Nintendo Switch - Whats your view?
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The Wii tons and tons of hardware on the gimmick, but the console didn't have a great life past that. That is part of the reason no one lined up to buy the Wii U.
The other thing is that it looks like you need to carry a bunch of accessories and alternate controllers with you, which kills the whole portable angle.
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A very reasoned and thoughtful reply. I agree with many of your points. And while I don't exactly need to always take the series completely serious myself, I definitely see how it can color opinion to the point of distaste.
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Nintendo needs to give us a system that can compete with xbox ps! Since the gc it's been too gimmicky! I've been a fan since day 1 but have been disappointed lately.
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@space-cadet I'll probably upset some Nintendo fans by saying this, but I think Nintendo may be on the fast track to becoming a software developer like Sega before it. They seem completely unwilling to produce competitive hardware. Their highly successful portable line may save them from Sega's fate, but they're already showing signs of warming up to software development for other platforms now that they are launching games on iOS and Android.
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@drake999 said in Nintendo Switch - Whats your view?:
Their highly successful portable line may save them from Sega's fate
There was a Forbes article a year or two ago that estimated Nintendo could operate without any income at all for over a decade before they started to feel a squeeze, largely in part to their dominance of the industry throughout the 80s and 90s. I think mobile game design is simply Nintendo taking money that until now has been left on the table.
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@mediamogul it's no secret that the only thing Nintendo has going for it at this point is its intellectual property. Hardware is largely irrelevant, and can't really be compared to the likes of the ps4 or Xbox as far as specs are concerned.
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I'm not sure Nintendo's future is so clear at the moment. Nintendo could very well have a few more golden eggs to lay before everything is said and done. However, I do completely agree that hardware comparisons are irrelevant. I'd even go so far to say that they always have been. The NES was technically inferior to the SMS and most others of it's generation. The GameBoy was using a then-fifteen year old Z80 processor and a pea green display when all of it's rivals were far more advanced.
For better or worse, I don't think Nintendo's original mission statement of "lateral thinking with withered technology" has ever changed. Instead, I think that the consumer attitude toward modern gaming has changed. Some have said that Nintendo should follow the modern ideal of raw horsepower and competitive tech specs above all else. However, other legacy institutions have made the mistake of following the current trends only to find that the soul of the company couldn't survive the transition. This almost always leads to the unrecoverable alienation of the loyal customer base that previously sustained them and effectively doubles down on any financial strain. At the heart of all this, I think that the mobile space is just an area of modern gaming tech that Nintendo can explore safely without fear of alienating anyone and make a few dollars while they're at it.
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@mediamogul Game machine hardware has been a heated debate since the "bit wars" of the late 80's through the 90's. Some say it's completely irrelevant. I only partially agree with this. The ultimate factor which defines a game console is the games. Marketing and brand name exposure being a close second. I'm sure those more powerful platforms you mention in comparison to the gameboy would have been more successful if they were more well known and had better support. Every kid in North America knew what Nintendo was when I was that age, but not many knew (including myself for a while) what a Sega Master System was. Nintendo already had a Kung Fu grip on all the best developers and franchises through their controversial policies and that ensured they had the best games. However hardware plays an important part in the minds of many gamers as well as a large number of developers. The gaming industry is obsessed with topping itself and this can be interpreted a number of ways, but usually implies pushing for the best possible results out of the best hardware available. Developers often used the term "watered down" when describing porting a game to inferior hardware, not something a lot of them particularly like doing (but if it promises to be profitable they usually will). So basically having weak hardware can effect third party support negatively. I believe hardware is less relevant today then say 10 years ago, since we are in a bit of a retro and indie revolution right now. I will say for myself personally as someone in IT and also a tech enthusiast, system specs do play a small role in my buying decision for a console, but I mainly buy for the exclusive games. When it's released, I'm throwing my money in with Scorpio.
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@drake999 said in Nintendo Switch - Whats your view?:
I'm sure those more powerful platforms you mention in comparison to the gameboy would have been more successful if they were more well known and had better support.
That of course wouldn't have hurt, but most historical accounts give credit directly to Nintendo's conservative hardware decisions that not only allowed four AA batteries in a time when the competition used six to eight, but also allowed for ten to thirty hours of game play when everything else topped out at three to four.
However hardware plays an important part in the minds of many gamers as well as a large number of developers.
I completely agree, and while I don't think system specs would have any real measurable effect on the mass appeal Nintendo's first party games, it can and almost always does make or break third party involvement, with the very interesting exception you noted of an unavoidably successful system like the Wii was for some time.
I believe hardware is less relevant today then say 10 years ago, since we are in a bit of a retro and indie revolution right now.
I agree with this also. In that line of thought, the quick pick up and play nature of these mobile games and the inexplicably popular themes and play mechanics remind me of what one might find in any random arcade during the early days of the industry when a there were no rules and a video game could be about almost anything.
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I honestly stopped following Nintendo after SNES. Really, probably after the NES since most every SNES game was censored to some degree when the Genesis wasn't. Green blood, really Nintendo? That made me a diehard non-Nintendo fan all the way back then. Super Mario Kart and Zelda A Link to the Past were the SNES's saving graces.
N64 was OK - but Playstation IMO kicked it's ass on so many levels (ok, besides Ocarina of Time...maybe Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye/Perfect Dark ;) Ever since then, if it's true or not, I feel like Nintendo's graphics were always 1 generation behind Xbox and Playstation. When I get a "next gen" console, I want the best graphics like Xbox One and PS4 has. If the Nintendo Switch even tops Xbox 360 for graphics I'll be surprised.
Plus, I always see Nintendo catering towards younger children (which this commercial definitely looks for them to be trying to turn that demographic around...I guess they finally realized 20-somethings+ are the ones who can afford to buy the most video games). Nothing wrong with that, but as I haven't been a child in decades, it's just not for me if they continue that trend AND have less impressive graphics.
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Who is hype for the Switch presentation?
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Wow, thanks for the link. I've had such a hectic day that I totally forgot this is tonight. I guess it's a little over an hour and a half now. I hope it makes waffles.
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@backstander: Am I the only one that thought the graphics for the new Zelda were naff? It looked like everything was covered by a thin layer of brown fog, or like I needed to clean my screen. Then the grass was neon green. It almost gave me a headache. Whenever I started getting even a little interested, it all just looked visually dulled down again. Even the explosions.
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Am I the only one that thought the graphics for the new Zelda were naff?
Yeah Zelda did have a kind of dull color palette but that boss with the neon green feet looked awesome and I was thinking, why didn't they do that more? They've got the color palette but then again the game isn't finished so there's still time to fix it lol.
The "precision rumble" was pretty cool. With the right developers working on that, they could do some amazing stuff. Hopefully that doesn't end up being one of those features that no one uses and the ones that do make cheesy games with it.
Maybe if I was like 20 years younger I'd love to have a handheld version of Skyrim!
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@backstander I only caught the last few minutes of it, so I only really saw the Zelda stuff. From what I have seen, the Switch is an interesting concept but has too many parts to lose/break. I might get one in 4 or 5 years when it's tried and tested, has a decent range of games and doesn't cost as much. I'm still happy with my Wii.
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For those who are thinking that will be as close as powerfull than a PS4, AFAIK it will have the power of an WiiU when in dock, and half of the WiiU when in portable mode.
I was reading a lot about that.
Regards.
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The Joy-Con controllers are very interesting and have a lot of kit packed into them to be so small. I hope to see them adapted for computer use over time. With the physical and motion controls alonside that camera, it could make for a highly effective DIY VR control scheme that won't break the bank at $80 a pair.
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Nintendo innovates. They are the grandfather of the modern console and while other companies have added more horsepower under the console hood, they haven't developed any game changing innovation the way Nintendo has. The switch is just another example of Nintendo taking a leap, albeit a daring leap, forward...or maybe sideways.
I don't know if the demand is strong for a seamless gaming experience where someone can transition from mobile to home, and back again. It's certainly it's going to take the right audience to make it a success. However, in brilliant Nintendo fashion, they have put forth a product that is daringly different, and if history is any guide, will be fun to boot.
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@Nismo said in Nintendo Switch - Whats your view?:
AFAIK it will have the power of an WiiU when in dock
Even if i didn't read anything about the nvidia Tegra X2 (which i did and you are totally wrong), i would have some serious doubts about this information, the NX was announced as slightly better than a normal ps4 a few months ago, and if it isn't, i don't think it would be to the point it doesn't surpass the previous generation.
My personal opinion on the Switch : i buy any console which support a game i want and can't run on my computer because of exclusivity, and i won't pass on Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so i'll buy a Nintendo Switch, whatever the specs, whatever the other games on the console.
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