Ronnie Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 31 minutes ago, Vileplume2000 said: Time to gear up the hype train? Oh alright... 1
Julius Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 53 minutes ago, Nicktendo said: or they'll release a new, more powerful system which is not the Switch And thus begins the tragic tale of how Nicktendo willed the Wii U 2 into existence... 40 minutes ago, Vileplume2000 said: (dare I say voice chat?) I mean, still waiting on folders and themes over 4 years since launch, so...probably not? 40 minutes ago, Vileplume2000 said: Anyway, curious to see when we will get the info. Tuesday is usually a day Nintendo drops random announcements and trailers, and E3 starts June 12 so that would mean that today or next Tuesday would be my guess. Time to gear up the hype train? I think today makes the most sense to be honest, we're two weeks from the day we expect the Direct/Spotlight/whatever they want to name it this time™ will be, and maybe I'm misremembering, but I don't recall them leaving it this late to announce it for the past few E3's. I know this year's E3 is digital, so maybe that has something to do with it, but it does feel odd being this close and not knowing. Then again, they could genuinely leave it until the Monday of that week I wouldn't be all that surprised! I'm hopeful for today at least. Drop news on the new Switch model, giving us two weeks to fully digest it, and end every tweet/press release about it with "Please tune into our E3 Spotlight on June 15th for more info about this new model and to see it in action for the first time!"
Ronnie Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 It's funny because Nintendo usually wait until after E3 to reveal hardware revisions. The 3DS XL was a couple of weeks later, the New 3DS was a couple months, same with the 2DS, two months later. The Switch Lite was one month after. I know rumours are pointing to pre-E3 but it wouldn't surprise me if we don't hear anything till afterwards. I get that they want to show their games off at their best, but I'm really not expecting a big tech boost, at least the type that would impact their E3 trailers. We'll soon find out I guess!
Julius Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, Ronnie said: It's funny because Nintendo usually wait until after E3 to reveal hardware revisions. The 3DS XL was a couple of weeks later, the New 3DS was a couple months, same with the 2DS, two months later. The Switch Lite was one month after. I know rumours are pointing to pre-E3 but it wouldn't surprise me if we don't hear anything till afterwards. I get that they want to show their games off at their best, but I'm really not expecting a big tech boost, at least the type that would impact their E3 trailers. We'll soon find out I guess! Going off of the rumours about DLSS and some of the things mentioned about a potential boost by people in this thread, it sounds like a pretty sizeable step up to me. I think the 2DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, and Switch Lite are a bit different in that they're handheld focused. The jump in technology just isn't there for three of those (one's 2D, one's got a bigger screen, and one's a handheld version of the Switch where you can play less games, so I can see why you wouldn't be crazy about bringing that to E3) and even for the New 3DS, the number of games where a boost was evident (especially at such a low fidelity) was pretty low, as was the number of exclusive titles for the system. Not that exclusive titles are expected for this new Switch model (...yet), but point is, the New 3DS wasn't really a true benchmark in that few games seemed to make use of its increased power and faster processing. Whatever this new Switch model is, assuming the rumours are all true, it'll be the first time Nintendo does anything close to a mid-gen refresh for their home consoles, and I think they need to drive that point home, especially considering just how well the Switch is doing. One of the biggest issues I have experienced with the Switch is in open world games, so if I can walk through a densely forested area in the Breath of the Wild sequel without the frame rate going crazy, or the myriad of other issues being addressed that I've read about here and elsewhere when it comes to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I think they need to drive that home. In 2021 there's a much bigger audience than ever before for games, and more enthusiasts that are willing to drop a pretty penny on the best versions of consoles. This new model will do well regardless, but I think it would be a pretty serious misstep by Nintendo to turn up at E3, with potential footage in trailers or raw gameplay from Treehouse being shown for games like the Breath of the Wild sequel and Legends: Arceus, and not be showing off those games running at their absolute best.
Ronnie Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, Julius said: Going off of the rumours about DLSS and some of the things mentioned about a potential boost by people in this thread, it sounds like a pretty sizeable step up to me. I think the 2DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, and Switch Lite are a bit different in that they're handheld focused. The jump in technology just isn't there for three of those (one's 2D, one's got a bigger screen, and one's a handheld version of the Switch where you can play less games, so I can see why you wouldn't be crazy about bringing that to E3) and even for the New 3DS, the number of games where a boost was evident (especially at such a low fidelity) was pretty low, as was the number of exclusive titles for the system. Not that exclusive titles are expected for this new Switch model (...yet), but point is, the New 3DS wasn't really a true benchmark in that few games seemed to make use of its increased power and faster processing. Whatever this new Switch model is, assuming the rumours are all true, it'll be the first time Nintendo does anything close to a mid-gen refresh for their home consoles, and I think they need to drive that point home, especially considering just how well the Switch is doing. One of the biggest issues I have experienced with the Switch is in open world games, so if I can walk through a densely forested area in the Breath of the Wild sequel without the frame rate going crazy, or the myriad of other issues being addressed that I've read about here and elsewhere when it comes to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I think they need to drive that home. In 2021 there's a much bigger audience than ever before for games, and more enthusiasts that are willing to drop a pretty penny on the best versions of consoles. This new model will do well regardless, but I think it would be a pretty serious misstep by Nintendo to turn up at E3, with potential footage in trailers or raw gameplay from Treehouse being shown for games like the Breath of the Wild sequel and Legends: Arceus, and not be showing off those games running at their absolute best. Yeah I agree with most of that, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me if they waited till after. They'll want to leave as little gap between reveal > release so as not to cannibalise sales and if they reveal it tomorrow and it comes out in September that's 3+ months of potentially lost sales. But we shall see! I hope it's before, but Nintendo is weird and I still don't think a bigger screen, 4K support is anything that would impact trailers. We'll see if games run that much better, I'm still dubious but that could be ignorance talking.
Nicktendo Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Vileplume2000 said: For me the biggest plus would be the 7 inch OLED though as I play mostly handheld. I think this is the biggest plus for most people and probably the most attractive part of a new system. A slightly bigger, but much better and brighter OLED screen is going to be leagues ahead of what they currently use. It's also beneficial for Nintendo that these screens are considerably cheaper than 2017 now, so, in theory, they could only change this while not budging on RRP and still be making a tidy profit. However, we also know that Nvidia are ending production of the Tegra X1. If I remember correctly, Nintendo made a huge bulk back-order on this chip and got them all pretty cheap. My guess, and it is a guess, is that this chip is going to go into the Lite systems for the most part, as well as a couple million OG Switches to tie them over to the release of the new model. The Lite will likely get the new screen & chip in 12-18 months, when it becomes more economically viable at (or just above) the system's current RRP. What form the "Pro" Switch will take in terms of processing power and power draw / battery life is a mystery, to be honest. There's nothing to say they won't clock the upgraded model to the same numbers the OG one does in order to greatly extend battery life, similar to what we saw with V2. Though I think odds are they'll release a boosted system on a brand new, more modern, powerful, and efficient chip which supports DLSS and 4K output and the other bells and whistles as a by-product, such as smoother framerates and higher, more consistent resolutions. System-level voice chat is definitely not coming, sorry Kav I think they're wise enough to know that if they leave it too long, the gap to MS and Sony is going to be too big, even if they can pretend the Switch is "just a handheld" to combat those comparisons. But the eternal asterisk that always appears with any kind of speculation is, no matter how grounded and sensible - This is Nintendo we're talking about. Edited June 1, 2021 by Nicktendo 4
Goron_3 Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 E3 or earlier makes sense for a reveal, as I imagine third parties will want to reveal possible Switch exclusives.
Julius Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 Just now, Goron_3 said: E3 or earlier makes sense for a reveal, as I imagine third parties will want to reveal possible Switch exclusives. If we don't get something like this for the GTA V coming to Switch announcement, then we have no choice but to riot. 2
darksnowman Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Julius said: If we don't get something like this for the GTA V coming to Switch announcement, then we have no choice but to riot. Does it count if it comes via Microsoft Gamespass? 2
Hero-of-Time Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 More evidence for the arrival of the new Switch model has cropped up at another retailer. This time it’s the turn of a French retailer, who apparently is very reliable, to show that something is coming soon. I’m not sure if the price is a placeholder but it looks to be just under €400. If that sticks, it will probably be around £360-£380 for us in the UK. 3
BowserBasher Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 28 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: More evidence for the arrival of the new Switch model has cropped up at another retailer. This time it’s the turn of a French retailer, who apparently is very reliable, to show that something is coming soon. I’m not sure if the price is a placeholder but it looks to be just under €400. If that sticks, it will probably be around £360-£380 for us in the UK. Since the date is a placeholder, I’d suspect the price maybe too. Over price so if it went live they wouldn’t have to keep that price promise if they do that thing.
darksnowman Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 14 minutes ago, BowserBasher said: Since the date is a placeholder, I’d suspect the price maybe too. Over price so if it went live they wouldn’t have to keep that price promise if they do that thing. Hopefully the "Pro" part too. You'd think Nintendo could come up with something else! Has anyone checked with Pachter to get the scoop on this? 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 23 minutes ago, BowserBasher said: Since the date is a placeholder, I’d suspect the price maybe too. Over price so if it went live they wouldn’t have to keep that price promise if they do that thing. Would you go for an upgrade at that price? Same question for anyone else on here. What’s the maximum you would pay for a better version of the Switch?
killthenet Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 I think £400 would be about the limit for me, can't imagine Nintendo wanting to charge more than that either. Since it is rumoured to be replacing the standard Switch model I doubt it'll be as high as £400 though, but they won't want it to be too close to £300 (unless they give the original a price cut to £250) otherwise they'll never shift the remaining stock of the standard model. €399 / £379 seems most likely to me. 1
Nicktendo Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 €400 would be absurd. Nintendo would be having a laugh at that price unless it is a very, very substantial upgrade. 2
Julius Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 26 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: What’s the maximum you would pay for a better version of the Switch? It's a weird one for me because I feel like I very rarely boot up my Switch, but when I do, I do really enjoy it (lack of themes and folders aside), and it's hard to see myself not picking up a better version of the Switch because of that. I think just getting the best experiences for games like the Breath of the Wild sequel and Pokémon Legends will be enough to tide me over. For me I think the roof of what I'd be willing to pay - considering the prices of the Series X and PS5, but balancing that with the Nintendo games I'd be excited for - would probably be £349. It's not that I wouldn't necessarily pick one up at a higher price, but considering things like how infrequently I play my Switch now, the price of next-gen consoles (I want to pick up a Series X at some point down the road for Forza and to finally play the Halo games, I just don't know when that will be), the fact that as great as a 7" OLED screen sounds I don't think I've played in handheld for over a year, I think that would be a sensible upper limit to set myself. In terms of Nintendo though, it feels like such a tough thing to guess what their thought process will be (I mean, when is it ever easy?). Will this thing be a premier model sold alongside the regular Switch, or will it slowly replace it over the next 18 months? Because the answer to that question I think will have to change how they approach their pricing model, but the base Switch model is still selling like crazy and there's no real reason to give it a price cut if you consider that (even this far into its life), so maybe it will slowly replace it. How about you H-o-T, how much would you be willing to drop on one? Would you be looking to pick one up? 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, Julius said: How about you H-o-T, how much would you be willing to drop on one? Would you be looking to pick one up? I barely play on my Switch as it is and I doubt a new version of the console would change that. For the most part the performance of machine doesn’t bother me, it’s the software that I take issue with. Saying that, stick a trophy or achievement system on the thing and I’ll be all over it. 1
Scratch Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 I must admit, and this is someone who loves their Switch and uses it a lot, the lack of achievements is annoying. What's even worse is that developers don't seem to bother implementing them AT ALL even though they have on other platforms. They could put a menu in the game that shows what achievements you've got, even if they're not part of the Switch eco-system. With regards to the Switch Pro, I think £400 is kinda reasonable if it's reasonably more powerful than the current Switch. I'm thinking roughly half way between the current Switch and the PS5/Xbox Series. This would open the doors more more third party games on the system *cough* FF7 Remake *cough*. Sure, there'd be compromises, but the PS5 and Xbox Series are currently so much more powerful that many devs are just not going to make their games for the Switch. If the Switch Pro can bridge that gap a bit, well by golly that'd be pretty darn swell.
BowserBasher Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 I think for me around £350. The 4K output doesn’t appeal to me at this time and Nintendo have never been one to straight up compete with the competitors so I doubt it’ll be close to what they provide in terms of power, so I would not expect a huge increase in price. I expect they will still aim the machine at families and will want a price to match that. 1
Ronnie Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) I spent two hours mindlessly grinding squad power attacks in ME1 for trophies the other day. I'm not sure why I did it, apart from the feel good feeling of a Platinum popping up, but that lasted about ten seconds. I'd like an achievement system on Switch but I can 100% see why Nintendo don't want to introduce one. As for the Pro price point, if it's only £50 more then no one would buy the OG Switch and I imagine they'll want to keep the 3 devices around for at least a year. I'll say £350-380 but it's hard to really judge without knowing what the thing actually is! Edited June 2, 2021 by Ronnie
Helmsly Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) Probably £350 to £400 for me but that really depends on what specifically the new model actually offers compared the current model. For example an ethernet connection the dock is nice but I already have that via a USB on mine. 4k output is also very nice but I don't have a 4k TV yet. So, as nice as those extras are they would not be enough for me to upgrade for now. To be honest I don't specifically know what I want from the Switch Pro. The only thing I can really think hat would grab my attention would be if they can bump up the frame rate for games on it. Kind of like how some games ran better on the New 3DS over the standard original models. Edited June 2, 2021 by Helmsly
Glen-i Posted June 3, 2021 Posted June 3, 2021 A lot of Nintendo games already have some kind of "achievements" system built in-game these days. (Hyrule Warriors, Xenoblade 1, Miitopia, etc.) Hell, Smash Bros has been doing it since the Gamecube days! How's that for "ahead of it's time"? I'm not really fussed about an achievement system. It just seems like a big knob waving contest, really. But achievements that actually reward you with something in-game is way better! (Xenoblade gives you extra EXP, Smash rewards you with various goodies)
MindFreak Posted June 3, 2021 Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) When achievements are implemented correctly, they add to the game, make you do something you wouldn't have done otherwise or make you go somewhere that you wouldn't have thought of. I like that. However,785 % of the achievements I got on Xbox 360 were just grinding or doing something strange that didn't provide me with more fun in the game. Pricewise, I think they should launch it at the same price the Switch is now and then either give the OG Switch a price drop or phase it out completely. Edited June 3, 2021 by MindFreak
Nicktendo Posted June 3, 2021 Posted June 3, 2021 Have to agree that achievements can add to a game quite a lot, especially when it's a unified system like on Steam, PS and Xbox. Nothing wrong with individual games having them, but I get more value out of them when they add to a system-wide total. There are plenty of weak achievements in titles or ones which are poorly implemented and uninteresting. There are also plenty which unlock and you work your way through a game and don't require anything else outside of beating the main single-player campaign. However, when done right, they can push you to try new things or experiment. You can really get a kick out of overcoming some mini challenge in a game and finally getting the satisfaction of an achievement popping. I think the fact that the other systems have a unified system is great because you can jump into the menu and look back at your work thinking "yeah, that was pretty good". I can definitely say I've gotten more out of a handful of games since getting an Xbox because I went for 200 / 1000G. Nintendo are exactly the kind of company that would do achievements right if they implemented such a system - their games are always fun to play and I think they'd build interesting challenges around them which would add to the overall package.
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