Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@BLP_Software Give up. Far too early to call that!

@GrailUK Well no console will catch mobile. PC is on par eith PSN in terms of Steam users alone.

Then we have the PS4 doubling the Xbox One and the new Switch waaaay behind because its new.

Im not saying thats how it is going to be. But realistically Nintendo will surely be behind Sony at all times. Microsoft is up for debate but Xbox has 3 years on Switch.

@FragRed I agree. the Switch started well but there are big trends about handhelds systems dying in the west and consoles in general dying in Japan. I think Nintendo is too small to stop these trends in the long run.

@Octane Well it's pretty much admitted that Squaresoft had a deal with Nintendo during the Snes era so it's not hard to believe Sony did the same later especially when the Saturn didn't get any Squaresoft game despite having a CD driver and selling fairly well in Japan. But Sony is very secret and very powerful so it's hard to get genuine interviews about their story. Of course it didn't start with Sony but it went on another level with them since they really had the wallet of a megacorp to crush the competition and get a monopoly compared to the pre-Sony era when the market was a bunch of toys companies. That's why it's funny for anyone who lived that era to read the narrative of Sony being a little David beating the Goliath Nintendo and Sega. Things were very different.

Yeah, in Latin America Sony and Microsoft have far better market share due to having official support and, in the case of PS, the fact that PS1 was so easy to use with illegally copied game helped them a lot.
Nintendo handhelds are popular, but because people buy them and then use these cards, like R4, to get access to the games.

@FragRed
I disagree.

People don't need to know what's in store, they only need a reason to want one. Most people buying Switches aren't asking what's in store, they just want to play Zelda. They just want to play Splatoon 2 and Arms. They just want Mario Kart. The fact Mario Odyssey and Pokemon is in store is just a bonus.

Nintendo typically doesn't reveal much of the following year until it's close at hand, and some of the later releases don't get announced til Spring or e3.

The reason there's hype now is because the system has a very appealing hybrid concept and there's games people want to play. In 2018, those games will be just as appealing. In fact, Zelda, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey will ensure people keep buying Switches all generation. Those games don't lose appeal. Obviously once Pokemon drops that'll help pull people in all generation, and even Metroid Prime 4.

And this is assuming Nintendo is just gonna throw in the towel after Odyssey, which is the furthest thing from the truth. We're gonna continue to see heavy hitters and games which appeal to certain audiences pile up all of 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021... Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest XI, Monster Hunter, Animal Crossing, Mario Maker, Kirby, etc etc etc

Alot of people predicted 3DS was going to fail because handhelds were dying. Yet here we are now as it approaches 70 million, and will likely catch the Gameboy Advance before its done. Switch is likewise going to buck the predictions. Even more so. People just love it- the appeal of the system itself is really all it needs, provided it has a few evergreen titles (which is does- and once Odyssey and Pokemon release it'll pretty much guarantee Switch stays a hot ticket item all generation).

That was definitely the case where I lived (which may be more of a reflection of the estate I grew up in than anything else! ) ..a lot of my friends had 'chipped' PSX's, allowing them to play a whole host of counterfeit games on the cheap - definitely a big selling point! ..although, I do agree that the third-parties and the successful ultra-modern (for the time) advertising campaign(s) also had a huge impact.

I still think that the N64 held its own though - sure, it was a pretty distant second place to the PSX, but it wasn't exactly a huge flop or anything...both systems had great games - and I think there was mutual jealousy between my friends and I for the games that our systems didn't have I know I certainly didn't have to be asked twice to pop around to one of my friends' houses for some Crash Team Racing, Destruction Derby, WipeOut etc ..and I never really struggled to get a crowd together for some multiplayer GoldenEye/F-Zero/Mario Kart!

2 great consoles - and a great era for gaming in general!

@NaviAndMii Its weird.

People also consider the Xbox One a flop when it actually seems to be doing just fine. Thing is its just the PS4 is doing better by a large margin.

People call the PSP a flop, but 80 million is an incredible number. Its just the DS did better by a large margin.

The only real flops are ones that get thoroughly demolished by competition, lose support fast, never really take off. Wii U, Gamecube, Vita, Saturn.

UnEpic and Ghost are coming to Switch from an indie Spanish developer. I believe the former has also been on Wii U.

Let's be honest here, 3DS became a success because Nintendo realized they overpriced the system and were willing to have a large permanent price cut. It was that price cut combined with the support from holiday 2011 onwards that saved the 3DS.

With Switch, Nintendo learned from their experience during the early 3DS days and the Wii U era realizing that a strong first party lineup is needed early on for their systems to be a success. They did exactly that and the only thing stopping Switch from being a massive success is the stock issue. There's only so much patience people have and stuff like the lottery nonsense in Japan may backfire if it goes on for too long.

@NaviAndMii I was also the only kid in my year group, nay probably the whole school, to own a N64!

I think the same goes for the GameCube too, despite having a bunch of friends who played many happy hours on Mario Kart: Double Dash and Super Smash Bros. Melee round my house during the school holidays.

Even though I have spent these past couple of years playing on my PlayStation 4 more so than my 3DS and Wii U, to the point that I have been bizarrely labelled a Sony ‘white knight’ on here, I have spent the vast majority of my life playing on nothing but Nintendo systems, both the home and portable kind, to the point that I more or less became a Nintendo fanboy.

I am so very glad I broadened my horizons when I soon got tired of missing out on all those third party games on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 though, due to being a lone Wii owner for three rather uninspiring years. The Wii is by far and away my least favourite Nintendo system outside of Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy.

p.s. Out of all those consoles you have mentioned, only Ouya is symbolic with the word ‘failure’.

@JaxonH The 3DS is pretty much a failure in USA and Europe compared to any other Nintendo handheld. It did well in Japan but mostly because it was supported by the local industry. I think that's why the Switch was marketed as a home console system in the west. They know handhelds have been replaced by smartphones. But when the Switch launch momentum will be over the average consumer will know it has a the hardware of a handheld. As usual with Nintendo it's a bet and it's hard to predict what will happen.

Oh my poor little thing. Can you please show me where did it happen?

@bitleman
3DS has not been a failure in any way, shape or form. Japan or the West. True, handhelds aren't as popular in the West, but perhaps that's because we've never had a handheld people really love (enter Switch). Handhelds haven't been replaced by smartphones though. People thought they would be, but it didn't happen. Which proves people still want dedicated handheld gaming devices with buttons.

The launch momentum of the Switch is already over. That ended by April. Now we're just seeing flat out momentum. Good old regular demand. Switch doesn't have the hardware of a typical handheld, it has the hardware of a typical console. Which is precisely why it's so appealing. Because you can play console games in console glory... on a handheld. People know exactly what it has, and they want it. That's not gonna change. They want it now, and people will continue wanting it. Because of the versatility of the system, because the games look console quality on both TV and handheld, and because of the actual games. If anything We're gonna see the Switch continue to gain momentum. If it does 10 mil it's first year, it'll likely do 15 the next.

@Peek-a-boo Hah youre the opposite of me. Im labelled a Nintendo white knight on PushSquare but Nintendo games havent been in my life until...2011 maybe? Before then since 1998 it was all PlayStation

@bitleman Down a dark alleyway, like so:

@Peek-a-boo Yeah as I thought it never happened. You're just a rabid fanboy baiting. It's sad.
Also the Wii had plenty of third party games. But those games were mostly low budget shovelwares. And now the low budget shovelwares market is on PS4 you're praising it. Weird.

@BLP_Software Yeah, that's certainly true (of the Xbox One) - I suppose it just happens when a direct competitor blows everything else out of the water...a bit like Usain Bolt's world-record breaking era in 100m/200m sprinting - the guys that'd get the silver medals were awesome, the second fastest men on the planet - but, compared to Bolt, they didn't look all that special!

@Peek-a-boo Yeah, me too! I was always Nintendo - my brother raised me on his SNES, my first console of my own was an N64 - but I really loved that the PlayStation was around & that a lot of my good friends had one...every time I'd pop around to one of their houses, I'd get a fresh gaming experience - so never really missed out on anything - it was great! ..when the next generation of consoles came out - and I had a bit more cash - I treated myself to a PS2 (as well as a GameCube) - mainly because I wanted to play TimeSplitters (the spiritual-successor-of-sorts to GoldenEye/Perfect Dark) and because of the positive experiences I had playing the original PS...since broadening my horizons, I've mostly been a '2 console' gamer - not wanting to miss out on any of the titles I'd fallen in love with! (The only exception being the WiiU, which I skipped - I always planned on getting one eventually, but it just never felt like the 'right time' to pick one up ever came really - so I just waited for 'NX' instead! ..can't say I have any huge regrets though)

Until the NDS and Wii U, I was primarily a fan of Sony and Sega's home consoles. Sega exited the hardware scene, though, and I detested where the industry was going last gen with the 360 and PS3, so I went back to playing primarily on Nintendo consoles after experiencing the magic of Super Mario Galaxy. I still don't like the Wii overall, but that game really tapped into something that had been dormant for a long time. Don't regret the decision to re-invest in Nintendo one bit: the Western AAA third party scene has very little of interest to me. I only own a PS4 for the Japanese exclusives.

Of course, if Galaxy hadn't won me back, the Switch would have, since I've always loved portable gaming devices.

@bitleman 67 million units sold isn't a failure by any stretch of the imagination, and it's proof that portable gaming consoles still have a solid place in the market, even if that place has been eroded somewhat by the industry-shaking proliferation of smart devices.

@bitleman Oh wait, you were actually being serious?

Yep, I love buying, playing and praising all of those low budget shovelware games on my PlayStation 4!

@BLP_Software I always find it quite amusing to be honest.

From opening the SNES on Christmas Day back in 1994, to my Game Boy Colo(u)r, N64, GBA, GameCube, DS lite, Wii, 3DS XL and buying the Wii U on day one on the 30th of November in 2012 , I spent a shy over twenty years exclusively playing on nothing but a Nintendo system. Then along came a PlayStation 4 almost exactly two years ago in 2015, and I am now a PlayStation fanboy. You just couldn’t make it up!

Just play on whatever console(s) that comes along with the kind of games you enjoy most, I say.

@NaviAndMii Sounds like we had a relatively similar experience growing up with video games! I loved playing Crash Bandicoot, Destruction Derby (like yourself), Gran Turismo, PaRappa the Rapper, Spyro the Dragon, Tekken and Time Crisis (with that G-Con 45 light gun) round my friends, and they thoroughly enjoyed playing the likes of Bomberman 64, GoldenEye 007 and Mario Kart 64 round mine.

I kind of miss those good old PSone/N64 days, especially the sit-on-the-sofa multiplayer side of things.

@Peek-a-boo Started with Spyro, moved into the PS2, brief stint with a 360 and the Wii and DS were there when I was bored until we could afford a PS3 in 2010! and then I realised Sony dropped most of what pulled me in back in the day (And sadly its actually less in my taste on PS4!) and so I went back and expanded my DS and Wii games. Picked up a Wii U launch day and now a Switch.

Like seriously. Most of my life has been spent on PlayStation! But they dropped what I liked about them.

But what's really sad...is I dont get the same feeling from many Nintendo games that I do a new Sonic or Ratchet or Spyro, or even the Crash remakes. Isn't that weird? Maybe its because thats my few bright spots in my terrible childhood.

Nintendo gives me want I want to play...but I long for Sony to get up and do it too. But that wont happen.