Switch Discussion Thread

[Fragems]

This is probably a wait and see for me Not sure if I like all the swappable controls seems like more stuff to fail/break/lose. Performance does looks solid if that is real gameplay though and I was surprised to see Skyrim on their trailer.

Once again I feel like Nintendo can't pick names worth a crap switch just sounds so bland.

[marurun]

I think Nintendo's design is great. They tend to produce high-quality controllers, and this easy side mount configuration means mobile (ala Nintendo style) and phone/tablet-quality screens will work together in harmony as never before.

[ElkinFencer10]

Safe to say Nintendo doesn't care to conform to the norm, so they've broken off into their own gen cycle.

This is important because, to a certain extent, they've always done this. I've mentioned this before (probably once or twice in this very thread), but this is almost exactly on par with when we all should have expected a new console. Look at North America lifespans.

NES (2nd most successful console) - 6 years
SNES - 5 years
N64 - 5 years
GCN - 5 years
Wii (most successful console) - 6 years
Wii U (least successful console) - 4.5 years

Nintendo releases a new console, on average, every five years. The Wii U is getting replaced little sooner than their norm, but couple that with the fact that the Wii lasted a little longer than their norm with the fact that the Wii U was their least successful home console, and this is right on the money.

Plus, as Xeogred mentioned, Nintendo does its own thing. It always has. Yall are using CDs? Fuck that, we're sticking with cartridges because they're more durable and don't have to load. Yall are going with DVDs? Fuck that, we're going with mini-DVDs because....(actually, I don't know why they did that). Yall are going with HD? Fuck that, we'll keep SD, but we're going to change the way people play games forever. Yall are going with slightly prettier HD? Fuck that, we'll do roughly the same HD you're used to, but we're going to integrate the control scheme of our wildly successful handheld platforms.

Has the "do their own thing" philosophy always worked in terms of business success? No, but isn't their uniqueness what makes Nintendo stand out and the reason that most of us love the company so much? I still have my reservations about the Switch, as I've made known here, but the hardware power and whether it's a "new generation" or "mid generation" are not among them. As far as I'm concerned, this is as next gen as the Wii U was, and I had no problem placing that in the same generation as the Xbox One and Playstation 4. We're just going to need to change the way we think about generations going forward.

[samsonlonghair]

I'm digging the controller options. Here's hoping there's tons more joy-con options. Like this mockup:

I could dig it.

Is it a home console that you can take on the go? Is it a portable console that you can play on your TV with the docking station? Does this mean that, moving forward, Nintendo will not have distinctly different home consoles and portable consoles? It'll just be one and the same?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

[Ziggy]

I don't know if this was talked about already, or if it was just obvious and assumed, but you can see some Amiibos sitting next to the console in one scene of the trailer. I guess it's safe to say that Amiibos aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

[ElkinFencer10]

I don't know if this was talked about already, or if it was just obvious and assumed, but you can see some Amiibos sitting next to the console in one scene of the trailer. I guess it's safe to say that Amiibos aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

I don't think it's been mentioned here, but I read today that Nintendo confirmed that Amiibo WILL be supported by the Switch and that there will be NO backwards compatibility with Wii U or 3DS.

[samsonlonghair]

Hell no, they aren't ditching Amiibos like Disney Infinity. Amiibos are Nintendo's new "It prints money" cash cows. Amiibos kept Nintendo in the black this year.

[Ziggy]

NO backwards compatibility with Wii U or 3DS.

Well that sucks, but I suspected as much. It still doesn't rule out VC releases for those consoles, but it's not like I'm gonna purchase games that I already own.

[ElkinFencer10]

NO backwards compatibility with Wii U or 3DS.

Well that sucks, but I suspected as much. It still doesn't rule out VC releases for those consoles, but it's not like I'm gonna purchase games that I already own.

I expect they will offer at least the most popular games digitally (I suspect Wii U games, especially, will benefit from this).

On the one hand, this is the first time a Nintendo handheld has ever not been backwards compatible (we don't talk about the Virtual Boy) and the first time since the Gamecube that a home console hasn't been, but on the other hand, this is a new beast entirely unlike traditional home consoles or traditional handhelds, so it's kind of to be expected.

[samsonlonghair]

Well... no backwards compatibility from the consumer's standpoint. I think we already knew that, didn't we? "Games on cartridges" was one of the first rumor leaks. No optical disk drives means we cannot possibly expect to play WiiU games on the Switch.

But let's look at it from the developer's standpoint. Nintendo wants to court as many third parties as possible. It's no stretch to speculate that Nintendo's software development kit includes tools to port games from other platforms including WiiU. We know that Breath of the Wild was in development for WiiU for years before Nintendo started porting that code over to NX. Once they successfully ported that code, it wasn't too hard for them to repeat the process with Splatoon and Mario Kart. By this logic, we can assume that any developer who kept all their assets from developing a Wii or WiiU game could port and recompile those games to Switch.

I know that's not the type of backwards compatibility we collectors all hope for, but it is the type of compatibility that devs like.