Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

There is no reason to believe the Switch will be backward compatible. It only has one screen, which makes it impossible to properly play almost every 3DS and Wii U title.

@AlliMeadow Well you can't completely dismiss it as Nintendo's confirmed there's key Switch features that they purposely didn't put in the trailer to avoid confusion like what happened with the Wii U reveal.

@AlliMeadow Wii U games are basically impossible since the other screen is inside the dock while playing on TV and there's no place for Wii U discs. 3DS games as well as DS games could be possible if they divide the screen into two like what Wii U DS VC can do. If the resolution is good enough, you can fit both screens when the screen is horizontally making you able to play quite normally, or you can turn it vertically and have bigger screens but now the controls are in weird places but you can always put the screen on table and take the controllers in your hands. Touch screen based games are usually either fully touch screen or one hand on stylus and one using buttons so you can have one controller in your hand while you have a stylus in your other hand. But there's no mention of touchscreen or gyroscopes yet and in any case 3DS and DS backwards compatibility is unfortunately quite low chance. In addition to those, they haven't shown if Wiimotes are still usable with the console. If they're not, there won't be Wii VC either.

I'm not saying it can't happen. We just have no reason to believe it will, so little that hoping for it is more like wishing than speculating, which I find quite tedious to discuss when there are actual information to speculate about.

Neogaf's fumming at the fact that they're gonna have to be reasonable and wait a little over 2 months to see what the launch games will be along with the run of games thereafter. Apparently if you have a few CGI trailers for games that are years away from releasing at a corporate back-slapping event you're heralded as The Stuff of Dreams but showing gameplay of games when they're all but done and ready to go is a confirmation that you've 'learned nothing'.

If I've said it once I've said it a thousand billion times but I'll say it again here that modern hype culture really disappoints me. No wonder Square-Enix are more than happy to just throw Dragon Quest XI, Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts 3 among others out into the wild without any sign of how those games are going to, you know, release for years. We're nearly at the end of the 10 year road for one of those, wonder if Square-Enix will try to beat that for one of those other 3? The hype train needs more CGI SE hop to it!

@Late What troubles me a little about the prospect of 3DS games on Switch, is that the hardware is unlikely to include 3DS architecture, so I presume it would need to rely on emulation. And given that there aren't any successful 3DS emulators for PC out there yet, I'd be surprised if Switch can handle it. Obviously Nintendo is in as good a position as anyone to build a proper emulator, so here's hoping...

@Late Well digital Wii U games could be possible hence why My Nintendo is focusing on trying to get people to rebuy their Wii U games digitally.

Sure I'm expecting no BC for either system but it's not impossible given how little we actually know about the Switch. The only thing that's definitely no is physical Wii U games.

@gcunit @skywake

I guess i will continue my thread here since this is the only forum in existence that thinks more threads is bad if they have a similar topic. So, so strange.

Skywake, here is the difference between this and Nintendo's old consoles: wii = unique word. Gamecube = unique word and sounds like a gaming console. nintenso entertainment system and super nintendo entertainment system sound like gaming consoles.

The n64 is a bit of an outlier but it was coming off a decade of Nintendo dominance and guess what? It got its butt kicked.

You also made up a quote that i said Nintendo was doomed. Yet again somwthing that was never said. You should look into why you hear what you want to hear vs what is actually being said.

I simply said it could be an even bigger misstep than the Wii U as far as naming goes.

I am pumped for it. I am predicting it to join the ranks of what i consider my holy gaming console trinity: SNES, N64, & PS1 as far as quality. The confirmed lineup of BOTW, a proper looking 3D Mario title, a Mario Kart and Smash title, and the 2 Dragon Quest games have literally already put it ahead of Wii U's lineup, to me.

@gcunit That's a good point. If someone knows how to make a 3DS emulator, it's Nintendo since it's their handheld. Unfortunately, Switch's power might not be able to run it, even if they can make one.

I've been thinking about this, and you know what? I like it more than I first thought it would. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of things that I'd like to know; price, battery life, and some of the controller specs. Do we already know whether the Joy-cons have separate triggers? Anyway, I like the fact that they're doing away with the gimmicky controls. Playing games on the go is their new gimmick, and that's a way better one IMO. Nintendo has always excelled in the handheld space, so the idea of taking big home console games on the go can work out brilliantly for them. Although I personally wouldn't use the feature a lot, I do like the occasional off-TV play that the Wii U offered. And there's the fact that they're now doing something that a PC, console, tablet or mobile can't. You can't play Skyrim on your phone, and a PC can't play Skyrim on the go. I like their new marketing too; a console for people with a busy life, no kids and no grandparents in the trailer. Kids will play anything that adults do, focus on adults and the younger generation will follow. Free marketing essentially.

So yeah, Nintendo surprised me, the concept looks promising and I like their new marketing approach. Octane approved.

@skywake And it's currently Nintendo's most popular video, it just passed the BOTW trailer. Don't know what they're doing, but it works!

@LetsGoRetro Neogaf have closed, dozens, I repeat dozens of Switch threads already, and have even locked, unlocked then locked again certain ones. Their policy is 'new news = new thread' and I bet for sure your thread would've been locked there too. Don't know why you're taking that so hard.

Though I was about to reply in your thread before it locked I'll give my thoughts here. Do you really think that anyone who sees trailers/advertisements/plain walking into a game shop in March and see the box will look at it and think- "hmmmmm Nintendo Switch eh? I see it looks like a console and then there's all those video games as well, but nah I'm good for switches thanks if only this thing played games now I'd be up for that!".

I do totally understand how/why the stereotypical brain dead casual got confused with the Wii/Wii U but come on you've got to give people some credit. Well over 10 million people have watched that trailer already and I'd be amazed if even 1% of them came away from it confused as to what product it is.

The name is fine.

@LetsGoRetro
Your thread title literally said that the name was disastrous. You said that Nintendo were inept for using such a common word. That they were going to struggle to make people aware that this was actually a gaming system. That the name of this thing was a huge problem.

And now you're having a go at me for implying that you were reverting to the the old "Nintendo is doomed" rant. As I pointed to the fact that the trailer has over 9 million views as a counter point. Quite frankly I don't know what reaction you expected to get.

MMM that sweet optimism. How I enjoyed those 10 hours of you.

@MarcelRguez well i mean especially in the gpu department it pretty much outclasses every smartphone and tablet that isnt a Pixel C or iPad Pro.

Console + dock with controller (inc the middle bit): $299

Might possibly have a second version with increased storage space but I doubt doubling it (e.g. 32GB --> 64GB) would really interest anybody, which means they'd have to consider 128gb but looking at smart phones that do that- you'd be talking about adding on an extra $100 putting the premium version of the console at a pricey $399.

likely to be in the box:
-tablet
-dock
-2 joycons
-joycon grip
-hdmi cable
-usb charging cable
-dock power cable
-tablet power cable for on the go use

I don't think Wii controllers will be compatible. I think they're going to distance themselves entirely from that.

So by extension I don't think Wii/WiiU games will be available on virtual console. I think Nintendo will accept that the Wii U is there for that. In the same vein I don't expect DS/3DS compatibility or to be on the VC. Again there's a 3DS for that.

But I do expect everything prior to DS and Wii will be available on VC.

Of course the issue with the Wii U in the long run was that it didn't sell. That's what really stopped the developers from supporting it. Nintendo is gambling big on the idea that people will buy this for convenience. If it pays off then the developers will find a way.

It also helps that the Switch is rumoured to have a 720p display. I know it can also be hooked upto the TV but I think if a dev can get the game running well enough at 720p? A lot of people will be fine with that. Less true on the other consoles which are now being marketed as 4K ready. The expectations for graphics on this will be lower because it's basically a tablet. That gives developers a lot of headroom.

http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/nintendo-switch-nintendo-co... yeah no 3ds bc either.

Not surprised to see no BC, that was expected, especially since the NS cards are different from 3DS cards. I'm a bit surprised to see that the Joy-con connector thing doesn't come in the box, maybe it's only in the deluxe set? Especially since they're calling it a home console first and foremost. Unless they're expecting everyone to play with the two tiny Joy-cons. Or maybe the middle part is nothing more than simple electronics and a bit of plastic and it's included anyway and just not mentioned (just like they didn't mention the power cables and HDMI cables).