Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@rallydefault you are kind of proving my point.... the 4k crowd is a petty small subset of the tv market and isn't expected to grow all that rapidly in terms of adoption rate. The theater enthusiast crowd is early adopting. Ie the rich boys toys. For the non 4k market, which is most of the market, its a $500 xbox. Market reactions get pretty sour on >400 consoles.

All that said, i never said it would flop, only that at the price its not going to affect switch in the market. 1S is the (cheaper) competition for that. Keeping in mind xbox is only relevant in 4 markets, ps owns the rest of earth except japan. 1x will not sell in large numbers, and certainly not enough to interfere with switch (which is an entirely different product for an entirely different market), but it's also not INTENDED to sell in great numbers. I believe the industry term for that type of product is a "premium catalyst"... 1X doesn't exist to sell a lot of 1Xs, it exists to sell more 1Ss. And at that i expect it to meet their exoectations.

I still dont see it affecting switch in any way. There's such little market overlap. Ps4 is the real competitor to both.

Even Phil Spencer himself said، and I quote, "If we sell 100 million Xbox Ones، 5 million will be Scorpio".

It's not going to be a major player on the field. Even the head of Xbox is saying so. It's a great piece of hardware- I'm getting one، but I'm the niche audience it's targeting. $500 is not consumer friendly، especially against a $250 version that plays all the same games. Sure، you may have spent $500 total on Switch، but that was by choice. You can get by on the system alone. And Xbox- after spare controller، after external hard drive، after play and charge kits and all the accessories you can get for it just like Switch، it could be $700 total vs Switch's 500.

Xbox is selling half what PS4 is، and PS4 Pro is a niche market even at $400. So halve those sales for Xbox platform، then halve them again for the extra $100 price، and you come to appreciate why Spencer said what he said.

Nintendo app is out. Get your squid headset ready..

The TV market in the US is going 4k. Most big 40+ inch TVs are 4k. The price difference between a 4k and 1080 tv of similar size is becoming negligible. Pretty soon, 1080p sets will harder and harder to find or relegated to the budget realm like 720p 5-6 years ago. The x will build in relevance as 4k matures.

Still loving my Switch and One S though. I wont be buying a One X.

There are unfortunate truths to this. Plus I can access all the info for the game I need anywhere I go. Gear, win/loss, stages and modes...

@BLP_Software I'm with you.I see potential in this app for being something new and different and dare I say it better,at least in some ways.I quite liiked using Splatnet for the original Splatoon but it was just a website instead of an app.There were a couple of unofficial apps that done the same job though.Now Splatnet will be fully integrated into this online app.Who knows,maybe we'll get something for Mario Odyssey and other big titles too,Smashnet for example.All fully integrated into this ever evolving Switch app.MyNintendo could become part of it too.Possibly a Miiverse replacement.An all in one online hub that takes care of everything and leaves the Switch to play games as intended.

@OorWullie I see it as a unique solution to a unique problem. How to get chat on a console that is supposed to "Switch" seamlessly between handheld and docked quickly and easily. Having to change a plug in point between the tablet, the joycons, the pro controller when switching between modes would be cumbersome and against the consoles ethos. Yes Bluetooth could have been an option but that would also be a strain on battery life. I think it's a g wat idea and has the potential to be amazing.

Because the option to plug a headset in the Switch itself is a much neater solution. It prevents a mess of wires, another battery-powered device and the ability to still use your phone. It's neat as an option, but it's certainly not the best solution. Even if people use other services for communication because the in-game one isn't amazing, wouldn't it be cool if Nintendo actually was the first one to have a usable in-game chat program? Or maybe work together with something like Discord on the Switch.

Stages, modes, etc. could also be visible in-game (not sure if Splatoon 2 does this in an easy way).

@Octane You can see future stages and more in app.

And again, that Splatoon headset is HORIs. Its got those wires so you can adjust the levels of the audio where you have both your phone and game in the headset.

The actual more elegant solution is simple. Your phone comes woth headphones. No wires to Switch. No dongle in the middle.

I do like how people are saying we could just plug into the Switch to avoid the mess of cables. While ignoring the phone options doesnt exactly have a mess of cables.

The problem with using your existing phone headset is that you will get a distorted and/or muted game sound. This means you get a worse experience.

The app seems fine, the headset solution doesn't. I think they did this so you can chat while away from the switch, they want to create their own social media network.

@BigBadJohn "a unique solution to a unique problem" I like that, that's exactly what it is.You're right about bluetooth too,it kills my battery when I have it on.I think another reason there is not a bluetooth option though is because of possible interference with the Joy-con.It wouldn't be a problem in handheld mode but playing something like ARMS in docked mode,a bluetooth headset could cause problems.

@Therad You only get the game sound from the system. Im saying plug your headphones into your phone for voice chat.

Thr only way to get both into your headset is with the HORI headset. Thats it. And thats what everyone is focusing on.

And that is why people are salty. It would have been much more simpler if the chat portion was in the switch itself, the switch could then mix both sound channels together. Either with bluetooth, or a cable into the switch directly. Now you need to buy an additional hardware mixer to solve this problem.

Take me for example, I have a nice headset for my phone so I can listen to music and podcasts at work. If I would use the app for chatting, I wouldn't hear anything from the game because the headset cancels out basically everything. Which would seriously dampen the experience of the game.

And don't forget that Apple has discontinued the 3.5 audio plug on their newer models. If others do the same, the HORI headset will be obsolete before you know it.

EDIT: just looked at the HORI headset again. The phone needs to be next to the switch because the cords are not long enough, which means you can't use the other functions in the app nor anything else on your phone. Which means you can't answer the phone either if someone is calling you. It is utterly idiotic.

So this is coming to eShop tomorrow apparently...

http://www.arcsystemworks.jp/boost_beast/

@Therad I wouldnt say salty.

I know many, many people who use such headsets for their consoles but use Discord. Why? Or Skype. Or TeamSpeak.

Truth be told the core gamer market, at its very core, seems to avoid built in options. I couldnt say why but they do.

And yes Apple has discontinued the 3.5mm jack. Thankfully they give you an adaptor. It was in the name of being water tight.

Doesnt explain how my phone is more water resistant and has a jack but still. Thats Apple.

Is it an inconvenience. Maybe depending on you. Is it a bad idea. No not really. It works. Its simple. And once more, everyone has their phone.

Now here's the thing. The controllers. I've used Bluetooth headsets around them and bad news, same channel and frequency. Guess what that means. Bluetooth can depending on headset be an issue. And then people complain.

People are going to complain regardless. But for the convenience of your stats and game interaction on your phone as well as always having voice chat right by you to set up for later, and as @JaxonH and myself can attest using your system on a hotspot being fantastic.

Do I have an opinion on voice chat myself? Nope. Dont use it. Never had a need to. Does this seem like a bad thing though. Again, no. Its simple, its always there.

And before you say not everyone has enough mobile data, Ive got 4gb a month. £55 a month. It aint cheap but I still do it knowing i wont go over

Probably because they game on multiple systems. But this makes it all the more baffling, why not try to do a simpler solution?

The adapter has a big flaw, you can't charge your phone at the same time. And apple are trying to switch people to bluetooth. My guess is they do it to up their profit margins.

It isn't simple if you want to hear the game. This is the crux of the problem.

Do you know what every switch owner has? Even those that don't have a smartphone? A switch.

I frequently have my headset on me, it has never ever interfered with the games. Even when I have taken phone calls. But still, the switch has a 3.5 jack, and it has been reported it has mic in.

Now those features are nice. And it is nice to be able to use the chat outside of games. But it is still an inconvenience when you want to chat and game. But if you are using the switch in console mode with the HORI headset, you won't have access to your phone, since it must lay near the switch thanks to the short cords.

So why are you not listening to the concerns of those that actually want a voice chat?

If you can game, you can voice chat. So this would never be a problem.

I think they want the voice chat in the phone so that people download the app. It is the killer feature of the app. The obvious solution would be to offer voice chat in both the switch and the app.

@Therad
Actually any cords can be used. They're just standard extension cords. And I'm pretty sure you can take a call, it just ends the voice chat, and when you pull it back up after it resumes. That's my understanding.

I'm buying the Hori headset but only for the adapter to mix audio. Gonna stick with my Bose earbuds

The ones going from the adapter to the phone and switch are both fixed into the adapter. You can of course buy an extension cable to solve that problem. But my point is that their voice chat solution is more cumbersome than it needs to be.

@BLP_Software I'm not complaining about the app itself. It's great you can use it to see upcoming stages (even though I think this option could and should exist in-game as well).

Actually, Therad already explained what the problem is. If you want to listen to both the game and chat (like you would on any other console), you need to buy all this extra stuff. You've now got a Switch, a phone, a headset, a mixer and cables connecting all these devices, plus not one but two batteries to keep track of. It's not an elegant or simple solution at all. It's a solution for a problem Nintendo themselves created. Why not allow users to choose how they want to voice chat? Why not give them the option to do it through the console? Headset in Switch. Done. That's a simple solution to voice chat.

On top of that, you're also not excluding anyone with a Windows phone, or anyone without a smart phone at all. Newest models of HTC and other brands don't even come with a headphone jack anymore and use USB-C. Or are we suggesting those people should use another adapter?

So yeah, let's not pretend this is a simple solution.