Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

But if you don't buy on day 1 you don't get to moan and complain about it as an "insider" early on.

The thing I don't get is selling it after a couple of weeks. If you do that you can't post endlessly online about how it's "been gathering dust since Zelda was done"...

Our the joy con gel covers worth it? I know they do not allow the joy cons to be put into the controller grip, but can be used while connected to the side of the switch.

@skywake @BLP_Software Yup. The only reason (and I mean the only reason) i got the Switch day one is that deep down I'm a huge Nintendork and will buy anything Nintendo no matter how terrible it flops. I'd have a Virtual Boy right now if I was a fan back then. The only way the Switch could be a waste to me is if they stopped support and delayed Super Mario Odyssey to another system. But if that weren't the case and I was weighing sense into the matter, I would learn from my Wii U purchase and wait until the Nintendo Switch is already the system I want.

You're gonna have to be more specific. Most devs have been positive

I bought the Switch for Zelda. I was originally just gonna wait until to next year, but Zelda looked too awesome, so I caved. It was all for BotW.

@skywake It is a platform worth getting. Not denying that. If things line up with your personal interests and other aspects then absolutely.

However, today more than anything confirmed that nagging feeling. Ive had it since this thing was announced and its been a reason I have sat on my game for 6 months.

I dont expect it to mature right after launch. Hell no. Ill be long dead when that happens to a system.

All the potential is there. The hardware is there. The lineup is...coming? Kinda? If they stop being endlessly coy about the indie scenario then yes. Maybe even sooner than the holiday season.

But from my angle, as not just a consumer but a developer, this system has been fristrating. It has been vague and Ive sat here and Ive made sense of the decisions from a consumer viewpoint to be a middleground kind of guy. But from a development standpoint ever since being told they have nothing to say about getting indies involved and to wait for an update soon (Which was October by the by) Ive come to realise that for all this hardware does right with alleged ease of development, and for all its wonderment on the consumer end, there are a lot of doors being closed in typical Nintendo fashion.

And that to me is what kind of kills it. The uncertainty. The knowledge of I dont know whats going to happen on either end because one is unpredictable and sales related and the other is a lack of communication or even basic information.

I need to finance and secure my work and those I work with by June. I need this plan and for all I have been patient now is too late. I gave myself this deadline to see if anything at all would happen and it hasnt so for the many reasons I have listed, for those I work with, aim to work with and support, I need to know where Im going.

So Im moving on from Switch because while everything is neat and cool and I can ride out any slow burn or launch troubles, there is a second side that I have to pay attention to, and thats why in my eyes for what I need to do, and from all the signs that are and arent present, its the best move for me and my endeavours both as a consumer and as a guy who loves his job and wants to succeed.

@StuTwo to be fair if it gathers dust thats more of a waste than cutting losses. Besides even in use a machine gathers dust ;p

@TheLZdragon See above.

I cant sit and keep my project and workmates in this weird purgatory anymore.

@Nicolai
I'm not so Nintendo obsessed that I would have got the Virtual Boy I don't think. I did get the Wii U at launch because "HD Nintendo" was enough for me. But I didn't get a 3DS until months after launch because it had nothing until that push of games started just before that price drop.

Launch consoles are always a bit of a gamble and you get all of the squeaky wheels. It's something that everyone knows going into it. The only reason I have a Switch now is because Zelda is there and I know there are more games coming at a fairly regular pace. I was happy to get it now so I could play Zelda on a Switch rather than downscaled to 480p on the Wii U GamePad. If that hadn't been the case I wouldn't have picked one up.

I don't see how anything has changed between the pre-launch hype and now TBH....

@BLP_Software
Good luck! Maybe in a few months or this time next year you'll be in a better place and can see what the system has grown into.

But I am with @skywake on this. We're 2 weeks into the system's life, and so far it's pretty much like every other system I've ever owned. It launched. It has some games I want to play. It's gonna get some more in the coming months. End of story.

But everyone is different, and I know you have very different decisions to make because of your education in game programming.

Not if you obsessively dust it down!

Seriously though - if it's an issue of your work life as a small independent games developer that you've assessed the Switch and found it's not the right platform for your business then that's a shame but your viewpoint is (or rather should be) very different from the viewpoint of a typical consumer. You're looking for things that don't matter to most people buying a console.

From an outsider it looks to me as if Nintendo has taken a curated approach to "indies" - they've pursued small partners with a proven record of success (like Yacht Club Games and Shin'en) but smaller players have been frozen out to an extent. I don't know the business logic but then, being brutally honest, I buy very few "small name" indies because, even when I like the concept and I feel like I'd enjoy playing them, I don't have the time to play them. It's a really difficult business I think. Hopefully things work out well for you professionally.

I think that, despite what it may seem, Nintendo hadn't really fundamentally changed much, if at all. We'll still see them isolate third parties, drip feed content on the eshop, and see them market to the same people they've been marketing to in the long run.

I'd love to be proven wrong in the future though. I'm. Just skeptical until I see some real changes in their personality

@rallydefault @StuTwo Its a little of both. For the business side this thing is working out to be a mess and I cant sit on it too long.

From a consumer stand point, well that comes into the business side.

My funding comes from me. My pocket. ANd things lately have cocked up because of my landlord (Yaaay). So that's one issue and my goal as stated here in the past, was to crowdfund to cover any gaps.

But I cant do that. I'm not the kind of guy who says "Yeah, coming to Switch" lets crowdfund it only for Nintendo to do what its doing. I don't want to do any consumers over.

I bought the Switch before my landlord randomly decided I needed to pay more rent for some reason. Apaprently it wasn't enough or some BS but whatever.

You know, for my desire to see Switch succeed, there is one tale I will tell because its both infuriating and hilarious.

So for an assignment at uni I had to, as part of it, create a feasible concept of of something in the future. And me, being me, did one based on past trends of phones and PCs getting smaller and portable, and Nintendo having peripherals to paly handheld stuff on console, and console ports to handhelds, and the ever closing gap over time.

I basically said, as my feasible concept of something in the future, that based on that and other tech, Nintendo would release a hybrid system.

I lost marks for that. I actually did. Said it wouldn't happen and there was no basis for it. Yet here we are.

@Operative2-0 I don't think too many folks would disagree with this; Nintendo do come up with novel ideas that has an universal appeal for their platforms - be it a home console or a portable device - as the DS (dual screen) and the Wii (remote control) has successfully proven.

Their actual sense of business, though, is very much the same.

The last time Nintendo had a consistently healthy amount of third party suppport was on the GameCube, which is a shy over sixteen years ago now. The Wii had a LOT of games, but most of them were catered to the mini-games and party crowd, for better or worse.

Likewise.

I bought (or was gifted) a DS lite, a Wii, a 3DS XL and a Wii U all within their first year on sale. I have been a Nintendo fan since the N64 and GameCube days!

The Nintendo Switch is the first one I have felt little compulsion to buy (yet). I still have my Wii U to play its swan song, and outside of Super Mario Odyssey, I know so little about its line up in both the near and foreseeable future. I simply don't see any tent-pole third party games making an appearance on it either.

I'm quite content with accepting that Nintendo will inevitably release the kind of games that makes it worth me buying their newest toy however, saying that, I can no longer exclusively own a Nintendo platform like I used to in the past, when I fully well know that I am missing out on all these games on the other side.

Everybody sees things differently though.

@Peek-a-boo very well written. I'm the same. I'm a huge Nintendo fan. I love the hardware they put out. I just wish they did more to make their consoles fleshed out. That said, their games are always top notch and I never regret owning their hardware in retrospect. They just need time to build up their library as they do each generation

I'm just a huge Nintendo fan. I'm aware of it. It's just that i was raised with Super Mario World, playing it with my brother. I think it's pretty reasonable so, i love it so much. So it's just normal for me to buy Switch on D1. And Zelda was a pretty good reason too, it helped really a lot

Yea, it was about the PS2/Gamecube era when it became clear that Nintendo was not going to be keeping up in terms of media capability, online, etc.

And it's REALLY coming back to bite them, because that's the direction the mainstream went, and Nintendo got left behind and seemingly are intent on not changing.

It's weird, though, because the Wii U really did have most things: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, etc. They had the "big" ones, at least. They even tried the Tvii thing or whatever. But it's clear with the lack of this stuff on the Switch that they still don't "get it," or they're not willing to pay to get those services. It could be a reason why many people write off the Switch from a purchase, honestly.

I really don't know if the Switch is going to work out. They had a fine launch, but now the numbers from Japan are already sharply declining. Whether that is due to stock limits or just the time of the year, who knows, but I think April and Mario Kart Deluxe are going to be really crucial in telling us if the demand is actually there for this system.

I had decided to hold off on a Switch and was really looking forward to adding Breath of the Wild to my Wii U collection, but I'm so pleased I went the other way now. The Switch is great, the games will come, and I've been able to play at least snippets of Zelda everyday since release, which wouldn't have happened with my Wii U version.

The bulk of Nintendo's software effort is going to go on this thing over the next few years. When the first mainline Pokemon game hits Switch exclusively it'll likely sell 5 million units on its own. I just don't see the point in holding off on one if you want to play Zelda because you get that rare feeling that comes from playing one of the greatest games ever made on a new, snazzy piece of hardware, that just happens to be take-anywhere.

@rallydefault Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they say they were getting streaming services like Netflix just a few days ago?

They said they were in talks. I'm sure they'll show up eventually

@gcunit
I never understood people waiting in the first place. Unless a person is genuinely unsure they'll end up wanting one... but if a person knows they're gonna buy it eventually, why wait? At best you save like $50 on a (potential) price drop in a couple years. Why sacrifice 2 years of enjoyment (and everying that comes with it like playing on the go, continuing your game when you leave then seamlessly transitioning back to TV) for a lousy fifty bucks... Idk, that's why I always, always, always buy day one.

I tell ya, Switch has already proven its worth for me. The system goes everywhere I go now. Every day I play Zelda at work, and show the system off and talk Zelda with my coworker who bought one (initially for Skyrim portably but then also for Zelda once he saw the trailer)... it's a constant good time with Switch around. It never fails to strike up a conversation with people, and in tabletop mode it's the next best thing to playing at home. Idk how we lasted so long on dinky little handhelds... now that I've experienced true, quality gaming on the go with those detachable Joycons, man...

And just to play Zelda with the Joycons is worth having it. Gosh I love those things. Tried Pro Controller and was like yup, feels great for a traditional controller but traditional controllers just don't cut it for me anymore. I can't wait til they figure out how to connect both Joycons as a single set on PC, cause I'm gonna play everything with these Joycons once they do.