Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake That is internet argument speak for "I know when to quit". I also don't like a under-the-belt that way, prefer you don't next time, eh?

@UmniKnight
Same thing

edit:

????

@skywake If that's what makes you happy, you can keep it. It's far too damn late for such shenanigans.

That felt as a jab to me in a way of "giving up" on the conversation, for the record.

As I said earlier, I don't think anyone was at any point arguing with you. You can't argue with someone who refuses to even acknowledge other people in the thread. But in any case the point remains. The Switch concept is very much part of Nintendo's roadmap and has been for decades. I genuinely think that they were being telling the truth when they mentioned this in the Switch reveal presentation.

Whine about portables all you want, Nintendo has never wanted two platforms. The tethered to the wall version of the home console was always going to be the loser in that battle. The only thing I'm surprised about is that they managed to pull it off as early as they did.

@skywake So you're saying to accept the inevitable transition to handheld? Gotcha, going to bed now, far too late for this crap.

@UmniKnight

Two things.

1 Switch is selling on account of it's handheld + console functionality. Not handheld. Not console. But handheld + console. That will never go away.

2 Performance issues will never go away. It's why PS4 and X1 games still experience the same thing. Not to mention, if it had more power it couldn't still be a hybrid, which means it likely wouldn't be popular which means devs wouldn't even be bringing their games in the first place.

For the benefit of the thread discussion more than for you, to be blunt? Yes. And not just from Nintendo but across the board. There's only so much you can push horsepower before people won't care anymore. Eventually you have to go smaller rather than more powerful. They're all going to head down this road.

Nintendo have definitely put their neck out a bit buy being the first. They're doing that because this is what they've always wanted their console to be. They're doing it despite everyone saying they're wrong because that's what Nintendo has always done. But in ten years when a future version of Tegra can easily drive a 4K display without skipping a beat? I highly doubt Nintendo will be alone. Because at that point there's little reason for the hardware not to be portable.

Optical media will die and at the same time traditional home consoles will suffer the same fate. This is what the future of console gaming will be. So yes, accept the inevitable transition to consoles that aren't tied to your TV. And accept that as the tech improves the negatives of that transition are going to disappear into nothing.

To back my "this is where everything is going" point....

Obviously a full machine will always be able to do more. But when you can make it small and good enough why not make it portable? edit: Let me rephrase that. The spec possible on a non-portable machine will always be greater. But if you can get the desired spec on a portable machine you're not losing anything by going portable. /edit

As the spec possible on such a device continues to improve more stuff will be able to go down that road. I don't see how this is a crazy concept that people are struggling to get their heads around.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE can't wait to see how left field and not even close to what people want and would expect their system is going to be.

@Samus7Killer Heya Mr Killer. I get the app is a tad cumbersome, but why wouldn't the game work? (This is an honest question not a juvenile retort.)

I am sorry, but this is so paranoid it isn't funny. No one can take the dock and pro controller from you. Your current setup wouldn't change a bit
even if they would make an sku without the dock.

Think for a second, what is the worst thing that could happen?

That the next iteration of hardware would be handheld only? Wouldn't change the current hw at all.

That most games would suddenly shun buttons and sticks and only use the touchscreen? Didn't happen with the ds/3ds, doubt it happens now.

That we suddenly get an influx of android/iOS games that only works in handheld mode? Don't buy them. No one is forcing you. Besides this is just more games on the system, which is a good thing. The switch is also less portable than those devices. For example, Pokémon go is impossible to have on the switch since it lacks SIM slot and GPS.

But if you are still not confident in the future of the switch, vote with your wallet. Sell it and be done with it. It is better to do it now, before it becomes readily available in stock. I think that people in general should be more selective when they buy things. I don't buy the "support the company" argument, they should make a product I want. This is even more true when it comes to bigger companies.

Ps. And of course the Japanese commercials focus on the handheld part, handhelds have done better there historically.

The really stupid thing there is that a portable only SKU doesn't make any sense. Because if we used our brains we'd realise that a portable only Switch would basically be the Switch as it is. I mean what does that SKU not have that the Switch does other than the dock? Is selling the Switch without the dock really going to change what the Switch is? If you really want a portable only SKU put your dock on eBay.

At least with a home console only Switch you're selling an entirely different product. It seems a bit stupid to me if they were to go through all that R&D and then just ignore it entirely. But they could do it and it would be cheaper. No Screen, no battery and you could add in a 2.5" HDD for good measure. Though my gut feeling is that such a SKU would sit on the shelf given you're effectively killing the Switch's major point of difference. You'd also make it incompatible with any touch screen games.

@skywake I reckon the next SKU for Switch will be a phone version. At the moment you have to plug your phone in for thje voice app, but a mobile phone / home console hybrid might make sense. Who knows where this 20 year NVidia partnership could go, but it is unlikely to just go down the path of raw horse power. It would open up some amazing AR opportunites which Reggie recently suggested. (Of course, it would be mega expensive so likely bought via a subscription from a phone company lol)

@GrailUK
Well I was just saying that a home console SKU makes more sense than a portable SKU but that doesn't mean I think either is sensible. And a "phone" SKU to me seems a little bit too NGage to work. Remember that the Vita launched with and not long after discontinued a 3G SKU. I think people have already voted with their wallets enough times on that idea.

That's not to say that I don't think some revision down the road couldn't happen. I just think that if we were to get one it's more likely going to be something along the lines of a "New Switch" or a "Switch Pro".

I really wish docking the Switch wouldn't automatically turn it on 100% of the time. Sometimes I'm playing in portable mode and just want to dock it to charge it for the night, not have to turn on the TV, switch the HDMI cable, and find the controller just to turn it off.

@Haru17 This is why I bought a 2nd charger, so I have 1 charger for playing in docked mode and 1 charger for charging up the console when I'm not using it.

If you put it in standby mode first it doesn't.....

This seems to be the prevailing attitude around here - 'Something similar was tried before and didn't take off, so it won't work'.

Does my head in. Nintendo tried the Virtual Boy once, but it doesn't mean VR won't establish. Tech changes and cultural changes mean once 'bad' ideas can and do become good ideas further down the line.

In 20 years time, provided some catastrophic economic collapse doesn't occur, we will have seen a successful portable device combining smartphone functionality and 'core' gaming will have happened. Don't know when or who will do it, but it's inevitable.

Ugh, this is very bad!