Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Octane We (the royal 'we') said the same when Bayonetta 2 came out. 1 or 2 games isn't going to do it, and maybe there's just not enough developers out there that can be relied upon to produce Top Tier games via contract, but 10 games, none of which are traditional Nintendo games (i.e. probably 3rd party) that are exclusive to the console and in the vein of 87+ on metacritic, would be noticed. It might not make the NX sell 100 million units, or even 50 million, but it would restore Nintendo's hardware reputation, which would then pay dividends for after NX.

@gcunit Definitely. Are we also considering multiplat games though? Variety is definitely necessary. I would've argued that they needed to start building their new reputation with the Wii U, but it's a bit too late for that.

@Octane Not really considering mutiplats, no. They're an additional thing, but we've seen that multiplats kinda require fairly comparable hardware performance. Nintendo doesn't seem prepared to do that, and so the Wii, Wii U and 3DS don't have the same version of the multiplats, or in the Wii U's case, only gets multiplats that belonged on the previous generation of hardware (Darksiders 1 remaster being the only non-indie exception I can think of, and it's just a last gen remaster).

Exclusive experiences are where the reputation is earned. Nintendo can buy exclusive experiences without having to make its hardware as powerful as the rivals. It probably won't pay off in the NX lifetime, but I feel it's necessary longer term.

@gcunit I think it would take a LOT more than 10 measly quality exclusives to fix their reputation in the home console market. However, it ultimately doesn't matter as the NX is primarily a handheld (assuming the Eurogamer leaks are true), and their handhelds don't have the negative, broken reputation that their home consoles do.

@IceClimbers I think the NX may well be the first to receive a negative reputation. People are already questioning the home console part of it in terms of power. And no matter how Nintendo sells it as a handheld first and foremost, the very fact it has a underpowered home console section is enough reason for that to become the focal point of negativity around it.

@skywake the Wii U works with a external hard drive because the Wii U isn't portable. The NX with an external hard drive connected to the dock makes the system very clinky in the way they handle data. It doesn't fit the idea of a portable system.

@IceClimbers Well... Nintendo's reputation obviously has other issues with regard to OS, online infrastructure, voicechat etc. but ultimately it all comes down to games for most of us. If Nintendo had a console with 10 3rd party games (I'm excluding Mario, though maybe not Zelda BotW cos that looks genuinely new in its approach to Zelda that will hopefully have quite wide appeal) that scored 87+ on metacritic (after 30+ reviews) then it kinda suggests those issues have either been overcome and the games are proof of that, or that those issues aren't that significant.

I realise I'm probably in dreamland. It's probably harder/more expensive than ever to secure top-rate exclusives given the amount of competition across PC, PS and XB right now.

There's my guesses!

@Moshugan NES 2000 just reminds me of Knightrider 2000 Where'd you get your inspiration for 2000 from?

@gcunit It was a sugggestion from my dear old sister. :---)
Nintendo Entertainment System is just such a sleek and fancy name, but it needs something to differentiate from the original. NES X sounds cool, but Xbox already has the dibs on the letter.
New NES would just be tacky.

I wasn't talking about it being similar to the Wii U practically. I was talking about it being similar to the Wii U technically. It might not be as useful having a HDD connected to the NX's dock as it is having one connected to the Wii U. But technically it's not much different. And as a system that can be used on the TV? It's better to have that option than not.

Better to have to copy over that digital copy of game to your SD card via the dock than to re-download it. Better to have that much more storage in the dock for higher res textures and the like than not. And maybe the dock has a small CPU in it, like a little ARM chip. If so it could download content to a connected HDD while the portable unit is not docked.

If they're going to blur the lines between home console and portable? They should blur the lines.

They shouldn't blur the lines by lacking storage space on the pirtable. They shouldn't blur the lines by having a clunky data transfer from an at home external to a portable. If they really want to blur the lines, then then need to make sure the portable can do everything a home console can on the go. Maybe having an external at home will help not have to re-download and delete games but I would rather there be enough storage, or support for big enough SD cards where a external isn't needed. Having an external that is rarely hooked up to the main system doesn't make the system better. With the Wii U the hard drive is always there, meaning it makes no difference to the user, it is simple to use.

@DefHalan
All I'm saying is that the dock should have USB ports and that they should allow the use of an external HDD. That's it. I'm not saying it's a better option than a huge SD card or an alternative to a huge amount of flash. I'm just saying it'd be a good idea to support an external HDD on the dock.

I'll put it this way. If they have a HDD in the unit itself the thing will be too bulky. So they'll have to go with flash. But how much? Well 32GB probably isn't enough but if they push it too much beyond 64GB or so? The price will skyrocket. And they can do SD card expansion but then we're talking around 10x the $/GB of a portable HDD.

I don't see why we should be limited by the size of an SD card and the cost of flash when the device is in a dock. Especially not just because it's not as elegant. Maybe there are some games I don't need to carry around with me everywhere I go. But why shouldn't they be waiting for me at home?

Things like this is why I'm not too fond of a hybrid. Which sounds great on paper, but has many other issues that would need to be ironed out. I'm wondering if it'll be a true hybrid of just a handheld with a TV out port.

@skywake External Hard Drives can technically work. I don't think that it is a good solution to the storage space problem they will have.

Actually that is the main reason I was talking hybrid. The portable system is going to top the Wii u, which gives Nintendo a different kind of product.

Perhaps the asymmetrical gameplay of Nintendo land will return with the use of the smartphone you already have?

Bleh, I hope not. I hope this thing has proper controllers for multiplayer usage. Unless it really is just a handheld in which case everyone will need their own

The whole idea of a dock with additional storage space imo is fine, but it depends on how long it takes to transfer one game to the dock, and another to the tablet. If we're talking of a system that takes less than 5 minutes then it'll be fine imo (but something they can work on improving in the future) but I think more realistically it'd take 15+ mins which would be a dealbreaker for most I expect.

The way forward is to go with 32gb storage and then for those that want to invest in digital games they can get an SD card that suits their needs. Okay, it sucks to put that cost on the consumer but if the NX is cheaper then it sort of mitigates that.

Edit: also agree with skywake that you should be able to hook up an external hard drive to the dock if you want the extra space that way.

The dock and/or SCD (Supplemental Computing Device) containing additional CPU / GPU /RAM resources is the only thing that could make NX interesting for me.

A handheld alone, that simply uses the dock for storage and HDMI out to TV is not going to sell me on NX.

Well that is what the rumors say it is