Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NotTelevision - Highly doubtful. MP4 development began from scratch a year and a half ago. And if the Prime Trilogy is ready to go, it won't be released until a year or two after MP4 has had its time on retail shelves. Because that's how Nintendo rolls.

@FragRed
As Bruce mentioned, Capcom’s games aren’t exclusive. I was just making the point that they have new games announced for new systems already.

I don’t think it’ll be another Wii U situation. That’s pretty much impossible. But I do think it won’t be another hundred million seller... probably 3DS territory at 75m. But the sales aren’t really the concern, The concern is it won’t be as enjoyable if it has less games. Which will affect us, the gamer. But it is also possible more games are brought over once they have hardware (IF they have hardware I should say) that jumps to 8th gen level. So it’s not necessarily written in stone. But it’s definitely a concern.

@Magician Ohh yeah for sure not Prime 4. I was just referring to the rumored 2D Metroid game.

@JaxonH nintendo being conservative nintendo that likes to keep their vault stocked with games to release when there's a business need to release them, i somewhat cynically believe they've realized switch can maintain profitability selling ports and remasters, and enhanced editions almost exclusively, punctuated by showcase releases here and there, that they're putting minimal resources into switch output at all, and are spending most of their resources stocking the vault with things that are at least "par baked" to be completed rapidly for their next hardware. Is not a bad strategy, business wise, for a company is their size and ability relative to competitors. It's similar to how they managed WiiU to be ready for switch except it's a profitable holding pattern this time. But it sure is frustrating as a fan.

@NEStalgia
Definitely. Even though they keep saying we're barely over halfway through the Switch, I'm sure they have fairly solid stuff going on for the new hardware. I think they saw with the Switch, once again, that an incredible launch game can get the system off to a start that is otherwise not possible. Honestly I don't know if the Switch would be where it is if it didn't launch with BotW.

@rallydefault I'd argue having MK8 Deluxe in April 2017 was just as important than having BotW at launch. 3DS initially flopped but the holiday 2011 lineup having both 3D Land and MK7 was what saved it. This is another reason why I don't think MK9 will happen until the Switch's successor.

I'm buying a game off the eshop with paypal, does anyone know if they take the balance left on the account before charging any card?

@NEStalgia
We’ve had 3 really strong years from Switch, first party wise. And while this is a more port heavy year (or will be, assuming 3D World, Mario Collection and Pikmin 3 pan out) it’s still a great year, and these are all games I’m very excited about having on a hybrid system (and just excited to play, tbh). Most notably Animal Crossing, Xenoblade and Paper Mario for the first half. Ya, there’s some other titles with Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Brain Age, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Club House Games, but I haven’t put too much time into those (Club House is great but, it’s designed to be short play here and there). We may get a 2D Metroid this year too. And Bravely Default 2 should not be forgotten.

I think they’re gonna have a few more strong years of 1st party after this intermission year of sorts. And I think people will feel a lot more positively moving forward once they unveil their lineup for the rest of this year, 2021 and beyond. We do have some excellent games on deck like Bayonetta 3, Shin Megami Tensei V, Metroid Prime 4 and Zelda Breath of the Wild 2. There will be many more to be announced in the years to come.

Right now though, I’m so looking forward to the next month with Burnout Paradise, Trails of Cold Steel III, Catherine Full Body and Paper Mario Origami King. It’s like, all the games coming are very highly rated and look VERY good on Switch with peak resolution (Burnout is 1080p 60fps for example, and all these games will look so gorgeous on the Switch screen- Trails of Cold Steel III demo was impressive, Paper Mario might be the most gorgeous game on the system yet).

Don’t see a OT thread for it on here. How is hypercharged unboxed? Single player.... multiplayer? I really need something to scratch at COD itch for me. So sad that IP isn’t on switch.

@Qwertyninty
I know it’s not exactly the same, but Borderlands 2 and Pre-Sequel are some of the best FPS I’ve ever played. The gyro aiming helps with that. I liked CoD Black Ops 2 on Wii U. Beat the campaign in fact. Wiimote aiming was fantastic.

But ya. There’s actually a fair number of top notch FPS on Switch. Unless you’re looking for multiplayer matches. In which case that Warface game or whatever it’s called may be for you. Has gyro too I think.

@JaxonH I'd argue 2017 was the only really strong 1st party lineup year for Switch, 2019 would've been strong had the 2nd half lineup been more spread out over the whole year but I cannot ignore how weak the 1st half of that year was. I do think Smash Ultimate's gigantic success has made Nintendo arrogant though.

@Grumblevolcano
2017 was blowout but the following two years were still very, very strong. You can find any certain timeframe where releases were less frequent but all 3 years, overall, were bangers. I’d even say 2019 was almost as historic as 2017. But just because they weren’t Guinness world record years like 2017 doesn’t mean they weren’t still really strong. Last year was absolute dynamite.

@JaxonH Like I said, the release structure is just as important as the releases themselves. 2nd half of 2019 was very strong, but 1st half of 2019 was very weak so they cancel themselves out to be an average year.

2017 could've been ruined in the same way, 2017 in a similar format to 2019 would've been:
March - 1-2-Switch, BotW
July - MK8 Deluxe
August - ARMS
September - Splatoon 2, Mario + Rabbids, Pokken DX
October - FE Warriors, Mario Odyssey
November - XC2
December - Nothing

Same games, but the release structure makes the year worse.

I feel like we're pretending "one game a month for multiple years" or anything even remotely close has ever happened from first party games on any console ever.

If anyone can name me a time where that happened for multiple years on any console ever, I'd like to know.

You guys would be horrified looking at how few games Nintendo put out on SNES for example. And they had to rely on Rare for N64, they didn't actually hit their stride of a large quantity of releases until GCN at all tbh.

I do agree with the problem of not spreading games out at points, but considering how much money is spent on gaming later in the year than earlier more often than not...Nintendo's idea might actually work better for long term sales. That doesn't mean I get WHY, but I can kinda see it with how reliant on holiday sales gaming tends to be.

@Grumblevolcano The same could be argued for the 1st half of 2018 where the only games with actual weight behind them were ports released in May.

Before that was Bayo 1+2 and a Kirby game most considered to be average at launch. Oh, and Labo. As much as I love Bayo, that series holds more weight in internet lists than it does in reality.

@IceClimbers Not quite, while they weren't big releases they were releases. 1st half of 2019 had mostly a 3 month drought between Yoshi and Mario Maker 2 where Nintendo again relied on Smash (Joker in April).

@Grumblevolcano
Doesn’t matter, we’re not evaluating just the three month drought, but the year as a whole.

As in, stack up all the games released that year and evaluate how good that stack of games is compared to the stack of games from other years. What month they happened to release in is completely irrelevant. I could have an 11 month drought and then drop 15 games in December and it could be the best year. If you want to evaluate certain ASPECTS of the year and focus on schedule or release timings, go for it. That’s not what I’m talking about and I don’t think that’s what anybody’s talking about when they say a year was good for releases.

@IceClimbers
As much as I love Bayo, that series holds more weight in internet lists than it does in reality

What do you mean by that? I kinda feel the opposite is true. The game is sooo good, maybe the best action game of all time, yet so few people seem to care or give it any attention. The sales have never been great either, highlighting the general lack of interest, despite the game deserving much more

@JaxonH I disagree, timing matters. Even something as small as the Metroid Prime Trilogy February 2019 rumour coming true would've done a lot for 2019's lineup.

I think the difference is you're looking at this from a point of view of having other systems, having a large backlog, etc. so droughts aren't problematic. Meanwhile I'm looking at it if you don't have any of that, Switch is your only system and you've beaten the games you own given there will be plenty of Switch owners who are in that position.

I think you're proving their point.

People online talk up Bayonetta 3 all the time like it's some major release, but IRL, it's not going to generate much in the way of attention or sales beyond the hardcore crowd that was always going to purchase it.

Meanwhile, AAA sports games and shooter series release to minimal fanfare on gaming forums, but they rack up tens of millions of sales.

Anyway, when it comes to Bayonetta, I wish Platinum would focus on making the series more approachable for non-character action game fanatics. The games are endless strings of flashy encounters with highly technical combat and nonsensical bits of dialogue in-between fights. That might appeal to a niche crowd, but for someone like me who just wants to enjoy a fun game, it makes them feel kind of boring. They were on the right track with games like NieR: Automata (far and away their best-selling game, btw) and Astral Chain, which feature more diverse plots and gameplay diversity to break up the combat.

@Grumblevolcano Switch's 2019 was a great demonstration of what you're talking about. Taking all of the releases in that year, it was a super-solid year for the system. In practice, it was half a year of near-drought followed by half a year seeing so many new releases (particularly in September) that a bunch of them just fell under the radar completely.