Nintendo Switch

[deanb]

They need to pull a Sega n shift out of the hardware business. Consoles at least. They've a ton of great IPs but at this point would likely make more in releasing their games on other platforms. Handheld they could probably do vaguely well on, though they've already began cannibalising that with mobile phone games. Heck, maybe trial the waters a bit with a Virtual Console pack on other platforms, nothing that's super new and nothing that'd really eat into their sales but would give a taste of sales they might expect on other platforms.

 

I will repeat my utter shock they've yet to do an in-house gameboy emulator for mobile with game IAPs.

[TCP]

I have to agree on both points. N64 was responsible for the only real lull in my gaming habits in my life... and yeah, I was hanging out and getting laid and doing drugs and stuff at the time, but still, I can recall popping into stores and looking for something new to catch my eye, and just seeing the same tired lineup most of the time. It took a couple of years of Playstation owners throwing their libraries in my face for it to finally penetrate my skull, but I eventually realized that if I wanted a console that was going to feed my appetite, I was going to have to look elsewhere.

 

The only thing I disagree with is the idea that Nintendo has any dignity left.

 

That's basically what happened with me. I would have been 9 when the N64 came out, so I really enjoyed it at first but besides from Majora's Mask and Perfect Dark, all the late N64 games seemed very family friendly and just kind of boring, so it really pushed me out of gaming. I remember renting Pokemon Snap and that being the straw that broke the camels back for me when I was 12/13. It just felt like video games weren't growing with me. Really what I wish I had done was jump ship to PlayStation. I eventually found my way there but besides for a PS2 for a few months and GTA: Vice City, I pretty much skipped that entire next console gen.

 

They need to pull a Sega n shift out of the hardware business. Consoles at least. They've a ton of great IPs but at this point would likely make more in releasing their games on other platforms. Handheld they could probably do vaguely well on, though they've already began cannibalising that with mobile phone games. Heck, maybe trial the waters a bit with a Virtual Console pack on other platforms, nothing that's super new and nothing that'd really eat into their sales but would give a taste of sales they might expect on other platforms.

 

I will repeat my utter shock they've yet to do an in-house gameboy emulator for mobile with game IAPs.

You have no idea how much I want to play A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, etc and get trophies for them.

Edited April 28, 2016 by The Cowboy Poet

[danielpholt]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-07-26-nx-is-a-portable-console-with-detachable-controllers

 

Discuss.

[TheMightyEthan]

The fact that it's a combo with the handheld actually does make me somewhat more likely to buy it, because then it has the draw of the handheld stuff like Pokemon in addition to the console stuff like the big Zeldas.  But I'm definitely not getting it on the promise of future software, I'll wait until the games are actually out.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

If it's really based on a 2 year old mobile processor, I'm disappointed that again we've got a Nintendo console that will be shunned by third party. they've effectively gone handheld only and abandoned the home console. Not sure what to think to be honest though I'll wait until i get actual facts from Nintendo. Still a day one purchase, but I may be getting breath of the wind on Wii u after all .

[Mr. GOH!]

It takes balls to compete with iPads and the 3DS. I guess Ninty hopes folks with smartphones and/or tablets will want to lug around the NX instead. Seems like a bad bet to me.

 

It's not a good sign that Nintendo has ceded the TV gaming market to MS and Sony, either.

 

And of course this was always going to be underpowered. We're talking Nintendo, here.

 

It would be foolish to buy this thing at launch.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Mr. GOH!

[TheMightyEthan]

Still a day one purchase, but I may be getting breath of the wind on Wii u after all.

lolwut? This sentence makes no sense to me.

 

Anyway, at least with Tegra it's a chip that's used in other devices so it's not like developers are going to have to learn how to use it from scratch again.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I will  get an NX at launch no matter what (having never regretted buying a Nintendo console yet), and had planned to buy Breath of The Wild with it (when I thought the power would be PS4-ish), but at the moment it's not clear that NX will be the best experience for the game so I'll wait to see what format to get the game on.

[Mr. GOH!]

It will be hilarious if the Wii U ends up being more powerful than the NX. 

[Saturnine Tenshi]

I'm incredibly interested in this one. Will have to see how it turns out, but I'm actually very fond of the idea.

[toxicitizen]

It will be hilarious if the Wii U ends up being more powerful than the NX. 

 

If this leak is accurate, it kinda sounds like that's going to be the case. Nintendo getting out of home consoles entirely would be weird as hell, especially if they're going all-in on a handheld that sounds like it's going to be inferior to their current dual-screen setup. The possibility of this leak being real is seriously bringing my excitement for the NX down. :/

[danielpholt]

So are they expecting people to carry this tablet thing around with them like people do with phones? Because I can't see that happening at all. People don't carry tablets with them, and if they do they're using it as a laptop replacement.

 

I fear for Nintendo here. They seem hellbent on taking the compan down a path that regular old consumers aren't interested in.

Edited July 27, 2016 by danielpholt

[Mr. GOH!]

Eh, lots of people carry iPads with them. But an iPad has a lot more utility than just gaming.

[TheMightyEthan]

I hadn't seen dimensions being released, I had assumed the screen portion was small enough to fit in your pocket.

[Mr. GOH!]

That seems small if it's meant for local multiplayer. I thought the thing is supposed to have two controllers built in.

[TheMightyEthan]

But it also connects to a TV.

[Mr. GOH!]

I would be surprised if it's much smaller than the Wii U second screen controller. If it's the size of a phone, I doubt the removable controllers will be big enough to be comfortable.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

I'm actually hoping it's about the size of the WiiU pad.

[Mister Jack]

I speculate that it'll be about the same size but the screen will take up more real estate on the unit.

[TheMightyEthan]

I speculate that y'all almost as crazy as Ninty.

[Mr. GOH!]

You think it will be 3DS sized? Phone-sized?

 

I really am not that confident about my assumption a to the the size of the NX. I was just going by the fact that the controllers are built in and that any decent controller will itself be about the size of a classic iPhone, at least. Ninty could be ragingly stupid and make the screen the size of a smart phone and have either two tiny controllers built into it or two controllers that dwarf the main unit. I think it's much more likely it will be the size of an iPad mini or thereabouts.

 

I mean, it's a dumb idea no matter the size; why the FUCK would you spend billions building a nonsense proprietary phone/tablet when you could instead develop software for phones/tablets (and CONSOLES) that people already have? 

[TheMightyEthan]

That's actually kind of what I meant, I think all the ideas in here are insane, but I also think Ninty is even more insane so who knows what they're going to do.

 

*Edit - That said, gun to my head I'd guess something roughly the size of a Vita, possibly with fold-out grips.  Then to play in TV mode you'd basically detach the bits to the side of the screen and have a reasonably-sized two-part controller.

 

Of course that only gives one person a controller and supposedly there's two?  I took that to mean a single two-part controller (kind of like the Wiimote and nunchuk) but who the fuck knows.

Edited July 27, 2016 by TheMightyEthan

[Mr. GOH!]

I think we all (well, except maybe Gerbil) can agree that, if this report is accurate, the NX is an insane gambit on Nintendo's part. 

 

I look forward to buying Nintendo games on Steam by 2020.

[FMW]

Well Nintendo consolidating their two concurrent platform strategy into just trying to support one platform is predicted and necessary.  Nobody else is trying to support two separate software libraries simultaneously.  Even PS Vita is 90% games also playable on PS consoles.  So that much of this is good news.  I think that if you take the combined development of the first party 3DS and Wii U you would have a kick ass competitive single software lineup.  Same for combining GBA with Gamecube or DS with Wii.  So that's what we're going to get from Nintendo next generation.  All their powers focused in one place.

 

I'm also on board with the consolidated platform being a low tech handheld.  Since what we're looking at is the consolidated Nintendo box, I'm not super concerned with not having rockin' technology.  Games on this platform are going to be by Nintendo for Nintendo.  Nintendo doesn't benefit from advanced tech so much.  When they try to push online or open world gaming it's always clumsy.  Previous platforms they always had to make a token effort to enable the technology being used by literally every other developer... but it looks like this time they just decided not to even mess with easy third party compatibility or offering comparable specs.

 

As for the detachable controller thing though, I'm not sold.  I get that they want to make it possible to play on your TV too, but it's hard to imagine that the comfort as a handheld won't take a hit as a result of trying to also be a transforming gizmo.  My strong preference would have been for Nintendo to just make a really good solid handheld and then sell controllers separately for people who want to run games through a TV screen.

[Thursday Next]

I don't get why the controllers have to come off. If it's comfortable to hold as is, then just beam it to the TV. If it's not comfortable, it's gonna suck as a handheld. Only sensible reason is that the controllers detach and each person has one for some basic 2 player games. *shrug*

 

I think this is gonna be the virtual boy of this generation based on the limited info so far.