Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@BLP_Software I've started enjoying Nintendo during the SNES era, and too many franchises that are theirs exclusively have their hooks in me. That's been a problem of Nintendo's for quite some time: Want their franchises? Buy their machine, you've got no choice.

@KirbyTheVampire Yeah, I guess the Switch's success got me to think things were going to change for once.

I think people are tyring too hard to put the console in a home console or handheld camp. But the point is, they still have teams for 3DS games (apparently), and teams for Switch games. Nintendo themselves treat the Switch as a home console experience, just one that you can take on the go. Wonderful little niche it put itself into, I'm loving it

@Operative2-0 That's the thing, I'm going by what Nintendo themselves figures is the Switch's camp, which puts it in line to be compared with the PS4/Xbox One.

If they'd have actively marketed it as a hybrid, or people didn't look at the form-factor, and that the dock is but extra fluff, I would've believed it.

@UmniKnight

Its a Handheld and a home Console. It's born out of reality, which is Nintendo can't support two systems. In three of the last four generations their home Console has suffered in terms of software and sales. So if they can only support one (which is true), it would obviously be a handheld. Except in the case of the Switch they've found a way for it to be both.

As a dedicated gaming handheld it has a market all to itself. As a home Console it achieves a significant goal in that it's the most powerful Nintendo home console ever. It doesn't match up to PS4 because it isn't looking to compete with PS4 or Xbox. What would be the point? That market is saturated. It's cold hard business logic, but Switch hits all the sweet spots Nintendo were looking for.

@BLP_Software Also, you asked me to look at what I wanted out of the Switch, and sure, I'm enjoying the games on it, with more to look forward to, but I also look to the future. And in business, the majority is the one that gets the say, that has the ear of the company and is the one that gets their whims catered to, since that's what makes them money.

I was under the firm impression that handheld dominated home-console in the Switch, and that it was but a matter of time before favouritism would materialize and we'd see handheld-only games appear that didn't use the touch-screen out of core gameplay mechanic. I'm still not certain Nintendo won't drop the home-console part at one point in favour of handheld, since that seems to be what sells the Switch right now.

@UmniKnight

"Perhaps not lied, but they're playing very loosely with the term "home-console" as it stacks up for the worse, if not far worse in contrast to the others".

They're not playing anything. It's a home Console. Being less powerful is irrelevant. If they'd have promised a Console more powerful than all the competition the. They'd have lied but they've never even come close to that. The whole sales pitch is a 'home Console you can take on the go' which it is.

@electrolite77 Let's take public perception as handheld for granted for a moment, how would it then fare in that case?

@UmniKnight The Switch is a device that plays new, highly polished, large in scope and scale, high budget video games at fidelities that aren't removed from the expectations of the majority of people in the market.

Handheld or console doesn't matter any more - in the same way that it doesn't matter if the iPad is a keyboard less laptop or a big phone.

Switch is more intriguing to the media as a handheld because it offers some things out of the box that no other handheld ever has. Namely the uncompromised support of all of the best studios of a big first party and local multiplayer on a single system.

As a pure 'traditional home console' it still offers something different however. It has a focus on family friendly games and couch multiplayer games that means it's library is already distinct from that of the PS4 and XBox One.

@StuTwo So as a home-console, it offers games, which are on every other medium as well. Again, the only way handheld helps home-console in Switch, is with games, otherwise it's nothing but a sacrifice.

The other thing it offers, and I've seen no-one mention, is a homogenized online playerbase that isn't split between handheld and home-console due to it being both.

@UmniKnight it's not quite nothing but a sacrifice vs other home consoles. In part because everyone has 2 controllers in the box (even though they may be 'at a pinch') and because all of those controllers are motion controllers it is a more natural home for couch multiplayer.

As you've pointed out it increases the user base for online games but having millions of users who see the Switch as a handheld also benefits those who only ever use it as a home console.

A user base of that size basically guarantees that Switch ports are a. much more likely to happen and b. much more likely to be prioritised.

A game like Rocket League for instance would have skipped Wii U but it's coming to Switch. Millions of handheld users might be the bait to get it there but anyone who only plays on the TV will also benefit.

Of course the big thing the Switch offers is a home for the kinds of games that were released on Wii U by Nintendo themselves. Those games won't be available on any other format going forwards (& nor could Nintendo put them anywhere else without blowing a hole in the business model that makes their development possible).

@StuTwo I suppose at the end of the day, what truly matters is said games. But then we come to the third-party offering, and how Nintendo has always struggled securing that. I've seen a lot of people get annoyed over all the "Water-testing".

Nothing wrong with cartridges. They're smaller and more efficient than blu-rays (which is likely why you still have to install PS4/Xbone games on the HDD before you're even able to play them).

Also, in fairness, we have PS4s, Xbones, AND PCs that are primarily geared toward playing multiplats with beefy hardware requirements. What's the sense in Nintendo making a console that is just a replica of what everyone else is doing when it can leverage its strengths as a developer of handheld systems to create a unique system that be be played anywhere and in multiple configurations? If you want to play multiplats, go buy a PS4.

Wii U's hardware stacked up even worse against the PS4/Xbone. So, by your logic, that's not a console either? Again, your argument makes no sense. It's clearly a hybrid as it can be played as both a home console AND an underclocked portable console.

@Ralizah I'm sure you're well aware of how many people are stuck in the conundrum of not having enough income to properly support both a PS4 and a Switch, or any 2 consoles for that matter, plus the fact that they'd like Nintendo's games and the third-party's offering.

@UmniKnight You not having enough money to afford everything you want isn't a good argument for Nintendo to ape the competition when they can do something unique and special with their hardware.

We already have three beefy stationary systems on the market that play mostly the same games. There is only one system out there for people who want more versatility from their gaming hardware. And, based on sales so far, this was an excellent choice.

@Ralizah Oh that's true, also I wasn't talking about my personal situation. I can get a PS4 if I so desire, but it doesn't have Nintendo IP, and I have some very strong attachments to those.

I get that over-saturation is a thing, ach nvm. You probably won't feel the same way I having red about every game not coming for whatever reason (and all the water-testing etc). I get that it comes from Wii-U, but it weighs on you to have that thrown in your face all the time.

@UmniKnight Oh, I totally get the frustration, and I even own a PS4 if I want to play those sorts of games.

Here's the thing: while some games just won't play on the Switch due to power requirements (mostly big, AAA titles), most third-party games aren't announced for Switch because A) Nintendo has a strained history with most of the big third-party developers and B) the perception has existed for a long time that Nintendo fans don't buy third party games. Even if they released hardware that rivaled that of the Xbox One X, they would still have historical issues that kept a large number of third-party games from coming to their system.

@Ralizah I know the situation, aye. I'd like to know how prevalent that "Nintendo system = for Nintendo games" really is among the Nintendo gamers, and how it's perceived by said third-parties.

So far, most third-party games have done well, so hopefully they'll come around soon, and the water-testing stops, since it seems most people are really annoyed over that in particular.

@UmniKnight Nintendo gamers seem to be sick of being the whipping boy of the industry. So when third parties test the waters we buy it.

Problem is i doubt they will ever STOP testing the waters...

@BLP_Software I feel you there. It's a cycle of wanting the other games they have, but them testing with a game you don't like, and yet you feel pressed to buy it to get a possibility, not even certainty, at further support. Very unfair, but at the same time it's accumulated over time and come to this. So yes, the question is, when is the testing enough? (not to mention all the missing features and cut content/game being lessened of those that DO make it over *Fifa 18 story mode, WWE 2K 6 chars on screen instead of 8, etc.)

I red Kimishima say there was more to expect once the Switch reaches 10 million units, and though I've been biting into that a little too hard, it's simply because I hope the Switch gets games just like the other systems do at some point or another... http://nintendoeverything.com/details-from-nintendos-77th-ann...

Amidst the storm of testing and games skipping the system, once has to dredge up a tiny puddle of hope somewhere, right?

Im not annoyed by developers testing the market. I certainly don't expect them to just blindly dump their entire portfolios on the platform without regard. They want to make sure there is demand for their games first, as they should. I can't reasonably expect them to start bringing games that nobody's going to buy.

Practically every third party game on the Wii U failed. Even the highest profile, exclusive, highly rated 3rd party entries like Bayonetta 2, which came with an entirely free game and exclusive Nintendo content... scraped just to hit 1 million sold. Excellent games that fit the market well- like Sonic Racing Transformed or Rayman Legends... they couldn't even sell half an million copies. despite being every bit as good as Mario Kart or NSMBU, which sold millions and millions.

So ya, third parties are going to be a little cautious. Nintendo gamers are tired of not getting the same support as other consoles? Well that's because Nintendo gamers don't show the same kind of support as other gamers. Things are definitely changing now though. The gamership on Wii U was absolutely horrid- that lot wouldn't buy a great game to save their life. But Switch owners? Switch owners seem to be buying up games. Which bodes well for future support. It won't get everything. I'm gonna have to play Monster Hunter World and Ni No Kuni elsewhere, for example... but 9 out of 10 of the games I want to play most... will be on the Switch. And I could complain that I have to own a separate console for those specific games, but to what end. If I have to own a separate console to play a few games I really, really love... then so be it.