Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

There's going to be 1st party 3DS surprises this year for sure.

@NaviAndMii You never know with Nintendo. I guess these people just get Wii flashbacks. During the Wii era, I found myself desperately looking for games that weren't "Casual party games" granted, it got me to try and love Monster Hunter, but that it gets one to that point is food for thought.

I can thank the Wii era for getting me into Xbox consoles, 2009 was a trainwreck for Wii games.

@NaviAndMii People are neurotic. We just had a mini direct announcing games and we still have previously announced games for this year already on the docket. Yet Nintendo makes one announcement and people are freaking out and screaming 3rd party and oh noes dem casuals (even though half the people shouting this are casuals themselves). It's like people like running up their own blood pressure.

About the South Park Switch rumour, it seems PS4 and XB1 are getting a remaster of the last gen game (Stick of Truth) so maybe both will come to Switch.

@Grumblevolcano Wait if the PS4 and Xbox One are getting remasters of the original, then why was it free when you pre-ordered The Fractured But Whole?

@MFD @Ryu_Niiyama Haha! Yeah, I totally agree! I might try and get a InKimishimaWeTrust hashtag going in response - it'll take more than a couple of weeks and a new range of cardboard accessories to make me forget how well-catered for I was in 2017, that's for sure!

@NaviAndMii It's probably just a side-project, but I can see people's fears that Labo takes from other projects like games. Just an example, but imagine that Labo takes from Yoshi's development. Then I can see the point.

@MFD I completely agree that's what people think, but I just can't see that being the case. We KNEW Nintendo was going to have to try and pull in the younger demographic somehow this year with their sales goals, if it wasn't Labo then we'd see something else aimed at a younger demographic instead. And if 1 or 2 of Nintendo's releases this year don't appeal to me, not the end of the world. If these work out, I can see them putting out sets twice a year, and they don't have to worry about conflicting with releases like Fire Emblem while widening their output.

@link3710 Well, then I'd argue that Nintendo already has plenty of stuff for children, due to how franchises like Mario Kart and Mario Odyssey are for both young and old. Not to mention Yoshi, Kirby, Donkey Kong etc.

So, from that perspective, is something like this really necessary? You've got plenty of choice for the children already, and the bigger question is even, how many of them will care? We live in an era where children will happily play Call of Duty and cuss the F out of each-other....

And at the end of the day, we don't know if this is the start of something far bigger, or just a side-project. Business goes where the money is, and if something shifts, then so will Nintendo.

@FragRed Well a similar situation happened for preordering Gears of War 4, a remaster of the first game existed but you ended up with the 360 backwards compatibility version. Ubisoft seems very set on remastering a load of last gen games like recently Assassin's Creed Rogue remastered was announced for current gen.

@Grumblevolcano Yeah I guess. But I wouldn't get your hopes up that either game comes to the Switch. If they we're, wouldn't that be the kind of thing Nintendo would mention in the Mini Direct?

@FragRed Depends on whether there's a larger Direct soon. If there is then I'd expect it in there instead of the Mini Direct if it was coming at all. The only major 3rd party announcement in the Mini Direct was Dark Souls Remastered and that was probably only in the Mini Direct because it was being announced for PS4/XB1/PC the same day.

@MFD To give Nintendo credit, Labo is not just for the kids - it's for the parents. A Switch becomes a far more attractive proposition to parents if Nintendo can convince them that, as well as family-friendly games, it also offers crafts, design, imagination, music, construction...

I think most parents would prefer their kids to be folding cardboard and playing piano than cussing the f*** out of strangers on Call of Duty.

@Grumblevolcano After what Nintendo showed yesterday, they best have a large Direct that shows they haven't abandoned the core fans. But then I also remember them saying we need to now rely on third party to give us the kinds of games we want and instantly I feel concerned.

@Krull But all parents know (or should at least) that if their child is curious about something, holding them back from it only kindles that fire of curiosity.

Plus, one needs to keep in mind what this does with the public view of the Switch. What if actually reduces Switch sales because people looking for a Switch besides their main and real gaming platform look at the Labo and think "What is this? A kid's toy kit? No, I don't want a console like that"

@MFD I think that the key could be that they seem to have attracted third-parties back - if third-parties can provide more content for the 'core' gamers, it gives Nintendo a bit more freedom to try to bring other demographics in with their own content...of course, they have to strike a balance (and I'm sure they will) but if the 'core' market can be satisfied with series like Dark Souls, Wolfenstein, Bayonetta etc - Nintendo might consider it a good time to cover other bases with some of their own games etc?

@NaviAndMii Here's the thing with that: I've red quite a few instances of people buying the Switch as a companion console. Will these people buy a game for Switch instead of their main, real power-machine? Arguably not, unless portability is of importance. But what happens should that novelty of portability wear off? Where do we stand then?

I feel that Nintendo NEEDS more reasons to buy these games besides portability. Portability is great for selling games, but unlike something like straight up power, which seems to be like mentally stabbing a Nintendo fan with a sharpened glass shard when mentioned, it won't make sure that your system can more easily render the next games, have multiple things on the screen, and so forth.

If something like DOOM is already pushing the small system, then we can't look at those next-gen games and think "Ugh, why is the Switch excluded from this?" because the answer is clear cut and obvious.

But, I'm going off track, push comes to shove, Nintendo has venerated IP and quite a few dormant ones that could do with a return/underutilised ideas that could do with more expansion upon (Mario Kart Double Dash) and plenty of these games work for young and old alike.

So just for the newest set of speculation on Pokemon Switch, they just announced they're giving away legendaries for SM/USUM every month this year besides December. Pokemon Switch releasing November? ;p Oh and I just realized, if Nintendo makes their sales goals for FY2018, they'll have outsold what the XB1 has sold life to date as of the latest figures. Pretty crazy to think about.

@MFD But what why shouldn't it be Labo that is firing their curiosity, rather than Call of Duty? We're not talking about 13-year-olds here, but under-10s. Labo (and by extension Nintendo) caters for them in a way that your standard PS4 or Xbox doesn't.

I admit, I'm not wholly sold on it either, though I think it's a neat concept. It might not shift more Switches, and probably won't, but it firmly consolidates Nintendo's position as the most inventive, friendly and inclusive of the console-makers. It's good branding, pure and simple. Labo is admirable and creative, definitely, and I'm sure any kids (and many adults) given the time to build and create something with it would enjoy it.

That said, I think the Switch needs to be a bit cheaper and more easily replaced before I start letting my daughters make a cardboard housing for it.