Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Ronnie]

I really like the colours they chose, just not mixed together

[Kounan]

On who Switch is for…

 

Just like every system Nintendo creates, we believe in having a very wide footprint, and we are experienced enough in this industry to know that the footprint changes over time. We believe that by [next holiday season], with the launch of Super Mario Odyssey, that the footprint for Nintendo Switch will be very broad. Kids, young adults, parents, gamers will occupy that footprint.

 

But what’s going to happen is that, that space is going to be filled in at each point in time with the subsequent launches. So for example, if you look at the first 45 days, you’ve got Zelda, 1-2 Switch, Mario Kart 8. So the active gamer. And candidly, the more the active gamer sees, the more excited they’re going to be for that game.

 

I was a Zelda fan before I was a Nintendo employee, and I can tell you that as I’ve experienced that game, it just gets me more and more excited to play. 1-2 Switch is a party in a box. And so that is going to be an all family type of experience that will then broaden the footprint. And then Mario Kart 8 is going to expand it even further. And so that’s what I see happening. A game like Arms will have a diverse footprint. A game like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be much more narrow.

 

And so, I think it’s the best way I could describe how the consumer base for Switch is going to evolve over time. And certainly by the end of our first full year, it’ll be kids, young adults, parents and gamers occupying that footprint.

 

On how the games at the press event feel core focused…

 

Yeah, and I read some of the same feedback from the video we launched in October. And it’s absolutely true, the actors we had were all young adults. And people suddenly read into it that Nintendo is abandoning the family market with Nintendo Switch.

 

Furthest from the truth, so again, we believe that our systems need to be mass market systems, from 5 to 95. A broad footprint. But each game is going to appeal to a certain part of that demographic. And it’ll fill out the base. That strategy continues. This is a system for everybody. This is a system that will appeal to a wide group. It’s going to get filled in over time as the different games come in.

 

On concerns of Switch getting games regularly and third-party support…

 

I think in all candor, as executives, we can only say so much, and then the consumer believes or doesn’t believe. However, if the question is Nintendo first party development, I can say that our pipeline is quite robust, in what we are working on and that we will deliver next year and early into the year after that. We have that visibility in our pipeline.

 

From a third party perspective, I don’t want to oversimplify things, but third party developers look for a handful of things. First, they look for a straightforward development environment in order to create their games. And that was one of the challenges with Wii U. Now with Nintendo Switch, we have Unity as a platform. We’ve got the Unreal Engine as a platform. These are known development environments for content creators to build content.

 

The second thing they look for is a consumer demographic that’s going to meet their needs for the content they’re creating. And so again, you’ve got Zelda for the core. You’ve got 1-2 Switch for the family audience. You’ve got Arms. You’ve got Splatoon. You’ve got Mario Kart 8. You’ve got Super Mario Odyssey. That looks like a pretty wide and diverse audience to build content for.

 

And third, they look for a large install base. That’s what we’re trying to create.

 

And then lastly, they look for a full range of ways to monetize their investment. And that’s where having a robust online environment comes in. And again we are pushing the envelope, we’re doing things differently, and we’re working hard to make sure that environment exists. So as an executive for the company, I believe we’re doing everything we need to, to create that environment for third parties. So far they’re reacting extremely positively. Bethesda hasn’t been on a Nintendo platform. A fully featured FIFA, that has not been on a Nintendo console in some time.

 

On whether it’ll be a challenge getting devs to think about motion control or haptic design…

 

If you’re EA, and hypothetically, I have to say hypothetically, you want to make sure that FIFA and Madden and Battlefield, you want to make sure that the games you create, better that anyone else, can be executed on this platform. It’s not that EA is suddenly going to try and learn how to make motion control games. If you’re Ubisoft and you’re trying to optimize Just Dance, certainly you want to make sure you’re able to do that for this new platform.

 

And so you know, from my perspective, what I want is the best content that third party does today. And I want the best content that they’re thinking about in the future. I’m not asking them to create games that are like the games that we would create. Because that doesn’t broaden the footprint, and doesn’t bring new consumers in to our proposition.

 

On whether Switch include a meta layer that follows players around and lets them keep those purchases…

 

First, there is much more that we will be sharing about our subscription service—the mechanics, the types of content that you’ll get access to, free, on a monthly basis, the price point for the overall service. All of that information will come.

 

Second point, as you know, we are very aware of what the consumer has articulated to date as to what they want. We are very aware of what our competitors do. The way Nintendo thinks about it, is we want to make the consumer happy, and we want to give them some of the elements that they have been asking for. And we want to give them things that they haven’t even thought of to ask. But, we also believe in differentiated experiences. We believe in doing things differently.

 

And so our overall proposition will not look the same as our competitors. But what we will do, is we will recognize what consumers like about our competitors, we will look to do it in a way that has a Nintendo flair to it. And we will look to make sure that in the end, we’ve got this robust, online environment that not only works well for our games, like Splatoon and Mario Kart and Smash Bros., but that also works great for our third party developers.

 

On whether Wii U was a failure…

 

I don’t recall who said it but, one of our executives said something similar — I think it might have been Mr. Miyamoto, the last time he was here in New York, where he made the comment “I hope consumers look back at Wii U as a necessary step, in order to get to Nintendo Switch.” Which is another way of saying what you did.

 

And it’s interesting, you know, as consumers think back, the fondness and the memories shift. I joined the company as GameCube was ending its life. And as we look at the install base of the platform, certainly it’s not one of our higher install base platforms. And yet it seems the talk now is all about how consumers are hoping that there’s a GameCube virtual console, which I just find interesting.

 

But yes, you can look at Nintendo Switch and certainly see a lineage, not only to Wii U, but as our Switch presentation highlighted, really to so many of our historical platforms. And there is certainly no mistake in that.

 

http://time.com/4635415/nintendo-switch-online-reggie-fils-amie/

 

http://nintendoeverything.com/reggie-on-switchs-demographic-third-party-support-online-plans-more/

 

From Neogaf.

 

So, it looks like it will be full FIFA, or?

[Happenstance]

The answer to the purchases going with you question worries the hell out of me.

[Hero-of-Time]

So, it looks like it will be full FIFA, or?

 

Possibly and hopefully. However, this is Reggie we are talking about.

 

*points to Batman Wii U quote*

[dazzybee]

Possibly and hopefully. However, this is Reggie we are talking about.

 

*points to Batman Wii U quote*

 

What was his batman quote? Batman on the Wii u was amazing though.

[Hero-of-Time]

What was his batman quote? Batman on the Wii u was amazing though.

 

He was quizzed on why people should bother picking it up when it's been out on other consoles for ages. His reply was " It's not the same game. It's not the same content".

[Happenstance]

Batman on the Wii U did have a lot of frame rate issues though, at least at launch.

[dazzybee]

He was quizzed on why people should bother picking it up when it's been out on other consoles for ages. His reply was " It's not the same game. It's not the same content".

 

Haha, did he? What a silly thing to say. It had some nifty extras but it is exactly the same game.

 

Saying that, I hope he's right this time regarding FIFA. I'll probably get the Switch version even if it is a little gimped. I don't play FUT or many other modes to be honest, if I can play online I'll probably get it.

 

Something generally I think about more and more. Is thinking of it more a sa handheld. I bought Smash bros on 3DS and Wii U, I had no problems doing that, how great to have a handheld version. Then Mario Kart makes me feel sick, but ultimately, if Mario Kart 8 with all dlc and a new battle mode was released on 3DS, I wouldn't have hesitated buying it. Skyrim a year later made me groan (I thought maybe Mario at launch and Skyrim as the adventure game was reasonable and Zelda in thee Autumn); but actually, portable Skyrim is probably an attractive thing. Same with a lot of other games, even Fifa if it's gimped, still, a decent portable football game is rare.

 

So I think Nintendo really need to big up the portable aspect a lot more, it's quite staggering how good it is.

[Goron_3]

He was quizzed on why people should bother picking it up when it's been out on other consoles for ages. His reply was " It's not the same game. It's not the same content".

 

He also said Call of Duty would be by far the definitive version of the game

 

"Online is the air we breath" is another classic.

 

Virtually every Director of Marketing I've ever met/worked with is just like Reggie. You can't take what comes out their mouth seriously because it's just in PR mode 24/7.

[Ashley]

Why is he yammering on about "footprints"?

 

This paragraph really amused me:

 

And that is the Nintendo history. We make smart choices, and we are oftentimes lucky. The decision to hire Mr. Miyamoto — we were lucky. The decision by Mr. Miyamoto to create Donkey Kong as a replacement to an arcade game that was failing in the marketplace was on one hand brilliant, to ask him to do it, but we were lucky that it was Donkey Kong, and that it was successful. What we are working hard to do, is to make smart choices with Nintendo Switch, and once again be fortunate that the marketplace responds in a positive way.

 

"We were lucky twice in the 80s...let's hope we can do that again in 2017!"

[Hero-of-Time]

He also said Call of Duty would be by far the definitive version of the game

 

I forgot about the CoD quote.

 

I give Reggie a lot of hate but, at the end of the day, he is just doing his job. As you said, it's just PR speak. I just find a lot of what he says frustrating, especially when you know it simply isn't true. I'd rather he just not talk at all.

[Dcubed]

It's good to hear that he finally seems to understand that the likes of EA will never make good motion controlled games; that they just want something that runs their already existing titles without fuss.

 

Miyamoto's comment about Wii U is really sad though. You can tell that he's crushed by what happened with it. Reminds me of that thing in the ACNL update that mentioned how unappreciated the Wii U was

[liger05]

The answer to the purchases going with you question worries the hell out of me.

 

Yeah when he talks about Nintendo flair I'm worried. I don't care about what else they do with the account system but as a minimum just give us games tied to the account forever.

[dazzybee]

He also said Call of Duty would be by far the definitive version of the game

 

"Online is the air we breath" is another classic.

 

Virtually every Director of Marketing I've ever met/worked with is just like Reggie. You can't take what comes out their mouth seriously because it's just in PR mode 24/7.

 

To be fair the first couple of CODS were brilliant. One on the gamepad, one on the screen, fantastic!

 

I don wonder if Reggie rolls his eyes at some of the stuff he has to say; maybe he hates some stuff Japan enforce, but he has to be positive!

[Ashley]

I think you're accrediting Reggie with far more capacity for thought than he actually has

[liger05]

Can someone answer this?

 

The joycons charge when attached to the Switch.

 

If you bought an extra pair of joycons how do you charge these? You have to buy the charging grip?

[dazzybee]

Can someone answer this?

 

The joycons charge when attached to the Switch.

 

If you bought an extra pair of joycons how do you charge these? You have to buy the charging grip?

 

Does the grip that comes in the box not charge it? Other way is attach it to the switch...?

 

I've ordered an extra set of joy cons so I need some solution too

[Hero-of-Time]

Can someone answer this?

 

The joycons charge when attached to the Switch.

 

If you bought an extra pair of joycons how do you charge these? You have to buy the charging grip?

 

Seeing as the one you get with the console doesn't do this, it looks like you would have to buy the charging grip.

 

Does the grip that comes in the box not charge it?

 

It seems that it's just a shell. Both products are named differently, as well. One is simply called the joycon grip and the other is the joycon charging grip.

[Glen-i]

Miyamoto's comment about Wii U is really sad though. You can tell that he's crushed by what happened with it. Reminds me of that thing in the ACNL update that mentioned how unappreciated the Wii U was

 

I'm not gonna lie, I did have a laugh when I got that fortune cookie.

Then I felt sad almost immediately after.

[dazzybee]

Seeing as the one you get with the console doesn't do this, it looks like you would have to buy the charging grip.

 

 

 

It seems that it's just a shell. Both products are named differently, as well. One is simply called the joycon grip and the other is the joycon charging grip.

 

Ah... God they're tight!

 

I don't think it'll be a problem using the switch to charge it, they last 20 hours so it won't be a problem.

[Helmsly]

Although Reggie was a little more direct in that interview, the answers to a lot of what was being asked are too ambiguous and i find it quite frustrating. This all reminds me so much of the period of time before the Wii U's launch.

 

The answer to the purchases going with you question worries the hell out of me.

 

Yeah me too. At this point I'm taking their less then straight answer as a No. I'm hope I'm wrong though!

[Dcubed]

It'll probably be the same upgrade discount dealio for VC games as with Wii-Wii U.

 

Don't know why anyone is expecting anything else VC releases do cost money to produce due to the way they're made (and especially since they're adding online play to them this time), they're not gonna go through the not-unsubstantial investment that goes into making them and then give them away for nothing.

[dazzybee]

Let's hope they do a direct/info dump every week. One week Virtual console and purchases, one week the operating system, one week the new online system, one week its functions - capture and such... Maybe other weeks bigger game discussions - what exactly is in 1-2 switch for example?

 

It'll probably be the same upgrade discount dealio for VC games as with Wii-Wii U.

 

Don't know why anyone is expecting anything else VC releases do cost money to produce due to the way they're made (and especially since they're adding online play to them this time), they're not gonna go through the not-unsubstantial investment that goes into making them and then give them away for nothing.

 

If they add in online play for all multiplayer games I will more than happy pay an upgrade fee!! It's such a good idea, so unlike Nintendo, I still doubt it's what it sounds like.

[Kav]

With them having HD Rumble they should really look more into VR... I think HD Rumble would make the VR experience even better. The joycons really are suited to VR play!

 

 

I hate that I want the Switch... I know I will half-hate the console and complain about it like I did the WiiU, but it's Nintendo... part of me wants it.

[Dcubed]

If they add in online play for all multiplayer games I will more than happy pay an upgrade fee!! It's such a good idea, so unlike Nintendo, I still doubt it's what it sounds like.

 

It's not that crazy to think about. Nintendo added local wireless multiplayer for NES & SNES games on 3DS (and online support for a couple of games or so back on the Japanese Wii VC); the online for Switch VC would work exactly the same way. All it's doing is transmitting button presses over TCP/IP, instead of by local wireless; it's an extension of what they did before.

 

That being said, don't expect it to be a flawless experience. With this technique (and it has to be done this way, can't be done by any other method), the lag is gonna hurt. These games aren't designed for online play and any missed packets will just mean that button inputs don't get registered (syncing will be an issue too).

 

I hate that I want the Switch... I know I will half-hate the console and complain about it like I did the WiiU, but it's Nintendo... part of me wants it.

 

Heh, you just can't help yourself

Edited January 16, 2017 by Dcubed