Messages

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Run The Series: Mario Kart

« on: February 05, 2017, 07:34:52 PM »

I've finished every game, and Mario Kart 64 could be the video game I've played the most. My personal rankings:

1. Mario Kart 8
2. Mario Kart 64
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Mario Kart Super Circuit
5. Mario Kart DS
6. Mario Kart Wii
7. Mario Kart Double Dash
8. Super Mario Kart

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Thoughts on Nintendo Switch After Attending the Toronto Preview Event

« on: February 05, 2017, 07:28:10 PM »

Nice read, thanks for sharing!

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Not a hater but... (future prediction)

« on: January 27, 2017, 07:19:50 AM »

Prime is one of Nintendo's best games of the 2000's. While the sequels were perhaps not up to par, and Retro may or may not be up to the task, I don't really want a Metroid game just for the sake of a Metroid game. It should aim high in the quality department and be given to a developer who can achieve that goal. The Prime name sells, not like Mario or Pokemon, but it still sells. A reboot of the Prime series I understand, because they can still make that series live again, instead of simply heading in a different direction and making a game which may or may not be decent and may or may not sell well.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Switch Discussion (March 3, 2017 Release) -Updated OP-

« on: January 26, 2017, 08:56:30 PM »

Anyone else excited for Yooka-Laylee? I'm pretty pumped for this Banjo-esque platformer. Another game I wish received a bit of love during the Switch reveal. Nonetheless, it's due to release soon.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Not a hater but... (future prediction)

« on: January 26, 2017, 06:34:01 PM »

I've made this point a lot but Nintendo seems to think that "mass appeal" means that every game has to appeal to all audiences.  They don't understand the idea of less popular franchises with dedicated fanbases being a system seller to a specific demographic of gamers.  You get that with genres.  Every generation seems to have one console that becomes the shmup console or the RPG console.  That doesn't sell to every mainstream consumer out there but for the people that are passionate about those genres that console becomes a must-own and if they only buy one system not being that console could cost you a sale.  These groups aren't big like the Wii Sports crowd but the numbers add up and being the console for everyone means being the console for this group and that group and that group and they all may have totally different tastes.

Metroid is not a system seller for the mainstream but it IS for Metroid fans.  So if they offer a non-shitty Metroid game they just sold some systems.  And that adds to the sales figures which attracts more support which gives your console more variety which means it appeals to more people which should increase sales.

That's a very good point. It reminds me of another example: Baseball fans. If you want to play on a console, you have to buy a PS4 for The Show.

Also, I'm not sure why some are saying Metroid needs to be re-invented. Metroid Prime was (is) such an amazing and appealing game. It was refreshing to play at the time. If Metroid comes back, and I hope it does, it needs to be a "Prime" game. I was really hoping the Switch reveal would include a new Metroid Prime game from Retro (or a fresh new franchise from them in a similar mold/genre). I guess we will find out eventually what they are working on.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Switch Discussion (March 3, 2017 Release) -Updated OP-

« on: January 18, 2017, 06:06:04 PM »

The issue is not so much whether people need Netflix on their Switch, but that 1) People like features added to their technology, not taken away, and 2) People like options. Perhaps you might use Netflix, or perhaps you don't. But at least the option would be there. Especially when it comes to an easy and inexpensive option like steaming services such as Netflix.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 18, 2017, 04:15:00 PM »

Don't forget that both consoles are $299 with a 500GB hard drive as well as a game.  Switch's 32GB and no game look bad at that price.  But the novelty of the system I think makes the price fair.  It's really the accessories where they're pooping the bed.

Very true with the storage. Another added cost reducing value. I still love the concept and hope it does well long term

Regarding the accessories, it's true that PS4 and Xbox One controllers are expensive, but a lot of gamers just play alone or online. Nintendo has always made themselves attractive for local multiplayer, which I love about them. But when the controllers are expensive, it makes multiplayer much less attractive, and it detracts a bit from fun multiplayer games like Mario Kart, Splatoon, and ARMS. Whereas a better price point and affordable controllers increases the value of these games.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 18, 2017, 03:35:29 PM »

Part of the pricing problem is that in some areas, the Switch is the most expensive console. From what I understand, all three consoles are $299 in the US, with the Xbox One+ PS4 having a game included at that price. $250 for the Switch would have been more competitive, but $299 is not unreasonable.

In Canada, the Xbox one S is $70 cheaper with a game packed in. The PS4, the most popular console, is $30 cheaper with one or two games packed in. The Switch is $399 just for the console, making it the most expensive of the three.

At the end of the day, Nintendo would rather nickel + dime (higher first year profit margins), while gambling on the Switch either booming or busting, than be competitive out of the gate (lower first year profit margins) and have a better chance of long term success.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 16, 2017, 01:10:49 PM »

Because of all these issues, the newspapers (in Canada) have printed indifferent or negative articles about the Switch... Not good.

Hey Clonester, can you link to some of those articles, or even just cite the publications in which they appear? I'd like to read them. Should be interesting!
Thanks.

Sure: There's the Globe and Mail "Nintendo Disappoints...", The Toronto Star "Wobbly start for Nintendo Switch", the Financial Post "Nintendo Switch: the good, the bad, and the pricey". Those are three of the biggest newspapers in Canada. Mobilesyrup.ca had a nice article on the Switch, but the reader comments generally were negative.

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/technology/nintendo-disappoints-with-299-price-for-new-switch-console/article33614913/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&service=mobile

http://startouch.thestar.com/screens/c74e56a5-a76a-44fb-a018-163a074f6d2d%7C_0.html

http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/fp-tech-desk/post-arcade/blog.html?b=business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/post-arcade/nintendo-switch-the-good-the-bad-and-the-pricey

Sorry if the links don't work properly, I'm trying to do this from my phone.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 16, 2017, 12:20:45 PM »

And just to be clear, I understand the positive sentiments expressed here. But, like others, I've lived through every Nintendo generation. I am very nostalgic, especially towards the SNES. I've hoped for better the past few generations, but I'm weary of being let down. I thought the Switch could really turn it around for Nintendo + Nintendo gamers, it has a lot of potential! But for my previously stated reasons, it just feels like the Wii U all over again. I hope I am wrong, though.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 16, 2017, 11:39:07 AM »

In regards to the first 6 months:

-The biggest gap was the lack of support from Western developers. They are barely dipping their toe in the water like the Wii U, perhaps even less so. If units don't move quick, third party support will be DOA.
-To be honest, I was expecting a big game from Retro.
-Why aren't 1,2 Switch and/or ARMS not bundled? The console would be far more competitive
-As for ARMS, it looks fun, but do I spend $80-$110 plus the game price so I can play it with my kids?
-If there is a bigger lineup of games on the way, why wait? Many have already made up their mind about the system
-Because of all these issues, the newspapers (in Canada) have printed indifferent or negative articles about the Switch... Not good.
-It's true that people will only play so many games in a year, but does the Switch games lineup honestly have anything more appealing to many people other than Nintendo fans?
-As many have mentioned, everything is too expensive to be competitive. They aren't in a position to do this!
-The Wii U had Mario, Smash, Mario Kart, LoZ, and even Rayman, FIFA and Madden in its first two years... How did that turn out?

Things I love:
-Everything about the hardware is very appealing. I love off TV play on the Wii U, and this is even better
-Good support for RPG's
-Zelda and Mario look incredible

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Forum Snap Poll: How Sold Are You on the Switch?

« on: January 15, 2017, 10:22:58 PM »

You lot are crazy.

It's definitely a more powerful console than Wii U...maybe not near PS4 power, but it's significantly more than Wii U. Also, it's the FUCKING LAUNCH. You don't need or want eleventy-billion games during this time. ****, I'm getting Zelda, Bomberman, and Setsuna at launch...and that's way more than enough to keep me content until Mario Kart arrives in late April.

True, the system itself is a great concept, I love it a lot. But the lackluster first 6 months is unacceptable for the position Nintendo is in. Nintendo has released very few AAA games the past two years. Most of the best games on Wii U were released in 2013 and 2014. What have they been doing the past two years besides Zelda?

And the other factor is this launch may have been acceptable if the Switch was launching at the same time as the PS4 and Xbox 1. But it's not. It's coming slowly out of the gate while it's key competitors are running full stride.

They've had the past two years, more or less, to be ready for this launch, and unless they have held something back, they blew it. I don't want to put down the money again on a system third parties will drop in 6 months because the system isn't selling. And the third party support isn't even stellar as it is, apart from a few RPG's. Once they lose momentum, they won't get it back, regardless of how nice the hardware is.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch Discussion (March 3, 2017 Release)

« on: January 14, 2017, 04:11:40 PM »

There are three things I wanted to see from the Switch full reveal: 1) A reasonable price, 2) Long term third party support, and 3) Good games

1) A reasonable price: Here in Canada, the Xbox 1 is $299. The Switch: $399. Are you kidding me? All the peripherals are expensive too. So I pay $400 for the console, an extra controller is $70 or $80, a large micro SD card is pricy (256 GB $99 off Amazon.ca?), each game is $80 (and Nintendo rarely drops the price on their games). Even Mario Kart 8, which I own for the Wii U and love, is full price. Again, are you kidding me? So I could conceivably paying $700 to $800 after tax for a system with 2 games, a memory card, and an extra controller. Who, apart from dedicated Nintendo fans, will go for that when a 1 TB Xbox 1 sells for $299 and games are discounted more readily?

$250 was the sweet spot. If the system doesn't start out strong out of the gate, consumers will lose interest. And if they do, third parties will not support it...

2) Long Term Third Party Support: The Gamecube was not a huge success, but at least it had some third party support. The Wii? Nothing. The Wii U? A few games in the first year, then nothing. There were a few third party games revealed, but nothing to indicate they are here to stay. The potential is there, but they are killing momentum. If first year sales aren't strong, then goodbye third party support. Then we have Wii U 2.0.

3) Good games:  Nintendo held off a long time to reveal the Switch. Nothing at last year's E3. Then they reveal the first video showing off the console.... I thought the full reveal would blow us away... But I was completely underwhelmed. You've had all this time... Where are the games? Yes, LoZ looks amazing, yes Mario has me piqued. Is a Mario Kart port I already own supposed to get me excited? A couple party games that aren't even bundled with the console? Wow, FIFA is coming. Big deal. If your console is doing well, FIFA shouldn't even be an issue. The Wii U had a FIFA game, then nothing. The only thing that impressed me was the RPG support. But is that it? Are you kidding me? I knew about the console already, I wanted to know about the games? Are they holding back? If so, why? What is Retro working on? Nintendo needed a home run, and they didn't bring it.

And virtual console... What gives? I just want a method where I can buy a library of older games and have that library transfer to other systems. I'm tired of having to re-buy Super Mario World multiple times and having to wait 3 years for a classic game that was released on the Wii virtual console. In the end, I just stopped buying virtual console games. Perhaps they fixed that with the Switch... But we don't know. Why not? They need to fix it. But instead, we are left with more questions than answers.

In the end, the Switch is an amazing piece of hardware. But with everything else... Nintendo completely missed the mark.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch Discussion (March 3, 2017 Release)

« on: January 14, 2017, 07:53:45 AM »

The past few months I was starting to think that Nintendo has finally got it right and has rectified the issues that have plagued it the past few console generations. Boy was I wrong.

Let me start by saying I love the console itself. It's perfect IMO. I love the concept of the console/portable hybrid. But I can't support the system as it stands now.

However, Nintendo has completely dropped the ball on this one. I live in Canada, and every media outlet is roasting the Switch as a "disappointment" and "too expensive". Not good. The more information that comes out about the Switch, the less convinced I am that it will succeed. If I want to put down a lot of money for a good console with a few great games that completely tanked, I have a Wii U for that.

I've heard the argument that they can keep the price high for a few months to maximize profit, then drop the price before the holidays. However, momentum is a tricky thing. Once you lose it, it is hard to get it back. Nintendo had momentum after the initial reveal, but they are quickly losing it. Dedicated fans will buy it, but what about everyone else? Third parties are somewhat supporting it, but that was the case with the Wii U launch as well.

As much as I love the concept, and I'm sure there will be several great games... But a console is an investment, and I'm not so sure it's a wise investment at this point.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo: NX, Zelda Launching March 2017 Worldwide

« on: April 27, 2016, 12:52:33 PM »

The only way this makes sense to me is if they have another ace up their sleeve, like a "Virtual Boy 2", and Zelda is the key title compatible with their VR platform. Hence being " fully immersed " in Zelda at E3.

Otherwise, I'm extremely disappointed they would miss such a vital opportunity to build mainstream hype for the NX.