Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@IceClimbers
I noticed that too. They're holding their ground firm on this one. And tbh... as they should. The game is fire. It shouldn't need an orange clearance sticker a month after launch to sell.

@CFarris419
I'm sayin...

Fire Emblem Engage is sneaking up quick, but even more so is Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core.

I want to see Final Fantasy smash on Switch. All this buying up exclusivity to keep the franchise away from Switch and Xbox gamers, and even PC gamers for a time. I want this game to sell so well on Switch it costs Sony twice as much for exclusivity on the next game.

Unfortunately it seems the game is going under most peoples' radar. The Switch port looks incredible, yet it's barely at #1,000 on the Amazon rankings. What gives. Do ppl want higher budget day and date Final Fantasy on Switch or not?

The Zelda loftwing amiibo is $9.99 on Amazon rn.

I thought I was done buying amiibo, but this was too good a deal to pass up.

I imagine part of it is that the marketing has been tied heavily into their overall Final Fantasy VII remake marketing and the various other stuff that's come out surrounding that. And since this is the one game Switch is getting out of any of that, I'm just not sure there's a huge audience for this remake of a PSP game on a Nintendo console.

...on the other hand, apparently most of the marketing for Neo: The World Ends With You in Japan was for the PS4 version, for some reason. I'm undecided if that's more hypocritical or makes complete sense considering Neo's apparent failure to sell.

@JaxonH is Gust responsible for the gaphics/animation of Fire Emblem Engage? it look really good, a quite jump for Fire Emblem Tree Houses.

@skywake when i meant the next inovation Nintendo is planing for Switch sucessor i was refering VR VR like PS4 or PS5 Vr2 for the Switch sucessor, specially if Switch sucessor have a techinal/graphical power equivalent or more to a PS4, like Switch sucessor techinal/graphical power is PS4+++ just like Switch techinal/graphical power is Xbox 360+++

@Giancarlothomaz
Yes they are!

@kkslider5552000
Not sure why there wouldn't be a market. Nintendo fans been buying and playing Final Fantasy for a long time, and all the other releases sold incredibly well on the system given their age.

The game does not require knowledge from other games- on the contrary its a prequel, and enjoyable in it's own right as much as any other game in the series.

It also looks very good. This is the ideal Final Fantasy for Switch. Graphically it gives FFVII Remake a run for its money despite not even being a full remake, yet isn't so graphically intense it needs severe cutbacks on Switch.

Like... this is as good as it gets. There's no reason there wouldn't be a market. Just because Sony tries to pretend they own the franchise by bribing as many games as possible, they don't. It's a series for everyone, and this is a perfect game to signal that to them.

In what universe does this game look better than FFVII Remake?

Anyway, FF7 EU stuff has never been as popular as the main game (same reason Pokemon and Monster Hunter spinoffs struggle to sell a fraction as well as the mainline entries, I imagine). And this particular subseries is HEAVILY associated with Playstation anyway. It makes sense this game would be more popular in the ecosystem where people also have access to Remake and (soon) Rebirth.

@Ralizah
Woah woah woah?

In what universe did I say it "looks better?"

What are you talking about?

@Ralizah
Also I don't care about "popularity on PS". Let it be popular on PS. That's fine and well. But what I'm referring to is popularity on Switch and among Nintendo fans, which is a completely separate discussion to popularity elsewhere.

Spinoff or not, it still sold VERY well on its original release. Nobody's expecting it to do as well as the mainline series. But I'd certainly expect it to do far better than #1000 on Amazon US when the game is mere weeks away. We're not talking about a Chocobo Racer or Dungeon crawler, or even a mobile game ported over like FFXV. This is a core series genre entry. Just because it's not a perfect whole number doesn't change that.

This is a massive release. It's not some cheap HD remaster that still looks like a PS2 game like FFX or FFXII. This is bordering a full remake, with visuals that look about as good as Switch can handle, and at a glance not all that different from the AAA release of FFVII Remake. It's dropping day and date, and ties into the story of the single biggest FF entry of the entire series, which is relevant as ever.

You'd expect a bit more than, "eh, it's not 'associated' with Nintendo due to marketing bribes and exclusivity decades ago and isn't a whole number entry so who cares"

Yeah I don't think there's a huge audience for Crisis Core on Switch unless you're a Final Fantasy diehard who only has Nintendo, which in 2022 is probably not a huge audience.

Which again, should I be angry at the hypocrisy or did SE actually learn a thing from Neo's bad marketing? Or the more likely third option, they're just expecting a relatively small amount of easy money from a port of this, while their focus is on Harvestella and Octopath 2 for Switch audiences.

Just for clarity, I've never even considered Nintendo going for the additional hardware VR route. I'm talking utilising the slot-in convenience and cost efficiency of using the Switch tablet, exactly as with LABO VR. There'd be peripheral head strap options, of course, but the USP would be no additional significant outlay for the customer.

@kkslider5552000
Why would you have to be a Final Fantasy diehard? And why would you have to only have a Switch?

The game is appealing to anyone who likes JRPGs, and there's a LOT of JRPG fans on Switch. Why would this be any different than any other quality JRPG?

And why would Switch-only gamers be the only ones interested? That makes no sense to me at all. If anything this game looks the same on Switch as every other platform barring resolution. It should be the definitive version for anyone except those who don't own a Switch. I can understand games like Witcher 3 that are heavily downgraded but this looks practically built ground up for Switch, and simply tacked on other versions cause they can run it also.

I can't comprehend why anyone would think this game is "niche". Like, it's the tie in for the biggest JRPG release of all time. If even Persona 5 Strikers, a Warriors spinoff that wasn't even a turn based JRPG and tied into the story as a sequel to Persona 5, a series half as popular as Final Fantasy, can do well on Switch, I see no reason a day and date near-remake of the prequel to Final Fantasy VII wouldn't easily be the best selling FF on the system to date.

@JaxonH Seems I misread that portion of your post. Apologies.

Anyway, the lack of interest in the Switch port shouldn't be a mystery. Interest in this remake is limited to begin with, which means only a fraction of the FF7 fandom will be buying in, and of the fraction that is interested, most will likely maintain a heavy preference for Playstation and Sony's gaming ecosystem overall.

Moreover, the entire modern subseries is available on Playstation consoles vs. only Reunion being available on Switch. If you care about this series, it's highly likely you already own and play games on a Playstation console.

Sony's exclusivity antics don't really mean anything with regard to FF7 on Nintendo consoles in general. A major reason that the original didn't release on N64 was because Nintendo opted for cartridges over CD-ROMs, and their other modern FF releases like Remake, Rebirth, and XVI wouldn't be able to run on the Switch anyway.

@JaxonH I mean, you may be right, but you don't actually know that. There's more popular games than Crisis Core that didn't do great on Switch. At the end of the day, Crisis Core is not nearly as popular as a mainline FF game, they have more Switch-centric games to promote, they'd rather prioritize this as a mid-tier release for hardcore fans of FFVII that's part of the big marketing frenzy of FFVII remake rather than anything else.

Honestly the best case you have is that SE has been doing stupid things (BaByLoN's FaLl) so its a fair assumption that not promoting this on Switch could be another stupid thing.

This is from the Playstation Blog:

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/11/10/more-than-remasters-t...

Yoshinori Kitase (Producer, Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion): "If a game’s original hardware is no longer manufactured, it can be difficult to play the title. Crisis Core is an example of that.

Of course, it would be possible to use cloud technology to play the game at its original specs, but the truth is that after Final Fantasy VII Remake fans have higher expectations towards the graphics.

So, I think that it’s definitely worthwhile remastering the game for current generation platforms in order to meet these expectations."

FFVII Remake is the reason the Crisis Core remaster exists, otherwise it would've been a cloud version of the original on PS Now/PS+ Premium.

@Ralizah
No worries. Was just saying for a "remaster", it's surprising how similar it looks. Basically about what you'd expext FFVII Remake to look like if it had been built for Switch.

Per the exclusivity, that's addressing more than just Switch. It's addressing the "association" as you put it. And I think they're desperately trying to hold onto that association because they see it continually slipping away. This generation has been a trend-breaker in numerous respects- Final Fantasy being one of them. Sure, 13 and 15 released on Xbox, but they never cultivated any kind of major audience. Whereas on Switch, there is most definitely a JRPG audience, including for Final Fantasy.

While demand compared to 7 may be somewhat diminished, to what degree matters far more. Like, ok, it's not gonna sell 5-10 million copies. Ok. Does that mean literally no one cares and it'll struggle to break 100k? Far from it. The original sold a couple million units, and the series is bigger now than its ever been.

As GameSpot awarded it an "Editor's Choice" label for the original release they stated "Crisis Core is an exciting and poignant journey that every fan of role-playing games should take."

It's always been a quality game that should appeal to anyone into JRPGs, and I'd argue, an ice breaker gateway for those who aren't, as the series mix of real time has always made it an easier pill to swallow for non-turn based fans than say, FFX.

I don't disagree that due to the series' presence on PS, many fans likely own one, but that's true for many, many other games that have excelled on Switch. Persona has always been on PS. And yet, it's doing super well on Switch. Trails from Zero- another series historically on PS, outselling all other versions. There's countless games "associated with PS" or which have most their games on PS, that are seeing absolute blowouts on Switch. Why would this be any different? How did those ppl become fans on PS in the first place? It was because Square Enix brought the series historically on Nintendo over to PS, and ppl bought it. Why would the same thing not happen in reverse? I mean sure, there's still the option to buy it there, but I think we all know by now the appeal of Switch is large because so many ppl would rather play on a hybrid system if given the choice. The recent Persona 5 Royal and Trails releases tell us that much.

@kkslider5552000
I don't know anything, but I see no evidence to suggest the game is "only for hard-core fans". The original sold between 2-3 million copies, and on a single system at that. That's more than most JRPGs on Switch or PS sell nowadays. If you don't need to be a "hard-core fan" to play JRPGs that sell 500k, why would you need to be one to play a multi-million seller? That just doesn't compute for me. What about this game in particular dictates the need to "be a hard-core fan"? I could understand if it was like, a rhythm game spinoff of FFVII or something. That's a game for the fans, similar to Persona 4 Dancing. But even then, P4D was also for anyone who liked good rhythm games. And Crisis Core... is no rhythm game. It's a core JRPG no different than Final Fantasy VII or any other mainline entry. So it's appeal should be no different than any other mainline entry. Granted, it wasn't created by Sakaguchi, but it was grounded in his work with VII and reviewed well.

What happened to just buying good games? When Octopath Traveler released there were no "hard-core fans". How could there be. It was a brand new IP. But ppl still bought it because it looked good. And games looking good is the #1 driver behind sales. You don't develop a fandom in the first place if ppl never bought games that look good.

This release may not be as big as FFVII Remake, but it's sure as heck bigger than 90% of the other JRPGs ppl gobble up on Switch. And definitely the highest budget Final Fantasy to ever hit a Nintendo platform. Anyone with even an inkling of interest in JRPGs, Final Fantasy, or VII in particular- this game should be for them.

I grabbed a best buy copy a month or two ago. Not sure I'll have time on release since I'm playing persona 5, but I'll do my best! It looks pretty great, and I love the original FF7, so I should enjoy it.

@NintendoByNature
Best Buy includes a G4-sized Switch steelbook with purchase for Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, which is awesome

They even listed the steelbook separately for a bit. It was like $10 or something? I grabbed 2 extras just in case. Originally thought it was gonna require an EU import to get one.

@JaxonH yea I recall you mentioning that in the dedicated crisis core thread. Should be a nice one to get our hands on.