I came to the conclusion long ago that Nintendo does not care about the USA market.

Japan has been and will always be the priority for Nintendo. They cater to a Japanese audience and gamer and it just does not translate to the American market well, and they really don't care what we think is a flawed gaming system.

The Wii was the last NES I bought. It was fun but they really failed to capitalize getting the online audience and making the console part of your entire entertainment system and not just a white box that plays games that you waggle in front of.


Such a lost opportunity and it looks like this is just more of the same.

Still clueless about online gaming and how it should work.
Clueless about having purchases cross platforms.
Clueless about 3rd party gaming.
Clueless about the American market and gamer.

This American gamer disagrees:

It seems simple to me: have a console that is innovative but don't over-do it on the gimmicks, have your usual allotment of dope-ass first party games, and most importantly make it a viable platform so that third party developers don't bail on you in 12-18 months like last time - it has to be a situation so that when the latest version of Grand Theft Call of Madden 2K18 drops, people legitimately include the Switch in the "which console am I going to buy it for" conversation.

Instead they doubled-down on trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was the Wii (ain't happenin'), and how the fuck aren't there more games ready to go at launch? Every new console gets a bunch of lame ass ports ("the definitive edition!") , but they usually don't make you wait for months to get them. It almost came off as if they forgot to tell software companies (including their own) they were making a new console until late in the development cycle. Who is gonna wait for several more months for FIFA? Or Lego City Undercover? Why is Super Mario Kart 8 not coming until the end of April?

The one good thing about the paid online part is that it should get them to put some actual effort into their online strategy. Maybe. Hopefully. And I hope that "download and play for a month" part is just some awkward translation and it's really "download for a month and play indefinitely." Still how do they not include that part in the actual presentation, where so much time was wasted awkwardly bringing up third party developers to say that hey, we've got stuff coming, we promise, but we can't show you crap because it's not coming anytime soon?

I mean they couldn't even get a commitment from EA for Madden? And unless I missed it where's that NBA game that was all over the initial promos?

NBA2K18 is listed on Nintendo's site despite not being showcased in the presentation.

All sorts of weird.

That presentation deflated any excitement I had about this console and totally put me in wait mode on it. Nintendo is still completely out of touch with reality.

I think the pricing is absurd, but Zelda and Nintendo own my soul, so I'm going to have to buy this stupid fucking thing day one.

I can wait until the holiday season when there will be more games available. Not really interested in any of the launch games.

Hmm, I actually hadn't noticed until now that it's 2K18 and not the current 2K17 version - which I guess explains why it's not available at launch. I assume it will just be released in September alongside the PS4/XB1 versions. Or maybe 6 months after that while 2KGames incorporates the fact that you actually have to dribble and shoot with the Joy-Con controllers in each hand

If this follows their console model, they'll stubbornly stick to this price and won't drop it later. If this sticks to their portable model, they'll do a revision with better battery life and drop the price. I mean this thing really really needs a better battery (is it even replaceable?).

Sooo....buy a Wii U?

I think I'm going to lose my bet with Adam

I didn't realize Zelda was coming to the WiiU. I still don't own one, but might buy it some day.

They need to give this thing the 2DS treatment. Get rid of the gimmick and price it lower. I never commute on public transport and rarely travel so why would I want a pricey console that's portable with a short battery life? I'd rather have a $199 new Nintendo console with a classic controller and maybe small enough to take with me on trips or move from room to room.

I just went by Gamestop and they were taking pre-orders. They had a sign on the door that says they will only be getting 28. I went inside and two guys were pre-ordering one so now they are down to 26.

Nintendo and Roku should have partnered to make something like that.

I think the system and the games look promising. But it is Nintendo just Nintendoing around. I'm still interested but not at launch.

The problem here is the cost of not only the main, gameless console (though I could swallow $300) but the accessories. There is absolutely no justification that these things should come close to approaching $100. I know Nintendo doesn't make a habit of using hardware as loss-leaders, but there's no way these components cost them that much to manufacture.

I cannot, in good conscious, spend $300+$90+$80 for a 2-tv, 2-player setup with no games.

Does that $80 for 2 JoyCons include the center one or is that another $20?

Hands on: Nintendo Switch review.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/nintendo-switch

Isn't that the same price as the Switch, though?

Fuck it, throwing in some preorders for the Switch (and Zelda) just in case at Target and Best Buy. I'll probably end up cancelling, but keeping them just in case some new info comes out that makes me want to keep it.

Almost $400 though makes me sad. Also, still only 32GB of storage in 2017? That's ridiculous.

Also, feels like all the accessories should be $20 cheaper. Dock and additional Joy-Con prices are crazy - if they were cheaper, I could see people wanting to have an additional dock in a different room for those that have multiple TV's to make it easy to play elsewhere, but $90 makes that less desirable.

Got pre-orders in at Best Buy and Wal-mart. We'll see how demand is feeling - one might end up on eBay.

My 13-year-old son is very excited about it. He plays the WiiU a lot so it wasn't a bust for him at all. I don't think this is really for me but he can't wait.

If he can even find a new one in a store. Probably have to buy from a third party / ebay it.

Jeeze. I'm still struggling with 2TB on my PS4, can't imagine 32GB - sure, the Nintendo games can stream off their cards, and their games won't take up much space. But it's still paltry if you plan on downloading many games. It's like they don't even understand how they're limiting their customer's buying potential.

There aren't any new tracks on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe after all; those are just the DLC from MK8. It's a nice package if you didn't already have it on the Wii U, but $60 for some new characters and Battle Mode is a tougher sell than I'd like.

To be fair, the Switch makes upgrading storage easier than any other console. You just plop in a microSDXC card.

Against my better judgment, I went ahead and locked in my preorder from Amazon. I was sitting on a stack of Amazon gift cards anyway, so I'm only out $67 out of pocket. Once I order Breath of the Wild and a pro controller...well, yeah.

... which also has too low of a capacity.