Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Hero-of-Time]

Didn't Zombi U sell a million copies? That's not bad is it?

 

Nintendo can change their image, but it needs a sustained approach. The question is do they want to, and should they even?

 

Aiming for the family market doesn't hurt Disney or Pixar.

 

Different beast.

 

Both Disney and Pixar are very successful at what they do. Movies have a much more wider appeal and better image than videogames.

[Ashley]

Plus in the space of 12 months Disney distributed 10 films with age ratings from U to 12A so while they may skew younger they don't just rely on it.

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel) – May 1, 2015

Tomorrowland (Walt Disney Pictures) – May 22, 2015

Inside Out (Pixar) – June 19, 2015

Ant-Man (Marvel) – July 17, 2015

Bridge of Spies (DreamWorks) – Oct. 16, 2015

The Good Dinosaur (Pixar) – Nov. 25, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Lucasfilm) – Dec. 18, 2015

The Finest Hours (Walt Disney Pictures) – Jan. 29, 2016

Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios) – March 4, 2016

The Jungle Book (Walt Disney Pictures) – April 15, 2016

[Fierce_LiNk]

Nintendo's entire software strategy around the Gamecube and its marketing was such a clusterfuck. They let Microsoft come in and dominate the FPS space, a genre which they owned on the N64, and from day one they said that the Gamecube's audience was children.

 

They've simply never recovered.

 

 

That's about it.

 

They were onto a good thing with the GameCube to begin in. Support was regular and the first 18 months were excellent for consistent releases. It absolutely died though after that. That's now a major problem with Nintendo consoles, at least in my opinion. They die off waaay too early. It happened with the Cube, it happened with the Wii and it's happened with the WiiU.

 

That's a major issue for me. The other issue, which has already been touched upon in this thread, is their image. They've got a major image problem. It's not so bad with their handhelds, but it's a big problem for their home consoles. The more I think on it, the more I think the NX will be the right thing for them to do.

[liger05]

The PS3-PS4 comment is to vague really to determine how powerful this is however it does sound like this thing will pack some serious graphical power for a handheld.

 

On the whole kids thing there is a way to shake that image. Nintendo publish more adult themed games.

 

http://www.gameblog.fr/news/61121-puissance-de-la-nintendo-nx-nos-sources-precisent-les-choses

 

nos sources nous ont confirmé que des jeux PS4 actuels pourraient tourner sur Nintendo NX. Des tests de portage auraient d'ailleurs été entrepris avec succès."

 

"Our sources confirmed that current PS4 games can run on the Nx, Porting tests have been carried out successfully

 

"En revanche, les portages demanderait une optimisation particulière tant l'architecture générale de la NX serait différente de ce que propose la PS4 et la Xbox One. Une fois de plus, le talent et les moyens déployés par les éditeurs feront la différence."

 

"On the other hand,the ports demand special optimisation due to the different architecture from the XB0 and PS4. Once again, the talent and methods used by des will make the difference."

 

"nos sources nous ont aussi indiqué que la NX disposerait d'une puce dédiée à la Réalité Virtuelle et Augmentée."

 

"Our sources also indicated that NX has a chip dedicated to VR and AR"

 

"Les dernières versions des moteurs Unreal Engine et Unity Engine tournaient très bien sur Nintendo NX."

 

"Recent versions of unity and Unreal Engine run very well on Nx"

 

"il nous a été confirmé que la NX serait une machine infiniment plus accessible et mieux préparée technologiquement que ne l'était la Wii U. "

 

"It was confirmed to us that NX will be a machine infinitely more accessible and better prepared technologically than Wii U was"

 

"ous les échos que nous récolté auprès de personnes ayant pu approcher les premiers kits ou ayant été au contact direct de ce qui se prépare sont unanimes : le sentiment général se montre particulièrement positif. Oui, la Nintendo NX sera différente de ses concurrentes. Oui, elle est intéressante. "

 

"The feedback from people in contact with the first dev kits is unanimous, the feeling is especially positive. Nx will be different from the other machines and interesting"

 

I don't think this sounds anything like the Wii U. Sounds like Nintendo have really made sure this piece of kit will be something 3rd parties will work with.

 

Just want Nintendo to reveal it already so all the conjectures and rumour can stop.

Edited August 4, 2016 by liger05

[The Cape]

Different beast.

 

Both Disney and Pixar are very successful at what they do. Movies have a much more wider appeal and better image than videogames.

 

This. I will be surprised (and happy for Nintendo of course) if they manage to get a lot of new customers targeting the smart phone market. I don't see people who play Pokémon GO buying a handheld console to play longer, more elaborate games. I have a lot of friends playing GO who have never played any other videogames, aside from smart phone ones. Even with good marketing and low prices, I don't see them buying the handheld NX to play other games. They think as smart phone games as a quick distraction to play on the phone from time to time (even if they end up playing more than me, for instance), and think that video game consoles are not for them. I wish that Nintendo can appeal to this audience, but right now I can't see it happening.

 

The family market seems like a better choice imo. With NX being portable it will hopefully keep people playing more than with the Wii, and the new generation of kids will grow up playing Nintendo.

[Rummy]

It's interesting they say Nintendo isn't going after PS4 gamers, but rather trying to get smartphone gamers to upgrade. If the previous rumours about the price being "surprisingly low" are correct, maybe its the best move they can pull. Ultimately quietly drop out of the home console market but set up their own niche with a strong portable console that can also be played at home. If it can come in sub £200, especially around £150, I think it could do really well.

 

Nintendo could do with cash though, and they have to be careful about selling too low or at a loss.

What they should do? Rather than try and hope for or make futures on digital content such as retro/VC titles - throw a load in for free with it to make perceived value a bit higher. Think - how much more likely would current Nintendo console owners be to pay a higher price if they got a cross-buy system promising previously purchases Wii/WiiU/3DS VC games were gonna be free to them on this? How many might even sell in the interim on old consoles? Then I got thinking...what if their retro pre-packed NES style VC console is a way of seeing how popular such an idea might be?

 

Just speculation though really. Don't genuinely believe it to be much of a case. Expecting lots of arguments against giving free content blahblahblah.

 

 

EDIT: Here's another speculative thought - what if Nintendo could somehow create/utilise a 3/4G-style mobile data system that exclusively works just for their games etc(to avoid people being forced into using other data, or people piggybacking it to abuse it etc) and this could give some real world connectivity like Pokemon Go, or possibilities like real-world Pokemon Snap/Denpamen etcetc? Think how much you pay per month for phone tarriffs and data - why not do somewhat the same with a monthly subs fee(similar to that of XBox Live or PS+) to support the network here? If you can lock down the data to only be for pre-approved apps with signing/verification(out of my depth here) then why not?

Edited August 4, 2016 by Rummy

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

but rather trying to get smartphone gamers to upgrade.

 

how does that happen though?

 

I'd say "smartphone gamers" bought their phone before thinking of the gaming aspect. Unless the NX is something similar to N-Gage, I don't see how phone gamers will look to this as an upgrade but instead another portable piece of kit, that requires another pocket, along with their phone.

 

How about just simply trying to get 3DS gamers to upgrade? KISS

[Ashley]

how does that happen though?

 

I'd say "smartphone gamers" bought their phone before thinking of the gaming aspect. Unless the NX is something similar to N-Gage, I don't see how phone gamers will look to this as an upgrade but instead another portable piece of kit, that requires another pocket, along with their phone.

 

How about just simply trying to get 3DS gamers to upgrade? KISS

 

Not literally upgrade and I'm thinking more of a small (but perhaps still viable) market of people that may think "hmm I play a lot of games on my mobile, let's check it out" if the price is right. Not to replace their phone in that "hey I've got a few minutes, lets play" but those that now find themselves playing games on their commute where they would have read before.

 

It would be a boon if you had access to the Play Store, but I doubt it would happen.

 

I assume Nintendo would be targeting the 3DS market, I was talking more about acquiring additional markets.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I assume Nintendo would be targeting the 3DS market, I was talking more about acquiring additional markets.

 

I certainly get what you meant, I'm enquiring more about Nintendo possibly over-compensating and bending over backwards to acquire a new (casual) market instead of just purely targeting their millions of fans first.

 

It does seem a bit risky if that's truly their strategy - targeting an assumed market primarily over an existing one.

 

Though if this opens the door for partnerships like with Play, I'll support.

[Ashley]

I could see them over estimating people following them through, they did with the Wii U :p

 

I actually think the NX may be the final straw for a lot of gamers that have been holding out hope Nintendo will compete with Microsoft and Sony directly and that may be a good thing ultimately. They can move on while Nintendo focus on those still around and potential new customers.

 

Had an idea though. They should release Hey You Pikachu on the Virtual Console on the NX. Just remembered the game and still bitter it never came to the UK :p

[dazzybee]

Plus in the space of 12 months Disney distributed 10 films with age ratings from U to 12A so while they may skew younger they don't just rely on it.

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel) – May 1, 2015

Tomorrowland (Walt Disney Pictures) – May 22, 2015

Inside Out (Pixar) – June 19, 2015

Ant-Man (Marvel) – July 17, 2015

Bridge of Spies (DreamWorks) – Oct. 16, 2015

The Good Dinosaur (Pixar) – Nov. 25, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Lucasfilm) – Dec. 18, 2015

The Finest Hours (Walt Disney Pictures) – Jan. 29, 2016

Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios) – March 4, 2016

The Jungle Book (Walt Disney Pictures) – April 15, 2016

 

Well okay if you're including Star Wars and Marvel in there, they didn't have them before and they were still equally successful. Plus although Disney own them I don't think the general public necessarily see that.

 

Also, Nintendo produce a lot of 12 games too. Though game ratings are ridiculous.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Yeah, this project will definitely test if Nintendo are truly out of sync with their industry or not.

 

Issues I'm anxious about:

 

*Nintendo not effectively conveying what the NX is to the (casual) market they be after ie effective, modern marketing.

*Nintendo seeking to make a profit on hardware, making the tech sub-par to the tech of the times - making it unattractive.

*Online features STILL not on-par with the market, partly due to the above point.

 

Those are more anxieties on their businesses prosperity - I'm already sold however, even as a Nintendo-party console. (In fact, personally I find most third parties to be quiet overrated) If I had a choice between a slew of Nintendo first party vs third parties, I'll be going to the former.

[dazzybee]

Different beast.

 

Both Disney and Pixar are very successful at what they do. Movies have a much more wider appeal and better image than videogames.

 

I'm not sure films do have wider appeal, isn't the gaming industry bigger? And also now isn't almost everyone a gamer with mobile? The potential is there in theory I think.

 

That interview @liger05 is incredibly positive. Do you know who's saying it? Is it just the blog?

 

I think even without 3rd parties, as a nintendo box that joins handheld and home console it will be pretty successful, somewhere inbewteen 3DS and Wii U; which may be fine for nintendo. But if this thing does pack power and easy to port to, thus get 3rd parties on board, and gamers may find an ultra powerful handheld appealing, it could be really successful. If they can really get the message to mobile users and show the through line of their mobile games to the NX, whilst building their IP in general with merch, theme parks and films/tv; then they could be onto something special.

Edited August 4, 2016 by dazzybee
Automerged Doublepost

[Hero-of-Time]

Movies easily have a much wider appeal and lower barrier of entry. Just about anyone will sit down and watch a movie of some kind but not everyone will give gaming the time of day. Movies cost less and don't require a large investment of a persons time. There's also the issue of how games are perceived by most people. While movies are seen as a normal thing to spend your time on, gaming, despite how big it has become, still has that stigma about it.

[Ashley]

Most movies don't take more time than games

[Clownferret]

Launching with Zelda should guarantee an initial glut of sales, I'm sure they're going to do some more clever AR stuff following on from GO and we already know there is pikmin and Luigis mansion at launch. I think the portable aspect is very clever and coupled with the aforementioned games I see it blowing wii u sales out of the water.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

[liger05]

I think Nintendo still think there is a huge handheld market out there. While the market has shrunk I think they believe they can still tap into the 3ds and vita userbase and get back a chunk from the DS/PSP

 

That's still a whole lot of users. With a development team working on one platform and significant Japanese third parties (hopefully those who develop games on vita) and some western third parties you should see a good stream of games.

 

Get the price right and a product that looks the part. By that I mean a device tech blogs love and this thing could sell plenty.

 

Mobile users not sure about that. People buy phones not to play games. Games are just an added extra for them.

Edited August 4, 2016 by liger05

[canand]

I can't believe people are sticking with Eurogamer it's not real it's going to be a platform a Console and a handheld on there own wow people are stupid everyone was saying don't trust Rumors and when Eurogamer post it everyone says it's real why the sudden change and if it's a hybrid I might not get it

[Ronnie]

I can't believe people are sticking with Eurogamer it's not real it's going to be a platform a Console and a handheld on there own wow people are stupid everyone was saying don't trust Rumors and when Eurogamer post it everyone says it's real why the sudden change and if it's a hybrid I might not get it

 

Just because you don't want it to be real doesn't make it fake. Some very reputable sites like IGN and Kotaku have stood by Eurogamer and corroborated the rumours. It's happening I'm afraid so I suggest you get used to the idea.

[canand]

Just because you don't want it to be real doesn't make it fake. Some very reputable sites like IGN and Kotaku have stood by Eurogamer and corroborated the rumours. It's happening I'm afraid so I suggest you get used to the idea.

 

It's not happening a hybrid is a piece of dog pooh and Nintendo said they don't want to show the Nintendo NX at E3 because they are scared of there concept getting copyd a Hybrid isn't new it's allredy been done Eurogamer lied to us about 3DS and all the other sites are just posting it so they don't get left out of getting clicks journalists no nothing it's the same for football

 

 

https://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/razer-edge-hands-on/

[Ronnie]

So Eurogamer, Wall Street Journal, IGN, Kotaku and MCV are all lying. Got it.

[liger05]

I can't believe people are sticking with Eurogamer it's not real it's going to be a platform a Console and a handheld on there own wow people are stupid everyone was saying don't trust Rumors and when Eurogamer post it everyone says it's real why the sudden change and if it's a hybrid I might not get it

 

It's not just Eurogamer dude.

[Dcubed]

So Eurogamer, Wall Street Journal, IGN, Kotaku and MCV are all lying. Got it.

 

Nobody is saying that they're lying. They're obviously all hearing from the same source, so it's a matter of what the source has heard is accurate or not; or, more notably, whether or not their info is complete (note that we've heard absolutely nothing about the dock itself...)

 

The info may even be totally outdated. After all, people reported about Tegra being used in the 3DS before it was announced. That wasn't wrong, but it turned out to be very outdated and no longer accurate.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Dcubed

[liger05]

Nobody is saying that they're lying. They're obviously all hearing from the same source, so it's a matter of what the source has heard is accurate or not; or, more notably, whether or not their info is complete (note that we've heard absolutely nothing about the dock itself...)

 

The info may even be totally outdated. After all, people reported about Tegra being used in the 3DS before it was announced. That wasn't wrong, but it turned out to be very outdated and no longer accurate.

 

I dont think they all have the same source. They would have there own sources to try and confirm what other sources have said.

 

Surely any journalist worth there salt will only run a story if they are sure the sources check out. What we have heard so far might not be 100% accurate but there is no doubt many of it is true.