re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Wow. So this is up for pre-order, but the fucking NES Classic is still nowhere to be found.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Well, it was up for pre-order for about a day, but seems to be sold out everywhere now.

Adam, it looks like I did win that bet after all. :)

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I LOVE Tetris Attack. That's my favorite SNES game of all time!

Lucky me, it'll be on PS4. What are the chances of this dropping by $10-$15 in the next few months?

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Good, for two reasons. Like I said above, Tetris isn't a game you want on disc. That one needs to be handy for quick gaming spurts. Second, Tetris is on every console, idevice and phone known to man. Do people really want to pay $30 for Tetris when it's $.99 everywhere else? I'm guessing no. I'll check it out for $10-$15 though.

Shitty battery life. Underpowered even for a Nintendo console. Horrible amount of storage. Lame S/NES "rental" plan. Pay for online when Nintendo has yet to prove they can even do online competently. Where's the OS reveal? Will there be other apps? Third party apps?

There's quite a bit to take umbrage with.

I grew up with Nintendo and would like them to become a force again(if only so they don't have to rely on putting Mario in every game just to stay afloat and go back to the rest of their catalog). Like the previous two systems, this looks like more of the same, a game system wrapped around a gimmick.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Well, it also didn't crash Amazon, nor did it sell out in minutes. :) I guess reality is somewhere in the middle of what we each expected (although, yeah, closer to yours than mine). Given the price and lack of software, it's surprising these are moving so quickly.

Some of the places offering pre-orders have been off and on, so the door isn't necessarily closed yet.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

About half the posts in the Xbox 1 and PS4 threads are about people running out of space and buying hard drives so it's not exclusive to the Wii U. I have an external HD for my Wii U.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Sure, I agree that the system and launch is underwhelming. But you guys have just repeated yourselves since then. It seems like you're disappointed, even offended ("umbrage"), but why? It's a game console. You don't need to buy it. Nintendo has enough cash in the bank that it will survive either way.

For me personally, I've got a large enough backlog of unplayed games across all systems that I'm not going to buy this for a couple years, most likely. By then they'll have a hardware refresh that will address a lot of these concerns. Also, it will probably be a couple years before Dragon Quest 10 and 11 actually launch. :lol:

In the meantime I'll pick up Breath of the Wild for Wii U.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Yeah, you would think with the portability nature of the system this would be THE system you'd want everything digitally as to not have to carry around cartridges. This is the system you want the extra storage built in.

Annoyed is more like it, not offended. I'm a big fan of Nintendo (before the other two companies) and their games and want them to succeed. Pretty simple. I know I'm not alone. I already had cash set aside for the Switch and was ready to go 'all in' but this is about as underwhelming as it gets.

I also doubt they adress any of these issues down the line like you suggest. They aren't like the other two companies. Look at the WiiU. They'd rather just kill it than address the issues and be competitive with price. When has a company ever recalled their system because it failed so bad? That's a new low.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I just saw this on The Super Bomberman R Switch page:

"Enriched story with all-star voice actors"

What?

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Enriched means they took out all the natural good stuff and then replaced it with crappy kinda good stuff...

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I'm not sure what you're referring to in the last two sentences. I do think Nintendo has been extremely good about addressing hardware deficiencies in their portable lines since the original Game Boy. Consoles, not so much. It just depends on which Nintendo we get for the Switch.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

The word enriched is not what's throwing me. It's the fact that they're talking up story and all-star voice actors in a Bomberman game.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Are there any examples of other consoles that have been dead as a doornail for a couple of years that suddenly became successes?

The price was a problem with the Wii U: no doubt. It was far, far, far from the only one, and I wouldn't consider it the chief barrier from success. If you think a price drop to $199 would send it soaring like a phoenix to tens of millions of additional sales, I just...well, don't see what you do, I guess.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

$200 price. Rebranding and reintroducing it to the world. Something. They just left it out there to die. Would it have been a turnaround? No idea, but it certainly could have helped more than abandoning it.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Also, something that no one seems to pay attention to: they could have realigned their launch timing with the standard console cycle. Everyone says they can't/don't/shouldn't compete directly with entrenched Sony and Microsoft systems, but they keep making that scenario exponentially more difficult than it needs to be by launching in the middle of everyone else's lifecycle.

They could have wrung the best possible results out of the Wii U for another couple of years, then made a true fresh start at the same time everyone else was - at the start of the PS5/Xbox Two generation. Nintendo has the resources in the bank both to have made it through those lean years and gone all-out for a true gangbusters launch on equal footing with the others.

That extra time could also have helped with some of the issues we're now seeing with the - obviously rushed - Switch hardware. They could have gone with the newer nVidia chipset, for starters, helping both the hardware power and battery life.

There's just no sensible case for this thing launching NOW other than Nintendo being far too desperate to put the Wii U behind them.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I guess Nintendo figured that'd be throwing good money after bad.

Honestly, I think Nintendo's biggest mistake was not taking their Wii warchest and investing in building more software teams (ideally Western software teams) around '07 and '08. That would've kept at least more momentum going for the Wii in its last couple of years, the "all hands on deck!" when the 3DS cratered at launch wouldn't have taken so many resources away from the Wii U, the Wii U wouldn't have suffered from excruciatingly long software droughts, and they would've been better able to fill in gaps in gameplay types that Nintendo hadn't been addressing.

How does the narrative change, though?

Releasing it now:

Releasing it in two years:

Even if the Switch were delayed two years, it wouldn't come close to matching the next-gen hardware from Sony and Microsoft. If they were to release a ton of Wii U games in that interval, that's fewer resources they'd have to build a strong launch slate for the Switch. Maybe it'd even be worse than what we're getting now! :lol: Unless they offered something very compelling and very different as the Wii was, I can see the allure of releasing mid-gen.

The GameCube came out 3 days after the Xbox. The Wii launched 8 days after the PS3. The Wii U launched a year before the PS4 and Xbox One. The Switch is the first time that there's really been a mid-generation launch, at least post-2000.

There's no argument, of course, that the Switch should've had much more robust software support at/near launch. It's not the least bit consumer friendly, but if Nintendo's faced with "we can spend $30 million on a game for a not-really-viable console that'll maybe sell 800,000 copies if we're lucky" or "we can spend $30 million on a game for a new console with the potential for a larger userbase over time and a longer tail to build sales", I can see why they'd opt for the latter. I just wonder what they did with that time.

Though the software for the Switch in its first 6-9 months isn't staggeringly compelling, Nintendo does look to be a lot more prolific.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

The WiiU came with what, 8gb or 32 gb options? That doesn't even remotely compare to what the PS4 or Xbox 1 offered, even with smaller game sizes. The saving grace was that physical discs didn't need to be loaded onto the HDD. Like I said, I would've been tempted to buy a lot more digitally on the WiiU if not for this, and I don't see that changing with the Switch, especially when external storage is not even feasible when going portable.

I mean Zelda alone takes up more than half of the space on the system.

As far as the "where on the doll did Nintendo abuse me" line, it's not like this thread is full of Nintendo supporters just thrilled with the system and touting all the new info coming out from people getting hands on experience with it. I mean seriously, a 1 month rental of classic games? Who in their right mind is thrilled about that? For free maybe, but as a paid service?

I will say that I thought the gimmicks of the DS and 3ds were lame and said so in this very forum before they came out, and software saved them. But that was my hope for the WiiU as well.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I'm fairly optimistic from the showing. The launch titles could be stronger but realistically most consoles aren't releasing off the bat with a ton of must haves and particularly with Nintendo they've had weaker launch lineups.

As far as other criticisms regarding things like the battery life. What other tablet would support a full on graphic intensive game like the new Zelda and last more than three hours? I also don't see the 32GB hard drive as much of an issue considering it was probably done to help keep the cost of the console down and how easy it will be to expand memory relatively cheap if you buy a spare SD card or whatever.

Probably the biggest complaint I have is the cost of the additional peripherals. The extra Joy Cons and the Pro Controller seem like they're gouging consumers. They should both be shaved by $10-$15 at least in my opinion.

Overall I don't know if I'm in day one but I think by the end of the year I'll have one.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

TouchSense, a haptic technology, will be implemented in the Nintendo Switch's touchscreen

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

The narrative changes any way they want it to with an extra two or three YEARS to work and plan. The problem is their mentality - they insist on casting themselves as quirky outsiders rather than actual contenders in the market at large. This is asinine. Videogaming was "playing Nintendo" before Sony or Microsoft even came along.

The problem isn't relative to other tablets - it's whether or not this performance is acceptable to the userbase in general. As someone who was initially excited to see Nintendo "unify their home and console products", the final product is a disappointing compromise in both directions.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

I don't really get what you're saying here. If you don't want to compare it to a tablet (which essentially is what it is) compare it to a previous handheld. There wouldn't have been a game as graphically as intensive on something like the 3DS and even if there would have been the battery life wouldn't have been better. Plus you still have the option of docking it and using it as a console. I think for what this is doing the battery life is decent enough.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Well, I preordered two more games that don't have release dates for a system I don't even own. Thanks Best Buy and Visa Checkout.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

To all you guys defending this thing, I say great. Get it, enjoy it, hope you have a wonderful time.
But the reality as I see it is, the general public will look at this and say it's too expensive (console + 1 game = $360) add in a real controller and thats another $70.
Only one good game at launch, with a few other meh games throughout the year.
Mario a good 10 months away.
Doesn't look too promising to me.

By the way, I'm still salty about the NES classic. Middle of January and it's still nowhere to be found.
They do this same thing with the Switch (as rumors are saying) and that will be another nail in Nintendos coffin.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

Exactly. Back when I used to play Pokemon Go it would wipe my phone battery to zero if I played for more than an hour or so.

re: Nintendo Switch: Building a New Generation of Hardware from Scratch
 

It's funny, despite all the shortcomings and problems that I have with the Switch's release (the price is a bit too high for the main system and should have been $250, the tech is a bit outdated, there's an extreme lack of games especially at launch, accessories are too expensive, the battery life is a bit low, the storage is too little), I'm still leaning towards keeping my preorder at Best Buy or Amazon. Hell, I don't even like 3D Zelda games that much.

I don't know if it's just knowing it's scarce or just itching to buy something new because the technology interests me, but I still want it. I guess I also don't see it dropping in price any time soon, so buying it now or at the end of the year when Mario Odyssey comes out doesn't really matter.

Seeing pictures of the size comparing it to a 3DS XL makes me feel better too. Without the JoyCon's its basically the same size.