Donderpants

Okay, 130 million is a bit of a stretch. I mean, if it happens, terrific, but I find their odds of passing Wii sales to be pretty low, let alone almost catching up to the PS2. 70 mill sounded like an optimistic but not unlikely estimate, but 130 mill would be jaw-dropping.

I would pay so much for local splitscreen..... If they introduced that as DLC, I would be fine with them not having any other DLC.

So what he's complaining about is-
1. Anti-piracy efforts
2. Quality control
3. The same old complaints about power, which are legitimate, but at this point who cares- it almost never actually impacts 3rd party developers anymore, they just slightly downgrade the visuals.
4. Nintendo not promoting games that come out months after they did on other platforms.

So basically, they just want Nintendo to have a bunch of crappy shovelware, diminish the sales of everyone else's software through piracy, and massively promote months old games.

I mean, Nintendo does have genuine issues with third parties, but this is basically him crying over Nintendo not letting third parties get away with murder.

I would've preferred having Toad's as businessmen, that would've been pretty cool..... But eh, looks fun anyway. I'm more excited for the other worlds though, looking forward to seeing what other worlds there are! (While they look great, those 6 worlds can't be all they have prepared. I'm hoping for 10+, I don't really see them going beyond 15, but I'd be delighted if they could.)

At first that sounds disappointing, but we're still in the stage where supply can't match demand- all this shows is that Nintendo had higher expectations for the Wii than they had for the Switch pre-launch- Not surprising when you consider-
1. The Gamecube sold significantly more units than the Wii U- while sales of the Gamecube were disappointing, the sales of the Wii U were humiliating
2. It didn't launch in the holidays
3. The Japanese gaming industry has been ravaged by mobile devices after the Wii's launch.
All in all, this just shows that like the Wii, supply is too low. It could be months or even years before Nintendo gets supply up enough to make a valid comparison.

Really? Microsoft was the centre of attention? Did I miss something?
I thought their presentation was far and away the worst, with no real demonstration of how the graphics would be better (aside from just whooshing through computer chips) and a couple of meh looking exclusives. The highlight (Assassin's Creed) wasn't even an exclusive.

I'd love a splitscreen option, I'd absolutely be happy to accept 720p 30 fps if that's needed for that to be possible. But I'll still buy it anyway, I loved the original too much to pass over this.

They won E3. Sony's was alright, Microsoft's was awful, but theirs was spectacular, best one in many years. 4 new major announcements, and epic Mario trailer. Then, of course, there was all the Treehouse Live footage.

Yeah, I can see that happening. The Wii, while an absolute smash hit hardware wise, was a lot weaker in games sales. A lot of people only had Wii Sports, which as a pack in isn't even a single game purchase separate from the console. Also keep in mind how much cheap shovelware ended up on the Switch. Hardcore gamers, however, will be prepared to buy more, often pricier games, usually from Nintendo themselves. They're also more likely to consider buying accessories, such as the Pro Controller. However, this is still extremely optimistic- Even though software sales will almost certainly be great, we don't know for a fact if the Switch's momentum will last, and even if it does, the Switch will need to get to 80 million to really be able to compete in profit margins- more money from significantly fewer consoles isn't going to outdo the Wii.

I do have a PS4 (and an Xbox One, although that was a mistake). PS4's library is superior to the Switch's at the moment. After all, it's had 3 1/2 years to accumulate games. But I honestly think if Mario Odyssey is as good as it looks, Switch will be the better system by 2018, and then there are several more years of upcoming games. I can't wait to see Switch become an ever more worthwhile investment.

I really expected the game to be terrible. I woke up at 3 AM for the Treehouse Live back in January, and it went on for an over an hour. It set a really bad first impression. My opinion improved dramatically with the ARMS Direct, but I still didn't think it could even come close to being a retail price game. But this testpunch was so much fun. I'm still undecided, mostly because my dad still utterly mocks the game, so it'll only be fun at mum's house (He's a great guy, and he's also a hardcore gamer, but subsequently he has strong opinions on games that don't please him.)

As someone who still adores motion controls, I just can't see myself getting this game. The characters don't appeal (well, the jelly guy I kind of like) the gameplay doesn't seem terribly deep, and the visual design and stages haven't captured my attention yet. Worse yet, if I want to have local multiplayer (which is the only area that looks truly fun) I'd need a second set of Joy-cons. I suppose I could get by with the Pro Controller, but that's really a deeply inferior option for this game.
The only real opportunity this game has to convince me is by taking advantage of the fact that a close friend of mine has said they'll be getting the game- maybe if I play it there, I can be sold on it.

Still, at least there'll be a Splatoon 2 trailer, so I'll be watching the Direct.

Good, they're focusing seemingly almost exclusively on the Switch. Good decision. The 3DS is a good system, but at this point, I kind of feel like we've "been there, done that". Particularly since there's really not many really cool looking 3DS titles coming out- Fire Emblem was basically it for the year. I really want to see more from the Switch though.

Also, Mario Odyssey hype! Hope they show Virtual Console, I mean, they do have to at some point before their online service comes out. I just want to see VC...

Honestly, I actually think it's more likely that the Switch will replace the 3DS now that the 2DS XL has been revealed
The Wii had the Wii Mini, which released after the Wii U.
The Gameboy Advance had the Gameboy Micro (and arguably the Gameboy had the Gameboy Pocket as well.)
The SNES had the SNES Jr.
The NES had the "NES 2"
Honestly, the only consoles that didn't get a revision after the replacement was available were the N64 and Gamecube (and probably the Wii U, bit too soon to be sure though). This release changes nothing- Nintendo's still ditching the 3DS soon.

Yes, that's right, the New 3DS XL is the Cadillac of handheld gaming. Not the brand new machine that costs 50% more.
I just don't see the market here. Sure, there'll be a few individual cases where this will appeal, but it's nothing substantial.

@Crono1973
Wait, people would pay 150 USD to get rid of the slider? Why would people who own New 3DS's do that instead of just not using the slider?

It's almost twice the price of a normal 2DS, and it doesn't have Mario Kart 7 pre-installed. The people who want budget handhelds will still pick the original 2DS. And those who don't want budget handhelds will pick the New 3DS XL. I can't see the target audience.

I was miserable to discover this was coming out. I had such low hopes for today, and somehow Nintendo found a way to fall shy of them.

Oh come on! My expectations were so low! Why did you have to announce the ONE THING I was praying wouldn't happen....

Dammit. I kind of wanted the 3DS to die. I was never a big fan, and I want their efforts to go towards the Switch,

I want this game so bad. Of my 3 main potential career paths, game development sounds like the most interesting (albeit the most risky) option. Knowing how to make awesome games would be very useful for that reason. Also, juat looks really fun!

There is not a chance that the Direct can convince me to get Arms. But Splatoon 2, now that's a game I'd like to see more of.

I don't really have any interest in ARMS, but Splatoon 2 should be cool! Hope they also briefly mention virtual console.

@ningeek185
Wow. Is there some sort of knighthood we can give you for that? Because that is a serious achievement.

Yeah, I tried attaching a hard drive too. For some reason, my Xbox One threw a hissy fit about that. Ah well, who needed reasonable storage anyway!

Okay seriously, how do you guys still have space on your systems? Aside from a small number of Xbox One S's that got 2 TB, the console world has 1 TB at most. Yes, Nintendo's been meek on storage space. But half a gigabyte is not a negligible update. Sure, it's not massive, but it's definitely not just a small patch, even in a world with games that are getting to be massive in file space.
@ningeek185 How do you even begin to keep your Xbox One from running out of space? I got one near launch, and that 500 GB vanishes in no time. Is yours the 1 TB one? I still find it hard to believe that would be able to work for long.

Oh, and for the record, in 2006 that wouldn't be a meaty update. That would be one that would take up so much storage that no one would even consider downloading it. The 360 had 20 GB at the time. The largest games around at the time, things like Elder Scrolls 4, would be under 6 GB.

Man, a single screened handheld which can be connected to your TV?
I don't think Nintendo would ever do anything like that.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll grab my Switch, a single screen handheld that can be connected to my TV.

@mateq
I get why they went for that music style considering the gameplay, but it really is Breath of the Wild's most major failure. Past Zelda themes were just so much better! Aside from Hyrule Castle and a few of the villages, the music was definitely substandard.
Still an utterly spectacular game though.

How has New Zealand still not got this? Usually the time zones work in our favour in at least this regard.

Thankfully, the UI leak seems to suggest that there will be a Direct sometime between now and the Switch release. Can't believe it hasn't happened already, but there should be one (based on the "news" containing an article talking about “The Latest News, Direct to your Nintendo Switch.”)

Speaking of which- note what the images beneath that title are. Zelda, the Pro Controller, virtual console, and ANIMAL CROSSING?
Are they going to be discussing these in the direct?

I really, really want to see local multiplayer become big again. Online multiplayer is vastly inferior to it in my opinion. I just hope that when they say local multiplayer for Splatoon 2, they mean Splitscreen- only one of my friends is getting a Switch at launch, and of course my family is only getting the one, so the local multiplayer wouldn't be used much otherwise.

Still a bit pricey.....

+Impurekind
Ha ha ha we're all definitely not owned by Apple at this point! Trust us, Capitalism won't enslave you for another few years!
Okay on the whole I tend to agree with you on ads.
But I'm not sure what specifically Nintendo lied about in this commercial. Obviously they didn't cover the weak spots like the price, but they only had 30 seconds, they couldn't even show more than one game in that time.

Of course he should be optimistic in these settings- if investors think even Nintendo themselves have significant reservations about the Switch's success, they'd be in trouble. Showing confidence in this scenario is key.

That said, while it will almost certainly outsell the Wii U, he had no reason to believe it will be anywhere close to the Wii's sales. That captured an entirely different audience.

Man, this list really makes it clear how likely it is that the 3DS will be replaced.
They're qualifying Boxboy as a major first party release. Then there's a port, a Mario Sports game (And those really don't sell in bulk) An RPG with no brandpower, and a game that will also be released on the Switch. Their real games that sell aren't headed to the 3DS anymore. There's only two exclusives from established franchises.
The Fire Emblem remake, which admittedly looks really awesome. But that's coming out in May. Just two months after launch. Of course they'd still be supporting the 3DS at that stage.
Then there's Pikmin- but that's appealing to a niche audience, and at the same time doing what they did with Chibi-Robo, effectively throwing out the gameplay that attracted even that small niche audience.
Unless they show off a 2018 game at E3, I think the 3DS will be done before the Switch is a year old.

After seeing the boxes in the Treehouse Live, I'm afraid having that art on the inside might be Japan exclusive. It certainly isn't coming to US based on the Treehouse footage.

That's actually the second best launch day title in my opinion (not that the competition is fierce for that title.) It looks pretty cool. Good to see a sixth launch title in any case, as the offerings thus far are pretty paltry, with the exception of Breath of the Wild.

That's ten days before my birthday... If that's right, I'll probably get it for that. Although it is later than I expected- isn't August when Summer ends in that crazy land people call the Northern Hemisphere? If so, it's a pity to see it so late, it would be great to have as early as possible- The original Splatoon's update system (Which is confirmed to return) Made software droughts feel so much better- even without new titles, it still felt like there was something new to try.

Yeah, he's lying on both of those.

There's 2 million Switch's for launch. The 3DS launch was considered a failure, and that sold 1.3 million in 6 days in America alone. They are not prepared for anything approaching success.

And the 3DS is on it's deathbed. It's 6 years old- it should be at it's end, and I doubt more than a year of support is left. And that's a good thing. Having only one system to work on is the single most enticing thing about the Switch.

Do not like their pricing. I'm stuck with the equivalent of 400 USD as the price, and with Zelda it'll be more like 470. And their accessory pricing is just a complete joke. However, I actually loved the presentation.

@ollyander
Hope the launch date is in the part of March you're in Australia for....

Although it might be worth simply cancelling your Australian one and getting it in NZ instead if the launch date is set during your time in NZ. Unless we stuff up the pricing. Which is likely.

I live in New Zealand. Nintendo doesn't even have a branch here.
Living in big countries has it's advantages.... but with a country which some people seem to think doesn't exist, I'm just hoping Nintendo remembers to bother sending some Switch's our way.

Personally, I mostly intend to use the Switch as a portable (although that may be because I spend a lot of time on buses...)

However, at least for local multiplayer, I view it as mostly a home console. Sitting around a small screen isn't really ideal- I mean, I'll likely use it at school sometimes, because local multiplayer on the go is awesome, but mostly it would be for sitting down in front of the big screen.

Nice to see an official container though.

Yeah right. They had just delayed plans for one capable of SNES power in 1995. The N64 itself released in 1996, expecting to make that portable the same year would be ridiculous. And only one year to develop the whole thing?

@PlywoodStick
Uh, think you're at the wrong place value. If Nintendo were spending that sort of money, they'd be bankrupt in a week. Same thing for Sony. Heck, Microsoft would also collapse after a couple of weeks, even with the greatly reduced sum.

I think you meant to talk in millions, not billions.

Yeah, because Sony and Nintendo employees will be completely fair judges.

Wii brand no longer has any strength, but Vita being better than NIntendo's handhelds is ludicrous. Vita simply hasn't got a good enough library- The more expensive 3DS's are more worthwhile than a PS Vita, and 2DS has such good money value

None of those are in any large way different from one another. Generic stuff sells.

Good points. A pity that nowadays, such interesting concepts as the Wii U can not succeed. But the Wii is the only example ever of anything massively different from the past consoles that's a financial success. Heck, games tend to follow this trend- the less generic the title, the lesser the sales. Sadly true in today's gaming world. Ah well, at least Nintendo will still provide quality.

Don't suppose he's giving them away? Say, in a 25 foot boat crossing the Pacific Ocean next Tuesday?

Ah good, I was hoping to have a 25 foot boat to fill with the money I'd pay for that.

Every company, AAA or indie, is money focused.
Nintendo's by far my favourite game maker, but don't delude yourself on this.

@Kirby_Fan_DL3
All they've done in a long time?
Now that's something that is opinionated, and probably designed to irritate fans.
They've released some great games this year.
Mario Maker.
Splatoon (which, owning all the big consoles, is the best game yet this gen.)
Woolly World