Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

It looks really kinda revolutionary and I can't wait to see more of it.

@WanderingBullet: No price yet, specs, or any info like that. Nintendo has said they won't reveal that info till next year.

I see they copied the Xbox controller essentially for its layout - not complaining - just an observation!

Not sure yet about whether I would purchase this. It really depends on the games. I don't have any interest in 'mobile' gaming and certainly wouldn't bother with 'Skyrim' knowing I could buy on PS4/XB1 and have a better looking game. Yes its great if you want the option to play these on the move but all my gaming is done in the comfort of my home on a big screen so the games are most important rather than the portability. I also think those 'Joycon' controllers look tiny when separated off.

As it stands at the moment, its an interesting concept but unlikely to suit my gaming needs

I feel the same. If I'm playing on a TV, then I'm going to do it on the PS4. If I'm going out and about, then at best I'm playing a game on my phone.

It's not for me. I realised with the Vita that portables just don't fit my lifestyle.

@get2sammyb: The thing I like is that on the wii u, the gamepad doesn't reach to the bedroom. So I have to save my game, turn it off, unplug the entire system, bring it back to my bedroom which doesn't have a tv, and plug it randomly in somewhere to play at bedtime. While I don't play much on the go, being able to play freely in any room in my house is a big deal for me.

Never liked Nintendo games never owned a Nintendo console but I'm vaguely interested for maybe next December around. Could keep me busy until PS5. A console Pokemon would probably do it for me.

@get2sammyb: The last handheld I owned was the Nintendo DS but the only time it got used was whilst waiting for my Doctors appointment. Games that had any depth to them, I struggled to get into with limited use and I would rather buy a 'tablet' for more functionality than a hand held gaming device.

I have a PS4 and Xbox One already as well as my PS3 and XB360 in my bedroom so not short of gaming options in my house. I doubt I would buy a 'Switch' to play games I can play on these at higher visual quality and don't want/need the portability. Cost and game library may change my opinion but the new Zelda doesn't really appeal at the moment - it doesn't look like a 'Zelda' game should or look like a 21st century game to me so even the 'flagship' launch title looks mediocre. If the whole package is 'reasonable' and we get a decent library of games - not just 360/PS3 ports - I maybe tempted but not by Mario Kart 27, Super Mario 126, Mario 3D 12......

Switch look awesome!! I love it already. From the size of the screen, to the little tiny cute controllers, the "joy cons." And I like how Skyrim was shown. It hints at much better 3rd party support than the Wii U. Perhaps what I like most about it is how I can take multiplayer with me on the go. Being able to take this to my friends' house and play Mario Kart, or take it to work and do some Smash during my break sound better than doing the half-console upgrade shuffle.

The only thing that really worries me is, frankly, Nintendo of America. If the console is region locked I'm not looking forward to another gen of censorship and lack of localization. Nintendo has shown again and again that they're willing to experiment and take chances on games, I wonder why that doesn't carry over to NoA?

Region Lock (or lack of it) is the one thing keeping me from going full onboard the hype train with Switch right now. But I'll probably own one 2-3 years from now either way.

@KratosMD: Seems I touched a nerve there!

Zelda doesn't look like it carries on many of the traditional elements of a Zelda game - like digging smashing/chopping for rupee's for example and wouldn't look out of place in the indie section. It still relies on a very antiquated text based conversation system - understandable on Gameboys and N64 but hardly 21st century!

I grew up on Nintendo - one of the first 'home' computer games I played was Donkey Kong on the BBC Model B. I also owned a number of the Game and Watch handhelds, an original monochrome Gameboy, even a Virtual Boy too alongside NES, SNES, N64 etc. The last hand held I owned was a Nintendo DS and the last Nintendo console I owned was the Wii so don't tell me I don't know or have like Nintendo games! Difference is I evolved and grew up - Nintendo, well as far as games go as their hardware has and still looks to be very innovative! I still think the N64 was the greatest and most innovative console but that was over 20 years ago!

Mario Kart 2 was by far the best Mario Kart and whilst I did enjoy Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Tag Team basically made Mario Kart redundant and 'old school' - to me they are now nothing more than a blast from the past. I lost track of how many slight variations of the 2D Mario platforming games I played - the last was on the Wii which I got bored of very quickly - I lost interest in 2D platformers generally when SM64 to platforming to whole new dimension. Talking of 3D Platforming - that gradually evolved beyond the mindless collecting, adding more story, adding more character development etc - essentially leading to games like Uncharted and Assassins Creed.

Nintendo used to offer a lot of 3rd party games - forgetting about hand helds - look at games like Turok, Shadowman, PES, Fifa, Doom, Quake etc all on N64. Resident Evil also appeared on N64 as well and FF7 was originally planned for N64 too. Sonic appeared on Wii as did Super Monkey Ball. It also helped launch a lot of the dance party games. Part of the reason that the WiiU failed was lack of 3rd Party support - porting old games to the hardware. Why spend £200+ to play games you already own and can play on far superior hardware that look and run better? Yes Nintendo's first party line up is important to the success of the 'Switch' but so is 3rd Party support and bringing new experiences or at least innovation to its classic franchises. I think it needs more than innovative hardware! I want to play games like Mass Effect, RDR2, Destiny, Horizon, Days Gone etc, not some blast from the past superficial kiddy game with prettier graphics.

Its not that I dislike Nintendo or their games as they will always hold a special part in my heart for their large part in my gaming life but I grew up!

@Tasuki: Thanks. Looks like they don't want to confirm any of the games that appeared in the trailer whether they'll actually be on the console either.

So far IGN listed only these games:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Untitled Mario Game
• Splatoon Switch (Possible Wii U Update)
• Mario Kart Switch (Possible MK8 Update)
• Just Dance 2017
• Holiday 2017 Sonic Game
• Dragon Quest X
• Dragon Quest XI
• Steamworld Heist

I'm only interested in both DQX and DQXI in that list, but I'll be getting the latter on the PS4 anyways. So one game is not enough for me to want to buy the console. Plus, there's no official Nintendo distributor here and the warranty's only covered by the retailer you buy from which is only 1 to 3 months.

@WanderingBullet: The only games for sure that are coming to the Switch are

Zelda — Which was confirmed by Nintendo
DQ X — Which was confirmed by Square
A Mario Platformer — Which again was confirmed by Nintendo

The other games shown where just to show the system I guess. Bethesda said that Skyrim has not been confirmed and the reason the image was shown was because Bethesda let Nintendo use it for the presentation hoping that it will build a good relation between Bethesda and Nintendo and nothing more.

This might seem like a ridiculous nitpick but I was just looking at my TV last night and I had a thought; can the Switch be laid down or does it have to stand vertically? Because I honestly don't even think it would fit into my entertainment centre. The shelves aren't tall enough. It must be able to lay down, right?

@johncalmc: Presumably you'd be able to lay it down, it would just be that little bit more awkward to slot the Switch into the dock. I don't see why it would necessarily have to be stood upright.

@johncalmc: I don't think so - the power and TV link slots are in the back, meaning the only conceivable way to lay it down would be in its front. However that would leave the cables sticking up out of the now top. You couldn't lay it down on its back because of the cables and sides wouldn't work or offer any benenfit so the only possible way would be face down and it really doesn't look designed to be used that way.

@johncalmc: They confirmed no backwards compatibility. Wii U BC is kinda impossible due to the different architecture and lack of disc drive. 3DS doesn't really work because of the different format and the different size of game cards. There's a good indication that you can lay it down, there's a groove in the back that seems to be where the cables go if you lay it down. Knowing Nintendo, they'll find a way to make that happen, all of their latest consoles were able to do that.

@BAMozzy: To be fair, the GameCube controller also had the same asymmetrical design. I definitely prefer that lay-out over the Wii U's lay-out though. The right stick being placed all the way up there never felt really comfortable. You're mostly pressing buttons with your right hand.

@Utena-mobile: Although it's technically not confirmed, we have gotten reliable rumours/leaks that said there's no region lock.

@Octane: Laying it down does bring additional problems - like putting stress on the port between the screen and base unit. In the shown vertical arrangement, you have gravity working straight through the screen into the dock where as if it was horizontal, gravity would be working perpendicular - like a lever. Of course this can be minimised but the way its designed, vertical seems the primary way.

I said the asymmetrical design of the controller more tongue in cheek as I know many here complain that the layout is uncomfortable for them - personally I prefer it myself as it fits my hand better - my left thumb always sits more naturally on the thumbstick and rarely needs to move to the D-Pad. My right thumb may sit more naturally on the buttons but as you are often switching back and forth between stick and buttons, I don't find my hand cramps up so much as my left hand does when playing on a symmetrical style layout. The DS4 has made this far less common than on the DS3.

@BAMozzy: Depends on how sturdy the dock is then. I agree that the vertical position would be the optimal position, but I don't want to rule out a horizontal position. In this image, you can see the part that's missing. From what was visible in the trailer, it looked like the cables were coming out from the right side. Imagine a cross-section at the indentation looking like the image below. In a vertical position, the cables would bend towards the back, and in a horizontal position, they would follow the indentation and come out of the side. Maybe I'm overthinking this, and my drawing doesn't look like the most well thought out design.

I'm more interested in what's in the dock though, and if it can unlock a higher clock speed.

@Octane: I thought the two side ports were USB or something. There is a part in the video (although not clear) where we see 2 cables coming out of the back corner - presumably HDMI and Power supply. If it can be led down as per your illustration, that would mean the screen is face down.

This image is the best I can find that shows the right hand side which clearly shows a 'groove' in the back I can't see this housing the cables - more likely the cables would connect into the bottom and the groove maybe some way of venting any heat and keeping that heat from the top section or maybe the groove is to run the cables out of if the Dock is laid down on its back so the came out of the side instead.

It really doesn't look designed for a horizontal set up. In the video look at 0.27 where we see the Joycons being taken off the controller - we can see the dock - slightly blurry - but we do see 2 cables coming out the back. The next opportunity is around the 2.26 mark but probably the clearest look is 3.06 - although you will need to pause as its very brief and quite dark. It looks like the back is very plain and maybe has a square hole at the top too but can't see any 'feet' but its not that clear...

@BAMozzy

I think I was trying to say this! I know about the USB(?) ports on the side, but those are on the left. I was thinking that if you can lay it down, the groove will be used as a guide for the cables. Like I tried to illustrate in the cross section of the dock.

Anyway, for anyone who's interested; Here's some neat info regarding the tablet and the way it connects to the dock: http://letsplayvideogames.com/2016/10/report-how-nintendo-ens... Ninty put some thought into this. Looks pretty sturdy and difficult to screw up, with a bunch of grooves and ridges to ensure that the tablet connects the right way.

@Octane: Your illustration made it look as though the connections would need a 90 degree bend when stood up. Its possible the cables are built with this. The groove though appears about a third of the way up which seems quite high to me.

Did you look at the official reveal trailer? So far Nintendo have been quite careful not to show the back clearly or the connectivity it seems. I do get the impression they expect it to sit on top of something, whether that's a table, TV unit or equivalent and not really designed to go into a shelving system. If I was to buy, I don't think I would want to have it horizontal or in a TV unit type shelf as I think it would be more awkward to 'dock'. At least vertically you have gravity. I think it would be awkward trying to dock horizontally in a TV unit, trying to connect or remove the Joycons whilst docked - especially on a slippy (glass) and narrow slot. Vertical on top of a unit seems more convenient and the size seems quite unobtrusive too.

Its still early days and no doubt we will find out a lot more between now and launch. Still think I would rather have a Tablet than the Switch as I think it offers more versatility for what I would want from a mobile device and likely to get more use in home. That could change when we see more about the games it will offer but I can't see me playing these whilst on the go. The last time I gamed whilst out was in the Drs waiting room and the last time before that was a similar situation. In between those occasions, my mobile gaming devices gathered dust.