Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NEStalgia You need to think of Wii U ports not as Wii U ports but as new Switch games, pretty sure that would be Nintendo's logic. So like MK8 Deluxe being considered a Switch game that launched just over 9 months ago rather than a port of a nearly 4 year old Wii U game.

I didn't even think about the Pokemon Bank fee on top of the online fee. I really hope it does become (not exclusively, of course) part of the online fee so you don't have to pay for it. Especially since Game Freak stopped putting the National Dex in Generation VII games (Please reverse that for the Switch version!).

@NEStalgia A much more ambitious (not just in terms of online) Switch Pokemon would print so much money. The problem is... So would an HD version of Sun and Moon or a game in the same vein. I soooo want Game Freak to get ambitious because Generation VII has been the most disappointing generation for me and I absolutely do not want another game like S/M/US/UM. However, I'm sure S/M/US/UM have sold so well that there's no reason whatsoever for Game Freak to think of changing anything for the better.

@Harmonie Yeah, GameFreak really plays it very "safe", and they can, because it sells. I don't expect them to change since that's become a core part of how they operate. However, I'm not sure S/M/US/UM are good gauges. X/Y was ambitious...too much so, in that their optimization wasn't sufficient to really run on 3DS....framerate was awful, 3D was disabled, it was a mess. S/M just tried to refine it and scale it to the platform better and made tiny strides in introducing a more "3D" world. But US/UM, those would have taken months to slap together after S/M, and were likely cranked out after Switch development already was underway. At least an experimentation phase for Switch. I liken US/UM to MHXX Switch: A quick, cheap way to milk the massive 3DS base while the going is good and to plug the gap of a real Switch entry that entered development too late to be a timely release. So there's still hope. I don't think it will be a RADICAL departure in overall game design. I don't think we're looking at Pokemon's Creed coming any time soon. But a shakeup on the internals, how the town is used, and maybe how "interactive" the game is in terms of online would still be a very experimental, ambitious Pokemon. And, Pokemon has always been the bleeding edge of online (as far as online has gone for Nintendo) being the only notably online capable game on the DS, being the game that needed the GB Link cable. Connectivity has been core to Pokemon since before "online consoles" was a thing. Bolstered by the overwhelming social success of Go....it doesn't seem far fetched that Pokemon could be the centerpiece of Nintendo Online with a much more connected world.

@NEStalgia Id say XY had more issues than optimisation...that game started conceptualisation in 2010...

Anyway, Creatures Inc. posted a Pokemon related job listing a while back (These are the guys who do the 3D models etc. for Pokemon). Now we know in terms of poly count the models used for Pokemon in Gen 7 actually upscale to 1080p, even 4k, really damn well.

The thing is, this job posting featured Pokemon, Pikachu, and Unreal Engine 4.

If Pokemon wanted to use an engine that could do HD without the stress of making a custom engine for the Tegra X1, they can easily use UE4, learn it, and build a game without having to make a base.

It'll be a huge leap in productivity.

@Grumblevolcano I don't think even Nintendo is pretending MK8D and PokkenDX are truly new games. They may PR it as new, and for many it is new, but we're still talking about a game that already had tons of DLC, and advertises that it includes DLC, and will already be a year and a HALF old by the time online launches even if it's a new Switch game. From a creative process the team already tapped out their vision in that game. Even EA doesn't milk DLC a year and a half later, let alone 4. MK8 may sell quite well still but a new DLC for it would doubtfully be exponentially successful, and as such wouldn't really drive online.

Nintendo gotta' Nintendo, sure. But if they're actually going to drag out a 2012 GOTY pack and add another DLC and think it's incentive for paid online, they really DON'T understand online.... Fortunately, I don't think Kimishima's as bubble-bound as Iwata was, much as I love Iwata. The MK8 team already moved onto other things, including Arms, ages ago and the whole department it was part of was closed, shuffled, and rearranged. It's not like keeping the team together for an extended DLC run. They'll SHOW a lot of MK8 for online because it's popular. But I don't think those pretty old games will be the carrot on the stick. (puts on sunglasses) It's not very effective.

@YummyHappyPills Well, yeah, XY was a dev mess, all around. GF really didn't know how to do anything but SNES level graphics, and it showed.

UE4....interesting. Since I don't think Pokken is UE, there's not much else they could be doing with it really. And IIRC some other 1st party game already used UE....but I can't remember which one. Odyssey? It wasn't Rabbids, that's Snowdrop. Maybe FE: Heroes. Though that's technically Bamco. That would certainly change some things.

@NEStalgia FE Heroes was Unity I believe, well at least AC Pokcket Camp and Mario Run were, as well as Flip Wars and Snipperclips.

Good Feel is making Yoshi Switch in UE4, that's the only confirmed one for that engine so far.

And here's the thing, it COULD be for a spinoff title, sure, but its Creatures directly texturing Pikachu in UE4 so....and their involvement kinda starts at the main games.

@YummyHappyPills The idea of Mark Rein influencing Pokemon is a nightmare-invading thought.

@NEStalgia You know I wonder if we shouted loud enough for Bandai Namco to port over DragonBall FighterZ.

If not, we can go louder:

@YummyHappyPills i think it's either
1. one of Nintendo's biggest franchise (Smash Bros, Mario Kart etc)
2. a Third Party game.
3. some new IP game with a lot of Online features?

@NEStalgia If Nintendo truly understood online, the mobile app would either be optional or nonexistent for voice chat on Switch

An old post, but here's a piece of a reminder of what Nintendo Switch Online Services' offerings look like:

My opinion about voice chat: I know people wants voice chat integrated into the Switch, but there are alternatives I think they're much better, like Discord and TeamSpeak. Sure, even if Nintendo implement the voice chat into the Switch, I hope it should be for friends only, as I don't like to hear a stranger swears and shouts on my ear.

@Grumblevolcano I still don't get how Nintendo has had microphones on their handhelds for over a decade, yet removes one from the online-focused Switch..........

@NEStalgia

Kimishima?
= Yes?
We've got a great system, there's nothing wrong with it, but we're Nintendo..
= So?
Can we screw it up somehow?
= Hmm...
...
= Remove the headphone jack, and get a weird phone app going that handles the voice chat!

@Octane Also, produce 32GB GameCards. Tell no one.

@NEStalgia There is Mario Tennis Aces coming in May which will have online. It's not the kind of game that will convince everyone they need to get a subscription though. Golf and Strikers are 2 other potential online games Nintendo could add. Dr Mario/Luigi online were 2 of my most played games on Wii/Wii U and no doubt would be on Switch too but I fear the NES version with added online play that's part of the Classic Game Collection will be all we see from the Doctor this gen.

You know what would be a good idea to get the masses to subscribe?Free access to an expanded Wii Sports Club for every subscriber.

I'm still confident F-Zero is coming some time this year.Along with Metroid it's probably been the most requested series of the last few years. They're already giving us Metroid so what better game to keep the faithful happy than a new F-Zero. That along with a port of Smash and a new Pokémon and the subscription will be hard to ignore.

Might it be time for the idea I've been parading for years to finally come true?
Could we be getting an online open-platform sports game set on Wuhu island?
The next true expansion of Wii Sports, but without the Wii in the name?
If it comes true, I WANT ROYALTIES NINTENDO!

I'd like to see a new Excite Bike game with online multiplayer. Start with the track they gave us in Mario Kart 8, and expand it to a bunch more tracks and make a full game out of it. Add in a shareable level editor and bam.

I feel like the Excite Bike track in MK8 may have been a tease for a new EB game anyway. Same for the F-Zero tracks. Both would be great online multiplayer games.

Just read Kaz Harai (or however you spell it) is stepping down from his position at Sony in April.

Wonder where the new leadership will take Sony and what effect (if any) it'll have on Switch.

While we're on the topic of what online games we'd like to see, I would love to have a new WarioWare game with some online multiplayer modes and online leaderboards.