Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@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.

@UmniKnight No. You can play your home console games on the go. The TV and portable aspects of the equation are both important.

@EvilLucario "Anything beyond this argument is simply going to just play the semantics game or fuel paranoia, so this is just going in circles." Nice smug way of setting yourself high and mighty, but the Switch is sold off of quality console games on the go, aka handheld. It's dual-feature is but an optional, replaceable icing on the cake, nothing more.

@Ralizah Important to whome? The majority always matters the most, and the Switch's uniqueness is off of the quality console games on the go, not the dual feature. Home-consoles are around already, after all, and the vacancy in the market is in handheld games with quality, as the Vita is only alive in Japan, and the 3DS does not offer said quality.

Nintendo doesn't have much to gain in the home-console market. They cannot compete with Sony/MS, and have far more power in the handheld division. I believe that the Switch will ditch it's home-console esq feature and identity soon enough, when the time is right.

@UmniKnight I don't understand how that would make development easier. All I suggested is a regular Switch box that does not have the dock or cables in it. It's still otherwise the same product, but priced a little cheaper.

@Reginald Which solidifies the dock being fluff to the Switch's nature as handheld, that is true.

@UmniKnight Yes, you can play console-quality games on the go... and the Switch is also marketed as something you can play on the big screen. Or a mix of both portable or console. Or purely one or the other. No ifs ands or buts about it, it's marketed around choice.

That's the core design of the Switch: it's what you make it out to be - a hybrid that can satisfy both crowds. Going from console to handheld to back is an irreplaceable feature because nothing else in the market does what the Switch does as seamlessly. You may not want or need it but that's fine, there's plenty of other products to buy for your liking, or you can look past it and just enjoy it for what it brings.

And if you want to talk about the majority of Switch users and what stuff is important to them, you can ask people on their usage on docked or portable. You and I and most likely even Nintendo won't ever have exact data, but I'm very willing to put money on the majority of Switch owners using both ways, no matter how small one way is used, with only a minority strictly using either one or the other. With that I'm fairly certain that both parties will be happy with the options given to them.

You can argue all day that it's simply a handheld with optional console features, and that's fine. Others can argue all day that it's also just a console on the level of the Sega Nomad, and more power to them. The Switch is ultimately what you make of it due to its hybrid nature. But it also cannot fit in one specific category as it overlaps with others as well.

@EvilLucario Then what do you argue of the Switch's future then? Nintendo stands strong in the handheld market, but has little to gain in home-console, since the Switch cannot compete in power with the competition, and hence, will lose out on similar games that require said power.

I just cannot bring myself to trust that this dual-nature is truly what Nintendo will uphold going forward. Even games like Severed and Voez tread a fine line of one feature being favoured over the other to even receive more games. I've been severely disappointed, after giving 100% trust and faith, and I won't be again.

If the Switch truly continues being both, and advances it, then that is absolutely phenomenal, but I cannot bring myself to trust Nintendo enough to believe it. After all, money changes everything, and it's the only thing companies are beholden to.

They did alright out of the Wii, Wii U (could have been better, but I doubt they lost money in the end), DS & 3DS eras, despite being underpowered compared to the competition.