Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@link3710
I think you missed my point. Sure you can carry around more games if you go all digital and if you buy the larger microSD cards. But with the cost of flash storage? With 14 spaces for cartridges in my carrying case I have a good $50AU worth of "free" storage just sitting there. Minimal inconvenience had given they're always there wherever I take my Switch.

Sure I could go out and buy a 400GB microSD card for almost as much as I brought the Switch for. I could get a 200GB microSD card for the cost of an extra set of JoyCons and a couple of games. But even if I did, there's still a good 100GB of what is effectively free storage I could be using. So I've mostly brought physical copies of games on the Switch. By the time I'm upto 14 games microSD cards will be cheaper anyway. I will also probably be happy to put long since beaten single player games on my shelf.

@skywake Actually I was agreeing with you

There might not be any more big retail titles coming this year but man, next week's update is a cracker. Between the UK and US Eshop there are over 20 games and I jsut spotted a new addition. Gunbird. Finally Zerodiv are back with the Psikyo classics. I absolutely love playing Strikers 1945 in vertical mode and from what I've read Gunbird is right up there. Hopefully that means Zero Gunner 2 is right around the corner too as well as a consistent release schedule of Psikyo classics. We already know R-type is coming this year as well. Knowing I'll be playing at least those 2 shoot-em-ups those as well as Double Dragon arcade by the end of the month makes me one very happy chappy.

As for the rest of the update, I'll definitely be picking up Slain Back from Hell, The Sexy Brutale, Embers of Mirrim, Riptide Renegade GP and Top Hunter. I'll wait for reviews on Dimension Drive but that's looking promising. Nine Parchment is another possibility, I've got the demo but haven't played it yet. Caveman Warriors looks like it could be a lot of fun, if it is and plays as well in single player, I will be adding that too. ACORN Tactics is another with potential. There are a few more as well that will appeal to some, like Teslagrad and Human Fall Flat.

That's one outstanding albeit very expensive weekly update.

Oh, ok. I wasn't sure. Still, my original Gameboy carrying case was significantly more bulky than the Switch case and held my Gameboy and 5 games. My DS Lite case held two games in addition to the one in the system. My 3DS XL case holds 8 games. Digital distribution may be more convenient but physical distribution has also improved.

For PC gamers the digital distribution is already here and has been for years. But on an handheld storage is a problem. Physical is a better model here.

The devs could probably be better at optimizing though, but I think it is the publishers not giving them enough time. I mean 5 GB for a save file, wtf? That is the size of a DVD, a medium we used for full length movies not long ago.

Walmart email I got says WWE 2K18 ships December 6th (Wednesday). Just got the email this morning. Usually don't order from WM but they had the game for $21 off.

@skywake
Cost is the one prohibiting factor, for sure.

But one point he raises, that I agree with, is that even "complete" games aren't complete. If you don't have the day one patch, the update patch #2, the update patch #3... The DLC, etc. You're physical game won't be worth much anyways. You pretty much need to access the servers regardless. And that's a point I think alot of people are reluctant to accept.

And goodness knows I'm a HUGE physical gamer and collector. But even I'm coming around. At least with digital I can copy my SD onto my PC as a backup. Or keep a spare SD with games as backup (just got my 2nd 400gb micro SD yesterday, so my spare 256gb with digital retail games got backed up on PC and stashed in the closet).

Idk. I'm actually not that against a digital future anymore. I like my carts and I do hope they stick around a while, but there's so many drawbacks and digital is so convenient. I love not switching carts on a portable system now.

Nihon Falcom are doing an EA, it seems, in that they are applying a wait-and-see approach when it comes to releasing games on the Switch.

In an interview with MCV, Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo and NIS America president & CEO Takuro Yamashita discuss their efforts to save the traditional JRPG and bringing them to a western audience and localisation into the main European languages. Focus soon switched to Nintendo's system.

While NIS America's efforts with the Switch have been duly noted, with Yamashita-san reaffirming the company's focus on it alongside the PS4 and Steam, Kondo-san has been more reticent...

"Traditionally, Nihon Falcom's always been a PC developer that doesn't really create games for the casual market, but for the really hardcore games. Where is that market today? The answer to that is PS4.

The Switch is very successful right now, but there's still no positive guarantee that the fan base that would play Falcom games are on the Switch yet.

Our strategy is to go forward on PS4, then wait and see if fans want a handheld version."

You can read the full interview here, starting from page 31 - https://issuu.com/newbayeurope/docs/mcv929_2010th_20november

He's a fool, and it almost seems like stubbornness.

NIS and Bandai Namco have proven Japanese games have a place on Switch.

They just can't seem to get past the "we're hardcore, and only hardcore gamers buy our games, and Switch owners are not hardcore" mentality.

Yes, there is a more casual audience on Switch. Without question. But there is also a very core audience. And I hope to goodness these other developers rake in money hand over fist, so that these stubborn high horse companies can look on with envy as they realize how much money they left on the table.

I know it's common for fans to say "well they must hate money" and alot of times I don't think that's the appropriate response. But we're talking Nihon Falcomm games. How many copies are you guys really pushing? Can't be that many. Pretty sure there's enough demand on Switch to make plenty of money on these lower budget games.

@antster1983 I guess that answers my question about whether or not we'll get any Kiseki games on the Switch any time soon. Oh well.

What's rich is that, until recently, their games were releasing on the PS Vita as well.

I'll just avoid buying or playing any of their games until this mindset changes, then. No reason to waste time or money on a developer like this.

@JaxonH Is that true though? I'd argue that there's a bigger casual audience on PS4. It's not like JRPGs sell millions of copies on the PS4 either, it's just that the PS4 has the numbers to make up for that. Only a small percentage bought Persona 5, but enough to consider it a success. It's just that right now, even if there's a bigger attach rate for their games on the Switch, the Switch can't match the numbers a game would sell on the PS4. And apparently they've never heard of multiplat games, so it seems like it's either the PS4 or the Switch, and not both. Give it some time, they'll turn around I think.

Resident Evil R2 finally charted at 15 last night and has since moved up to 14 this morning in NA.

@Spoony_Tech
Good. It deserves it.

Saw they were at like 17 and 18 on that top 20 list released. So I knew they were close.

Too bad we didn't get a Jill amiibo, eh? Capcom said they were making amiibo for the game but bowed out for unknown reasons. Wasn't Jill anyways though. Still...

My issue with Digital Distribution on Consoles is that it's a closed shop. It works on PC because theoretically anybody can set up competition to Steam, GOG and the like. I know in reality it's Steam and the others but another vendor with the right backing and business plan could set up shop. On Consoles it's not possible and without retail driving prices down, Nintendo (and Sony and MS) can charge what they want.

@electrolite77
Games drive prices down. Competition from new games. If they want to sell the older ones, they have to lower the price. That or watch the sales taper down to a whimper (disregarding evergreen titles which have indefinite sales curves- those will stay full price because of continued demand).

@JaxonH Most Nintendo games are evergreen though, that's why most eshop discounts are disappointing at best.

@Ervex_109

the ability to sell the games you no longer want appears to have alluded your argument completely

I think my argument itself has alluded you completely.

I never claimed digital is better than physical in every way. I never claimed there aren't benefits to physical either. In fact, as I said previously, I am a physical gamer myself. Clearly there's a reason for that.

However, the point about games not being complete anymore is a fair argument. The percentage of games which run poorly or are missing content or need vital updates is growing by the day. No one can deny this. Even Zelda would have you dealing with an unruly framerate and lack of DLC if you played straight from cart. Splatoon 2 would be half the game it is now. As would ARMS. NBA 2K18 would be unplayable, whereas now it's an immaculate, pristine example of a game done right. RE Revelations would be playable, but the second wouldn't be.

The examples go on and on.

And the bottom line, is what's the difference between getting half of LA Noire on cart (which is still 100% playable without any download btw) and Splatoon 2, which is also half on the cart? What is the different between needing a download to fully experience DOOM features, and needing a download to fully experience ARMS features? You need a download to get a playable experience in NBA 2K18, but you need a download to play Zelda with a half decent framerate too. And if you bought the season pass, to access any of that content.

And that's the argument. Right there. Not that there aren't still benefits, not even that it's better. And it's only going to become even more true as time goes on.

The days of buying a SNES cart and having the entire game, complete and archivable, are over.

Anyone think we might see a Nindies Showcase next week? We're due for one, and it would definitely help give a picture of what to expect for Q1.

It's a shame that Falcom is wary of the Switch. I can kinda see where they're coming from, but judging by the Switch's first 8 months, but their doubts should be nullified. I'm really hoping we get a Ys game on Switch eventually. Ys Memories of Celceta on Vita was great, and had a pretty big world. I can imagine what they could do on a much stronger handheld device.

Speaking of the Vita, since Falcom put quite a few games on Vita, why wouldn't they put a few on Switch? The Switch is already on pace to eclipse the Vita's sales within a fraction of the time.

@KryptoKrunch Because ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

We don't want money.

@IceClimbers Maybe? Show off Yooka-Laylee, date Morphies Law and other things, entirely possible.

Ys Book I & II is one of my favourite Wii VC downloads. I never played much of Nihon Falcom as they stay away from developing for Nintendo (and if they did it was mostly Japan only) most of the time, and it doesn't seem to change. Well, at least there is now an abundance of RPGs we can look forward too.

Skyrim and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 just came around.
Battle Chasers Nightwar and Lost Sphear are soon to follow.
And for 2018 we can look forward to at least Dragon Quest Builders, The Longest 5 Minutes, Project Octopath Traveler, Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei V, Pokémon, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Dragon Quest XI, a Tales of- game, not to mention the many indie RPGs, and what else Square Enix, NIS America, Koei Tecmo, Marvelous, Nintendo, Sega, and Bethesda have not announced yet. Nihon Falcom would make a good addition, but if they don't want it's not a huge loss, as we already have some of the best RPGs ever covered for 2017 and 2018 on the Switch.