1231 games for the switch in just under 18 months. Yes, a bunch are indie mobile shovel stuff, and a bunch of ports that hardcore Nintendo fans already got on their WiiU, but there are still TONS of new AAA titles in there. I'd dare to say TOO many for it to stand out. The attach rates for Splatoon, BOTW, Mario Odyssey and a few others are amazing vs averages.
I'm sure there will be plenty of "blue ocean" titles that still crop up in the life of the switch, but if they didn't cater to those fans (and there definitely ARE fans to that genre as well), what kind of game company would they be?
On the WiiU ports - why not port over an exclusive title from a system that never took off and allow the 20 million people, many of whom never purchased a WiiU, to enjoy these games as well?
(all of the sudden I'm reading this in a bad Arlo impersonation).
The articles about the relationship with Project Phoenix (and potentially $1m of kickstarter funds used for this game instead of the game promised) soured me on it early.
I won't cross link to another news site, but plenty of articles about the concerns from backers, and the fact that the devs said unless Tiny Metal sells millions of copies they can't afford to make the game they promised on Kickstarter.
@Knuckles thanks. I just went to https://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals after I got back from lunch and checked out the updates. Several good values there, too. Notice the continued price slashing on WWE 2K18, lol.
@Razzy Ah yes, I see the retraction by IGN France about it now.
So the options will be that Nintendo will supply additional materials after the fact, or aftermarket patterns/suppliers will spring up rather quickly. Half of the fun of this will be the construction and discovery phase.
It'll be interesting to see how this works out once it's released.
@sillygostly that's only if physical releases are the primary purchasing mechanism. Personally I'd rather bring a handful of carts with me than buy a 200G SD card, but I feel like I could be in the minority.
Since Nintendo has already said they are going to provide the schematics to make your own cardboard, it's obvious that the majority of the cost of the product isn't in that part of the solution, anyway.
The software is where the main cost is, and I don't see how you can "make your own" for that.
@gatorboi352 this was said about the Wii when the simple Wii Sports was displayed. The bigger part is that it's not aimed at the typical gaming market, but in the "STEM" (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning market. When looking at the toys in this space, it's pretty on-par with what's being designed and likely to compete quite well.
I'd rather see a game developed for the system instead of one shoe horned in for the sake of "zomg, it's on the switch!".
While having some games ported forward, especially since the "play anywhere" concept is neat, should be expected. I'd just rather pay for new experiences than "greatest hits" ports of titles I can get 4/$10.
@Blizzia Activision is all about money. Blizzard can attempt to dismiss a lot of things, but in the end Activision will be the driving force in that relationship. If they feel like Overwatch will sell on the switch, especially with cross-play to PC and XBone, it's likely to get a port.
I'd doubt Blizz would do a bad port, which may be why they say it's off the table, but again, Activision likes money.
it looks amazing, but the price is pretty painful. It would have been better to have the software be "free", and just pay for the precut cardboard.
I'm worried that the replacements will be expensive (pretty much just pay another $70 for another pack). It's not going to be for everyone, but it's definitely awesome innovation.
@ValhallaOutcast All of the Samsung GearVR compatible phones are at least QHD (2k) capable. Even then you can still manage to see pixels through the magnification. The screen door effect (along with the field of view issues based on the size and form factor) may make it very challenging.
Not to mention weight of the unit. Your head is gonna get tired pretty quick with that size unit out in front of it.
@MarcelRguez there is a phsyical print (in this case, the ROMs created inside the plastic for the games, as well as the case itself. In book collecting the jacket and cover art can be used to distinguish releases, even when the print itself is the same.
To take the correlation even further, often in more modern printings there are no editing changes made, it's just another run of the exact same printing. Yes, in older prints they had to set back up the press for the run (and thus additional changes/edits could have been made), but this hasn't been true in quite a while. There is still a price difference on things like comic books, where the printing and artwork are identical.
@Sinton - I'm not sure we can guarantee they'd "make money", especially on a wildly successful title like SM3. You'd have to take into account the price of the insides and producing the cart. I'd have to imagine that a $20 "selects" release of SM3 would be profitable, but it may not have the $5 of margin that selling the game emulated for $5 on VC does.
@MarcelRguez sellers can only inflate prices based on availability.
Much like the book discussion above, you are talking about a way to determine when in the lifecycle of the product your particular unit was produced. This is true in almost any collecting medium as you get into the hardcore crowd.
I still don't understand why more publishers don't pick up the rights and run reprints on many of these games. I know some of the issue is the licensing of music, along with tracking down the ownership of the license, but it still should be feasible (and profitable) to do in many cases.
As far as "publish", I'd need more insider information on what Nintendo does (outside of sell the blanks for the physical copies) for major publishing companies like 2k, Bethesda, and EA.
I'd assume that those companies take on the lion's share (if not all) of the risk for the publishing and distribution of the games. Indies, on the other hand, I'd assume have some higher level of Nintendo involvement (and risk). Nintendo may be doing okay right now, but they aren't nearly as flush as "the other guys" at this point.
There is likely some level of math on the number of titles in various tiers that Nintendo is wanting to have published, both in the eShop and in physical copy.
Let's face it, the eShop is not set up well to have thousands of games drop each week right now. Give it time to mature and I'm sure the process will improve.
@AtlanteanMan agreed. The Saturn was an amazing home arcade unit. Many of the ports are arcade-accurate. There are a lot of instant classics that have never even seen a sequel or remake on other systems (Panzer Dragoon Saga is the easiest one to point to, but it's not alone).
The few leaks I saw from CES of the controllers look amazing, especially the bluetooth Saturn controller, but given retro-bit's current track record I'll wait to see what reviewers say.
A Saturn-mini would be amazing, but considering how hard it is to emulate, and that even loading games via modded SD has been problematic due to how they did the timing it could be challenging.
Problem with Tropical Freeze is that it got a "selects" release ($20) on the WiiU (which is why I picked it up). I don't feel like there's enough added to the switch port to make it worth getting again, especially if the Switch port is 2-3x the price at release.
I hadn't picked up Hyrule Warriors yet for the WiiU, and having all of the DLC and maps from both the 3DS and WiiU releases makes it a big plus, along with new exclusive content like BotW Link and Zelda skins. I'll likely pick this up at/near release.
@Razer I love classic gaming, as do my kids. I have dozens of xbox 360 games that we play regularly. I have a Sega Saturn that I use regularly. I haven't purchased and NES classic (or SNES classic), but I don't begrudge them being released. Enabling a new generation to play games is great. Making them pay full AAA price for a game already in the bargain basement on other readily available platforms, not so much. Using the SNES classic as an example, you are getting 20+ AAA games for $80 along with hardware. Granted emulation isn't porting, but if done correctly they both require a level of development work to make them run smoothly. I have repurchased many classic 16-bit games for various systems (xbox, Android, Steam), but I sure didn't pay $50 a piece for them (original AAA money for Sonic 2/3, DuckTales, etc)
There is a place for ports/emulated re-releases, but not in the AAA price category/discussion.
I make a caveat of if Sega would get off their butts and do actual rereleases of Saturn games I'd likely pay full AAA for them, but they'd have to remake them from the ground up, not just port them.
it feels like 2018 is going to be a gigantic rehash of gaming past (vs the epic nature of 2017 gaming). Including Burnout Paradise "remaster/HD", speculation is all about "re-releases at full AAA prices".
Guess we'll have to (continue) to look towards the Indie scene for interesting new gameplay and storylines.
The problem with Year 1 sales for classic consoles is that they have typically been staggered releases. That's why country specific sales numbers for Year 1 are being mentioned at this point.
The switch (yet again) shows that good gaming doesn't need to be consumed by "speeds and feeds" numbers. Gorgeous games can be made at 720p as well as 4k. I hope we don't get the Wii effect with shovel 3rd party releases of crap that isn't very interesting.
While I realize this is a nit-pick, Rogue Squadron is not a direct continuation of the X-Wing line. They were made by different development companies (Totally Games for X-Wing/Tie Fighter/XvT/Alliance and Factor 5 for Shadows/Rogue Squadron/ RS II/ RS III), and had complete different engines and feel and style choices.
It would be more accurate, and a lot less fair, to say that Rebel Assault was the predecessor to the Rogue Squadron series, as unfair as that may be of a comparison.
The initial rumble issue was pretty bad, but 1.20 fixed that nicely. The only issue I've run into is that it won't wake the Switch from sleep mode in 1.20.
Awesome feel and build quality, probably one of the best controllers I've used in a long time.
Comments 27
Re: Derezz And Detect In Bithell Games' TRON: Identity, Out On Switch In April
"Give me Light Cycles Battle Royale" @KayFiOS
Shut up and take my money...
Re: Talking Point: Switch's Blazing First Year Means Fewer Games In 2018 Shouldn't Be A Concern
@electrolite77 - agreed, compare to the current Switch Library -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_Switch_games
1231 games for the switch in just under 18 months. Yes, a bunch are indie mobile shovel stuff, and a bunch of ports that hardcore Nintendo fans already got on their WiiU, but there are still TONS of new AAA titles in there. I'd dare to say TOO many for it to stand out. The attach rates for Splatoon, BOTW, Mario Odyssey and a few others are amazing vs averages.
I'm sure there will be plenty of "blue ocean" titles that still crop up in the life of the switch, but if they didn't cater to those fans (and there definitely ARE fans to that genre as well), what kind of game company would they be?
On the WiiU ports - why not port over an exclusive title from a system that never took off and allow the 20 million people, many of whom never purchased a WiiU, to enjoy these games as well?
(all of the sudden I'm reading this in a bad Arlo impersonation).
Re: Channel That Rage As Fatal Fury 3 Gets A HAMSTER Re-Release on Switch
Interestingly enough, I just picked this up for my Sega Saturn last weekend...
Re: Tiny Metal Update Brings New Maps, Balancing Changes And Much More Besides
The articles about the relationship with Project Phoenix (and potentially $1m of kickstarter funds used for this game instead of the game promised) soured me on it early.
I won't cross link to another news site, but plenty of articles about the concerns from backers, and the fact that the devs said unless Tiny Metal sells millions of copies they can't afford to make the game they promised on Kickstarter.
Re: Nintendo Download: 25th January (North America)
@Knuckles thanks. I just went to https://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals after I got back from lunch and checked out the updates. Several good values there, too. Notice the continued price slashing on WWE 2K18, lol.
Re: Nintendo Download: 25th January (North America)
" Starting at 9 a.m. PT, you can get up to 30% off select digital games for Nintendo Switch."
I guess we need to wait a few more hours to see what those select games are...
Re: Video: We Made Our Own Nintendo Labo Toy-Con
@Razzy Ah yes, I see the retraction by IGN France about it now.
So the options will be that Nintendo will supply additional materials after the fact, or aftermarket patterns/suppliers will spring up rather quickly. Half of the fun of this will be the construction and discovery phase.
It'll be interesting to see how this works out once it's released.
Re: A New Patch Is Slated For WWE 2K18 This Thursday, But It Could Be A Hot Tag Too Late
@sillygostly that's only if physical releases are the primary purchasing mechanism. Personally I'd rather bring a handful of carts with me than buy a 200G SD card, but I feel like I could be in the minority.
Re: Video: We Made Our Own Nintendo Labo Toy-Con
Since Nintendo has already said they are going to provide the schematics to make your own cardboard, it's obvious that the majority of the cost of the product isn't in that part of the solution, anyway.
The software is where the main cost is, and I don't see how you can "make your own" for that.
@gatorboi352 this was said about the Wii when the simple Wii Sports was displayed. The bigger part is that it's not aimed at the typical gaming market, but in the "STEM" (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning market. When looking at the toys in this space, it's pretty on-par with what's being designed and likely to compete quite well.
Re: Capcom Explains (Again) Why Monster Hunter World Isn't Coming To Switch
I'd rather see a game developed for the system instead of one shoe horned in for the sake of "zomg, it's on the switch!".
While having some games ported forward, especially since the "play anywhere" concept is neat, should be expected. I'd just rather pay for new experiences than "greatest hits" ports of titles I can get 4/$10.
Re: Analysts Suggest Nintendo Switch May Have Sold 14.6 Million, Trounced Wii U Lifetime Sales
@Blizzia Activision is all about money. Blizzard can attempt to dismiss a lot of things, but in the end Activision will be the driving force in that relationship. If they feel like Overwatch will sell on the switch, especially with cross-play to PC and XBone, it's likely to get a port.
I'd doubt Blizz would do a bad port, which may be why they say it's off the table, but again, Activision likes money.
Re: Hands On: The Future Of Gaming Is Cardboard, Thanks To Nintendo Labo
it looks amazing, but the price is pretty painful. It would have been better to have the software be "free", and just pay for the precut cardboard.
I'm worried that the replacements will be expensive (pretty much just pay another $70 for another pack). It's not going to be for everyone, but it's definitely awesome innovation.
Re: Nintendo Is Announcing "A New Way To Play" Later Today
@ValhallaOutcast All of the Samsung GearVR compatible phones are at least QHD (2k) capable. Even then you can still manage to see pixels through the magnification. The screen door effect (along with the field of view issues based on the size and form factor) may make it very challenging.
Not to mention weight of the unit. Your head is gonna get tired pretty quick with that size unit out in front of it.
Re: Random: Counting The Screws In NES Cartridges Is A Big Deal For Collectors
@MarcelRguez there is a phsyical print (in this case, the ROMs created inside the plastic for the games, as well as the case itself. In book collecting the jacket and cover art can be used to distinguish releases, even when the print itself is the same.
To take the correlation even further, often in more modern printings there are no editing changes made, it's just another run of the exact same printing. Yes, in older prints they had to set back up the press for the run (and thus additional changes/edits could have been made), but this hasn't been true in quite a while. There is still a price difference on things like comic books, where the printing and artwork are identical.
@Sinton - I'm not sure we can guarantee they'd "make money", especially on a wildly successful title like SM3. You'd have to take into account the price of the insides and producing the cart. I'd have to imagine that a $20 "selects" release of SM3 would be profitable, but it may not have the $5 of margin that selling the game emulated for $5 on VC does.
Re: Random: Counting The Screws In NES Cartridges Is A Big Deal For Collectors
@MarcelRguez sellers can only inflate prices based on availability.
Much like the book discussion above, you are talking about a way to determine when in the lifecycle of the product your particular unit was produced. This is true in almost any collecting medium as you get into the hardcore crowd.
I still don't understand why more publishers don't pick up the rights and run reprints on many of these games. I know some of the issue is the licensing of music, along with tracking down the ownership of the license, but it still should be feasible (and profitable) to do in many cases.
Re: Indie Dev Talks About Having Switch Proposals Turned Down By Nintendo Five Times
As far as "publish", I'd need more insider information on what Nintendo does (outside of sell the blanks for the physical copies) for major publishing companies like 2k, Bethesda, and EA.
I'd assume that those companies take on the lion's share (if not all) of the risk for the publishing and distribution of the games. Indies, on the other hand, I'd assume have some higher level of Nintendo involvement (and risk). Nintendo may be doing okay right now, but they aren't nearly as flush as "the other guys" at this point.
Re: Indie Dev Talks About Having Switch Proposals Turned Down By Nintendo Five Times
There is likely some level of math on the number of titles in various tiers that Nintendo is wanting to have published, both in the eShop and in physical copy.
Let's face it, the eShop is not set up well to have thousands of games drop each week right now. Give it time to mature and I'm sure the process will improve.
Re: Cheeky Facebook Tease Suggests Freedom Planet Might Be Heading For Switch
I'd be tempted, but with it going on sale on steam regularly for $7.50 I wouldn't snatch it up release day.
Re: Rumour: SEGA And Retro-Bit Might Actually Be Working On A Secret Retro Console
@AtlanteanMan agreed. The Saturn was an amazing home arcade unit. Many of the ports are arcade-accurate. There are a lot of instant classics that have never even seen a sequel or remake on other systems (Panzer Dragoon Saga is the easiest one to point to, but it's not alone).
The few leaks I saw from CES of the controllers look amazing, especially the bluetooth Saturn controller, but given retro-bit's current track record I'll wait to see what reviewers say.
A Saturn-mini would be amazing, but considering how hard it is to emulate, and that even loading games via modded SD has been problematic due to how they did the timing it could be challenging.
Re: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze And Hyrule Warriors Are Coming To Switch
Problem with Tropical Freeze is that it got a "selects" release ($20) on the WiiU (which is why I picked it up). I don't feel like there's enough added to the switch port to make it worth getting again, especially if the Switch port is 2-3x the price at release.
I hadn't picked up Hyrule Warriors yet for the WiiU, and having all of the DLC and maps from both the 3DS and WiiU releases makes it a big plus, along with new exclusive content like BotW Link and Zelda skins. I'll likely pick this up at/near release.
Re: Nintendo Direct Mini Is Happening Right Now
as Nintendo's site catches fire. Seriously long load times here...
Re: Reddit Wonders If Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Is Coming To Switch
@Razer I love classic gaming, as do my kids. I have dozens of xbox 360 games that we play regularly. I have a Sega Saturn that I use regularly. I haven't purchased and NES classic (or SNES classic), but I don't begrudge them being released. Enabling a new generation to play games is great. Making them pay full AAA price for a game already in the bargain basement on other readily available platforms, not so much. Using the SNES classic as an example, you are getting 20+ AAA games for $80 along with hardware. Granted emulation isn't porting, but if done correctly they both require a level of development work to make them run smoothly. I have repurchased many classic 16-bit games for various systems (xbox, Android, Steam), but I sure didn't pay $50 a piece for them (original AAA money for Sonic 2/3, DuckTales, etc)
There is a place for ports/emulated re-releases, but not in the AAA price category/discussion.
I make a caveat of if Sega would get off their butts and do actual rereleases of Saturn games I'd likely pay full AAA for them, but they'd have to remake them from the ground up, not just port them.
Re: Reddit Wonders If Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Is Coming To Switch
@Crono1973 plenty of awesome games that aren't just ports/"remaster"/whatever the heck you want to call it out there for the Switch.
A lot of overpay for old content too, though.
Re: Reddit Wonders If Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Is Coming To Switch
it feels like 2018 is going to be a gigantic rehash of gaming past (vs the epic nature of 2017 gaming). Including Burnout Paradise "remaster/HD", speculation is all about "re-releases at full AAA prices".
Guess we'll have to (continue) to look towards the Indie scene for interesting new gameplay and storylines.
Re: Nintendo Switch Is The Fastest Selling Console In US History With 4.8 Million Units Sold
@Kentula - that was biting sarcasm there.
The problem with Year 1 sales for classic consoles is that they have typically been staggered releases. That's why country specific sales numbers for Year 1 are being mentioned at this point.
The switch (yet again) shows that good gaming doesn't need to be consumed by "speeds and feeds" numbers. Gorgeous games can be made at 720p as well as 4k. I hope we don't get the Wii effect with shovel 3rd party releases of crap that isn't very interesting.
Re: This EA Star Wars Pitch Could Have Been The Rogue Squadron Reboot You Always Wanted
While I realize this is a nit-pick, Rogue Squadron is not a direct continuation of the X-Wing line. They were made by different development companies (Totally Games for X-Wing/Tie Fighter/XvT/Alliance and Factor 5 for Shadows/Rogue Squadron/ RS II/ RS III), and had complete different engines and feel and style choices.
It would be more accurate, and a lot less fair, to say that Rebel Assault was the predecessor to the Rogue Squadron series, as unfair as that may be of a comparison.
Re: 8Bitdo Firmware Update Fixes Controller Power Issues
The initial rumble issue was pretty bad, but 1.20 fixed that nicely. The only issue I've run into is that it won't wake the Switch from sleep mode in 1.20.
Awesome feel and build quality, probably one of the best controllers I've used in a long time.