Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

Someone dug up a microphone port on the tablet itself suggesting it will be able to do voice chat natively on the console, but Nintendo is once again explaining naff all so at the moment the only confirmation we have is that you can do voice chat through the mobile app.

Well that's £300 saved this year. never has a presentation turned me off a system so much. I was all for this. Im all for passing now.

To be fair, Arms looks pretty sweet. Too bad it's $60, when it's probably just 1v1 matches, hope there's more to it though.

@teknium_: I agree that connecting a PC to a TV does seem to be missing the point of a PC but still its an option for some. $450-$500USD is around £370-£410 (at the current exchange rates) but as we seem to get a bit screwed here, I wouldn't be surprised if it was around £450, €450 or $500 which would still make it more expensive than any other console and £100 more than the RRP of the Pro when that launched. I know that may sound unrealistic looking at the price of 'hardware' today for the (rumoured) specs, its probably right to think it would cost more but I doubt the Pro will still be £350 in November this year. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pro was around the £275-£300 and if Scorpio is say £450, it could still seem a 'premium' price for something that's likely to have 50% more GPU power and over 4x the power of the current XB1 and would still need to convince people to part with that amount of money. The RX480 GPU from AMD is currently around $200 and that has around 5.5tflops. Lets not forget though that MS, like Sony or Nintendo, will not be paying RRP for buying millions of components in bulk direct from the manufacturers.

Again though we are getting off topic. I know £280 seems 'expensive' for a Switch when compared to a PS4/XB1s and what they can offer - 500GB+ of storage, Bluray players, more power for gaming etc and the accessories are expensive too. The Joycons though do seem to be able to be utilised in more ways - as Wii-motes with a built in motion sensor for example. Screens are not cheap either as anyone who has tried to replace one will know - often the most expensive component. Compared to the price of the Vita at launch or even the WiiU which has a screen too or 3DS XL, its not that bad. Battery life doesn't seem great and I always wonder if this will affect the long term. Rechargeable batteries do have a shelf life and degenerate over time. We know companies are great at over exaggerating the battery life too. How many devices last as long as they say? Can the batteries be replaced? I have a couple of DS3's that don't hold their charge anymore and lucky if I can get 30mins before needing to plug them in - more often than not though, they have to be used wired. Batteries (along with the touch screen) though are another area that has to be factored in to the cost of making a Switch. I know Sony has to factor that into the cost of its DS4 too but those aren't running a game and screen.

The Switch is around £100 more than the new 3DS XL and Vita, its £50ish more expensive than its predecessor is currently selling for yet more powerful than all these and combines these into one device essentially. I am not surprised at its cost but I do think its quite steep when put up alongside what Sony and MS are selling but as you usual, you do pay more for that mobility and form factor. You have to pay a LOT more for a Laptop than an equivalent specced desktop PC and this is similar.

Whether Nintendo should of built a 'static' console, enabling them to put more power into it and cut out the cost of screens batteries and premium prices to have such a small form factor or not, time will tell. If its successful, Nintendo will have made the right choice. It could end up being another Wii and sell to those 'non-gamers' like that console. By non-gamers I mean those that wouldn't normally buy a console but bought a Wii because they could play Wii Sports or enjoyed the 'Party/fitness' games. My daughters and ex-wife for example would say they hated gaming but loved the Wii for Wii Sports, dance/fitness 'games' and at most played facebook games or games like Snake on their mobile to pass the time at the Doctors but now spend that time on tablets/mobiles accessing 'social' sites or watching video's/movies etc. Whether they would buy a switch or keep with their tablets/mobiles, who knows. Personally I would prefer an iPad (or equivalent) than a Switch but they can be more expensive...

My biggest WTF are they thinking is the price for the controllers and such. As many may know here I am quite annoyed at the $60 price of a PS4 controller but $80 for a couple of controllers no bigger then an NES controller? What are you thinking Nintendo. My only thought is that they are selling the console itself at a lost and using the accessories to make back the money. The thing that also worries me with the accessories is I hope they don't have any shortages like they did with the NES Classic or Amiibos, I can only imagine the scalper prices for a pair of Joy-cons.

I'm getting the Switch but not day one. Super Mario Odyssey looks amazing and I'm sure Splatoon 2 will be a blast to play but they're not launch titles. I'm getting BotW on Wii U, so I'm in no hurry to get a Switch. $250 would have been a more tempting price imo. And is it just me or do Wii U games look better? I'm sure Xenoblade 2 will be great but I think XCX looked better visually when it was revealed.
As for the presentation, I thought it was kind of a mess. There was a lot of awkward moments and it seemed that one of the translators was really struggling to keep up.

@Tasuki: They're not selling the console at a loss, Kimishima said so several times during investor meetings. It's just Nintendo trying to squeeze every last penny out of you. I know that Switch games in the UK cost £60 (that's $75) and £10 more than PS4, XOne and Wii U games. Not sure if those are still placeholder prices or not, but when Nintendo opened pre-orders earlier today, a lot of people were quite surprised that the Switch games are this expensive.

Unless they've got more to announce, it seems that just five games will be available on launch day, with lots of bigger titles spread out over the coming months. Doesn't exactly instil confidence.

@Quintumply: Even the Wii U had 30 launch titles! Yikes!

Don't understand why ports like Skyrim and Steep aren't launch games..

I wasn't interested in buying a switch at launch, and after that presentation, I can safely wait a year or two for a price drop. Too many cons and not enough pros.

Launch price is high, plus the added (required, if games have large patches) cost of buying your own storage. Extra controllers, for what they do, are way too expensive. Pay to play online with little experience in the online game, plus the "free" games are only accessible for a month. 2 launch titles, one of which isn't exclusive, and is priced higher on the switch. Max 6 hour battery life if you're playing an indie, two if you're playing skyrim(a 5 year old game). No VC, unified account, or digital wiiu transfer information.

Just....wow. I just can't believe they had the guts to release this as is. Too many gimmicks, too expensive given the alternatives, and the first three months is loaded with remasters. smh

I bet I won't be the only one who'll wait for the Mario Bundle...

@KratosMD: Why would I drop $400 on a new system to play zelda, that will function the same (minus the mobile, which I'll never use) on the wiiu? And while a new Mario is great, it's also not enough to drop $400, especially considering I have 4 extremely well made 3D mario games on my wiiu.

I mean, it's your opinion that it's a great system. But honestly, nintendo can't do what they did in the 90's anymore by coming on stage and saying "new Mario and zelda" and dropping the mic, especially considering the new Mario isn't being bundled, OR available for 6 months after launch! This is one step forward, three gigantic steps back for the company, and by far their worst presentation ever.

@KratosMD: Xenoblade 2 looked awesome

@KratosMD: More power to you if the games have you excited, I'm certainly excited for zelda myself. I agree that much like the wiiu, there will be some gems. But I also fear, that much like the wiiu, we're going to have a couple years before those games become reality. I just can't justify to myself that this is a system I will die without if I don't get it before mid 2018.

Well, after reading up on the news, I plan on getting a Switch down the line, but not ASAP. Some of the games definitely have my interest. Super Mario Odyssey looks like my must have, and Breath of the Wild is looking awesome too. I'll also have an eye on SMT, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Fire Emblem Warriors, and probably No More Heroes and Ultra SFII.

I am pretty let down on some hardware aspects. Joy-Cons are too expensive, battery life means I won't use the portability, and 32GB? Yikes.

I'm excited for the games, but this will likely be a "Nintendo game only" system for me once again.

This is THE big worry now!

Just had a quick glance at an investor report about console and mobile investment and mobile has surged ahead of news on switch. Nintendos share price dropped (came back slightly later on) and Nintendo are now going to be under intense pressure to deliver more mobile games by the investors and share holders. My god, Nintendo need switch to work or we could be left with only xbox and playstation on the console front! Early doors of course but the worlds a different place from 24hours ago.

@KratosMD: It's still another €120-150 on top of the €329 for the Switch though.

Anyway, weird wording, it should technically support up to 2TB if I'm not mistaken.

@KratosMD: I get your point, and I too think that Nintendo's hardware can be questionable at times. However, I don't think that Nintendo can survive as a third party publisher. What's left of Sega? A similar thing will happen to Nintendo. Mario and Zelda will survive for sure, but pretty much every other franchise will slowly die off, making the idea of going third party a moot point to begin with. They need their own consoles to sell their games I think.

That being said, I don't think the Switch itself is the issue. The pricing is, the lack of launch games, lack of third party support, paid online services, etc. Things that could've been prevented or fixed, but that simply didn't happen. That's not a Switch problem, that's a Nintendo problem. And a Nintendo problem won't be solved by going third party.

Do you guys think it's too late for them to make just a straight up, no gimmicks game system like they used to? I understand they feel they have to do a gimmick so they can stay relevant, but why not try standard console with the capabilities of the PS4 and XB1? Can they not afford it?

A gaming landscape without Nintendo consoles is admittedly an interesting thought. I'd have to think it over more though before I really make a statement on it.

@DerMeister: Nintendo is a smaller company than Microsoft or Sony, so in a way there's something to be said about lacking resources in that regard. I wouldn't be surprised if they can't afford to take losses on all products, have huge marketing promotions and such. Don't know the specifics though. On the other hand, they have billions of Wii moneys stored away somewhere.