That's just daft. And obviously you can do the pointer thing without using the IR sensor method. They might just ditch that anyway. Although then you have the drift issue.

 

And pointers are also a bit different to touch. Shit for things like drawing lines. I wouldn't want to play Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush or build Mario kevels using a pointer.

 

[Hitcher]

2 hours ago, kernow said:

 

No NDA then?