Topic: Nintendo Switch (was NX)

[PaulF]

£280 for the console, £60 for the NEXT Zelda, £340 for 40ish hours of top notch entertainment, whatsa ya problem?

[Schmidt]

£280 for the console, £60 for the NEXT Zelda, £340 for 40ish hours of top notch entertainment, whatsa ya problem?

Or if you own a Wii U pay £40 for the next Zelda.

[Something Worse]

£280 for the console, £60 for the NEXT Zelda, £340 for 40ish hours of top notch entertainment, whatsa ya problem?

When you price it like that it's even worse! You can watch four seasons of GOT for way less (legally, I mean).

[francobones]

Well i'll be buying it for 2 main reasons, firstly as I don't get to play my PS4 much nowadays and end up playing iPad games mainly because I have young kids and CBeebies rules the TV, and secondly because I never got a wii u so would rather invest in this as it looks like a great bit of kit. I also travel a fair bit and work away etc so it will suit me for that.

It's  funny really as people will happily spend £1000+ on a PC, £6-700 on an iPad or phone etc but the switch is outrageous because it's not £200 and released with 20 games at launch? The new Nintendo 3ds is £170 for fucks sakes so it was never likely to be that price. I do think that they should rethink the free game for a month thing but Nintendo have always been tightarses so it's not that surprising really.

Just as an aside I remember paying around £120 back in the day for stunt race fx on the snes us import!

[Titi Camara]

You could buy one with Zelda, finish it in a couple of days and sell it for almost the same! Probably end up costing you £50 if that's all you wanted it for.

[Upinsmoke]

£280 for the console, £60 for the NEXT Zelda, £340 for 40ish hours of top notch entertainment, whatsa ya problem?

Well you could apply that to any product ever made.

If you think something is value for money buy it, if not don't.

It's irrelevant how much a product ultimately costs it's how the buyer perceives value, for me I'm not getting this for a host of reasons at launch and money is factored into it but if you want it then you'll have a great time with it.

People said to me I was stupid buying a launch PS3, but at the end of the day I was happy to pay the price and got lots of enjoyment out of it, it was great value for me.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

You could buy one with Zelda, finish it in a couple of days and sell it for almost the same! Probably end up costing you £50 if that's all you wanted it for.

Yeah but rushing through a game so you don't lose resale value isn't the most fun way to play! Not practical if you only get a couple of hours a week to play either.

I'll be playing it on the Wii U I think.

With this looking the way it is, I think come spring it'll be more likely I drag my 360 out of the loft and replay Red Dead Redemption and finish off the Wii U games than buying a Switch. I really wanted Nintendo to knock it out of the park but instead they've just shat on the diamond.

[pezzzer]

Good and bad points for me.
In one hand we've got a genuine nxt gen Nintendo Console which is also a handheld and powerful enough 'just' to do some real justice to some fantastic games, plus it's finally online properly and it's price is pretty reasonable .

On the other hand Nintendo are charging the earth for its peripherals and games, plus there drip feeding us there triple A titles while we wait and have to make do with Re-Masters. Let's hope they aren't raping 3rd party developers on commission for developing on the switch like they have done before.
I've pre ordered one though

[iSmiff]

The thing is, despite the lack of games on show Nintendo actually seem to be going in the right direction games wise, they've mostly ditched the nonsense throwaway shite from previous gens and are packing in what look like some fairly meaty single player games. These will appeal a lot to people who'd love to play proper RPGs etc on the go.

They then go and undermine that with a complete disaster of a presentation where they spend an age on all the shite gimmicks that most gamers don't really care about. HD rumble, motion controls, yeah that's fine but it's the games that matter.

[BER]

I'll buy one after it's been hacked.

[OsirisMVZ]

Apparently can only play LoZ in 900p? Why do I feel there'll be an upgraded version of the console 18 months from now that can handle its selection better...

Really happy with the Fire Emblem announcements though! For both Switch and 3DS.

[Lfsea]

Apparently can only play LoZ in 900p? Why do I feel there'll be an upgraded version of the console 18 months from now that can handle its selection better...

Really happy with the Fire Emblem announcements though! For both Switch and 3DS.

Seems like they've made a conscious decision to pare back the resolution on BOTW for the sake of the frame-rate. Lots of documented issues with performance when in highly grassy areas (which you'd think is almost everywhere, given it's set in an... errr... grassy world). I think it's almost a given we'll see a Switch Pro/2 in the near future as memory gets cheaper, the Tegra 2 chipset gets cheaper and cart production costs come down.

I'm sticking with my pre-order, having gone through a few waves of yes/no. Most of my gaming happens in the lounge because dearly beloved (sounds a bit Mumsnet that) doesn't like me hiding up in the loft playingon the SNES, and because of that it means I'm either on my iPad or my 3DS. As such, I'm going to get more hours playtime out of a handheld.

The launch line-up is fine for me. I only bought a Wii U recently so haven't played Mario Kart 8 and will want to 100% Zelda. I'll import I Am Setsuna and am really excited to finally play Puyo Puyo Tetris. That's more than enough to keep me going for the first couple of months. It's not like it's the only console that exists and as long as they keep releasing standout games, then I'll be more than happy.

As with most Nintendo consoles, I'm going to play 10x the amount on 10x less games than I do on any other system.

Hoping for a cerebral Mass Effect/Deus Ex type run 'n' gun FPS to come out in 2017 and Fire Emblem will come along - theoretically - just as I'm done with the games from the first half of the year.

[Macphisto80]

The thing is, despite the lack of games on show Nintendo actually seem to be going in the right direction games wise, they've mostly ditched the nonsense throwaway shite from previous gens and are packing in what look like some fairly meaty single player games. These will appeal a lot to people who'd love to play proper RPGs etc on the go.

They then go and undermine that with a complete disaster of a presentation where they spend an age on all the shite gimmicks that most gamers don't really care about. HD rumble, motion controls, yeah that's fine but it's the games that matter.

The HD rumble feature, when you think about it, could actually change how a lot of games are designed and played. They just did a piss poor job of showing it. Ice cubes in a glass filling with water? Ye what?

From what I've read and understand, the feature works like 3d haptic feedback, so it can simulate what a marble would feel like rolling around in your hand for example, or is capable of simulating more than one object rattling around inside a box. There would be all kinds of applications for something like that.

[Lfsea]

The HD rumble feature, when you think about it, could actually change how a lot of games are designed and played. They just did a piss poor job of showing it. Ice cubes in a glass filling with water? Ye what?

From what I've read and understand, the feature works like 3d haptic feedback, so it can simulate what a marble would feel like rolling around in your hand for example, or is capable of simulating more than one object rattling around inside a box. There would be all kinds of applications for something like that.

Nintendo's error there was not simultaneously casting a westernised version of the presentation, hosted by Reggie and doing something more like what he did on Fallon, where someone actually reacts live to the haptic feedback and loses their shit. The mostly twee presentation of the Japan launch was undoubtedly a momentum killer for a lot of people.

[Macphisto80]

Nintendo's error there was not simultaneously casting a westernised version of the presentation, hosted by Reggie and doing something more like what he did on Fallon, where someone actually reacts live to the haptic feedback and loses their shit. The mostly twee presentation of the Japan launch was undoubtedly a momentum killer for a lot of people.

Yeah, they need a more pragmatic approach to showing stuff like that. It'd be like showing off VR for the first time and just show someone sitting there with a headset on reacting to stuff. It just can't put across what it actually does for the user. You have to properly explain these things, and then show actual genuine reactions from people using it. What they should have done instead is invite a couple of the audience at random onto the stage and have them 'experience' the game, whilst having the designer explain what was going on and giving examples of its uses. Job done.

[Haemoglobin]

I posted a fair while back on here - before VR had come back with a bang with PlayStation's effort - that I felt the next area of focus would/should be new sophisticated haptic feedback peripherals to complement the immersion, so I'm just glad the technology seems to be out there right now, or is being worked at as a sort-of priority for at least one major videogame hardware developer. Can't be arsed digging around my history for it now, but devices that can deliver very intricate tactile sensations that your nerve endings can interpret as the real physical interactions of virtual objects (or whatever) in the virtual world, that seems very exciting to me, someone who wants games to really start pushing back the frontiers of immersion now.

There are of course always daft 'hacks' you can do for yourself to simulate atmospheric tactile stuff that'd be very difficult to achieve with just a fancy little gaming peripheral, if you can ever be arsed (ambient temperature, breeze, etc. - just set up some swivelling fans and mess about with the thermostat, lolz), but the sensation of unique recoil from different projectile weapons or bullet calibres, of holding an object containing detectably-different materials, coming in contact with in-game forcefields, the awe-filled buzz of firing up a light sabre in your hand and the impact of its different strikes... sounds pretty boss, the concept just makes my imagination run wild.

It seems to me like the next major, technologically-feasible consumer development in immersion for VR/AR, while smell-o-vision remains a fanciful notion (I know about the South Park fart-mask; kinda limited applications for that!). Vision & audition are already well on their way (you could argue that the audio side is already near-perfected with binaural 3D recording and a sexy pair of cans), olfaction is still far road off being satisfactorily implemented with videogames, and gustation is basically pointless in this context, so tactition has to be the next area of focus that we can get proper stuck into right now. Kudos to Nintendo for promoting it now, I say, even if they likely won't be the ones to explore its full potential. Hopefully the tech'll be freed up to developers across the board before too long, and start bringing strange new dimensions to games.

[SP]

I have a pre-order in for my son's birthday at the end of April. Do I stick or twist? Do you think there will be a price drop in the 7-8 weeks from launch to then. I have held off any games as they feel like they will drop - as indeed they have started to do so. I pre-ordered just in case of the usual Nintendo supply crisis.

[Haemoglobin]

I have a pre-order in for my son's birthday at the end of April. Do I stick or twist? Do you think there will be a price drop in the 7-8 weeks from launch to then.

Very much doubt it. And if there is, it won't be a particularly big drop.

I reckon any action Nintendo take on the pricepoint as a result of underwhelming preorders would only be done several months after release. And it's more likely they'll just not produce as many as they had originally intended to.


For all the noise, it's still gona sell decently in the US and Japan, if you ask me. Europe is a different kettle of fish, but I'd be very surprised if this turned out a total disaster that spelled doom for them.

[Lfsea]

I have a pre-order in for my son's birthday at the end of April. Do I stick or twist? Do you think there will be a price drop in the 7-8 weeks from launch to then. I have held off any games as they feel like they will drop - as indeed they have started to do so. I pre-ordered just in case of the usual Nintendo supply crisis.

Although I'm not ordinarily an advocate of this, you will be able to sell it for significantly more than its face value after the initial release given Nintendo has announced there will only be 2m units available worldwide, so in this instance you may be able to sell the Switch for, say, £400 and then buy the console again with 3/4 games, eight weeks after release.

The risks with that are either a) The couple of % chance that demand isn't high enough to sell for a profit and b) that demand is high enough and it becomes very difficult to acquire, even 8 weeks after launch (worth bearing in mind that the Nintendo Classic still isn't available and that's just a Linux distro and an emulator on a cheap motherboard).

There almost certainly won't be a console reduction (Nintendo hardly did this with the Wii U, even at the very end of its lifecycle), but like you say, the games are getting cheaper by the day. Tricky decision, but if it's something he's been pining for, I wouldn't ignore the fact that you've locked in a pre-order where millions won't have done.

[SP]

Although I'm not ordinarily an advocate of this, you will be able to sell it for significantly more than its face value after the initial release given Nintendo has announced there will only be 2m units available worldwide, so in this instance you may be able to sell the Switch for, say, £400 and then buy the console again with 3/4 games, eight weeks after release.

The risks with that are either a) The couple of % chance that demand isn't high enough to sell for a profit and b) that demand is high enough and it becomes very difficult to acquire, even 8 weeks after launch (worth bearing in mind that the Nintendo Classic still isn't available and that's just a Linux distro and an emulator on a cheap motherboard).

There almost certainly won't be a console reduction (Nintendo hardly did this with the Wii U, even at the very end of its lifecycle), but like you say, the games are getting cheaper by the day. Tricky decision, but if it's something he's been pining for, I wouldn't ignore the fact that you've locked in a pre-order where millions won't have done.

Higher stakes, it is my Mario-fixated autistic son. Being a devious sod, we have not told him there is a new console. That would be a recipe to be asked 20 times a day if he can have one. However, once it is launched, he will twig and the nagging will start. Not having on for his birthday would mean that he, and my wife would tag team to abuse me.

I suppose it is a case of wait to see if the sell-on price is too good to resist.

[Something Worse]

Higher stakes, it is my Mario-fixated autistic son. Being a devious sod, we have not told him there is a new console. That would be a recipe to be asked 20 times a day if he can have one. However, once it is launched, he will twig and the nagging will start. Not having on for his birthday would mean that he, and my wife would tag team to abuse me.

I suppose it is a case of wait to see if the sell-on price is too good to resist.

Peace of mind is worth whatever the cost is, I'd say!

[Kashinoda]

"The Nintendo Switch companion app is fast turning into a pretty essential part of the Switch.

As well as the previously announced news that you’ll need to use the app in order to enable voice-chat on the console, in a recent interview Nintendo of America’s President Reggie Fils-Aime suggested that the app would be used for a lot more besides voice chat.

In fact, the app’s functionality actually goes as far as enabling matchmaking and allowing you to create lobbies, suggesting that your online options are going to be pretty slim without your smartphone. "



http://www.techradar.com/news/the-nintendo-switch-will-need-its-smartphone-app-for-online-matchmaking

Can people stop apologising for this shit, they're out of touch.

[gerrardisgod]

No video apps on release, but they're looking into it for the future. They're just doing everything backwards.

[OsirisMVZ]

Does anyone feel this console is being rushed out? Just get it out in the spring when nothing else is released and worry about the extras later.

[Upinsmoke]

If they want people to use a phone to such an extent maybe they should make there own?

[puroresu_kid]

Been rooting for this for as long as I can remember. Imagine having a proper console and still having access to those incredible Nintendo games...Mmmmm.

Wont happen.  Nintendo going 3rd party would only see mass layoffs and a company who would only look to produce sure things such as Mario, Zelda, Splatoon etc etc.

I remember when Sega went bust and people assumed all the Sega greatness would get better without the burden of supporting there own hardware. Didn't quite work out like that.

Does anyone feel this console is being rushed out? Just get it out in the spring when nothing else is released and worry about the extras later

They want to get it out before year end.  They told shareholders last year it would be released before fiscal year end and don't want to back track on that.  I think the OS looks undercooked.

After the Wii U I said to myself I wont get the next hardware at launch but I'm a sucker for Nintendo.  I love the 3DS and now I will have a more powerful handheld.  Hooking up to the TV doesn't really matter much to me as it's all about the portable.  Pre-ordered.

For all the noise, it's still gona sell decently in the US and Japan, if you ask me. Europe is a different kettle of fish, but I'd be very surprised if this turned out a total disaster that spelled doom for them.

I expect to it be the #1 platform in Japan.  Once DQ11 and and new Monster Hunter drops this thing will sell gangbusters there. Japan still very much digs handhelds.

The US not sure.  Wii U didn't do great at all but the 3DS has actually done well in the US in a shrinking market.  It's seeing year on year growth even though its coming to the end of its life.  Get Mario, Smash bros and Pokeman out for the Holidays 2017 and yes it will sell bucketloads.

Europe is a difficult area for Nintendo.  France it's strongest market.  The UK though isn't really into Nintendo.

I think the Switch will have good word of mouth.  I think when people see these out in the wild there gonna be very curious. 

[Aceldama]

Well i'll be buying it for 2 main reasons, firstly as I don't get to play my PS4 much nowadays and end up playing iPad games mainly because I have young kids and CBeebies rules the TV, and secondly because I never got a wii u so would rather invest in this as it looks like a great bit of kit. I also travel a fair bit and work away etc so it will suit me for that.

Why not get a PS Vita and stream your PS4 to it?

[francobones]

The ps vita is a dead system with no support, a new one still costs around £200 on eBay and remote play  doesnt work offline (fwiw I have an Xperia tablet that I link up with my PS4 controller which does work well at home) and I get access to nintendos games with a Switch. I just don't see the furore over the pricing of it seeing how versatile it is, I've owned Sega Sony Microsoft Atari and Nintendo consoles so I don't give a shit about all the fanboy stuff, I know what Nintendo bring to the table and it's not cutting edge graphics or online functionality, it's the games and that is enough reason for me to buy it.

[Upinsmoke]

The ps vita is a dead system with no support, a new one still costs around £200 on eBay and remote play  doesnt work offline (fwiw I have an Xperia tablet that I link up with my PS4 controller which does work well at home) and I get access to nintendos games with a Switch. I just don't see the furore over the pricing of it seeing how versatile it is, I've owned Sega Sony Microsoft Atari and Nintendo consoles so I don't give a shit about all the fanboy stuff, I know what Nintendo bring to the table and it's not cutting edge graphics or online functionality, it's the games and that is enough reason for me to buy it.

You can play offline with remote play, you just connect your vita directly to the ps4, I've done it.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

That's why it would be better if they left the consoles to the adults and made games for them so we could have the best of both worlds.

I'm quite sure the people who designed the console were in fact adult humans.

[Macphisto80]

I'm quite sure the people who designed the console were in fact adult humans.

Aye, seriously bizarre thing to say considering that the entire console industry owes it's existence to Nintendo. Not to mention their controller innovations down the years.

[francobones]

You can play offline with remote play, you just connect your vita directly to the ps4, I've done it.

When I said offline I meant taking it on the bus/train/plane etc.

[thelinnen]

When I said offline I meant taking it on the bus/train/plane etc.

I'm not sure that's much of a stick to beat them with to be honest, what you're suggesting is impossible.

[Lfsea]

When I said offline I meant taking it on the bus/train/plane etc.

This is why the online system of using your smartphone for connectivity is making more and more sense to me now.

I think Nintendo sees the Switch as almost a 50:50 system - one you'll use as much away from the home as in it. As such, they had to find a way to allow voice communications without people having to lug around big headsets and building in more tech to the Switch (and the obvious consequences that will bring). I can't think of a better method than the app to achieve this.

[sminp]

I'm not sure that's much of a stick to beat them with to be honest, what you're suggesting is impossible.

I don't think he was criticising Sony because you can't do that with the PS4, his point was more that he could take the Switch screen and games with him on public transport so that console is a better option for him.

[Lfsea]

Some pre-orders available on Amazon.fr if anyone missed out in the UK - works out about £20 cheaper too.

[iSmiff]

This is why the online system of using your smartphone for connectivity is making more and more sense to me now.

I think Nintendo sees the Switch as almost a 50:50 system - one you'll use as much away from the home as in it. As such, they had to find a way to allow voice communications without people having to lug around big headsets and building in more tech to the Switch (and the obvious consequences that will bring). I can't think of a better method than the app to achieve this.

if you try and play online games over your mobile network you're in for a very bad day

[iSmiff]

Some pre-orders available on Amazon.fr if anyone missed out in the UK - works out about £20 cheaper too.

Amazon UK also seems to have them.

[Lfsea]

if you try and play online games over your mobile network you're in for a very bad day

You say it like I would somehow be naive to the wide world of data and how it works. I get a far faster ping, more consistent connection quadruple the broadband speed over my 4G network (something I can access in 90% of the places I go regularly) than I do my home broadband. The upload speed also matches, give or take, the download speed; which is nice.

I have unlimited data and a good battery life on my phone, that even with tethering, would outlast the Switch away from home.

Amazon UK also seems to have them.

Their initial allocation has gone. They are essentially pre-orders of pre-orders.

I had a stock update today - mine is arriving on the 4th, for some strange reason.

[francobones]

I don't think he was criticising Sony because you can't do that with the PS4, his point was more that he could take the Switch screen and games with him on public transport so that console is a better option for him.

Yes that's correct, I'm not bashing Sony I have a PS4 and I'm not getting rid of it, I was trying to make the point that the switch is worth the money and brings something different to the party, if they had just released a TV only console that was around the power of the PS4 I probably wouldn't buy it.