Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@IceClimbers I would be surprised if Nintendo were to do a 3DS Direct so close to the launch of the their new console, the thing they want everyone to run out and buy especially as said new console has the ability to be taken on the go. Nintendo should by then be focusing all their marketing efforts, and thus use social media also, to only talk about the Switch.

@FragRed This is true, but at some point they will have to address the 3DS. There's still quite a bit of stuff coming to the system, especially in the case of localizations.

@IceClimbers True, but it is far more wise to do that in press releases and trailers at this point in time. Those who want to know about these games coming to the 3DS will find out via websites like Nintendo Life, Nintendo Everything, Eurogamer, maybe IGN (though they are fairly useless at news) etc. From January onwards, or certainly for the first three or four months, it should be all about the Switch and nothing else.

@IceClimbers I think we'll see a Direct in February/March too but it'll be mostly focused on the Switch.I can't imagine they'll just have the presentation and leave it at that until it's released.There will be something for the fans too.

The funny thing about all this talk of horsepower is going back and remembering what I thought the NX was going to be. I was fairly certain it'd be a portable system because that made more sense for Nintendo. But I thought it'd be about half as powerful as the Wii U. Not bad for a portable. I then assumed that they'd follow it up with an entirely different system for the home console space a year later. And that system would be about on-par with the XBOne even if technically a bit under.

Turns out I was both completely wrong and pretty close to the mark. Simultaneously optimistic, pessimistic and pretty spot on. Turns out it is a portable system but it's a LOT more capable than I thought it'd be. But it's also a home console that's slightly under but not far from what I expected. The real shocker is that it's both of these things at the same time.

@skywake It’s really funny. Remember when I first thought it was a home console? You showed me the bell curve on 3ds and convinced me otherwise. I switched to “it’s a hybrid” pretty soon and we were speculating about the feasibility of it. Most people in the hybrid camp described a pluggable portable with one caveat only - would it be a better system than wii U?

I like the switch a lot for surprising us on all fronts.

@erv And I think that "surprising" is exactly the strength this system is going to have. I don't know why people are getting so hung up on specs we're not even 100% sure on, and I don't know why people are expecting a hybrid system to be as powerful as a fully home console like the PS4.

Especially with the resolution on only the gamepad. If it's "only" 720p - so the heck what? It's a pretty small screen. Your eyes can only register so much. People are acting like it's the end of the world if this tiny screen doesn't output in 1440p or something. Laughable.

@rallydefault
From memory I think my earliest speculations about the "Nintendo NX" included a 480p display. Because that sort of resolution made a lot of sense for a portable gaming device. You don't need much more than that if it was going to be a <4" screen. And a lower resolution means better visuals with less GPU horsepower.

Given the Switch has a 6.2" screen, 720p is perfectly fine. IMO. I don't think people realise that the high resolution screens they have on their phones are mostly useful for text. And only to a degree. The phones that are pushing it really hard are doing it for no other reason than technical bragging rights.... and sometimes better VR.

Lotsof people dont get its a hybrid. Its a new concept so expecttaions are everywhere. Ive seen Nintendoomers say it has to match xbox one and ps4, while saying running UE4 on medium in this form factor is great.

Plus the wildcard: Nvidia. We have absolutely no way of knowing what theyve done.

The more I think about it, the more I think that pricing and portability is ultimately more important than power.

This far into the generation, I get the feeling that the Switch will be treated as a "second system" (to either XBO, PS4 or PC) by the general gaming populace. I've known many in the past to primarily play on a non-Nintendo system (mostly for the third-party support and/or relative power), and have a Nintendo system for Nintendo games (often the handheld would have more appeal than the console, most notably with the 3DS vs. the Wii U).

But if Nintendo have only one system to offer all of their titles on? And it's around £200? I can see many PS4/XBO/PC gamers picking on up if they're looking for something a little different. Especially if they've not gone for Scorpio/PSPro and have some cash to spare for a mid-gen purchase.

The portability arguably makes it easier to justify a purchase as well. The mentality is more "I can now play my games on the go" than "I'm now buying an inferior console just to play a few games".

@MarcelRguez Probably cause the 3DS is still selling. Well.. at least better than the Wii U. It'll be interesting to see how they're going to handle this, because they're essentially marketing the 3DS successor as the Wii U successor, since it's a handheld first. So does that mean little to no marketing for the 3DS or are they going to support two handhelds at the same time?

@MarcelRguez one of the things they got right.

As a handheld, it's a weaker device to play on the tv. As a home console, it's high tech enough to even take with you.

@MarcelRguez They're not announcing it as either, from what I can tell. It's very clear from the trailer that it is a hybrid, and I think that's important. The name "Switch" even makes it clear that it is both.

By calling it a handheld people would infer that it's not as capable as a home system, and by calling it a home system they'd be ignoring the key feature of portability.

@Buizel: They have technically referred to it as a home console on their website. I'm sure this may flip back and forth in the future, but at the moment, this is the one official source I know of.

The original pitch was clearly hybrid though. I think we're picking too much on small details

Considering Nintendo themselves have emphasized it as a home console, it'll be interesting to see how they handle the messaging for it

@Nicolai Hmm it is a strange choice of words but I would've completely overlooked it. The overtly clear message from the trailer is that it is capable of both home and portable gaming - I don't see how anyone could possibly take anything else from it. Hopefully this is communicated just as well on store shelves.

Thing is, if the battery life sucks, it may be in their best interest to market more as a home console. Cause no one will care if it gets 3.5 hrs as long as it's an extra... a 🍒 on top so to speak.

But if it's marketed as a handheld, people will expect legit battery life seeing as that's its primary purpose.

Imo, their best move is market it as a hybrid, but more on the console side. That way the battery life isn't as big an issue, and they can sell an extened battery to the core fans like us, just like they did with Wii U (and that thing rocked- my gamepad lasts just as long as my Dualshock 4 controller)

@JaxonH I dont know how long your DS4 is lasting but mine is 2 hours, 3 generously.

On that note - we know the JoyCon Grip charges the Joy Cons. So when ungripped what do we expect? And what about griped battery life?

Ungripped I expect 10 hours. Its simple tech. Probably wiimote length use.

Gripped, wii u pro controller. Charged that thing maybe 6 times in two years. More of that (Sony take note)

One approach that could've resolved the handheld/home messaging issue but would've opened up other issues would've been to reveal the console for the first time in 2017 (e.g. the trailer we saw this year on January 5th followed by the normal January 12th presentation).