Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake It just seems pointless to have a docking station if that is all it does. Would be able to reduce the cost and price of the system if they had the HMDI in the device itself.

Then you're ignoring the fact that the dock also has other ports. Also how messy connecting and disconnecting this thing to your TV will be if you have to connect power, HDD, network, controllers, HDMI. How often would you connect your 3DS to your TV if it had as many things connected to it as your Wii U currently does. Much easier if it's a single connector that breaks out into other connectors via a dock. I think the reason this exists explains itself.

@skywake back to the portrait screen, do you think there will be a way to change controller spots. So if you do play in portrait mode, instead of the buttons on top and bottom, you could connect them to the sides? That is 1 reason i could see for detachable controllers. Not a great reason but a reason

To be fair, none of this matters if they have killer titles throughout the first year. You think about the consoles Nintendo has sold over the years. Only in this decade have we got consoles that are comfortable to hold or look sexy or even run good looking 3D games.

Remember there was a time when 8-bit and blocky controllers were all we had. But it didn't matter as long as we had Super Mario and Duck Hunt.

@Grandpa_Pixel People expect more from consoles now.

@DefHalan Not really. I listen to a lot of people both here, there and everywhere. Offline and online. At the end of the day they want only one thing as a collective agreement. Killer titles.

@Grandpa_Pixel Yes but we also need hardware designed for the current market. Offer fantastic titles with NES Controller and Atari 2600 graphics, most people won't be interested

Well yeh but that's picking at the fine points of what I said. My point was no matter how good the hardware, it means nothing if all there is are worthless titles. This is why I don't believe VR will take off just yet. It is close though

@Grandpa_Pixel I agree but hardware is still an important topic, especially when it comes down to the type of software it will be able to run.

Support for Unreal Engine 4 is probably the most important thing there.

Well yes, but you sort of miss the point by giving such an extreme example.

The graphics/resolution on this device sound respectable, but not industry-leading. If it's got great games and a decent number of them (as Grandpa said), then I don't think many people will lose their poop over it being behind in power of the XBox/PS4.

The Wii U imo didn't fail because it was underpowered. It failed because there was little of note on the system. No brand new Zelda, no proper 3D Mario (3D World doesn't count imo), no Metroid. I think it would have fared a lot better if it had a more steady supply of games and offered the major titles people really wanted. Seems like the NX is attempting to resolve both those issues and I expect it'll fare reasonably well.

@dtjive No matter how great software is, if the hardware isn't at an acceptable level (not just talking about power) then people won't buy the system. The current NX rumors sound like the hardware design and functionality will be getting in the way of a lot of people's enjoyment. We have to wait and see, but there has been this notion that if the NX launches with Zelda, like the Wii did, then it will sell amazingly well.

I don't see Nintendo being able to support a system more powerful than the Wii U (which is how powerful most people are saying it is) much better than how they supported the Wii U. The normal reply is they merged their portable and home software developers to increase output, but we haven't seen any increased output yet and that happened a while ago. Also the NX is going to be more powerful, which will mean development will take even more. We have already seen the NX delayed because of Software, do we really expect Nintendo, without 3rd Party support, to be able to release multiple games a month, both small and large games, without long droughts?

That will depend on the game, most likely the machine will support outputting 1080p resolution, even if most games don't support that resolution.

Probably SD cards but with larger games than stardard Wii U games (Smash Bros 4 is 13 GB on Wii U) it is really low and cheap SD cards won't help much. Having a external hard drive at home that you have to transfer games to and from before you leave sounds very clunky.

3DS and the Wii U GamePad are about 3 hours. I wouldn't expect the NX to last much longer than that. I would hope it would, but I wouldn't expect it.

Not 3rd Parties that aren't already supporting Nintendo. The "western" developers aren't going to be interested because of its low power. Maybe Nintendo could give them money for ports, like Nvidia does for Shield ports, but I don't see that helping in the long run.

@FragRed which is why I said on here weeks ago that the NX is not a hybrid. It is a handheld which simply allows TV out. People speculating that the Wii U dock would have extra power were just hoping for that.

@AlternateButtons considering it is a handheld and western third parties stopped supporting handheld gaming years ago I would suggest you keeps expectations low.

The NX will gets lots of Japanese 3rd party support though without a doubt

This rumour mill has just knocked me into overdoing my purchases on a PC and going for a top end system, because then I can work and play all the games, as right now, the way these rumours are popping up more and more I'm less disappointed and more...meh. Its hard to explain.

I kinda/sorta feel the same way, but I just keep reminding myself that we're still just looking at leaked stuff and possibilities. I'm going to stay in autopilot until Nintendo comes out and actually tells us about their own system - I don't think anyone else can do as good a job at describing it fully (gosh I hope not lol).

Well if the Wii U is any indication, they are not good at communicating the ideas of their consoles to people, lol.

I have an amazing theory about the NX. If it isn't true, I really wish it would be. So here it is:
(This is going to sound like the common rumors at first, but bear with me.)

Nintendo has by this point, if not all along, given up the idea that its late CEO seemed to indicate: two devices, one console and one handheld, but with the same games. They have instead made a hybrid handheld/console that is primarily a console. It's a tablet-like device with detachable controllers on the sides. When at home, it connects wirelessly to a box that will allow better/faster operation, better resolution, and amazingly smooth multiplayer (this is supported by Nintendo patents, just like many more details in this theory). You first buy the NX with the box hub and a tablet device (from now on referred to as "screen(s)"), but then you purchase additional screens if you want. When you take your screens on the go, gameplay is not as impressive as at home; the screens will have only okay graphics capability and may be slower. When wirelessly connected to the home hub, you can use your TV (also connected, with a cord, to the hub) as the main screen and it'll have great speed, graphics performance, resolution, etc., rivaling the PS4 and XB1, and the screen will be used in a way similar to the way the Wii U Pad is when the Wii U is played on a TV. You'll want to have your detachable controllers hooked up most of the time, especially at home, but there will be some app-like games where this is optional (Pokémon Go?!). There may also be a way to just buy extra detachable controllers and use only those during multiplayer mode, one in each hand and the infared signals being received by the hub box instead of the screen (see patents). Your friends can also bring their NX screens to your house to play multiplayer on your hub.

And here's where it gets really good: As anyone can tell based on recent news of new 3DS games, the 3DS isn't being phased out. The 3DS will remain the primary handheld. And the NX WILL use game cards, not discs. But it will also be "backwards" compatible with 3DS games. They will go into the same game slot, which will probably be on the NX screen. Although, Nintendo could opt for a second game card slot on the hub box for multiplayer; however this is unlikely. To continue with the current trend, many more Wii U games will be released for 3DS, such as Mario Kart 8. Popular/favorite games from the original Wii will be available digitally in the NX e-Shop. These will be compatible with old Wii Motion Plus controllers as well as the NX detachables.

Like I said, current and forthcoming 3DS games will be compatible with the NX. If you want to play them on the NX screen, both 3DS screen areas will appear against a black background, the bottom one responsive to touch (& stylus?) and the top one controlled by the detachable controllers. It'll be a lot like a 2DS, so think of it that way if it helps. Now if you want to play 3DS games on the TV screen, the top screen will be visible only on the TV screen and the bottom screen will be visible only on the NX screen. You can touch the bottom one still, and the top one is still controlled by the detachable controllers. Regular Nintendo DS games may even be supported!

The reason for all this is that Nintendo still wants to keep a dedicated handheld (for the portability factor, at least) and doesn't want to leave the customers who love 3D in the dark. 3DS games will continue to be made and the 3DS will continue to be supported. 3DS games will help the NX get popular even before it has a ton of dedicated games, but there will be no shortage of these, either. Some NX titles will also be released for 3DS, but NX games will have a slightly higher price point of about $60 due to their premium quality and better functionality on the NX. (The people who buy, say Pokémon Lava or something for the 3DS just to save money on the NX version will have the cost of lower quality and that split-screen-ish feature that will probably get slightly annoying.)

Thus, Nintendo's late CEO's idea of games made for both console and handheld has evolved nicely to include the 3DS and not make people choose between a handheld NX and a console NX.

@rallydefault I'm at the point where it's best just to look as far as the current gen games I'm looking forward to. For Wii U that is FAST Racing NEO DLC, Color Splash and VC. For 3DS that is Federation Force (bought today), ALBW pack, Sun/Moon, etc.