Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I'm really excited for the Switch. I like some Nintendo games, and the fact that I'm gonna be able to play the BotW on it when it comes out is really super awesome to me.

Btw, I'm gonna reask my previous question in case someone who can help me missed it. Does anyone know where I can preorder a Switch right now? I've never really done anything like this.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/01/guide_deals_and_pre-...

Well to start with I think they're in a better position than they were for both. People can look at stuff like the price vs the 3DS or the volume of launch games vs the Wii U in isolation. But there are counterpoints to all of those things. It's expensive for a portable like the 3DS was but its multiple orders of magnitude more capable and it's not a single user device. It has a lower volume of launch games than the Wii U but it's getting Zelda at launch with Mario Kart and Splatoon not long after.

But if it does lose momentum regardless? I think they need to go the 3DS route. Push out trailers for all the games coming in the next year or so at E3. Drop the price and give people who got it early something as compensation. Additionally they should be using the nostalgia to their advantage regardless of whether they do well. They should be pushing out Mario, Zelda and Pokemon themed Joycons.

I can't help but wish that Nintendo would quit targeting casuals. They're capable of such great things, and it's gonna suck to see their game library tainted by a bunch of games for casuals.

I'll probably still buy it, since there will be enough there for me to get my money's worth, but I wish they'd take after Sony and Microsoft a little more.

So far there is only one casual game Nintendo has for Switch, and it's still being marketed towards casual young adults.

I'm referencing this part of BiasedSonyFan's post: "2. Multiple video game publishers and developers such as Ubisoft have suggested that the Switch is a console that will be marketed towards casual gamers."

I don't think they'll be targeting casuals as much as they did with the Wii, though.

I don't like the stereotype of the "casual gamer" as if there's a particular style of game they're into. I think of them as more of the type of person who doesn't necessarily have to have a new console.

It's like the difference between a casual fan of movies and a cinephile. A casual fan maybe has a Netflix subscription but maybe they don't. And if they do they're probably sharing it with someone else. They probably have a decent TV from 5+ years ago which is fine because it still works. They probably never bothered with BluRay and just get the occasional DVD for their small collection. And they can't remember the title of that one movie, don't know who the director is and aren't interested in those sort of details. But they enjoy sitting down to watch a movie.

A cinephile on the other hand will probably subscribe to a bunch of different streaming services. But also get copies of movies they like on BluRay because of the higher bitrate. They likely researched the crap out of the TV they have and will buy a new one well before it dies. Their TV is probably colour calibrated and they're the sort of person who will go on long rants about the mess of HDR standards. They can probably list the movies this guy directed before and rank them. They'll definitely talk about which upcoming releases they're excited about seeing and have an opinion on various new releases.

And then the vast majority of consumers are somewhere in the middle.

This video is pretty interesting. Supposedly Gamestop has gotten 500,000 preorders for the Switch so far, so with all the other organizations out there like Bestbuy and Amazon, that's pretty hopeful. Plus there will be all those other units sold through retail as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SEmO33srNk

Pretty much, yeah. I think there's varying degrees of "casualness", but games like Wii Sports and 1-2 Switch are pretty much the epitome of casual. Games like Nintendogs + Cats can also be seen as casual games for the most part.

The whole casual vs hardcore thing could go on forever, seeing as it really comes down to an individual's perspective on what defines a casual or hardcore gamer, but the above examples are generally what I'm referring to. The Switch library can only have so many of that kind of game though, so I'm not really worried about it.

@NinChocolate
Pretty much. If you're only a casual fan of something you're not going to invest as much time and money into it. Vs a more dedicated fan who have it as one of their main interests/hobbies. I think the mistake people make is that they assume that also says something about their taste.

Changing media again, people assume that certain genres of music are for people who are more into music. Other genres are for more mainstream audiences. And there's some truth do that but it's not the whole story. There are people who spend a lot of time and money getting into music but are into top 40 saccharin pop sort of stuff. And there are others who only occasionally listen to music but when they do its weird experimental stuff and obscure sub-genres.

So with the Switch there might be some people who get 1-2 Switch, Mario Kart, SnipperClips, BomberMan, Just Dance and so on. Super hyped about the possibility of Animal Crossing appearing. And there might be someone else who gets Zelda, Mario and that's it this year. Which one is the "casual gamer"?

1-2-Switch seems more like a party game for me. When I was in uni, it would have been fun as h... it can get. Just add beer.

Oh, and casual isn't an especially good word. Every time someone uses it, it is to dismiss something/someone.

Can we just talk about paid online for a minute, as everytime I read gaf (and elsewhere to be fair) they seem to be laying into Nintendo for their "one free SNES/NES monthly rental" idea.

I'm not saying it definitely isn't a bad idea, I just think without knowing more it's hard to really appraise the idea. For example, a lot of people are making comparisons to what Sony/Microsoft offer in their subscriptions and thus assuming that Nintendo's is a rip off. PS4 is $49.99 for the year (or $9.99 monthly). Xbox is similarly priced at $59.99 (or $9.99 monthly). Now what if Nintendo decided to set their price at half of what the others do (e.g. $4.99 monthly /$24.99-29.99 annually). Does the idea of a comparatively poorer incentive now seem more palatable? To me I'd much prefer this outcome than pay a higher price but get to keep a NES/SNES game that to be honest I'd probably have very little interest in owning anyway.

What can be criticized (in my opinion) is how poorly Nintendo have handled communicating this issue. They haven't told anyone why the service will now be behind a paywall when it should be their job to tell consumers why they should buy a subscription. They haven't told us how much the subscription will be. It's ridiculous to consider that this console launches in six weeks yet there's so many unanswered questions

@dtjive
They haven't communicated what the service is doing well but to be fair it's not available yet. The console isn't out and they're not going to ask anyone to pay until later this year. And from what I can tell the paid service will initially only be available in North America anyways. So I'm not surprised we don't know all the details.

But you're right, people are jumping the gun a bit. We don't know how much it'll cost or what we'll get from it. For all we know the discounts might be pretty decent. Enough to justify the asking price on its own. As I theorised in the other thread they might allow you to redeem subscription time using My Nintendo gold coins. There might be extra rewards on My Nintendo available to people who subscribe. And it might be none of those things and actually just be a shameless cash grab. We really have no idea at this point.

Yeah, I appreciate that it's not out until the end of the year but the console is out in six weeks and they really should be giving a little more details about their plans on this matter. I'm not asking for something concrete but just something that says "we are aiming to improve our online infrastructure, but this will unfortunately mean that to maintain this infrastructure it will no longer be free online" and then something else that communicates very vaguely their plans on price/incentives.

For what it's worth, I like your idea of being able to pay for your subscription using coins. Or even instead, you can earn coins for every month you subscribe so you can then put those towards an e-shop purchase in the future?

My own suggestion: the subscription is $39.99 (annual) or $4.99 a month. With that you also get the monthly SNES/NES game for one month free with added online functionality for that game. At the end of the month you are given the option to purchase and keep the game for half price of the e-shop cost (e.g. NES game $2.50; SNES $3.99). This way, the paywall is lower than competitors and you only pay for games (at half price) that you liked each month which if you did decide to purchase the game would make the overall subscription plan the same cost as the competitors

Immediately (like Christmas 2017)? Introduce a SKU without the dock, add an attractive pack in instead (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) and sell it for slightly less overall (not an early major price drop like the 3DS).

Medium term (like Summer 2018)? Create a significantly cheaper "2DS"/"iPhone 5c" analogue that they can more easily market to kids. This would probably have permanently fused Joy-Cons and have a cheaper, more "plasticy" finish. Pokemon as a pack in.

Long term (beyond summer 2018)? The format and technology allows Nintendo to be very flexible. They could make a home only SKU (that could be sold very cheaply and - unlike the PS TV - would be completely compatible with all software because it's part of the Switch concept from the beginning) or they could go for the "PS4 Pro/Scorpio/New 3DS" approach and create a much more powerful Switch.

Nintendo has plenty of options - which is something they didn't have with the Wii U.

Why do people think stuff like Mario isn't for casuals too? Mario Kart is a perfect example of a game that appeals to both "casuals" "hardcore", "someone who's never seen a video game before".

There's now 6 launch day titles, Constructor has been added to the line up.

@jump what are the 6 titles?

Zelda
Constructor
Just Dance
Skylanders
BomberMan
1, 2, Switch