Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Rummy]

Zero Asian heritage I'm afraid.

 

My whole life has been a LIE

 

I don't see that being a problem - look at the nunchuck, plugging in power cables into mobile phones etc.

 

Question is - how often are you plugging those things in and out? Even my phone/cables have broken in the past, despite that being something a bit more universally designed/tested. I can see an active NX user, if this is a handheld/console hybrid, connecting and disconnecting this thing up almost every single day - taking it round with them etc. I hope if it is handheld in nature it's made both quite durable for its purpose(lack of clamshell design may risk the screens) and maybe a case for carrying as standard.

 

Just a quick note - They showed the Wiimote in 2005 - a full year before the Wii released. It's pretty crazy how early they showed it actually, because E3 then got a huge Wii unveiling (although they also showed the Wii at E3 2005).

 

And showcased it nationally with many hands-on events across the country, prior to release.

 

The problem is how to break the cycle now. The only way as I see it is to have a more powerful console so that the best version of a multiplatform will be on the NX (ignoring PC :P)

That's an expansive gamble though. There is no guarantee that having the strongest console would cause gamers to turn their backs on microsoft and sony, and with the NX releasing next year it will no doubt be over taking in terms of power by the next gen consoles. Unless Nintendo take the approach of being able to upgrade the dock and handheld component separately, allowing them to retain parity/slight superiority.

 

Kind of following from Ashley's post above and something people can forget - systems aren't entirely standalone. The NX is already in negative traction affected by the WiiU. So how do they turn it around? I don't think Nintendo can compete on software(yet) or go whole hog on hardcore hardware - so it comes back to my point that the system needs to be the kicker. It needs to offer people what they want beyond software - that's social and online on par with competition, maybe some potential for new experiences, the hybrid nature is already quite a killer USP if the others are implemented in ways similar to what I've suggested so far. This system needs to be good enough by itself, otherwise it's going to go the same way as the Wii U imo.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Rummy

[Ashley]

And showcased it nationally with many hands-on events across the country, prior to release.

 

I am curious what their plans on regarding this. I wonder if they'd do it before Christmas where shopping centres are busier but it not being out may cause disharmony. January and February are traditionally slower months so it might not be great...

 

Obviously certain people will go regardless, but foot traffic is important.

 

Or maybe they'll just release it...

[Rummy]

I am curious what their plans on regarding this. I wonder if they'd do it before Christmas where shopping centres are busier but it not being out may cause disharmony. January and February are traditionally slower months so it might not be great...

 

Obviously certain people will go regardless, but foot traffic is important.

 

Or maybe they'll just release it...

 

Tbh I don't think they'd do it with the NX. The Wii was quite a new/revolutionary input method - it almost had to be experienced to explain it. Tbh the WiiU could have done with that too, but was more of the 'traditional' game system with its pad input(even tho Nintendoland is hilarious, despite my overexcitement when it comes to Mario Chase :p) but how much are you going to showcase with the NX? A hybrid hand/home console pretty much already sells to an audience who know about or follow it - it's potentially capturing both the home console and 3DS markets together. If the system itself is really good its handheld nature may then very well lead to further sales but getting it out there and seen, if that makes sense.

 

 

Also they aren't going to hit Christmas sales due to its March release date - showcasing too much might actually damage them in it'll make people want a console, but they can't have this, so they then buy something else rather than wait til March.

[Ashley]

Yeah it depends what kind of console it ends up being. If the rumours are true it probably could be released without showcasing to explain, but would be good to do so for buzz. Unless they wait until it has launched anyway and go for the "you liked playing this? You can buy it right now!" kind of angle.

[Rummy]

Yeah it depends what kind of console it ends up being. If the rumours are true it probably could be released without showcasing to explain, but would be good to do so for buzz. Unless they wait until it has launched anyway and go for the "you liked playing this? You can buy it right now!" kind of angle.

 

Having it on display in like GAME etc would be cool. You could have two - one hooked up to its dock, one handheld, may show interactions between the two or the differences etc. I definitely think some sort of hands-on marketing/awareness is needed really.

 

I could see myself, if the NX turns out to be something that is what I want, taking it out and about and almost selling it to all the Nintendo fans I know who didn't get on the WiiU bandwagon. The NX, with its hybrid nature, may be the thing to take an edge off of that. Still though - it isn't going to end up in my hands to do that unless it's proper on par with the competition in terms of functionality and hopefully some aspects of library.

[bob]

My whole life has been a life

 

My life too, has been a life.

[Pestneb]

Who buys a Nintendo console for third parties any more. This wasn't always the case. It's getting worse as generations go on, but it wasn't always the case. The first Madden home console game was on the freaking SNES after all! And Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Hell even Doom was on the SNES!

 

This is what gets people annoyed. The Nintendo as it is now is not the Nintendo they grew up with. This (and other reasons) is why people move on to other consoles. This is what people want Nintendo to recapture. And they do it because they love Nintendo and because they want Nintendo to succeed and they want to be excited about a Nintendo console beyond Nintendo's own games.

 

remembering my nes... I loved bionic commando, galaxy 5000, rad racer, mario, kirby's adventure, cosmic space head and dizzy (unofficial) asterix... blades of steel, mission impossible... TMHT (the good one:P) there were other games but those are the ones I remember the most easily playing and loving.

Most games I played weren't Nintendo games, and actually the "tone" Nintendo had wasn't as distinguished.

Snes gen was the same.

I think the game changer was the N64 generation. Nintendo went for a cartoony look that I far preferred - PS games tended to be muddy, because of the low poly models and amount of detail they tried to include and realism they sought, I found the games just felt less intuitive. So I appreciated the cartoon style that kept things clear.

For the GC, Nintendo continued pushing that aesthetic, but I think it was a time they could have pushed, artistically in the other direction to an extent. F-zero GX was a good balance of clarity and "grittiness" that fit the game well. Wii wasn't as big of a jump, but last gen was where I felt the full on "realism" look began to work well in a gaming context, visual fidelity was up to par. Just my take on it.

This gen though the games that lend themselves more to that grittier look (F-zero, Metroid, 1080, waverace et al.) have been missing, and that is a real shame. Hopefully they will make a return on the NX. A federation force stlye fps, using experience from splatoon but skinned to look more serious.... that would be something that would appeal to me.

[Sheikah]

Just a quick note - They showed the Wiimote in 2005 - a full year before the Wii released. It's pretty crazy how early they showed it actually, because E3 then got a huge Wii unveiling (although they also showed the Wii at E3 2005).

Honestly, Nintendo could have shown it 3 years before release, I don't think it would have mattered.

 

Sony and Microsoft copied it when they saw it was commercially successful, which was after launch.

[Dcubed]

Honestly, Nintendo could have shown it 3 years before release, I don't think it would have mattered.

 

Sony and Microsoft copied it when they saw it was commercially successful, which was after launch.

 

Actually, Sony tried to copy the Wiimote with the Sixaxis, just about 6 months or so after the Wiimote was unveiled. Granted, it was a crap attempt, shoehorned into an existing controller, but it did happen

[Sheikah]

Actually, Sony copied the Wiimote with the Sixaxis, just about 6 months or so after the Wiimote was unveiled. Granted, it was a crap attempt, shoehorned into an existing controller, but it did happen

Nah that wasn't the copy. The sixaxis was not a pointing device. And motion tech in general was already knocking about way before the Wii (not sure if you knew).

 

The copy was PlayStation Move.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Sheikah

[Ashley]

Yeah Sixaxis was gyro so if anything it was copying phones/DS rather than the Wii (which could also use gyro but was hardly it's USP).

[Sheikah]

Sony also was experimenting with motion detection much earlier with the Eyetoy, and lost the ability to put in vibration in their controllers so basically had to come up with something else.

 

I don't buy that the Sixaxis was a Wii remote rip off at all. If Sony believed that Nintendo were on to a winner with their controller then the Move would have come out right away, plain and simple. The Sixaxis is just a totally different thing to what the Wii remote did.

[Dcubed]

Yeah Sixaxis was gyro so if anything it was copying phones/DS rather than the Wii (which could also use gyro but was hardly it's USP).

 

Err... The first gen iPhone came out in 2007... That was long after both the PS3 and the Wii launched.

 

Motion controls hadn't really been used by mainstream commercial devices before the Wiimote, outside of niche stuff like certain GBA games, the Dreamcast Fishing Rod, Kirby's tilt N' tumble etc...

 

And the Sixaxis was an obvious reaction to the Wii Remote, given that we had actually seen the revised design (not the boomerang controller) at CES 2006 a few months prior to E3 2006, sans tilt sensor; it was also supposedly a last minute addition that was integrated only a few weeks before E3 2006.

 

So yeah, just one of many examples of Nintendo's ideas being stolen. Not hard to see why they want to keep shtum as long as possible before announcing their stuff now.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Dcubed

[Ashley]

Err... The first gen iPhone came out in 2007... That was long after both the PS3 and the Wii launched.

 

Motion controls hadn't really been used by mainstream commercial devices before the Wiimote, outside of niche stuff like certain GBA games, the Dreamcast Fishing Rod, Kirby's tilt N' tumble etc...

 

And the Sixaxis was an obvious reaction to the Wii Remote, given that we had actually seen the revised design (not the boomerang controller) at CES 2006 a few months prior to E3 2006, sans tilt sensor; it was also supposedly a last minute addition that was integrated only a few weeks before E3 2006.

 

So yeah, just one of many examples of Nintendo's ideas being stolen. Not hard to see why they want to keep shtum as long as possible before announcing their stuff now.

 

Yeah Apple didn't invent gyroscope either source

 

Regardless of public/mainstream knowledge about gyroscope (or any other technology) companies will be better informed. They have to be. NASA started making gyroscopic devices in the 60s, but for obvious reasons it took time to be commercially viable. We're seeing that play out with VR at the moment.

 

If it was a reaction to the Wii (which I don't believe it was), then it wasn't a direct reaction. Motion controls and gyroscope are distinctly different so if we take the view that Sony were copying Nintendo, at least they were going about it in a different way. Until Move.

[Sheikah]

Err... The first gen iPhone came out in 2007... That was long after both the PS3 and the Wii launched.

 

Motion controls hadn't really been used by mainstream commercial devices before the Wiimote, outside of niche stuff like certain GBA games, the Dreamcast Fishing Rod, Kirby's tilt N' tumble etc...

 

And the Sixaxis was an obvious reaction to the Wii Remote, given that we had actually seen the revised design (not the boomerang controller) at CES 2006 a few months prior to E3 2006, sans tilt sensor; it was also supposedly a last minute addition that was integrated only a few weeks before E3 2006.

 

So yeah, just one of many examples of Nintendo's ideas being stolen. Not hard to see why they want to keep shtum as long as possible before announcing their stuff now.

As I said, the Eyetoy was a motion capturing device, as was the Sixaxis. So if you wanted to make such a tenuous link as Wii remote to Sixaxis then you could just as easily link Eyetoy to Wii Remote.

 

It's a bit ridiculous to specifically mention Nintendo though when it comes to stealing ideas, as all game companies steal ideas from each other literally all the time. Online features, controller features, disc technology...you name it, Nintendo have copied it.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Sheikah

[Rummy]

It's all going to be debatable - but from my own personal feeling at the time I definitely felt as if Sixaxis was a direct reaction to the Wii's motion/gyro/movement or what you want to call it controls. Obvs we can't fully distinguish, but I do definitely recall feeling at the time of announcement that it was.

 

It does help highlight how much more we knew about the Wii earlier on, though.

[Goafer]

Motion controls hadn't really been used by mainstream commercial devices before the Wiimote, outside of niche stuff like certain GBA games, the Dreamcast Fishing Rod, Kirby's tilt N' tumble etc..

 

So what you're saying is, the Wiimote is actually a ripoff of the Dreamcast Fishing Controller.

 

Advantage Sega...

 

...except not really as they're still shit.

 

It's a bit ridiculous to specifically mention Nintendo though when it comes to stealing ideas, as all game companies steal ideas from each other literally all the time. Online features, controller features, disc technology...you name it, Nintendo have copied it.

 

I think we can all agree that Nintendo certainly haven't stolen any online features from the competition.

[Sheikah]

I think we can all agree that Nintendo certainly haven't stolen any online features from the competition.

 

Haha. I'd love to agree based on how poor their service is, but in actual fact they have copied a lot of basic features.

 

On the subject of shameless Nintendo steals, here's a pretty obvious one:

 

[Dcubed]

Haha. I'd love to agree based on how poor their service is, but in actual fact they have copied a lot of basic features.

 

On the subject of shameless Nintendo steals, here's a pretty obvious one:

 

 

True. When you consider that it was made because of requests from 3rd party developers (specifically Activision and Ubisoft IIRC) and designed for them specifically, the design makes sense though.

 

Originally, the Wii U was just gonna re-use the Wii controllers for all multiplayer games (though they were originally planning on having dual Wii U Gamepad games as well). It was only thanks to Acti/Ubi's demands that we got the Wii U Pro Controller at all. Which is why most 1st party Nintendo multiplayer titles didn't support it at all originally (and why it is relegated to a side choice in most 1st party titles in favour of the Wii Remote/Wii Remote & Chuck).

 

Same thing with the Wii Classic Controller Pro and the 3DS Circle Pad Pro as well BTW (You can thank Capcom for those).

Edited August 19, 2016 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

Nintendo copied the Giana Sisters for Mario

[Ashley]

True. When you consider that it was made because of requests from 3rd party developers (specifically Activision and Ubisoft IIRC) and designed for them specifically, the design makes sense though.

 

Originally, the Wii U was just gonna re-use the Wii controllers for all multiplayer games (though they were originally planning on having dual Wii U Gamepad games as well). It was only thanks to Acti/Ubi's demands that we got the Wii U Pro Controller at all. Which is why most 1st party Nintendo multiplayer titles didn't support it at all originally (and why it is relegated to a side choice in most 1st party titles in favour of the Wii Remote/Wii Remote & Chuck)

 

Although I think that makes an interesting point about what third party developers think of "gimmicky" controllers anyway...

[Dcubed]

Although I think that makes an interesting point about what third party developers think of "gimmicky" controllers anyway...

 

Agreed. It does say a lot. It also shows that they want something that doesn't deviate from an established norm in regards to software/hardware design.

 

But it also shows that Nintendo are willing to accede where feasible. Hopefully OS level voice chat is next!

[Ashley]

Agreed. It does say a lot. It also shows that they want something that doesn't deviate from an established norm in regards to software/hardware design.

 

But it also shows that Nintendo are willing to accede where feasible. Hopefully OS level voice chat is next!

 

It's a difficult one. I completely understand why third parties would want standardisation as it makes their lives a lot easier. I also understand why Nintendo wish to stick out.

 

It's a tricky pickle.

[dazzybee]

As people say regularly, nintendos home console success has been slowly deteriorating, 3rd parties have, sales of third parties have (with the Wii being the anomaly). If getting third parties on board means creating a console as powerful as the competition con anyone really expect Nintendo to do that? I know each case is more complex than that, but Nintendo have been losing in that race since the n64. Maybe creating a cheap, hyrbid Nintendo device IS the best choice for them and we just need to get over it.

 

I really don't think it's fair to attack Nintendo for it. I think having this third company doing things completely differently is smart, and maybe more importantly, exactly what the industry needs.

 

But I really want to do know what it is once and for all and what 3rd parties are doing for it. Then we know, and can discuss that. Then we know if it's for us or not. And if it's not, hopefully people won't feel the need to constantly criticise this seemingly brave decision.

[Ashley]

Oh yeah I think it could be a smart move for them. Less to support, less to advertise, less to lobby for. Allows them to focus and let's face it the handheld market is empty so it's there's for the taking whereas they're slowly deteriorating in the home console sphere.