Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I'm going to be honest, I didn't really watch the video. I simply discounted it after watching a few seconds because SMD is the most salty dude on the internet right now. Though you are right that this video was from last year. And with a bit more googling it appears the thing isn't out yet. So the first part of what you said isn't correct, this device isn't ready for mass production. It appears to be basically vaporware.

This certainly makes for some interesting conversation. Out of curiosity, what are the specs and intended price for that thing up there?

@Bluefiregamer SMD and PlayerEssence are desperate to affirm that Nintendo would not in their right mind as a business launch one console that isn't following the industry standard. It's a good thing they're around because they bring a different perspective and challenge the validity of the rumors we've been getting. It's just that sometimes their own speculation can be as ridiculous as the rumors we get as well.

@skywake The rep said that the product was ready for mass production. However I also read that they had problems with finding a manufacturer or something like that. Anyway, they're still promoting the thing and it's expected to release this year. This device is not a reaction to the NX rumours, that was what I was getting at. This exists for a good while now. And they already had working units last year, not some quick prototype that they threw together in a couple of weeks by the looks of it. Maybe they'll delay it again, and maybe it will never release, but that's a moot point.

TBH, I don't really care what SMD says. I don't watch his videos, and I don't care for his opinions. But it's quite the coincidence that the device Eurogamer described already exists. It's uncanny. I know there's the Razor Tablet as well, and I believe I posted that myself in this thread when the Eurogamer rumours started popping up. Either Eurogamer is wrong, or Nintendo is making a device that already exists.

@Operative
To put the specs simply, it's basically an oversized Vita. It has more RAM but it runs Android so it needs it. It has a bigger, higher resolution display. But it has less raw GPU horsepower. Think of it as if it was like a handicapped vita with a bigger screen, bluetooth controllers and a HDMI out. Or maybe just an entry level tablet from a couple of years ago with a bluetooth game controller you can clip on the side.

Now price is a bit tricky given that I can't seem to find a way to get it. It's not available. They have a price at $330USD on their indiegogo page for shipping by September 2016. 0 takers. That price is supposedly "well bellow the market rate". Which is a load of crap given what it is. Hence the no takers I guess.

Really, the whole thing is a bit strange.

Or Eurogamer was right and Nintendo is not. This is only superficially similar to drawings that have come out. Internally it's nothing at all like what Eurogamer was talking about. It's closer to a Samsung tablet bundled with a bluetooth controller than it is the NX as rumoured. If anything is like the NX as rumoured it was the NVidia Shield tablet.

@skywake Well, sure, the inside is different. But in the end, the concept is the same. I think that's the most important part here.

@Octane
Yeah, but that's the thing. Why are we assuming that the Eurogamer rumour is the entire concept? Why are we assuming that the detachable controller bit is as described? And why aren't the internal specs as listed on the eurogamer rumour just as important? Honestly, I think SMD is just grasping at straws here.

@BiasedSonyFan
It's impatience because it is. I honestly think people are manufacturing this sort of post hype letdown doom scenario. There's no reason to believe that a delayed reveal will hurt them. As I said, most people won't even know what this is until it's on the shelves anyway. All the "risk" you guys talk about is nothing more than a red-herring to justify your impatience.

And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm a bit impatient also, I'm refreshing the pages as much as anyone else on this thread is. It's a thing. But that doesn't mean that Nintendo are doomed just because you're here twiddling your thumbs. For a start, why are you saying it'll be a letdown? And if you know that as a "fact", what are you waiting for? You already know what it is to judge it! Please share.

@BiasedSonyFan
You're missing the point I was making entirely. Derailing the threads once again. I was simply making the point that the vast majority of consumers won't know what the NX is until it's on the shelves. Even the more informed consumers won't know about it until Nintendo start advertising. People are talking about how the "delayed announcement" somehow hurts them when really nobody knows about this thing yet.

I'll put it another way. If you plug "NX" into google trends you get a lot of noise because NX is used for more than the NX. It's a car and a few other things. So if you do a google trends search for NX over the last five years? It includes that noise. And with that in mind, here's NX vs Wii U on google trends.

The red line is the Wii U, the blue line is NX. The Wii U starts at 0 because there was nothing called Wii U before the Wii U was officially anounced. That's the first peak for the red line. That second jump is E3 2012, then the September Direct and launch. Then from there there are small peaks for E3 and much bigger ones for Christmas.

March 2015 is the NX name drop at that DeNA do. Before that point searches for "NX" were 100% not about the Nintendo NX. There were also spikes in search interest when things have been said. If you zoom in further there are peaks for E3, when they said the date it'll come out and the Eurogamer rumour. The hype is building but if you take into account the natural level of searches for NX? It barely registers.

Oh, and before you ask. If you put Project Cafe against the Wii U? It's basically nothing. It's smaller than the NX is on google search trends. If that first Wii U spike is ~40% and NX is maybe ~8% accounting for noise? Project Cafe peaked at ~3%. Really, in the grand scheme of things nobody is listening.

How is Nintendo hyping up the the reveal of the NX, because I'm not seeing it.

They first talked about NX so people wouldn't call doom on Nintendo. Which we still do, because doomed.

Then they later gave us a release date for the system. Am I missing something? Where is the hype created by Nintendo coming from (other than your own head) that seem to get people so impatient.

people hype themselves up and they blame Nintendo for it. Human nature at its finest.

I'm not assuming that, but a lot of people seem to take the EG rumours for granted. They could be wrong (or parts of it at least); that's what I said a couple of posts back.

I already said that I don't care about what that guy thinks; he just reposted that video. I just find it peculiar that the NX concept from the rumour (you know, from the company that only delivers ''original'' and ''unique'' systems) already exists.

I'd argue that they did by giving it a name. Last year I would've defended Iwata's choice of naming the NX during their mobile announcement. I've changed my opinion; I just think that they should've said that they're continuing to create content for dedicated gaming hardware and that they're working on new devices for the future. Once you give it a name, people care about it. That's the issue.

Besides that; the mentioned the NX during the E3 presentation a couple of months later. If you're not going to talk about the NX, just don't mention it all. Especially when there won't be another 12+ months of silence on the system.

Maybe it was the right call to mention ''NX'' in early 2015, but they surely could've handled it better. Just don't mention it at all or tease ''We'll talk more about it in 2016''. Because with only three months left, we barely know any more apart from its release window. I think that a lot of people expected more by now.

They also gave it a release window, so naturally people are getting frustrated by the lack of information. Hell, they're even offering it as a prize for a splatoon tournament. You can't say that Nintendo is completely blameless here

Even among the casual audience there still is a risk in waiting this long, and that's the competition's marketing. If they wait out past October, we'll start to see a big marketing push from Microsoft and Sony for their games and consoles which will inevitably leave Nintendo in the dust as they are unable to compete with them. Nintendo needs to get ahead of that or else they'll once again be seen as an underpowered gimmick console developer that can only appeal to their core audience. By the time they'd actually find out about the NX, Microsoft and Sony will have cemented themselves as better options.

It's less about the hype behind this mystery console and more about how there's no hype behind what they have for us in the meantime. There's been a severe lack of games, especially high quality games, from both 3DS and Wii U since mid-2015 and there's really been very little to get excited for since. Basically, it's a combination of us being in a game and news drought and because Nintendo's recent games have been below expectations. Nintendo desperately needs some positive buzz, and most of that is hidden behind the reveal of the NX.

@Octane Well an important thing to consider is how far has Nintendo deviated from Iwata's plans since his passing. If he was still around, chances are Nintendo as a whole would be much more open. Things like NX reveal at E3 2016 (like the digital event in 2015 suggested), Directs being less than 6 months apart, etc.

@Grumblevolcano If that's true than current Nintendo handled the situation poorly. However, I don't think Kimishima is responsible for everything; there's the board of directors with a lot of influence as well, they are still the same.

That SMD video just brings me back to two points I've made previously:

A) Yes, the lack of anything worth talking about since the Eurogamer article is suspicious.

B) Digital technology is so ubiquitous in our lives nowadays, is it reasonable to expect Nintendo to be able to come up with anything that's genuinely new and untried? I don't see why that product's existence means it couldn't be what Nintendo are doing.

SMD isn't a reliable source. He's not an insider. He got super lucky with the 3DS lineup leak but then completely mishandled it by revealing too much (marketing budgets anyone?). When Nintendo contacted him, he ratted his source out when he didn't have to. Now anybody with inside info knows to not go anywhere near him.

NeoGAF. I recall seeing someone on there post about it over a month ago.