In just three and a half minutes Nintendo showed what company President Tatsumi Kimishima describes as "the core product". The big N, though, has been at pains to explain that more is coming to the system, and it's easy to see how that can be possible. Beyond key questions around the detail of that 'core' concept, the nature of the Joy-Con controllers, as one example, opens up broad possibilities for future add-ons and variations.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Kimishima-san suggested that an ecosystem will form around the core Switch concept, with plenty of ideas evidently in the works.
By no means was that everything [in the preview trailer]. [On the ecosystem] It may be appropriate to call them accessories. Or it might be better to call them add-on hardware. It's probably more correct to call them accessories. You can assume that there will be a wider array.
Kimishima-san also explained why footage was limited of games, and why they portrayed broader concepts rather than full game reveals.
One thing we still can't show is the software lineup. We want people to touch the device in January and experience the software for themselves.
Kimishima-san said he was "surprised" by the negative reaction that investors had to the Switch unveiling, though Nintendo's share value has recovered a little (though not fully) in the last two days. He was also asked about whether Switch would support hardware from other companies, and the talk shifted to Virtual Reality.
VR offers new ways of playing, but that depends on what kind of software can be played. If you ask us whether there are any possibilities, we can't say no. It may be that we will build VR software titles, I think that opportunity is available to us.
Some interesting, though typically ambiguous, comments. It'll be intriguing to see what else Nintendo has up its sleeves for the January unveiling.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments (58)
Well I'm certainly glad the Switch will be versatile!
Don't close any doors that aren't necessary.
I'm going to be totally hyped up for that January reveal video. If Nintendo do VR, I might even try it myself.
Oh, and, I love that awkwardly edited pic of Kimishima. He's smiling? Never seen that before!
I can just picture the Switch equivalent of this:
They MUST bring out customised Joy-Cons! There's so much potential versatility there.
The Switch will also be the basis of a wide array of boring articles
What does it all mean bazzle?!!!!
I am just glad they aren't jumping on the VR bandwagon. Release the Switch and put a solid library on it, then you can look at the niche stuff.
I believe the Switch is gonna rock. Can't wait for more details
Nice! Let others do R&D in VR this time. If its good, they can jump in, if it isn't they don't lose money.
Still, I don't think VR would attract me even if its by Nintendo. I don't want to shut myself off the world when I'm playing
If Switch can detect Wii U gamepad, Wii mote, Wii Balance, etc =
"We want people to TOUCH the device"
well of course.
@Moon
Virtual Boy has been waiting for you >:3
This sounds promising. We want people to touch the device = Touchscreen. VR might happen, but if I were nintendo I would wait.
I wanna touch it now not march lol..im happy everything is falling in place
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Why would anyone want a Wii bowling ball !!!!!!!!!
I'm hoping for a Google Cardboard-style VR set that works with the Switch's Gamepad.
We want people to touch the device in January and experience the software for themselves.
Is he not talking about the demo models they are seemingly putting out, not talking about actually touching the screen.
Nintendo will let you put the switch tablet into a giant VR gear strapped onto your face, and then you'll say: "I see everything!".
Those removable controllers are perfect for VR especially if they have motion-control functions.
I'm looking at the Nintendo Switch doing VR in the same way I'm looking at the Wii U using 2 gamepads. Sure it can do it, but it will never be taken advantage of.
I think Nintendo, (if they get VR) Sony, and Rift should all get a game like this that Vive has:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/
I think its the best VR game released.
Imagine the possibilities with the game creator! VR Pokemon Card Game or VR Advance Wars/Fire Emblem.
I don't care about VR and Nintendo can be successful without touching it too.
Perhaps they're going to make a Gear-VR HMD thing that you slot the tablet part in, and use the joy cons as VR controllers? It wouldn't be a very good VR experience if the screen is only 720p, though.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE lol. Please no. Just no. I am still embarrassed what Nintendo did with all the plastic pieces and third-party crap, it is the biggest embarrassment of my gaming life.
They'll release a Joy con with 3 joysticks, and one with 10 buttons, and one with nothing at all, the possibilities are endless! Don't like where the joysticks are positioned? Get a left handed right joycon!
@DiscoGentleman The thing is they've never marketed it towards children...it's everyone like you, and the media and everybody else you keeps on spreading the rumor that they've marketed for children this entire time. There's been several articles on how even Miyamoto was confused at how they became a "child's" product. He was for having GTA on the gamecube, but it didn't happen. Sure they marketed towards families, which inadvertently included kids, but never has their core marketing been for children. Currently, it's everyone else and media who is marketing it as a children's system.
@Moon That was my first reaction when I clicked through to this: 'Holy crap! He can smile?'
Anyone thought that the Switch could easily be used for VR like a Samsung GEAR VR. Put the switch in a mount, strap it to your face and use the two joycon as a controller. It could be really impressive to use it with a Metroid Prime title !
The detachable Joy-Con controllers and the Switch screen size make it perfect for a VR headgear accessory... maybe one of those accessories he's talking around. The system could easily do it. What's not easy is getting VR gameplay right. I'm ok with them taking their time to nail it.
"We want people to touch the device in January and experience the software for themselves"
So that means we definitely see the games in Januari. Good news!
I am wondering though if this really means the end of the 3DS. wii u sure, but the 3DS may still live on for a bit!
After playing Robot Rescue on Playstation VR, I'm totally sold on the idea that a Mario platformer would be amazing in VR.
Accessories... maybe an optional second screen?
I like how Kimishima-san's way of talking in how it's a little more direct than some of the PR convos, yet, just enough ambiguity to keep us guessing.
I love this guy.
Nintendo VR or Nintendo allowing VR units too work with the NS sounds good too me.
@ryogo666 must try robot rescue when I get home!
And yes I caused Nintendo using the switch screen for VR. Just sell a separate head gear for €40 or something and then you have NintyVR, perfect!
I guess they would do it like on Android phones and cardboard? Split the screen in two? One half for each eye? Possible I think.
Only thing, leave VR for a year from launch. Sell the base system first, get the switch in people's homes like the ps4.
Also, I see the Switch costing no more than €250. As it's a handheld with plastic as a dock, can't see it going for much more than that unless it's in bundles
"One thing we still can't show is the software lineup. We want people to touch the device in January and experience the software for themselves."
> Very scary... I cannot help understanding "The console has not a lot of power and showing real games in the trailer would have made everyone run away because they look so old... But we think that people will forget the lack of power when trying our concept..." (like they thought for the WiiU... it seems that they still think that they can do the Wii magic model again...).
Nintendo don't need to go the VR route just yet and as others have stated, a decent experience might not be possible with the Switch's suspected 720p screen. But come on... who wouldn't want some VR Mario Kart action with a Joycon steering wheel accessory? 😉
When it comes to accessories, I don't want much:
I just want an add-on camera, I want stabilized/perfected AR, and I want to play Pikmin on my coffee table!
When you consider that all the guts are inside the display, it'd just need a Samsung Gear VR-like set-up to make it happen. Considering that even the X1 blows most phones out of the water, and most phones can do at least rudimentary VR, all Nintendo would need is a fairly cheap headset to be good to go. The JoyCon controller dock would further make it perfect for VR out of the box, and I think that completely wireless VR is really the best way to do it.
That said, I still think making VR a major point of interest is a horrible idea, but as a sideshow with a low barrier to entry, I have no issues with it. Don't know that I'd even bother to buy a Switch VR headset, but as an optional thing on the side, it won't affect me any.
Nibelsnarf VR. Wat people now see as VR is not what i see as VR. To me VR is really like Johnny Quest/Matrix poop, not what they are doing now. Its still atleast 40 years before we might even think of real VR.
I think the wanting people to "touch" remark might more accurately be "wanting people to get hands-on" with the device. Might be wrong, but that's what I get from the context. I'm all up for touching it, in any case.
I welcome accessories, but I do hope the purchase options are clearly explained,
Wow, he bascially said nothing (except for maybe a Nintendo VR accessory - how about a Google cardboard for the Switch tablet? costs almost nothing).
But now I'm curious: How am I supposed to touch this thing in January?!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE So it'll be a Switch Army knife?
Accessories are cool, just as long as they are optional and there's not an overwhelming amount of them.
I know it probably won't happen, but It'd be REALLY cool if VR actually did turn out to be a Switch add-on.
This was an easy an obvious application for Switch.
Helmet housing to hold the screen, two independent motion controllers straight out the box; you've got home hardware that 100% portable and fully capable of VR anywhere in the world.
Nintendo have really thought this through and covered a LOT of bases, especially when compared to buying a PS4 pro, psVR and a vita and ridiculously cumbersome all of that hardware is.
I actually think the Switch is the first true evolution in gaming we've ever seen since the jump from SNES to N64
@SanderEvers
That is not the point I was making. The point I was making was interpretation of the statement.
@SNESuperior Way too heavy for your head.
VR would be so simple, you disconnect the Joy-Con controllers (which in turn can act like your "hands" in games just like the PS Move controllers), and connect the screen to a VR unit, similar to say the Galaxy Gear VR, and bam the game displays two images just as it does on any of the smartphone VR experiences. Would be much more affordable than the big name VR experiences too, much more inline with smartphone VR pricing. Though obviously it wouldn't be as powerful as say a Rift, Vive, or PSVR, but so what, you make those games less graphically intense, and you could have a well working VR unit for Nintendo's system.
Seriously, the design of the Switch is pretty much ingenious, there are loads of possibilities of what they can do with this thing.
I'm telling you...... My dream will come true haha.
That's interesting. So, he's not talking about VR in any way, shape, or form that suggests it will be part of Switch in the future (say via an extra attachment that uses the Switch screen for the VR display, and I don't think it will, but they might support other VR platforms with games/experiences in the future, much like they do now on mobile. I think that largely makes sense, and, whiles I'd love to see them make their own VR headset at some point, I'd be pretty pleased to see any kind of official Nintendo games and/or experiences on any/all of the other VR headsets out there.
PS. To anyone dreaming about Switch supporting VR: If it's a 720p screen as reported, I just don't think it's going to happen. VR at that resolution, split across two lenses that together give something like a 100-110 degree field of view, just wouldn't be practical imo. You'd probably be hoping for a min of a 1080p screen and graphics pushing out either upscaled 60fps or native 90fps, and again, I just don't think the Switch unit is going to support that kind of stuff. Point being, don't let yourself get to caught up in high fantasy.
@Ernest_The_Crab Nice one.
They actually got him to flash a proper smile for this photo!
@Nintendian I was thinking the same. They could design a pair of VR goggles and you could put the screen inside and then use the Joy-Cons to control the game, that would work nicely.
@DiscoGentleman No, I'm not insecure. I just like to do research before stating incorrect things in comments. Just glad you're adding more proof to my statements. Thanks! and with that, I bid you adieu!
The NS does seem perfectly set up for VR. Even if the Switch isn't capable of a true VR experience, a headset may still provide optional 3D. The 3DS does it well enough using outdated tech. If the Switch does end up being the successor to the 3ds, many (including myself) will miss the 3D effect. A headset along with a decent selection of supported games could keep this feature alive for all the 3ds supporters who love 3d.
As far as different joycons go, I could see a lot of specialty ones coming out in Japan. Imagine one that mimics the GameCube buttons for Smash and Mario. An N64 joycon that mimics the look and feel of the joystick and z trigger. The possibilities are endless. The beauty is they never need to make them a requirement, so if you don't like lots of extra hardware you could easily skip it. As for me, I could totally see myself importing specialty joycons that aren't available in my region.
@MrGuinea
No, he's right. They really do market toward kids constantly and exclusively. For the majority of the Wii era and all of the Wii U era.
That's why people were so relieved at the Switch reveal. For the first time in a long time it felt like Nintendo is actually directing their attention toward us and not these hunky dory Leave It to Beaver families that don't exist.
Ok so VR I'm happy for but switch fit and switch sports etc. No! No! No!
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