hiptanaka

Love the hardware. The results of this poll showing that an equal amount of people are using it as a handheld, as a console and as a hybrid is testament to the success of the design. It's versatility makes it speak to more people.

On the games side, it doesn't have a game I completely love yet, but it has many I like, with some of my most anticipated ones still on the horizon.

The game looks very promising. I just hope there are puzzles and challenges that go a bit deeper than what we've seen so far. Most of what they've shown is on the shallow and easy side. With an open structure, they have the opportunity to put harder and more complicated stuff even in earlier kingdoms, instead of saving it for a final, secret world or something like that. I hope that's the case.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE It seems possible that Retro has a game far into development that will be revealed and released in fairly quick succession.

@Yorumi I wouldn't say they are universally despised, but yes more people seem to dislike them than not.

@ImagineerNik I don't think he's saying everybody will like it, just that they're not compromising their vision, and that some people will really "get it".

Edit: In the case of Splatoon, I can't say I'm on board with all of it (please let me skip that intro), but I respect that philosophy of game design.

@gatorboi352 I don't think that's correct. They borrowed the idea of an open world, popularized by western developers, but most of the execution follows a different design philosophy than the typical open world game.

Everything about the game plays into the idea of exploration: You can go anywhere, if you can figure out how. There's no set order to do things, and in fact no things you have to do (except kill Ganon). There are no automatic map markers. Instead, elevation is made into a means of exploration, of observing your surroundings and carving your own path to your goal. Quests have no quest compass, also to make you observe and explore instead of following blindly. Weapons break in order to incite you to constantly look for new ones. Quick travel exists, but the game encourages you to travel "by hand" by giving you a fast and fun way to traverse the world (paragliding), which by the way also plays into finding elevation, which helps exploration. Etc.

It doesn't succeed perfectly in everything it tries, but it's an impressive execution of a focused take on the open world concept. Oh, and its abuse of collectibles is almost as bad as in western open world games. At least finding koroks is fun the first few times you encounter a new puzzle type.

@Yorumi True, we don't know yet. But personally I think Nintendo nailed it with the Switch, and people seem enthusiastic about it 6 months after release to a much larger degree than with the Wii U.

@chardir Yeah, the turf war rotation is good. The rotating modes in ranked play is more annoying.

@Yorumi They do adapt good ideas from other games, but only if they fit their overall vision. Also, they're not sinking. Switch is doing well.

They design games around a singular vision, instead of looking at popular features in other games and the typical way other games are played. I like that, even if it backfires sometimes.

@gatorboi352 Their downfall, or their greatness. What would Zelda: BotW be if it took all of its ideas from typical open world games and did nothing controversial?

He comes off as a bit arrogant, but I respect this way of designing games. The designer has a vision, and doesn't compromise it because of conventions or outside pressure.

The situation of breaking weapons in Zelda is similar. It's not the typical way of doing things, and some people hate it, but others really like it for how it fits into the bigger picture of what Zelda is trying to do.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE New games are great, but I like that we're getting ports of indie classics, too. Some of them I haven't gotten to before, and others are just great to have as both portable and docked. Spelunky would be great.

I think EA made the right call. It's obvious it won't look as good as Frostbite on PS4/XBone, so it sounds like a good idea to create a more trimmed engine that makes good use of the hardware architecture specific to Switch. Hopefully they see it as a robust platform to use for other ports, as well.

Missed opportunity. Co-op on Switch would've been perfect. But I'll play it wherever it comes out.

I play mostly on the TV, but it's perfect that I can bring it with me on occasion. So yeah, the ability to switch is a big deal for me, too.

Not my kind of game, but I love that they support local multiplayer with joycons. It's not the ideal way to play, of course, but it's great to have the option even when you're only bringing the Switch. That flexibility is one of the defining features of the console.

It's mind-boggling that they would use the sales of a port of a 25+ years old game to gauge the market, to begin with.

How is it only Nintendo? It's a common way to calibrate the battery indicator when it's messed up. There are tons of guides how to do it for your Android phone, for example.

Iwata said the long term plan was to have one software platform for all Nintendo games, but possibly different hardware variations. I think it's possible they make a "Switch light" that is smaller and only supports the handheld mode.

I knew about Oddworld, but if I had wanted it I would've already bought it on PS4, as it was release way later on Wii U. With the Switch it's different. If a game is released on several platforms - a game that I want - I will probably chose the Switch version, even if it's a bit later than the other ones, because it's a more flexible console. If it's a simultaneous release, it's a no brainer.

Here in Sweden, there are plenty of Switches in every store that sells it.

Isn't it usually enough to just have the game sound from your TV setup and plug earphones into the smartphone for chat? I think that's how I've played 360/PS4 online most of the time. (But earphones in the controller, of course.)

I love how the Switch is a quite conventional console, only much more flexible. It's my platform of choice for any multiplat indie I want. Other platforms just pale in comparison when it comes to indie games.

As for Koshiro's comments on a lighter and smaller Switch, I'm pretty sure we will see that in the future. Iwata talked about it back when the talk about NX started. He wanted one common software platform for all their games, even comparing it to iOS and Android. I think Switch 2 will be backwards compatible, and I think there will be a more portable device running (mostly) the same games.

@Fazermint "and also would need an interface to convert between control inputs"

That's probably the purpose of the app.

Sounds great. "Netflix for games" seems like the best way to do Virtual Console.

@Snow-Dust The conclusion can be recited in less than 30 seconds. The video documents the experiments.

Makes sense as a low price entry point to Nintendo games. This is definitely the one I would get if I got a 2/3DS today.

@RedMageLanakyn

I don't think it is two steps back. This curation thing in the early days is probably meant to ensure a regular release schedule. A quality indie title every week is a lot better than what I remember from the Wii U launch period.

It's unfortunate that some indie devs feel burned, and that could be a problem in the long run, but so far I think the strategy is working. Maybe one step forward, one step back?

@ghostjoshu Don't mess with my heart. I've given up on getting another 2D Metroid.

I think Nintendo's idea is to be very selective in the launch window, to be able to give proper support to each developer and make sure the games hit their release dates in a plan of regular releases. They can't give that treatment to everyone, so some will be left out.

I think it seems to work, so far. Basically one quality indie game every week. Hopefully, though, the less privileged indies won't be so disgruntled that they won't support the Switch later on when the eShop becomes more free for all.

I find it interesting that people seem to like Hunters, while Federation Force only gets hate.

@ALinkttPresent The last few years, Treehouse Live has shown games that weren't in the Direct. But it's just speculation, of course.

@ALinkttPresent Note the word playable. Since they're specifying that, perhaps it means they'll show more games, that won't be playable by the attendees.

I don't think they ever said they're only showing one game. If I remember the quote correctly, they said Zelda will be the only playable game on the floor.

Edit: Here's the quote, from this very site:

"The Wii U version of the game will be playable for the first time on the E3 show floor, and it will be the only playable game Nintendo presents at the show, in order to provide attendees a complete immersion"

Emily's reasoning on the controller gimmick is sound. Why would they make something that is a continuation of Wii U? I think Kimishima even said at one point that he tought Wii U was too similar to Wii, and that the new console is something different.

On the other hand, the low-latency video streaming was the most impressive feature of Wii U, so I can see why they would want to use it in some form with NX. Streaming over the internet, however, will not be low-latency.

@kyuubikid213 Sure, and of course they're hoping/counting on reaching a larger audience than Wii U, but it's quite a step from there to make third parties pick their unique platform over PC+PS4+XBone.

@kyuubikid213 It's not trivial to make a console backward compatible. In this case, it would most likely require Nintendo to use a PowerPC CPU similar to those that were used in GC, Wii and Wii U. If they chose to do that, the problem would remain that Nintendo's hardware differs a lot from the competitors', which is - I assume - one of the reasons Nintendo usually get mediocre third party support.

For once I like most of what I hear about Nintendo's plans. But then again, we only have rumors so far.

I don't think it's about milking last gen titles as much as it is preserving the player communities across the generational shift. I bet they're planning on moving Smash and Splatoon to NX, and then keep them alive there. If you can play cross platform with Wii U owners, even better.

@ROBLOGNICK Backward compatibility probably is out the door, since it seems (based on rumors) Nintendo are using a completely new architecture for NX. The good side of that is the opportunity to really re-think their platform in terms of current and future requirements, without legacy constraints.

Now, what about the new store? Was that also today?

@WaddleKing It works in Sweden right now.

I think most of those are viable winners, but as already mentioned, Final Fantasy should probably be replaced by Dragon Quest.

And is Sonic really that influential, or even considered great?

My Nintendo in Sweden on day one? Cool, and surprising.

@OorWullie It sounds like a unified "eShop" for all their platforms. Maybe it will eventually replace the eShop?

Edit: Removed pure speculation about NX.

@Jamotello 2,000 new games would've been pretty huge, so I assume the latter.

@Sticker Cool. Does it run mode 7 smoothly, as well?

Same reason GBA games are not available unless you boot the device in a dedicated GBA mode.

Maybe they will add GBA games now, too.

Nintendo needs more projects like that. Just one of a few people playing around with a concept until it feels like a solid foundation and then making it into a big project. Weren't both A Link Between Worlds and Splatoon like that?