Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Knuckles-Fajita Well EA did blame Nintendo's online infrastructure on not being able to play with your friends in FIFA 18. If they're willing to make that kind of excuse then it doesn't seem unrealistic for them to have the same reason for no free trial. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's online is very backwards compared to Sony and Microsoft but it still feels like a poor excuse. Frostbite is only if there's Frostbite exclusive content in the other versions.

@DarthNocturnal That's probably what will happen. Mile wide, inch deep.

@Grumblevolcano I suppose. EA seems intent on blaming Nintendo's end for things that every other developer out there can do just fine on the system. Heck, I can bet all their comments about Frostbite indicates they havent even ATTEMPTED it yet.

Well that excuse no longer holds water, so...

https://press-start.com.au/news/nintendo/2018/06/10/fifa-19-o...

Personally I thought the EA conference went over like a wet fart (as usual). That like 15 minutes demonstration of a Command and Conquer... mobile game. Anthem not having a live demonstration AGAIN. (And to my understanding, it's that scripted trailer on the show floor, too.) No clarification if Madden is coming to Switch. Unravel Two is definitely NOT coming to Switch. And the host was cringe, just randomly touching people and being creepy. So, overall I have to give it a D.

And appearantly they are doing a streaming service. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the support Nintendo will have in the future.

Picked up immortal redneck on switch and I am really liking it. Smooth gameplay and a very arcade feeling shooting.

I honestly think EA have decided on a corporate level that it’s against their interests for Nintendo to have success in the market. They see them as a competitor more than a platform and, worse, they’re not just a ‘competitor’ on a game by game basis competing for money - they offer a competing and barely compatible vision of the industry.

Accordingly they have a policy of being at best apathetic of Nintendo platforms and at worse actively working against them. How often do we hear EA studios publicly briefing the press against Nintendo? For every quote that’s actually attributed to the there will be half a dozen “keep this off the record but Nintendo is a joke and if you want more insider info from me you should let your readers know” type comments.

If I were Nintendo I’d be doing some back channel info dumping myself to control the narrative. Let’s have it ‘leak’ off the record about how Peter Moore told senior Nintendo figures that EA wouldn’t support Switch if they wanted to cap monthly micro transaction sales or how EA demanded Nintendo prohibit used game sales (XBox One launch presentation style). Tell the Nintendo side of the story first and frame EA as the bad guys.

Maybe they’re doing this already to some degree. Maybe they think it’s beneath them to get in the mud (a valid point). Maybe they naively think that if they play nicely with EA then EA will reciprocate? But if that’s their thinking then they’ll be disappointed - we know what EA are and hoping they’ll change is like hoping a vulture will become a swan if you promise you’ll take it to a lake. It won’t and they won’t.

In other words there’s no point trying to put lipstick on that EA pig - you have to be willing to wrestle in the mud until that pig squeals “I’m a pig I know my place” or you have to say to the world straight up “we’re not keeping pigs on this farm - they’re noisy and they stink and we don’t need them”.

@StuTwo Throughout the many generations, EA has never really supported Nintendo consoles so this is definitely, and despite their initial Sega partnership during the Mega Drive era, they dropped them like a bomb immediately something else came alone (PlayStation) that they could make a better deal with. In fact, look at the things Peter Moore has openly said about Sega, rightly or wrongly. The way he spoke to the top people at the company during the Dreamcast years is totally unprofessional of a so called head of a company.

EA jumps from ship to ship looking out for themselves. I would wager EA looks at Sony and Microsoft in only a slightly brighter position than Nintendo, and that's because they are the bread and butter in sales. Their push for a streaming service is EA looking at how best to push the industry in a direction they want to take it and then they will drop Sony and Microsoft as well.

I'm surprised.

All this time I was banging the drum saying EA wont be supporting the system in a meaningful way, that their constant goalpost moving was a huge indicator. I got called crazy.

Now here we are. An indie game that would be perfect - not coming. FIFA 19 - Still watered down but apparently a decent upgrade over 18. FIFA 18 gets a free trial - Not on Switch for literally no reason. Only greenlighting stuff as of May IF the system met THEIR expectations.

It's not hard to see EA for what it is. They walked out on stage and said they wanted to make games for everyone. That's a bare faced lie.

They gleefully announced a streaming subscription service, so you can play games anywhere at anytime. Directly ripping the Switch marketing slogan.

But it benefits ONLY them. You play THEIR games, via THEIR service, paying THEM exclusively, to do something a system does already.

That's why they wont support Switch.

If they know you would rather play a game natively for a $60 entry fee anywhere, at anytime, on your Switch, over paying THEM directly to stream and give them complete control of availability, then they want that competition gone.

EA won't support the Switch. It's as clear as day that they don't want something that competes and the language they used last night stated it so clear as day and matter of fact that it's amazing people are okay with it.

@Knuckles-Fajita The online streaming service is EA effectively saying they don’t need Sony or Microsoft either. That’s their goal, to rid of all three consoles and force everyone into their service entirely under their rules. That’s the future.

I'm not sure what's going on with EA. Unravel 2 perplexes me. And not that I particularly care about that game because I wasn't a big fan of the first, but it really doesn't make much sense. I figured EA would at least put that type of stuff on the system.

So either they still plan to, but they only just started support in March (after their 1 year observation expired), which means it'll be year 3 before we see anything else from them beyond FIFA, or (the more likely scenario), Stu is right, and they just see Nintendo as being incompatible with their company vision, which... they kinda are. But I still think if a game can sell, there's no reason it shouldn't come. Unless they genuinely want to do everything they can to ensure Nintendo doesn't succeed, while still hiding under the guise of playing along (via annual FIFA) for publicity's sake.

Who knows. But really, who cares. Their golden years are behind them. The stuff they're cranking out now just isn't what it used to be. The only stuff I'm really interested in for them are 7th gen ports, and I can play those on GPD Win 2/PC and still get portable/console play. And I know that won't be an option for everyone, but people can still play their classic games via X1 BC, PC, or even PS3/360. It might not offer the portable aspect but, you can't get everything you want in life right. Least you still get access to the games.

@Knuckles-Fajita
You haven't offered any real insight bud. All you've done is claim nobody will support the Switch at all, then tout how right you were for each and every game that skips the system. Which, we already knew 95% of their games weren't going to come anyways so you weren't really giving us a profound statement there.

You got called crazy for saying FIFA 19 wasn't going to come.

@JaxonH All I've done is offer scepticism. I will point out when I think a game COULD come.

However, I'm not going around pointing out that X game could come and get anyone's hopes up. That's just asking for trouble. Expect the worst, be positively surprised always.

@Knuckles-Fajita
No I agree, it's kind of pointless to speculate which games could come and get peoples hopes up. But there is a caveat to that- if there's a likely chance a game actually will come, then we should say as much, rather than downplay everything just so as to prevent potential disappointment.

I think the big boys here can handle a game not coming though. I never expect a game to come. But logically concluding the statistical likelihood is a whole other story.

edit
Completely unrelated but, DKC Tropical Freeze is one of my favorite video games of all time. Replaying it has really opened my eyes (I always loved it, but my appreciation is being elevated to new heights). It's a classic like DKC2 was. What a wonderful masterpiece of a game.

2018 Switch Games At Risk Of Being Overlooked

@FragRed I think that EA wanting to push a streaming service is a logical approach to their particular challenges. They make a high percentage of their turnover from highly iterative games that (to even a trained eye) do little more than offer a new song on the menu screen and updated rosters. That makes them very vulnerable to the second hand market.

Ever since the 90’s they’ve been obsessed with ways to stop people trading in FIFA 200X and buying that version for cheap or settling for it instead of buying the near identical 200X+1 for full price.

Hence you see Origin and DRM through the eyeballs (streaming is the ultimate DRM). Other techniques are things like ultimate team and the unnecessary story modes they now add.

I think the reality is that they work with Sony because they have to. With Microsoft I think it’s more a meeting of the minds. They need each other but more than that they want similar things for the industry.

@StuTwo
If EA keep going with their dirty business (DRM, Loot boxes, etc), i wish there will be another game looks like The Sims , created by another developers with better gameplay and still Kid friendly, so i can depart from The Sims franchises if EA keep making Next The Sims become even worse.

@JaxonH Funny. At least three of your "most at risk of being overlooked" games are easily some of my most anticipated games of the year.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 in particular. I'm so excited to get a proper sequel to the first game, and in portable form no less!

I don't think Octopath is in any danger of not selling well, though. It's an exclusive that a lot of Switch owners are hyped to play. If anything, its closeness to Shining Resonance and Y's VIII makes me concerned about how those games will sell. Neither of them are in the top 100 on Amazon's best-seller list, despite Y's releasing at the end of the month.

Unravel 2 Dev Wants Game On Switch

So, the Unravel 2 devs actually wants the game on Switch, but hasn't yet found the resources to do it. This, right here, is basically proof that the system at large is the reason so many games struggle to see a Switch release, despite the surety of success. EA, the largest publisher in the industry, isn't willing to finance a Switch version, despite indie games routinely outselling all other versions combined (and sometimes upward of 10x other versions)?

This is key. We've seen the polls showing that just as many developers are interested in making Switch games as PS4, yet the percentage of games actually being made despite that interest is much lower. And this is a perfect example of why that likely is. The system at large has been built to specifically circumvent Nintendo these last 10 years. And that's a systemic issue that's not going to change overnight.

@Ralizah
Well, you have good taste in games and are always in the know 😉

Should have put Shining Resonance and Y's VIII on there, but I wasn't sure they'd meet the utmost levels of quality and fun the rest of these games are sure to offer. While I'm extremely excited for both, I still consider them one tier below, with the chance of earning an upgrade into top tier depending how good they end up being.

Still, they're definitely at risk of being overlooked. No doubt about that.

@JaxonH You know when I played it on Wii U, I thought it was alright but I wasn’t crazy about Tropical Freeze. When replaying on Switch though, for some reason I really enjoyed it. I got 200% and am working on getting a gold medal on all the time trials, and I usually hate time trials. It’s become one of my favorite Switch games.

Also, am extremely excited about Valkyria Chronicles 4, Octopath and Mega Man 11 as well.

There is a Ys VII demo on the PS4 if you are curious about the game. I am looking forward to it but I think Octopath will overshadow it.

Yeah Mega Man 11 and Team Sonic Racing most definitely won't be overlooked. I'd be 100% willing to bet that they sell best on Switch. If there's any game that should be on there it's the recently released Sushi Striker.

That boxart for Sonic Racing is nice btw.

@IceClimbers Agree about Mega Man 11 but not Team Sonic Racing. I don't think Team Sonic Racing will do that well on Switch because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe exists.