Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

1. Sony has a stronger fanbase than Nintendo. They'll require less persuasion and/or need to spend less time convincing other consumers to purchase this product.
2. Nintendo's console (like all other gens recently) seems to run against the conventional grain of what console gaming is. There's more needed to convey about what the NX is than what the new PS4 is. Sony can simply say "it's what you know, but more powerful and supports 4k" and people will get it.
3. Nintendo seem to aiming for a blue ocean- or at least- casual gamers as well as core gamers. In that sense, it'll take longer to both a) reach the appropriate target audience and b) convince that audience that they should get this product.

I'm not saying 3 months is impossible btw, but it seems much safer to give yourself more time to explain your product to consumers.

Edit: just to add that remember playstation VR- something which is different to traditional console gaming- was announced much further in advance to the release date. So it would seem that even Sony understands the basic idea of giving yourself enough time to explain a product.

But how much info has we gotten on PSVR really? And did it translate to a big hype?

I don't think it's necessarily about either of those things. The point is that a good amount of time gives it plenty of time for people to hear about it; find more information about it; listen to professional opinions about it; as well as for people to convince themselves that this is something they want.

In basic terms it's the mere exposure effect- the more exposure to a certain concept the more you begin to like it. And that doesn't mean necessarily that Sony have to do all that talking about it. In fact, it's more about getting other mediums to talk about it and continuing to have a steady discussion around a variety of mediums that will link to a broader consumer base to find out about the product.

Case in point- I was speaking to a friend this weekend and I mentioned Nintendo's new coming system is due to be announced soon. He had heard nothing of it. Zilch. Not the codename, not the hybridity, nothing. In contrast, he was fully aware of the PSVR.

@MarcelRguez Hyping up a Mario runner is much easier than hyping up a new console because of just how many people own iOS devices. Compared to iOS, Nintendo's consoles are a tiny dot on a radar.

Nintendo really could clear up after the PS conference. No chance of the PS4 Pro stealing light from the NX now, just up to the NX to impress.

One week to let the dust settle on the Mario Run news and the Pro reveal and then on the 15th "join us on the 29th September as we get set to unveil our new console".

The PlayStation conference last night did not seem to go down too well overall and being it is essentially a slim line of an existing console and a second slight upgrade, as far as the media are concerned I think Nintendo revealing a brand new system will be the more appealing of the two. And with October being the launch of the PlayStation VR which is likely to sell very very well judging by pre-orders, I think Nintendo needs to get their reveal out the door well before the end of the month or risk losing the limelight as Sony really starts upping the marketing of their PSVR.

When in October is that coming out?

@Grandpa_Pixel In the UK it's 13th October - so early in the month.

Spot on imo.

Ideally Nintendo announce a reveal date next week which happens before the end of September. This would mean they can get info about the NX out before Sony goes for one last VR push.

But I think Nintendo might wait for after VR drops to announce the system.

@dtjive It seems like Nintendo keeps waiting for something to happen or be released by every other company out there before they reveal the NX. They'll probably wait for themselves to release the NX before the reveal just in case it steals their ideas

@FragRed I think they're waiting for the NX to reveal itself.

Maybe there is a hidden ARG that will unfold over time but no one has found it yet!!!

I don't expect them to "beat the iPhone", that's not going to happen. It's more a case of them riding the wave of hype generated by the mobile game announcement. Kinda like how interest in the 3DS and in particular the Pokemon games jumped after the success of Pokemon Go. It's in Nintendo's interest to make people connect the dots between the NX and their mobile releases.

@skywake 3DS has been around for years and is pretty cheap now though. The ability to buy straight away helps the situation a lot whereas with NX you're waiting at least 6 months for anything. Hype caused in September could easily fade by March especially if the internet tears the console apart like they did the Wii U.

@Grumblevolcano The later Nintendo waits to reveal the NX, the more people will expect something bigger and more amazing only to be greatly let down and disappointed at the official showing.

That's one reason Sony's conference last night disappointed so many - Sony waited so long to reveal the next iterations of their consoles that everyone knew was coming.

@FragRed Well I think Nintendo waited too long anyway especially with its existence teased nearly 18 months ago so I'd imagine the expectations are too high even now hence it doesn't really matter when they reveal it.

@FragRed To be fair, the presentation itself was a bit on the boring side. The hardware didn't disappoint, it was exactly what we knew it was going to be. Although that did damper the surprise a bit. Mark Cerny, I love the guy, but when he gives us a 30 minute history lesson on 4K TVs, then yeah, I can understand why people were a bit bored. The reveal in Asia was a lot more spectacular. And if TGS wasn't coming next week, I'm sure they would've thrown a couple of games in there to get people talking about the event. Unfortunate timing, leaks and the pretty ''formal'' style of the conference were the things that made it less exciting than it could've been.

I'd say that it's more a question of how much more NX leaks we'll get, and how Nintendo will handle the reveal. It can go either way TBH.

@Grumblevolcano The internet didn't tear the Wii U apart. The Wii U was the wrong product to the times we live in to begin with. Its Nintendo's fault, they failed to understand what each audience wanted, they failed to turn it into a desirable product, they failed to explain the product they had, they failed to supply it with a steady pipeline of games.... not a bunch of whiny teenagers on the Web.

The Xbox One was butchered like a cow in the slaughterhouse online from the reveal to its release, but Microsoft managed to turn it around. They listened to some of the criticism and reacted accordingly.

Just wondering... How many of the recently announced 3DS games (Pikmin, Mario Maker, Yoshi, etc) were leaked? What about the NES Mini or Super Mario Run? I may be wrong but I can't recall any leaks.

I'm starting to think all the so-called leakers know as much as anybody else. Nothing. The NX could be something completely different to what people are expecting.

I sure hope so, because the current "leaks" are not something I'm fond of.