Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I think they'll say something about the New Nintendo Switch by the end of the summer and try to have it out for the holidays. A March 2022 anniversary release does inspire warm and cuddly feelings, but the siren's song of holiday sales is what motivates companies, and I do think Switch sales are gonna start to slow down in the last half of 2021 if we hear nothing about it. PS5 and Xbox shortages will start to go away, and those consoles will be positioning for very strong holiday sales. Nintendo will want to have their new hardware for that time.

@rallydefault The key thing that makes me think March 2022 is more likely than holiday 2021 is software. Nintendo learned from the Wii U that strong software lineup drives strong hardware sales and I don't think BotW 2 will be ready for holiday 2021. Also the big Pokemon game is launching early 2022, Splatoon 3 is launching in 2022, etc.

Sony and Microsoft are experiencing rough lineups. GT7's delayed to 2022, God of War sequel is likely 2022, Horizon Forbidden West is probably the big holiday game but is also launching on PS4. Meanwhile Xbox has very little outside of Halo Infinite which is crossgen and PC. Even the rumoured Bethesda event for Thursday is supposedly just going to announce existing games for Game Pass.

So I think Zelda ports, the Pokemon remakes, a few other surprises and 3rd party support would be enough for Nintendo keeping up for August - December. I could see them announcing the new Switch in June/July for release in March 2022 though for the 3rd party side (the rumours suggest there's exclusives to the new model and those will almost certainly be 3rd party multiplats that can't run on the base Switch).

@Grumblevolcano
Yea, I agree, that's the big question: Is Nintendo really trying to get BotW2 for holiday 2021 or are they gonna just do 2022.

If the other consoles aren't going to have any blockbusters this holiday, maybe Nintendo will be more content to just let 2022 roll around and they won't experience much slip in Switch sales.

Do we know of any big releases for Switch in 2021 after Skyward Sword HD and the Pokemon remakes in the summer? (I think Pokemon was the summer, right?)

Edit: Looked it up, "late" 2021. So I guess that could be the big holiday title if nothing else?

That Monster Hunter showcase was fire

New demo this Thursday should be just enough to hold me over. Only two more Fridays of living in a world where Monster Hunter Rise doesn't exist!

@rallydefault, No More Heroes III in August, and as far as I know they never mentioned summer in relation to the Pokemon remakes, so they'll likely be holiday games (probably November).

@Grumblevolcano I get your logic here but I think there is a flaw.

Software does sell consoles and it seems like Nintendo might have a stronger 2022 line up than 2021. But - and it’s a big but - the games that will sell a “Switch Pro” are MK8DX and Smash - stuff that’s already out.

Also you have to think about the optics to customers - weeks after millions have just bought a shiny new toy “suckers there’s a new, better, one out next month!”. It’s not good PR - or good for building a user base for a console revision that might have exclusive games one day. Get millions on board ASAP.

I still think it’s possible that they’ll do a slightly soft launch of a 3.0. It’ll be more visible than the 2.0 revision (literally if they go with a different screen) and a bigger deal but I don't think they need any showcase software to sell that. In which case Christmas 2021 is a good time to launch.

@StuTwo
That is a very good point - you wouldn't want people buying up Switches over the holidays to only then drop a "better" one just a couple months later. That would certainly tick me off. And if you'd head that off by announcing the New Nintendo Switch a couple months early, then you're gonna willfully repress your own hardware sales for the holiday season, which is totally bonkers for any company to do. I really think they're gonna try to get it out for the holiday, even if some of the games that will really use it won't be coming until a couple months later. Really, I think Nintendo is pushing to try and have BotW2 for the holiday, but we'll see.

@RR529
Gotcha. There could also be stuff we don't know about yet, I suppose.

the amazing potencial a game of the WarioWare franchise could have on Switch if it release on Nintendo hybrid console.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/03/video_warioware_cou...

One thing to keep in mind is Covid’s impact, and how that may affect plans.

Another thing to consider is the fact that we may be hearing leaks about two different potential products and confusing the two. I’m not saying that’s what I personally believe, but I do think it’s something to at least keep in the back of our minds as a possibility.

For example. Perhaps Nintendo’s next gen Switch is going to be a 2024 release, which means final chip design would need to be finished by March 2023 at the latest, which means they’re looking into the specs now and deciding what they want to go with.

And perhaps, just maybe, bit perhaps, some of the leaks such as “ Nintendo has told developers to get their games 4K ready“ was pertaining to their next gen system, but since they are doing an upgraded revision late 2021 or early 2022 with OLED and slightly more powerful Mariko, some sites confuse the two as being one and the same, and incorrectly report the 4k as being for the revision, instead of something for the Switch 2.

I don’t really assign much probability to this particular scenario, but I would give it at least a 10-15% chance. At the very least, it would make more sense given the fact 4K output on a hybrid NEEDS DLSS, and DLSS NEEDS a new chip, and a new chip with new architecture makes more sense for next generation hardware. Or, it’s possible the 4K simply refers to signal capability and built in upscaling just outputs the signal as 4k to be a little more clear, rather than actually render a 4K image with DLSS. That would be incredibly disappointing, but that’s why I think we should at least take the possibility into account so that in the unlikely scenario that is how things play out, we’ll have at least already accounted for it.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is looking so good, I almost can’t find the words to describe this overwhelming sensation of blissful excitement. Not only are we getting Monster Hunter Rise, which looks like the best video game I’ve ever laid eyes upon, we’re getting a dope spinoff with gorgeous artstyle, as an RPG Pokémon style adventure, but with a more interesting plot, characters, and monsters.

And amiibo! We’re getting more amiibo!

Monster hunter rise is definitely looking like game of the year to me (unless somehow the Pokémon remakes have huge amounts of new content since I never played diamond and pearl, or If botw 2 is released). Can’t wait to be able to do some quick little hunts with my friends again in the new demo! And you guys have successfully done it, your thousands of comments of switch pro have now made me a believer, but hopefully Nintendo doesn’t pull a jerk move, and make first party games like Metroid prime 4 exclusive

check out the analysis of Monster Hunter Rise new trailer show during yesterday Digital event.

I'm so hyped, I've been binging on Monster Hunter Rise digital event analysis videos and reactions nonstop since yesterday.

16 days left!

Natsume have released a trailer for Pocky & Rocky which is coming to the Switch later this year.

Holy mother, these Switch revision rumors are getting out of hand. Out of France, Gamereactor posted an article talking about Nvidia ceasing production of the Tegra X1 Mariko by the end of the year. Sunsetting Switch V2 and Switch Lite in favor of whatever the Switch revision will be. Then you have information dug up by Youtuber doctre81 about Nvidia Orin.

Are Nintendo and Nvidia skipping the Tegra Xavier and opting to use Orin instead?

Crazy times, my friends.

Oh boy. And then people will point at <insert rumor variant here> as reason to never believe rumors.

@JaxonH me too i can't wait for my birthday in early april to finaly play Monster Hunter Rise(one of my aunts is gonna give me Monster Hunter Rise as a birthday present) and @Magician does this Orin Chip mean the hipotetic Switch Pro can equal a PS4 in power?

@Magician
Ya I don’t think Xavier was ever in the cards. If they are going for DLSS they’re definitely going for something newer than that.

I’m not sure I buy into the report about stopping production though. It just doesn’t line up with everything else we’ve heard. They’re not going to stop selling the current models unless they do a soft refresh on the current models with a different chip, and then use a better chip for the Pro. That’s possible. I won’t discount that outcome. I just don’t personally put much stock into it.

I think they’re either mistaken and the information is referring to the 20nm die the original Switch used (unless that’s already out of production? Perhaps someone with more knowledge can confirm that), or there’s going to be a soft revision like v2 for the current Switch and Switch Lite, in addition to the Pro.

Or.

A lot of the information we’re getting is confusing the revised model with the next generation Switch. And the “DLSS and 4k” is for the next gen Switch. And the Pro is just OLED with 4k signal output. Not that games actually will see anything close to that.

It is exciting thinking about the possibilities though. Like, at WORST the significantly more powerful Switch is a next gen thing, And it’s still several years out. But even then it’s only a few years away until we have a PS4 grade hybrid in our hands. That’s pretty awesome as a worst-case scenario.

It’s also possible Furukawa wants to take a different approach. He’s been with the company for decades and he said he’s tired of watching Nintendo ride out their momentum until it peters out, he has no intention of letting that happen anymore. Perhaps that means an end to the traditional console generations as we know them. Perhaps it just means every five years we get an iterative refresh that’s fully forwards and backwards compatible, kind of like mobile but on a five-year schedule instead of a one-year schedule. Only the games that can’t run on the current system will be exclusive so people won’t be forced to upgrade unless they want the better experience and a few extra games. That means they’re install base never has to start over from zero again. And people can skip an iteration and just upgrade on the next one without losing access to too many games. But ya know, on the second iteration once 10 years or so have passed, perhaps the original gets phased out, so that there’s always a current model and the previous model with active games in development that share a library.

@Giancarlothomaz
I’m excited for you.

Have you ever played Monster Hunter before? If not, you’ll need to settle it in your mind now that it’s going to take a genuine commitment to learn the game. But if you invest the time it’ll be one of, if not the most rewarding gaming experiences of your life.

Best to get comfy in the MH Rise forum, start asking questions for things you don’t understand, practice in the demo by finding a weapon you like and learning it’s combos before March 26th, that way you can hit the ground running when you get the game.

@JaxonH Seems @Giancarlothomaz and myself are in the same boat in that we both intend to acquire the game sooner or later. Your previous indoctrinations worked like magic, and I'm extremely surprised how good it looks despite it being a Switch exclusive... for now.

My only concern is difficulty. As much as I love video games, I am far from the best at them, especially when it comes to combat. Examples include; Demon's Souls, Smash, and even ARMS. There's exceptions, like Zelda games, but generally speaking it's not my strength. Is difficulty adjustable? Because if it is I'll have the freedom to start on Normal and adjust it if I do find it too hard. I've done it many times, an example being Persona 5 where I started on Normal, went down to Easy after one palace, and then after four palaces I went down to Safe.

@TheJGG
Difficulty is not adjustable.

However.

It’s nowhere near as hard as a game like Dark Souls. In fact, most veteran hunters complain the game is too easy. The truth of the matter is, it feels hard when you haven’t learned the games mechanics properly and don’t have any experience, but once you do, the challenge starts feeling “just right”. Not so easy that it bores you to tears but not so hard that it makes you frustrated and you can’t advance. The game is very generous by giving you three full carts before you fail a quest, and you can heal whenever you want and even run back to camp to restock if needed. Once you acquire a basic level of skills, the difficulty won’t be so much in hitting a wall you can’t bust down but rather, in your clear times. I’ll just take you a little longer (maybe considerably longer).

Monster hunters difficulty is more in the complexity of its systems than it actually is in the combat itself. That’s not to say it’s an easy game. It’s challenging enough to keep my interest. But the real difficulty doesn’t really start until end game. And by the time you reach endgame you have amazing armor and you have developed your skill set to a point where you need the difficulty to keep you engaged.

It might feel hard at first but it’s only because you’re still acclimating to everything and you might feel a little overwhelmed with all the systems and mechanics that are thrown at you in the early game. But if you just push through that, once you get a few hunts under your belt and learn your weapon and the basic gameplay loop, you’ll realize it’s not that hard of a game. It’s really well-balanced with difficulty to where newcomers can totally get into the series (unlike a game such as Dark Souls which crucifies new players without mercy), and gradually progress with a difficulty curve that slowly ramps up to endgame.

Besides which, this is likely to be the most beginner friendly game in the series to date.