Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH well after Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, Nintendo can reboot the franchise.

The hilarity is that if you look at the official Zelda timeline, Breath of the Wild is way, way, way off, tens of thousands of years after any other games. Its not even linked to any others

So yeah. Zelda got rebooted. In 2017.

BotW has sold in excess of 20 million copies, which WAY, WAY surpasses any other release in the series.

Clearly the last gasp of a dying franchise, sinking into irrelevance as Nintendo bows out of the hardware race they've thrived in for almost 40 years now and rolls out the red carpet for the mighty Switch Deck.

Zelda franchise as a whole I definitely don't see going away however traditional mainline Zelda I think probably will outside of ports, remasters, remakes. So like for the Switch onwards, mainline Zelda ends up being:

Traditional Top Down Zelda

• The Legend of Zelda (NSO)
• Zelda II (NSO)
• A Link to the Past (NSO)
• Link's Awakening (Remake)
• Oracle of Ages/Seasons (Remake)
• Minish Cap (Remake)
• Four Swords/Four Swords Adventure (NSO incentive)
• Phantom Hourglass (Remake)
• Spirit Tracks (Remake)
• A Link Between Worlds (HD Remaster)
• Triforce Heroes (HD Remaster bundled with ALBW)

Traditional 3D Zelda

• Ocarina of Time (HD Remaster of 3DS Remaster, if the case bundled with MM)
• Majora's Mask (HD Remaster of 3DS Remaster, if the case bundled with OoT)
• Wind Waker (Wii U port)
• Twilight Princess (Wii U port)
• Skyward Sword (HD remaster)

New Zelda

• BotW (Wii U port)
• BotW 2
• BotW 3
• BotW 4
  ...etc.

Where the gap between each new mainline game is 5-6 years. Note that BotW 3, BotW 4, etc. I don't necessarily mean direct sequels but rather they all have the open world nature of BotW.

@Grumblevolcano I'm not so sure Atlus is behind the SMT push exactly. I'm wondering if Nintendo handling worldwide publishing and localization duties for SMT V was part of a deal that also involved SMT coming to NSO. Nintendo needs every game it can get it's hands on to make the service appealing, itd have been a nice small bargaining chip to throw them in.

...now if we can just get them in the west, they're already officially translated.

Edit: Re:Zelda, I highly doubt we won't get a new 2D Zelda at some point before the end of the Switch's successor's lifespan. Personally, my money is on Grezzo developing an original game that acts as a successor to the Flagstaff titles.

@link3710 Nintendo is actually publishing the game in Europe, which is going to end up being incredibly beneficial for that region given how Europe usually gets the short end of the stick in regards to having to wait an even longer period of time for the games beyond the NA launch given Atlus' lack of a European publishing firm

@link3710 For SMTV, the big push is from Nintendo. The other games I think are an Atlus push as Atlus didn't have to remaster Nocturne or allow any Megami Tensei games on NSO in Japan.

@TheFrenchiestFry Yeah lol, that's what I was saying. They're publishing the game in one region

@Grumblevolcano There's no proof either way if SMT on NSO and SMT III has anything to do with SMT V's publishing by Nintendo in Europe. All I was saying is I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo was more involved in the negotiations that led to this... If Nintendo is localizing and publishing, I highly doubt they aren't getting anything in return after all (even besides the publishing fees).

A 3rd party finally made a magnetic flip case for the full sized Switch, similar to the one Nintendo released for the Switch Lite.

It’s ugly as sin, but function over form, right? If this thing makes v2 Switch pocketable, then I’ll take it.

@JasonH If the eventual Switch Pro/2/whatever does not come with anything resembling the clamshell design of the DS/3DS, I'm definitely getting one of those as soon as I can. Aside from having access to a TV, the exposed screen and buttons are the main reason I rarely play it undocked.

@BrazillianCara
JaxonH with an X, btw A lot of people mistake Jaxon for Jason.

Anyways, I don’t think Nintendo is ever going back to clamshell, because I don’t think they’re going back to dual screen. The Switch form factor seems to be the way forward here on out. Which is great, but it does have the downside of exposed analogs which makes pocketability a problem, as the analogs snag and aren’t protected.

The magnetic flip case for Switch Lite is such an essential piece of kit I can’t imagine owning one without it. It essentially transforms the Nintendo Switch into a pocket friendly handheld that’s actually better protected than 3DS ever was. I slip it in my back jeans pocket and I can sit on it the entire drive to work for 40 minutes every day with no problem, whereas 3DS would get scratches on the top screen from the proud border around the bottom screen if any pressure was applied with the lid closed. Definitely wasn’t a system you wanted to sit on.

I’m not sure if the larger Switch can still fit in my pocket, even with this case, but I’m certainly going to try. It’s only $20. And if it works, the longer battery life of the Switch plus kickstand and removable controllers would make it the ultimate pocketable handheld. And if not, the Switch Lite is still a feather light, super pocket friendly handheld we can always rely on.

@JaxonH Whoops, only realized it now.

@Grumblevolcano 2D Zelda will probably end up living for a while. Traditional 3D Zelda is probably gone for good.

@JaxonH I can actually see Nintendo revisiting the clam shell design. There’s no need for a clam shell system to have 2 screens - the GBA SP didn’t and that was an exceptional handheld. There’s also no reason that a Switch variant couldn’t have analog sliders instead of sticks (even if we all agree that sticks are better for play).

A “Switch Micro” with a Lite sized screen (OLED?) and a clamshell would be easy, more portable than the Lite and with incredible battery life. I’ve always kind of thought that system variant might be more likely than a “Switch Pro”.

@StuTwo A clamshell Switch could also have a 360 hinge, so that the console can be proped up for multiplayer.

@StuTwo
They can't shrink it any smaller due to battery limitations. The Switch Lite already pushes battery life closer to the OG Switch because it's smaller and thus uses a smaller battery than Switch. A smaller system than that would require an even smaller battery. That's one reason it won't happen.

Another reason it won't happen is the analog sticks would have to be circle pads.

Another reason is there isn't much to gain. Clamshell without another screen doesn't have much appeal as it offers nothing the current Lite can't already offer with the magnetic flip case.

Watching the Tokyo Olympics ceremony… there’s a bunch of video games songs being played during the Parade of Nations. I spotted the Dragon Quest Overture, the Final Fantasy victory theme, and some Kingdom Hearts.

@TheJGG really odd Nintendo did not participate while during the Rio 2016 the president of Japan close the cerimonies by getting out a pipe with a Mario hat...

@HotGoomba that’s a cool idea that I’d never have considered.

@JaxonH it wouldn’t necessarily have to be “shrunk” any further (let’s face it we’re talking about the company that produced the “Wii Mini” - they’ll have no shame in calling a console that’s about 1cm smaller “mini”). A clamshell design though is more compact and much more “pocketable” - even if it’s overall volume is hardly smaller - because it doesn’t have to be as wide.

Battery life wise an OLED screen would offset usage further.

I think that - if nothing else - it gives an opportunity to push an otherwise minor internal hardware revision more strongly (especially if you want to maintain a premium for it). This is kind of what Nintendo did with the GBA Micro - in theory that model offered nothing that the later AS 101 GBA SP models already did (& actually took away OG GB compatibility and introduced a less ergonomic form factor) but it was much more visible in the market than the AS 101 silent revision.

I can absolutely see them doing it at some point - even if (especially if?) many of us would see it as a downgrade in some ways.

@StuTwo
It's a neat idea.

But I don't think there's even the slightest chance it'll happen. Nintendo has moved on from clamshell. I'll gladly eat my words if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.