Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Peek-a-boo I feel like that's a trap people fall into. Games look good. It's silly to say that pretty-at-the-time sixth gen games look ugly now, and it's flat-out ridiculous to assert that eighth gen games will ever look ugly. That's the kern of truth to Microsoft stopping their participation in console generations—they know that games aren't going to take this huge leap ever again because developing graphics at that level is financially untenable.

Yes and no. I agree that it doesn't mean much because third parties are always going to say this sort of thing. Not just because they want to build bridges but because this is Nintendo. If anyone can pull a rabbit out of a hat it's them. It'd be incredibly bad business to write them off and potentially miss the next big thing.

And on that note I really don't agree with your dismissal of it based on the Eurogamer rumour. There are more ways to be a hit product than raw power. You don't have to be a clone of the most popular system on the market to do well. Content and price are just as if not more important than how many GFLOPs it has. If power was all that mattered people wouldn't buy consoles, phones and tablets.

Could you explain to me what you mean by a 'prime time to reveal'?

Whilst I wouldn't go as far to suggest that Nintendo could get away with announcing this thing in Feb for a March launch, I think that an idea of needing to reveal this thing six months before launch is a misnomer. Why can't Nintendo reveal it in December and have 3 months of aggressive promotion/advertising to support the launch? What is it that requires 6 months exactly to make a console launch successful?

Time between Wii U reveal and Wii U release: 17 months.

@dtjive I think the idea of 6 months comes about because even with social media, it takes that long for people to hear about things and get properly excited. Nintendo aren't exactly known for good marketing and communication. Also 6 months allows time for the average consumer to save up for the new console, controllers and launch games. Bare in mind such a purchase is a luxury to most.

So... the length of time between reveal and launch is unrelated to success of the console?

Your first sentence seems very speculative. Is there any evidence for this?

Agreed consumers saving up is important as not everyone has disposable income to go out and buy a brand new console. But the length of time needed would be dependent on the price right? So if the NX was priced as a handheld rather than home console (e.g. in the $200-250 region, rather than $350-400 region) then there would be less need for 6 months?

Just to play devils advocate- can anyone see a problem if Nintendo did this:

December 6th: announce a Nintendo NX Direct. Invite journalists for a special press event where they get hands on with the NX before public reveal
December 13th: NX hardware announced- specs, pricing, launch date (March 4th) etc. Nintendo hold back on revealing all the launch titles to build up suspense but show a new BotW trailer announcing it as a launch title for the NX. Journalists have articles ready to go about the NX.
January 10th: Another Nintendo NX direct announced to talk more about software.
January 16th: Software direct detailing all launch (and post-launch titles for the NX). Also announce that people will get the chance to have a hands on with NX at Nintendo stores.

A two-step direct would be a neat way of getting two (free) moments in the media spotlight about your upcoming device and would also leave Nintendo neatly placed for a final 6-8 week advertising push of the NX and software.

Is there anything else they really need to do? Seems like it can all be done in 3-4 months no problem

I can say for myself that the Wii was the first console I knew about before launch. And I've always been a bit of a techie. I first knew about the DS when I saw a friend with one. Most platforms before then I found out about either because a friend had one or because I saw it in a shop/catalogue. And it's not like I didn't have access to the internet then either.

And I reckon most consumers are still the same. They won't know about the NX until it's effectively on the store shelves. Most people don't follow this sort of thing very closely at all. The people who do? Well we're probably going to buy into it anyways. The only reason pre-launch hype matters is because it gets us all buying it at launch. The more of us buy into it? The more we're talking about it to other people. And these days that means Facebook, twitter, twitch, youtube etc.

@dtjive that's not devils advocate, that's sanity.

oh wait...

By December most people will have decided on PS4 Pro and Scorpio and Nintendo will be too late to build up a decent consumer base. They have to say something before then to keep from getting ignored.

That and yes, they need plenty of time to control the message and allow word of mouth and social media to reach every corner of the market. Social media works fast, but not that fast.

@MarcelRguez
I wasn't disagreeing with you. I was more making the point that even back then news travelled fast enough. Most consumers didn't know the console even existed until it was on the shelves. It's not that different now. There really doesn't need to be this massively long build up before launch.

The only reason people are complaining about this is because they're impatient. I think we all want to sit down and watch a Direct about the NX. That would be pretty awesome. But that doesn't mean Nintendo are completely screwing themselves over by waiting a bit. Or that there's some kind of deadline that Nintendo need to hit. As long as they announce it early enough for retailers to advertise? They're good.

Anyone buying the PS4 Pro has already made that decision months ago. It doesn't seem like the type of system to attract a bunch of new customers.

@TheLZdragon Precisely, I think Nintendo's direct competion will be the PS4 Slim and Xbox One/S, not the Pro or Scorpio. At least I hope Nx is able to compete with the former, even if it is the rumoured hybrid.

@MarcelRguez The Pro announcement has been so lacklustre to me, the only thing it compelled me to consider was if it was worth getting a PS4 Slim or even the original model.

@TheLZdragon The Pro wad just officially revealed two weeks ago(?). NEO rumours have been arouns for longer, but outside of the minority that spends their time online talking about gaming, people didn't know about it. The same way people don't know about the NX currently. Like skywake said; The majority of people don't know about systems until they hit the store shelves; also seeing TV ads, word of mouth and seeing the system at your friend's house. I friend of mine bought an Xbox One S a while back, when I asked him why he didn't wait for a PS4 Slim, PS4 Pro or Scorpio, he simply answered that he didn't even know about those systems.

I have a PS4, and to be honest unless you already have a 4K TV, I can't see a reason to upgrade to the Pro.
I did the same with the 3DS, why upgrade to the new 3DS, when only a handful of games are exclusive to it?.

Anyway back NX, I can't see a reveal this side of Christmas I think they have missed the boat on that. I'm going for a late Jan reveal and launch in March.

Well yeah, like I said, anyone buying a Pro was going to buy it anyway. I doubt the NX would have swayed them away, especially since it's coming out next year.

The speculation is quite fun. If it isn't for you, why join?

@skywake

Honestly, skywake, I'm shocked! You weren't a Nintendo Power subscriber? Or Electronic Gaming Monthly or any other magazine?

Before the interwebs was a thing (or at least a common thing), I was subscribed to almost every gaming magazine out there. PC Gamer, EGM, Nintendo Power... fond memories. I knew about every upcoming console and got all the spun information lol (from Nintendo Power at least).

@rallydefault I had a couple of magazines in the late 90s. I bought them thinking they would give the great insight in the gaming world. Turns out they were filled with speculation and other BS. They even had those false Pokemon rumours in it; ''To find Mew under the truck...'' Garbage! Never bought a magazine again.