Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Kav]

It's a shame it seems Nintendo still aren't doing enough for 3rd Parties, with RDR2 being confirmed for PS4 & XBO with no NX version in sight.

[Hogge]

For first party, sure. But Ubisoft is a third party and Beyond Good and Evil a third party title. For a company like Ubisoft, it's about getting their game onto as many platforms as possible to recoup as much outlay and maximise profits. Just look at what they did with Rayman on Wii U, delaying it for that reason. Ignoring the general attitude towards the company that seems to be all over the 'net, from a pure business perspective it would make more sense for them to launch BG&E2 as a multi-platform title to maximise the possibility of getting their money back.

To look at the arguments you use later: BGE&E is a niche title and Ubi risk being taken over by Vivendi. In other words, there's a fairly high chance of BG&E2 flopping, which could kill the company.

 

An exclusivity deal could mean that Ubisoft are guaranteed to earn back what they spent to develop it and that they are making a profit from every copy sold.

 

Let's not forget a few other factors. Porting a game is a cost in and of itself. Also, with the NX being (supposedly) less powerful than PS4 and XBOne, development should also be cheaper.

 

Also, exclusivity generates hype.

 

So... Lower costs and a bunch of money earned before a single copy has been sold, plus a whole bunch of hype. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

Have Nintendo made their money back on either Bayonetta 2 or The Devil's Third? I wouldn't think so and given Ubisoft's current predicament, of wanting to shore up defences against an aggressive and unwanted takeover from Vivendi, you'd think they'd want to produce the title and get it into as many hands as possible and going third party would allow them to achieve that. Yes, Nintendo funding development would allow for some cash up front but if final sales are low because it's launching exclusively on an as yet unannounced piece of hardware, it's not going to do much for either party in recouping money.

If it'll be a multiplat title, I'm not sure people would care. BG&E sold fairly poorly when it came out 15 years ago. How many people do you think will care about a sequel? Just look at the previous attempts of reviving a dead franchise. It rarely ever works.

If you instead look at Pikmin 3. While that game didn't sell brilliantly,

And it's not exactly a title with a huge amount of pulling power as an exclusive. It has it's cult following but it's not going to be enough to entice players to pick the NX so from an exclusivity point of view, there's a weak argument to be made for the game being exclusive to the NX. I was a big fan of the first Bayonetta and would have loved to play the sequel but would I trump up money for the Wii U to play that when there was little else that I was interested (and I'm saying that based on how my gaming habits have changed as late and I've gotten into fewer big, open world titles and more smaller indie pieces rather than an attack on Nintendo's catalogue of titles), no.

Sure, this game alone won't make that many people want to buy the machine. I bet a few diehards will, but absolutely, it won't be upwards ten million or anything like that. However, if Nintendo has an otherwise solid lineup, this game may be what tips the scale for a whole lot of people.

BG&E2 should be one of a whole slew of exclusives. Nintendo need to finally understand that if they want to make a console for everyone, that must be reflected in their lineup of exclusives.

My point was that I'm holding on to hope, not logical reasoning, that the rumours aren't factual about it being an exclusive and that Nintendo are merely talking with Ubisoft to secure a port of the title.

So my guess is that you've already decided not to get an NX?

[Ashley]

Porting a game is a cost in and of itself. Also, with the NX being (supposedly) less powerful than PS4 and XBOne, development should also be cheaper.

 

Not necessarily. The team are likely to already be familiar with PS4/Xbox One - both the hardware and the authentication process. They'll have to learn this again (presumably with help from Nintendo of course), which takes time and money.

 

And generally speaking weaker hardware doesn't necessarily mean cheaper costs (unless its radically different like PS4 to Pico8).

 

It might well be cheaper, but it's not guaranteed just because the NX isn't (allegedly) as powerful as PS4 and Xbox One.

[Ronnie]

The current NX thread on gaf is comedy gold. Everyone there was counting down to a potential 3pm announcement; the replies when Nintendo trolled everyone by tweeting about scanning AR cards in 'Disney's Magical World 2' at 3:02pm were hilarious.

[Ashley]

Presumably then followed by this:

 

[killthenet]

I had Ike ban me from the thread for a while but have decided to return in the hopes that we're building up to finding out more info straight from Nintendo. There are predictions that we'll get a direct on Friday and if that's the case then they'll probably announce the direct sometime tomorrow, but even if we don't get any info this week we're sure to learn something more from the investors meeting on the 26th. Hopefully by this time next week we'll be swimming in NX news.

 

It's quite impressive that everyone is still so unsure as to what the NX will be, with seemingly every other technology announcement we get solid leaks and know what the new iPhone looks like weeks, if not months, before it's officially announced. It's amazing that there is still such a mystery surrounding the NX.

[Ashley]

Well we might know if the EG leak was correct. It's just usually the time between leak and reveal isn't as biblical.

 

And because I'm procrastinating - if the NX is indeed released on the 31st March but not shown until the 27th November (unlikely) then will have been a greater time between EG leak and reveal than between reveal and release.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Ashley

[killthenet]

I'm of the mind that the Eurogamer leak is right, but the fact that there is any doubt about what it might be so close to reveal is remarkable. The last time I remember so much mystique around a hardware announcement was with the Wii controller.

[liger05]

I had Ike ban me from the thread for a while but have decided to return in the hopes that we're building up to finding out more info straight from Nintendo. There are predictions that we'll get a direct on Friday and if that's the case then they'll probably announce the direct sometime tomorrow, but even if we don't get any info this week we're sure to learn something more from the investors meeting on the 26th. Hopefully by this time next week we'll be swimming in NX news.

 

It's quite impressive that everyone is still so unsure as to what the NX will be, with seemingly every other technology announcement we get solid leaks and know what the new iPhone looks like weeks, if not months, before it's officially announced. It's amazing that there is still such a mystery surrounding the NX.

 

Nintendo NDA's are locked in tight. Third parties don't leak anything.

[Hero-of-Time]

[TWEET]788651192670785537[/TWEET]

 

She's adamant that something is getting shown this week. Will be hilarious if nothing shows up. Her reputation is already a bit shakey as it is.

[Agent Gibbs]

It's a shame it seems Nintendo still aren't doing enough for 3rd Parties, with RDR2 being confirmed for PS4 & XBO with no NX version in sight.

 

Well it is Rockstar, they've hated Nintendo for years, i get the impression nothing short of a lap dance for the Hausers (or who ever is in charge now) with a life times supply of blow jobs would get them to support a nintendo console

 

As a side note

Whenever someone mentions the Hausers, i think of Total Recall, i'm not the only one right? right?

Edited October 19, 2016 by Agent Gibbs

[Sheikah]

Rather than hating Nintendo, maybe they just hate the profits to be made by making special versions for Nintendo consoles?

[liger05]

Well it is Rockstar, they've hated Nintendo for years, i get the impression nothing short of a lap dance for the Hausers (or who ever is in charge now) with a life times supply of blow jobs would get them to support a nintendo console

 

As a side note

Whenever someone mentions the Hausers, i think of Total Recall, i'm not the only one right? right?

 

Hate nintendo? That's harsh.

 

I think they are just more inclined to see if the NX sells significant units before developing games. Still Nintendo could front the money themselves if they wanted.

 

 

Remember GTA China wars on the 3DS didn't sell too good.

 

Wasnt it leaked that Rockstar considered GTA V for Wii u and had devkits. Don't think anyone could say not releasing a wii u version was the wrong decision.

Edited October 19, 2016 by liger05

[Agent Gibbs]

Maybe hate is too strong, Ambivalence toward them?

[RedShell]

Well it is Rockstar, they've hated Nintendo for years, i get the impression nothing short of a lap dance for the Hausers (or who ever is in charge now) with a life times supply of blow jobs would get them to support a nintendo console

Indeed.

Strange things can happen though:

 

As a side note

Whenever someone mentions the Hausers, i think of Total Recall, i'm not the only one right? right?

Surprisingly I've never done that before, I probably will now though.

[Rummy]

I thought there's known bad blood between Rockstar and Nintendo from quite back in the day? Not sure why I think it, but I'll look into it in a sec! EDIT: Nope, can't find anything with some quick searching. Must have made it up!

 

Anyway - got thinking with a bit of a business flip; what if Nintendo don't want it to be too big off the bat? What if they're going to go cautious into the market after the WiiU? I'm still convinced they overmanufactured for their demand there and, if so, maybe it makes sense to try and go softly into the market and see what the demand is like? Of course, hype it too much and you can't keep up with stock and piss people off, hype it too little and you won't sell anything straight away; but can't you do a marketing push of sort of soft launch for the product after its actual release? Without a holiday season release there's really not any reason I can see to want to smash it right out of the gate.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Rummy

[Kav]

Whatever their thoughts toward Nintendo, Kimishima and co have to be doing much more to court them and win them over.

 

If it's the case that the cost of porting is once more too high when weighed up against predicted sales revenue then Nintendo only have themselves to blame once more and it'll more than likely be another stupid hardware decision for yet another generation.

[liger05]

I thought there's known bad blood between Rockstar and Nintendo from quite back in the day? Not sure why I think it, but I'll look into it in a sec! EDIT: Nope, can't find anything with some quick searching. Must have made it up!

 

Anyway - got thinking with a bit of a business flip; what if Nintendo don't want it to be too big off the bat? What if they're going to go cautious into the market after the WiiU? I'm still convinced they overmanufactured for their demand there and, if so, maybe it makes sense to try and go softly into the market and see what the demand is like? Of course, hype it too much and you can't keep up with stock and piss people off, hype it too little and you won't sell anything straight away; but can't you do a marketing push of sort of soft launch for the product after its actual release? Without a holiday season release there's really not any reason I can see to want to smash it right out of the gate.

 

No doubt the forecast will be way below what they claimed for the wii u. They won't be so bold but at the same time they can't forecast too low a number to which the markets won't like.

 

I don't think they can afford to be cautious. The NX needs to sell well from the start.

[Ashley]

Didn't they put out a ridiculous forecast part way through the Wii U life cycle even when it became clear it wouldn't hit that? Vague recollection.

[Debug Mode]

[TWEET]788651192670785537[/TWEET]

 

She's adamant that something is getting shown this week. Will be hilarious if nothing shows up. Her reputation is already a bit shakey as it is.

 

"Weird, fun and crazy"

 

So basically, most of the Nintendo library? I'm really cynical about this girl, she's rarely ever been right and when she posts stuff like this it's essentially cold reading, she can't be wrong.

[Rummy]

No doubt the forecast will be way below what they claimed for the wii u. They won't be so bold but at the same time they can't forecast too low a number to which the markets won't like.

 

I don't think they can afford to be cautious. The NX needs to sell well from the start.

 

Why not though? What do they lose with the approach I mention in my post? I can't see too much of a downside(I'm assuming a March/non-holiday release). What difference does it make selling well form the start, to good over the lifetime - didn't PS3 do this, though for different reasons?

 

Look at it this way - they've still got a core group of consumers. Sure, that's core's probably shrunk, but they've still got some guaranteed buyers out there and some fence-y maybes. Come out cautious so you don't risk losing money(higher manufacturing cost, storage cost of unsold units etc) with a plan to ramp up if demand is there and respond as appropriate.

 

Don't forget the other good thing about this system(if the rumours are true) - it's portable. It won't JUST be sitting in living rooms; it'll actually be getting out there in the big wider world. Non-owners are likely to encounter it via the owners. It has that benefit to it that it may start to sell itself slowly over time by people actually seeing it - I don't doubt a number of portable systems have sold to people who've learnt about them from another existing owner of said system.

 

Think about local multiplayer experiences with that(for example Mario Party single-cart 4 player download has been mentioned in the favourite marios thread) - this system could take the previous successes of the handheld and build upon it!

[dazzybee]

"Weird, fun and crazy"

 

So basically, most of the Nintendo library? I'm really cynical about this girl, she's rarely ever been right and when she posts stuff like this it's essentially cold reading, she can't be wrong.

 

She called the hybrid news BEFORE it happened, she's done a post about what the NX is that couldn't be more explicit and detailed if she tried. More than what most people do with their vagueness. Also, she said a new IP not an existing one.

 

She also said October reveal when everyone saying September.

 

I don't really know what more she can do when it comes to people supposedly ITK. Does more than anyone else out there.

[liger05]

Didn't they put out a ridiculous forecast part way through the Wii U life cycle even when it became clear it wouldn't hit that? Vague recollection.

 

5.5 mil by March 31 2013 and 24 mil software units sold in the same period.

 

In 2014 they had to again slash a hardware forecast as they said 2014 sales would be 9 million and revised it to 2.8 mil.

 

I don't think the original 5.5 mil was that unrealistic but the software sales was a bizarre one. The wii u had no games the first six months.

Edited October 19, 2016 by liger05

[Debug Mode]

She called the hybrid news BEFORE it happened, she's done a post about what the NX is that couldn't be more explicit and detailed if she tried. More than what most people do with their vagueness. Also, she said a new IP not an existing one.

 

She also said October reveal when everyone saying September.

 

I don't really know what more she can do when it comes to people supposedly ITK. Does more than anyone else out there.

 

Don't get me wrong, if she turns out to be completely correct about the NX stuff I have no problem admitting I was incorrect, but you do realise absolutely none of your examples have been proven right? The NX was rumoured to be hybrid way before she mentioned it by the way.

 

She was wrong about Star Fox and wrong about female link in the new Zelda (could still happen though!), and those were her previous high profile 'insider source' findings.

[dazzybee]

Ha, she's actually just said the same thing on Twitter about being called out of being vague and how specific she's been.

 

She also said the new mario IS going to be at the reveal and it isn't a sequel to galaxy.

 

Don't get me wrong, if she turns out to be completely correct about the NX stuff I have no problem admitting I was incorrect, but you do realise absolutely none of your examples have been proven right? The NX was rumoured to be hybrid way before she mentioned it by the way.

 

She was wrong about Star Fox and wrong about female link in the new Zelda (could still happen though!), and those were her previous high profile 'insider source' findings.

 

Didn't she get Paper Mario and Donkey kong from retro spot on.

 

And there were rumours about the hyrbrid, but the week up to the EG leak she specifically said it was all going to kick off with it, and she's done a post laying ut everything the nx is, no one else has had the balls to do that. I think she deserves plaudits for putting it out there rather than getting shot down. Whether she or anyone knows anything or not, at least she's being bold enough to say it, why does that deserve hate and bitching?