Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@jump
Amazon Japan's preorder were over in freaking 15 minutes. Do you think Amazon has a bad website? Preorders in other places are sold out, too. Yeah, only Nintendo's terrible website is the reason they're sold out.

http://kotaku.com/this-saturday-folks-in-japan-lined-up-for-n...
http://www.dualshockers.com/2017/01/21/nintendo-switch-pre-or...

I didn't say it was the only reason, I'm saying don't make assumptions.

And yeah, I do think Amazon Japan is a bad website. I can't read any of it!!!

I'm pretty sure that them launching Pokemon Bank was the main issue. It was also Christmas day during one of the biggest years for the 3DS. And they had just pushed out the 3DS MiiVerse/NNID update ontop of that. I don't remember anyone saying it was because of the Wii U.....

I saw people on here saying it at the time, it's just because of hindsight people have ruled it out. If you look at the original Nintendolife article they suggested it was because of new users.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/12/nintendo_acknowledge...

@jump
Read the article and the comments you linked to. People were pointing to new users for Wii U and 3DS. The first update in the article points the blame at the launch of Pokemon Bank in Japan at the same time as the Christmas bump in traffic. People weren't saying it was just due to good Wii U sales.

Anyways, a site Nintendo has created specifically to pre-order the Switch going down when they opened the gates? That doesn't mean much to be fair. But I think it might have something to do with people wanting to pre-order the Switch. Just a hunch.

Nope, people were making all sorts of different assumptions some included Ninty being useless, some were Wii U sold "gangbusters" but initially very few was actually due to the alleged real reason of Pokémon bank.

So... I did some research, and I came to the conclusion that the reason the Nintendo Switch doesn't have any popular perennial multiplatform games like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty scheduled is because none of their next installments have even been announced yet. Sorry, this was probably obvious to everyone else, I'm just letting you all know I picked up on it >.>

But am I right in saying this? I tend to live under a Nintendo-themed rock sometimes.

@jump
Pokemon Bank ontop of ~1mill Wii Us and ~3mill 3DS units going online for the first time was the reason for the outage. It happened on Christmas day. I don't think people were jumping to the wrong conclusions. Of course people were hoping for a dramatic Wii U recovery but people were also pointing to 3DS just as much.

And again, it's a moot point. A service going down means more traffic than was expected. If it's for a site specifically for buying the Switch? It means the demand for the Switch is higher than Nintendo expected. No doubt that seems to be becoming a trend for Nintendo stuff lately.... but it's also not something that happened with the Wii U.

Speaking for myself I can't think of many PC games on the immediate horizon that I'm excited about. Red Dead for sure but other than that. Eh... I expect we'll get more stuff to talk about at E3.

Yeah, have just been released for the holiday season so the next ones will probably be announced come E3 but those 2016 holiday games could of been released the on the Switch launch tho which is what most people are saying.

I never said it wasn't new users. I just disagree with your theory that at the time the collective wisdom was that it was a flood of new Wii Us. That was never the case. The collective wisdom was correct. Pokemon Bank ontop of ~1mill Wii Us and ~3mill 3DS units going online for the first time was the reason for the outage.

Maybe in addition to reading the post you linked and the comments you should read what I said again.

Eh? The original article, before it was updated suggested it was new users with no mention on Poke-bank and the first comment saying it was about Pokémon bank was the day after the article was first published. Collective wisdom after the event happens is hindsight, not wisdom.

makes a comment about hoping the Switch will support a USB hard drive on Facebook, gets attacked by a bunch of people for it

...I see Facebook hasn't changed one bit, reminds me of Youtube comments.

The Nintendo Switch Might Have A Problem With Casual Gamers

The Switch is coming, and the Switch is coming soon. As with any new console, there's a lot of discussion about just who might buy this thing, how many of them there are, and why they'll be buying it. With Nintendo, however, there's a different calculus going on that feels wholly separate from the relatively straightforward progression we've seen with Xbox One and PS4. The company has made its platform pretty clear in recent years, even if it's had a hard time executing it: it wants to satisfy longtime fans and core gamers with titles like Breath of the Wild, while still appealing to the broader audience that made the Wii such a runaway success in its early years. I'm worried that this won't work. The Switch is an odd proposition with a high price tag and some real benefits, but that sort of thing doesn't really appeal to casuals. In its early days, I think that the Switch is going to be largely the territory of core gamers and few else.

The Switch has that casual/core dichotomy baked into it from the start. The motion controlled 1, 2 Switch is meant to be the Wii Sports of the Nintendo Switch, with it's straightforward minigames anyone can play. The problem is that it can't really fill that role without being a pack-in, and even after that perhaps insurmountable stumbling block, the title has problems. Wii Sports was easily communicable and had obvious broad appeal: like to bowl? It asked. Here's some bowling! 1,2 Switch, however, has games that ask you to catch a samurai sword being swung at your head or quickdraw against your opponents: these are videogame-style fantasies without the broad appeal that Wii Sports had. Others, like milking cows, are sort of fun but also pretty weird. The coolest game I saw asked you to identify how many steel balls were "inside" the joycon based on the rumble feature, but that's a gimmick at best. I tend to think that any attempt to retrieve a casual audience lost to iPads is tricky business, but even if it weren't, this wouldn't be the platform to get them back with.

After that, the main appeal to casual gamers is the promise of local multiplayer, which I've argued is the best selling point the Switch has going for it. That one's real, but then we run into a price problem. Getting any kind of four player action going will cost you $440, which isn't exactly chump change. It means that core gamers will still likely show up for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when it releases in April, but getting larger crowds behind that admittedly cool selling point is going to be a struggle. I think that both the Xbox One and the PS4 have lost a lot of business by essentially pretending that local multiplayer doesn't exist, but it's hard to imagine the Switch filling that void, especially with the standard launch lineup blues. We need a Smash Bros. port stat.

So we think about another of Nintendo's essential claims here: the ability to play "console quality" games on the go. Heard that one before, maybe? Yep, that would be the rallying cry of the Playstation Vita, a handheld designed specifically to appeal to the core gaming crowd. Not only is there no clear appeal to casual gamers there, core gamers have proved pretty indifferent to such claims in the past. Don't get me wrong: it's a cool idea. But the ready availability of high-quality games on mobile coupled with the price tag means that I just don't see these claims appealing to the casual crowd at all.

I think we're in the awkward position where Nintendo — cartoony, approachable Nintendo beloved by adults, kids and families worldwide — has increasingly morphed into a core gaming brand somewhat by accident. That's where the loyalty lies, that's where people with disposable income are willing to take a risk on Zelda. These are also the people who might be continually checking for new stock long after a broader audience has shrugged and moved on. The good news is that this goodwill means a readymade audience that's already contributed to preorder sellouts. The bad news is that it leaves a big question mark moving into the holidays.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2017/01/23/casual-game...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Alright, I don't know why people can't make up their mind. If Nintendo is catering towards core gaming, then they complain about not approaching the "casuals". And if they did the opposite, they will also complain. It's impossible to please both side, no what kind of company it is. Even Sony and Microsoft had to choose either one of them, and mostly they went for core gamers because that's where the money is.

That's your opinion. I'd like to see you get a job with Forbes. I wanted a more powerful console. As it is, it's barely more powerful than a Wii U, well at least to the naked eye.

It's marketing isn't clear either. Earlier today I seen people arguing over whether it's primarily a console or a handheld. Nintendo say it's a console but I see it as a handheld. This is the 3rd home "console" in a row where it's been underpowered. And we're being charged a premium price for everything. Games, console, accessories. Crappy on board storage again. That's another €50 at the very minimum for a half decent solution. Scant details on online but what we've heard so far has been terrible. Want more detail? There is so much more.

If fairness to the article it makes valid points, couch multiplayer is a Ninty strength (the article even highlights how PS4 & Xbone are not going after it, and how they've got Mario Kart coming that will win people over) but could however price themselves out of it with $$$ controllers, vaild. 12 Switch isn't in the same league as Wii Sports for casuals, valid.

I'd personally rather Nintendo develop a system that can compete with PS4/Xbone and have the Switch just be a regular handheld. The power of the Switch is amazing for a handheld, but as a console, not so much. The idea is really cool, and I think hybrids will be utilized in amazing ways in the future, but right now, the tech just isn't there. It's better that consoles just stay regular consoles as of right now IMO. A console that can handle games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and also has Nintendo games on it would be amazing.

@KirbyTheVampire I soo disagree on your 'tech not being there' comment.

@GrailUK He has a point though, when diminishing returns truly take over, there won't be a difference in stationary and portable graphics anymore. In a few generations time, we're going to see portable games that look just as good as ''home console/PC'' games. Then it doesn't really matter anymore whether your hardware is portable or stationary, as they can all run the same games. In a way, home consoles will become obsolete (if digital media streaming hasn't taken over by that point), a bigger box won't mean a difference in graphics anymore.

@Octane Now I agree with your vision of the future