Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

My point isn't so much about the consumer, but the return to Nintendo. Does this extra cost in USD reflect any extra costs to them for selling in the UK?

@BiasedSonyFan It's not as if there's no difference between the Wii Remote and 4K media playback. One changes the way you play games and limits the amount of games playable on the console, the other is just an extra feature. The GamePad itself didn't do anything wrong, cause it does what every controller does, but it does look like a clunky oversized Fisher-Price toy, and it was expensive. Of course, those aren't the only reasons that the Wii U didn't fly off the store shelves.

Also not sure where that 4K rant is coming from, but I do have a question, how many of the households that own a video game console are expected to have a 4K TV by the end of this year, or next year? I reckon that's more than the 15% or 50% you mentioned.

"Gimmicks" that add to the way you play, or enhance the way you play, is definitely very different than completely changing and restricting how you play a game (starfox zero) . Nintendo is just a ton more eccentric with their "gimmicks" than Sony or Microsoft, who stick to what gamers know and instead opt for more software based ideas to get people interested.

My gripe with the word "gimmick" is that it's entirely subjective, and it's use it=s usually biased towards features that were one-off (which we can try to predict, but only really know in hind-sight). Where do you draw the line? Was the rumble pak a gimmick? Touch screens? Wireless controllers? Internet connectivity? Is VR?

There's a lot more to it than a simple exchange rate though. I often point out that exchange rates are overused in arguments regarding comparisons across regions.

@BiasedSonyFan I meant in the sense that it's the only way you can play the game. You can't play with regular controls. And yes people learn but those controls are specific to that game. If they were used in every wii u game then maybe I'd see your point. Plus, I think the general consensus is that they were a bad idea.

It kinda does. The average 60+-year old couple won't get a 4K TV anytime soon, they won't be buying consoles either. I think that the people with gaming as a hobby, and especially younger people (age 20-30) are in the group that upgrades to a 4K TV first when they become affordable. They are also the most likely people to buy a home console. And the people who can afford a gaming console and multiple games, are more likely to be able to afford a 4K TV than people who can't afford a gaming console. So even if there's only a 15% market saturation for 4K TVs by the end of this year, I think that there's a big overlap between the people that buy 4K TVs and the people that buy gaming consoles. You're treating the two variables as completely random, when they aren't. So the 50% market saturation by the end of 2020? That doesn't mean that only 50% of the home console owners own a 4K TV by then, it's more likely the saturation of 4K TVs is a lot higher for home console owners.

Well, the Wii lacked a second control stick to begin with. And just the general lay-out made it that the games were limited to a certain set of controls. Not saying that you can't make good games on those systems, but it's important for stuff like third party support. I personally found a lot of the Wii games that relied heavily on motion controls to be nothing more than fancy tech demos. Some worked, but the controls in most games were kinda wonky. So I can completely understand why people don't like the waggle motion controls. And let's not pretend that this is some western aversion towards motion controls. The Wii sales from Japan were only a fraction of the sales in the west. The Wii has the same ratio of sales in Japan as the PS4 for example.

I also disagree about ''accepting'' the GamePad. There was nothing to accept, it does everything a regular controller does, it only looks a bit weird. And it lacks analog triggers.. Other than that, it's pretty similar. Anyway, that's not what caused the Wii U to become the commercial joke that it is, it was the lack of marketing, the different architecture, the incapability to run third party games, and therefore the lack of support, the lack of sales as a result and finally a downward spiral from there on.

Hmm. Call of duty black ops was best on Wii.

Played it a lot too.

The 4k adoption rate is more important/higher than you guys think. Since we're discussing games, to just ask such a broad question like "How many households are expected to have 4k TVs in 2017?" is pretty darn unfair. So you want to lump in half the population or more (baby boomers - ages 51-69) into data that you're going to try and impress upon video game consoles? Maybe you guys do, but I don't know many 65 year-olds who are on the cutting edge of video games; my dad's not rushing out to buy Gears 4 or anything this weekend.

The question you should ask is how many MILLENIAL households (ages 18-34) will have 4k TVs in 2017 and beyond, as that is your key age market for video game consoles. Not only does that include your "hardcore" gamers of high school and college age, but also your young adults and young family households. Those are the people/places you would likely see 4k TV adoption, and that's most likely where Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony are looking when evaluating the usefulness of going 4k. And my guess would be that the adoption rate within that age group, AKA the one that actually matters to game companies, is MUCH higher than what some of you are citing.

I think many people would agree that pointer controls are a very good alternative to traditional controls for first person shooters. But I'd give that up if it meant a traditional control scheme for every other genre

I agree.

I'd love to see Wiimote compatibiity return, but only in a completely optional way. The NX controller should be compatible with, and the standard for, every game, but I'd be quite happy to see, for example, FPSs having Wiimote and mouse/keyboard compatibility.

On the rants about 4K there's one simple point I'll make here. How many people had 1080p sets when the Wii launched? We're about at a similar point now with 4K I'd argue.

@skywake
Lol "rants" - so if we have stuff to say you assign it a negative word? People are making good points, my friend. And it's kind of a huge deal. If the NX isn't capable of not only running games at 4k, but running them well, Nintendo can very much find this sparkling new system of theirs stalling out a couple years down the line when its competitors are anchored in with capable tech.

@rallydefault
I didn't mean any negative connotations. I only used that word because my response was going to be short and dispassionate by comparison. The simple point is that 4K, whatever you think of the merits, is about as big now as 1080p was in 2006. Which is to say that it doesn't matter much at this very moment. But like 1080p it might matter a lot very quickly.

I was looking for a source to back up my claim that UHDTVs now are where HDTVs were in 2006. But if you go based on these numbers? It's actually moving quite a bit faster. Though to be fair this is the sets themselves. I'm pretty sure content isn't moving anywhere near as fast. UHD content barely exists....

http://venturebeat.com/2016/09/19/4k-uhd-tvs-are-being-adopte...

@skywake
Yea, 4k content is pretty darn slim right now. But based on what you're showing, actual hardware adoption is on the ups. I expect to see some aggressive bumps in available 4k content through 2017. I am starting to see advertisements for certain programs being available in UHD on some of the main channels here in the U.S. (Fox/ABC/NBC/CBS). I believe certain portions of the Olympics this summer were available in UHD, too.

And we know Sony and Microsoft have it firmly in their sights.

@BiasedSonyFan
"The market that they're trying to appeal to doesn't even care about that." Seriously, man? Some of the stuff you type just makes me shake my head. As a Nintendo fan firmly in Nintendo's target market, you certainly do NOT speak for my feelings on the matter. You've gotta stop making these absolute statements that assume YOU know what EVERY consumer wants.

The NX will most likely not be able to run games in 4K out-of-the-box, but that's what the Supplemental Computing Device is for, isn't it?

@Moshugan Yes, that's right - 4k, and toasted sandwiches.

SCD = Sandwich Crisping Device.

To be fair, people really don't understand 4k. They only know it is better than 1080p. With the right marketing, it will sell. Just look at any gamer forum, many want 4k. Not because they benefit from it, but a perceived benefit.

I think 4k can pick up speed fairly quickly, since the price has gone down rapidly. I bought a second TV recently, and the difference between 1080p and 4k with hdr was quite small.

HDR btw, is where gamers could gain better graphics. That is what we should hope for.

The SCD patent is really misquoted. It is more about sharing cpu power over the internet than graphics processing. For me it sounded like a way for someone to more or less outsource their server infrastructure. So a box like that could be used for replacing Mario kart servers for example.