Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[S.C.G]

On the day that the Switch was revealed, my gut reaction to the price was around the £300 mark as I really wouldn't be surprised if it cost that for just the machine as we've not really seen tech on this level before, Nintendo really are looking to switch it up this time it seems.

 

With regards to backwards compatability, so long as they manage to move across the entire Virtual Console Library, letting you access for free what you've already paid for on your My Nintendo account/NNID by replacing the old versions with the presumably newly emulated and improved versions, plus maybe port across some of the more successful Wii U titles then I'm happy.

 

Everything else can just be a continutation plus as I said before in the MH Direct thread, I still expect the Wii U to be supported at least digitally for a while yet, so what if buying a Virtual Console game which is both new to the Switch and the Wii U comes out? For arguements sake let's say that it launches with Mother 3... you pay for it and then it's on your NNID so it then becomes a little bit like building up a Plus library or Cross-buy so that let's say you're not getting a Switch right away but still want to buy stuff on your Wii U then you'd have your VC game on the older console but they you have the newly emulated versions with possibly extra features waiting for when you decide to make the switch.

 

It would also be a nice gesture, for anyone who buys The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild digitally on the Wii U to be given a discount of say... 30% off for a limited time (perhaps within the first six months) on the Switch version which might help to entice people, I say discount instead of cross-buy in this case because they both seem to have version exclusive features going by what we already know. The Wii U version will offer that dual-screen setup plus amiibo - presumably the Switch can use amiibo as well but not 100% confirmed - while the Switch will hopefully offer a resolution bump and no need for any disguised loading screens of any kind thanks to the game card/cartridge format. : peace:

 

There's huge potential here just so long as Nintendo get it right from day one by having a strong launch with a decent mix of First and Third-Party offerings, a loyalty scheme similar to the one featured on the Wii U rather than random discounts, a Joy-Con which has a proper D-Pad as an optional extra plus at least a Nintendo developed game every new quarter even if they start out as HD ports of older titles plus of course this would be ideally bolstered by at least one or two new VC titles every week without fail until they run out...

 

...but if they get other past consoles added to the lineup then this won't be a problem, I'm thinking... from Nintendo we'll obviously have GameCube plus possibly almost long-lost Arcade releases? Then from Third-Parties oh boy... bring back Neo Geo plus get the Neo Geo Pocket onboard, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, return of the MegaDrive, Master System, C64, MAME, MSX more TG-16 titles too!

 

Obviously that's the dream but there's no reason that it couldn't become a reality, there are handheld devices which can run most of the above formats but not perfectly, so it would certainly be a selling point if Nintendo along with Third-Parties came together to produce the ultimate Virtual Console with all of the games from all those formats running on both the big screen and on the go, of course because of the nature of the switch you could also throw in the portable titles from the 3DS VC as well...

 

...yeah Ok, I'll keep dreaming... for now. :p

[Dcubed]

I do wonder if the Switch would be capable of emulating the 3DS...

 

I mean, I think it should be able to, given the gulf in power and the fact that they both use ARM processors (so there's an architectural similarity; making the emulation process easier on the Switch's CPU). Maybe they'll have software BC instead of actual 3DS hardware? (or perhaps they'll release 3DS games as Virtual Console titles on the Switch)

 

Wii U is out of the question of course. No way would they be able to pull it off. We've already seen their solution to that (native ports with enhancements, as seen with MK8.5 and Splatoon).

 

For arguements sake let's say that it launches with Mother 3...

 

Oh God yes please! There's a killer launch title for me right there! ( I WANT TO BELIEVE!)

 

but if they get other past consoles added to the lineup then this won't be a problem, I'm thinking... from Nintendo we'll obviously have GameCube plus possibly almost long-lost Arcade releases? Then from Third-Parties oh boy... bring back Neo Geo plus get the Neo Geo Pocket onboard, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, return of the MegaDrive, Master System, C64, MAME, MSX more TG-16 titles too!

 

Edited October 26, 2016 by Dcubed

[Serebii]

So analysts believe the drop in stock price is down to investors believing that Nintendo having a focus on Switch means that they aren't serious/focusing on mobile

 

I fucking hate investors

[Dcubed]

So analysts believe the drop in stock price is down to investors believing that Nintendo having a focus on Switch means that they aren't serious/focusing on mobile

 

I fucking hate investors

 

Buy on rumours, sell on news.

 

Investing 101. You'd think that they'd know that

[Rummy]

Offer 50-90% off BotW digital download on Switch to any WiiU purchasers - 30% isn't enough. 50% minimum. Get it somewhere between £5-20 as an extra cost to have it on your Switch and I think many people will get tempted by taking up the Switch and buying the game digitally for it at that price. Who's going to spend £40+ on it on the WiiU and then spend another £20+ to get it on the Switch? Make it cheap enough and you might actually tempt some of the BotW/WiiU returners who are dusting off their consoles to....make the Switch.

[Serebii]

Buy on rumours, sell on news.

 

Investing 101. You'd think that they'd know that

Here's the quote. It's from CNN in an article called "Nintendo's future may hinge on Switch"

 

Consumers cheered the unveiling of Nintendo Switch last week, calling the console innovative and a potential game changer. But investors weren't impressed: shares slid 6.6% in Tokyo the next day.

 

The device, due out in March, is a handheld system that can easily transform into a console for the home.

 

"Switch, while it looks interesting, could imply smartphone games are not as much of a priority now," explains David Gibson, a senior analyst at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo. "The reason why the share price is where it is isn't because of Switch -- it's because of smartphone games."

 

Analysts have long called for Nintendo (NTDOF) to abandon building its own hardware and focus on developing software for smartphones. After holding out for years, the company finally said in 2015 that it will produce smartphone games but it was also working on its next dedicated gaming system.

 

"Nintendo is a very proud, very old, very conservative Japanese company," says Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese consultancy Kantan Games. "I think it will take a sea change at Nintendo for the company to exit the dedicated video game business."

[dazzybee]

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know if a 50gig game could be played from an SD card? I'm worried about propriety memory cards being needed....

[Serebii]

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know if a 50gig game could be played from an SD card? I'm worried about propriety memory cards being needed....

Don't see why it wouldn't

[S.C.G]

Offer 50-90% off BotW digital download on Switch to any WiiU purchasers - 30% isn't enough. 50% minimum. Get it somewhere between £5-20 as an extra cost to have it on your Switch and I think many people will get tempted by taking up the Switch and buying the game digitally for it at that price. Who's going to spend £40+ on it on the WiiU and then spend another £20+ to get it on the Switch? Make it cheap enough and you might actually tempt some of the BotW/WiiU returners who are dusting off their consoles to....make the Switch.

 

You're completely right, as I was writing 30% I was thinking more like 50% but then I thought about the current My Nintendo discounts... :p

 

But yeah, Nintendo shouldn't be limited by their initial lacklustre offerings with that new service, they should be looking to improve and gain more potential customers so yes... 50% off or more would be better.

 

I've just thought of something else that could be interesting, assuming that both versions do have amiibo functionality then I bet there will be a way in which the data from your Wolf Link amiibo which saves from the Wii U version of Twilight Princess HD will be able to carry over to not just the Wii U version of Breath of the Wild but surely the Switch version as well, now that's not a bad selling point!

[Dcubed]

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know if a 50gig game could be played from an SD card? I'm worried about propriety memory cards being needed....

 

Course it could. Nothing stopping it from happening.

 

That being said, I would imagine that Nintendo will probably have you format the SD Card before use (so you wouldn't be able to use it on another device without re-formatting the whole thing; same thing as with USB storage on Wii U). exFAT and NTFS are Microsoft owned formats, so Nintendo won't use them (Nintendo? Pay licensing fees? LOL!) and FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB max (fine for 3DS, not so fine for Switch though).

 

So they'll have to use their own proprietary file format, like what they do on Wii U. Meaning that any SD Cards you use on Switch, won't be interchangable with other Non Switch devices. Would also mean that you wont be able to take pictures/videos with its built-in camera (assuming it has one) and just take out the SD Card/put it into your PC to copy/paste files. They'll have to come up with some sort of PC syncing app (like iTunes/Vita Content Manager) if they want to do that.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Dcubed

[Rummy]

Yeah I'd imagine they go for their own file system just to add layers of security to it. Don't see how having a proprietary format card itself would necessarily offer any speed/technical advantage though - surely that'd be adopting some potential new tech in place of the common but apparently well-enough functioning SD card/USB/flash storage tech that's so ubiquitous now.

[Ashley]

So analysts believe the drop in stock price is down to investors believing that Nintendo having a focus on Switch means that they aren't serious/focusing on mobile

 

I fucking hate investors

 

End of Sept 2016 compared to end of Sept 2015:

 

Dedicated video game hardware - down 36%

Dedicated video game software - down 31%

Smart devices, IP related income, etc - up 25%

 

We both know it's because they've launched more smart device stuff this year (as well as more IP stuff), but you can see how looking at the first two alone might be enough to encourage the third regardless of other mitigating factors.

 

Investors want money. Currently the hardware and software isn't bringing it for Nintendo as much as they may like so if they feel Nintendo is doubling down on what they feel is losing money then of course they are going to sell their stocks. It's simple. You dislike it and disagree with it, I get that, but the fact you constantly seem surprised by it...

[Clownferret]

I'm thinking £279- £289 for the Base model & £349 for extra memory and a procontroller model. If they are launching with Mario and Zelda them maybe a bit less as they will work it on console plus 1 game makes a profit and everyone is going to buy at least one of those game.

[liger05]

I'm thinking £279- £289 for the Base model & £349 for extra memory and a procontroller model. If they are launching with Mario and Zelda them maybe a bit less as they will work it on console plus 1 game makes a profit and everyone is going to buy at least one of those game.

 

I don't think there will be different Sku's at launch. Down the line maybe but I'm expecting one model only. Retailers may do there own deals but Sku's varying in memory like the Wii U, don't think so.

[Ashley]

Oh and for what it's worth I'm fully expecting £350 for the console. It's coming out just before we are apparently triggering article 50 and I doubt the government will sufficiently reassure the market by then.

[Debug Mode]

Oh and for what it's worth I'm fully expecting £350 for the console. It's coming out just before we are apparently triggering article 50 and I doubt the government will sufficiently reassure the market by then.

 

Quoted for truth. Expect a real ass buggering on the price. Just need to make sure I have enough yen laying around by launch period myself

[Ashley]

Considered my body ready for an ass buggering @Debug Mode

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ThomasBidaux/20161025/283987/Media_coverage_analysis__How_good_was_the_Nintendo_Switch_announcement.php

 

Interesting analysis of the coverage the Switch announcement got. Some points:

 

• Metric didn't exist when PS4/One were announced so comparing to Pro/Scorpio with the caveat it's not quite the same but best they have
  
• Less articles than PS4 Pro announcement (and much more than Scorpio)
  
• However, covered on more unique websites than PS4 Pro (and Scorpio)
  
• Strong coverage by media type (games, tech, special interest etc)
  
• Behind Microsoft and Sony's biggest peaks of the year (typically E3 but apparently Sony's PlayStation Experience also got a lot of coverage as did presumably the meeting when PS4 Pro was announced)
  
• Still weaker than Pokémon Go coverage when that launched, but that game was bonkers
  

 

All in all pretty good out the gate considering the busy time of year and general lack of fanfare or substantial release information.

[Rummy]

£350 is well beyond the mark for me, as it means this system is unlikely to see my more comfortable £200-250 within at least a number of years; by which time it probably won't be as relevant. Makes me actually wonder if this is why they're holding out until after christmas for more price/details; hoping some xmas folks will hold on to monies and then be prepared to wait longer afterwards. If this comes out at £350 however I think I'd genuinely consider something else that is on the market unless this is shown to be absolutely on par in terms of online features and content. Free online could tempt me as it'd save £30-40 a year, and I could factor that in, but I still feel like I'd need to wait and see a lot more of the system before jumping in on that.

[Ronnie]

I'm not massive bothered if this thing is £250, £300 or £350, if it's going to last four plus years what's an extra £50 here or there in the space of four years, but I do worry they won't be able to sell enough if it's too expensive. Kimishima recently said they won't be selling it at a loss, but are listening to what consumers expect from the price. I suspect it'll be something like $280/£280.

[Rummy]

Well for a start £250 to £350 is an extra £100, rather than £50 - and all of those add up. If your mark for this is £200-250 then £300-350 can be quite a difference, even spread across 4 years. Especially if you're unsure whether it'll offer you continued value for said 4 years. #WiiU

[RedShell]

Some high price predictions going on here!

I better start saving those coins...

 

 

 

[Kav]

If Nintendo are wanting me to pay more than £250 for Switch plus a game I want a bloody blowjob off Kishimoto himself to go with it!

Unless they show me something that makes the price worthwhile.

 

 

...best bloody have Party Chat too!

[Nolan]

Well. I just heard some Switch buzz on the radio. Just a in between songs blurb by the DJ that a lot of people are talking about it and that when he watched the reveal and saw the Mario game he got excited and nostalgic for Mario 64.

 

So Nintendo might not be saying much, but by finally revealing the damn thing social media buzz is hitting mainstream media and that's a good thing.

[liger05]

£299 should really be the max they charge.

 

Dangerous ground going over £300.

[Ronnie]

So Nintendo might not be saying much, but by finally revealing the damn thing social media buzz is hitting mainstream media and that's a good thing.

 

I think better people talking about it now when the release is 5 months away than a year ago when everyone would have forgotten about it and/or lost interest by the time it releases.