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The Nintendo Switch Thread


Brad

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Honestly, the more and more I hear about the Switch, the more I think I'm just better off looking at it like Nintendo's next handheld instead of a console. With a lot of its specs starting to come out, it just can't possibly even begin to compete with even the base One at this point. I know Nintendo hasn't been one to compete in specs since the GameCube but the idea that it's working off of three year old mobile hardware is an entirely different beast. For a mobile device, the Switch seems promising (especially if they get a good price on it) but from a console point of view... it's seems like the Wii U all over again.

I have a feeling that this is going to just about kill any hope of a big third party turnout. If Bethesda can't even say in confidence that Skyrim is coming to it (a five year old game mind you) then what hope is there for the new Assassin Creeds or Red Deads of the industry being on this thing? If this thing is going to succeed, Nintendo is going to have to bring their A game for that January event. They need to play it like the Wii here and at least show the titles they're working on that might not be close to completion; not just Wii U ports and a new Mario. A "all hands on deck" situation with their multiple developers to get people invested. I'm not completely ruling out third parties as a lost cause yet as the Wii showed that companies would be willing to make ports of their games if the base is there. It's just that Nintendo has a lot of leg work to do before I can even see that happening.

Though, as I type this I'm starting to wonder who even thinks of buying a Nintendo console in hope of playing the next big third party title anymore? Maybe Nintendo can just sell this thing on the promise of their own games alone. I know that didn't work with the Wii U but if they actually have a decent lineup in the works and really sale the whole "play HD Nintendo titles anywhere" aspect of it then I could see it working. It's going to take a release schedule that's more consistent than what they've been doing for the last half a decade, but it could work.

idk, I've just had a lot of thoughts going around my head about this over the last couple of days.

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A) Rumored Stats, not actual stats.

B ) people are underestimating the draw of major games on the go and the developability of the platform. Every major game used to get a handheld adapation. Now at the cost of a bit of optimization you can take the biggest games of the year on the go. Sure they aren't the prettiest versions but they play just as well. And every developer we've officially heard form has been raving about the thing

That and I expect full Capcom support

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The other thing is that people are assuming "oh so it's just an underclocked Nvidia Shield/TV" but there's no way it's exactly the same as stock hardware but just underclocked. A lot of time and development went into customizing the hardware and developing the APis, as NVIDIA's Switch blogpost outlined. We do not fully know what customization and optimization they've done for sure yet, but it's obvious that this system will not have the same amount of overhead as the Shield or the TV, because this is a dedicated gaming device and does not run off of an Android OS, instead it likely runs off a customized OS streamlined for primarily gaming. So you can get a lot more performance out of weaker hardware with the right optimizations and customization. The Wii U's architecture was pretty bad but you still saw Nintendo outputting games at 1080p in 60FPS, for example.

Regardless of how people want to view the system the intention is that it is a console first and primarily, it is for all intents and purposes, Nintendo's next home console. That's how they're marketing it. But the fact that it is a hybrid device was always going to impact its specs, because they had to think about battery and price, as well as weight and form factor.

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On 12/23/2016 at 2:38 PM, Mando-Whirl-Wind said:

A) Rumored Stats, not actual stats.

B ) people are underestimating the draw of major games on the go and the developability of the platform. Every major game used to get a handheld adapation. Now at the cost of a bit of optimization you can take the biggest games of the year on the go. Sure they aren't the prettiest versions but they play just as well. And every developer we've officially heard form has been raving about the thing

That and I expect full Capcom support

Yes, games like Skyrim can be downscaled to fit it but what about Watch Dogs 2 or the upcoming Red Dead? Sure, games released 5+ years ago can work no problem but I just have a bad feeling about that being done to more recent games. I mean, with the "rumored" specs (honestly, even with all the optimization their probably doing with it I can't imagine it being that drastically different from what we've seen from the chip already) most games are going to need more than just pulling everything to low and aiming for 30fps. There's a reason why most companies chose to create a completely different game back with the Wii instead of trying to scale down and port their 360/PS3 counterparts... if the game even came to it at all. There comes a point where certain modern elements in games just don't translate well on lower end hardware.

Also, I've heard many developers (like Bethesda) being hesitant as all hell to confirm its ability in any regard. I mean, am I the only one that finds it troubling that only a handful of ports have even been talked about for the thing? You'd think that at this point, with all those companies on that list, more titles/ports would have been confirmed for it. I understand companies not wanting to talk about their more recent titles due to holiday sales and all but you'd think the no-brainer ports like Fallout 4, AC Syndicate, or even GTA V would have at least been mentioned by their respective developer at this point. But no, the only things we have now are Skyrim (maybe as Bethesda has yet to confirm it for some reason), Dragon Quest, Sonic 2017, Seasons of Heaven, NBA 2K17, and Just Dance 2017... how is that even going to work?

On 12/23/2016 at 2:55 PM, Shade Vortex said:

The other thing is that people are assuming "oh so it's just an underclocked Nvidia Shield/TV" but there's no way it's exactly the same as stock hardware but just underclocked. A lot of time and development went into customizing the hardware and developing the APis, as NVIDIA's Switch blogpost outlined. We do not fully know what customization and optimization they've done for sure yet, but it's obvious that this system will not have the same amount of overhead as the Shield or the TV, because this is a dedicated gaming device and does not run off of an Android OS, instead it likely runs off a customized OS streamlined for primarily gaming. So you can get a lot more performance out of weaker hardware with the right optimizations and customization. The Wii U's architecture was pretty bad but you still saw Nintendo outputting games at 1080p in 60FPS, for example.

Regardless of how people want to view the system the intention is that it is a console first and primarily, it is for all intents and purposes, Nintendo's next home console. That's how they're marketing it. But the fact that it is a hybrid device was always going to impact its specs, because they had to think about battery and price, as well as weight and form factor.

I agree that it's more than likely not going to be the exact same thing we've seen for previous Nvidia products but it's still based of that K1 chip. As such, there's just a space of performance you can expect from it and that space, even at its best,... isn't all that appealing from a console perspective. We basically have a "console" coming out next year that, by all accounts, isn't even that comparable to a One (a console released 3+ years ago). Though, as a handheld with an hdmi port, it looks a lot more appealing.

In regards to the Wii U, even Nintendo had trouble getting it to run their software at a true 1080p/ 60fps a number of times (MK8 and Splatoon for example).

 

No matter what way we spin it guys, at the end of the day we're still looking at hardware based off old mobile tech; optimized or not. Again, it's going to take Nintendo bringing everything they've got for them not to have another Wii U on their hands. I just don't think cranking out a portable Zelda and Mario within the first year and then going into their usual droughts will be enough this time to garner a more substantial 3rd party following. Maybe as a portable Nintendo only machine it'll find an audience that way but anything else is one hell of stretch to make at this point.

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So quick question. Is there any real reason we're treating venturebeat unsourced rumors as fact? I mean it wouldn't be a surprise that Switch lags behind, but nothing is even confirmed yet.

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Haven't the rumors from there been pretty spot on before when it came to the switch? That might be why.

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The only correct rumor was the one that it was going to be a hybrid platform. Which, to be fair, is something someone could get right on an educated guess. Still, that was an early rumor that actually turned out true. I mean if rumors were being true were the reason for this being true then, the rumors about Switch's power have been all over the damn place so it's both the strongest thing ever and a weak piece of shit at the same time according to them.

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4 hours ago, Conando Claus said:

The only correct rumor was the one that it was going to be a hybrid platform. Which, to be fair, is something someone could get right on an educated guess. Still, that was an early rumor that actually turned out true. I mean if rumors were being true were the reason for this being true then, the rumors about Switch's power have been all over the damn place so it's both the strongest thing ever and a weak piece of shit at the same time according to them.

I've never heard anyone say it was going to be that powerful. At the most people put it on par with the One. The reason I'm saying that the K1 chip is being used as a fact is due to multiple sources (and developers) claiming as much. Not to mention Nvidia themselves coming out with a press release about their products being used within the system. Knowing full well that the K2 won't be ready nearly in time for the Switch's launch just further confirms it all.

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The rumor before this current one was that it was inbetween the One and the ps4, on mobile hardware. That's pretty damn powerful for a handheld, though I'm not going to say it's realistic on a price standpoint. As for the "usual droughts" remark, the whole point of the Switch was consolidating the portable and console markets together. When you look at Nintendo's release schedule between the two current platforms they have, there's pretty much at least one major release every single month of the year. The ramping up of game production was ALSO in the rumors, and that's not that farfetched considering there's going to be no such things as a handheld development team and a console development team anymore. Though it remains to be seen whether all the efforts from the previously 3DS only dev teams will be looking as good as or being on the scale of say BoTW and the new Mario game.

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9 minutes ago, Conando Claus said:

The rumor before this current one was that it was inbetween the One and the ps4, on mobile hardware. That's pretty damn powerful for a handheld, though I'm not going to say it's realistic on a price standpoint. As for the "usual droughts" remark, the whole point of the Switch was consolidating the portable and console markets together. When you look at Nintendo's release schedule between the two current platforms they have, there's pretty much at least one major release every single month of the year. The ramping up of game production was ALSO in the rumors, and that's not that farfetched considering there's going to be no such things as a handheld development team and a console development team anymore. Though it remains to be seen whether all the efforts from the previously 3DS only dev teams will be looking as good as or being on the scale of say BoTW and the new Mario game.

Yes, this is what I hope happens. All this talk from Nintendo and people around them make it seem like they're still going to support the 3DS post Switch which would completely kill that idea. I hope that this means they can focus their first party efforts on the one system in order to get rid of that dreaded down time their console side has been choking on for years.

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The fact that GameFreak came out and said Switch is the next home for the Pokemon series pretty much confirms Nintendo has been talking out of its ass to prevent losing 3DS sales going into the Holiday season, so it's pretty likely that's how it'll go (not 100% yet, but like at least high percentile).

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Ok, we are now slightly more than 2 weeks out from pricing and launch line up reveal, and I've been thinking about a few things, so why don't we chat about a few things we're planning/hoping for

Pricing. Personally I'm expecting and planning for something within the $200 to 300 range. possibly with 2 skus one with a pack-in game.

Launch Titles: Honestly no idea overall what to expect title wise, but as for numbers I'm thinking 15-20 physical games on launch day with quite possibly another 20 digital(possible canidates being Shantae half genie hero, UMVC3, and Yooka-Laylee)

Your plan for what you want to grab: Personally I've been saving up a fund, somewhere around 500-600 bucks so I can grab anything I want at launch, and then not worry for a while as I work through the backlog I've made through the summer. Planning to grab the premium SKU, probably through Amazon since I live in the middle of nowhere and have no local place I could pre-order at. Thinking of grabbing 2 Pro controllers to start with so I'll have 3-4 player ability right away, and a bevy of whatever launch titles I want while I wait for Zelda.

So what are your thoughts and plans? Personally this is the first time I'm buying a system at launch(Wii-u I bought a year after launch), and it was the first system I've bought during it's lifespan, usually I wait till the cheap area at the end or right after, but I've had a good time with the wii-u, and I'm excited for the switch.

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Hard to believe that we're nearly two weeks away from the biggest Nintendo event in 10 years. These things only happen every once in a blue moon and it's crazy to think entire world will be watching. From what people have said and have told me, this is going to be E3 2006 all over again. "Switchmas" is a perfectly appropriate term.

 

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14 hours ago, Zippo said:

Hard to believe that we're nearly two weeks away from the biggest Nintendo event in 10 years. These things only happen every once in a blue moon and it's crazy to think entire world will be watching. From what people have said and have told me, this is going to be E3 2006 all over again. "Switchmas" is a perfectly appropriate term.

 

In a sense yes, but I think Nintendo's biggest events during the last decade, aside from E3 2006, were in their fall conferences in 2007,  2010, and 2011.

2007 is where Monster Hunter 3 was announced to be a Wii-exclusive after originally being a PS3-exclusive, THAT was gigantic, to say the least. 2010 is where they had the major pre-launch 3DS showcase where folks saw games like Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition in its full glory running on 3DS (it was at E3, but only with way too-early screenshots), and 2011 was when they announced Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS, while not nearly as big of a shock as MH3 was, it was the move that pretty much doomed the Vita right before it launched, since MH was the PSP's sole savior in Japan. No MH = PSP would've had a short life, likely even worldwide.

The lack of a true Monster Hunter on Vita is still felt by the PlayStation fanbase to this day. Nintendo knew what they were doing.

Now its Switch's turn to continue the series with hopefully a Switch port of Monster Hunter XX at launch and hopefully an announcement ASAP of Monster Hunter 5 as a Switch-exclusive, being the headliner game of the whole hybrid concept of portable and console play, all-in-one.

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3 minutes ago, Hero of Legend said:

In a sense yes, but I think Nintendo's biggest events during the last decade, aside from E3 2006, were in their fall conferences in 2007,  2010, and 2011.

2007 is where Monster Hunter 3 was announced to be a Wii-exclusive after originally being a PS3-exclusive, THAT was gigantic, to say the least. 2010 is where they had the major pre-launch 3DS showcase where folks saw games like Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition in its full glory running on 3DS (it was at E3, but only with way too-early screenshots), and 2011 was when they announced Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS, while not nearly as big of a shock as MH3 was, it was the move that pretty much doomed the Vita right before it launched, since MH was the PSP's sole savior in Japan. No MH = PSP would've had a short life, likely even worldwide.

The lack of a true Monster Hunter on Vita is still felt by the PlayStation fanbase to this day. Nintendo knew what they were doing.

I think UMVC3 at launch would make a pretty good impression along with the promise of MVC:I, if you combined that with a new Monster Hunter in launch year, Capcom would be set up pretty well. If Nintendo managed to get major Square Enix titles on the go, well now that would be huge. Personally I still think FFvIIR is likely.

Say Hero you have a pretty good perspective on what could potentially make big waves, what third party announcements do you think would make a big splash next month?

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8 minutes ago, Mando-Whirl-Wind said:

I think UMVC3 at launch would make a pretty good impression along with the promise of MVC:I, if you combined that with a new Monster Hunter in launch year, Capcom would be set up pretty well. If Nintendo managed to get major Square Enix titles on the go, well now that would be huge. Personally I still think FFvIIR is likely.

Say Hero you have a pretty good perspective on what could potentially make big waves, what third party announcements do you think would make a big splash next month?

Kingdom Hearts 3, for one. It runs on UE4 which Switch supports and is not only a HUGE title, but makes so much sense with Nintendo's relationship with Disney on games like Disney Art Academy, and publishing Disney Magical World 1 and 2 in the west. And obviously the Disney audience is on Nintendo hardware for certain.

Persona 5 would also be a huge get for the audience into those kinds of JRPGs.

Those two and MH (along with Dragon Quest 11 which we know is coming) will win Japan on the 3rd-party side I would think.

For the west, this is far harder since the west far more preferable towards Sony and Microsoft systems, and getting any western exclusives is extremely difficult for Nintendo. Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been HEAVILY rumored to be Switch-exclusive, but I think Ubisoft has a good enough relationship with Nintendo and because that damn game's been in development long enough to have kept The Last Guardian company (XD) would prompt Ubisoft to be a bit desperate, and of course with Vivendi closer and closer to a takeover, Ubisoft need all the help they can get.

But BG&E was never a big seller (they had to give it away in breakfast cereal for pete's sake!), so it's not going to make western fans buy Switch in droves. It'd take a very healthy amount of ports to help. They need to get EA and 2K Sports on board in full (and none of this shit with using last year's entry with this year's number BS). And of course games like Call of Duty and more importantly, GTA, need to be on the system and regularly.

3rd-parties abandoned ship on Wii U after the first year, and even then it wasn't all that good to begin with.

All eyes are on Nintendo come Jan 12th/13th to see if they can turn things around after Wii U. It's tragic that Nintendo went from their peek with Wii and DS to some of their lowest lows with Wii U (3DS basically kept things from going horribly wrong overall). I blame the really misguided GamePad, being a far too expensive "gimmick" where it kept the hardware from keeping up, the gimmick was sadly forced on to many games, even if it was great in some (Nintendoland). But the CPU being traced way back to the GameCube was a huge cripple since that was the biggest thing against the system power-wise. And even in the beginning it just didn't have the games to pull in a big crowed (E3 2011 and especially E3 2012 had so little to show. The biggest shock was just how AWFUL Japanese support was, like, the hell happened there?! I mean Marvelous was a no-show after their outstanding Wii support, having only co-developed Sochi 2014. We never got a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons on Wii U, for the first time in Nintendo history.

Thankfully, things look bright after the outstanding Switch trailer, being just about perfect in messaging, software (for what they could show), and just over mood. Far better than that infamously awful Wii U trailer where they ONLY showed the GamePad, leading people to think it was a new Wii controller.

So, here's to the Switch event, and may it show an awesome future for Nintendo! :D

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Well, @Hero of Legend The fact is this time they are actually ahead of the curve since the Switch actually has the newest architecture and tools of all the current systems, even if relative power is lower they can do a lot more with it which may give them the edge

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Pricing. I'm guessing $300 at minimum. Let's face it; the days of $250 video game systems are long gone, and one video game trend Nintendo has never really bucked is their game prices.

Launch Titles: Considering how they've delayed the system to make sure more quality titles are ready for launch, I have a feeling this will be the strongest launch lineup Ninty has had since...possibly ever? Super Mario Switch alone would seal the deal for me, but I'm guessing we'll see at least a handful of high-quality first party titles and several "made for Switch" ports from third parties.

Your plan for what you want to grab: Hard to tell since we still have so little information to go on. Again, Super Mario Switch would be a definite system-seller for me, and I can't deny I'm very curious about the rumored Mario/Rabbids crossover RPG. I'd like to think that they'll surely have some killer release to convince me to purchase the machine day 1, but frankly, the last time they managed to do that for me is Super Mario 64 releasing alongside the N64. We'll see.

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I have the money to pick the system up at Launch, but unless Mario or something is there I won't bite. I don't need a new system just to play ports of 7 year old shit like Skyrim. Zelda, a big reason why I even care about this thing in the first place, is sounding like it's still somehow a ways off.

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Pricing: $250 at the most for two main reasons.

1: It's cousin, the Nvidia Shield Tablet, has a msrp of $200. Considering that Nintendo usually likes to market their hardware down compared to the other big names and that they're basically very similar to each other, I can see them adding on an additional $50 to that price for the controllers and dock.

2: If Nintendo isn't going right after either Microsoft or Sony in their hardware then why would they price it as such? Anything over this and you'd have people asking why they just shouldn't buy PS4 or something. Some might say because of the Mario and Zelda factor but I'd find that hard to sell especially after it didn't help the Wii U... which was already priced significantly lower than the other two. Hell, you can buy a PS4 with a game now for $250 so maybe my estimate is even pushing it.

I terms of different skus, We might have one that goes for around $30 to $40 more for more memory but a part of me also thinks it'll be using that sd and cartridge system to its advantage. Maybe selling memory that way for people who need it.

Launch Titles: I'm seeing a bunch of ports from all over. Their an easy way of padding that lineup without spending too much time and money. Plus, with the mobility of the system it'd be hard not to see the value in them. In terms of first party titles... I'm hesitant to say that the new Mario nor Zelda game will make it out on time. Nintendo development time aside, there has been constant news of botw being delayed due to localization and bug fixes. Honestly, I'm sort of half and half with it as I think even Nintendo knows they need to get that out as soon as humanly possible but we also know that they will hold a game if it's not up to par; especially if it's one of their biggest names (it's both a blessing and a curse with them). I can easily see it coming right with or soon after the Switch's launch... but I can also see it getting pushed back.

As for the Mario game, I'm almost certain we're not going to see that out for a while. The last time we had a 3D Mario ready at launch was with the N64 so I'm just not going to get my hopes up there. It'd be a nice surprise and a well needed boost for them... but that's just not the Nintendo I know. I'm saying a holiday 2017 release for that at the earliest.

In regards to the rest of their first parties... a needed miracle in all honesty. I can't see them releasing anything else big for the launch window. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be proven wrong here and it'd be a much needed boost for the system but I wouldn't bet on anything else.

Though, Pikmin 4 is always a possibility as they have said it's been close to completion for a while. Hopefully they didn't mean that 3DS game.

Your plan for what you want to grab: I'm not that big of a Zelda guy but even botw has taken me back a bit so I'll probably pick that up if the reviews hold up along with the system. As for anything else... well, I'll have to see when anything else is announced. Though, I will say that anything Smash will more than likely be an instant grab for me.

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11 hours ago, Hero of Legend said:

In a sense yes, but I think Nintendo's biggest events during the last decade, aside from E3 2006, were in their fall conferences in 2007,  2010, and 2011.

2007 is where Monster Hunter 3 was announced to be a Wii-exclusive after originally being a PS3-exclusive, THAT was gigantic, to say the least. 2010 is where they had the major pre-launch 3DS showcase where folks saw games like Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition in its full glory running on 3DS (it was at E3, but only with way too-early screenshots), and 2011 was when they announced Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS, while not nearly as big of a shock as MH3 was, it was the move that pretty much doomed the Vita right before it launched, since MH was the PSP's sole savior in Japan. No MH = PSP would've had a short life, likely even worldwide.

The lack of a true Monster Hunter on Vita is still felt by the PlayStation fanbase to this day. Nintendo knew what they were doing.

Now its Switch's turn to continue the series with hopefully a Switch port of Monster Hunter XX at launch and hopefully an announcement ASAP of Monster Hunter 5 as a Switch-exclusive, being the headliner game of the whole hybrid concept of portable and console play, all-in-one.

Oh, don't get me wrong, their fall conferences were huge, but E3 2006 practically won Nintendo the generation. They meant business. There were dozens of huge announcements: Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Brawl, Fire Emblem, WarioWare, etc is just scratching the surface. Honestly the only E3 i can think of that compares in scope to 2006 is E3 2013. They Showed off A new 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Platinum's two Wii U exclusives, Xenoblade, Retro Studios' new game, Wind Waker HD and full confirmation that Breath of the Wild was well into development. That was a gigantic E3. You're right though, Nintendo getting exclusivity on Monster Hunter was one of their smartest moves ever. You practically have to have it in Japan if you want your system to stand a chance. And if the rumors are true, Switch is going to have Monster Hunter, Splatoon, Pokemon and Dragon Quest all within 9 months, which means Japan will absolutely devour this thing.

 

10 hours ago, Hero of Legend said:

Kingdom Hearts 3, for one. It runs on UE4 which Switch supports and is not only a HUGE title, but makes so much sense with Nintendo's relationship with Disney on games like Disney Art Academy, and publishing Disney Magical World 1 and 2 in the west. And obviously the Disney audience is on Nintendo hardware for certain.

Persona 5 would also be a huge get for the audience into those kinds of JRPGs.

Those two and MH (along with Dragon Quest 11 which we know is coming) will win Japan on the 3rd-party side I would think.

For the west, this is far harder since the west far more preferable towards Sony and Microsoft systems, and getting any western exclusives is extremely difficult for Nintendo. Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been HEAVILY rumored to be Switch-exclusive, but I think Ubisoft has a good enough relationship with Nintendo and because that damn game's been in development long enough to have kept The Last Guardian company (XD) would prompt Ubisoft to be a bit desperate, and of course with Vivendi closer and closer to a takeover, Ubisoft need all the help they can get.

But BG&E was never a big seller (they had to give it away in breakfast cereal for pete's sake!), so it's not going to make western fans buy Switch in droves. It'd take a very healthy amount of ports to help. They need to get EA and 2K Sports on board in full (and none of this shit with using last year's entry with this year's number BS). And of course games like Call of Duty and more importantly, GTA, need to be on the system and regularly.

3rd-parties abandoned ship on Wii U after the first year, and even then it wasn't all that good to begin with.

All eyes are on Nintendo come Jan 12th/13th to see if they can turn things around after Wii U. It's tragic that Nintendo went from their peek with Wii and DS to some of their lowest lows with Wii U (3DS basically kept things from going horribly wrong overall). I blame the really misguided GamePad, being a far too expensive "gimmick" where it kept the hardware from keeping up, the gimmick was sadly forced on to many games, even if it was great in some (Nintendoland). But the CPU being traced way back to the GameCube was a huge cripple since that was the biggest thing against the system power-wise. And even in the beginning it just didn't have the games to pull in a big crowed (E3 2011 and especially E3 2012 had so little to show. The biggest shock was just how AWFUL Japanese support was, like, the hell happened there?! I mean Marvelous was a no-show after their outstanding Wii support, having only co-developed Sochi 2014. We never got a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons on Wii U, for the first time in Nintendo history.

Thankfully, things look bright after the outstanding Switch trailer, being just about perfect in messaging, software (for what they could show), and just over mood. Far better than that infamously awful Wii U trailer where they ONLY showed the GamePad, leading people to think it was a new Wii controller.

So, here's to the Switch event, and may it show an awesome future for Nintendo! :D

I have to agree with this. Though i don't believe that BG&2 rumor at all, these games would help Nintendo immensely.

7 hours ago, StrickerX-mas said:

Pricing: $250 at the most for two main reasons.

1: It's cousin, the Nvidia Shield Tablet, has a msrp of $200. Considering that Nintendo usually likes to market their hardware down compared to the other big names and that they're basically very similar to each other, I can see them adding on an additional $50 to that price for the controllers and dock.

2: If Nintendo isn't going right after either Microsoft or Sony in their hardware then why would they price it as such? Anything over this and you'd have people asking why they just shouldn't buy PS4 or something. Some might say because of the Mario and Zelda factor but I'd find that hard to sell especially after it didn't help the Wii U... which was already priced significantly lower than the other two. Hell, you can buy a PS4 with a game now for $250 so maybe my estimate is even pushing it.

I terms of different skus, We might have one that goes for around $30 to $40 more for more memory but a part of me also thinks it'll be using that sd and cartridge system to its advantage. Maybe selling memory that way for people who need it.

Launch Titles: I'm seeing a bunch of ports from all over. Their an easy way of padding that lineup without spending too much time and money. Plus, with the mobility of the system it'd be hard not to see the value in them. In terms of first party titles... I'm hesitant to say that the new Mario nor Zelda game will make it out on time. Nintendo development time aside, there has been constant news of botw being delayed due to localization and bug fixes. Honestly, I'm sort of half and half with it as I think even Nintendo knows they need to get that out as soon as humanly possible but we also know that they will hold a game if it's not up to par; especially if it's one of their biggest names (it's both a blessing and a curse with them). I can easily see it coming right with or soon after the Switch's launch... but I can also see it getting pushed back.

As for the Mario game, I'm almost certain we're not going to see that out for a while. The last time we had a 3D Mario ready at launch was with the N64 so I'm just not going to get my hopes up there. It'd be a nice surprise and a well needed boost for them... but that's just not the Nintendo I know. I'm saying a holiday 2017 release for that at the earliest.

In regards to the rest of their first parties... a needed miracle in all honesty. I can't see them releasing anything else big for the launch window. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be proven wrong here and it'd be a much needed boost for the system but I wouldn't bet on anything else.

Though, Pikmin 4 is always a possibility as they have said it's been close to completion for a while. Hopefully they didn't mean that 3DS game.

Your plan for what you want to grab: I'm not that big of a Zelda guy but even botw has taken me back a bit so I'll probably pick that up if the reviews hold up along with the system. As for anything else... well, I'll have to see when anything else is announced. Though, I will say that anything Smash will more than likely be an instant grab for me.

Going by Eurogamer, Emily Rogers and LPVG, who have all been spot on with the Switch rumors so far, have all said the new 3D Mario is practically done and will be the headline launch title, with Mario Kart and Zelda following within 3 months. I also believe that to be the case.

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Personally speaking I'm thinking the switch is going to have somewhere between 200 and 300 dollars but to pin it down on one number I'd say 250 is a safe bet not only because of the fact that it'd have to compete with the PS4 and XONE as others have said but also because it just seems like a good balance between full console price and handheld price given the beast that we're dealing with here.

As for launch titles, I'm crossing my fingers on those dark souls ports being a real thing because I'd be all over portable dark souls (with hopefully stable frame rate but I'm not getting my hopes up for it) and while its a long shot, I'm hoping for BOTW and that RISE: race to the future game being launch titles too. RISE because we haven't seen or heard anything about it since that teaser trailer and it'd make sense if they were saving it up for a launch title reveal or as something thats not too far after the switch's launch and BOTW because it'd just make sense considering its Nintendos big release and since it was already stated to come out early next year I have no reason to believe it won't be out when the switch launches.

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Laura Kate Dale had an AMA on reddit earlier today, some new Switch deets from what she's heard:

 - Completely backs Eurogamer and Digital Foundry's rumors on it's power.

- Retro Studios is not working on a Metroid game.

- Don't expect Platinum Games at the event.

- Don't expect Monster Hunter at the event.

- She knows of at least three Switch 3rd party exclusives at launch.

- Says that people expecting great Virtual console support at launch are going to be sorely disappointed.

-  GCN Virtual Console may not be at launch but within 3 months.

- Says "beefy" Switch Presentation planned. Will be info heavy.

- Says there may be 20 new Pokemon in Pokemon Stars. 

- Mario Kart 8 port is adding substantial new content.

- Says there's a CGI trailer in development for BG&E2.

- Has not heard anything about Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite on Switch.

- A new dev kit went out in October. More powerful than the July dev kit.

- Says a translated version of Mother 3 exists. Unsure why Nintendo hasn't released it.

- New 3D Mario to be shown, named, playable at the events and ready for launch in March.

- Still hearing entry price will be around 200 quid, March 17th date in Europe, same week everywhere else.

- Nintendo will be showing off an "unexpected" new IP at the event.

- She's heard achievements are happening but not sure if they're separate or not from the My Nintendo ones.

- You'll have to pay a small upgrade fee for VC titles again. 

- Says this should be the last time you need to make a new account and purchases will be locked to one account across all devices including phones and tablets.

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That was somewhat believable until she said Pokemon Stars would have 20 NEW Pokemon. Yeah, no. It's still a generation 7 game. An expanded regional dex is a different matter entirely (see: BW2)

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