Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@UmniKnight Skyrim is an old third party game and the main selling point to the Switch version is being able to play it on the go. Bethesda is marketing that way to get people to double dip on the game

@IceClimbers Fair enough, but some docked gameplay has to be shown, if only to reassure people it works properly.

We already have people who aren't interested in Skyrim because it is an old game. May as well play off its strengths.

So much for Doom on Switch...

@UmniKnight Even if the Switch was just a powerful home console, it was never going to be the system to get if you want to play as many third party games as possible. That hasn't been true since the PS1 stole the N64's thunder in the mid to late nineties.

Moreover, another handheld/home console split means Nintendo would have to split its development resources between two different platforms again, and we saw exactly how well that turned out for the Wii U.

Nintendo Switch wasn't just the smartest move for Nintendo: it was the only one.

Also, nobody thinks Skyrim on Switch won't be playable on the TV. There's no point in showcasing TV mode. TV mode for Skyrim has been showcased for the last 6 years.

If you really want to play third party AAAs that badly, buy a PS4/Xbox One. They're both pretty cheap these days, ESPECIALLY when they're on sale. And this Switch/PS4 or Switch/Xbone setup still ensures you access to way more games than [Nintendo home console]/[Nintendo handheld] would ever allow.

@Ralizah So you're saying it's this route or nothing at all, and that those who have come to play home-console Nintendo machines are to consign themselves to the Switch route?

The Wiiu clearly showed those people don't exist anymore. Just let it go.

Sorry to go back a few posts, but I really don't understand the logic behind this...the hardware is flexible - but all software should be restricted to being 'hybrid only'?

If a smart phone has a really good camera, that doesn't mean that all apps should use the camera - and if a number of apps don't use the camera, that doesn't mean that they can't continue to market the phone as being a 'smart phone with a great camera'...

If a games developer really has a vision that their game should be handheld only for some reason - or docked only - or, I dunno, keyboard and mouse only (!) - and the Switch is capable of fulfilling that vision...why shouldn't that be allowed? I don't get it... (EDIT: Those choices might be mistakes on the part of the developer - if a game isn't hybrid, my guess is that it probably wouldn't sell as well as it would have if it were - but it should be the developers choice nonetheless...and those games shouldn't be ruled out just because they want to use the hardware in a different way)

The more diverse the selection of games - and use of the hardware - surely the more flexible and versatile the system looks?

@bitleman The "core" Nintendo fanbase on home consoles isn't big, but the same is true for Xbox and PlayStation. Those systems can flop too if they don't get the games, are too expensive or aren't marketed at all.

@bitleman If they don't exist any-more, then the docked mode wouldn't be used at all, and we'll see a Switch appear down the line that is handheld only. We know for certain that the first is false. The 2nd, we shall see, but I do not believe Nintendo wouldn't, AT LEAST, include something dock-like, since that would be turning their back on their console legacy.

I can see them releasing a cheaper, "budget" package that is just the Switch and two Joy Cons, without the dock included. The dock is already being sold separately, so it's not like buyers would miss out if they later decide they do want to try docked mode.

A Switch with "built in" Joy Cons though, no, that I cannot see happening.

@Reginald That would make development easier for devs, but probably end up making them lazy too. Personally, I'd like them to have a strong-dock so that games wouldn't need to compromise so much just due to Switch hardware.

Something to think about: The sole selling point of many if not all old ports, and games that are multiplat, like FIFA, for Switch, is in it's handheld component exclusively. Skyrim is a good evidence of this, as only the handheld part is featured in what is shown of the game.

It makes me wonder why they've even bothered if that's what the system is truly all about.

@UmniKnight I mean, the Switch is fully functional as a home console as well as a portable.

And yeah, since it'll replace both the 3DS and Wii U in time, you will have to "consign yourself to the Switch route. " Probably indefinitely if it does well.

@Ralizah And it's already doing well, but as I've said above, I'm beginning to wonder why they've even bothered to include a dock and market it home-console. Nearly all the games coming out at this moment and in the future, basically every older game port/multiplat is selling solely off the back of handheld. How does the dock and home-console feature not look and feel like an afterthought here? Something to throw in to please those home-console people while it lasts?

Just make the Switch handheld only already, Nintendo, and be done with the whole affair.

I honestly can't see a new dock with a stronger GPU ever get good use by developers. Even for something like the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, no game is built only for them - they also have to take into account of the base hardware. Same for the Switch, I don't see anyone taking a stronger dock approach en masse. They'll either just port it over with downscaling or not bother at all, but third-parties should most definitely keep watching the Switch because it is doing very well at the moment and its momentum is only going to gain with more key games releasing, so they'll definitely have ports of upcoming games considered anyway.

And that's without going into how that intrudes on the purpose of the Switch - being able to take whatever game you've got from the TV to the outside.

@NaviAndMii The hybrid nature of the system is its core appeal. Home consoles that can play AAA games are cheap and plentiful, but only the Switch allows you to take your home console games anywhere. Giving devs an easy out by allowing them to slap easy, dock-only ports on the system instead of making them actually optimize games for the tablet threatens that flexibility. Going that route defeats the point of making it a hybrid in the first place.

Also, imagine all the confusion it would cause, with people buying games for their Switch, only to find that they can't play it portably! Every Switch game that is announced can be expected to be playable on the go, but your idea would make it where there would be constant uncertainty about which newly announced games would be playable on the go and which wouldn't.

It would, in no uncertain terms, ruin the console for me and for many other people.

@Ralizah And thus do you prove my point: It truly is a handheld, and the home-console part is but a bit of cheap trickery hanging off the back of it.

Personally I'm not purchasing it because:

1. I already have it on PC (twice really).

B. It's likely as bug filled as all the other versions, and I doubt Bethesda is going to put in any significant work fixing said bugs.

It's been said multiple times and promoted multiple times that it's simply a console that can simply transition into portable play - a hybrid, if you will. Not just a portable, not just a home console. It is capable of being portable, but due to its larger size and such it is less portable than something like a phone or 3DS or even Vita. But it also packs a lot of power for a portable, with console-level quality, so it also fits into being a console, hooking up to my TV with crisper images on a whim. It can do both.

Anything beyond this argument is simply going to just play the semantics game or fuel paranoia, so this is just going in circles.

In other news, the NBA 2K18 cover just became obsolete as cover athlete Kyrie Irving has been traded.