I gotta tell ya folks, all of the back and forth on this thread is pretty childish. Arguing whether it's a problem is pretty asinine. It's obvious that there is a problem. Because you aren't experiencing the problem doesn't mean your fellow gamer isn't. I appreciate the folks just reporting that they have no problems. But those debating with others that do have a problem that they are the "vocal minority" is just stupid and childish. Its not someone's opinion that they are having problems and they are just pontificating. They are having f'n problems. And to them, nothing else or no one else's working Switch matters. Especially if they have logged issues with customer service and Nintendo has been unresponsive.
That said, has anyone experiencing this problem either:
1. Reported and received replacements? If yes, are they still experiencing problems?
2. Taken their Switch to someone else's house, set up same distance from the base and tested it? Even better... taken it to someone's house who has a Switch that is not experiencing problems? How has the problem Switch performed? Answers to these will help identify if it us a production defect or environmental issue (given that, no matter what, this is pretty poor engineering).
The Joy Con issue is not overblown. Not sure how Nintendolife can suggest this. I would gladly trade my Switch with one of theirs that works perfectly so they can see how overblown having to sit 5 feet from the TV to maintain consistent control is.
Absolutely looking forward to this! This is how I wish they would have treated the Blaster Master remake. Im not a fan of 8.5 bit graphics. We're in the HD era. We don't need to be skimpy on graphic quality. 8.5 bit gpx like shovel knight and the like (to me at least) = lazy, cheap or untalented art direction in the guise of "retro".
The joy con blu tooth issue is more than just "fair-ish" for those who are experiencing it. I get constant drop-outs just from sitting on my couch that is only 7 feet from my TV. I have to constantly re-adjust my grip on the controller so as to not "block" the signal. Either that or scooch up from a comfortable position to the edge of the couch to get closer to the TV. Not an acceptable solition for a retail product. Its a real problem that they need to fix.
Not a big surprise. Wii was in short supply on initial launch. Dont know the actual numbers but it appears that there is much more supply this time around just from anecdotal reports of Switch availability. Wiis were sold out pretty consistently til around Xmas. Besides, numbers for Wii didn't start to really pick up til the blue-haireds discovered Wii bowling on Sr. Nights at the rec center several months later.
@Enoch72 Small world! That was a great show. My first was Somewhere in Time in '87 (I think?)
Will be seeing them again this summer too. Bringing my 7 year-old (and protective earmuffs) to his first Maiden show! Been trying to get a video game publisher to hire Derek Riggs on to create art for a video game. (I know him - lives just south of me in a small town in So Cal). Would be frikkin' awesome!
If it were NIB, never opened (or at least inner bags with original seal and original tape), absolutely. In a few months there will be Switches on the shelf to spare. But new SNESs that are NIB and truly never opened are a rarity that only get scarcer as each day passes.
@Enoch72 Yup! Hey, I know my audience Huge Maiden fan. A buddy and I flew to the UK in 2008 just to see them play at Twickenham. And then flew back home the next day. LOL! Look up Aces High Las Vegas on YouTube. One o' them blokes is me.
@Pod This isn't meant to be a knock or anything at all, so please don't take it that way. Yes, making games is hard. And so is playing football, hockey, baseball, etc. And in the same context, just because someone can play any of these sports, it doesn't mean they are good enough to play for a living. And I wouldn't expect that anyone would want to pay to see their neighbor dribble a ball halfway down the field before sucking air.
If an indie has a good enough business plan and financial wherewithal to allow for the proper time and envoronment to create and publish a great game and, most importantly, enough talent to make a great game, Nintendo would likely pick the studio up as a licensee. Or at the least a larger studio or publisher might recognize the talent and hire an individual on as an employee.
But if any of those are lacking, then I'm just as happy not to see it even offered to me as a consumer. My money is reserved for the "A" game I have no interest in funding someone's learning process for sub par games. There is so much utter trash out there, I'm surprised the market hasn't crashed 5 times over like in '84. I am probably from the old school of gaming (and an old fart for sure), but I miss the old days of packaged retail games that are licensed and filtered through the scrutiny of hardware manufacturers for some level of quality. Sure, there were games back then that were crappy. And a few crappy publishers too. But back then, there were way more good games and trustworthy publishers than there are today - by exponential margins. They cut their teeth to get to where they were and there was a large number of games and publishers who just never made the big time because of the high bar in quality.
Just because someone wants to be be an all-pro footballer doesn't mean they can or should be one. And don't make me pay my hard earned cash only to find out ot was the latter.
@Alshain01 I think you and JaxonH are somewhat saying the same thing. I will add that I think the strength of a single game can absolutely and do carry the initial sales of a console. We all have SMB on NES and SMW on SNES for where we are today. Halo on the XBOX... But only if there is a viable system to start with. I agree 100% with the notion of a great game not selling well on a complex and poorly understood system like the Wii U but doing the complete opposite on a solid system that is understood and viable in the market. Games absolutely do and have sold systems on their own merits. But yes too, if you have a dog of a system, there's not much a great game can do. As JaxonH commented, it's a complex environment. Many moving parts and many variables. Not everything is black and white.
@BLD same here. Not so much because of the line up... maybe... it was the first Nintendo console with a Mario game at launch since the N64 (I think). I was really excited about the tablet, and ability to play games on the tablet when the TV was taken. Now, the functionality of the Switch is kind of expected.
@JamesR Totally agree. Potty time is the only quality time I ever get and the Wii U signal just didn't reach that far! LOL! I know... TMI... but those of us with young kids at home are all thinking it!
Is it just me or does it seem like there was actually more hype around the Wii U? To me it seems like they was way more hype for Wii U. Had Patchter even said anything about the Switch yet? Or has he faded into irrelevance?
@Aslanmagic I have you beat by a decade! You'd think people my age need sleep (and naps) but I'll be right out there at midnight too Will be a long weekend with the new Switch and a UFC party Saturday but I should get some quality Zelda adventuring between rounds of bloody noses, cauliflour ears and smelling saltz
This was a great game. But the load times absolutely killed the joy of playing it. For me at least.
If they fix the load times, the addition of co-op will entice me to buy it. One of the biggest joys of my life is playing Lego games with my 4 1/2 and 7 year old boys.
Yup. Almost exactly what I said from the start, before Nintendo Life's last talking point even: 3DS is their cash cow, different pricepoints and different play experiences. They can co-exist.
I said this months back when everyone was panicking that the Switch was going to kill off the 3DS. It will not. A few very simple reasons why and we can move on to enjoying both systems:
1. 2DS/3DS starts at $79.99. Switch is $299.99. It's a different price-point. Some crossover will take place. But there is also a different market segment each are targeting.
2. 2DS/3DS is a true portable. It fits in your pocket. Switch doesn't. It's a console you can take with you.
3. 3DS is 3D. It (and 2DS) have 2 screens. It's a different play experience
4. 3DS is Nintendo's cash cow! To suggest that the Switch will take over that role AS WELL AS the incremental revenue that Nintendo plans for this new product offering - even in it's first 2 years - is ludicrous to even imagine. Remember... a company introduces new products to increase revenue, not simply replace revenue streams. For Nintendo to make such an assumption that killing off their cash cow will not only drive an equal volume of sales to an unknown product line, but also offer incremental revenue improvement over it is just pure silliness.
These are different product lines at very different price-points with different play experiences. 3DS games will not be end-of-lifed - at least not because of the Switch. I can see a 3DS successor as shutter technology gets better and cheaper and screens with better resolution come down to the point where they fit into that sub $199 price-point.
@DanteSolablood Yeah, I just see that cartridge era as the beginning of the end of their arrogance towards the development community. They started to turn the page with the GC gen. They made the platform easier to develop for and finally released a disc based platform (though it was still proprietary). They also managed to get an exclusive window for RE4 out of Capcom. Which shows that they tried.
Yes... we all certainly enjoyed Zelda on CDi... <baaaaarf>
@DanteSolablood I consider that the same era. That happened at the tail end of SNES and early N64 early days after Nintendo kicked Sony out of their SNES CD ROM bed. It was also well known that the N64 was hard to develop for. That combined with the runaway success of the PS1, which exclusive FF7 had a significant contribution, humbled Nintendo. They went through the N64 era learning that they werent the biggest fish anymore and they needed the help of 3rd parties. They were very vocal about the need to make an easier platform and better business model with the GC and pretty much every new console after. Even with that realization, they still always struggled to woo and keep 3rd parties. For many reasons, some I pointed out in my original post. Also, the demographic started to change. With the PS1 era, gamers started to want more mature oriented games. Gamers started to mature and the content they wanted started to be more edgy and more adult. Nintendo's platform has always been more whimsical and younger at heart. Most 3rd parties wanted to go with the trend and develop for the more popular, more mature Sony and MS platforms. Sure there were some attempts to bring mature games like Resident Evil and a handful of others that had some success. But their brand could just never shake the "kiddie" console type cast. That still exists to this date. Its like an actor cast in an epic role always being type cast only as that character or character type. I really think thats the bigger reason for their inability to atttact original 3rd party content. There is a certain type of player that enjoys Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Yoshi games. Those people play Nintendo consoles. But that is not the mass market. So yeah, a 3rd party will throw ports at their console. But making original content for a platform targeted at a smaller demographic is a harder sell.
The point I was originally trying to make still stands. Nintendo hasnt thumbed their noses at 3rd parties for several console generations. And the problem and dynamics involved are much more complex than the writer of this article suggests.
Funny, I have never had the sense that Nintendo has blamed 3rd parties for their lack of support. They have always acknowledged that attaining proper 3rd party support is an important key to success. They havent thumbed their noses at 3rd parties since the SNES era when their heads were too big to fit through the door. Its not as easy getting and maintaining 3rd party support as it is to just write the observation. Its a vicious circle. They need 3rd party support to be successful but their 1st party games are so dominant. They compete for their 3rd party partners' dollars. No support no system sales. Then add to it the competition from 1st party sales and its not so attractive. It's not as easy a solution as the media think. Nintendo have been working hard with their 3rd parties to build better dev tools and programs for the last several console generations. Fans spouting uneducated opinions is nothing new and nothing to do about it. But i would expect more from the media (not surprised either though).
Wow... seriously people? All this crying over this? The things charge in 3 hours... they last for 20 hours... I honestly dont see me keeping the joy cons hooked on anything less than the tablet when docked in the first place. Is it really that big of a deal? If this is what stresses you out, you have a rough road agead of you...
@sdelfin Absolutely! This game was a tribute to late 80s culture when it came out. That's why one version of the Andre the Giant character is called "Andore". Even Damnd looks a bit like the Ultimate Warrior. Also, notice other names like Slash and Axle in reference to GnR. The late 80s was a great time to be a kid or teenager!
@DiscoGentleman I've never seen "Oh my car..." in any other Capcom games. If it has been, it's likely in homage to the SNES port. The original line is actually, "Oh my God..." in the original arcade version. Nintendo changed "God" to "car" when they ported it to their SNES. Ninty changed many things back then. Anything religious like references in RPGs and imagery like crucifix tombstones in Castlevania.
@AlexSora89 I loved that episode of Gravity Falls just for that reference! It blew me away when my 6 year old got it! (He's no stranger to the classic arcade and consile games)
$9.99 is a perfectly reasonable price for a Nintendo developed game. What people don't seem to realize is that most free to play games are designed based around the idea of microtransactions and the only way to get the full game experience is to continuously pay for those transactions. The incredibly appealing thing about being able to pay $9.99 and unlock the complete game is that you get just that! The complete game for $9.99! And the game is designed so that there is a complete game package for a very small amount of money. It is not structured with the idea that small transactions make up the bulk of the mechanics or awards. So the designer has the freedom to make a compelling experience with no restrictions.
Plus, it's Nintendo... this will not be your average endless runner. Just the one video shows clearly to me (at least) that there is a level of polish and complexity that I have yet to see in a free to play endless runner. I'm super excited to have the rare opportunity to buy a complete mobile gaming experience for under $10
@Wolfgabe Exactly. We're not making lemonade for our stand on our sidewalk here. The variables and constraints are enormous when dealing with supply especially when targeting a hard date to deliver a product to a rabid market segment. I honestly think they knew they would not have enough to meet demand given the time and just decided to go b@ll$ out and get as much to market as possible with continual shipments through the holidays. Thats why they didnt bother with a pre order program. No amount of pre orders would change the quantity they could get by Novber. They probably conceded that the launch number was in line with previous launches knowing that this kind of whining will go away as subsequent shipments satisfy demand.
@fortius54 And that's the point... there isnt a marketing professional that would dream that this product would sell less than it is selling now. So what? Do we really think that Nintendo employs professionals in their Marketing, Product Management and Production Planning business units that are less knowledgeable than a bunch of pre-teens, basement dwellers and general peanut gallery armchair quarterbacks found on our beloved Nintendolife forum community? (No offense guys... myself is included!)
No, I happen to have an understanding of the math, data analysis and excruciating amount of planning and attention to minutia that goes into bringing a product like this to the market as I do it for a living. And 4 months from announcement to market is nothing. They were in production planning (if not actual production) before the announcement was even made. So there is only so much valid insights you can divine on a product you cannot yet (or have not) yet announced. Besides that, no amount of market analysis is going to change the physical constraints that "time" introduces to production capacity when butt up against a hard delivery date such as the holiday season.
What likely happened here is some ideation group came up with this concept early in the year or late last year. The first thing the Product team did was look at the calendar and say, s#%t... its going to be tight for holiday 2016. How long can we commit to vetting this concept with focus groups? What are time estimates for engineering? Prototyping? First article (sample)? What contract manufacturers will have space in their production plans? How many can we employ before quality takes a dip ( I guarantee they are running 6 Sigma and have a calculation that will give them that answer)? What are long lead parts? What are production lead times? Production needs to start on X date to yield and acceptable number available in November. Whats that acceptable number? (Most likely they already know it wont be enough to meet demand - dont even need to dig deeper in market research. Its moot at this point). Can we wrap up engineering and first article earlier to give production a little more time? No? Crap... Is the number we will have be acceptible if we drip-feed each week through the holiday season? Go or No-go decision time... Go!
There is a crap ton of analysis that goes into this besides, "Why dont we just make enough to meet demand"?!
Folks, this is not hard to figure out. Im surprised to see editorial such as this from Nintendolife. This system was announced July 14th. That is 4 months... 4 MONTHS!!! Its easy for us to sit back in our couches and open our mouths like baby chicks waiting for mamma bird to feed our "I want! I want!" squaking. But 4 months in the manufacturing world is like a second in everyone elses world. If you think of everything that needs to happen to get a produsct to market (production planning, demand forecast planning, materials procurement, lead times, component shipping / receiving - all before the first unit hits the line), 4 months is not enough time to satisfy much of any kind of rabid demand. In fact, I am confident that they started production before the product was even announced in July. Its the only way they could produce even this many. Which is also why they didnt take pre-orders - simply because no matter how many pre orders were generated, we were going o get as many as we were going to get on Nov 11. No amount of pre orders would change that number.
As with all hardware releases where there is rabid demand, its time that is the enemy. It really is as simple as that. And no... bringing on more contract manufacture facilities to increase production capacity is not the answer. After a certain point, it costs more to manage production and quality control across multiple manufacturers than it's worth.
Very simply, it is what it is and we can all learn some patience. We cant all have what we want wgen we want it. If we want more units on the shelves at the store, practice patience and self control and stop buying scalped games from ebay at 4x MSRP!
Thanks Speedracer! That is exactly the same thought I had about the basketball segment of the switch preview. Im all for taking your games on the road to play in the car or plane or in your hotel room or even at your buddy's house for some local multi-player. But dude... if you're outside playing a video game of something that is right in front of you, right under your nose, in real life... you have problems. Sorry. That's beyond lame.
And don't get me started on a stadium full of people cheering on a bunch of kids playing video games. If that ever happens, in that kind of volume (attendance) its the beginning of the end brother! I'll be the first in line for the Switch. But I'll definitely be keepin it real.
This whole idea of creating technology to get people to go out and experience life outside is just very silly to me. Its an oxymoron. If your goal is to get people to go outside and pick their heads up to look around, then start making footballs, running shoes, tents... I am a die hard gamer and love to play. But I know the best way to get my fixes. If i want to game, it's best in an environment where I can focus on the game. If I want fresh air and socialization, its best to go outside and let my senses do what they were designed to do and form relationships with other people without any technological barriers in the way. Relationships require focus and attention on the other person. Not distraction or filters. The best way to experience reality is from the air we breath, sights we see and people we meet straight to our eyes, ears and noses. I think we as a people are starting to get away from common sense. Seeing a mob of people in Japan stopping traffic and other people walking off of piers and driving their cars into parks with children playing in harms way just to pursue a digital creation to me is the epitome of stupidity. There is a time and place for different kinds of stimulus. If you want to escape to fantasy worlds and play the role of hero or villian, thats what games are made for. Enjoy! If you want to get out and experience the outdoors and form meaningful releationships, open the door and walk outside. We as a society should not encourage the design of tools to help us do what all of us can do all on our own. Doing so causes atrophy in social skills that we all need. Then yes, we truly WILL turn into a society of people who can physically sit next to another human being and be utterly alone.
Called it. I would also not be surprised to see a next gen piece of 3DS hardware when the time comes. Switch and 3DS serve different utilities and have different feature sets. They serve different pricepoints and certain demographics (in addition to crossover users). This is not the end of the line for dedicated portable Nintendo gaming.
There is absolutely no evidence that simply by the Switch being portable suggests that the 3DS line is in any way dead. If anything, the fact that the Switch is single screen suggests that the 3DS's dual screen model and smaller pocket-sized form factor can live along side the Switch. I see them as separate product lines with separate utility. Lets not forget that the pricing will be substantially different as well. I see the Switch coming in at no less than $299. Small DS is half that. They will coexist.
Not surprised. Nintendo just wanted a system that everyone could understand this time around. For whatever reason that I'm still vexed about, the mass market was confused by the Wii U. Nintendo is just aiming for a straight-away home console gaming experience you can take with you.
It also keeps the 3DS relevant. This is NOT the death knell of the 3DS. Dual screen gaming will continue with the 3DS and future iterations.
Wow, what a trip back down memory lane! I worked at Sega 90 - 91 in that very same office building. What a great time! The industry was so young, exciting, pioneering... even innocent. It's sad that we will never see that era again. Nintendo is really the only company holding on to those roots and it's even slipping away from them too.
Those testers were no joke. I worked on the phones in customer support. But it was well known in the office the hours of blood, sweat and tears that those testers put in. Yes, as people have mentioned here... there was no such thing as "patching". You either got it right and shipped a clean game or you shipped a disaster. It's amazing that there weren't more games shipped with catastrophic bugs back then. Just a testament to those testers and, most importantly, the executives back then who valued quality over timelines. Truly an era long gone.
BTW, @Gauchorino, Redwood City is Bay Area. NorCal. About as different a vibe from SoCal as you can get. But yeah. Really cool 90s vibe to this video
@Gridatttack Exactly! We the community could create entire worlds of carefully crafted themed levels tied together by similarly themed overworlds. Can you imagine? The creativity would extend to the next level when you think in terms of creating worlds vs. Just levels.
Comments 548
Re: "No Widespread Technical Problems" With Switch Joy-Cons, Claims Nintendo
I gotta tell ya folks, all of the back and forth on this thread is pretty childish. Arguing whether it's a problem is pretty asinine. It's obvious that there is a problem. Because you aren't experiencing the problem doesn't mean your fellow gamer isn't. I appreciate the folks just reporting that they have no problems. But those debating with others that do have a problem that they are the "vocal minority" is just stupid and childish. Its not someone's opinion that they are having problems and they are just pontificating. They are having f'n problems. And to them, nothing else or no one else's working Switch matters. Especially if they have logged issues with customer service and Nintendo has been unresponsive.
That said, has anyone experiencing this problem either:
1. Reported and received replacements? If yes, are they still experiencing problems?
2. Taken their Switch to someone else's house, set up same distance from the base and tested it? Even better... taken it to someone's house who has a Switch that is not experiencing problems? How has the problem Switch performed? Answers to these will help identify if it us a production defect or environmental issue (given that, no matter what, this is pretty poor engineering).
Please share!
Re: Reggie Fils-Aime Says Nintendo is 'Fact-Finding' on Joy-Con Connection and Screen Scratching Issues
The Joy Con issue is not overblown. Not sure how Nintendolife can suggest this. I would gladly trade my Switch with one of theirs that works perfectly so they can see how overblown having to sit 5 feet from the TV to maintain consistent control is.
Re: NAM-1975 is Out This Week on the European Nintendo Switch eShop
Loved this game. I too had it on my Neo Geo back in the day, complete with phonebook sized cartridge and case!
Re: Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Will Hit The Nintendo Switch On 18th April
Absolutely looking forward to this! This is how I wish they would have treated the Blaster Master remake. Im not a fan of 8.5 bit graphics. We're in the HD era. We don't need to be skimpy on graphic quality. 8.5 bit gpx like shovel knight and the like (to me at least) = lazy, cheap or untalented art direction in the guise of "retro".
Re: Feature: We Grade the Various Nintendo Switch Launch Complaints from the Web
The joy con blu tooth issue is more than just "fair-ish" for those who are experiencing it. I get constant drop-outs just from sitting on my couch that is only 7 feet from my TV. I have to constantly re-adjust my grip on the controller so as to not "block" the signal. Either that or scooch up from a comfortable position to the edge of the couch to get closer to the TV. Not an acceptable solition for a retail product. Its a real problem that they need to fix.
Re: Opening Sales for Nintendo Switch in North America Set a New High
Not a big surprise. Wii was in short supply on initial launch. Dont know the actual numbers but it appears that there is much more supply this time around just from anecdotal reports of Switch availability. Wiis were sold out pretty consistently til around Xmas. Besides, numbers for Wii didn't start to really pick up til the blue-haireds discovered Wii bowling on Sr. Nights at the rec center several months later.
Re: Nintendo is "Being Very Selective" on Which Indie Devs Will Be Allowed On Switch eShop
@Enoch72 Small world! That was a great show. My first was Somewhere in Time in '87 (I think?)
Will be seeing them again this summer too. Bringing my 7 year-old (and protective earmuffs) to his first Maiden show! Been trying to get a video game publisher to hire Derek Riggs on to create art for a video game. (I know him - lives just south of me in a small town in So Cal). Would be frikkin' awesome!
Re: Random: Would You Trade Your Brand New Nintendo Switch For A Fully-Boxed SNES?
If it were NIB, never opened (or at least inner bags with original seal and original tape), absolutely. In a few months there will be Switches on the shelf to spare. But new SNESs that are NIB and truly never opened are a rarity that only get scarcer as each day passes.
Re: Nintendo is "Being Very Selective" on Which Indie Devs Will Be Allowed On Switch eShop
@Enoch72 Yup! Hey, I know my audience Huge Maiden fan. A buddy and I flew to the UK in 2008 just to see them play at Twickenham. And then flew back home the next day. LOL! Look up Aces High Las Vegas on YouTube. One o' them blokes is me.
Re: Nintendo is "Being Very Selective" on Which Indie Devs Will Be Allowed On Switch eShop
@Enoch72 Thank you sir. Not bad for a "Yank", eh?
Re: Nintendo is "Being Very Selective" on Which Indie Devs Will Be Allowed On Switch eShop
@Pod This isn't meant to be a knock or anything at all, so please don't take it that way. Yes, making games is hard. And so is playing football, hockey, baseball, etc. And in the same context, just because someone can play any of these sports, it doesn't mean they are good enough to play for a living. And I wouldn't expect that anyone would want to pay to see their neighbor dribble a ball halfway down the field before sucking air.
If an indie has a good enough business plan and financial wherewithal to allow for the proper time and envoronment to create and publish a great game and, most importantly, enough talent to make a great game, Nintendo would likely pick the studio up as a licensee. Or at the least a larger studio or publisher might recognize the talent and hire an individual on as an employee.
But if any of those are lacking, then I'm just as happy not to see it even offered to me as a consumer. My money is reserved for the "A" game I have no interest in funding someone's learning process for sub par games. There is so much utter trash out there, I'm surprised the market hasn't crashed 5 times over like in '84. I am probably from the old school of gaming (and an old fart for sure), but I miss the old days of packaged retail games that are licensed and filtered through the scrutiny of hardware manufacturers for some level of quality. Sure, there were games back then that were crappy. And a few crappy publishers too. But back then, there were way more good games and trustworthy publishers than there are today - by exponential margins. They cut their teeth to get to where they were and there was a large number of games and publishers who just never made the big time because of the high bar in quality.
Just because someone wants to be be an all-pro footballer doesn't mean they can or should be one. And don't make me pay my hard earned cash only to find out ot was the latter.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@cfgk24 That's a great idea!
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@cfgk24 Cheers mate!
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@Alshain01 I think you and JaxonH are somewhat saying the same thing. I will add that I think the strength of a single game can absolutely and do carry the initial sales of a console. We all have SMB on NES and SMW on SNES for where we are today. Halo on the XBOX... But only if there is a viable system to start with. I agree 100% with the notion of a great game not selling well on a complex and poorly understood system like the Wii U but doing the complete opposite on a solid system that is understood and viable in the market. Games absolutely do and have sold systems on their own merits. But yes too, if you have a dog of a system, there's not much a great game can do. As JaxonH commented, it's a complex environment. Many moving parts and many variables. Not everything is black and white.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@Ps4all Awesome story
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@KirbyTheVampire at launch, I meant.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@JaxonH Well said sir
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@JamesR !!! Careful! Thats an expensive tub toy!
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@Aslanmagic Well... I guess he was ultimately right, huh? He's still a @#$% though...
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@BLD same here. Not so much because of the line up... maybe... it was the first Nintendo console with a Mario game at launch since the N64 (I think). I was really excited about the tablet, and ability to play games on the tablet when the TV was taken. Now, the functionality of the Switch is kind of expected.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@JamesR Totally agree. Potty time is the only quality time I ever get and the Wii U signal just didn't reach that far! LOL! I know... TMI... but those of us with young kids at home are all thinking it!
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
Is it just me or does it seem like there was actually more hype around the Wii U? To me it seems like they was way more hype for Wii U. Had Patchter even said anything about the Switch yet? Or has he faded into irrelevance?
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Countdown - Less Than a Week to Go, Is the Hype Building?
@Aslanmagic I have you beat by a decade! You'd think people my age need sleep (and naps) but I'll be right out there at midnight too Will be a long weekend with the new Switch and a UFC party Saturday but I should get some quality Zelda adventuring between rounds of bloody noses, cauliflour ears and smelling saltz
Re: Lego City Undercover Makes The Jump To The Nintendo Switch On 4th April
This was a great game. But the load times absolutely killed the joy of playing it. For me at least.
If they fix the load times, the addition of co-op will entice me to buy it. One of the biggest joys of my life is playing Lego games with my 4 1/2 and 7 year old boys.
Re: Kimishima on the Role of the 3DS After the Switch Launch
Yup. Almost exactly what I said from the start, before Nintendo Life's last talking point even: 3DS is their cash cow, different pricepoints and different play experiences. They can co-exist.
Re: Talking Point: The Nintendo 3DS, A System That Still Has a Role to Play
I said this months back when everyone was panicking that the Switch was going to kill off the 3DS. It will not. A few very simple reasons why and we can move on to enjoying both systems:
1. 2DS/3DS starts at $79.99. Switch is $299.99. It's a different price-point. Some crossover will take place. But there is also a different market segment each are targeting.
2. 2DS/3DS is a true portable. It fits in your pocket. Switch doesn't. It's a console you can take with you.
3. 3DS is 3D. It (and 2DS) have 2 screens. It's a different play experience
4. 3DS is Nintendo's cash cow! To suggest that the Switch will take over that role AS WELL AS the incremental revenue that Nintendo plans for this new product offering - even in it's first 2 years - is ludicrous to even imagine. Remember... a company introduces new products to increase revenue, not simply replace revenue streams. For Nintendo to make such an assumption that killing off their cash cow will not only drive an equal volume of sales to an unknown product line, but also offer incremental revenue improvement over it is just pure silliness.
These are different product lines at very different price-points with different play experiences. 3DS games will not be end-of-lifed - at least not because of the Switch. I can see a 3DS successor as shutter technology gets better and cheaper and screens with better resolution come down to the point where they fit into that sub $199 price-point.
Re: Video: Did Ultra Street Fighter II's Trailer Just Reveal Its New Mode?
Is it just me or my internet connection? But I seem to notice some significant dips in frame rate. Looks very choppy
Re: Video: Did Ultra Street Fighter II's Trailer Just Reveal Its New Mode?
@OorWullie I second that! Would love an HD Final Fight. As well as Strider and the two Dungeons & Dragons - a proper HD reskin (not just filters)
Re: Soapbox: It's Nintendo's Job To Make Switch A Success, Not EA's, Ubisoft's Or Capcom's
@BinaryFragger LOL! Then mission accomplished!
Re: Soapbox: It's Nintendo's Job To Make Switch A Success, Not EA's, Ubisoft's Or Capcom's
@DanteSolablood Yeah, I just see that cartridge era as the beginning of the end of their arrogance towards the development community. They started to turn the page with the GC gen. They made the platform easier to develop for and finally released a disc based platform (though it was still proprietary). They also managed to get an exclusive window for RE4 out of Capcom. Which shows that they tried.
Yes... we all certainly enjoyed Zelda on CDi... <baaaaarf>
Re: Soapbox: It's Nintendo's Job To Make Switch A Success, Not EA's, Ubisoft's Or Capcom's
@DanteSolablood I consider that the same era. That happened at the tail end of SNES and early N64 early days after Nintendo kicked Sony out of their SNES CD ROM bed. It was also well known that the N64 was hard to develop for. That combined with the runaway success of the PS1, which exclusive FF7 had a significant contribution, humbled Nintendo. They went through the N64 era learning that they werent the biggest fish anymore and they needed the help of 3rd parties. They were very vocal about the need to make an easier platform and better business model with the GC and pretty much every new console after. Even with that realization, they still always struggled to woo and keep 3rd parties. For many reasons, some I pointed out in my original post. Also, the demographic started to change. With the PS1 era, gamers started to want more mature oriented games. Gamers started to mature and the content they wanted started to be more edgy and more adult. Nintendo's platform has always been more whimsical and younger at heart. Most 3rd parties wanted to go with the trend and develop for the more popular, more mature Sony and MS platforms. Sure there were some attempts to bring mature games like Resident Evil and a handful of others that had some success. But their brand could just never shake the "kiddie" console type cast. That still exists to this date. Its like an actor cast in an epic role always being type cast only as that character or character type. I really think thats the bigger reason for their inability to atttact original 3rd party content. There is a certain type of player that enjoys Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Yoshi games. Those people play Nintendo consoles. But that is not the mass market. So yeah, a 3rd party will throw ports at their console. But making original content for a platform targeted at a smaller demographic is a harder sell.
The point I was originally trying to make still stands. Nintendo hasnt thumbed their noses at 3rd parties for several console generations. And the problem and dynamics involved are much more complex than the writer of this article suggests.
Re: Soapbox: It's Nintendo's Job To Make Switch A Success, Not EA's, Ubisoft's Or Capcom's
Funny, I have never had the sense that Nintendo has blamed 3rd parties for their lack of support. They have always acknowledged that attaining proper 3rd party support is an important key to success. They havent thumbed their noses at 3rd parties since the SNES era when their heads were too big to fit through the door. Its not as easy getting and maintaining 3rd party support as it is to just write the observation. Its a vicious circle. They need 3rd party support to be successful but their 1st party games are so dominant. They compete for their 3rd party partners' dollars. No support no system sales. Then add to it the competition from 1st party sales and its not so attractive. It's not as easy a solution as the media think. Nintendo have been working hard with their 3rd parties to build better dev tools and programs for the last several console generations. Fans spouting uneducated opinions is nothing new and nothing to do about it. But i would expect more from the media (not surprised either though).
Re: By The Way, The Joy-Con Grip Bundled With Nintendo Switch Won't Charge Your Joy-Cons
Wow... seriously people? All this crying over this? The things charge in 3 hours... they last for 20 hours... I honestly dont see me keeping the joy cons hooked on anything less than the tablet when docked in the first place. Is it really that big of a deal? If this is what stresses you out, you have a rough road agead of you...
Re: Video: Take To The Streets With This Complete History Of Final Fight
@sdelfin Absolutely! This game was a tribute to late 80s culture when it came out. That's why one version of the Andre the Giant character is called "Andore". Even Damnd looks a bit like the Ultimate Warrior. Also, notice other names like Slash and Axle in reference to GnR. The late 80s was a great time to be a kid or teenager!
Re: Video: Take To The Streets With This Complete History Of Final Fight
@DiscoGentleman I've never seen "Oh my car..." in any other Capcom games. If it has been, it's likely in homage to the SNES port. The original line is actually, "Oh my God..." in the original arcade version. Nintendo changed "God" to "car" when they ported it to their SNES. Ninty changed many things back then. Anything religious like references in RPGs and imagery like crucifix tombstones in Castlevania.
Re: Video: Take To The Streets With This Complete History Of Final Fight
@AlexSora89 I loved that episode of Gravity Falls just for that reference! It blew me away when my 6 year old got it! (He's no stranger to the classic arcade and consile games)
Re: Miyamoto on the Reasoning Behind Super Mario Run's Pricing
$9.99 is a perfectly reasonable price for a Nintendo developed game. What people don't seem to realize is that most free to play games are designed based around the idea of microtransactions and the only way to get the full game experience is to continuously pay for those transactions. The incredibly appealing thing about being able to pay $9.99 and unlock the complete game is that you get just that! The complete game for $9.99! And the game is designed so that there is a complete game package for a very small amount of money. It is not structured with the idea that small transactions make up the bulk of the mechanics or awards. So the designer has the freedom to make a compelling experience with no restrictions.
Plus, it's Nintendo... this will not be your average endless runner. Just the one video shows clearly to me (at least) that there is a level of polish and complexity that I have yet to see in a free to play endless runner. I'm super excited to have the rare opportunity to buy a complete mobile gaming experience for under $10
Re: Rumour: Super Mario And Rabbids Crossover In Development For Nintendo Switch
I can think of a bajillion properties I'd rather see crossed with the Mario series before Rabbids... a waste of a good concept IMHO.
Re: Limited Stock Brings Out the Inevitable NES Mini Scalpers
@Wolfgabe Exactly. We're not making lemonade for our stand on our sidewalk here. The variables and constraints are enormous when dealing with supply especially when targeting a hard date to deliver a product to a rabid market segment. I honestly think they knew they would not have enough to meet demand given the time and just decided to go b@ll$ out and get as much to market as possible with continual shipments through the holidays. Thats why they didnt bother with a pre order program. No amount of pre orders would change the quantity they could get by Novber. They probably conceded that the launch number was in line with previous launches knowing that this kind of whining will go away as subsequent shipments satisfy demand.
Re: Limited Stock Brings Out the Inevitable NES Mini Scalpers
@fortius54 And that's the point... there isnt a marketing professional that would dream that this product would sell less than it is selling now. So what? Do we really think that Nintendo employs professionals in their Marketing, Product Management and Production Planning business units that are less knowledgeable than a bunch of pre-teens, basement dwellers and general peanut gallery armchair quarterbacks found on our beloved Nintendolife forum community? (No offense guys... myself is included!)
No, I happen to have an understanding of the math, data analysis and excruciating amount of planning and attention to minutia that goes into bringing a product like this to the market as I do it for a living. And 4 months from announcement to market is nothing. They were in production planning (if not actual production) before the announcement was even made. So there is only so much valid insights you can divine on a product you cannot yet (or have not) yet announced. Besides that, no amount of market analysis is going to change the physical constraints that "time" introduces to production capacity when butt up against a hard delivery date such as the holiday season.
What likely happened here is some ideation group came up with this concept early in the year or late last year. The first thing the Product team did was look at the calendar and say, s#%t... its going to be tight for holiday 2016. How long can we commit to vetting this concept with focus groups? What are time estimates for engineering? Prototyping? First article (sample)? What contract manufacturers will have space in their production plans? How many can we employ before quality takes a dip ( I guarantee they are running 6 Sigma and have a calculation that will give them that answer)? What are long lead parts? What are production lead times? Production needs to start on X date to yield and acceptable number available in November. Whats that acceptable number? (Most likely they already know it wont be enough to meet demand - dont even need to dig deeper in market research. Its moot at this point). Can we wrap up engineering and first article earlier to give production a little more time? No? Crap... Is the number we will have be acceptible if we drip-feed each week through the holiday season? Go or No-go decision time... Go!
There is a crap ton of analysis that goes into this besides, "Why dont we just make enough to meet demand"?!
Re: Limited Stock Brings Out the Inevitable NES Mini Scalpers
Folks, this is not hard to figure out. Im surprised to see editorial such as this from Nintendolife. This system was announced July 14th. That is 4 months... 4 MONTHS!!! Its easy for us to sit back in our couches and open our mouths like baby chicks waiting for mamma bird to feed our "I want! I want!" squaking. But 4 months in the manufacturing world is like a second in everyone elses world. If you think of everything that needs to happen to get a produsct to market (production planning, demand forecast planning, materials procurement, lead times, component shipping / receiving - all before the first unit hits the line), 4 months is not enough time to satisfy much of any kind of rabid demand. In fact, I am confident that they started production before the product was even announced in July. Its the only way they could produce even this many. Which is also why they didnt take pre-orders - simply because no matter how many pre orders were generated, we were going o get as many as we were going to get on Nov 11. No amount of pre orders would change that number.
As with all hardware releases where there is rabid demand, its time that is the enemy. It really is as simple as that. And no... bringing on more contract manufacture facilities to increase production capacity is not the answer. After a certain point, it costs more to manage production and quality control across multiple manufacturers than it's worth.
Very simply, it is what it is and we can all learn some patience. We cant all have what we want wgen we want it. If we want more units on the shelves at the store, practice patience and self control and stop buying scalped games from ebay at 4x MSRP!
Re: Pokémon GO's Designer Wants You To Look Up From Your Phone
Thanks Speedracer! That is exactly the same thought I had about the basketball segment of the switch preview. Im all for taking your games on the road to play in the car or plane or in your hotel room or even at your buddy's house for some local multi-player. But dude... if you're outside playing a video game of something that is right in front of you, right under your nose, in real life... you have problems. Sorry. That's beyond lame.
And don't get me started on a stadium full of people cheering on a bunch of kids playing video games. If that ever happens, in that kind of volume (attendance) its the beginning of the end brother! I'll be the first in line for the Switch. But I'll definitely be keepin it real.
Re: Pokémon GO's Designer Wants You To Look Up From Your Phone
This whole idea of creating technology to get people to go out and experience life outside is just very silly to me. Its an oxymoron. If your goal is to get people to go outside and pick their heads up to look around, then start making footballs, running shoes, tents... I am a die hard gamer and love to play. But I know the best way to get my fixes. If i want to game, it's best in an environment where I can focus on the game. If I want fresh air and socialization, its best to go outside and let my senses do what they were designed to do and form relationships with other people without any technological barriers in the way. Relationships require focus and attention on the other person. Not distraction or filters. The best way to experience reality is from the air we breath, sights we see and people we meet straight to our eyes, ears and noses. I think we as a people are starting to get away from common sense. Seeing a mob of people in Japan stopping traffic and other people walking off of piers and driving their cars into parks with children playing in harms way just to pursue a digital creation to me is the epitome of stupidity. There is a time and place for different kinds of stimulus. If you want to escape to fantasy worlds and play the role of hero or villian, thats what games are made for. Enjoy! If you want to get out and experience the outdoors and form meaningful releationships, open the door and walk outside. We as a society should not encourage the design of tools to help us do what all of us can do all on our own. Doing so causes atrophy in social skills that we all need. Then yes, we truly WILL turn into a society of people who can physically sit next to another human being and be utterly alone.
Re: Nintendo Will Continue To Develop 3DS Software After Switch Launch
Called it. I would also not be surprised to see a next gen piece of 3DS hardware when the time comes. Switch and 3DS serve different utilities and have different feature sets. They serve different pricepoints and certain demographics (in addition to crossover users). This is not the end of the line for dedicated portable Nintendo gaming.
Re: Poll: Nintendo Switch Delivers Single Screen Gaming - Will You Miss the Dual Screen Concept?
There is absolutely no evidence that simply by the Switch being portable suggests that the 3DS line is in any way dead. If anything, the fact that the Switch is single screen suggests that the 3DS's dual screen model and smaller pocket-sized form factor can live along side the Switch. I see them as separate product lines with separate utility. Lets not forget that the pricing will be substantially different as well. I see the Switch coming in at no less than $299. Small DS is half that. They will coexist.
Re: Nintendo Switch Will Be a Single-Screen Experience
Not surprised. Nintendo just wanted a system that everyone could understand this time around. For whatever reason that I'm still vexed about, the mass market was confused by the Wii U. Nintendo is just aiming for a straight-away home console gaming experience you can take with you.
It also keeps the 3DS relevant. This is NOT the death knell of the 3DS. Dual screen gaming will continue with the 3DS and future iterations.
Re: Random: Kirby's Abilities Help Odell Beckham Jr. to Career-High Performance
@ningeek185 Let's go Buffalo!
Re: Random: Kirby's Abilities Help Odell Beckham Jr. to Career-High Performance
@ningeek185 Wow! Another Bills fan? On here! Cool!
Re: Video: Take A Look Inside Sega Of America's Testing Facility, Circa 1995
Wow, what a trip back down memory lane! I worked at Sega 90 - 91 in that very same office building. What a great time! The industry was so young, exciting, pioneering... even innocent. It's sad that we will never see that era again. Nintendo is really the only company holding on to those roots and it's even slipping away from them too.
Those testers were no joke. I worked on the phones in customer support. But it was well known in the office the hours of blood, sweat and tears that those testers put in. Yes, as people have mentioned here... there was no such thing as "patching". You either got it right and shipped a clean game or you shipped a disaster. It's amazing that there weren't more games shipped with catastrophic bugs back then. Just a testament to those testers and, most importantly, the executives back then who valued quality over timelines. Truly an era long gone.
BTW, @Gauchorino, Redwood City is Bay Area. NorCal. About as different a vibe from SoCal as you can get. But yeah. Really cool 90s vibe to this video
Re: First Impressions: Celebrating a Gaming Icon With Super Mario Maker
@Gridatttack Exactly! We the community could create entire worlds of carefully crafted themed levels tied together by similarly themed overworlds. Can you imagine? The creativity would extend to the next level when you think in terms of creating worlds vs. Just levels.
They need something for SMM 2