Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I think...looking at my Switch, itll be more of a third party machine for convenience around my life than a Nintendo machine.

Probably because most of what Nintendo makes doesnt appeal to me

@Tsurii I had in mind each game in that segment being longer than the ~5 seconds each given in the actual event and games taken out of the segment like DB FighterZ having proper trailers too. The concept I liked, the application I didn't. The application seemed pretty much "let's get this over and done with so we have more time for Smash".

You could also argue they reacted to people complaining they give too much time to late ports that people already bought

I think the direct format are becoming stale. When Kimishima took over after Iwata, they have lost some of their quirkiness and are becoming more like infomercials. More refined, less jokes. It is a bit of a shame really.

More refined, faster, more streamlined, less fluff, clearer and to the point...

Everything people wanted of stuff in the Wii U era and now its bad?

Just like how people didn't want to pay for VC again but now...do?

I mean if ya gonna pick a side at least stick to it, you know?

I can't talk for others, but streamlined isn't always best. I like when they have some uniqueness to them. Trailers I will see anyways. The ones focusing on a specific game is usually more fun though, depending if I am interested in the game of course.

As a thought experiment, If you think about a memorable segment in a direct, is it from Iwata or Kimishima?

The newer Directs have less 1st party surprises, it's almost like there's the same number of overall surprises but with the newer Directs it's shared between 1st party and 3rd party. So like instead of "Here's an unannounced system for the VC", it's "Here's an unannounced game from Bethesda".

Maybe that's a factor?

The only issue I've had is with their E3 direct being wayyyyy too unbalanced in favor of smash. The first time they debuted the headline style quick-fire format, it was perfect. They just need to learn how much time to dedicate to appropriate titles, which clearly they have issues with lol

I don't remember Directs from both Iwata or Kimishima lol... what matters is the games being announced (for me anyway)

@Grumblevolcano Seriously.... I still see it as protectionist 1st party policy. Hide Fighter Z and Guilty Gear (hey, remember Guilty Gear is coming to Switch? Anyone?) because it competes with Smash, the cash cow. Hide Ys, Shining Resonance, Vespyria, they compete with Xenoblade/Torna. Hide Digimon, it competes with Pokemon. Hide Valkyria, it competes with Fire Emblem and Kingdom Battle/DK. It feels like they're doubling down on "please buy Nintendo for Nintendo games, plus maybe there's other stuff you'll like." Inside, no doubt that's how they want it to work, but as a platform holder it can't work like that. And even back on the SNES era they made more money on licensing than they did on 1st party games....3rd party was the main business.

I can't see them not having a September direct or Mini-Direct covering the details and policies of NO. I can't imagine them blind launching it without trying to hype it, especially if everyone's online games will turn into pumpkins instantaneously if they don't pony up cash.

And your "a better way" E3 lineup sounds ok, and still skips half the actual releases on the platform from that time forward!

What 3rd party publishers heard: "We'll put your game in our E3 Direct with Pikachu."
What Nintendo really said: "We'll put your game in our E3 Direct and peek at you."

@electrolite77 You mean Reggie fondling his Pokeball while giving a Pikachu driveby without much information, 3:00 of 3rd party content delivered as strobe effects, and then Sakurai verbally reciting the Smash 4 changelog from his desk until the credits rolled wasn't perfectly suitable for an E3 presentation following Microsoft's 300x200ft stage in a building they own? You must be a Sony fanboy! All aboard the Nintendo hype train, choo-choo!

@MisterPi Why push the serious fighter from Arc that's kind of dominating the fighting world right now when your only major first party game is a party fighter that it competes against? You know they'd be singing Fighter Z from the rooftops were it not the year they have Smash.

@Knuckles-Fajita I thought you didn't like most of what Sony makes either

@Grumblevolcano I have this feeling, also, that NoA, and Treehouse in particular puts their own biases in their presentations far, far too much, and it explains a lot of history at Nintendo. Trinen and Armtower in that interview with NL made no secret that the whole of Treehouse have been smash nuts for decades. Granted, so was Iwata, he co-created the thing, but I feel like Treehouse thinks it's the greatest game ever therefore everyone thinks it's the greatest game ever and was to be given 100% of the showtime. They also seem to emphasize their belief that competitive Smash has been a design from the start. Almost simultaneously with Sakurai pretty much saying the polite Japanese version of "competitive Smashers go screw off." There's a stark contrast in the NoA presentation of Smash and the NCL presentation.

@NEStalgia I don't like most of what Sony makes. In fact I think I like less there. But for the sake of what works in my life games on Switch work better given I'm up and around a lot.

@Therad Agreed! Iwata was the Direct, and without him and the sort of "corporate comedy video" it's merely an advert.

@Knuckles-Fajita As Nintendo is fond of telling us, sometimes what people think they want isn't what they really want. People wanted less fluff and more streamlining. But what they really wanted was more actual content in general.

The whole joy of the Direct was instead of the old way of "check corporate website, read list of titles in coming soon section and view a trailer or summary" it was this entertaining presentation of being shown games by Nintendo itself. Keyword, it was entertaining. You watched a Direct to be entertained in equal measure with being informed about products you're interested in. The new Directs are just the old corporate website in an animated format. Flash sites for the Youtube age. They aren't entertaining, it's just an ad in list form, like those infomercials that run on continuous loop in front of the magical pet stain remover in Costco/Sam's/ASDA/Tesco/whatever it is on your side of the pond. I don't even get excited about watching them anymore....they're no more interesting, and less convenient than reading the summary on NL afterward. They're just not entertaining now. Which is bad since Nintendo is an entertainment company according to their charter....

@Therad Yep. Memorable moments: Iwata & Miyamoto with the vacuums. Mario & Luigi costumed characters with Iwata in gloves. Banana. Iwata in front of the big MK8 track. Iwata presenting Codename Steam patch. Iwata introducing the Digital Event from the boardroom. The Reggie Yokai skits. Of course the Reggie vs Iwata E3. Rooster Teeth E3. Regginator E3.

Post Iwata? Koizumi as Mr. Magician at the Switch Launch event. That was a spiritual successor of Iwata presentations. After that? Not a single thing. I remember nothing about a single direct and can't even place when they occurred. Not true. E3 2018. I remember a horribly paced E3 with a strobe barrage of 3rd party games followed by snoring through hours of Smash. Is that fame or infamy? I guess it's better than Shaun Layden in the commentators booth while unsuspecting journalists are shuffled out of a cramped church set they used for 10 minutes and featured a really really badly mic'd Gustavo Santaolalla followed by 10 minutes of uncomfortable torture porn? At least it's all better than Wii Music...

@Grumblevolcano The surprises are also leaked by the internet but a lot of that is because it takes Nintendo so long to announce things. Meanwhile MS managed to keep all their studio purchases ttally secret.

@NEStalgia I think a lot of what people comllained about led to solutions they didn't want.

@Knuckles-Fajita Always the way....

@NEStalgia Well its typical aint it.

I have two main problems with your theories.

1. It's incredibly obvious that the Smash Bros obsession at E3 was an attempt to recreate the success of the BOTW E3 2 years prior.
2. No one outside of Nintendo's hardcore fans (and honestly a niche within those hardcore fans) care about the personalities. I miss it, but it makes zero difference to anything ever.

Though I do agree with your general point of Nintendo missing the relevance of putting out an entertaining event, especially at E3.

@kkslider5552000 I don't think they were explicitly trying to recreate BOTW through focusing on Smash. They didn't do that with Odyssey last year, and it should be obvious to all that BOTW was huge because it was a major shakeup and modernization of a known franchise and got tons of press coverage for it, was a launch title without many other games, and because it was delayed for years. Smash is kind of a safe expected iterative game with more of an MK evergreen appeal to a casual audience than an "dominate E3" kind of presentation. Plus, they've painted Smash into the be-all-end-all before with the Iwata vs Reggie as the big opener, so it's not abnormal for them to put such importance on it. BOTW was a launch title where there weren't many games to pick from, they had to have a one trick pony. This year even Nintendo has a diverse lineup to showcase....I can't imagine even they're that dense to not understand the difference....BOTW year had no 3rd party list to read off!

The personalities specifically may not mean much outside the core, but keep in mind Directs really only reach the core to begin with. Plus no matter who the personalities are it should at least be entertaining. That was the main takeway. Nintendo is a company about fun, and their infotisements were fun. If they're not going to make them fun, why do them at all? Just post a coming soon list on the website and be done with it.

@kkslider5552000 I think rather than trying to recreate what happened with BotW 2 years ago, they were instead trying to prevent what happened with E3 3 years ago. At E3 2015, they let Smash DLC be its own Direct before E3 and was left with a disappointing main event in terms of games. This time they let the Smash content be over half of the main event to try and avoid creating a disappointing main event.

Which is silly cuz there were many games that didn't even include in the presentation that released this year, right?

@Grumblevolcano And in the end they focused too much on Smash after reflecting that Smash should have been in the main event last time it was relevant to the point people complained.