Investors React Negatively to Nintendo Switch Launch Details

@AlexOlney I know, right? They should give us an insight of what makes them happy.

@AlexOlney I mean, it's only sold out everywhere

Well, early signs aren't brilliant, a meager launch lineup, iffy battery life for a console that sells itself as half-portable, high price (For console, controllers and games) and of course the fact that nothing can live up to the hype that got stirred up on the internet for lack of real information pre-reveal...

Has any Nintendo console ever been met with a positive reaction from investors?I would wager not due to them always introducing something new.

Im calling it now, and I will stress I hope I am very very very VERY wrong. But if whats been announced this weekend is all we will see if the Switch upon launch day. It will be DOA. One game, whether its a masterpiece or not, is not enough to carry sales for an entire console for nearly two month before anything else of significance is released.

Well the economy is bull anyway

They will only be happy when Nintendo make mobile games and third party console games exclusively.

Who am I kidding - they will never be happy.

I don't blame them. It's a money quick world

No matter what Nintendo does, investors will jump ship.

"Someone coughed at the Nintendo HQ! Quick! Sell your shares!"

@AlexOlney lol!

The Console by itself is a great piece of hardware. The problem, as usual, is the software lineup and some terrible marketing decisions (Nintendo specialty) such as throwing us the online fee with no extra infos apart the laughable one month Nes Game rent, or the fact that the console is marketed as a home console that can follow you, while in truth is a very powerful handheld that can be docked to a tv...

@Marshi you are right.

At the moment, switch is a 370 $ Zelda Machine

Their fear are absolutely ridiculous. They are Xenophobia victim. If Switch become huge success, I wonder if those investors willing to lick their spit.

3ds have a poor start, but now is a success.. this whole generation have a weak start btw

If I was a big cheese at Nintendo, I would have studied the reaction to the reveal very carefully over the weekend and, although price is set in stone now, I would have come out this morning with solid detail on online pricing and benefits, any kind of planned VC news, and more launch titles.
That's what people want to hear. I know Reggie has given his usual PR speech about how more details will be revealed in time, but I honestly think actions are needed if they want Switch to be the success it needs to be.
But then what do I know about running an international multi billion dollar company, I only manage a chain of 8 pubs in little old Blighty 😜

@Ed_Fairway nice avatar where's the 3ds? 🙂

Lol wait for the preorders. Their next problem is delivering on time and have enough consoles in stock for all those hyped people including me.

@G0dlike I'm convinced nobody at Nintendo has paid any attention to social media or customer comments for the last ten years- other than the 3ds price drop.

Investors and bankers ....mmmmm! Weren't they the ones who got us all into the worldwide financial mess were in and need to be bailed out regularly by taxpayers ??

People here make fun of stock traders for not understanding the gaming market, but it's clear most gamers don't understand the stock market.

These traders will have shares in hundreds of companies. All they care about is whether the value of their shares will go up and down. The idea they should all hold onto their shares until Christmas is ridiculous. They can invest that money over a hundred times between now and then and earn substantial amounts.

@Peach64 👍🏻

@arnoldlayne83 Agreed. Nintendo's marketing has been awful for a long long time and it must be addressed. I mean just picture this weekend if it had gone like this: The president of Nintendo comes out on stage with a 3ds in hand. He talks for a coupke of minutes about how popular handheld gaming is, thanks to Nintendo. Then the stage darkens and on screen we see the switch for the first time. "Here is the succesor to the 3ds" they say. "Its the worlds most powerful handheld gaming system" and they could even have the tagline "Now you're playing with portable power" which would bring out the nostalgic smiles in all of us. They would then and only then talk about how this revolutionary portable gaming system can be docked to a TV and played in TV mode, and even in docked mode games are enhanced with higher resolutions.

Is that not so much better than it being advertised as a wohfully underpowered console in comparison to ps4 and xbox?

@Ed_Fairway In economic terms, bull is a good thing.

@darthstuey fair point. But they're obviously listening to someone. Miiverse gone. Paid online. HD motion controls 😜

I think the launch is missing one more major game. If I was nintendo I'd have held off until at least Mario Kart 8 was ready, and I'd have included another bunch of tracks to encourage previous purchasers. I dont think battle mode will be enough.

Also give an incentive for early adopters, 1,2 switch should have been a pack in game.

Wii was sold on the wii sports pack in, at the minute Switch is sold on nothing that we know of. Not even making a Zelda pack is ridiculous, I feel like they've really dropped the ball with that one. It's Nintendo though, so they usually make a mess of console launches.

I can't blamed them, with only 2 games from Nintendo at launch... what were they thinking? Didn't they delayed the launch so there will be more games? I will still buy Switch though, just not at launch.

@Flauber @AlexOlney and nothing screams "disconcertingly high price" as the first wave preorder stock sold out over a weekend. Is Switch the new iPhone? XD

Investors react negatively to the sky being blue

As always, a Matt Groening show (Futurama in this case) sums up my thoughts about the matter (stock market in this case) in a nutshell:

Not surprising. Non-competitive pricing and lack of value (PS4 + two game bundles often on sale for £200, currently £250), coupled with lack of software (didn't Kimishima report at the last investors meeting that they were holding Switch back until they had the software? Might have been in an interview) doesn't look good for the system.

It's almost like they learned nothing from the Wii U. Wii was a success because of affordable price (£180 in UK) and attractive bundled game (Wii Sports.) Switch has neither of those things and is very overpriced for the tech it's touting.

@Marshi Mario 64 did that... Pilotwings ended up being a lot of fun too, but Mario 64 was the killer app. There were 6 games total that came out in the first 2 months of the 64's launch.

@Blur87 N64 was a high end 3d console back then compared to PS and PC. Switch is high end on the mobile level, but they want to position it as a home console... making it the lowest end.

@Blur87 as you said, that time it was Mario 64 doing the trick.

Now we have a Open world Zelda title (revolutionary only for Nintendo-only gamers) which can be played on another existing machine, and a casual game that should be packed in the console...

Still, remember that developement for Wiiu was practically halted 2 years ago focusing on Switch... And this is the resulted lineup...

People reacted negatively to the Wii, 3DS and Wii U... oh wait...

@amiiboacid Thanks. not entirely sure how the 3ds could fit seeing it looks like a regular ds with improved graphics
@arrmixer
Thank you for that piece of info

@Marshi exactly... As usual, confusion and stupidity sovereign Nintendo... They are marketing a great handheld as it has to go against existing home consoles, making it the low end of the bunch again (a WiiU 1.5) both on hw performances and software choice

@MysticX iffy battery life of AT LEAST 2.5 hours where my Vita and N3DSXL each generously give me 3-4 hours of active use tops? Pardon my skepticism. ¿:^|

@SethNintendo In 1996, PC can't even run 3d games. 3dfx voodoo card being the first 3d card on PC came out in 1997. Even then it's still miserable compared to N64.

@Blur87 It boggles my mind the people still compare a console launch that happened in 1997 to one happeninh twenty years later. This is 2017 dude, we are mid generation with the ps4 and xbox one. Both are getting amazing triple A games on an almost weekly basis. And you think its okay for Nintendo to release the switch with five games? Add to that you dont even need a switch to play Zelda, which is the ONLY game worth buying on launch day. 1-2-switch will be fun for 20 minutes then will never be touched again, aside from once or twice when you have friends over, but then even your friends will be bored of it. Skylanders imaginators is another game you can get for wii u. just dance 2017: wii u. Bomberman R is a game you can get pretty much anywhere else under a different bomberman title and...and...oh thats it... See what im getting at? Unless there are games coming on lainch day that for some insane reason Nintendo have declined to show us. The switch will be another Wii U and ps5 will have a mario game on it. I guaratee it dude.

scratches square with "Investors React Negatively, Nintendo Stock Drops"
...BINGO!

inb4 Pachter's signature negativity, though at this stage, I'm not exactly optimistic myself about how the Switch's launch year will go.

Im just sick to the back teeth of Nintendo doing this. They are like an Olympic 100m champion, whobcould dominate with a world record every time they compete. But then every time they compete they tie their shoelaces together!

@Marshi again I agree totally with your points. To add to what you said and to answer to people comparing this lainch with other lets remember that Nintento had to convince the customers that software draught won t be a problem with Switch and third parties were back...

Do you think they were able to transmit such message???

Got mine!

@AlexOlney The issues here are:

1. The price point was above what investors were expecting - immediately they think this isn't a good thing so take their money elsewhere (I study this stuff).
2. The Presentation did not convey enough information bullet point wise immediately. I should have been laid out at some point in the presentation in a Powerpoint type format.
3. The Japanese market closed before the rest of the information was presented and filtered through via Hands on event. This was obviously over the weekend but too late - the damage had already been done.
4. It's only a small chunk of the global market but the UK has had to suffer a Brexit price - £200 would have been achievable before the Brexit vote - Nintendo have to factor in that the pound may well drop further before launch ( it hit the incredible low of $1.20 to the pound this morning)
5. Europe has kind of a similar risk due to currency fluctuations at the moment.
6. The UK nintendo store Official hasn't yet sold out of pre-orders where USA, Germany, Canada etc has sold out. . .
7. The share price doesn't affect Nintendo quite as much as you think as they are already a cash rich company
8. It should increase significantly on earnings reports and further Mobile announcements. . . .
9. It's just a bit volatile at the moment.

I've pre-ordered my Switch

No, it has not been exciting for this die-hard Nintendo fan. Price too high (not even taking the ridiculously overpriced accessories into account) and no games at all.

Zelda can be played quite sufficiently on my Wii U - which otherwise has been cut off in terms of software development a long time ago. What for? Well, nothing. Not even those bleak ports of Mario Kart and Splatoon are ready to launch with the system.

I don't have to snuggle up to Nintendo because I want to be invited to future events. I don't buy the concept or the line-up. I'm sick of Nintendo representatives lying to me about how they're learning from mistakes or what great upcoming software they can't tell me about right now. The Switch will be the first piece of hardware I just don't buy - and the situation of the system will be pants at the end of 2017 as far as I'm concerned.

Remember, share prices don't go up and down based on how good something is. They don't even go up or down based on how well investors expect something will do. They go up or down based on how investors expectations change.

The share price didn't go down because investors don't like new hardware. It didn't go down because investors think the Switch is a dud. It went down because the Switch that was in their heads before the presentation was slightly better than the one they got after everything was revealed.

.... which I think it's fair to say is what the general response has been. Even amongst the people who are hyped about the system. We're hyped but we're realising that what we thought we'd get wasn't realistic.

I also have no idea why they used 'unknown' people to do the presentation. . . .

@arnoldlayne83 Thats a big no. Look, I love Nintendo. I LOOOOOOVE them. But for every time they surprise and delight me with some new concept I know will be a game changer, they confuse and annoy me twice as much with insane or frankly dated decisions. I promise you this. Unless they switch it up a notch, pun intended, they will slowly waste away and become another Japanese super giant company relagated to developing third party software.

@alexolney - you lose more credibility by the day. We can't expect someone who appears in promo videos on the Nintendo,website to be unbiased.

But you should be worried, as should anyone who truly loves Nintendo rather than someone who sees them as a stepping stone to a career,

The Wii U launch was disastrous - and never recovered. The 3DS launch was disastrous and only recovered with a massive price drop. The Switch will be a disaster too.

The same mistake has been made three times in a row. Overpriced hardware, and poor launch lineup. We are seeing a company we love making the same mistakes again. And that should hurt if we love them - because we don't want them exiting the hardware market.

@arnoldlayne83 It's going to be like Wii, you got 3rd parties but they will make dumbed down version of their games for Switch because its not fast enough.

@cfgk24
Wow...
Gaming industry is so complicated.
So many aspects should be done.

@tinman Agreed 1000% mate. I was a Nintendo apologist for the Wii U and for its first year was adament that things would change. But you know the saying: fool me once...

@norwichred Agreed once again. Very good points made here. Nintendo life need to show this to Nintendo themselves and see what the "real" reactions to the system and its launch line up is.

@wrathfulzeus Iwata would never have let Switch launched with 2 games. It is insane.

@norwichred #56 Agreed.

Ok being a pro Nintendo site, but the lack of professionalism is evident here. Year by year I've see this site becoming more and more a Nintendo Pr extention than journalism.. .

If you take a tour of gaming websites since Friday, there are a lot of questions and concerns going on... Here it looks like Switch had the best launch on history, while it could be very possible this is the last Nintendo console on history...

@SethNintendo and few PCs are cheap when they make contemporary consoles low-end in comparison. X^)

@Marshi if it can handle ports and also Skyrim - it's hardly woeful. Considering that the CPU should be the part that's worse compared to the current gen console and Skyrim is heavy CPU based - I think it has more power than we give it credit.

In other news, many people using the internet enjoy watching videos of cute animals.

@arnoldlayne83 how are they unprofessional?? All I see is other sights whinging and whining and churning or false facts - and you question these journalists because they are looking at it half glass full?

First, "ohh the FPS are terrible on the WiiU Zelda, it will be better on the Switch". Now it's, oh I can get the same game on my WiiU, why buy it for the Switch. I was satisfied with my WiiU, and I will be satisfied with my Switch, WELCOME back LAN Parties. Pre-Ordered my Switch.

@wrathfulzeus I actually love the tech side of things. The joy cons look like they will be a delight to use. The price I feel is fair considering you are getting a portable and a home console and I feel with all the bells and whistles to controllers have will be great to develop for. But there is a but, and its a huge one. On top of the tech shown there should have been games shown that use it properly other than a disposable party game. The launch line up is an absolute joke. And the messaging for the system as usual has been muddy and anaemic to say the least.

@nhSnork So, because other similar devices also have crummy battery life it's ok for Switch too?

And that aside, there's still the small launch-lineup and high price working against Switch, sure the first batch of Switch sold out, but those are going to the hardcore Nintendo fans, if Switch wants to take off (Which i still hope it will, i just won't be buying one right away), they'll need to appeal to more than hardcore Nintendo-fans...

@OzHuski we are talking about 6 years old skyrim version here.

To answer the rest, yes, here they look at the half glass full only.

To give an example, look the videos of Angry Joe with Microsoft people after Xbox reveal to see what I mean

@OzHuski Zelda, a Wii U game can only run at 900p on the switch with a few frame dips below 30. Its woeful dude however which way you look at it. Saying it can run a 6 year old ps3 and 360 game isnt a very good argument for the power of the system either...

Nintendo could have delayed the launch until July, they will have more games to launch. It could have such a happy ending. But now, everything is ruined.

I do think, in the UK at least, if the price had been more competative with Microsoft and Sony's current consoles then it would have been better received. But when you think of the Wii, wiiU and 3DS. Each of those systems had been 100% backward compatible with the previous systems so no matter how many titles had been availabile within the launch window, you had a whole generation of games to fill in the waiting time. The switch (I understand the different architecture) doesn't have this luxury and some people may be willing to wait a year or so till the library fills up, third parties may not stick around though. Lower the price, increase the install base through impulse buys and that would give the third parties more reason to hang in there otherwise they will just move onto what Sony and Microsoft decide to pull out in the next few years.

@arnoldlayne83 I'm pretty happy with the Switch and having played the games at the London event they are all very fun but I am disappointed not so much in the launch line up but the first few months. From the comments made by Kimishima I was expecting a really full first 6 months just from Nintendo with third parties adding to it but it doesn't look much different to a Wii u schedule right now.

Hmm. Nintendo has the most haters in the video game industry. Investors are acting like fanboys in this case imo.

I'm not complaining about the launch lineup. Starting with Zelda as the most wanted or popular available for launch was done on purpose. At the end of the month we get the new Tetris game. A month after launch we get Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Idk at least the launch window for this year is more consistent as we know it for now. Its certain that we will here more news about game releases throughout the rest of the year.

I said this quite a few times but I play games for the fun factor. Nintendo is my personal favorite when it comes to fun factor since the NES days. Back in the 80's before I knew what frames per second was, and before the generation started with the fps was even a demand for a lot of people, I was having fun and still do.

Out of all systems Nintendo made that I experienced the Wii U was the one I sold about thirteen months after launch. The U just did not appeal to me. It was like a big layoff until Nintendo made something better. The whole concept and game lineup for the Switch is acceptable to me. And I look forward to having fun on a Nintendo system again.

I'm not having much fun with Sony and Microsoft this generation. They're quite different from the PS3/360 era. Was never a fan of big cinematic experiences (no offense to people who do dig it), it's just not for me.

People talking about the switch sellingbout on its pre orders need to take another look at the websites. Pre orders are still very much available. Plus, im sure the switch will sell out at launch as the Wii U did. But just like the Wii U. Six months down the line people will be noticing several units gathering dust on the shelves of retail stores. I hope im wrong but...

@Vegaphil To me, it looks even worst than WiiU launch. we are talking about:

1-2-Switch
Just Dance 2017
Skylanders: Imaginators
Super Bomberman R
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

VS:

007 Legends
Assassin's Creed III
Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
Ben 10: Omniverse
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Chasing Aurora
Darksiders II
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
FIFA 13
Funky Barn
Game Party Champions
Just Dance 4
Little Inferno
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
Nano Assault Neo
New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo Land
Puddle
Rabbids Land
Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
Skylanders: Giants
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sports Connection
Tank! Tank! Tank!
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
Transformers: Prime – The Game
Trine 2: Director's Cut
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
ZombiU

I repeat, this is R-I-D-I-C-O-L-O-U-S.

As a WiiU owner, I had to swallow the fact that software development was halted on my console to focus on Switch, to get, after 2 year, this... plus a lazy port of Mario Kart, a Map Pack of Splatoon, and the next big game (Mario) on holidays 2017....

@wrathfulzeus
The launch is thin, no doubt, but within the first 9 months of launch there's gonna be Zelda, Mario, Xenoblade, Splatoon, Mario Kart, Fire Emblem crossover and new IP (Arms). And retailer listings for Smash and Pikmin World.

Wii U didn't get a single one of those games within the first 9 months. Keep that in mind.

@MysticX
Ya but people have unrealistic expectations with battery life. GPD Win gets like 2 hours, 2 hrs 15 minutes on FL power, and it costs $300 also. And it's not nearly as powerful.

You can't power full console games and expect the same battery life as a 3DS.

But ya, the launch lineup is thin, but, it has Zelda and while that may be enough for diehard fans here, I'm sure it'll be be plenty for anyone else. For the record, I'm excited for Bomberman R also.

The price reflects what you get though. Instead of buying a $300 Wii U and $200 3DS all built into one, and for just $300.And the 3DS games, they're as powerful as Wii U games.

I mean goodness, I know it ain't perfect and as I said the launch is thin, but people are spinning every aspect to be so horrible.

Nintendo's back on top!

@JaxonH The wiiU may not have had those titles within the first nine months but the thing is they have them now and at the launch of the wiiu owners could still play the previous generations versions of those games thanks to the 100% backwards comparability of the system. I know I will happily be playing my breath of wild, my Mario kart 8 , Splatoon and many more of those games on my wiiu while Switch owners are twiddling their thumbs waiting for the deluxe versions of those games to come out on their systems.

@arnoldlayne83
And yet watch the reaction of Angry Joe with Switch, which is mostly positive and he's even buying day one. He doesn't think the price is outrageous.

And he's no fanboy.

Which really brings a dose of reality to the conversation. Most normal people just see a dope handheld/console with some awesome games coming. Little thin on games out the gate, but given Zelda is a title worth buying the system for and the fact 7 major 1st party releases are dropping within in the 9 months following, it won't take long for the classics to start stacking up.

Where is the impressive 3rd party support from the big guns? I've heard Skyrim (isn't that a PS3 game?) and FIFA mentioned but must have missed anything else of any real weight. The Wii U launch lineup was indeed more impressive. I think what will decide the future of this console is the interest in its portability. If Nintendo are wrong about its appeal - and I think they might be - then I can't see it standing a chance.

How bloody cares it's always up and down.

@Raptor78
Hey, you wanna keep playing the same games go for it. But I don't exactly think anyone's going to be envying you. Not like fans here don't also own a Wii U anyways.

then switch owners will be playing there Zelda on the go and they're Mario Kart on the go and their new Splatoon on the go. I'll be taking it to work to show off my friends and to play multiplayer with them right on the spot.

You seem to have an unnatural animosity toward anyone who's buying Switch. I hope you have fun with your Wii U games though, I really do. Cuz it's all you're going to have

@JaxonH But In fact Angry Joe moves some criticism (which are basically the same most of us are moving here), is not all like "Uhhh Nintendo is amazing whatsoever and if you do not agree with me you must be a sad person. Now go and play your grey/brown shooter and don't bother my world full of bright colors".

He is a gamer like us, and we have concerns. I was ready to go all-in with the switch, cos I thought Nintendo had leant from its mistakes.

To me, (and to put it very short, hope you understand my point of view) this is WiiU all over again....

Jees, look at my previous post. The amount of titles for switch in 2017 will probably be even the titles WiiU had just at launch day!!

@Raptor78 you nailed it

@JaxonH The Zelda title is indeed impressive, but for people who supported Nintendo with the wiiU it doesn't justify the upgrade. Nintendo hasn't lost my sale, I like the tech in the switch. But presently I could easily hold off at least a year and instead upgrade my launch 3DS to a New3DS which I had been putting off for the switch reveal. I can still enjoy my wiiu for a bit longer and even play the latest Zelda... As well as the other wiiu Zelda games... And even the Wii Zelda games until the switch becomes more appealing.

@wrathfulzeus a lot of your facts are incorrect. All devices are moving to Have smartphones apps and functionality. In this regard they are ahead.

You see the console as being overpriced compared to what you want to pay - fact is: its sporting a lot of tech and is quite powerful, yet way cheaper than a mobile. Its amazing Nintendo got it to that price point while essentially being a high end phone (outside of screen resolution).

Most games that do well are multiplayer games these days. Microsoft and Ubisoft are both focused on making multiplayer titles with dlc packs and micro transactions as these makes a hell load more money than single player games and do better in market and play times.

Switch was never delayed. Why launch in a crazy periods where the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4 Pro just launched - instead of a few months later when the buzz has died and they can go for all your cash?

I agree on one point. They didn't show enough games and there is plenty to see! But Nintendo have said, as well as retail outlets, that's there is more to announce before release.

They are more in touch this gen then they were with the Wii U and ahead in a few regards. We just don't know everything yet so people are reacting badly and whining like normal.

@ducktrapper man, I was really hoping for a Dark souls 1 & 2 collection.... I would have preordered not 1 but 2 switches.....

@norwichred the career ladder point doesn't sound very solid, considering there are people like me with no career relations to Nintendo but not worried about Nintendo's future. Nintendo is sentenced to definite doom every generation. Nintendo had to disguise its first home console as a VCR-like toy to sell it in the west. Nintendo has survived competition, multiple third party ebbs, the curse of having fans and their own Virtual Boy. Nintendo is all but the second name of video game industry since it's written on about every third genre, concept and feature seen to this day. Even now they're bringing forth the kind of hardware that gives many gamers above college age an ability to consistently play games at all rather than stock up on games during one holiday and enjoy this amassed backlog during the next one. And last but not least, they're fighters who didn't go full third party after two commercially underwhelming consoles over a decade. Some people just account for it all before starting to worry.

@arnoldlayne83
Oh for sure. I don't see anyone saying "oh they're so amazing" I mean ya, there's excitement for the system but it's not like people think it's perfect. But what are you gonna do? The launch is thin, ok, I'm over it. Nothing I can do about it. Ya it sucks. Online pay sucks. Bright side better service.

System is still super hype and has some excellent games coming.

@ducktrapper
It's the remastered version, comparisons confirm. Hopefully will have mod support too. But just having that game on the go, for alot of ppl like my co-worker, is enough to buy the console.

Non switch owners can play Mario kart on the go, and Zelda on the go and thanks to the new3DS even xenoblade on the go already.

@Raptor78
That's fair.

I wouldn't expect everyone to rush out day one. Alot of people wait for a good chunk of games to release. Nothing wrong with that.

Me, I know I'm gonna buy it anyways, so why wait. I'm just really excited to play Zelda on that handheld and at work, and bust out some Mario Kart and Bomberman for multiplayer.

@JaxonH I agree somewhat. Sure, the "common Joe" (do uninformed consumers even exist in this internet age?) Will buy the Switch and the first month of Switch's life im sure will seem very healthy. But fast forward another few month and most will be ditching the system because there is simply nothing to play. And if these common Joes exist I can guarantee the common consumer are not patient people.
If we get more games other than the confirmed at launch. Then I will be over the moon to retract my doom mongering. But if this is truly all we are getting...nope. Dead on arrival.

@Raptor78 Also, no-Switch owners can choose to play Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, ME: Andromeda instead buying a 370$ Zelda-Machine for the moment....

Best time to buy Switch will be on Summer, when the lack of early sales will result in a price cut a-la 3DS...

I kind of understand Inverstors fears, but at this point in time, unless Nintendo goes fully mobile, stock is going to fall every single time they make and announcement.

I still have hope the Switch will do well - most likely it will need a price cut, but after that it has all the makings to be a beast of a seller. I'll get it on launch month either way - waiting to play Zelda BotW would be hell.

@nhSnork I also think Nintendo are fighters and will fight tooth and nail to not become a third party games company like Sega. I also think their 1st party games will thrive on whatever system they make, look at Mario Kart 8 on the wiiu, its attachment rate was ridiculous almost every owner bought that game and even non wiiu owners were wondering if they should buy it for that game alone.
Nintendo may lose 3rd parties again, the switch realistically won't shift as many consoles as the Wii but hopefully more than the wiiu but in all honesty I'm not worried for Nintendo as a company. Not yet anyway.

@Ooyah Yeah they do, but nobody reports on that.

@arnoldlayne83 I hope they do a 3DS on the system, I've been stung by that before... Although I did appreciate the (free) ambassador games. Lol.
To be honest, if the launch window games had blown me away I would have probably paid the RRP on the system even though it was about £30 - £80 more than I wanted to pay. I'm thinking mabey pick one up this Christmas.

@JaxonH

Have you ever thought that Zelda may not have such a big appeal to general audience as Nintendo fans like to think?

We are talking about an (great, indeed) open world RPG after all. There have been plenty of good ones on everyconsole but Nintendo in recent years....

@Raptor78 eheheh me too. There and when I decided to update my 3ds to 3dsXl just before they announced the N3ds.......

after this weekend, I will wait till Scorpio presentation and then I will decide how to waste my money....

I feel im being overly critical and negative on the Switch. Let me just say ive pre ordered mine. I mean, portable Breath of the Wild! The game is going to be legendary and I feel will be the first to compete with Ocarina of time in the hearts and minds of fans. And further games like Xenoblade 2. No more heroes 3. Undoubtedly Mario Kart 9 and of course Mario Odysey will make the system worth the price of admission for me. But I stress "for me". For a lot of people it will be yet another system that doesnt have all thier favourite games like Call of Duty, Battlefield. Overwatch. Assassins creed on it and they will pass on buying the system.And again we will have another Wii U on our hands where, once we have had MK, mario, xenoblade and splatoon, which were announced at launch, we wontbsee much else as because of the poor sales Nintendo will race to bring out the next console. And if they do the same AGAIN then Nintendo will be the next Sega.

HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE THIS???

@MysticX So fed up about the battery life moans. Alright genius, give as your ideas on how you run a console (which is more powerful than a WiiU) on a battery that lasts 100 hours? Which seems to be the expectation of some of you sissy boys.

@Marshi Doesn't help when you've got wet blankets like you dumping all over it every five minutes.

@dodgethis Im not going sugar coat anything. Why would I? Why would you ignore the glaring issues this system has before its even launch? Its called thinking like an adult... wet blanket? Get outa here!

@nhSnork All your points are of course valid, and fair. But my point was more about the journalism on this site than the switch per se.

It is alright if this site wants to be the new ONM (a shame, as the journalism here used to be great), but they need to be honest about that change of direction if it is where they are headed.

As for the switch itself, yes I did say it was a disaster at launch and I stand by that. Having played it the console is actually really impressive - but the failings that are well documented (in comments, not by the journalists of this site) and need not be gone over again.

Release at £279.99 with 1-2-switch included, price Zelda at £44.99 and let those who bought MK8 digitally repurchase the new version for £29.99 if they bought the game, and £24.99 if they bought the DLC too and I would have jumped.

But my preorder has been cancelled.

@Raptor78 with Super Mario Run being on the iOS (and Android later this year), aren't Nintendo already a third party developer?

I just don't understand where the games are. What have Nintendo's numerous and very large software teams been working in for the past few years? No Wii U or 3DS games, and besides Zelda the only noteworthy 1st party release is MK8 Deluxe, which is a port and wouldn't have required much effort/investment. Things like 1, 2 Switch and Snipperclips or whatever it's called can't have been resource-heavy to develop, and the next major game were getting will be Splatoon 2, which, again, can't have required massive investments of resources because it's basically an upgraded port of the original with new content added.

Also, whatever happened to the literally dozens of confirmed 3rd party devs? Did they not do anything? I'm extremely disappointed, even though Zelda seems like it will be the best game ever.

I'm not sure about Nintendo being the next Sega. Don't get me wrong I had my doubts sometimes with the wiiu. BUT... When they released the NES mini, I thought of how they would probably survive without selling their soul to Microsoft/Sony. Then would release dedicated hardware to games. They could easily release a Mario kart box, have its own dedicated shop for dlc within the game and charge ridiculous prices for additional controllers. This could apply to any of their major IPs. People wonder if a game is strong enough to sell a system... What if that game was the system.
Yeah there was a time I worried for Nintendo turning into a third party game developer especially when they started looking at mobile phone games, but now I think they would take things in another direction.

@dodgethis Plus, please dont confuse "dumping over everything" with stating facts, thank you kindly.

@psycho_punch I was referring to consoles. I play some Xbox exclusives on my laptop. But I wouldn't dismiss the exclusivity of the Xbox on consoles.

I think their whole approach to the presentation just made it seem too much like they were just doing the same as what they've done before... the opening bit where they went over the features the Switch has adopted from past consoles, the larger than necessary focus on the HD rumble and motion controls, and most of the big games were just remakes or sequels.

They would have benefitted from skipping a lot of that stuff in order to spend more time on the games... there must be more games that they've yet to show, and what they did show didn't seem to really show the full potential of the system.

@Marshi Yeah. You're right. Whining about an unreleased toy is very adult of you claps. Tell you what friend, how about you keep your unhelpful whining to yourself instead of dampening the opinions of those still on the fence, aye. What's that you say "oh, but it's a free country. I can share my opinion and say what I choose". Yeah, sure you can. As long as it's constructive and serves a purpose. In what way does you moping around do that? Tat's right friend... it doesn't. Maybe whiny sissy boys like you, who complain about toys, should think about doing one aye?

@Marshi stating facts. Riiiight. Sorry genius. I forgot you were in possession of AAAAALL the facts. Being as wise and intelligent as you are. Doing all that research into how best to whine about a toy.

@arnoldlayne83
Perhaps you're right. Who's to say. But I'm not talking casuals, I mean people who just don't game that much, or like games but maybe haven't owned a console since the Wii

Either way, not really my concern. Alls I know is the system looks really cool, and I can't wait to take this to work with me and bust out some Mario Kart and Bomberman multiplayer.

That's the best part about this system I think. Local MP has been dying off because as adults you just don't have friends over like when you're a teenager. But with Switch you can not only take it anywhere, there's 2 controllers built in.

edit For example my co-worker hasn't owned a console in several years, has a cheap laptop that can run old old games, and he pre-ordered one just for Skyrim. And seems to be on the hype train for Zelda and Mario. He's not like ppl here scrutinizing the lineup, he just sees a game he loves and can play portably, and literally changed his mind from a PS4 for Switch. Maybe it's just one person but, Idk. It's kind of telling seeing non-fansite gamers be interested

I think that the Switch can be succesful if it has a good marketing. PS4 sold like 5 millions un 2 months and it didn't have any really interesting exclusives (meh Knack and dissapointing Killzone SF) and most of it's games were also available on PS3 and they were the same. The marketing was the answer, the problem is that Nintendo is not known for doing this correctly.

@Raptor78 well, third party is third party. The comparison with the semantics of the term "exclusive" does not really weigh much into that conversation. I kind of get what you mean, but the reality is Miyamoto has already appeared as a presenter on Apple stage as third party. You said they're fighters, and for a long time they had successfully avoided putting any of their IPs on mobile, but then we've already seen how they've succumb to the pressures of the current business demands.

@dodgethis Calling people names isnt exactly mature either my friend. And if you dont like other peoples opinions, go live some where where there is no democracy.

People should be allowed to aire thier concerns for something they need to pay hundreds of pounds/dollars for. No one is "moping" as you say. We are just sick and tired of a company we love deeply doing irrational and stupid things and making very wrong decisions all the time.

I suppose you never say anything negative about anything you like? Do you ever comment on what your favourite sports team should do? Or who they should spend thier money on recruiting? Or perhaps you have never talked about a tv show? A comic? A book? How you think that particular episode or issue should have gone? If you really only say positive things about things you enjoy all the time then you are nothing but a sheep...my friend.

@dodgethis

Sissy boys? Really? Grow up.

@Marshi I don't agree with this. Nintendo is making huge strides with indie decs and indie games are going gangbusters on console and getting rave reviews.

It takes more than AAA studios these days. And as stated, there is over 80 games already in production for Switch we don't know about.

I think your being a bit over critical. And I'm trying hard not to be, because like everyone else, I wanted to see more games.

As has been stated.. more news is coming before launch.

@AlexOlney Why does NL keep reporting on share values dropping?
It's pretty common in the tech world that whenever something new is announced, shares will drop. This happens to basically everybody, including Apple (especially Apple).
Share values around announcements mean basically NOTHING.

@dodgethis The system will only have 32gb of storage.FACT. There are so far only five games coming at launch. FACT. Out of those five games 3 can be bought on the wii u or another system. FACT. The system is not as powerful as its competition. FACT. The accessories are very expensive. FACT. The online service has had barely anything said about it despite the system releasing in 6 weeks. FACT.

Shall I go on? Please stop with the damage control mate, youbare embarrassing yourself. Sissy boy? Lol.

Nintendo fans are so naive its bewildering.
The switch costs 400 dollars in Canada and has no games and by Christmas this year it might have 3 games?? Nintendo is literally doing everything they can to convince me it's time to buy a ps4 instead.
The switch which i really had high hopes for a system to go back to the old days of Nintendo is just a portable wii u. It will fail hard. They obviously invested all their resources in designing those joy cons i would have much rathered them put a better gpu/cpu and give me a system that has a chance at getting3rd party games back on board. Or Nintendo stop selling this thing as a home console it can't compete on the big screen at all. It doesn't have the legs to go 5 years as a home console

Nintendo are gearing up for their biggest ever Holiday period in 2017. . . . . .

@OzHuski Yeah I am being critical. And yeah, im hoping we find out more about these 80 games. I say again im very excited for the switch. But right now that is only because I will finally be able to play Breath of the wild. And I will be able to play it where ever I want. That is AMAZING. It really truly is. But im a big Nintendo fan and I know for a fact not many will be willing to spend hundreds on one game, and a small few after launch.

@k8sMum Sorry friend. As Kate's mum, what would you use? How about miscreant, fool, incompetent. Something more "adult" like that? Help me oh wise one. How does one insult another using an "adult" insult? What's that? An adult doesn't use insults towards another.... heheh riiiiiight okay. It's just children that do that....

@Marshi yup all true it should have been priced at 199. Then it might have had a chance.

@Marshi I am getting to you Maaaaaarshi. FACT. You can't ignore me. FACT. You're going to reply to this. FACT. Wow, look at that. I can sound like a twit too! I'm just like Maaaaaarshi. A proper grown up having a proper grown up discussion.

@dodgethis Im slowly realising the futility of speaking to you. Hey, if you are happy with the Switch and its five launch games. More power to you my friend. Have a good day. Im not going to waste any more of my time on you.

@Marshi Yes you are. Because you realise that your arguments are hollow tat and you're buying a toy based solely on a loose fanaticism. You struggle to justify your purchase but you're going to do it anyway. Real intelligent, ADULT, move there kiddo.

Well this is a great opportunity for some of you to use your money to invest.
In order for people to invest, they have to be very confident Switch will be a very big success. If the Switch does ok or pretty good, their money would be better off in a different stock.
The fact is, there are very legitimate concerns about Nintendo Switch. Concerns that Nintendo could have addressed but didn't.

@psycho_punch Nintendo used to have a crapload of official flash games you could access via the Nintendo club around the time of the GBA and Pre-Wii so you could demo their games but through a PC using its browser. Games like Kirby, yoshi's island, advanced wars etc. But I didn't see that as third party even though I was using a PC to play them. I also know what you mean too, I suppose to me it was a case of thinking if the mobile games replaced the experience of the console games then I would have thought Nintendo had thrown the towel in whereas I saw the mobile thing (so far) as them trying to support their games on mobile instead. Who knows as time goes on if they start knocking out their console games on mobile fully then I would concede that all hope is gone.
To be honest we have yet to see what Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing will be like on a mobile. If it supports the game or just acts as a gateway into the console experience then I'm happy with that. Anything more and it makes you wonder why you need your handheld anymore.

@Marshi Gotta go. I'll catch up with you later, Marsha.

@OzHuski they had nothing to show 80 games in development doesn't mean exclusive games the majority of those games will be available on other platforms. Time and time again I'm let down by Nintendo. And you need desperately 3rd party triple AAA games. Those games like gta 5 for example sold 70 million units and they didn't bother making it for nintendo system you don't think that would have helped push some system sales...

@AlexOlney GET BACK TO WORK YOU LOVELY PERSON!!

[cackle]

@Oscarzxn Not only marketing.

On the general audience eyes, Ps4 inherited a legacy of costant flow of good AAA and indie titlesfrom Ps3, so no big needs to show huge muscles at the beginning. People knew that buying a ps4 meant "I will have tons of games of years to come"

Switch has the hard task to show that the time of software draughts and lack of 3rd party games from WiiU is finished....

@Raptor78 Nintendo is a company that would drive itself towards bankruptcy before going 3rd party too much pride.

@marko ".... They obviously invested all their resources in designing those joy cons i would have much rathered them put a better gpu/cpu and give me a system that has a chance at getting 3rd party games back on board."

My thoughts. As it is, no chance it can face an even battle with other home consoles. I fear that this control gimmicks will be barely utilized by devs.

It should be marketed as portable, as home console is a WiiU 1.5

@arnoldlayne83 It was still not enough reason for THAT many people to buy a new expensive console with paid online and not really new stuff at that moment.

@Marshi I know. I'm a huge fan myself. But there is a hell load of good Nintendo have done here with this console. The only thing letting them down is not showing all their hand right now. I love the games shown off so far and want them all - and on the go! Just no release dates for them is harsh.

At least there is 10 games coming the first month... just hope that's enough for me now.

@arnoldlayne83 Exactly. While some may proclaim our opinions as useless moaning and whinging, and to a certain extent they are kinda right, the fact is we were promised by Nintendo that the reason for a lack of Wii U software this last two years was to make room for Switch development. And two years later we are getting a Wii U port of an admittedly much anticipated game, plus some throw away party and third party stuff....aaaaand thats it. Anyone who is not vocally concerned by this must have money growing on trees in their back garden.

@Oscarzxn of course it was not only for that. But add that to good design choices, good reviews from journalists and good opinion from development, good marketing and you get it.

But still, what Sony did with ps4 here is not so important.

The point is that Switch needed to make people enthusiastically crazy about itself, and it partially failed. Not because itself, but because of the obtuse choices of Nintendo, as usual.

@arnoldlayne83 definitely agree as home console its not compelling. I would like them to sell the dock separately lower the price to 249 market it as a portable you van play the big screen.
But obviously they are more desperate to replace the wii u and they are scared to cannibalize the3ds they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

@OzHuski You are absolutely right mate. Im just so conflicted over this. On the one side im thinking we are getting Zelda, which will likely end up as one of the best games ever made. We will have a new 3d Mario. Splation 2. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which again, could very well be one of the best games ever made going by its pedigree. We are getting a new Shin Megami Tensei. A new No more heroes, which with the joy cons extra ooomph in the motion control department could be astoundingly good. We are getting both Sonic games this year and in typical Nintendo fashion im certain there are many more surprises on the way.
But this is all stuff coming much further down the line, which by then will have cemented a lot of peoples opinion on the system, much like it did with the wii u. Lets not forget the wii u has Xenoblade chronicles X, Tokyo Mirrage sessions. Mario kart 8, mario 3d world, bayonetta 2, wonderful 101 and more. All of which are fantastic games (Xenoblade chronicles X I will argue is better than Final Fantasy XV, is this is coming from a huge FF Fan). And none of these games helped bolster the sales for Wii U.

Nintendo need to act NOW or its going to be history repeating itself. I simply dont want them to fail. I want the. To be as big as they were during the Snes years.

Not surprising that the share price is down. I don't think it's great. Too many negatives. As a handheld it's great but as a console it's not very good.

@MysticX it's realistic to have battery life that's "crummy" as compared to Gameboy or DS Lite. My smartphone went weary fast on demanding games despite its 3300 MAh vs 3DS's 1750 and Vita's 2200. It's just another illustration to inability to have the cake and eat it at the same time. How much active time do people want from a system with 720p portable output, a custom Tegra and a heavily suspected cooling system to service it all? Chargers and power banks (for those spending most of their gaming opportunity time away from wall sockets) are here instead, from 21st century with love. Same goes for price - PS4 and Xbox one are only competitive after a "dated version 1.0" price drop while Sony's midgen upgrades are sold at $400+ for some picture crispness bells and whistles yet confirmed to have no exclusives inaccessible on PS4 Slim. There is still no backwards compatibility due to different architectures and PS Now - the only backwards compatibility alternative besides sporadic remasters and the tragically withered garden of Vita ports, charges almost a PS4's price per year and struggles to launch beyond a select few countries. PS4 itself is only assumed to exceed Switch in processing power, while its closest point of concept competition heavily relies on outdoor internet environment. I've already half-joked that you could even just replicate PS3 third party library on Switch over a couple years and its $300 would already pay off ten times by being more accessible to 8th/9th gen than PS3 third party library itself - with the added ability to play on the go for decent amounts of time. Some of those games are already making the "switch" and there sure is room for more. So it's no wonder first Switch batches are sold out as we speak, and not much courtesy of "hardcore fans" as you think - hardcore fans are currently the most annoyed ones and their support is as ephemeral as is in the very definition of a fan. Like I reiterate often, Switch concept has more potential audience in people who WOULD LIKE to be active gamers and enjoy expansive games (rather than OR on top of casual fun) but have too sporadic a schedule between home and outside businesses like work to be active gamers comfortably.

As for the launch, I can agree with as much as that a person completely new to video games can waver at the currently known variety. Dedicated folks usually have solid backlogs on other platforms to tide them over yet many are still preordering - and I, for one, did that as soon as I could because regardless of day one games I know it's a home console luckily addressing my issues with the gaming hobby and the reasons I didn't own home consoles since school graduation. But the game library remains an open book due to the presentation focusing on the hardware - the announcements have started floating up on an almost daily basis and even the lamented "day one lineup" has doubled over a few days since the presentation. Waiting further with orders and preorders until things clear up is fully legit and fair and I suspect Nintendo foresaw as much - nobody at the company's wheel was born yesterday either, - but assessing the lineup size ultimately is proving quite premature. All this stuff is enough to underwhelm certain audiences but not enough to be more of a flaw than the whimsical consumer standards of our day and age that lead us to perceive it as one.

Yes, this is the middle of a generation reigned by competitors, but Switch is launching with something new and something topical at the time said competitors have been offering little new dor several years past the incurably optional benefits of 4K and the purely aesthetic immersion value of contemporary VR. Safe to say there's a market pie slice for everyone involved here.

I think they'll sell the first 2 mil consoles fine int he first 2 months. I dont think theyll sell many more until christmas however when mario is on shelves in a bundle witht he system.

Im seriously considering holding off and canceling my order until there's a bundle. Theres still a few 3ds games I want to buy this year and I cant afford everything.

One thing I wish they hadn't done was include ice cube detection and rock paper scissors detection ina controller when there absolutely no games on the market or even suggested that would utilise these features, really really stupid, and I have to wonder how much these things jacked up the price per unit.

@dodgethis Wow, a strawman and an insult, i can't bring anything against that one-two punch of brilliant argumentation! :3

People saying this will be Nintendo's last console need to calm the eff down. Sheesh.

@dodgethis

You are funny. Really. A newbie coming onto a site to pee all over to mark his space by tossing insults at anyone he disagrees with. lol.

And you like your own comments, too. Heheh. Nuff said.

I would love to know what the investors think Nintendo should make...aside from just going pure mobile. Granted this happens with every tech company, but I am curious to know exactly what they are hoping for.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I do not understand investors. While I agree that the games library at launch could be stronger, most of the lineup for 2017 so far looks pretty promising.

Of course! I can only imagine the general public is also very negative about the Switch, and with good reason. Its just awful!

@AlexSora89 Futurama <3 <3 <3
Però quant'è brutta la voce originale di Bender ahahahah
È il motivo per cui Futurama è una delle pochissime serie che preferisco in italiano piuttosto che in lingua originale

Edit: as AlexSora89 correctly pointed out, it's an English-based community so I'll leave a translation pf my comment, though it's really nothing relevant lol:
"God how hideous is Bender's American voice lol
That's the reason why Futurama is one of the few series I'd rather watch dubbed in Italian ratger than in their original language (mostly English or Japanese)."

Zelda also on Wii U and no Mario at launch are huge errors.

However if there is a big drop in price by Christmas I think it could be a slow burner like 3DS. The decision to make it region free just gives me the impression that Nintendo is slowly learning its mistakes.

Normally I wouldn't be one to post things like LMFAO, but sadly enough I do feel like doing so now...

I am shaking my head at the preposterous assumptions of some people, or shall we say "armchair CEO's" that apparently hold the wisdom to know EXACTLY what Nintendo should have done or seem to know Iwata-san's inner thoughts and decisions.

If you logically think about that even for just a moment without letting anger, frustration and emotion take the upper hand, then you'd know how ridiculous that is.

Most if not none of you have ever run a business, and besides that, none of us are privy to inner communications and/or goings on at Nintendo HQ, so the assumptions are baseless, useless and delusional, since we only have part of the picture.

There is no NEED to "defend Nintendo like a blind fanboy" to understand this, all we need is logic, NOT partial facts or opinions. Having one is just fine, and all of you are welcome to your own, but if you want to express your criticism, then please try to make it constructive, and not just an unending stream of negativity, whining and wailing about all that is bad.

Let's deal with some REAL facts, shall we?

The price point comparison is the dumbest one of them all:
We are comparing consoles already on the market that have already seen price reductions to a newly released system. If you want to be honest about it, let's compare LAUNCH prices, shall we?

The "ridiculously" low amount of storage complaint is the second dumbest complaint, or maybe even one just as dumb.

The Switch is cartridge-based, with no mandatory game installs, so you don't NEED a 1TB hard drive to be able to use it. At most, you will only need the storage for minor updates/patches and DLC, something that the Micro SD card slot will be able to help with as well, and with a 256GB that will probably last you an entire generation.

Unless of course, your one of those that only wants to play digital. Not a smart choice in my and many other's opinion:
Less or even no ownership over the titles that you've "bought" since the company supporting the service around the games can just as easily remove the services as the entire game from their catalog, preventing you from ever downloading them again, should that be necessary, for example because of the corruption of your storage medium or a technical issue with your console.

So, it's clearly the lesser choice, offering convenience as its most outstanding feature. (especially with Nintendo, since prices for digital are more often times than not exactly the same)

Physical media at the size that the Switch will offer is nearly just as convenient, and offers durability, complete ownership and it's not really all that different portability-wise. Take for example the Breath of the Wild carrying case: it offers room for the Switch and 12 cartridges, 13 if you also have one in the Switch itself.

And let's be honest: how many different games do you really need on the go, or on holiday? So that one collection that fits into the carrying case should be more than enough.

And finally, a small note (ad nauseam I'm afraid) about Nintendo going to fail and having to go third party "like Sega".

1). They will NOT fail, they're still holding a lot of cards to their chest.
2). Unlike Sega, they have always been a hardware/complete solution company first. Sega was a GAMES company first, it's even in their name: "Service Games".

Nintendo has the heritage, the experience and the means to continue to support both hardware and software all by themselves, as a self-contained entity. Damage to their image because of another potential failure is a different story, but that is one too soon to tell as of yet.

I could offer more reasons and facts as to why Nintendo is not now, or ever going to "do a Sega", but I'll leave it at this for now...

@clvr
Thank you for the reply, but you should reply here in English language only, as this is a global community.
[Grazie per la risposta, ma qui dovresti rispondere solo in inglese, in quanto l'utenza del sito è globale.]

For those curious, he only told me his opinion about Futurama's Italian voice acting.

@Nintendian
All I keep thinking is what have they been up to?. For almost two years now we've gotten very few wii u games, well for most of its life, but especially the last couple years. I expected to be blown away by the amount of games on show. Thinking to myself that they stopped producing games for wii u in order to make games for the switch. Now what did we get for launch? Nothing, 3 games, one which has been in development for a while and two which no one asked for. They needed to make 1 2 switch a pack in if they wanted it to sell. As minimalistic as that game is it shouldn't have been too expensive to make it a pack in tittle.

@AlexSora89 guess you're right mate, I've edited the comment so that now anyone in here can understand
Btw I only recently found out that you're Italian, I didn't have the slightest idea to be honest. I was kinda surprised at first, but then I realised a lot of people come here from all over the world; the thing is I've been visiting this site on a daily basis for some years now, though I started commenting more often only lately, and that let me know a lot of the people in here better.

I have the gut feeling that the Switch won't fail because Nintendo has a trump card in their back pocket. If Switch sales start to slow(or even if they don't) we will see a cheaper bundle that has the handheld by itself with no dock.

I would not be shocked if Nintendo is saving something like this for when the Gen 8 Pokemon games arrived.

How many revisions of previous handhelds have we gotten?

Nintendo did it smart this time. They took the Wii U idea and put all the guts of the system into the handheld component. That means they can cut the cord at anytime and change the Switch into a really powerful handheld system.

@clvr
I'm not the only Italian dude here, either! @BensonUii and @spizzamarozzi (among many others - heck, even a writer from the former Italian Nintendo Official Magazine is here) say hi.

For the first time ever, I actually agree with the investors.

@AlexSora89 oh it's nice to know! So we're a (very) small community, sort of

No Super Mario at launch, at least Nintendo gave them lame joy-con colors of hope.

@Ryu_Niiyama I think investors expect(ed) a home console box without any gimmicks and the horsepower to run the same games as PS4 and Xbone. Then you'd basically have a third console with all the third party games but also with Nintendo exclusives. There'd be a tangible reason for buying it as your only/main console then. As it is, Switch is going to miss out on a lot of the third party games again (case in point: Mass Effect Andromeda) and people with money to only buy one console will go for Sony or Microsoft.

@ThanosReXXX Where have you been? There are a few more articles on the front page that would benefit from your logic.

@ThanosReXXX
Price comparisons are absolutely relevant. A consumer will walk into the store and see these systems side by side. They don't care what PS4 cost at it's launch. They care about today. Unless the consumer really cares about 2.5 hrs of portability, we are back to the WiiU situation (some great first party titles). The PS4 is more powerful, cheaper, many more games and better online (from what Nintendo communicated so far). Switch accessories are expensive. Nintendo chose when to release it's console. Nintendo refuses to take a loss on anything. If Zelda isn't your thing, could you really recommend Switch at launch? Or if they already have a WiiU, do they really need a Switch now?

So as an investor, would you put your money into Nintendo or something else? Nintendo's recent stock performance and the legitimate concerns over Switch would make any investor cautious. Switch needs to do very well to move the stock price up enough to make investment worth it. Stock price dropping doesn't mean investors think Nintendo is doomed. They just don't see a big increase in profits in the near future.

I'm buying Switch solely based on Nintendo exclusives. Portability is OK, but I'll mostly play at home. I took a short flight to Atlanta this weekend. If I started playing while waiting to board, the battery would die mid flight. It's just not worth my hauling around for that.

Which part of Nintendo Switch running out of pre-orders in America is making them nervous?

@AlexOlney Bwah ha ha ha

@clvr
I wouldn't say it's small, at least, the Italian portion of it might be, but the rest is kind of huge. I'd ask the site's staff to tell us how big the userbase is, but that would get confusing considering it's shared between NintendoLife and sister sites PushSquare and PureXbox.

@AlexSora89 yeah I was referring to the Italian portion I know the NL community is huge, as I've wandered through several Ninty-based sites before settling in here. I don't know why NL appealed to me this much, but when I found it out I just thought It'd be my go-to Nintendo news site.
I don't know, I think I like the community (though I've always been more of a lurker myself) and the usual bit of British humor I know I can find in here (looking especially at you, Tom and Alex).
And although the biggest community out of the 3 surely is NL, if we take into account those who only dwell PS or Pure XBox, the total numbers will go even higher.

@k8sMum Hey... Kate's mama... that comment that got a like. Not me. I think there might be another user who doesn't like your cooking. I know Kate doesn't. Oh and hey, I'm just here to dump on the switch too. Now I'm one of the Nintendolife peep!. Woo.

I can see went the investors are acting negative to the news, because as a long time Nintendo fan that has been interested in every Nintendo system to date, I really thought what the showed for games, and the pricing for this system is really unimpressive. I do expect great sales near launch, those are the ppl most interested in the system, but gradually I think the sales will drop big time and will sell very poorly unless Nintendo can secure a great third party game exclusive.

The loss in shares is understandable. As an armchair CEO it is my right to criticize, dammit! Of course I know what I'm talking about! The price with no pack in game? Poor choice. Even if you take an initial hit, you need to get those pack-in games to get the systems selling. A single system on its own creates a psychological sales barrier. Next, the simple message of the October trailer has been sullied by the presentations confusing combinations of controllers and launch games (is this another Wii???). Focus yourselves Nintendo. Finally, these launch games? They're questionable system sellers. The Wii stuff is most definitely going to tank. Zelda? Great game. But we can buy it for our WiiUs. End result. We don't need you right now Mr. Switch. Wahey. Now I'm a proper Nintendolife commentor type person. I'd make that Irish whiner (sliggy-something) and the one with the glaceon as his avatar, proud.

@MysticX You know you love it, baby.

I think the issue might lay in the fact that the console is not priced to move for anyone but core nintendo fans, if you're a core die hard nintendo fan, you're gonna be there day one no matter what buying it.
But in the long run, folks are gonna look at the Switches price and lack of a pack in title, look at PS4 with it's $260 price tag and an inclusion of a game, and be more inclined to buy one of those.
Nintendo could have at least had a pack in game of SOME KIND, even if it was just a download from their gamestore.
In the long run, after the thing sells to all the core die hards, and the sales die down or keep going at a steady pace, will help to gauge the success of this console.
In a year or 2, if sales start suffering, Nintendo will have to make some tough choices to entice folks into buying it... either drop the price, or add a pack in game.. or maybe even both... but at launch there SHOULD have been a pack in game.
Never mind all the hoopla about what the device can do, because if a customer does not care about the gimmicks and just wants to pay for a home console, they will likely skip the Switch and go else where.
These are things to think about.
The XBO had a similar issue a few years ago because consumers did not want to pay for the Kinect, they just wanted a controller in their hands, and they did not want to pay for something they had no interest in using, and once they dropped the Kinect, what happen?
Sales picked up is what happen.
Nintendo keeps finding themselves in a similar situation, as a consumer i don't wanna pay fore the gimmicky stuff, the only gimmick i gave a darn about was the controller and tablet thing.. but Nintendo had to be Nintendo and shoehorn in stuff that a lot of developers might not bother to use, like the sensor for shapes and what not, and the HD rumble.. i think HD Rumble might be more likely to be used than the sensor for shapes and distance.
But giving consumers options does not mean bundling a bunch of stuff in and saying "use what you want".
It should be "hey we have different configurations, if you don't care about that stuff, here's something more basic that costs less if you only wanna pay for those things".
That's how you give consumers choice.
Wii U failed for a ton of reasons, but i think part of it was some folks did not care for the controller, they wanted to just use a pro controller.
My point being is that in a few years we shall see what becomes of this, and i hate to be right about the above.. but i think i.. maybe will be.

Keep in mind, i don't want Nintendo to fail.. i want them to succeed.. these are mainly just worries i have.. but i hope they are completely unfounded.

@TheGoof
I agree. If Nintendo wants to include some of these gimmicks, they need to show consumers that they are necessary for a better gaming experience. Nintendo complained companies didn't come up with good ways to use the gamepad for WiiU.....yet Nintendo failed to do the same with their own games. The portability and Nintendo first party titles are the reasons to buy Switch over the other consoles. Nintendo must hit a home run in both areas....and we've seen 2.5 battery life and very few titles.

Rightly so! To high a price poor game line up! I predict only 3 million units sold by xmas

I’m an investor (not a huge one), and I’m also a Nintendo fan; those two things are mutually exclusive.

As an investor, I sold some of my Ninty shares back in mid-July at the height of the Pokemon Go! craze. Why? Profit, I bought the stock when it was barely over 11USD - in mid-July it was in the upper 30s. However, I kept the majority of my shares in a wait and see approach with the then NX. A lot of investors were feeling the same (which was artificially keeping the share price inflated). Immediately after the presentation Thursday evening, I went and put some additional shares up for sale. I did this for two reasons: one, the stock was still overpriced due to Pokemon Go!; and two the presentation on Thursday evening was very lackluster (extremely disappointing as a longtime Nintendo fan watching with my kids, except for Zelda…that Zelda trailer was…wow), and I knew it would not create further market momentum.
Kind of funny thing is, when I had my first sell-off in July, I intended on using a portion of the profit from that on buying a Switch at launch. Now, I’m thinking I’ll wait at least until the holiday season to see how things play out. Right now I feel as though the Switch isn’t much more than a Zelda tax for me and my family.

@ThanosReXXX
I think your post is mostly spot on; however, I disagree with your wanting to compare launch prices. The reason I disagree with this is that I believe that Nintendo themselves disagree with this. It is my personal opinion that Nintendo felt very strongly about keeping the price point in-line with that of the competitors’ current pricing due to their lack of remaining market/brand capital. Though you, me, and a few others loved their Wii U, the problem is just that, only a few others enjoyed it: it was a commercial fail. They are still a brand that has some cachet left, but not enough to drive the average consumer on that alone. Whether we consider Msft and Sony direct competitors or not, all three are fighting for the same finite pot of consumer entertainment funds. @WOLF1313 nails this

@clvr
This website was where I found sanctuary when the Italian Nintendo Official Magazine sadly ended its run. After a while I got used to the new mechanic - an active kind of interaction with the other users instead of me just being a loyal reader, until I became the regular I'm known as today.

@Ryu_Niiyama Thanks for the compliment, but as for those other articles: I'm not even going to bother. WAY too much negativity and just reading them has already exhausted me mentally, so I'm not going to spoil what's left of my evening by trying to reason with them, which is an exercise in futility if ever there was one...

People just like to complain and Nintendo will probably never be able to please all of these "fans" let alone make something that won't leave something left to desire...

@dodgethis Hey, I have no desire to get into your argument with @k8sMum but you may not know that her username is a memorandum. Please show some decorum. I know that anonymity makes it easy to be our worst selves but that is a person on the other end of that user name and a mother.

That is all I have to say on that. @k8sMum My apologies if I am overstepping. Have a nice day.

@WOLF1313 I didn't say price comparisons aren't relevant, I said that we should use the CORRECT comparisons for them, considering we are among well-informed gamers here, who should know better than to spout nonsense.

By that logic, we should also never want any other new product, be they car, cycle, TV, whatever, because those newer ones are simply WAY more expensive than the older models...

If you have even the tiniest logical bone in your body, you're not going to compare something new to something already on the market for years that has already seen multiple price reductions.

The whole discussion was about establishing if the Switch has an expensive launch price or not, and the ONLY correct way to do that is to compare it to the LAUNCH PRICES of the other two consoles, and see what was in the box, so as to be able to form a well-informed verdict on the matter.

And the verdict is that when compared in the correct context, as they should, the prices are similar to those other systems and that, although certainly considerably pricey, the amount that the Switch and its peripherals goes for is largely justified because of the tech inside and the quality of the hardware, as also testified by several Nintendo Life editors from their own hands-on experience with the system.

@guangong It was not me wanting to compare those prices, it was an already ongoing discussion that I jumped into because it made me shake my head. I answered the how and why in comment #186, so I hope you don't mind me referring you to that one for that topic.

And I don't think any single one of us has 'nailed' anything, not even me, and while you are an investor, I am a sales & marketing professional, almost 24 years of experience and I am looking at this from both that perspective and as that from a multi-system gamer AND Nintendo fan.

I fully agree with you that the presentation was lacking on quite a few fronts: it was messy, slow, and one of the translators sounded so bored that he should have been fired or something, but not only Zelda was great, Mario was too, and Splatoon 2, Xenoblade 2, Snipper Clips looked like fun, ARMS was kind of a maybe for me, and although I was glad to see a real battle arena mode in the revised Mario Kart, I think I'll stick with my Wii U version for now...

And sure, Nintendo definitely faces an uphill battle, but them coming with some cheap Fisher Price type of toy that is going to be more affordable for more people isn't going to save them either, so it's either go in all the way with yet another quality-built product, or step out completely.

Well, the latter is something that we probably won't see them doing in this lifetime, so their only option was to fight back with yet again a unique system that is like no other. They can't be HD box nr. 3, that just isn't going to work.

I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what the coming months will bring. I'm betting we'll hear more about that list of 80 games currently in development and more and more third parties are also drip-feeding us with upcoming Switch titles, so in the end, all or at least most of us might just learn to be a bit less judgmental and a bit more patient instead of letting their emotions run rampant over something as non-important as a hobby...

@ThanosReXXX At the end of the day, regardless of what PS4 and Xbone cost at launch, the Switch is going up against them at what they cost NOW. If someone walks in a shop with enough money for one console, they will consider PS4, Xbox or Switch, so the Switch needs to be competitive in the context of the market which it forms a part.

Regarding your car purchase analogy, would a consumer go for a car that has been around a couple of years, is proven with a lot of dealerships to back it up and with a great engine and a lower price, or would they go for a new car to the market with not many dealerships, lots of fancy but irrelevant tech that they may never use, a slower engine and a higher price?

I guess you pay your money and make your choice.

I really want Nintendo to succeed with the Switch, I have a Wii U and love it. However, I also had to buy a PS4 a few yaers later to get access to all the third party games I want to play, and I don't have the money right now to buy a Switch AND the upcoming PS4 games I want.

I can get Zelda on Wii U, and it looks like nothing else I am interested in is coming out until Mario Odyssey. So personally I can't see a reason to buy a Switch until at least Christmas.

Sadly if enough people think the same, the install base will be small, which means third parties won't invest in making games for it, and we're back to the same downward spiral and low sales figures as the Wii U.

I just hope someone from Nintendo is reading the comments on here and will take them on board.

@ThanosReXXX
The only comparison that matters is the day they are both sitting on the shelf. I'm not saying 299 is an unfair price. It's just not a competitive price for the current market.
Usually the new models have superior technology. That's not the case with Switch.
PS4 and XboxOne have the advantage of being out longer and able to make price cuts. But that's the market they have chosen to enter. And they are offering a machine that's not on the level as those 3 year old machines.

@Ryu_Niiyama If that's true, then my response is that a person should not (directly or otherwise) advertise such a sensitive part of their life in the emotional playground that is the internet. Defences up!

@ACrate81 In the car analogy, make the comparison with brands that we all know, so it's not about a completely unknown brand since everybody knows who the three console competitors are.

The comparison people are now making is buying an old Mercedes over a new BMW...

Comparing the Switch pricing or pack-ins to older systems that have been on the market and have likely recouped their R&D money isn't feasible in tech (and most other markets really). Otherwise it is a race to the bottom and that isn't sustainable. Iphone 6 has been on the market for sometime I woudn't expect the 7 to cost LESS than it just because there is an older model out. If the video gaming industry tried for that we would hit another crash in no time.

@ThanosReXXX good analogy Although maybe Mercedes v Tesla?

Fingers crossed for Switch. I personally won't be getting one day 1 but that doesn't in any way mean I want Nintendo to fail. Come Christmas I am pretty sure there'll be a Switch in our household.

@dodgethis Sigh, so you are THAT type of person. Gotcha. Good to know. Now that we have established our personalities, please don't speak to me. I am very sorry that I even tried to appeal to your sense of compassion. Have a nice day.

@ACrate81 I certainly don't want them to fail. I don't care if it's 299 or 249. My Switch was preordered immediately and if I only buy a few games for it, it's worth it to me.
I want Nintendo to do very well so they increase employees and increase the number of games.

@Ryu_Niiyama

I don't care for name calling and bullying. NL didn't used to either. I'm a quiet person of the female persuasion, swaggering and testosterone spraying puts me off. The impression is that he is a very young person. Perhaps he will learn, perhaps not. I doubt anyone here really cares.

I sincerely thank you for your kindness. But now I at least know my name is advertising something. Who knew?

Anyway, sing along with me: "Troll, troll, troll your boat...'

@WOLF1313 But it does have superior technology. Pound for pound, in terms of what you can get in mobile tech, it's the most powerful in the world, it's the ONLY system that offers two distinct experiences in one box, and the tech in the controllers is also a CONSIDERABLE cut above that in the controllers of the competition, something also VERY clearly addressed in the hands-on of the NLife crew.

And I only jumped into an existing discussion, and that started with launch prices, so if you're going to complain about LAUNCH prices, then you should logically and rightfully compare them to OTHER launch prices, not to twice-reduced prices...

And the tech in both the Xbox One and PS4 is older than my 4 year old PC, not to mention weaker, so coming back to what you get with Switch is actually more advanced in tech, even though it doesn't pack as much oomph as the others. Graphically, it doesn't have to make all that much of a difference though, what with the scalability of all the game engines on offer.

Just go to YouTube and look up modern games running on the Tegra K1 tablet via Steam. The K1 is the predecessor of the model used for the Switch and that can already run the latest installments of Batman, Tomb Raider and Doom with no problems at all, except for the aforementioned slightly lower graphical fidelity, but what you get in return for that slightly less pretty "on the TV" experience, is a "not available with the competition" on the go experience, so I'd say it's a more than decent trade-off, and one that I'm personally more than willing to make...

@Ryu_Niiyama No, chicken. You're talking to a fraction of a personality. My compassion belongs in the one I use in the real world. This is just a playground for personas. Welcome to the internet.

@k8sMum Merry merrily merrily merrily, listen to Kate's mum scream.

Sorry, ducks, but you are not that important. Byeeeeeee.

@k8sMum Hey no problem. You tend to learn bits and pieces about the regulars over time. We all bicker, but in some ways we are a family here. Also, fellow female gamer so I will admit I tend to (politely!) stick up for my own.

I have little use for people that resort to ad hominem to get their "point" across. If you are obnoxiously rude in addtion, well at that point I begin to question one's humanity. If you can't communicate intelligently then you might as well as bark like a dog. Same result.

Anyway, I hope the rest of your Monday treats you well.

@Marshi Except that PS4 and X1 have been out for several years at this point and they have had time to build their library in addition to several price cuts. You forget that PS4 was 400 dollars when it first launch and that didn't include games, accessories, and online subscription fees. With Switch it's obvious there will likely be more info to come in the next few weeks yet you act as if Nintendo has signed it's death warrant already

@ThanosRexx @WOLF1313 @ACrate81

The new car comparisons are good, and I think all of you have made valid points. The only thing is, I think we aren't quite comparing accurately, as the Switch is not a 1 for 1 comparison with the XBox and PS4. I think a more adept comparison would be a car (pick your brand) to something more akin to the Polaris Slingshot, as it's more of a car/motorcycle hybrid.

@ThanosReXXX Though we may not be in 100% agreement, we are pretty close. Your last paragraph in comment #187 I completely agree with. That's why I said being a fan and investor are mutually exclusive.

It's as though you and I are both looking at the same orange, but from different sides. We both agree on its size, its color, its smell, etc. The only disagreement we have is that on my side I see a tiny brown spot. That's it.

Also, for the record, I don't think the price point is bad per se, it's just for me, based on the information that we have at the moment, I'm not compelled to make the purchase. Again, based on current information, i.e., mainly launch line-up. I actually harbor no ill-will towards the Switch: I always take the wait and see approach as a consumer. If a company wants my money, it's on the company to sell their goods or service to me. You understand that in your line of work.

Anyways, I'll probably just go back to reading the articles/comments, and not actively comment (I hate the term lurker, it implies something nefarious) as I've done for the past several years. Usually my sentiments are represented by a lot of the active commentors.

@Wolfgabe I think ive argued enough about this. Talk to me in a year and we will see what state the Switch's software library is in.

@guangong So THIS is where we are?

@ThanosReXXX Ok you and @rjejr are trying to kill me. Y'all know I actually read your posts. Have sympathy on a poor cyclops will you?

EDIT: I am not asking you to remove the pic mind you. I know my issue is unique. I just thought it was funny (and really fing painful) that you both used the same image at some point.

@ThanosReXXX

HAHAHA! Perfect!

@Ryu_Niiyama So sorry, ma'am. I beg your forgiveness...

@guangong I thought it'd be nice to end the evening (well it is over here in Europe) with a smile after a day full of "righteous" indignation in the various comments sections across multiple articles...

@ThanosReXXX I edited my post above. It is just painfully funny... and perhaps my cue to get off the internet today.

@ThanosReXXX

I can most definitely appreciate that

Are you familiar with Niels Bohr? There are two quotes attributed to him that I am a big fan of:

The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.

and

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.

Take care, and have a good evening. You might have another busy day in the comments section tomorrow....

@Ryu_Niiyama Funny you noticed. I actually got that picture from @rjejr at one point when we were discussing a similarly difficult topic. Good memory you have there...

@norwichred I agree with you 100 percent sir and cannot for the life of me understand anyone defending them. Bloody hell I imported a virtual boy in the 90s- that's how much I love Nintendo but I feel like I've been hit with a huge wet fish too many times now. What I can't understand is how they can't see it themselves. 3ds tanked- dropped price released software- it didn't
Wii had an impulse buy price point- had software and sold
Wii u high price no software- didn't sell no price drop still didn't sell
It makes me want to scream.

@guangong Tomorrow I will be too busy with my work to spend all day in the comments section here...
I'm my own boss, and I do most of the work from my home office, except for Tuesdays and Thursdays when I use a rented space amongst peers, so tomorrow is just another day at the office...

And I am familiar with Niels Bohr, although not that intimately. I do remember these quotes, though.

I have some favorites of my own. Not exactly quotes, but you might like them just the same. One comes from a list of Buddhist parables, and seems to be applicable here to some extent, and the other below that is a management joke simply called "The Three Envelopes" and is applicable whenever any company screws up and a new manager is selected, so here goes:

The 84th Problem
A man once came to see the Buddha to get help with his problems. After the man had told the Buddha one of his problems and asked for help, the Buddha replied: "I cannot help you get rid of that problem."

The man was surprised that the Buddha could not help him in this regard, but he told the Buddha about another problem; he thought to himself that the Buddha should at least be able to help him with that problem. But the Buddha told him "I cannot help you with that problem either."

The man started to get impatient. He said: "How can it be that you are the perfectly Enlightened Buddha, when you can’t even help people get rid of their problems?" The Buddha answered: "You will always have 83 problems in your life. Sometimes a problem will go, but then another problem will come. I cannot help you with that."

The baffled man asked the Buddha: "But, what can you help me with, then?" The Buddha replied: "I can help you get rid of your 84th problem." The man asked: "But what is my 84th problem?" The Buddha replied: "That you want to get rid of your 83 problems."

The Three Envelopes

A fellow had just been hired as the new CEO of a large corporation. The current CEO was stepping down and met with the new hire privately in his office, where he handed him three numbered envelopes.

"Open these if you run up against a problem you don't think you can solve," the first CEO said.

Things went along pretty smoothly for the first six months, but then sales took a downturn and the new CEO began catching a lot of heat. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read: "Blame your predecessor."

The new CEO called a press conference and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the previous CEO. Sales began to pick up and the problem was soon behind him.

About a year later, the company was again experiencing a slight dip in sales, combined with serious product malfunctions.

Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO opened the second envelope. The message read: "Reorganize." This he did, and the company quickly rebounded.

After several consecutive profitable quarters, the company once again fell on hard times. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope.

The message read: "Prepare three envelopes"…

Well they know Switch isnt going to sell good like the other consoles...

@TheGoof "It should be "hey we have different configurations, if you don't care about that stuff, here's something more basic that costs less if you only wanna pay for those things".
That's how you give consumers choice.
Wii U failed for a ton of reasons, but i think part of it was some folks did not care for the controller, they wanted to just use a pro controller."

I agree that this might be good in a way, as giving more options and price points rarely is bad for the consumer.
On the other hand, though, it'd surely raise complaints about splitting the user base, and we all know how tricky that matter is, as we've had examples with the New 3DS and the PS4 Pro. Both devices showed how hard it is to offer 2 lines of the same product with different tech and price point: they have to give new adopters (and already existing users alike) an incentive to buy the model with enhanced capabilities, while at the same time convincing early adopters (and who owns the older or less capable model) they're not missing out on essential features.

@k8sMum Do you ever feel like a substitute teacher on here, just trying to keep the peace?

@ThanosReXXX You remembered, I'm touched,

So, this is all going about as well as hoped for huh?

@AlexSora89 woah, you're smashing through an open door with that! I'd been a very avid reader of said magazine since my father randomly bought number 6 (the one with Super Mario Sunshine on the front page) out of curiosity after buying a GameCube, and up until the very last issue. Now my collection still sits in my bedroom, and it only lacks 6 issues (1-5 and 7)!
Do you remember the readers' mail clumn? A lot of time ago they posted a picture there depicting my 12-or-so-year-old self clad in a green tunic and armed with sword and shield! I was sooooo stoked to see it there!

Back on topic, I feel the same about NL: it's become my own spiritual successor to the Official Nintendo Magazine, with the added bonus of having an active community with which to share views about the latest Nintendo-related shenanigans

Woah, what happened to this comment section!? I'm gone for most of one day, one day, and a tornado comes through and tears every last shred of decency in it to confetti!

Well that's what happens when you charge $80 for two next gen wiimotes.

@ThanosReXXX Price comparisons with other products aside, I've gone back and forth on the system price with cleveland, relating to currency exchange rates and historical rates over the past few years.

My contention is that the Japanese will essentially be paying the equivalent of $US250 for the NS, while every one else will be paying the equivalent of about US$300-420, depending on regional things like VAT taxes. Including VAT tax, those in the UK in particular are essentially going to pay almost US$150 more than their Japanese counterparts for the basic NS package. I personally think it's being overpriced outside of Japan, even considering fluctuating currency rates over the past year only making ¥29,500 into about US$280 at most.

Cleveland countered that Nintendo may just be protecting themselves, accounting for somewhat broad market and currency fluctuations over the past five years. I think those of us in the US know deep down that a period of unrest and market instability is coming. So he contended that the price raise may be Nintendo covering themselves from a market perspective, regardless of consumer perspectives.

What do you think?

@rjejr Well, I'm not gonna lie: they certainly botched the landing, but maybe the continuation of the journey might be something that's a bit more enjoyable. At least I'm up for seeing where it takes us, contrary to a hell of a whole lot of doomsday prophets that are already writing the epitaph for the Switch's and/or Nintendo's burial...

@Caryslan Quite off-topic, but I have to ask you this: Your avatar, from what Dragon Ball is that? I've played it a long time ago and have been searching for it like a crazed fanatic but didn't find it....

On Topic: I'd advise something I myself very rarely have and have to have just as well: patience. Nintendo, sadly, likes to keep people in the dark, enjoys having their mystery hat on, and I've got a feeling there's more to it then this. If we're at launch and nothing changed, I'll just as eagerly admit my wrong.

@PlywoodStick Well, I never claimed that it was cheap, but I do think it's worth its price and you may have a point, or rather cleveland may have a point, but most of that information is what will never reach our ears, so if we will ever learn the entire truth about it is highly doubtful.

My only point throughout all these negative comments-inducing articles is that I would love for people to not get so angry over a hobby and maybe wait and see a little bit how the first 6 months after the release actually turns out, and my bet is that there will be more software than we know of right now and perhaps there may even be more bundles as well, like one with multiple docks, like I already suggested in another thread.

I'm certainly willing to wait and see and not let my emotions get the better of me, but apparently not everyone is willing or able to do that, which makes me kind of sad, all that outrage over a hobby. Oh, well... I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the heck out of my Switch and feeling virtual ice cubes in my controllers once I get my hands on one later this year...

And I'll take my cues from people that have actually tried the system out, like some of the NLife crew have, who seem to be VERY positive in general, and not just because they are a Nintendo site, methinks...

@rjejr As for mentioning you concerning that picture: credit where credit's due, my friend, simple as that...

@ThanosReXXX I agree with your sentiments, however for someone like me it's more than a hobby. I won't bore you with a life story, but suffice it to say I've got a lot more time on my hands than your average person, and I'd rather while those away with good games, than to curse what got me that time in the first place.

I'd also like to add that, AngryJoe (who isn't exactly all that happy with Nintendo overall) is quite/very positive about the Switch and the same goes for TotalBiscuit who has also voiced concerns over the launch.

@ThanosReXXX Personally, I'm definitely going to get a Sand(s)witch in the future, now that I'm fairly confident that it will be an RPG powerhouse. It's pretty much certain to do extremely well in Japan, and I think it could be the next PS2-level Mecca for RPG's. Not just Japanese this time around, either, if Skyrim is any indication!

...However. A lot of those titles won't be released for another 1-3 years. So I'm going to hold off getting one until holiday 2017 at the earliest, maybe even holiday 2018 if that's how long it takes to get a US price drop. I have plenty to catch up on elsewhere, until then. This definitely seems like a late bloomer console to me, although I'll be sad to miss out on the Snipperclips hype.

Oh yeah, I also look forward to virtually feeling balls like Alex did. (Does...!?)

@UmniKnight Used to have that same problem myself, maybe not for the same reasons, but suffice to say that my situation was one of the main reasons why I decided to start my own business...

However, that does not mean that I'd have to make a choice to either curse my situation or the hobby that I used to make me forget about that situation, but I can see where you're coming from.

For me, gaming has always been a way to escape reality, even in the best of times, so that was never directly related to bad situations for me, but of course it was also a good way to let off steam when something bad had happened to me in school or at work...

But in the end, personal sentiments aside, it is in fact a hobby, even though it might mean more to some of us than to others, the label remains the same. But some take it to the next level and more or less try to turn gaming into a way of life or worse: a necessity of live, and one so important that every wrong breath a company takes infuriates them to no end, which is completely ridiculous to me and regardless of my understanding of personal situations of people or their different views, my opinion on that will stay the same in general.

I can understand it to some extent, but I just don't feel that same connection or importance to it, and that is why it's easier for me to distance myself from all goings on related to it instead of going completely berserk, like some people on here are doing. I would loathe to play a game with them, because if they also react like that when they lose, well...

Here's the way I look at it: a game not coming to the Switch? Unfortunate, but it is what it is, no need to get angry, there'll be plenty of other games that WILL come.

Online services will from now on be paid for? Sorry to see free online go, but let's be honest: Nintendo was never really the best in online services and now, instead of Nintendo, it will more than likely be DeNA that is taking care of that part, and they are VERY well-versed in online gaming, so the service will be all the better for it, so we may have to pay, but we are almost certainly getting a MUCH better experience, so it's a fair trade, and I could go on and on exchanging glass half empty views on things for glass half full views, but I'll leave it at that.

@PlywoodStick Never been an early adopter myself either, so by the time I'll buy one, there'll be more than enough games to choose from. And maybe it will even have had a price drop in the process...

@ThanosReXXX I've given up on doing anything with the paid argument (against it that is, I will NOT be preventing from playing a monster hunter, if it makes it which I really really hope it does, online). It's more a point of view than anything else, and someone made a valid argument with this, that if Blizzard/Steam etc got the chance to enforce subscriptions, they would. It still baffles me how the PC gaming community keeps them from doing it (Games of Windows Live seems to be the best example in that).

I don't know about DeNa, if you'd care perhaps you could give some background information on them. If you can't be bothered then I understand. I think that most negative reactions to paid comes from it being change. Something that was once unrestricted and free, now has a price tag and isn't accessible without it.

@rjejr

And just like a substitute teacher I knew going in my time and effort would be wasted, lol.

i too would not invest in a console that is a lot inferior to the current consoles on the market...

@UmniKnight No problem, here you go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeNA

They are well known and established in their own territory and they will more than likely bring all that expertise and know-how to the Switch. What else would their partnership with Nintendo be for? It would be crazy to only partner with them for smart phone games...

EDIT:
Some more links with information...

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2015/150317qa/05.html
(page 5, so you could also go through the other pages, where more info can be found)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-11-04-dena-reallocating-resources-to-nintendo-titles

And they also helped with the service behind My Nintendo:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/dena-details-nintendo-partnership-plans-release-five-free-play-mobile-games-by-march-2017-1528178

@clvr
You're asking me if I read the column?!

Issue 125, February 2012. And if you need further proof that it was me, the drawing is crumpled because I personally gave it to Magiustra; here's my own scan of the original.

I'd say "such a small world we live in", but it's not - rather, it was just NRU being awesome, hence the many fans.
Oh, I also did another drawing, a parody of The Expendables with the NRU writing staff's Miis in the original actors' stead.

Stock markets are a silly and fickle thing, but with the money at risk and the nature of how the market overreacts (you should simply sell if you think other stock owners are going to start selling), it's understandable that these kinds of things happen. The pre-orders and public perception (beyond our Nintendo bubble) are the best sources we have of gauging the Switch's potential success at the moment. What I'm seeing right now is that Nintendo is failing to gain the support of its core fanbase, muddling the message of what kind of console the Switch is meant to be, and making a reasonably appealing piece of hardware (but which has a lot to prove) more expensive than the already popular PS4 and XB1. There's a lot going against it, and the attitude that it's going to fail might just bring that very prediction to fruition. I'll be curious to see where it goes from here.

@dodgethis : Even a playground has rules, and I recommend that you brush up on this one's. Heck, I'll even direct you to the most relevant ones:

"Do not harass other users, up to and including site staff and contributors. If you disagree with anything you've read here at Nintendo Life, whether staff or user-submitted, please be constructive in your response. If you have a bone to pick with us, we welcome your feedback via the Contact Form, but hounding our staff via comments, forum topics, messages sent via e-mail, via other websites or other social media will not be tolerated.
Do not "flame" others. Blatantly offensive posts directed at others will not be tolerated. While we do allow members to debate and voice their own opinions, there will be a limit to how far a heated debate can go before it is closed by staff."

If your goal is to get placed in the permanent time-out corner, you're well on you way. You can probably get there by this week's end if you keep up the pace. You have a fairly impressive control of language. Reasonably clear voice, somewhat confusing tone. Just use it to add a bit to the topic at hand rather than lashing out at the users in this comment section and you'd be a nice addition to our little argumentative family.

(Sorry to you, mods, if I'm unwelcomely trying to do your job for you. Let me know if you'd prefer that I restrain from this kind of activity in the future.)

@ThanosReXXX Yeah, I didn't like a lot about the event, but it's just the beginning of a long journey, so I'm not writing anything off yet. I know it took us 3 years to buy a PS4, so if we get a Switch in only 2 years that's a win for Nintendo, right?

I bought a Wii U 9 months after launch, after Iwata and other Nitneod heads kept saying "no price drop, no price drop", then a week after I bought it they announced the price drop and the Zelda bundle. I dont' forget things like that, so no Switch purchase for us until after, well you know.

@rjejr Well, you bought a Wii U 9 months after launch, I bought one 4 months before its official burial, so...

I will probably buy the Switch a bit sooner than that, but not too soon: I'm already not looking forward to the still considerable back log of must-have titles for the Wii U that I will HAVE to own and play, so it'll probably be halfway 2018 before the Switch will finally land in the mad Titan's abode...

@ThanosReXXX You could have just bought a Switch and played all the ports you know.

About an hour ago I was up to over 280 emails. Down to about 240 now. May never get to all of them this time. Being sick for a week does that to my inbox every time. Cooking homemade mac & cheese and frying up some steaks for dinner, frozen broccoli is going in the microwave though, I have my limits.

Not sure what types of games you like but put me down for recommending all the usual ones - XCX, Pikmin 3, Lego City Undercover, W101, Bayonetta 1 & 2. I'm not a fan of MK or SSB. And SM3DW was meh. It's amazing I have a Wii U at all. Hyrule Warriors was probably my favorite. Splatoon would have been but it's also my most nerve wracking, trying to get an A rank from A- almost ended my marriage. Never did make it, back to B+ then I just quit cold turkey. I won't get Spla2oon. The best thing about Wii U which everyone will appreciate more in a few months was BC w/ Wii games and accessories. The game I enjoyed playing the most on Wii U was XC, one of the best JRPG I ever played. None of that w/ Switch. Or PS4.

@rjejr "You could have just bought a Switch"

No, I needed to complete my Nintendo console collection, so I still needed that Wii U...
And of course I also need all those Wii U exclusive games, so I've got quite a ways to go.

Mario Kart 8 was in the bundle, I have Bayonetta 1 & 2, Batman Arkham City Armored Edition and Zombi U and some smaller, eShop games, which was all that my Christmas budget allowed for, so the list of wanna-haves is still considerable.

I hope that I will be able to complete my list, since some titles will obviously become more rare every day, so I'll have to wait and see which ones I will still be able to get my hands on, and for now, it will only be 2 or 3 a month, depending on the price, obviously.

I don't have the reserves (yet) to pay full or near to full price, so I'll have to start with the bargain bin first and work my way up from there. Pikmin 3 will be a must-have for me, as well as Splatoon and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

The LEGO City Undercover, W101 and SM3DW are close seconds, and I'm hoping to get my hands on Need for Speed Most Wanted, since the Wii U version was still the definitive one compared to the Xbox 360 & PS3 versions, and other than that, I also hope to be able to still get all the following titles:

Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Ninja Gaiden 3
Yoshi's Woolly World
the two Zelda remakes
Batman Arkham Origins
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker
New Super Mario U/Luigi U
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Nintendo Land
Super Mario Maker
Hyrule Warriors
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Pokkén Tournament
FAST Racing NEO
Rayman Legends
Paper Mario Color Splash
Wii Party U

Throw in some cheap Amiibos for good measure, so that I can both use and show off that functionality too...

And maybe even the odd Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty game, if I can get them relatively cheap. In short: quite a list, but it'll have something for everyone, even though it's only just me, but I have a lot of friends that like to play video games and when they visit, it is nice to have more than 3 games to choose from...

And of course, if any other worthwhile title still pops up for the Switch, then I'll get that as well. Maybe I'll even double dip on Breath of the Wild to be able to experience the difference first hand.

As for ""none of that w/ Switch": I seem to remember quite a lot of jRPG's in that presentation, INCLUDING a new Xenoblade game, so seems to me that you are covered...

Also, that backward compatibility is not something that I would advocate or personally see the benefit in. The image seems washed out, disproportionate in some games and even the Wii menu screen seems to have some weird, fuzzy quality to it, with an almost kind of "pinkish" hue in comparison to my component cable connected original Wii, which has a MUCH better picture quality. Not only sharper images but also better colors and so on.
(I switched channels back and forth with both of the consoles on, and the original Wii menu almost seemed blue in comparison)

I mean, it's nice in general that the option is there for people, but I'm pretty demanding in things like these, so unless the experience is equal or better, I'm not interested.

Maybe it's the bog standard HDMI cable that comes with the Wii U, I don't know, but to me the whole point is moot anyway, since I'll never sell or give away any of my old consoles, so the Wii is staying right where it is, underneath my TV.

It's modded and fully tuned to be the ultimate retro device, so I've got almost all the old handheld games on it, almost all consoles ranging from Atari2600 and Colecovision up to N64 and even PSX, and the special ones like the Turbografx16 and the Neo Geo.

And of course also a USB loader with a nice 3D carousel interface and a truckload of Wii and GameCube games, all installed on a 1TB drive...

Did take a bit of tinkering and taping/gluing, though, because of the now double sensor bar. The Wii one is on top of the TV, and the Wii U bar is now stuck underneath my TV. And I had to use an HDMI switch box since all the connectors that my TV has were already occupied by my other HDMI devices, so I had to make a little hub, but all is working like a charm now...

P.S.

If Splatoon almost ended your marriage, then you must have been playing it a little too often for your own good...
I honestly can't remember any game ever having that effect on me, so maybe I should steer clear then, just in case. I may not have a wife or a significant other right now, but there's also the whole "work from home" obligation in my case, so having that interrupted by compulsive video gaming behavior wouldn't really be beneficial to me at all...

@ThanosReXXX How can you have wanted all of those Wii U Games but not gotten a console until now? I know money is the issue, but that's a whole lot of games to have in ones backlog.

I wasn't playing Spaltoon too much, I was caring too much about my online ranking. When you win a ranked match you go up 8 points, when you loose you go down 8. But sometime syou lose b/c you only have 3 players on your team. Or your team is comprised of all B players and the other team A players. It just got way too competitive and frustrating. Winning a match but then having the Wii U go offline before getting my points. In retrospect I'm surpised I didn' thave a heart attack and die, I Was cursing and screaming so often at the top of my lungs.

Game is super fun when you are winning, it's the losing I coudln't handle.

@rjejr Don't we all at times want stuff that we can't buy, even if it's only ever so modestly out of reach? You've got kids, so in some ways, you should be able to relate to not always being able to buy or give them what you want...

So yes, in my case it certainly was money. All had to do with me investing in my business and not having any income to speak of initially, so I had to work hard and invest more to a point that I didn't have any reserves left, so hobby's, let alone buying games or consoles where logically the farthest from my mind at the time.

So, whether or not that is going to create a huge backlog, that was of no importance whatsoever. For lack of a better word, life happened and I had to deal with that first before being able to indulge in luxuries again.

Did you throw around any controllers with Splatoon?

I used to do that a lot back in the N64 days, but after having wrecked several controllers and scarring my console because of it, I decided to keep my anger in check for the most part from then on, although screaming at the screen does still happen from time to time, both on PC and console gaming...

@ThanosReXXX "Did you throw around any controllers with Splatoon?"

Well considering you can't even buy a replacement Gamepad even if I wanted to, no, I knew enough not to throw the Gmaepad and risk hitting my $1,800 TV with it. I think if I could have thrown it I might have screamed less though, holding back from throwing it made things worse. I used to throw around a lot of my 3rd party PS2 and Gamecube controllers, those were cheap and my tv was cheaper back then. But back them I wasn't scary, I would just throw things, now I'm a scary raging maniac, so I really need to keep to calmer games like JRPG and happy platforming games. I react very badly to having to do things over in games. Very badly. I should probably just give up playing entirely, would be much better for my health, but fortunately some games have "Easy" mode so I can still play.

@rjejr I already had the right frame of mind never to aim controllers at the TV in the first place... (BTW: $1800? That better be a 60" UHD one or better, mine is a 42" HD plasma TV from Panasonic that was $999 when it was new)

I always aimed at the walls, which is why I wrecked so many controllers. Them still being corded back then sometimes resulted in them being jerked back almost like a boomerang and in a couple of cases bounding back off the console itself, causing the previously mentioned scarring...

As for staying calm while playing jRPG's: that all depends on how much grinding you have done before entering the domain of some powerful being and then subsequently being ripped to shreds in next to no time at all...

And platformers ditto: I especially hate those crumbling or disappearing paths that necessitate possessing mad skills to even survive... I came across similar ones in Shantae & The Pirate's Curse, but luckily these weren't too hard, although it took me several times to successfully navigate them.

I'm the token child of the average gamer: not bad, but definitely not good either, so a lot of games always remain untouched when I've reached that certain point where it becomes too difficult or takes too many attempts, which results in me giving up altogether. And for me, gaining the skills through practice isn't as easy as it used to be either, because of not having as much time to play anymore.

Unlike some of my friends, who can continue to play a single level that they can't overcome for the entire night either until they succeed or it's time to go to bed, I would rather just call it quits at some point and do something more useful than playing the same part over and over and never getting a single step further...

EDIT: I'm a pro at fighting/BEU or racing games, though. No idea why... And I'm not too shabby at soccer games either, but no Fifa, oh no... Only Pro Evo for this purist...

@ThanosReXXX $1,800 TV was 8 years ago, 52" 1080p when that was still kind of new, also came bundled w/ a $250 blu ray player when blu ray players were $250. So technically the TV was only $1550 but I always forget abut the blu ray player, I just remember paying $1,800 for a TV.

I'm the same way w/ quiting hard games, never got past a bridge in DKCTF, never beat the final boss in FFXIII. But you can't really quit online games in Spaltoon. And the matches are so short there's always time for 1 more, then the rage just builds and builds, losing 8 matches in a row late at night after you tell yourself you'll quit just as soon as you win just 1. Brutal. Great game, but I wont put myself thru that again I'll wait for Mario.

@rjejr Yeah, I see what you mean. I'm all too familiar with that "okay, just one more match" feeling. Or even worse: the self-deluding "one more try and I'll get it" feeling. Although like I said before, nowadays I know when to quit, even when I'm not ahead, although arguably still ahead in piece of mind and anger management...

@arnoldlayne83 Our family finally invested in a PS4 at Christmas, and I went straight and bought Bloodbourne and Dark Souls III, both of which are brilliant. My budget won't stretch to a Switch in any case, but it would be great to have such games on the go if the 3rd party big guns get behind it. The early signs do not bode well, but hope I'm wrong.

@ducktrapper congrats, you couldn't do a better choice. Darksouls III is a great conclusion for the trilogy and Bloodborne is, imho, the best exclusive for the system (but now Horizon came..)