Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

It feels like for the most part everything is collapsing while Nintendo stays strong by sticking with the weaker hardware of the current Switch. The state of PS and Xbox really puts into question about why bother with more powerful hardware if it’s just going to cause harm?

According to some articles last year, a bit under half of PS5 owners own a Switch. So that part might be already close to saturated assuming not all PS5 owners want portable/ are Nintendo fans. I've seen no reliable info on xbox overlap since the early days of Switch so no clue there (I personally don't totally understand what the xbox audience even is 😆 )

Not sure I'm a typical XBox owner - if such a thing even exist - but I have an Xbox and a Switch and don't really consider either a secondary console, they each have their own strengths. They both get used about the same amount overall, and I have roughly the same size backlog & wish list on each. I just prefer to play certain types of games on Switch and vice versa.

Originally bought the Xbox as a Game Pass machine and also for the backward compatibility so I could go back and play some 360 & XBone games as I'd never owned an Xbox before. As it happens I ended up buying so many games that I felt like I wasn't getting the value from GP so cancelled it. To be honest, most of the stuff I play is multiplatform so in that sense I might've been as well getting a PS5 (I still might at some point) if it weren't for the 360 games. I don't really play many of the big 1st party games on either console to be honest, although I love Forza Horizon 4.

I think each console has a perception from other non-users that are probably a bit lazy - Nintendo is for Kids, Xbox is full of toxic dudes that only play shooters, PlayStation only has Interactive Movies etc when in truth the most-played (rather than most-sold) games across PS5 and Xbox are likely pretty similar.

@dmcc0

Top games played for all three is probably some combination of Grand Theft Auto, Apex Legends, Rocket League, Call of Duty, Minecraft, ROBLOX, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, EA FBC, etc.

Let's suppose Nintendo has ONE unannounced game for Switch release between August and December. What franchise is it gonna be?

Zelda
Mario
Donkey Kong
Captain Toad
Yoshi
Kirby
Star Fox
Metroid
Fire Emblem
F-Zero
Luigi
Wario
Something else

Pick one. Unless it's Metroid, cos that seems the most likely.

@gcunit
I want ARMS 2, Amiibo Festival 2 and Star Fox Ratchet & Clank style to make my day.

@gcunit I would say Mario. To carry them through the holiday season.

@JaxonH Gaming is in an unsustainable state imo. Sooooo many games come out with a pretty big investment price (be it time or money or both) and attach rate is insanely low in comparison. Especially on PC. Folks talk about shovelware but a lot of games come out full stop. It’s no wonder the big hitters have shrunk their catalogs. That being said I am riding this train wreck until the end!

Finally finished my F4F BOTW set!

@gcunit Zelda. We've pretty consistently been getting a Zelda game a year (I think only...2022 didn't have a Zelda release of some sort?) since the Switch's release.

Pretty much every other game we've got for 2024 (Paper Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi's Mansion) falls under the "Mario" umbrella so I don't think they'll give us more Mario.

@gcunit 3D Mario. TotK means we won't be getting a new 3D Zelda any time soon, and I fully, fully believe Bowser's Fury was the testing ground for a fully open world 3D Mario game that they'll launch alongside the new console in 2025.

@JaxonH If Switch 2 releases in March, alongside the news that Nintendo is polishing up their first-party software for the device, I FULLY expect they're gonna hit us with a blitzkrieg of notable first-party software throughout the year. They want to replicate the Switch 1 launch and the system's subsequently unstoppable momentum.

@gcunit Doshin the Giant, yo.

@NeonPizza
Sorry I missed your post earlier.

I haven't really played any VB games. I tried a real VB as a kid at some dude's house, briefly. And I remember thinking... "It's so red. Why is it so red? My eyes need a break from all this black and red." And that was the extent of my experience with the Virtual Boy. I think it'll be a lot more pallatable on the small 3DS screen. There's only a couple dozen games across all regions. Just go get em all, sit down and demo each one. That's what I'm gonna do.

Ya, Idk what they're doing with that Contra Switch release. Though I'm hoping it won't be a problem for me personally. Perks of the club and all that.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Shrunk catalogs and are increasingly shifting to multiplatform release. When even Playstation is publishing their 1st party exclusives on a non-Playstation platform, and Xbox is publishing their 1st party exclusives on a non-Xbox platform... well that says it all really. Then we see franchises that have historically released on one platform, like Persona and Trails on Playstation, or Monster Hunter games on just Playstation or just Nintendo, now releasing on everything across the board. Even 3rd party games Sony have traditionally bent over backwards to ensure stay exclusive are being ported to other platforms 6-12 months later, the last holdout being the mainline Final Fantasy titles they pay to prevent releasing elsewhere, and even those can't be chained a minute longer than they're willing to pay for. The second that monetary infusion stops, that dog is off the leash. Any games that do remain locked down, do so at an ever increasing price to platform manufactures. So if they want it, they better be prepared to pay through the nose for it, and keep paying through the nose for it.

It's incredibly obvious the trajectory we're headed. A fully multiplatform industry where only Nintendo 1st party remain reliably and predictably truly exclusive. And even those I wouldn't be surprised if they one day figured out a way to monetize on PC without sacrificing demand for their hardware in the process.

Which to me can be both good and bad. Bad, because less variety and longer cycles sucks. Good, because all these games held hostage are being freed.

The last real barrier at this point is Switch hardware power. And that's about to be addressed come 12 months from now. I expect next gen to be the first time in a long time, probably since GameCube era, where games are announced and more times than not, you can expect to see all 3 console logos on the advertisements.

@Ralizah
Since the beginning I had contended March would be their release timing, just because it worked well for Switch, and though 3DS started out slow, it did ultimately work out well for that too. Seems the tally of W/L comparing March releases to other months is extremely favorable.

Sucks waiting longer but, it's not like development stops just because the system is pushed back a bit. The less games released this year due to the delay, the more games that will be released next year during the launch Blitz.

We kind of take it for granted now but Nintendo releases a LOT of games. Remember back in the Wii U/3DS era when one of the two was always in a perpetual drought? When 3DS had a banging lineup, Wii U was a dust bowl, when Wii U had a banging lineup, 3DS was barren. Nowadays with just Switch to release for, we're averaging 10-12 exclusives per year. Even this year will probably still see double digits.

2025 is gonna be popping though. Nintendo will surely bring a very strong 2017-like lineup, 3rd parties will be climbing over each other like crabs in a bucket for the early adopter gold rush, and I imagine most of 2024 3rd party development on Nintendo platforms will be devoted to getting ports lined up for next year.

Not buying any 3rd party multiplats henceforth, as I expect the vast majority to land on Switch 2.

@gcunit Tomodachi Life, a new game with the customization of Miitopia, maybe with some interesting element for the subtitle, like Tomodachi Life: Big City Livin' or Tomodachi Life: Cruise Ship Trip. I think if they market it well enough and get everyone talking about the silly antics and amusing oddness of the series, it could maybe even shoulder them through a holiday? (Especially if they're able to really amp up all the stuff the Miis can do, this could be a situation where they don't need to change a ton, just flood it with content, whether furniture, clothes, or what have you to lean into the novelty) I also just want to play Tomodachi Life, and don't think I'll really get into the same way on 3DS.

Damn, only have 33 minutes left of the Unicorn Overlord demo.

@gcunit I mean... both Kirby and Zelda have only missed one year each in the last decade. So it would be crazy if we didn't get one or both of those. First guess would be Zelda port.

@gcunit
I pick Zelda. Either Wind Waker HD or a 2D title. I would've guessed a Links Awakening HD treatment for the Oracle games but I'm not as sold on that as I used to be. Wind Waker HD but, such an easy win for a late Switch release

@gcunit I'm gonna say Donkey Kong. Nintendo clearly still values DK what with it being the second franchise to be represented at Nintendo World as well as the Kongs getting a big role in the Mario movie, and yet it's been a decade since his last new game (Mario vs Donkey Kong does not count). Tomodachi Life is a good shout as well, that was huge on 3DS and I'd definitely expect it to come back eventually.

@Grumblevolcano
Wait...

It is time based? Real time based? What about on suspend, that counts too?

@NeonPizza
I can't capture 3D with a camera but, this is phenomenal. 3DS is PERFECT for this. Only system the black and red doesn't hurt your eyes cause it's small, AND it's 3D

@JaxonH General idea I get is that battles, dialogue and exploring the overworld counts towards the timer but pressing the start button to access the menus pauses the timer.

@Grumblevolcano I say it is worth it to go through it twice at least as for me I found my second play through I uncovered way more stuff and was able to still finish the rescue mission that closes out the demo. In my first playthrough I kept dying on that mission and eventually gave up. But a fresh start with me better understanding the mechanics made all the difference in the world. Plus at that point I could skip more of the cut scenes as I had seen it before. I think I will do a 3rd play through and that will be the one I go with.

@JaxonH It's like 6-7 hours. You can get a LOT done in that time, especially once the game play clicks. Probably one of the meatiest demos I have ever played. It basically gets you through the opening/tutorial hours of the game. Just don't play on the hardest difficulty to start...I played on medium both times and got very far. I've heard folks on story mode blitzed through the map.