Nintendo markets Switch as an "home console". Which is utter nonsense. It is an handheld in all but name, not hybrid, not home console.
Damn Nintendo and their false marketing! I've foolishly had my new handheld hooked up to the TV for the past 3 weeks now - thanks for clearing this up, I shall throw my Dock in the bin at the next opportunity...
"In computing and video gaming, a docking station ... provides a simplified way of "plugging-in" an electronic device such as the tablet-like hybrid video game console, the Nintendo Switch and laptop computer to common peripherals."
"In computing and video gaming, a docking station ... provides a simplified way of "plugging-in" an electronic device such as the tablet-like hybrid video game console, the Nintendo Switch and laptop computer to common peripherals."
Psst, citation needed. Aka, someone has added it without checking it up.
Besides, my comment is about Nintendo marketing it as an home console, and they are the only one.
...because Sony very clearly markets it as a platform...
Ok, let's just stop this right here. Just because a company markets a product as something it has no bearing on reality.
I'm sorry but it does. A "platform" is largely a marketing construct.
Nintendo markets Switch as an "home console". Which is utter nonsense. It is an handheld in all but name, not hybrid, not home console.
Personally I use mine exclusively as a handheld but it technologically does function as a home console. The marketing construct is that it's both and that sets the expectations of the ecosystem it's looking to establish.
More importantly for Nintendo the Switch is a "platform". It doesn't matter whether the only current physical device you can use to access that platform is a handheld or a hybrid or a home console - the only important thing for Nintendo is that it's the platform for major new Nintendo games going forwards.
PSVR cannot function without a PS4. Some games can run on both. It is the very definition of an add-on, accessory or peripheral. Something that can enhance the original platform, without superseding it. Otherwise you can start calling the balance board for a platform, because it is exactly on the same page in added functionality.
As I noted earlier - the line between a peripheral/add on/accessory isn't clear cut. Was the Mega CD (which required a Mega Drive and had some games that could run on both) an add on or was it a platform? I think that was clearly a platform and I think that PSVR is the same.
The difference with something like the balance board is that the balance board was created for a handful of Wii games. It was never intended to be a viable format or brand in and of itself.
Nintendo markets Switch as an "home console". Which is utter nonsense. It is an handheld in all but name, not hybrid, not home console.
I do not think you understand what a home console is. The Switch can remain docked and never be taken anywhere. It can be played on your home TV at all times if that is what you choose. That is a home console. It is a home console with the ability to be mobile.
If I have a car that can also float on water, that does not mean it is a boat. It is still a car that can also float.....
"In computing and video gaming, a docking station ... provides a simplified way of "plugging-in" an electronic device such as the tablet-like hybrid video game console, the Nintendo Switch and laptop computer to common peripherals."
Psst, citation needed. Aka, someone has added it without checking it up.
Besides, my comment is about Nintendo marketing it as an home console, and they are the only one.
Well, let's focus on the word 'hybrid' then - when you say "My work computer can be docked, is it an laptop or an hybrid?", the answer is both... It's kind of like saying; 'is a Honda CR-Z a car or a hybrid?' - the answer, again, is both - they're not mutually exclusive. A hybrid can operate in 2 or more different states - the CR-Z can operate as a traditional petrol car and/or modern electric vehicle, the Switch can be used as a home and/or handheld console, your work computer can be used as a laptop and/or traditional PC...
...your original comment was that the Nintendo Switch is a "handheld in all but name" - but the name of the console is 'Switch' and the marketing message is that it can 'switch' between being a home/handheld/portable console - I happen to agree with the rest of what you said regarding the PSVR being a PS4 peripheral, but I find the concept of the Switch very clear to understand because of Nintendo's clear marketing/naming of the product, not in spite of an unclear marketing message (like the Wii U)
Nintendo aren't marketing it as purely a home console. Every advert I've see in the uk (and I've seen loads surprisingly) ends with "play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" along with three pictures showing the three different modes.
What's with all backwards logic in this thread? The Switch is a handheld, period. If Nintendo released an HDMI cable compatible with the 3DS (in fact, I'm pretty sure those already exist), that wouldn't turn the 3DS into a hybrid or console either. A system is either portable, or it isn't, and the Switch clearly is. It doesn't matter what Nintendo calls it in this case. They can call it a toaster, but that doesn't mean the Switch is a toaster.
@Octane In your example, the HDMI cable would allow the 3DS to exist in either one state or another - that's what a hybrid is. Like I said above, the two things aren't mutually exclusive - they aren't binary definitions where it either has to be defined as one thing or the other. If your toaster could also be used as a home console, it'd be a hybrid.
I do get what @Therad and yourself are trying to say - most people would look at an iPhone 7 and call it a phone, it's marketed as a phone...but if someone said that they primarily used it as an MP3 player, or a camera - you couldn't say that they're somehow wrong for interpreting the product that way because of it's versatile, hybrid nature...it's not 'backwards logic', it's just the nature of 'hybrid' technology.
What's with all backwards logic in this thread? The Switch is a handheld, period. If Nintendo released an HDMI cable compatible with the 3DS (in fact, I'm pretty sure those already exist), that wouldn't turn the 3DS into a hybrid or console either. A system is either portable, or it isn't, and the Switch clearly is. It doesn't matter what Nintendo calls it in this case. They can call it a toaster, but that doesn't mean the Switch is a toaster.
I don't think it's backwards logic at all. Some people will use it as a home console and the technology in the box facilitates that.
The biggest point though is that it doesn't matter. It's a device that plays Nintendo games for which Nintendo will be developing and releasing their marquee games on for the foreseeable future. It doesn't matter whether it's a handheld or a home console in the same way it doesn't matter whether I'm typing on a laptop or a desktop or a tablet or a phone.
Of course the marketing is important and does make a real impact on the positioning of the format (i.e. whether it gets more "home console" style games or more "handheld" style games, perceived value and an influence on the way that consumers view and use it) but the marketing is separate and the technology flexible enough to fit a number of different marketing approaches.
Provided that Nintendo supports it and that it's powerful enough to run the games that they want to make does anyone care what it is (I've used mine exclusively as a handheld so far).
The fact that we are having these arguments about what the Switch actually is kind of proves Nintendo have got it spot on. Some arguing it's a handheld, some that it's a home console and some that it's a hybrid. You can use this system anyway you choose; play anywhere, anytime and with anyone.
In my opinion, in terms of the hardware itself, the Switch is a handheld with the dock basically being an HDMI cable, but in terms of functionality, it can work as both a handheld and a home console, which functionally makes it a hybrid. It's not literally a hybrid in that it transforms itself into the shape of a traditional console or something, but it works like a hybrid.
I'm sure a lot of people will use it exclusively as a handheld - I can totally see that ..personally, I've been playing with it docked most of the time - admittedly, that's mostly down to the fact I don't have a carry case yet - but I bought it very much with local multiplayer/couch co-op in mind & I think that that it'll play best, for that purpose at least, when docked ..my eyes aren't good enough to play 4 player split screen on a 6.2in tablet!
I must admit, when Reggie started spouting all this stuff about the Switch being a 'home console' - I did cringe a little - it certainly looks more like a Vita than a PS4! ...but, in fairness, it is (technically) Nintendo's most powerful 'home console' ever - and is currently the only place to get the traditional Nintendo home console experience with the latest Nintendo games ...it'd have been more accurate for Reggie to just call it a hybrid right off the bat, but I think he used the word 'home console' instead to better justify the perceived high price point (ie. this has a home console price, because it's a home console) ..cringey? yes. ..could we all see through it? yes! ..does it matter that much? not really.
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