Switch Discussion Thread

[Blu]

This is my biggest gripe with their online service. I think the pricepoint needed to be included in such a presentation, or not announce anything about their online service just yet. Though the full details of what Nintendo will offer in an online service aren't disclosed yet, I think there are plenty of logical conclusions as to what they've already outlined and what are standard as far as online gaming goes:

Online Gaming
Voice and Party Chat (App based through mobile)
Games Offered (1 Game Rental Period, requiring purchase After. Certainly better than the Amiibo Tap, but hardly comparable to the offerings that PSN and XBL offer)
Discounts Offered (Steam will still reign king as far as digital marketplaces, sorry PSN & XBL)
Friend Lists

For me, as long as the price is at a sweet spot, then it's worthwhile. For me it's a paywall that I don't think is necessarily justified, given the cost of entry for the console alone. I hope that in the next couple of months Nintendo is receptive to the feedback their customers and potential customers share around the details of it all, because right now I don't see how they're going to fare against some pretty well-established competitors.

Bonuses:
Make eShop like a Netflix service and offer tiers. They have the catalog to do it.
Make the subscription give access to a X% discount for being a paid subscriber.
Get rid of the 1 month language. No one else does that. I like being able to download a game and play it on my own time.

[Tanooki]

Reprise I agree. When I was bothering with it on PS4 I had like 6 months of free service cards I ended up having for use. For the first 3 months I downloaded anything for the system, but ended up eating up much of that 500GB HDD so I just gave up. I saw no point in adding just to add stuff, collecting idiocy on things I wasn't sure I'd even care about.

I actually like the Nintendo idea of a monthly rental. It's the best demo one could ever have in the end. Try before you buy for an extended period, and if you like it, buy it after, and if not, oh well wait a month for the next set of picks.


Either way Nintendo if they were going to announced a paid service HAD to mention price, it's shady. But in the end it is free until the Fall so is it too much to fault them? You'll end up with like 6 months to decide if it works or sucks.

[Sarge]

I think the free period is an acknowledgement that there are going to be bumps in the road as they bring their network up to snuff (hopefully). They'll get a lot of feedback, and change the things that don't work (hopefully).

In annoying news, apparently the grip that's included doesn't let you charge the Joy-Cons while playing on the TV. That version is going to be sold separately. Funny, I could justify most of the other moves, but seriously, Nintendo? C'mon.

[Reprise]

I think the free period is an acknowledgement that there are going to be bumps in the road as they bring their network up to snuff (hopefully). They'll get a lot of feedback, and change the things that don't work (hopefully).

In annoying news, apparently the grip that's included doesn't let you charge the Joy-Cons while playing on the TV. That version is going to be sold separately. Funny, I could justify most of the other moves, but seriously, Nintendo? C'mon.

In their defence (I know, it's a little shitty), do people really need to charge their joycons whilst playing? The battery life is apparently 20 hours, which is great and ridiculously superior to the likes of the PS4 controller. And all you have to do to charge them is slide them onto the Switch whilst it's docked.

How does that charging grip even work? Is it like a battery you have to charge? So you have to remember to charge your grip, so that your joycons will charge whilst you're playing with them?

[ElkinFencer10]

I loved Oblivion, but couldn't get into Skyrim the times I've tried. I recently got the updated one for XB1 so I'll give it a go again.

I'm the other way around; I loved Skyrim, but I could never get into Oblivion.

[Cronozilla]

I think the free period is an acknowledgement that there are going to be bumps in the road as they bring their network up to snuff (hopefully). They'll get a lot of feedback, and change the things that don't work (hopefully).

In annoying news, apparently the grip that's included doesn't let you charge the Joy-Cons while playing on the TV. That version is going to be sold separately. Funny, I could justify most of the other moves, but seriously, Nintendo? C'mon.

This along with no pack in feel like it was to keep the sticker price below $300.
Nintendo is also charging for about as much as you could for the controllers with all the hardware that's in them. So, chances are the profit margin is slim to none of the unit itself.

[Sarge]

I know why they did it, but it does feel cheap. They needed to keep it at $300.

I don't know if it's really going to be a problem or not, but yeah, the mitigating factor is the 20-hour life on them. As long as you remember to stick 'em on the system, it shouldn't be an issue. Still, I often just plug the USB into my PS4 when I'm out of juice and keep on truckin', so it's a little disappointing to not be able to do this out of the box.

At least while docked, of course. If you're undocked, you can just plug in and keep going.

[Fragems]

This has probably been answered before but does the dock have additional hardware in it or is it just basically activating a "turbo" mode for the system when docked? Because I see the docks are only $90 or so and really there isn't much to them based on the pics.



Kind of surprised there aren't fans in there unless there are really small ones crammed into the base near the front..

[Tanooki]

Going to have to agree to disagree on them being cheap. It crosses the line from being cheap into blowing consumers money on a pile of what if's most won't appreciate at the register.

Sure you could charge $300 as is as we know it, fine. What if it was $350 and that joycon holder had a power supply and yet another cable to the wall or the console itself on the spare USB port? And perhaps with that you get a $10 eshop credit or perhaps an optional joycon cradle (like the pointless WiiU cradle in the deluxe box?) Would you really be happy with filler or paying less for the same experience?

Personally I'd be pissed. At least with the WiiU they added 4x the storage internally and gave you some extra bits of plastic with it to make some sense of it and the game. Knowing Nintendo if they threw in 1-2 Switch they'd value it it higher, then you're at a $400 system with surely monumental media bitching about it.

20 hours is a heap of time for 2 little controllers which do far more than the Wii motion plus and WiiU could do combined with all that motion sensing, the ability to see the shape and determine what something is, the haptic rumble and then some, and the rest. Chrono is right they're likely breaking even as it is.



By the way a new bit of info I saw on a tie back to NintendoLife. That so called 13GB install required for Zelda on the Switch isn't real exactly. That install is the actual literal size of the game if you like to rent your games and download it. If you buy a real copy to own you won't be porking away half your system storage as it plays off the card it appears. Happy to see the truth is out.

[RCBH928]

I've come to the conclusion that the success of this relies entirely on the narrative and marketing of the Switch. The fact it is a super powerful portable, the successor to the GameBoy and DS/3DS,

I thought Nintendo made it very clear that this is mainly a home console and not successor to DS/3DS. I don't think they will let the Switch eat into their 3DS astronomical sales.

If you ask me, I think they are concentrating on "social" gaming. A console that anyone can pickup and play including kids, adults, girlfriends, moms, and work colleagues. Games like 1-2-Switch , bomberman, and ARMS make this very clear. What I don't get is that why they don't have a Wii Sport successor given its the title most responsible for the Wii's high sales.