Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Well, at this moment in time, there are a handful of things to consider:

• It's quite expensive; not everybody is lucky enough to be able to walk into a shop and afford to buy the Nintendo Switch at present.
• Apart from Breath of the Wild, as glowing as the reception it has received is, what else is there to play? I - and many others - can happily play the very same game on our trusty old Wii U!
• The launch window is a little bit bare bones. This time next year, however, the catalogue will be far more compelling, and you won't have to worry about any immediate software drought either.
• Hardware issues are looked upon, fixed and improved over time. There's a saying in the technology community that those day one owners are the 'beta testers', which is somewhat true.
• Some folks own other consoles and may well be quite content with its current selection of games.

Me personally, I prefer to wait until there is at least four or five games I like the look of (and wish to play) before I begin to consider buying said system. I find the idea of buying a console for just one game rather inconceivable, but that's just me.

You are clearly happy with yours, and that's great! Enjoy your new toy.

Sonic Mania is delayed until summer

Yeah, not everyone is lucky enough to have disposable income where just buying a console they might or might not use alot during its first year is possible.

People want to know that the $300+ they spend will be worth it. If they feel one game isn't enough to justify the price, that's a perfectly valid reason to hold off.

@JaxonH Because I'm getting that Mario Odyssey bundle that saves me €50! On a more serious note, I don't have a reason to get a Switch right now. I've got Zelda for my Wii U, so I'm all set to go. Don't think ARMS is a system seller for me, and neither is Splatoon with paid online services. The last thing I want is buying a system to collect dust for 6-9 months. And maybe we're getting an updated model for the holiday season. I don't mean a Switch Lite or anything like that, but it happened with the PS4 too, the older models are a bit noisier than the newer models (not the Slim or Pro versions). Maybe they improve the Joy-Con issues or improve the dock a bit, you never know! And since I have no reason to get one today, I might as well wait.

Project Sonic 2017 is now known as Sonic Forces.

And everyone was saying Forces would be the delayed one. Welp!

I don't get the name Sonic Forces. Unless there is a war going on. I mean could be looking at that trailer.

Also, poor Sonic 4. It had zones with new names, new mechanics in each act, and apart from aesthetics, were separate beasts from what they drew inspiration from if they weren't completely unique zones full stop like White Park.

Yet Sonic Mania is getting praise for mixing new zones, which 4 also had, and bringing back old zones again. No new names or anything to differentiate. Straight up old levels.

But whatever. Nice to see Flying Battery Zone.

@Octane
Reasonable logic.

For me though, $300 is barely half the extra disposable income from a single paycheck. I'll buy it now, enjoy Zelda, FAST Racing RMX, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Arms, Ultra Street Fighter II and Sonic Mania, Splatoon 2, Skyrim, (hopefully!) Xenoblade 2, Fire Emblem Warriors, and then at the end of the year, if they do have an upgraded model, I'll buy it and sell this one. Or keep it as a spare. No Joycon issues so don't need that improved.

I dare say it may be the only system I'll be playing this entire year. The PS4 and X1 backlog is already starting to grow with games I'll simply never get around to playing because there's so much to play on Switch this year, and with being able to play at work too, it's going to keep me gaming nonstop around the clock.

To be honest if MK8 Deluxe wasn't coming out in April, I'd probably have waited post-E3 for Switch. But as it is, I'll hopefully have a Switch on April 10th of which I'll start my library with indie games (FAST RMX, the one that looks like Advance Wars, etc.) rather than have BotW for both platforms.

@JaxonH I know you've invented time travel and managed to squeeze 48 hours in a single day, but that's not an option for me! I think that Zelda and HZD will last me at least another month or two. Bloodborne is next and I haven't played Gravity Rush 2 either. With so many games that I have yet to play, I can't convince myself to spend another €60 on Mario Kart Deluxe or Fast Racing NEO either. Great games though, but I already have them on my Wii U. I'd rather get completely new games instead. I'm rather picky, but I need to be, I don't have the time to play them all unfortunately.

Right now I'm just waiting for Pocket Rumble while being entrenched in Zelda and Blaster Master Zero.

@Octane
"time travel"

If only...

I do actually plan to make time for Horizon and Mass Effect, and Fire Emblem Echoes, but aside from those I don't have much plans for the other consoles this year. I have played FAST but, like Mario Kart, this is the first time ever released on an HD handheld with full console game. The FAST has new tracks also and just all around fixed up nicely with tweaks and changes, and is perfect for short burst play on the go, and lots of replayability so it's not like having played a few tracks on Wii U makes it feel old. It feels brand new, at least to me. Same for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe- battle mode is the heart and soul of Mario Kart multiplayer, and it was.... not kosher on Wii U. I can already tell that Mario Kart will be a staple in my Switch for years to come. Anywhere I go, battle mode in Mario Kart awaits. If ever there were a situation warranting a game to be repurchased... I think this would be it.

And... that's it. Everything else is new. But honestly I'm more excited for that battle mode at work than I am many brand new games.

@JaxonH I personally don't really care about the portability. So I'm just getting it for the home console experience, which may also explain why I wasn't eager to get it day one.

And to be fair, I never cared about the battle mode in MK, MK8 was fine for me

@Octane
Ya know, I've owned handhelds for decades but play them mostly at home. I went through a phase of bringing my 3DS to work but I stop doing that. With Switch, having a much larger screen and in high definition, and being able to prop it up in tabletop mode and slide the controllers off and lean back in a chair and play... it doesn't feel like you're playing a handheld at all, it feels like you're playing a home console, but with a smaller screen. It's like bringing the home console experience with you anywhere, and that's what I like about it the most.

I've always loved the battle modes, I grew up playing battle mode on the SNES with my little brother, and on 64... but from the adult years on I've never had anyone to play with. For the first time in 20 years I now have the opportunity to play battle mode with others. Just being a handheld isn't enough- it's the tabletop mode combined with 2 controllers built in, combined with them detaching... it takes all of that. I miss playing games like Mario kart battle mode with others, and if it wasn't for this system I would never be able to do it again.

I've got a feeling that a lot of people who don't care about portability, are going to realize that they appreciate the portability after spending some time with the system. It's one of those things where, maybe you make your mind up that you're not interested in it, but once you have access to it that moment hits you where, "gosh dang it I've gotta go to work, and I was just getting to the good part!" and realize you can bring the experience with you, or "ah man I'm going out of town for the weekend... wait, that doesn't mean I can't keep playing" or even just "gotta go downstairs and watch the kid... hmm, I'll just lift it out and dock it in the spare dock for my living room, or I'll just play it as a handheld"... I think that's going to change a lot of peoples minds on the whole portability issue. Probably not until they actually get one and experience it but, in due time I think it's value will be seen.

Why spend money on a platform when it doesn't have the games you want for it yet? Even assuming you can drop that sort of money on it and not miss it. Surely that money is better in your pocket if the alternative is a system with nothing much to play on it. Not so true with the Switch because compared to other console launches the big releases are fairly close to launch. Zelda, Mario Kart, Arms, Splatoon. But with other console launches? ...

I'll put it this way. I know of someone who got a 3DS a few weeks after launch based on the promise of games that it'd eventually get with the same logic you're using here. As a fan of the DS they knew they'd get it eventually and they could get it so they did. But they only played DS games on it until Mario Kart 7 came out. BTW, this same person plans to get a Switch but this time they're waiting for Mario Kart. Which technically means they're going to get it as early as they got the 3DS. But still.

Also, fun little anecdote. This same person never owned a Wii U or frankly any home console of their own but they're getting the Switch. Purely because they see the Switch as the successor to the 3DS. To them Mario Kart 8 is a brand new release even though they know it was a Wii U game.

I'm both with @JaxonH and against him on this.

Personally I'm at a point in my life where I have the disposable income to spare, I know I'll spend a lot of money on video games over the next few years and right now I need to play Zelda for 50-100 hours either way. So it makes sense to invest in a "futureproof" platform now - honestly I'd have been crazy not to buy in now.

I've not even bought the Switch as a "forever console" - that is I fully expect that Nintendo will release superior Switch hardware in the future (whether that's handheld only SKU or a home only SKU or a "Switch Pro" SKU). I know I'll be buying another Switch in a few years time - if only because the battery is sealed in and will degrade.

What I've bought into at this point is something that has useful features I can really benefit from right now but more importantly the promise of a future ecosystem filled with Nintendo first party games (which make up the bulk of what I'm interested in buying and playing). Hopefully the games I buy today I'll also be able to play on my "Switch 3.0" in 2025.

At the same time though I appreciate my situation is not the same for everyone. I've been through points in my life with no disposable income at all so I know what it's like. If it's a choice between spending £100 on 2 games for a console you already own and spending £300 on one game with a new console then it's an easy choice - even though the more expensive option is more "futureproof".

In the StuTwo household where we can afford it my wife was not well chuffed at all when she found out I'd pre-ordered a new console. The conversation was "why do you need to spend like £200 on more games when you spent £50 on that other new box in November. Wasn't that enough?". Thankfully I always get to my credit card bill first and she hasn't seen one for years but I can appreciate that's not an option for everyone.

I missed out on a lot of 3DS games because I basically had no disposable income through most of 8th gen, so I'm in no rush to get a Switch right now. There's plenty of other games I can go back and buy while I'm waiting. But really I'm more concerned with the price than the lineup, it's completely ridiculous that the console can't be bought at MSRP RN and I'm more concerned about when that will go back down than what kind of games I can get.

If Mario Kart weren't coming out in April, I would be content to wait until the fall or maybe even the holidays. From what has been revealed so far, basically only Nintendo's first party games interest me this year, aside from a few third party games that look intriguing but I'm not very sure I'll actually buy. As awesome as Zelda is, I don't think having only one game until sometime in the summer when Splatoon 2 comes out would be worth it. Even still, I've never played Splatoon, so I really have no idea if I'll like it. I'm glad there's that testfire coming for that reason.

I hope E3 reveals some good stuff, cause if not, I'll probably only have 3 Switch games (Maybe 4 if I like Splatoon 2) to play this year, lol. At least there's Horizon and Red Dead Redemption 2 and whatnot. Kinda wish I had waited for Mario Odyssey if it turns out there isn't anything else I want to buy this year, though. Might as well have had an extra year of life on the battery.

Did anyone else have their Splatoon Testfire icon disappear from the home menu? I downloaded it the day it became available but didn't launch it and noticed today that it wasn't on the home menu. Probably no big deal.

@KirbyTheVampire
Without Mario Kart in April, Nintendo would be in big trouble. It would be the Wii U's 6-month-long stretch between launch and Pikmin 3 all over again. Having Mario Kart in April is perfect. It's a system seller, an online game, and in general a "quick" game to play with tons of replayability. In short, it's a game with legs that can get you to your next major release, even more than what Zelda is doing for us right now (and I'm still nowhere near finished).

Mario Kart has always sold systems. If they hype Deluxe up enough (especially the Battle Mode), and with it being in the Switch's launch window, I think this can be a totally different story. Mario Kart 8 was awesome, but honestly that game came out when the Wii U's fate was already bleak. It sold insanely well to people who already owned the system, but failed to convince people to jump onto a sinking ship. Right now, the Switch is on a rising tide (positive story about production increase today, for instance) and needs to keep that narrative.

@KirbyTheVampire I have the opposite problem. Not enough major games are interesting me (arms and kart only slightly interest me, splatoon 2 does but I'm a little uneasy about letting myself get unhealthily addicted to that again ) There's a ton of indies I'd otherwise have not looked twice at that are somewhat interesting...but I love using the hardware so much I'm leaving Horizon in shrinkwrap and finding 8 bit indies to play on the switch because I'd rather use that hardware!