Nintendo finally reveals the Switch console

Even if what you say is true Andy_Bates, how does that affect Nintendo’s recent past? Their control gimmicks are just not catching on, mostly because they just haven’t been good ideas. That they’ve had past successes does not change this.

Wiimote + Nunchuck is a fantastic idea, and my favorite control scheme in the games that properly utilize them. Their main problem had more to do with shitty utilization than any fault of the control scheme itself. Developers just didn’t know what the fuck they were doing, and tried to force too much waggle just for the sake of it.

It took many years and several console generations for standard joysticks and control pads to evolve to where they are today, and for game devs to best utilize them, while I feel like the Wiimote’s motion controls (especially with motion+) were largely a thorn in the side of developers more interested in developing for other platforms, but stuck pooping out some random Wii game on spec.

And while I’ve never tried PS Move or Six Axis, the Wiimote + nunchuck certainly kick the shit out of Kinect.

I’ve hoped for years they would make a comeback, but be properly utilized by people who know the difference shitty, forced-waggle, and elegant employment for specific tasks.

It’s similar to how janky many early games for a new platform look and play compared to those coming out at the end of a life cycle. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to gain the experience to know good from bad, or even how to properly use the hardware.

I chalk a lot of the Wiimotes problems up to growing pains for the associated development community.

I appreciate the risks Nintendo has taken with their controllers. Sometimes they work, so of course their competitors incorporate them. Sometimes they’re miscalculations and you end up with a Wii U.

I realize that risk of ending up with a gimmick that does more harm than good is somewhat necessary to come up with the winners, but there’s something to be said for knowing when to play it safe, knowing when the risks are worth it. I worry Nintendo doesn’t realize that.

If they can churn out interesting financial failures for years, more power to them, but I’ll miss them if they can’t, and I’ll be frustrated if it happens because they made unforced errors in their development.

Video games are swell.

I think there are a number of people mixing up stupid gimmicky third party titles with the idea of a gimmicky controller. The Nun-chuck and Wii mote combo worked really, really well with Harvest Moon, Mario Party/Kart and Rune Factory games. It felt natural.

Yeah. I hated Waggle, but I certainly respect it as a novel idea. I also think Nintendo was rewarded handsomely for the that novel idea with the fad it generated.

Nintendo isn’t hoping for another Wii and Ellen, they are hoping for another 3DS that gets embraced by third parties that develop games specifically with 1 system in mind as opposed to shoehorning a shitty call of duty port onto a half assed control scheme.

Despite what Nintendo says, their real hopes for this thing is that it does in fact unify handheld and home console so that developers embrace it like they do Nintendo handhelds AND make home console margins. Of course they can’t outright say that because they don’t want to kill the 3ds. Just like the DS was a “third pillar” and was in no way replacing the game boy Advanced/SP/Micro.

I’m assuming they have to have at least two pillars, but maybe that’s not a fair assumption. If the Switch does end up getting heavy developer support, maybe they’ll have some sort of “Switch Micro” down the road that runs at 480p, has longer battery life, and comes in a clamshell case, where developers can target lower-powered versions of games using the same development environment. But at this point, it’s just wishful thinking on my part.

That’s what I thought too, until I saw the press conference. Now I’m not sure that’s what this thing is all about. I really hope that’s the plan though, since that’s what I’d like to see.

Must say that’s a disappointment as I’m setting up my TV viewing distance to make 4K noticeable.

I would say it certainly speaks to the power of the machine that it can’t even reach 1080p at 30 fps.

This is just one of those things that confuses me about the system. It has the power of a mobile device but no battery life.

Yeah. I do like the concept of a portable/home console for all your Nintendo needs, but I keep coming back with “did it wrong” every time I see anything about this thing.

Yeah, I find that surprising. I would have thought that would be a major design target. Have it run 1080p when docked and something less when mobile, if needed.

And you say it has the power of a mobile device, but the screen on an iPad is significantly higher than 1080p with better battery life in a slimmer form factor. It also costs more too, to be fair.

But couldn’t they have targeted 1080i at 30 frames for goodness sakes?

Not if they want to keep the price low. I mean a quality tablet is going to push the price they’ve got set for the Switch, and that’s without controllers and without the extra pieces.

I think Nintendo is trying to turn a profit with these machines, and that’s a mistake. It’s a weak console and a weak mobile option which makes their only real selling pitch the first party titles… again. They could ride that wave a bit with Wii, but it did not work with Wii U. I just don’t know what they’re to do with this, but it doesn’t seem hopeful.

Serious question, how many games does the iPad have that have the visual quality that’s been shown on BOTW that run for more than 3 hours of gametime on battery?

My wife’s iPhone can’t barely handle Candy Crush and Tsum Tsum for that long.

Several games, though I’m not up on the very latest graphical iPad games. Nova 3 ran for 3 hours+ on the iPad air and performance/battery life has improved with newer iPads.

Well, they did it with the Wii and with the DS/3DS just fine.

fair question, but part of that is programming too. There are games that suck battery life like oxygen that aren’t graphically demanding compared to others that are more efficient.

They’re not following the Wii; they’re following the Wii U… the good will or buzz they got for the Wii is long past and the Wii U is not regarded as very successful.

The machine can reach 1089p at 30fps. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be running at that framerate. It certainly speaks to the graphical quality and depth of the game world that it won’t be able to run at 1080p at 30fps though.

There are a million different factors that determine the resolution and framerate of a game. It’s not like “1080p and 30fps” are just two checkboxes that you can tick. You can run Pac-Man at 1080p, but that doesn’t mean it will look better than Breath of the Wild at 900p. What’s the texture resolution? Draw distance? Shadow complexity? Lighting model? Everything is a push and pull, and obviously Nintendo didn’t want to sacrifice graphical quality for a bump in resolution.

And by the way, a lot of Xbox One games only run at 900p resolution, and I don’t think anyone would accuse that system of having “the power of a mobile device.”

I agree with what you’re saying here, although I’d get nitpicky with “…Nintendo didn’t want to sacrifice graphical quality for a bump in resolution”.

Resolution is a part of graphical quality. It’s just not all of it. Again, I get what you’re saying, Nintendo (and everyone else) make these trade offs all the time. But I can’t not argue with Andy Bates in a Nintendo thread, right?