Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Octane I'd argue that there are loads of innovative new games/IPs, but the best place to look for them is on Steam and mobile. As someone who doesn't play PC games, I actually quite like that the Switch is becoming something of a "best of Steam" playground.

Less bothered about the mobile stuff, as I can play that anyway, but there isn't that much of it on Switch really. We're not really seeing the out-there stuff anyway: Implosion (and to a lesser extent Oceanhorn) is an outstanding mobile game, but merely a very decent Switch game. Cat Quest will probably also similarly fall between two stools.

I feel that if an indie title is innovative and successful enough, the AAA guys will seek to capitalise on that somehow. Although, I admit, I can't think of any examples.

@IceClimbers X1 provides a much nicer PLATFORM in terms of hardware , OS, and user control than Sony's trashy OSes and clunky hardware ever does. The problem is the ecosystem isn't there. It's become a machine to play the same group of third party games, and especially GaaS games, which ties nicely with Microsoft's corporate strategy. For me, Splatoon is as "service" as I'm willing to go. "Service" games haven't appealed to me since Everquest hit it big, and any "service" game, will be immediately ignored by me no matter how "cool" it looks at first.

@rallydefault It really all comes down to what @octane said and the "PC graphics!!1" industry. Budgets are way too high to allow ANY risk at all. So only a sure fire hit can be made. And only retreads can be sure fire hits. You'll virtually never see a big budget experimental game. So all the experimentation comes from low budget indies, usually with 8-bit graphics

@Ryu_Niiyama LOL, sometimes I think that Amazon actually bases all its decision making on me alone. Anything I buy goes on a sale right AFTER I buy it I think Jeff just keeps my account stats in a browser tab all day and directs the company around what I'm browsing. I do wonder if PO box stuff gets a special "delay" in the system since it has to use USPS.

Maybe Sonic will ship...maybe I'll double dip. I want that darned genesis statue though. It's pathetic. But I simply need it. Still annoyed there's no cart though.

When I evaluate the buttons carefully they seem "meh"...I think it's the button caps really. But when I play I don't even notice them. (apart from the noise, noise, noise!)

@rallydefault your time table is a good point.

I'm willing to argue that the density of new creative outings seems higher in history and scarcer in present day. That's because you live it now, and remember totality and not the passing of time.

The idea that today had less creative games is just a moment in time; great games are created in a matter of years, not months.

So it seems unfair to me to judge what's hot now by the trend. I'm just naming these names because, at some point, they were new. That's why we get the next installment in the first place.

So today, I'm impressed with mr shifty and arms for instance. Horizon is more than the sum of its parts, but let's skip that for now. How about, for instance, rocket league? Point is, there are great new games available regardless of the time we're in.

So if you guys want some confusing anecdotes:

http://www.rockman-corner.com/2017/08/portion-of-nintendo-3ds...

Turns out the Megaman Legacy Collection 2 has code referencing the 3DS.

Yep.

Thanks Capcom

@Octane @NEStalgia
I agree, yes. The budgets have become so bloated that risk is, well, an unnecessary risk lol And it can be nice to purchase and cozy up with a game that you know you're going to like. As much as I rag on the Uncharted series, whenever I would purchase one of the games, I knew what I was getting, and I knew I would enjoy it for its strong points. I'm even half-tempted to try the new Assassin's Creed game this fall, because I used to be a huge fan of the series, and I know I like the basic gameplay. So yea, I totally see the allure, and I'm not immune to it.

@Zyrac
But it's not that ARMS sold a million copies. It's that ARMS doesn't seem to be continuing to sell well. That's the real nail in the coffin. I think Nintendolife even ran an article on how it doesn't seem to be holding up well. So yea, it's great that it sold a million+ initially, but if it just plummets off a cliff, I say it has no similarity to Splatoon's success.

@Krillin_
I am a PC gamer, so I can say: I think Steam and its outreach programs are horrible for gaming. Yea, it sounds good on paper. It sounds like a heaven for indie devs to just get all their great ideas out there.

But the reality is that Steam is becoming a bona fide dumpster fire. It's full of absolute garbage, and many times what these devs are charging for essentially the quality of browser games is insane. It's just becoming flooded with drivel. This is part of the reason why Steam Greenlight was shut down, a combination of garbage quality mixed with outrageous and unregulated pricing. Just too much. It's kind of like the Kickstarter system. Yea, there are some success stories like Yooka-Laylee and Pillars of Eternity, but there are far more failures and instances of people losing money and having to jump through hoops to get it back. Devs releasing Kickstarted stuff that falls far below quality standards or simply isn't finished just to get it out there.

@erv
There are some great games right now, I agree. And yes, perhaps in 10 years the industry will look back and deem something like Rocket League truly innovative. I totally agree with the fact that retrospect can put things in perspective. And that's because, in the future, we'll be able to filter out all the crud that we're currently be deluged with.

But I still have to say, it's tough to find the great, original games. Like, even a game like Overwatch. I LOVE Overwatch. But I played lots of Team Fortress back in the day, and I can recognize that Overwatch is a complete Team Fortress clone with a Blizzard touch.

I just don't know if I'll ever get that truly WOW sensation again of playing a game that is the first of its kind, because I think we may have exhausted all the "kinds" of games we can have.

@NEStalgia Agreed. I can take GaaS in small doses (love Overwatch), but it's a turn off for a lot of games. The upcoming Middle Earth Shadow of War being a major example.

@rallydefault It is noteworthy that ARMS has fallen out of the best sellers chart on the US eShop

I'd be surprised if ARMS doesn't get a follow-up or sequel eventually. It sold very well for what it was, and personally I'm glad it didn't follow the same model as og Splat. As much as I enjoyed seeing the new content, with me having Splat2 I don't think I would enjoy the approach they took with Splat and possibly Splat2.

Arms will hit at least 2 mil before things are done and over with. I know people getting Switches and they're all interested in Arms, but they couldn't buy Zelda, Mario Kart, Splatoon and Arms all day one.

As long as updates keep coming for it people will keep talking about it when they go back to play it. I love that game- best new IP in a decade (Splatoon aside, obviously).

Oh btw, Splatoon 2 Switch is up for preorder at Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nintendo-Switch-Hardware-with-Spla...

@rallydefault - For every ARMS in our industry, there is always a Mario Party that funded it.

@Paraka
That is a good point. It's the reality of what we're dealing with. That's what I'm bemoaning. It's just not like the early days where basically everything was an experiment. But that's nobody's fault, really, and it's only logical that we're in a place like this after a few decades of uncountable games.

That's generally how things work.

@rallydefault - It's fine to wish it'd be different. I often do as well. I merely had a simplification to WHY it isn't that way. People just are generally more willing to go to something they know they enjoy, or comfortable with. It's often why sequels get higher returns than the first, though often berated for being more of the same. It's also the reason why people often don't get themselves out of ruts they get into in life. The scene of familiarity.

I may hate Mario Party and Metroid Prime, but dammit it if it doesn't sell well enough for games like Ever Oasis and ARMS to exist. It's a bitter-sweet environment.

Shouldn't we being seeing some switch gameplay for games that release in a couple months? More of Fifa, first Nba 2k, first WWE 2K?

@Qwertyninty Those three games all have marketing exclusives with Sony so I doubt we will be seeing any Switch gameplay.

@FragRed I know it's business but pretty crappy. Imagine being a developer and proud of the product you have created for the switch. You want to show it to the world but you are silenced by a business deal you had nothing to do with. I'm ready for all three games to be released for my console of choice.

@Qwertyninty In the case of the three games you spoke about, they are created by developers owned by the publisher so I doubt they worry too much about whether or not the game they created for the Switch gets shown off.

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but we have confirmation Splatoon 2 was the number 1 game in the US for July.The figures are calculated based on dollars sales, and Splatoon costs $20 more than Crash,which is in 2nd place but what's impressive here,is NPD only account for physical sales for Switch games,while digital sales are factored in for the other platforms.BOTW came 5th,MK8 7th and ARMS 17th.Makes you wonder how high they would have charted if digital sales were included too.

Switch was also the highest selling hardware for July.

In the UK Splatoon 2 sales are 59% higher than the originals.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-18-splatoon-2-sales...

@OorWullie it's actually a very positive thing to happen. I usually don't care too much about the numbers but let's be honest, it's nice to know there are going to be plenty of people to play this game online with.

It's a lot of fun playing it online so it's all happy thoughts!

@Qwertyninty - Marketing has nothing to do with showcases. Only with what will be in the advertising campaigns. I would suspect we see something in an upcoming Direct at the earliest, or sometime mid-Sept.

@JaxonH Yeah, I can put myself in that group! I really enjoyed the ARMS Testpunch event - way, way more than I expected to actually - and easily enough to earn it a place on my Switch Wishlist! I just haven't gotten around to picking it up yet because I wanted to ensure that I had other bases covered first...the demo event certainly left a big impression on me though - it was something different & a lot of fun to play - so I'm one more future customer they can (pretty much) rely on _{(especially if they put it on sale one day - **hint hint, Nintendo!**})