Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@gcunit ''Good'' is subjective though, I think the word novelty carries more weight here. Anyway, the most surprising comment was on how Nintendo is set to compete with Andriod and iOS. As the article mentioned; ''That’s going to be a big job for the marketing department.'' If that's indeed their plan, then I don't think that's a wise move; that's fighting a losing battle.

@rallydefault I personally prefer the idea of a device with a good novelty to a bog standard piece of kit.

3D on the 3DS is a novelty to me, a good one, and it's what pushed me over the line to buy a New 3DS, having never owned a portable gaming device (other than a Game & Watch about 30 years ago). It gave it a uniqueness that made it stand out as something I wanted to keep hold of for many years to come for the ingenuity of it.

I hope NX does have a good novelty, because if it is a portable primarily, and doesn't have a novelty factor, it's not gonna be much different to a jacked up Vita.

But don't let me stop you interpreting it negatively if you want, man.

The 3D on the 3DS is pretty cool. I remember having my mind blown when I saw it in person. But everyone knows that's not what sold the system. Nintendo tried so hard to focus on it when it first came out and all they got for it was a flop. When they focused on just making good games for it and chopping the price, it started selling well. People wanted it for the games. It started selling so well and the 3D was such a non-issue that they made a version of it without the novelty entirely, and that succeeded.

The novelty can be good, and maybe even fun at first (I enjoyed the 3D for a few weeks), but if Nintendo is betting on just that, again, they're in for (another) rude awakening.

@Operative Agreed. In the end it's the software and games that matter. Novelties and gimmicks can be good, but they can wear off or can be met with a negative reception. It's always a big risk.

Well what we presumably know so far about it is that it's a portable first. That in terms of graphical horsepower it's between the Wii U and XBOne. At best it's slightly closer to the XBOne. And it's also ARM based so it's not really going to be a walk in the park porting big AAA games over to it. So I wouldn't go expecting the next GTA, I'm not sure whether or not we'll get games like Battlefield. I'm not holding my breath about CoD, Tomb Raider etc. So I don't see this replacing your PS4.

But I don't think that's as bad a thing as you make it out to be. Remember, this thing is a portable system. A Nintendo one. So I don't at all think about how dissapointing it is that the Wii U never got GTA. Instead I think about how good the 3DS was and how insane it would have been if it had also got those Wii U exclusives. Think of your 3DS library... and add ZombiU, Rayman Legends, Bayonetta, Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, The Wonderful 101. Maybe even ports of games like Assassin's Creed, CoD, Batman. All in your pocket. Does that take down the PS4? ... no. But it ain't bad.

Sure but isn't a portable system that you plug into your TV a "bit of a novelty"? I'm not sure why any of this is worrying you at all. If these rumours are on the money, and it seems very likely, then what do you expect them to say? That it's a standard, novelty free console that's going to appeal directly to PS4 fans?

@skywake yeah I definitely believe square when they said FF XV NX isn't happening for now. I think even at 720p it'd be very difficult to get the game to run on this supposed chipset.

@WebHead I don't expect anything big from third party developers coming to the NX. Nintendo will start with a large number of publishers and developers backing the console, but will quickly fizzle out to mainly Just Dance, Monster Hunter, Lego and the odd other title here and there. I am also interested to know whether the NX will once again find itself being skipped by a lot of the bigger indie titles again too.

Yeah, I think Square is going to have a difficult enough time running FF XV at 720p and 30fps on the NEO and Scorpio... _BURN!!!

lol

@WebHead Well, FF15 is pushing the XOne to its limits, so I definitely don't think we'll see that game on the NX.

One thing Nintendo should do is help fund big games for their new system; both ports (and preferably at the same time) and new exclusive games. Just like Bloodborne for example. A From Software game, but the development was aided by funding from Sony. Nintendo did that with Bayonetta 2, but that was just one game in an entire console's lifespan. If the third parties don't flock to your system, you have bring them there yourself.

@Octane Problem with that is, Nintendo funded Bayonetta 2 and Devil's Third with the hope the Wii U will take off as a hardcore gaming console. The NX doesn't seem to be looking to do that, instead going back to the casual market (or what little that's left) so I'm not sure Nintendo will bother funding games.

As for funding ports, it's all a matter of whether the NX will be powerful enough to even run them to begin with, and if they need downgrading to practically last gen performance then is it really worth the resources? Probably not even for Nintendo. Just focus on their own games.

@FragRed I still think they'll do it. Regardless of target audience there needs to be software diversity. Just like restaurant menus need entrees and sides.

Keep in mind that most engines have a form of gradual scaling performance these days. Lower resolution, lower detail, same game - all through the game engines they're built with. Almost like tweaking a setting, you get what the system can give you, not what the developers try to squeeze out.

There's little reason to not give it a shot if the expense of it all goes down. I think nintendo knows this.

@erv That would be true if the NX CPU was x86 based. Porting from x86 to ARM takes more effort regardless. So I don't we'll see much third party games at all. I'll admit, at this point it's just wishful thinking from my part.

@Octane Yeah, 3rd party support will be minimal and tailored to the casual audience. So Ubisoft's support will be stuff like Just Dance, Just Sing and Rabbids.

Hrm, I don't know. If NX is decently priced and sells well, even to a "casual" audience, I think we'll see a ton of third-party stuff. I still think this is an incredible idea that hinges on price. If they hit the sweet spot and have a few awesome launch titles (which the same rumors are saying they will or within 6 months), I can see people picking this up because it's a portable OR you can just leave it connected to your TV and pretend it's a home console, and it can play Nintendo games on the cheap.

If you look at feedback from the so-called "hardcore" crowd that own PS4/Xbox One and seem to mock Nintendo, the big thing that keeps coming up is: "I would buy a Wii U for a couple games, but the price just isn't worth it." That's it. I've also seem the very same people salivating over the possibility of a $200 price point.

I just don't see how they can make this a $200 purchase at launch, especially when they've said they don't want to sell these things at a loss. Best case would be they aim for somewhere below $250- say $229.

@rallydefault I agree with you, I think a lot of people view the Wii U as a 'console they'd like to own' but for the price/number of games worth playing it isn't worth investing in. That is why I think a hybrid system is the way to go. If people had access to Pokemon, A Link Between Worlds (+OoT and MM remakes), Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, Monster Hunter, Animal Crossing among other titles that came to the 3DS, the argument that there aren't so many games 'worth playing' holds less water and therefore the system becomes more justifiable in price.

And if the NX is a success in getting a decent install base then you can be sure that developers will become keener on putting their titles on it. For Nintendo, this won't be a direct priority, but probably viewed as a positive upside of the hybrid system if it takes off. Fundamentally though, Nintendo are aiming to support this system mostly off the back of their united first-party titles.

@dtjive I don't think being a hybrid will necessarily solve the problem of being not enough games. I think the problem isn't so much just the lack of first party games that came to the Wii U (and this may not change all that much even with all teams working on a single system now) but also the sheer lack of third party games. And that's going to be the same reasoning why many won't buy the NX. It won't get the third party support outside casual stuff.

@FragRed Nah, NX will get Japanese 3rd party support as well.

@dtjive
Exactly: let's keep looking at these people that Nintendo clearly missed with the Wii U. They like Nintendo games. They really do. Most of them will freely admit it.

But look at how long it took the Wii U to put out some of its "bigger" titles that appeal to all sorts of gamers: Mario Kart 8 was probably the first title on the system that made those "I already own a PS4, but I do enjoy a good Nintendo game..." people consider buying a Wii U, and that didn't come out until May of 2014, a year and half after the system launched. Before that, we had... NSMBU (viewed largely as "just another" side scrolling Mario, nothing new), Pikmin 3 (let's face it - a relatively small franchise that is popular among the Nintendo faithful), Tropical Freeze (wonderful game, but received terrible word of mouth, even from some of us at the time who were angry it was ANOTHER DKCR game) and... Nintendoland?

The pickings were pretty darn slim. The install base never stood a chance at expanding outside of the Nintendo faithful in its first two years, which is the crucial time to get the ball rolling. At that point, the door closed on SO MANY of those gamers who would've happily ponied up even $300 if it meant they could play a new Zelda, Mario Kart, and Smash.

So, if these reports are true, Nintendo seems committed to releasing a bunch of their major franchises within 6 months of NX's launch, which could flip the story around.