Topic: Switch Discussion Thread (Year 3: But where are the folders??!?!)

[Stratos]

Fire Emblem Warriors! Game of the Year for me there...

Lots of exciting things there. The timeline of releases are still in question, but a lot to look forward too.

Breath of the Wild
Fire Emblem Warriors
Splatoon 2
Mario Odyssey
Skyrim
No More Heroes 3 (maybe we will see a remaster/up-port of 1&2 as well?)
Minecraft
Bomberman
Mario Kart 8 (I'll probably give my copy of the Wii U version to my sister)
FIFA

I'm buying it all and my wife can't stop me!!!

[Adrock]

No new tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? What the ****?

Springy Sproingers was a missed opportunity.

And yeah, stop burying games in sizzle reels. Suda51 didn't even have any footage to show, but Nintendo marched him up on stage to talk at the audience.

[Ian Sane]

No Dragon Quest Heroes at launch in North America is a real bummer.  Those were some PS4 exclusives that were looking very enticing to me and I was excited that I could get them on a Nintendo system instead.  Or I guess maybe not.

Controllers are looking to be very expensive.  Like getting a second set on Joycons and the grip for it will cost you another $110!!  Might as well be a Wii U Gamepad at that price and mostly for motion control nonsense that the world lost interest in five years ago.

With the Canadian dollar being so weak right now compared to the US I'm really turned off by the pricing.  It's just going to be so damn expensive here.

[Soren]

Honestly, Nintendo did not manage to convince third parties on Switch at all. I am very skeptical right now.

[Evan_B]

Where are you reading this retrospective of every third party developer? I'm curious.

[Adrock]

Might as well be a Wii U Gamepad at that price and mostly for motion control nonsense that the world lost interest in five years ago.

Are you serious with this? The price has nothing to do with motion controls. That technology is cheap because it's 2017. The Joycon grip is $30. A pair of Joycon Wheels is $15. Nintendo is just price gouging because it can. The only recourse is to not buy into the ecosystem. What are Switch owners supposed to do? Not buy an extra controller? That isn't a realistic expectation.

[ThePerm]

I think they made it region free because there is talk of raising tariffs on Chinese made goods.

[Adrock]

I get the impression Nintendo made Switch region free because region locking never made sense to begin with. Additionally, it created a console that can be taken anywhere. Region locking especially doesn't make sense on Switch.

[Ian Sane]

Might as well be a Wii U Gamepad at that price and mostly for motion control nonsense that the world lost interest in five years ago.

Are you serious with this? The price has nothing to do with motion controls. That technology is cheap because it's 2017. The Joycon grip is $30. A pair of Joycon Wheels is $15. Nintendo is just price gouging because it can. The only recourse is to not buy into the ecosystem. What are Switch owners supposed to do? Not buy an extra controller? That isn't a realistic expectation.

Oh, they're just ripping us off?  I guess that's okay then.

Nintendo showed up detecting ice cubes in the rumble and that's neat and all but you figure after last gen that they would realize that nifty tech is nifty but no one will pay for it.  No one was paying an arm and a leg for glasses free 3D so Nintendo cut the price almost immediately and later came up with the 2DS that stripped the key feature out.  MS charged extra for built in Move and then had to back peddle and strip the feature out to get the price down.  In 2017 novelty controllers don't sell.  No one cares.  Yet Nintendo went on and on at the beginning of the presentation about joy con features for dumb gimmick games that no one will buy and those controllers are expensive as ****.  That's idiotic.

The selling point of the Switch is that it's a portable console.  There that's it.  Rehashed Wii concepts in the joy con are not the selling point so they should strip out unessential features to improve both the price and battery life.  Those controllers should be cheaper and if that means stripping out features then they should do it.  And if the tech is all affordable and they're just ripping us off then they should smarten up and cut that out as well.

[ThePerm]

I'd cut out haptic feedback and have more RAM. But that's me. I'm really sick of touch games, and waggle games. On game systems before Wii I used to be able to plug and play. Now, there is some setup involved, and some space considerations. When it was simpler, it was much easier to get into a game. I barely played Star Fox or Splatoon because of this.

The only thing I like that has been added is off screen play. Off screen play has cut down on inconveniences.

The price is $300. My biggest question is what makes this significantly different than a Wii U? Sure I can take it places, but I'm not too likely to do that.  So, I now would have a system that has a screen, I would barely use because it will be docked all the time. It may or may not be weaker than the competition's system at a higher price. It has 6 year old Sky Rim.  Most of the library are Wii U ports. The newest thing they came up with is an Atari level parlor game. Now, I probably have to pay to play Mario Kart online. How is this better than Wii U?

[Evan_B]

What makes it better than Wii U?

Arms.

ARMS.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMS

[Spak-Spang]

Actually the motion gaming is one of the things that MIGHT pull me back into Nintendo.

This presentation was a slam dunk.  Basically, Nintendo put EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING that was Nintendo into this product. 

1) Great Controllers Check.  You may not like motion controls, and that is OK, you don't even have to use it but it is there for those that want it...and WOW, having a full controller become 2 simple controllers for SNES games or become two full motion controllers is a great idea.

2) Portable Gaming (Nintendo is the only company doing it right.)

3) Party games.  Nintendo is one of the only companies that sees gaming as a local social event.  This is something I deeply miss, and the Wii era of games was great.  I hope Nintendo releases a new Wii Sports Switch game. 

4) Family Friendly Nintendo Styled games:  Look at all the games they showed.  None of them felt like they were games for Children, yet none of them looked like I couldn't play them with my kids.  This is important...the Everyone Demographic is tricky...you don't want a lame kids movie that adults can't watch...same for games.  Nintendo does it right and I appreciate that they are one of the few companies still doing it.

There are of course some negatives, but Nintendo presented the world with a compelling product, with compelling exclusive games, and Nintendo just seems to hit a home run.  Which Nintendo desperately needed.  Also if Nintendo is smart all those 2017 games that people say won't launch will...because Nintendo will want the first year of Switch to prove to third parties there is a market. 

[Adrock]

Oh, they're just ripping us off?  I guess that's okay then.

I'm not excusing Nintendo for price gouging. I don't like overpaying regardless of whether I'm aware of it. I'm merely pointing out that you're objectively wrong that motion controls are the reason why the controllers are so expensive. The only reason I bring this up is because you keep implying this is a Nintendo problem by continually bringing up motion controls when this issue is industry-wide. It's easier for hardware manufacturers to make money on peripherals since they're essential. Consumers can't play without an input device.

Nintendo showed up detecting ice cubes in the rumble and that's neat and all but you figure after last gen that they would realize that nifty tech is nifty but no one will pay for it.

The ice cube segment isn't something I think Nintendo should have spent as much time on. However, rumble in Nintendo controllers has been mediocre for a few generations now. Nintendo introduced the Rumble Pak then never really advanced the technology so I'm glad it's doing something to improve that.

The selling point of the Switch is that it's a portable console.  There that's it.  Rehashed Wii concepts in the joy con are not the selling point so they should strip out unessential features to improve both the price and battery life.  Those controllers should be cheaper and if that means stripping out features then they should do it.  And if the tech is all affordable and they're just ripping us off then they should smarten up and cut that out as well.

Personally, I don't want to use the Joycon controllers, but I'm willing to admit it's a good solution to one of the biggest problems of handheld gaming: multiplayer. The features aren't inherently expensive though. Nintendo like Sony and Microsoft would rather make say, $50 per controller than $30. They all betting on perceived value. For me, it's even worse. I know I'm overpaying, but I'm going to buy it anyway because third party controllers are generally terrible.

[ThePerm]

Nintendo according to most sources are selling controllers at $70

So, much for keeping things simple to keep the costs down on more important components.

A couple of unanswered questions
1. My Nintendo account
2. Possibility of Transfering Wii U stuff over
3. Hard Drive
4. Specs(its nintendo you don't expect this anyhow...at least since Wii, there was a time when specs were printed on the box)
5.What's Ubisoft doing? (maybe tommorow?)

[Kairon]

I'm buying this thing at launch, but I fully expect it to see a price drop in Holiday 2017.

That's also when Nintendo will be able to make a good value proposition for it. By Holiday 2017 they'll have Zelda, Arms, 1 2 Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, plus Mario, Skyrim, and some RPGs. They'll definitely need to drop the price, but with the software lineup looking pretty thin in the early months they'll need to wait until their software library thickens out a bit before a Price Drop can really be effective.

[NWR_insanolord]

I just had a great idea I hope somebody makes: a dummy Switch game card that holds extra microSDs so people who buy digitally can keep extra cards handy right in the system.

[TheSevenYearSwitch]

but with the software lineup looking pretty thin in the early months they'll need to wait until their software library thickens out a bit before a Price Drop can really be effective.

This is what surprised me most. I thought they had learned from their earlier mistakes of having weak launch games? I know having BotW at launch is pretty major and should keep me occupied for quite a while, but I expected more launch games.

[lolmonade]

So, I feel the opposite of much of the internet chatter in that the presentation of the Switch itself along with the few trailers they showed engaged me enough to keep interest in some of those games.


That said, what really sold me on going to gamestop in an hour here is the Zelda confirmation for launch.  If I can get a preorder down this morning, I'm gonna get the red/blue console with a copy of zelda and sink my teeth into that one.


Biggest disappointment?  Online service is being charged for, AND it's through a damn mobile app instead of through the console itself.  I understand nearly everyone has a mobile phone now, but I don't want to need use of an app for features that have been inherent in the other consoles for two generations now.  The "free" game included each month sounds lackluster as well, unless they make choices truly compelling and integrate online into those titles in a unique and interesting way.  But if they sniff at the same $60/year price tag the others charge?  Count me out for online play.

[Ian Sane]

Charging for online is standard now.  I don't like that but Nintendo is really just following market trends there.  But the big problem is that Nintendo is the shits at online.  It's one thing when they're messing up something that we get as a free service but the expectations are much higher when it costs money.  "Please understand" won't cut it for a paying customer.

I feel Nintendo had two outs trailing in the ninth and needed to hit a home run but instead hit a ground rule double.  Not bad in that there's a guy on base and you didn't get out but now we're on to the next batter to possible get out and lose the game.  I think the Switch can succeed but needs some luck to get through a really weak launch period.  I think Nintendo needed something more certain.  And while I am excited about a bunch of games off in the future, those won't come out if the console has no future.  That new Square Enix game won't matter if the system sells like crap in the first six months and Square Enix cancels their Switch projects.  I feel like there is a much better chance to succeed here than the Wii U but we could also get a Wii U style instant-flop as well.

[Soren]

So apparently the Joy-Con Grip that comes bundled with the console does not allow you to charge the Joy-Cons.

The charging grip will be sold separately for $30.

This is a console that costs $300.

I have no words.

[Evan_B]

Why are people so keen on getting multiple Joy-Cons? The system comes with two!

[Kairon]

but with the software lineup looking pretty thin in the early months they'll need to wait until their software library thickens out a bit before a Price Drop can really be effective.

This is what surprised me most. I thought they had learned from their earlier mistakes of having weak launch games? I know having BotW at launch is pretty major and should keep me occupied for quite a while, but I expected more launch games.

It really makes me wonder just how bad the software situation would've been if they hadn't delayed the release!

The presentation suggested that third parties would start filling out, but only down the line. What I'm hoping for is that until Fall 2017 and beyond Nintendo sees additions to their Launch/Spring/Summer schedule from Indies and the like.

[Evan_B]

I don't know what people are saying in regards to the Switch having a worse lineup than Wii U. That's absurd.

[lolmonade]

I don't know what people are saying in regards to the Switch having a worse lineup than Wii U. That's absurd.

Yeah, maybe i'm "Part of the problem", but for me, Zelda is going to keep me busy for a while. 


On Wii U, Nintendoland was fun, and I really enjoyed NSMBU, but they're both games I didn't get much long session play out of, the kind of meaty gameplay experience I want.

[Soren]

I don't know what people are saying in regards to the Switch having a worse lineup than Wii U. That's absurd.

At launch, Wii U owners were spoiled with choices in many genres. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_console_launch_games#Eighth_generation


Unless you really like RPGs, you're SOL with the current project Switch launch titles.