One thing I will give Nintendo credit for – as much as I didn’t like most of the presentation’s substance, I enjoyed the style. They’ve given the Switch its own identity and clear branding which was one of the big issues with the Wii U. I just hope they don’t panic and consider abandoning the platform if (when?) post-launch sales are soft due to the lack of games.
Not me. I was interested until they announced it’s basically an underpowered Wii/WiiU/Vita hybrid. It’s a third-rate console replacing another third rate console halfway through the same console cycle, which still manages to rate third amongst its contemporaries (or even 4th or 5th if you count PS4 Pro & XB1 Scorpio which also arrives this year, I do).
The Switch looks rushed, ill-conceived, and deplorably short on useful specs and features in exchange for shitty gimmicks and pricey must-haves (meant to flesh the thing out) that should have been included in the base system.
At release this thing will cost $50 more than an Xbox One S, with worse specs, and minus a bundled AAA game Xbox customers will enjoy. And just because this hardware is new, that doesn’t excuse how horribly this thing compares dollar for dollar to pretty much everything else on the market. The cycle isn’t starting over just because Nintendo fumbled the first time around.
With only one exception, so far the games look terrible, sparse, old, and horrendously over-priced. Arms looks like shovelware that should be bundled with a second Joy-con, but they’re charging sixty fucking dollars for this shit. And all their Treehouse Live event did was highlight how completely ill-suited these games and this device are for imminent release. This thing arrives in 6 weeks, and it’s being sent out to die.
The first run of two million pre-orders landed in the hands of scalpers and soon-to-be remorseful buyers. If you’re determined to own one, my advice is to wait till the “hardly used” units start trying to undercut eachother on Craigslist before taking the plunge. You’re pretty much gauranteed to score a free micro-sd card and Zelda game at no extra charge.
I loved my Wii. I adore my WiiU. I consider so many games on both systems to be among my all-time favorites, despite the lower comparible specs for both when looking at the rest of the market. But it wasn’t until I’d built up so much hope that this new system would help set Nintendo back on course that I grew to completely despise their executive decisions on just about every single facet of this release. This was their one shot at a do-over this cycle, and they’re acting like the last 3 years never happened.
They’re in serious denial, and taking the market for granted, all while feebly and desperately trying to restart another Wii phenomenon.
I wanted this thing to succeed, but now I’m just resentful and pissed off.
It has a touchscreen. Capacitive, even.
Yes it sure does. I made a mistake saying it doesn’t, when at one time I knew it did.
Yes, but since games must be playable on your TV when docked, the touchscreen won’t be an integral part of the experience.
I’m fine with that compromise; IMO there have been very few games that are actually suited to and control better with a touchscreen-- in fact I can only think of one series, The Room.
When they reveal the price for multiplayer to be like $5/month I’m going to laugh and laugh and laugh.
Trauma Centre?
Mini Metro? World of Goo?
I also really like Tower Defense games like the Kingdom Rush series better with the touchscreen.
I don’t particularly care about the system one way or another, but this particular quote really jumped out at me as sounding a lot like the rhetoric we were hearing before the Wii launched…not in exacting terms, but in a general way.
I doubt they could ever capture that sort of fad-lightning in a bottle again, nor does this system seem to have that kind of potential because of the focus on being hybrid hardware. But maybe it will be more popular than people think.
Still pumped for the Switch, release right at the start of March was a nice surprise, other than that Nintendo JP did a terrible presentation. NoA did a decent job the next morning, though.
Mario Maker is the biggest one I can think of. And a lot of rhythm games.
I found the sense of physicality and immersion as you manipulate the little puzzles in The Room to be uniquely suited to a touchscreen.
Tower Defense and Mario Maker (design phase only of course) I would far prefer to use a keyboard+mouse.
Given that a keyboard and mouse is not available on a home console, a touchscreen is the next best option.
Not me. I really had my hopes up that Switch was going to be a cool unified Nintendo platform for all your Nintendo gaming needs. That it would be low power, but also inexpensive.
I’m glad people like it, but it’s just not the Moster Hunter box I wanted it to be. :(
It’s a console where you can play Monster Hunter on your TV at 1080p, but also take it with you to play on the go. Isn’t that the ideal Monster Hunter box?
Played my 3DS last night for a couple of hours for a little quite gaming, so you know the Switch would have died by then. I hate the boxy feel of holding that handheld though. I hope the Joy Cons feel a bit more ergo.
No, that was a Wii title also.
Multiple reports so far say they feel good.
For 3DS, essential add-on:
https://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Gadget-Rubber-Coating-Black-Nintendo/dp/B013JDH8J0/
Was it? I admit that I had shifted to PC only by that point, so had skipped that one. Which, for me, was somewhat shocking. It remains, to this day, the only Zelda game I have not played, other than the CDi games.
Thank you. I had no idea this was a thing. Clearly I am not a huge 3DS player, but this just might make it a little more bearable.
Yes, Skyward Sword was a Wii title. That also means that the Wii U has no exclusive Zelda title, since the original exclusive was delayed enough to become a launch title for the Switch (something I assume is similar to what happened with Twilight Princess).
Yes, because I remember that well. I had preordered it for the GameCube some years before it came out. At some point along the way it was announced as a Wii launch title, and I switched my preorder.
Which, to my consternation, meant I had a game for the Wii for about 5-6 months before I got the system.