Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Reviews of the hardware already missing the point. IGN. Hmm. I guess this kind of new form factor was always going to confuse the cynics.

I assumed that as a portable having that quality of games was a game changer. As a home console it's not amazing but it's not trying to be a PS4. It's a better portable than the Vita or 3DS were. It's a better Nintendo box than the Wii U was. Is it that hard to understand this?

This is why I don't tend to listen to the critics and make my own choice. They keep comparing it to the competitors. It's always been obvious Nintendo do their own thing. This is why I have two consoles. A PlayStation and Nintendo's next console. They are two sides of the same coin. One for power and one for ideas

@skywake IGN are looking for what creates clicks and, in the case of the majority of their audience, what gets the most comments. As most of the audience are not Nintendo fans, it's easy to create negative articles and get desired results.

So, GameSpot is a solid...meh? Kinda. Not sure there. IGN dislike it. The Know is mixed. Austin Evans thinks its definitely worth it. GameXplain likes it.

This is turning out interesting, and worrying.

"This Smartphone thing Apple have come up with is a compromise. It's trying to be an mp3 player but lacks the storage of an iPod. It's a mobile but lacks the battery and durability of a Nokia. It's a portable computer but lacks the power of a laptop. 6/10" - ign

I have read enough reviews now to give my two cents. They are just concerned. Most of them see it as an incredible console but are worried about the lack of Virtual Console (3DS/Wii U didn't either at launch), eShop (released at Launch), patches/issues (again Launch release) etc.

And to be fair, too right on them. They are reviewing a successor to the Wii U, one of Nintendo's biggest failures in home consoles (regardless of how amazing it is). A lot of gamers who have been burned by the Wii U will be citing caution. But unlike the Wii U the future is bright for this console.

Thinking about it the thing that annoyed me about the ign review wasn't the clear missing of the point. It was part of it but not the main thing. The big issue was the tech illiteracy.

For example he takes a dig at the cartridges and claims its the reason for lower res textures in Zelda. A 13GB game. But there are 32GB and 16GB cartridges. The cartridge isn't the issue here. The issue is that it's a Wii U game built for the RAM limitations of the Wii U. The game is the same size on both consoles. The textures are the same on both. If it was built for the Switch the game would've likely been bigger because the Switch has 2x the RAM

For Zelda? The cartridge only has advantages over the alternative Blu-ray style disk that wouldn't have even been possible. The game was not compromised because of cartridges. And the same will be true for any game less than the size of the cartridge size limit for the Switch.

He talked about a thing which could only be seen as a positive as if it was a negative.

@skywake Again this is IGN. They have created an article that is receiving hundreds upon hundreds of comments - mostly negative and mostly about Nintendo never learning and how they should go third party. That is their target audience mainly.

@BiasedSonyFan Well said!

We have seen the eShop!

Hardware reviews are a bit pointless at this stage to be honest. I've read a few - they told me nothing I didn't already know.

They are clearly useful for people who haven't been obsessively monitoring news about the Switch for the past few months (that's all of us ahem) but otherwise they are often more about positioning the reviewer/site than they are about informing people about what the hardware can/can't do.

There's also a conflation of ideas - are they reviewing the hardware, are they passing judgement on whether you should buy one, are they reviewing the marketing approach or are they looking into tea leaves trying to predict if it'll be successful.

Game reviews are far more interesting. How people enjoy the console and the games when they're out in the market will be even more interesting.

well as someone that has been playing games since the NES, I have to say i havent been looking forward to the launch of a console this much since the n64, and funnily enough this is the first console since that i have pre-ordered for launch ! bring on friday !

Reviewers will always tear apart Nintendo hardware and find the smallest issues and act like they're a big deal. I'm much more interested in what the public will think of the system in a couple days.

Pretty crazy that the Switch will be in people's hands in only 2 days. It seems like yesterday people were speculating about the system being a portable PS4, lol.

Is there a thread going for sharing NNIDs?

@NImH I thought they're doing away with NNID. The Nintendo account or whatever it's called is replacing it, but don't quote me on that.

@Octane i meant the Nintendo Account User IDs.

@skywake Buddy are you really giving that much importance to IGN? Really? I just can't wait for the next big thing to come into my house and most of all my life in less than 2 days!!! Hype is all over me!!!

I'm even happy enough that Nintendo finally decided to show (even for a little) the eShop, and it looks GOOD! Simple and clear, like the entire system, totally opposite to the Wii U chapter. Nicely done Nintendo!

Here's a much more positive review.

its probably because these people get paid mega bucks to promote sony and microsoft, its just like music, if your record company isnt paying out then you aint getting played on the radio

@KirbyTheVampire From a site called "Switch Force"...