The Nintendo Switch

do you think they'll make a version of twilight princess HD for this thing?

― El Tomboto, Sunday, October 23, 2016 8:59 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Probably not but usually Nintendo systems are backwards compatible with whatever the console prior was.

...therefore if that holds true you'd be able to play TP HD for Wii U on it

this uses cartridges so its not gonna be backwards compatible with wii games at least not in disc format - it'd have to be as a digital download

Oh right! I forgot about that. Hmm. Maybe downloads will be more of a thing for back catalog stuff. Imagine something like Steam for Nintendo titles. That'd be neat.

wish i had the desire/time to get back into games

Nintendo: Switch video does not represent actual game footage

wish i had the desire/time to get back into games

― niels, Monday, October 24, 2016 7:21 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

new board description

They are doing a global livestream on January 12th which "will include the launch date and pricing for Nintendo Switch, as well as a look at the lineup of games currently in development" according to the PR. 2 months before launch seems a bit short, but I guess it doesn't make sense to do it before the holiday season?

if I had to guess, the new hardware platform is going to make porting easier than it's been previously and they're being optimistic about a broad range of release titles but are scheduling it at the QA cutoff for launch

All this thing has to do is give my little girl a great way to get introduced to DQ and FF and Zelda games where she can hand off the controller to Dad when stuff gets too hard. And then make me look good when I beat the hard parts (I realize that's probably more on me than the console). That's all I want. A thing that isn't homework that I can do with her for a few years before she decides/realizes that pops is a gross jerk with no style. I'm probably putting too much karma into this, but you gotta have dreams.

huge patent dump yesterday showing all the features of the Switch, this video is a bit dry but does a good job going through all the features
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vImxcwEXE6o

that guy's got an... interesting idiolect

• touch screen
• motion sensing (accelerometers / inclinometers in the unit & controllers)
• 4 shoulder buttons (L+R for joycon separates)
• "record" button
• infrared + NFC (so the joycon also does touch/motion stuff, of course)
• USB Type C
• 3 USB ports on the dock
• different joycon layouts + accessories will be available, as suspected
• VR attachment might be a thing

joycon not gonna catch on

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/12/nintendo-switch-nvidia-tegra-x1-specs-speed

Yeesh? I don't know how low of a price point they intend to hit but it strikes me as odd that they'd go for such low end specs (in 2016) when a low end iPad mini 2 seems to have similar clock speed with a much better display. I really don't understand modern specs, I guess?

don't think nintendo's made a console that had high end specs for its time since the n64

depends how you approach it I guess - as a console its hugely underwhelming, as a (probably) $200 handheld its promising. Would an iPad mini be able to run something as complex as Breath Of The Wild? (I've honestly no idea)

Gamecube was better tech than PS2, stymied slightly by smaller disc size

fwiw i bought my mum a shield k1 tablet for the most basic browsing and tv streaming use and idk... it works ok but there's just a very vaguely janky unsatisfactory feel on a software level that the on-paper vastly outspecced nexus 7 it replaced didnt have

Well one edge over tablets might end up being the game carts themselves - you can serious GB for cheap on solid state now, basically the same as blu-ray, which would eat pretty much all the space on a tablet's internal SSD

Didn't get Wii U, so I am gonna definitely buy Switch for new Zelda, new Mario, Arms, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8, Fire Emblem. looks like a ton of fun.

i mean look at this beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw47_q9wbBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kcdRBHM7kM

i've preordered one from amazon more out of loyalty to nintendo than anything else - zelda aside tho, the launch lineup is pretty dismal even compared to the wii u's anaemic launch selection

i'd really love to be wrong but, especially post-mario jump, it does kinda feel like the switch might be nintendo's dying gasp of hardware creation :(

well i've had an awesome time with my 3ds, and the girlfriend is an old school nintendo person - so feel like the amount of multiplayer fun we'll get from splatoon/mario kart/arms (which looks really fun) etc will make this is a good investment.
it does seem like a small 1st party lineup, but whats there does look really great.

i've had a huge amount of fun with my wii u and 3ds for sure - i just can't imagine that the switch is going to do anything more than appeal to nintendo diehards. the salad days of wii-mania seem like a long time ago and i think the commercial failure of the wii u has stripped them of a lot of momentum

i am v much looking forward to zelda and mario tho

yep i agree in the long run they're fighting a losing battle, but i'll keep supporting them as long as i can just for the sheer amount of persistent quality that goes into the best of their games.

no Endless Ocean 3 no credibility

i think i understand nintendo's commitment to building their own hardware, and yeah i'll buy their systems for as long as they make them because no-one else makes games as consistently brilliant as they do.

at the same time it does feel like increasingly they're hamstringing themselves by restricting their games to their own, tepidly-received platforms; it'll be interesting to see if the success of super mario run (which i called 'mario jump' earlier for some reason) might persuade them to rethink their strategy in the future.

I just don't see them going quietly out of the hardware business without an even bigger flop than the Wii U. Turning into a studio only would be a tremendous step down.

What might be interesting to see is how long 3rd party support lasts for making cartridge games versus apps (or if online-store-only 3rd party support even becomes a thing of any significance- is it on the Wii U?)

nintendo have always been super-stubborn and obsessive about controlling their output, and i can absolutely see how they would see it as a step down, but they must be missing out on hundreds of millions in sales from xbox and playstation owners who would love to play nintendo games new and old on their systems.

how much longer can they hold out if (or, let's be honest, when) the switch ends up being a commercial disappointment at best and an embarrassing failure at worst?

ehhhhhhh disappointed
it's a handheld that's priced as a console, with console software pricing as well
region free is good but paying for online is not
liked a lot of the software announcements but most of the ones I'm interested in look like they have just begun development
no mention of what will happen with VC etc
get the feeling that this is going to stumble out of the gate like the 3DS and require a quick price cut
definitely considering getting Zelda on WiiU (£40 on Amazon vs £60 switch version wtf) and waiting a year or more

In what sense exactly is it a handheld priced as a console?

It's a handheld console that uses a mobile chip for CPU/GPU, there's a pass through dock so you can hook it up to a tv?

When it launches in the UK it will be less powerful than an Xbone but £60 more expensive?

and a handheld with a battery that might only last two-and-a-half hours, no less :(

it is going to have a tough time competing with xbone and ps4 when, like zappi says, it'll be more expensive and doesn't include a pack-in game either as far as i can tell

Oh plus £75 for an extra pair of joycons.

The new Mario looks stunning but yeah, almost everything else about this feels wrong.

I'm possibly a little out of the loop - is there a handheld game that looks anything like those two videos?

weirdest announcement for me is the port of skyrim - like there's a sizeable community of hardcore rpg fans who have nonetheless been holding out for nearly six years just for the opportunity to play it on a nintendo machine

They're going to sell a shitload of these things

i'd love for that to be true, but i just don't see it - who are they going to be selling these to?

and why the switch and not a ps4/xbone/ios/android?

Let me try to explain that. It feels dumb and indulgent to blow $400 for a console just to play a few AAA RPGs on my TV. I'm not into shooters so everything else on the PS4/Xbone is moot, even after the price drops. But I'll try a AAA RPG I've heard about on the $300 console that seems like my whole family might enjoy.

(This post deliberately constructed to induce maximum "Actually..." in response)

and why the switch and not a ps4/xbone/ios/android?

Two words: Animal Crossing

Two more words: New Zelda

Also honestly if you think this thing is competing with phone / tablet games you're not thinking it through

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I'm possibly a little out of the loop - is there a handheld game that looks anything like those two videos?

― Andrew Farrell, Friday, January 13, 2017 8:22 AM (twenty minutes ago) Bookmark

i think ipad is probably capable of this type of graphic output, hampered by the fact that pure touch is possibly the worst control interface ever created

Also honestly if you think this thing is competing with phone / tablet games you're not thinking it through

maybe, but it is competing with phones / tablets in terms of available, disposable household dollars to spend on digital entertainment and i dunno if the switch is going to be persuasive enough to draw that cash over its competition

i see your argument about the family appeal of the switch and i really hope it's true - i want nintendo to do well but i just don't see the switch being the no-brainer family entertainment system the wii was, at least based on what they've shown so far

3DS came out nearly 6(!) years ago, the games shown are exactly what a handheld system would be able to output in 2017 given the huge advances in mobile tech over the intervening period.
nice to see Bomberman still exists though!

DoA

hampered by the fact that pure touch is possibly the worst control interface ever created

EGGSACLY

The switch has things for your thumbs to do and plugs into a TV and stuff for non-gamers to dabble in; as such, it has little to no competition at this moment.

Before you say "but so did the Wii U" don't forget the Wii U was competing with its predecessor, which everyone already had two of, and also in 2012 tapping a touchscreen to win was still kind of amazing and novel

3DS came out nearly 6(!) years ago, the games shown are exactly what a handheld system would be able to output in 2017 given the huge advances in mobile tech over the intervening period.

I don't get why spec arguments are relevant to Nintendo products. We have been over this material.