Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake I'm expecting VC to be an E3 announcement with it starting in the fall along with the paid subscription.

@Grumblevolcano September/early October Nintendo Direct. That's when I expect VC to be announced, with the service starting alongside the paid online.

Also the "Virtual Console" branding gets dropped.

I just remembered about that Disney Collection that was announced by Capcom.I think we'll see that in the Direct.If not then it's not coming.

Well for a start I don't think stuff like VC and Netflix are things people will care about if they show them at E3. They're more along the lines of housekeeping items than big announcements. If they show that stuff at E3 I think it would be a mistake. Like when Microsoft went on and on about the media features of the XBOne. Whether we get it in this direct, a later Direct or just silently released I don't know. But if it's soon and they don't just randomly appear on the eShop one day I think this Direct is as good a time as any to talk about it.

In terms of the subscription service? Well we already know that the games they have briefly mentioned aren't given away. Even after the month ends they have them as paid downloads. The subscription is more of an early access demo sort of deal from what they've said so far. And even if they go all-out Netflix on the VC I don't think it'd necessarily make sense to kill the VC as it is. Apple and Google didn't shut down their music download service when they opened up their streaming services.

Just as an example, music revenue in Australia last year:
Streaming: 38%
Download: 30%
CD: 25%
Vinyl: 4%
(the leftover % is stuff like BD-Audio, tapes and so on)

"Subscription services are the future, lets shut down the other options". Why? What's the benefit to the companies profiting from it if they take away one of their revenue streams? What's the benefit to the consumer taking away one of their options? I can't see any benefit to Nintendo removing the option to buy classic games for a one off price even if they do go down the road of also offering a subscription.

The VC games they could ever get away with announcing at an E3 are Pokemon games and Mother 3.

They could get away with announcing VC at E3 if the games have been remastered.Say they're now in HD and wide screen with online play,leaderboards,challenge stages ala NES Remix or along those lines.I've said on here a few times in the past that I think that might be the direction they go with VC,at least with their own games.Those of us who've bought these games 2/3/4 times in the past will be easier to convince to buy them again at a standardl VC price instead of paying a small upgrade fee like with Wii U which probably makes Nintendo very little.Plus it makes them more appealing to the younger generation while future proofing them at the same time.Reggie I think it was,said recently that the NES/SNES games included as part of the subscription will have a big focus on them during the month.There's only so many NES/SNES games that can have online multiplayer added to them,1st party games are especially limited.This makes me think something like challenge stages from NES Remix will be a big feature of the subscription.Something like daily/weekly challenges on remixed levels with online leaderboards with MyNintendo points up for grabs.Whatever happens there's certainly going to be more to it than just some old games available for free for 1 month with basic online functions. Will anyone who doesn't' have an interest for retro games really care if that's all it is?They're in 4:3 SD,they look terrible to the younger generation,they're tough as nails,the NES games flicker at the edges,sprites flicker,SNES games have slowdown.But if they were in HD with widescreen and running at 60fps the same like Nintendo done with Super Mario Maker,then they are instantly more appealing.My nephew will happily play with SMM's 8/16 bit style levels but has no interest in the VC games I've let him try,says they look rubbish.He'll play indie and mobile games too without complaining about the graphics.Add HD and widescreen to something like Yoshis Island and you have the best looking 'indie' game around.The gameplay in most of the games from that era certainly holds up,they just need a facelift to make them new again.

So unless they do all of that and maybe even a bit more for good measure,I don't think they can get away with announcing their VC plans at E3.

@OorWullie
I think for Gamecube and Wii games HD remasters make sense. For Wii U and 3DS games they don't have any option but to port and possibly enhance them in one way or another. And for N64 games it's an option but I'm not sure how many people would pay the price they'd have to charge. But SNES, NES, GB, GBC, GBA and DS? Beyond maybe adding an online mode I can't see any reason why people would want "more" than the VC. And even then online only makes sense for multiplayer games.

Anyways, they did experiment with remastered classic games on the 3DS. That 3D Classics series of games was pretty much what you're talking about. But it's worth noting that they eventually stopped doing it on 3DS and it didn't continue with the Wii U. If it had been a viable alternative to the VC we would have seen 3D Classic SNES games. So I can only assume that the VC model worked better for Nintendo. And frankly as a consumer and enthusiast? As long as it has decent colour and a decent framerate I couldn't care less how they deliver it.

edit: BTW, this is what they had for us in the first Direct after the Wii U launch:

• Explanation of how MiiVerse worked.....
• Details about future firmware updates to improve performance (2013)
• Details about Virtual Console including pricing (2013)
• Outlining upcoming games (2013)
• Trailer for The Wonderful 101 (2013)
• A look at the development of Bayonetta 2 (2014)
• Announcement that they will announce Smash Bros at E3 (2014)
• Announcement that they will announce a "3D Mario game" at E3 (2013)
• "Yarn Yoshi" announcement (2015)
• Wind Waker HD announcement (2013), announcement that they were developing a new Zelda (2017)
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE anouncement (2015)
• Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer (2015)

Did they say that direct was going to focus on specific games and then also include that extra? If not, I'm not sure why this would be any different. The fact that they felt the need to qualify that it'll be focused on two games should be enough to know that they're saying "don't expect much else".

@Operative2-0
The fact that they felt the need to qualify that it'll be focused on two games should be enough to know that they're saying "don't expect much else"

Exactly.

When they say "Arms and Splatoon 2" they mean Arms and Splatoon 2. And a taste of immediate 3DS releases like Fire Emblem Echoes, since it did also say 3DS. They're basically telling us that as far as the Switch is concerned they are only talking about those two games. Although for something like virtual console, I would not put that out of the realm of possibility since it's a smaller announcement. But I certainly wouldn't expect it

@Operative2-0 I reckon we'll just see ARMS (is this usually spelt in uppercase letters?), Splatoon 2, both of their respective release dates as well as another little upcoming games showreel.

I shall be more than happy to be proven wrong (if there is more to announce) though!

I'm thinking arms is going to be late may or early June with splatoon being late July or August. Can't wait to see more of Arms, it has some real potential to be a great new ip

That one specifically? I think it was just promoted as general Nintendo Direct about Wii U content. But Nintendo doesn't exactly stick to the script with these directs. There have been a few times in Wii U directs where they slip in a 3DS game. There have been times when people go in expecting a reveal of something and we just get new trailers for games we already know about.

Anyways, when they say Arms, Splatoon 2, Switch and 3DS? I don't think they're going to limit themselves to just Arms and Splatoon 2. And given it's in that period before E3 I expect them to do a bit of pre-E3 housekeeping. Which will probably include stuff like Pikmin 3DS, Online Subscriptions, Virtual Console etc. So say a 40min direct with 10mins on Arms, 10mins on Splatoon, 10mins on VC/Online and the last 10mins split between 3DS games and random Switch indie releases. With the subscription service folded into Arms/Splatoon and the VC folded into the talk about indies and the subscription.

@skywake I'm hopeful that this is what we get too. Especially VC/online/anything that fleshes out the system a bit.

@JoeDiddley
To be more specific, this is what I'm thinking we might get....

1. A new trailer for Splatoon 2
2. Explanation of some new game modes in Splatoon 2
3. More detail about release dates
4. A new trailer for Arms
5. Some more details about characters/weapons/modes
6. More detail about release dates
7. A new trailer for Mario Kart 8
8. Details about online features using Splatoon 2/Arms/Mario Kart 8 as an example
9. Maybe some details about My Nintendo Rewards for Switch. Probably just themes for now.
10. Virtual Console details tied into the talk about My Nintendo/Subscriptions
11. Indie releases for the eShop on 3DS/Switch
12. New trailer for Pikmin 3DS
13. One last thing .......

Putted like this it can be reasonable, but i don't think we will get all this stuff unfortunately. Glad to be proven wrong eventually. All i really want, without considering big surprises like something about DQXI Switch (considering today reveal), is Splatoon 2 date to be not so much distant in summer. Even if i think it will not be before July, i would love for it to be in June so that they don't even need space at E3 for Splatoon 2 and focus on other games

@skywake The N64 games are definitely most in need of a remaster but I would imagine out of all generations,those would probably take the most work.Not just the graphics but a lot of the gameplay,camera controls etc from that era are dated too.N64 remasters will probably only ever be limited to a handful of titles and sold at a higher price like LOZ:OoT and Starfox 3D were.I'm just making a guess here but I'd say giving 8/16 bit games a better resolution, widescreen and online play isn't too big a job and it's a one time job.The games themselves are fine and can be left as they were.Maybe having challenge stages added to every game is a bit of a stretch as that would take a lot of work but I do think there's going to be something similar for the monthly subscription games at least.Adding online play is a start but as said,there's not too many multiplayer games they could add it too.If this subscription service with a 'free' monthly game is going to stay around,then by the 2nd year they'll be struggling for games.That means there's going to be single player games featuring in the service,if there's not goinng to be new additions to the game like challenge stages what else can they really do other than leaderboards or time attacks.That alone isn't much of an incentive to play through them again for most people,let alone make it a focus of the service and convince us to buy them again when the month ends.The upgrade fee for those of us who've bought the games in the past will likely be higher too due to them having these additions which will no doubt annoy many.I feel there has to be more to than just this.

You do make a good point about the 3D Classics and why weren't they continued.Maybe because VC hadn't been on handheld before so selling the original games as they were with minimal cost to Nintendo was more profitable.But this is another generation on,surely they can't just keep releasing the same games as they were every generation and keep it as a big selling point of the console.

Speaking for myself,remastered classics would be a big selling point if I wasn't already on board.Mario Bros 3 is one of my all time favourites but I haven't even bothered to upgrade it on Wii U.If it was remastered to look as good as it's levels on SMM though I'd happily pay 7 or 8 quid for it.Same with Super Mario World,I actually did upgrade that on Wii U and played it a lot until SMM arrived but haven't played it since.If it was remastered though I'd be doing runs through it again 2 or 3 times a year.Of course this is just from my perspective and I can and do still play and enjoy the old games as they were but for them to continue to appeal to the younger generation,i think they need brought up to date.The gameplay and artstyle in that era though,16 bit especially is timeless.

I think ARMS could do with a Splatoon Testfire type demo announced in the Direct. In its current position I get the feeling ARMS will end up more like Codename STEAM than Splatoon just due to Nintendo not getting that new IP out there for people to try out for themselves, it doesn't have to be that way though.

@OorWullie
I'm not sure how you'd up the resolution of classic games. For N64 and later you can render at a higher resolution, framerate and level of detail. But for 2D games? Probably the best thing to do would be to render them correctly. That's it. Really, how do you make a sprite from SMB "high res"? Even Mario Maker just ran with the same sprites just on a new engine.....

Agreed.

This is what I am expecting, perhaps another test fire for S2 as well. Beyond that all I am expecting is dates for stuff we know about.

No point spoiling your own E3.