Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake this is what I reckon the box is for:
-charging
-TV play
-external drives
-using other controllers

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=211696029 totally agree.

Impulse buying is harder when you have to drive a couple of miles instead of pressing a button.

@Therad I'm cautiously optimistic for the device but not gonna lie I'm digging this. If the reveal is good and price is good I'll seriously consider buying day one.

I'm on pretty much the same page I think. My guess is that the portable component will have:

• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• NFC
• Internal Flash and/or SD card expansion

While the dock will have:

• HDMI out
• USB expansion for mass storage, accessories ect
• Ethernet, though I'm not holding my breath
• Maybe a small ARM chip so it can have some idle functionality

I don't think the dock will be entirely passive. But we may as well have a mid gen "dock upgrade" lol

Yea, I also think the dock might do a little more than simply project onto the TV. But then again, every function of the dock brings more cost to the system, and as we've been saying, price can be the absolutely crucial piece to this puzzle.

I was just reading lots of comments on a different site, and though many of them were favorable, most hinged on price. I'm in America, so I'm talking dollars, and if this puppy would come in around 200 bucks (150 would be magical, of course, but a long shot), it would seriously set itself up for success. People would be VERY willing to give this a shot as their second console for 200 bucks. But once you start hitting the 250-300 range, it's in the PS4/Xbox One territory, and most people aren't going to see the logic in buying something with less power for the same amount of money.

@rallydefault I'm expecting $250 for the whole package.

@rallydefault As it stands, that's not a bad price. However, with the PS4 Neo and Xbox One S coming out this year, I can quite easily see the original consoles coming down to a price very much nearer to that figure you're suggesting which will again make the system look less appealing.

@FragRed thing is if we are getting a high powered tablet with control pads, a box, maybe a pack in game, in addition to probably free online and a steady stream of games, especially Nintendo, I think $250 is fair.

@WebHead That's certainly true, but it's not necessarily Nintendo fans that they need to please with the pricing of the device, it's those whom may have once been Nintendo fans as well as expanding the market to new gamers and casuals.

@WebHead @FragRed The Xbox One S (500GB) launches this August for $299, the Xbox One already dropped down in price to $249 a couple of days ago in preparation for the slim model. The PS4 is currently a big higher; $349 for the 1TB I believe and a couple of tenners less for the 500GB model. If they want to market this as a secondary console, then I don't think $250 is going to cut it. Especially not 8 months from now when they current consoles may drop even more in price. I'm definitely expecting a PS4 price drop when NEO launches.

@Octane I expect ps4 price drop in September. Could always sell the box separately too since while supplemental to the experience isn't fully necessary.

Couldn't have said it better myself. In order to reach people that aren't huge Nintendo fans like me, this thing needs to hit 200 dollars. Honestly. 50 bucks can make a big difference in someone's mind. 100 bucks, obviously, can be a complete write-off in terms of mental real estate.

As soon as you start scratching at 250, you're gonna lose A LOT of customers who will just shrug it off and stay with their Xbox or Playstation.

@WebHead
By the "box" do you mean the docking station? Because yea, selling a version of the NX without the dock at a much-reduced price could be very enticing, especially if it would bring it to something like 150.

Two products on the market come to mind that fit into the sort of category of a "slightly less than passive" dock. There's the Chromecast which is what, a $30US? Would have enough power to have a simple OS and maybe do some media stuff. Then there's the NES Mini which I can only assume is also ARM based. They're selling that for $60US with 30 games and I can only assume a very healthy margin.

So I think a dock that does some basic stuff is very possible. As I said earlier maybe it's mostly just able to download patches onto a bigger HDD while the portable isn't connected. Maybe it also presents a TV specific menu with some basic functions. Maybe you can launch into things like youtube, netflix, browser, eShop etc even if the portable isn't docked. Wild speculation at this point but still.

@rallydefault true. Again could have two sets as well and sell box separately.$200 for portable and control pads, $250 with those and the box.

@WebHead I think 200 should be the whole deal, not just portable and control pads. There is no way I would pay any more for the docking station to be included, or want to buy it separate. Plus the more parts this thing needs, the more confusing the message will be to the casual shoppers in retailers.

Anyway if the docking station was used to charge the system, then it would need to be included regardless, though this is speculation it will be a charging station.

@FragRed I think more of an optional charging cradle than a necessary station. We will see but Kimishima said they won't selling at a lost.

@WebHead Here in the UK and Europe, Nintendo don't set the price of their consoles or games, which could have an impact on the sale price if retailers mark it up too high. That could be problematic.

Every thing depends on weather they use Tegra X1 or X2 chips as far as 3rd party support goes.
Now the dev kits have X1 in them but didn't Nintendo say recently that they needed further investment regarding the NX?
Could that be to upgrade to the X2 following 3rd party feedback?

But lets assume for costs it will probably be the X1 in the unit.
Could that be capable of porting say FIFA from current gen consoles?
I realise something like bloodborne or Witcher 3 (which i couldn't care less about BTW) would be to much to compromise, but damn NX needs a FIFA right?