Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Grumblevolcano Ye, the tail is wagging the dog I think. What I don't get is the term third party support is vague. I for one would be over the moon if the NX got a version of Super Monkey Ball, Katamari Damacy and some Cave shmups. I still think the GTA, Call of Duty and Fifa mobs would still think third party support was rubbish and vice versa if we got GTA and I don't get Ghosts n Goblins. Soooo...ye...third party stuff is (and arguably should be) a bonus and up to those folks to make compelling software, as opposed to throwing any old mulch on to a well selling system. Unless by third party, fans are basically saying ALL games need to be on the NX in which case, they are either campaigning to end exclusives or telling everyone to quit moaning and by the goddam console!

@GrailUK Well, third party is definitely more than just Call of Duty, FIFA and GTA, but those games are arguably one of the most important games. They often sell millions of units and having those games on your system is always a good thing, even on a Nintendo console. A friend of mine wanted to play FIFA for example and he got an Xbox One, because he didn't care about the exclusives of Xbox and PS and the XOne was cheaper. However, if Nintendo had a console that could play both FIFA and Mario Kart for example, I'm sure he would gotten that system instead just to play those two games.

When I talk about third party games, I also mean games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy for example. Two franchises that started out on a Nintendo system, but due to unfortunate circumstances moved over to the competition. The new Resident Evil for example won't come to a Nintendo system either and Street Fighter is basically a PlayStation exclusive franchise at this point. There's more than just the shooty-shooters and sports games, and I haven't even started about the indie games. The Wii U gets its share of indie games, but a lot of good ones are simply just skipping the system. That's a shame really.

@Octane I'm not sure what Nintendo can do to get those indie games that skip their systems to look into porting games over. The games like Rocket League won't ever head over simply due to the Nintendo consoles not being powerful enough as well as having an inferior online network. Whereas others games are often funded in part or whole by Sony and Microsoft making them exclusive.

As for triple A third party support, that's not happening. Ubisoft certainly isn't doing anything this time round outside Just Dance and outside a potential Dragon Quest and Sonic game, we are probably looking at scaled down Lego games.

Nintendo will need a damn good constant stream of quality first party and second party line up from launch onwards without a single drought if it has any chance in selling the NX.

Well, Nintendo doesn't control their online network as much as Sony or Microsoft. Developers/Publishers are able to use their own servers on Nintendo a lot easier than on Sony or Microsoft. This could actual be more beneficial to devs. Also, the Wii U is not just underpowered. There are a lot of reasons why games skipped the Wii U that Nintendo can fix while still not having a system as powerful as PS4 or XB1. This could attract more indies, like Rocket League, (I really want Rocket League on my Nintendo systems) to release on Nintendo. We really don't know what is going to happen until Nintendo officially announces what the NX system is and what it can do.

@FragRed Also if you ignore all Wii U ports and older system remasters that the good constant stream should still exist. I mean you could easily do something like:
March - BotW, Smash 4 port, New Retro IP, New Animal Crossing
April - SMM port
May - Splatoon port
June - MK8 port
July - Pikmin 4
August - DKC Tropical Freeze port
September - Hyrule Warriors Legends HD
October - Bayonetta Trilogy with Bayonetta 3 being both available in the trilogy bundle and separate
November - New 3D Mario, New Pokemon spinoff, Skyward Sword HD, Metroid Prime Trilogy HD
December - Captain Toad sequel

That would be a constant stream of quality games however it's very barebones if you take away the remasters and ports.

No no no

Hyrule Warriors Super Legends with exclusive DLC content!

I don't think they'll roll out Wii U ports quite that quickly. They probably don't want the NX to look like a port machine, they want its new games to shine. I would guess the launch lineup has SMM and Smash and maybe Splatoon, and that would be fine for the first year. They would look good next to BotW, 3D Mario, Retro's game, Mario Kart 9, Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest, Sonic 2017, and Sonic Mania (plus some other third party stuff), but more than that and I think ports start to dominate a little too much.

It makes perfect sense if you think about the position Tegra is in. The current Tegra product (X1) basically has NO customers. Nada. None. Nobody wants it. You can only find the X1 in niche, proof of concept devices: their own SHIELD and Google's Pixel C tablet. Graphics performance don't seem to be a priority for most tablets these days, and X1 is too power hungry for phones. So nobody wants Tegra.

By March 2017, the X1 would have been on the market for 2 years without a single real customer. The reality in the business world is that you can't spend 2 years without buyers: heads will roll. It doesn't matter how healthy the rest of NVidia is. The NX was probably Tegra's last, best hope. I don't deny that the X1/X2 is probably a good match for an also-desperate Nintendo's NX portable, but for the Tegra folks, the desperation level was probably pretty high. They might be willing to take a short term loss for long term gains, since there is the rest of the NX product family on the way. But if the NX bombs, both parties lose.

To be fair the entire industry has been moving towards mobile devices. Nvidia aren't the only ones pushing this, Intel has been doing the same. Because that's where all the money is. Also it's not like the Tegra was a dead product before this. They have a pretty solid deal putting Tegra in cars. Potentially as big a deal as the NX.

Basically what I'm saying is that Tegra was going to pay off eventually. They didn't "need" the NX. But it's by no means not a big deal. So you're all right

I don't know, I don't have a Playstation and I'm not in Europe. I'm trusting me googling skills here. All I know is that none of these services are available where I am. And the ones that have existed were all in the US with some expanding to the UK and Europe.

@cwong15 If the higher ups want results (your premise), they want more money not more losses. According to you they would sell them at a loss which would have made the division lose money. Console gamers overall seem to think Amd is top dog when it comes to graphics this is wrong, Nvidia are. Nvidia is a much more profitable company, they can take a hit to profit. This might mean they give Nintendo a good deal, because of PR reasons. But that is a position of strength, not one of desperation.

Personally I hope they have made a deal to have game streaming from a Nvidia PC and Geforce Now. Game streaming and one of the form factors is like the Android TV and I would be very very interested. This would also be a giant leap for Nintendo in terms of online.

Wii U (and appearantly NX) has more than enough juice to run Rocket League and since they are on PC and have cross-play, we can assume they use their own servers. So online isn't an issue either. The only legit reason they are not heading to Wii U is low install base. And that is the same reason many of the other publishers have. It is just easier to say "hard to port" than "we don't think we earn any many from you".

@FragRed Well, the obvious problem with the Wii U is a low install base and different architecture; thus high porting costs and low sales. Nintendo could aid in porting some of the bigger indie games over. After all, they have an entire studio (NST) doing basically nothing at the moment other than releasing the billionth installment in the Mario vs DK series. As you said yourself too, Sony and Microsoft seem to have much better relationships with indie devs, even funding games in some instances. I think that's definitely an area where Nintendo can improve.

It's unfortunate to see that we can already expect a low third party output on this system. Unless it sells Wii-numbers, but even then I think that we won't get the newest AC or whatever game.

@Grumblevolcano I'd like to think they'd have more to offer than ports and remasters at this point! If they're unifying handheld and home console development and after skipping an entire year of Wii U games, then the least you should expect is actually some original and hopefully good content.

@Therad It's a combination of those two things really. It's definitely easier to port to PS4 and XOne than to Wii U.

@Octane NVidia have X2, X3 and X4 lined up in a dev cycle. Nintendo consolidating their fans and enticing people with a new gaming model (play anywhere on one device) will sell big numbers and be a business model that would lend really well to iterative consoles (as opposed to Microsoft and Sony's version of reselling a home console every 2 years!). I think third party support will come (although third party support really means a couple of key games. All the licenced tie in shovel bumpf they can keep!) I am very positive about this rumour (apart from the pads. As a gaming enthusiast...SHOW ME THE GAMES AND THE PADS NINTENDO!)

I think it is mostly low install base. Ps3 and Xbox 360 got more of the multi platform titles than Wii U, and it should be easier to port to Wii U.

And rocket league is built on ue 3, which has official support for Wii U.

@GrailUK How's that any different to what Sony and MS are doing then? When they do it, it's ''bad'', ''evil'', but when Nintendo does it, it's innovative and unique..

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. There's still a lot we don't know about the NX yet, and I don't think the rumour is entirely true. There's some stuff I just don't buy; Eurogamer may have some insider's information, but I don't think all of it is true, or it may be partially outdated.

@Octane Erm..you went weird then mate. I didn't mention bad or evil. Weird. Anyhoo you seem confused so all I was trying to say is, I think a handheld device suits an iterative model than a home console. I don't mind upgrading a phone occasionally,but I wouldn't upgrade my PC. It's too big lol. It's better to upgrade components. (Not evil just not ideal.)

@GrailUK
And, generally, it tends to be a lot cheaper to iterate a handheld rather than a home console, because... handhelds are cheaper, generally lol. Though not technically "upgrades" for the most part, Nintendo has ALWAYS released new versions of its handheld during each line's lifetime, and the general public (as far as I know) hasn't been taking to pitchforks over it for the past 3ish decades.

@Octane
And I totally see what you're saying, because what Microsoft and Sony are doing does seem kinda/sorta similar to something like the New 3DS, but people are getting bent out of shape over it. It might just be because Microsoft/Sony fans aren't really used to this kind of thing like we are (I owned a GameBoy, GameBoy Color, DS, DSi, etc. etc.), so the outcry just SEEMS to be pervasive and terrible (like most things on the internet). On the other hand, though, you have to admit - I don't know if we've seen such a complete power upgrade for a home console mid life cycle before. The expansion pack for the N64 was something that could be put into your existing N64 - you didn't have to buy a new one to get the power - Scorpio and Neo need you to buy entirely new machines. And it doesn't help that neither company is being super clear about the benefits/limitations with the new and old machines. Everyone keeps saying "every" game will remain playable if you don't upgrade, but honestly, I don't buy that. There's gotta be some kind of catch. We'll have to wait and see.

@GrailUK Sure, but that's only because you're used to it. Besides, they're not selling you a home console every two years. We got a mid-gen upgrade after three years; and if the PS4 and XOne are supported for another three years until the next upgrade, then six years isn't a bad deal at all.

Maybe I'm getting old and grumpy, but (and maybe as expected) this site often knows how to sugar coat anything that's Nintendo related. The idea of upgrading your NX is no different than upgrading your PS4 or XOne if that's the bussiness model all three companies are pursuing.