Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

The announcement date does matter though, because that's part of the marketing strategy, and that will play a role in how well the launch does and its general performance. If they can't catch gamers' attention and spread the word, they're not going to have a good launch. And if they wait until after the wave of marketing for the PS4 Pro and all of the games releasing this holiday, no one's going to care about what Nintendo's doing. That's why it's so crucial they reveal it soon.

I would be willing to bet those soo called bad decisions are pertaining specifically to the Wii U because anytime someone brings up anything bad with Nintendo, It always ends up at the Wii U. Yes we get it. We all know the console didn't sell well. That's old news and has been for quite some time now. But now it's time to look forward into the future that we cannot fully see yet because Nintendo has not given us the future yet and untill they do all we can do is speculate.

I would be willing to bet those soo called bad decisions are pertaining specifically to the Wii U because anytime someone brings up anything bad with Nintendo, It always ends up at the Wii U. Yes we get it. We all know the console didn't sell well. That's old news and has been for quite some time now. But now it's time to look forward into the future that we cannot fully see yet because Nintendo has not given us the future yet and untill they do all we can do is speculate.

@Bolt_Strike
The messaging pre-launch matters. Whether it's 12 months, 6 months or 3 months between reveal and doesn't. The content of the launch lineup matters. The presentation of the announcement does not. Not to the same degree anyways.

Sorry for the double post. I didnt mean to do that.

You're not listening. The timing of the announcement is related to the messaging, especially now that Microsoft and Sony are promoting their own hardware. Nintendo can't effectively spread their messaging if Microsoft and Sony cut in first and drive home that the industry has moved ahead of them, then no one will bother to pay attention to Nintendo.

@Bolt_Strike That's not how it works. If the device is interesting the media will follow.

And from seeing the majority reaction to Sonys Pro, it wasn't received with praise exactly.

Not really. The media is obsessed with specs and power, Nintendo's tendency to opt for lower powered consoles means they get treated as a second class citizen. So if Nintendo waits until after the Neo and Scorpio to promote another underpowered console it'll be ignored, they'll be too far behind for people to care. Whereas if they get ahead of that marketing and it's competitive with the base PS4/XBO models the market will be more willing to at least listen while they're waiting for Neo and Scorpio and maybe get some people to buy it based on its own merits.

I don't think there's some sort of FIFO queue system for news. I don't think Nintendo are trying to sell this thing to the same audience. Frankly I don't think Sony and Microsoft's new hardware is being thought about as "new hardware" either. Basically, I get the argument you're trying to make here. I'm listening to it. I understand what you're saying. I just don't agree with it on any level.

Nintendo don't market and on the rare occasion that they do, very often it's awful. If the NX is weak then the thing is dead from the get go. They tried to hood wink us with both the Wii and Wii U in terms of not releasing its specs prior to launch. We knew what the Gamecube was beforehand. With Wii and Wii U, we had to rely on Digital Foundry to open up the consoles to get an idea of what it was truly capable of. If Nintendo say nothing about what the hardware is and what levels of performance it has then it's more than likely a dud. It's just like E3 and how they skip the presentations because they've nothing to brag about. The same with the NPD. Most months we hear nothing from them unless they've something to brag about.

The ''majority'' of people isn't actually the majority of people that will be buying the system, so it's a moot point. Problem is, we already knew what the Pro was going to be, and it turned out exactly like we expected. The PS4 Slim? We already had our hands on that system before it was revealed. The reveal was a bit of a snoozefest, with Cerny giving us a 30 minute lecture on the history of 4K TVs. It was sort of interesting if you're into tech stuff, just not the thing that people expected from a Sony event; live orchestra, fireworks, big explosions and Kojima announcing three new games. Add to that the fact that the vast majority of viewers couldn't see the 4K and HDR benefits on their screen. It was always going to be a difficult system to market, when the most important benefit can't be demonstrated with an online video.

Anyway; I think the Pro will do fine in the end, cause when it hits the store shelves at the price of $399, people won't care how the system was reveal, most wouldn't even know. Then again, I've also always argued that the entry-level price of $299 for the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S will be a more important factor for the holiday season.

What this means for NX? It doesn't really matter how they'll reveal it. As long as the system has the software, is reasonably priced and is marketed well. Nintendo set up high expectations, so I expect that there will be many people disappointed and complain about it online (maybe I'll even join that group!), but those people don't make up the majority of the crowd the system will be targeted at, so I think that it'll be fine regardless of how many people complain about it online, provided that the system is an interesting product with good software, a good price and is marketed well.

@Octane Well moot point or not we all saw the lackluster presentation that was well your right, about the history of 4k televisions instead of the actual console. LOL

There's little bits of chatter that there could be a Direct on October 21st. Their first Direct was on that date in 2011 and every year since there's been one with the exception of last year understandably as Iwata had passed away.

Also, shortly after Nintendo's 2nd quarter release there will be an investors meeting around October 26th and if the NX hasn't been revealed by then I'd imagine the proverbial excrement will hit the fan at that said meeting.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I was aware of the meeting, but I didn't really pay attention to the Directs' dates. Have all October Directs been broadcasted on the 21st?

@MarcelRguez No:

2011 - October 21st
2012 - October 2nd (NSMB2), 4th (EU), 25th (NA and JP)
2013 - October 1st
2014 - October 24th (Smash Wii U)

@MarcelRguez No.

@Grumblevolcano @SLIGEACH_EIRE Alright, thanks. So there's no discernible pattern besides the fact that October Directs are a thing.

yup

@Bolt_Strike You assume Nintendo is trying to compete with Sony and Microsoft. If that's the case, then they might as well cancel the NX as they've already lost that battle.

If the NX is as rumored? Then the Pro and Scorpio are of no concern. The latter of which doesn't even come out for another year.