Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

The eShop price for Splatoon in Norway was about $27, while Splatoon 2 was at about $63. I'm really glad the first game was cheaper, because I wouldn't have bought it for more I think. I had no problem with the sequel being the normal retail price for games, though. I have no idea why the eShop price for Splatoon was so cheap, because most stores sold it for about $63.

@SKTTR @Reginald
I didn't say that Sonic was the first platformer on the Switch. I said I think that it's a bit weird that we have a Nintendo platform where one of the first reasonably large mascot platformers on it is Sonic. Especially given that it's the first platformer I've personally brought on the system.

Yes there are other platformers on the Switch. I'm just saying that as a person who's brought a lot of Nintendo stuff over the years? It's kinda weird to me Nintendo have a platform where Sonic is the go-to platformer at this point. Not bad, not the only platformer. Just weird that we're talking about Sonic and Wonder Boy and not Mario and Yoshi.

Not new for me. On Gamecube we had Sonic Adventure 2 Battle at launch.
Next to Luigi's Mansion, sure, but that wasn't a platformer. It took a year until Mario Sunshine.

No, this time we returned to the Wii formula, launching with Zelda and multiplayer and party games.

@SKTTR You realise that in Europe, Nintendo don't set the prices of their games, hardware or accessories as they do in North America right? Can't say that's the same with Japan but it's definitely how it is over here in Europe. Obviously the eShop is different, but physical products are not determined by Nintendo.

Disagree. Looks like a great game, but it's hardly a genre that defines the state of the market.

Personally I think the Switch is mismarketed as a home-console when it's really just a handheld with TV connectivity. It tends to run better in handheld, you can throw the dock away, and it functions just fine. I know why they marketed it as such, to get away with the prices they're asking for the machine and it's games, but in form-factor it's a handheld, the majority of people perceive it as such, and yet here we're paying home-console prices.

It also compares poorly to the other home-consoles that really do fit that tag, both in terms of how much a developer can put on a Blu-ray, and the specs of the PS4/Xbox line-ups.

Seems they haven't been pushing Mario Kingdom Battle as hard as they should. I hope it does well... I think it will though. A lot of people seem impressed, even non-Switch owners have asked me about it. Leading Ubisoft's e3 conference with it was a great move.

So, Friday is when Monster Hunter XX releases, and the Tuesday after is when Mario x Rabbids Kingdom Battle releases. I may have to set Splatoon 2 aside for a while. Cause both these games are top priorities and releasing back to back, and with Metroid Samus Returns and MH Stories due a few weeks after....

@UmniKnight Of course it's a handheld. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be able to take it on the go.

@Octane But then why are we paying Home-console prices for games, accessories and the machine itself? Also why is Nintendo getting away with what is then basically false marketing.....

@Octane Anything is portable is you try. Im sure if I carry a portable generator and strap my 12kg PC to my back with a screen in front of me I can play PC games anywhere.

Same with my PS4. It technically is a home console you can take with you.

The difference is while you can, doing so is incredibly impractical @UmniKnight so a concession had to be made to acheive that vision. And you wont fit a PS4 level device in something Switch sized yet.

Give it a few years though.

@BLP_Software But, again, as I've said above, it compares unfavourably with the other consoles that do have the home-console tag, and it has home-console prices. I daresay people that now buy a Switch with all the whistles and bells are being conned out of their money! Personally, I use my Switch as it was advertised, and am getting an inferior experience to handheld, with FPS drops and the likes. So people who say "hybrid" are probably smoking something not quite legal.

As for concession, more like sacrifices when looking from home-console perspective (weak specs, limited space due cartridges) and it being fantastic from a handheld perspective. I was led to believe I bought the Wii-U's successor, not the distant true form of the 3DS.

@UmniKnight I'm sure there are no such things as ''home console prices for accessories'' Yeah, the dock is a tad (read: a ton) expensive, but that isn't because you can play the Switch on your TV.

And it's a pretty powerful handheld, relatively speaking the most powerful Nintendo handheld. So that comes with a price. As someone who isn't interested in the portability factor of the Switch, it's a steep price, but it is what it is.

The games though? Not every game is €60, and the games that are full price, are on the same scale of what you would expect from a regular home console game. I don't see how that is an issue. Yeah, the system got some overpriced games like 1-2-Switch, Street Fighter and Bomberman, but those were launch titles and they're always using those to cash in on the day-one buyers.

@BLP_Software It's pretty clear that a PC or a PS4/Xbox One aren't designed for taking it on the go. Sure, it's possible in theory, but we all know what we mean when we're talking about ''portable''.

@Octane It doesn't stack up to the PS4/Xbox One, and it is labelled as home-console, hence it is not wrong of me to expect it to.

As for the prices, the 3DS has 45 euros on most of the big releases, yet here I'm paying 59,99 for games like XV2, when, in accordance to 3DS being handheld, and Switch being handheld as well, I should be paying 45.

It's the idea that Nintendo falsely labelled it home-console to get away with higher prices for everything. Again, it doesn't meet up to my expectations of a home-console.

@UmniKnight Or maybe it's all a marketing trick and the idea of advertising it as a home console you can take on the go is the whole selling point. And that's what it's doing, selling a system that if just a handheld wouldn't attract the same kind of attention it does as a hybrid.

I love the argument that it's not a home console. I believe the perception of it being underpowered has lead a lot of people to say it's not a home console and yet look at the games themselves. Zelda BotW was always home console bound from the beginning, Mario kart 8 was home console, and Spaltoon as well. Splatoon 2 looks and plays better on the Switch and yet most will say well that's a handheld.

My opinion is home console first and when ever possible and handheld whenever necessary which in my home is often.

If the PS4 had it's own power source and screen it would still be called a home console.

I bought it because it was the next home console.
I was fine with the Wii U, and I would be fine if Nintendo continued the Wii U for much longer.
But here we are and everything homeconsoley is coming to the Switch and not the Wii U anymore.

@Spoony_Tech It runs better in handheld then in home-console. You can remove the dock, kick it around like a football, burn it in a bonfire, and the Switch itself still runs and does whatever advertised. If the dock can't even help it run better on a TV, then what else but "Look, it's on your TV!, you know, that thing that even tablets can do as well?" is that overpriced piece of plastic and small amounts of metal for?

The public perception is that it's a handheld, and I wouldn't be surprised if Game Freak set the precedence, and made Pokemon for Switch handheld only, because they've already given such a vibe by looking at which mode is most popular: http://nintendoeverything.com/game-freak-excited-to-see-the-m...

I wanted the Wii-U's successor, but here I end up with the 3DS' future: Aka not what was advertised to me.

@UmniKnight The public perception is that it's both.

@Spoony_Tech I think a system is either portable or it is not portable (= home console). The Switch is clearly portable, you can easily take it with you wherever you go.

A 3DS wouldn't suddenly be a home console (not portable) if Nintende released a 3DS-to-TV adapter.

Anyway, I don't see a problem with calling it a handheld system. It doesn't make it any less valuable, or the games any less good. If it gets the games you'd normally expect on a regular home console, then I have no problem paying €60 for them.