Nintendo Switch

[Niners Fan in CT]

Yeah I don't see Madden happening. But it looks like they are getting NBA 2K18 on time which is nice. I never thought about playing 2K games on the go but I think it could be fun and it's one of those games that is a good party game with friends and what not.  I'd like to see them get WWE 2K also.   The graphics on those games aren't a big deal. 

I've seen some gameplay/stills from Skyrim, it actually doesn't look that bad at all. 

The switch does have things that it can offer that the other systems can't.  Hopefully, they could get some exclusive content/play styles with their 3rd party ports.

[SirSmUgly]

Three hundred bucks is too much for a Vita 2. I have a Vita. I love my Vita. I wish that I could play Mario and Zelda on my Vita. 

Just not enough to pay three hundred bucks. 

Too bad, because LoZ looks tasty and I don't have a WiiU to play one. I looked into getting one, but they're still two hundred-plus dollars, which is insane. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

It's a lot better than the Vita though...

[SirSmUgly]

2 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

It's a lot better than the Vita though...

...nah.

(Obviously it is graphically, but not in terms of anything else that I can see, especially price-wise. Joycon MSRP makes Vita SD card prices seem downright reasonable.)

[Kevin Wilson]

So via Twitter we got an accidental peek at the UI.

Besides it looking pretty sleek, nothing really special, although its promising the developer is bringing over two more games as it furthers my theory that the Switch is much easier to port for since its strong enough to handle just about any current game out (unlike five year old handhelds) and doesn't have really weird ass controls required. Should lead to a lot more games being released than the Wii U, not all will be winners but options are always good.

The fourth game on the right is apparently the logo for Hydra Castle Labyrinth.

[username]

8 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

Too bad, because LoZ looks tasty and I don't have a WiiU to play one. I looked into getting one, but they're still two hundred-plus dollars, which is insane. 

The price of new Wii Us is insane given that it is more or less discontinued.  That said, if you are willing to go the used route you can get one with a few games (usually DL'd onto the thing as Nintendo's downloadable game process is... unique) for a bit under two bills.

[SirSmUgly]

On 1/22/2017 at 7:35 PM, username said:

The price of new Wii Us is insane given that it is more or less discontinued.  That said, if you are willing to go the used route you can get one with a few games (usually DL'd onto the thing as Nintendo's downloadable game process is... unique) for a bit under two bills.

You would think! However, used WiiUs/refurbs are all at $200 or above everywhere I've checked (Gamestop, Game Over, Nintendo's own site, etc.). 

I went to Craigslist, and the lowest I saw is a used Nintendoland bundle for $180. At that point, I might as well spend the extra $120 and get a Switch.

I guess I'll just wait for the Switch to have a price drop, which it probably can actually have since the controller can have its production/parts costs cut unlike the WiiU's. 

[username]

I mean, I paid $150+$20 S&H for a used Wii U with Mario 3d World, Bayonetta 1 & 2 and Sonic Kart DL'd onto the thing (even threw in a disc copy of Mass Effect 3) over the weekend, so trust me when I tell you it is possible.  You may have to dig a bit though.

[Kevin Wilson]

So here is an updated look at announced games, from reddit:

The marketing campaign has been remarkably better for the Switch than the Wii U. I mean that is an extremely low bar since I think the Wii U was the worst marketed game console in history. But a lot of people at my job are talking about it and the commercials are doing a better job at showing what it can do and its still really hard to get a pre-order for one. If they can make them as fast as they say they can I don't think it will be impossible to find by the summer, although it may get hard to find again around the holidays if retailers do bundles with Mario.

I think as long as gamers/Nintendo recognize the Switch isn't trying to beat PS4 or XBox in terms of graphics/power, the system will be seen as a success. I think it was smart of Nintendo to go in a different direction as trying to compete directly with Sony/Microsoft in a realm they have owned for the last ten years would have been a mistake. Gamers with a PS4, gaming PC, or XBox One weren't going to buy Switches to play COD or Battlefield. But since the Switch is easier to port for, it still won't have the issue of the Wii U of having no games to play, which is a step up.

None of the newly announced launch games excite me personally, but the more the merrier.

[Death From Above]

Am I missing it or are they getting FIFA and NBA, but no Madden or NHL? That seems a little odd.

 

Cave Story is hardly new, but I think it's a really good game for Nintendo's core audience.

 

Little Inferno is... very hard to describe. I think it's a very interesting concept and piece of software. I think it should be applauded as such, for just how unusual it is. And I do not think it is a very good game.

[Kevin Wilson]

5 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

Am I missing it or are they getting FIFA and NBA, but no Madden or NHL? That seems a little odd.

 

Cave Story is hardly new, but I think it's a really good game for Nintendo's core audience.

 

Little Inferno is... very hard to describe. I think it's a very interesting concept and piece of software. I think it should be applauded as such, for just how unusual it is. And I do not think it is a very good game.

EA hasn't said anything beyond FIFA. Although they tend to port Madden to anything that can be easy to port for, so I don't know how much in advance they have to decide to port a game so it can all be released on the same day. But I think EA wants to see how FIFA does before announcing NFL or NHL, NBA is a different developer.

I'd think NBA 2K18 being announced is encouraging for WWE 2K18... I am not sure if companies are going to wait until a game is officially announced to say the consoles the game will be out for or if it will leak early.

[Death From Above]

The WWE release pattern has seemed to go Console > DLCs > gap > PC release so far, more or less. I would bet they throw Switch in with the PC timing at least once to see what happens.

[Kevin Wilson]

1 minute ago, Death From Above said:

The WWE release pattern has seemed to go Console > DLCs > gap > PC release so far, more or less. I would bet they throw Switch in with the PC timing at least once to see what happens.

WWE seems like the type of thing that Nintendo would push a bit for since it matches what their vision of the system is (people bringing it with them places and it becoming a party type thing). I don't see that vision being the main way the console is played, but I think that is why they were all-in in FIFA and NBA but apparently weren't overly excited about a game like Borderlands which doesn't fit that theme. So while I know its not up to Nintendo, if they already have a decent relationship with 2K I could see them doing their part to get it on the console sooner than later in its cycle.

I mean hell I can already see the commercials of wrestlers awkwardly sitting around a table all playing the Switch.

[Kevin Wilson]

Someone on reddit posted the original Wii U reveal, I forgot how absolutely bad it was in conveying it was a new system and not just a new controller:

Spoiler

 

As much as I think most of the things they have done so far for the Switch are positive, they deserve all the shit (and lack of sales) they got for the Wii U. A massive misfire. As a future Switch owner I hope that developers don't hold it against them but I wouldn't blame them if they are more cautious than usual.

[Niners Fan in CT]

WWE would be a good look for Nintendo.  I think it would also rile up everyone (including myself) who just want a new THQ game but whatever.  Wrestling on the go is cool and the system does not have to be powerful to run WWE 2K. 

[Death From Above]

My favourite thing about that Wii U trailer, other than it going out of its way to pretend to be a controller instead of a console for reasons I cannot possibly fathom, is middle fingering everyone with Zelda footage. Much funnier in hindsight.

[Death From Above]

8 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said:

WWE seems like the type of thing that Nintendo would push a bit for since it matches what their vision of the system is (people bringing it with them places and it becoming a party type thing). I don't see that vision being the main way the console is played, but I think that is why they were all-in in FIFA and NBA but apparently weren't overly excited about a game like Borderlands which doesn't fit that theme.

If that's how they view Borderlands then they literally misunderstand everything about Borderlands' enduring popularity as FPS's best gag reel. I think it's more likely that Miyamoto is just running a 30-year prop bet with the head of Sony to prove Nintendo can survive that long without doing a good FPS post-Perfect Dark.

[Kevin Wilson]

4 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

If that's how they view Borderlands then they literally misunderstand everything about Borderlands' enduring popularity as FPS's best gag reel. I think it's more likely that Miyamoto is just running a 30-year prop bet with the head of Sony to prove Nintendo can survive that long without doing a good FPS post-Perfect Dark.

That's just me guessing, the Borderlands guy had just said they were in early talks with Nintendo but that they went silent, which implied to most listening that it wasn't a focus of Nintendo's to get a game like Borderlands. Maybe they wanted a higher cut of the profits or a special deal on something, who knows, I don't really know exactly how the 'behind the scenes' conversations work between the console makers and the developers/publishers.

[Death From Above]

I actually don't disagree that Borderlands doesn't really fit with Nintendo's image, in the sense that I honestly can't tell you the last Mature rated game Nintendo did that was a hit. I'm so out of touch with their last few systems I might even guess it was a Turok game or something. Maybe the Resident Evil stuff on gamecube, after that I'm out of the Nintendo loop. But I really have no idea what third party M rated support looked like on Wii.

Borderlands is not something I think of when I think Nintendo and I do think it would be a strange fit.

[Kevin Wilson]

52 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

I actually don't disagree that Borderlands doesn't really fit with Nintendo's image, in the sense that I honestly can't tell you the last Mature rated game Nintendo did that was a hit. I'm so out of touch with their last few systems I might even guess it was a Turok game or something. Maybe the Resident Evil stuff on gamecube, after that I'm out of the Nintendo loop. But I really have no idea what third party M rated support looked like on Wii.

Borderlands is not something I think of when I think Nintendo and I do think it would be a strange fit.

Bayonetta 2 is the most popular M rated game for Nintendo lately, and one of the few Wii U exclusives that I heard good things about and wished I could play. But yea that was definitely not normal for them, not sure how it came about that they published a game like that.

[SirSmUgly]

As far as notable M-rated games on Nintendo consoles: GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS, Eternal Darkness on Gamecube, Madworld on Wii, Bayonetta 2 on WiiU, off the top of my head. 

Re: WWE on Switch, WWE All-Stars 2 would be the perfect arcadey counterpart on Switch to the WWE sim games on other consoles, but sadly THQ San Diego is of-course long dead, so I don't know if 2K farming that IP out to one of their studios would really even come close to the greatness that was All-Stars. 

[Kevin Wilson]

A small developer called FDG Entertainment announced their game Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is being ported over. I've never heard of it, but this twitter chain was interesting:

As its been mentioned, these little games aren't console movers. I think Nintendo only has four IPs that sell consoles globally by themselves: 3D/Modern Mario Games, Zelda, Pokemon, and Monster Hunter (mostly in Japan). But so many smaller developers saying that the Switch is easy to port from PS4/Xbox One is great as at least those that buy the system should have a fair amount of options in regards to other games to buy on it. And it being portable appears to be enticing to some developers as newer games are too resource intensive for the 3DS or Vita so it allows them to have a portable game without having to downsize the game itself.

I buy anything Nintendo, but I sold my Wii U after about two years because no games were coming out. I think the greatest fear of anyone already buying a Switch was that it would have a lack of games, so that is really what I am keeping my eye on. Quality of games is obviously important too and right now it is mostly just ports, but these games had to skip the Wii U due to how..... weird it was so at least its better than nothing.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Mobile gaming is a big fucking deal too. My mother plays mobile games. She's never played a console game in her life. I don't think the Switch is competing with PS4 and Xbox One.  It's a hybrid system that can act as a home console and give you plenty of options for home gaming but more so it's a successor to 3DS and is also entering the mobile/tablet game.

[Kevin Wilson]

5 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Mobile gaming is a big fucking deal too. My mother plays mobile games. She's never played a console game in her life. I don't think the Switch is competing with PS4 and Xbox One.  It's a hybrid system that can act as a home console and give you plenty of options for home gaming but more so it's a successor to 3DS and is also entering the mobile/tablet game.

I agree, I mean I don't think it will get the super casual gamer like the Wii tricked people into doing, but people that say its under-powered either don't understand what Nintendo does or are just trolling. Trying to compete in regards of power would have been the biggest mistake Nintendo could have done, the market share for super powerful gaming setups has been established.

I will concede they should have put in more storage, that's a problem. A fixable one, but I think any console that sells digital games needs more room than that. But the rest of the specs seem fine for their goals.

[Niners Fan in CT]

1 minute ago, Kevin Wilson said:

I agree, I mean I don't think it will get the super casual gamer like the Wii tricked people into doing, but people that say its under-powered either don't understand what Nintendo does or are just trolling. Trying to compete in regards of power would have been the biggest mistake Nintendo could have done, the market share for super powerful gaming setups has been established.

I will concede they should have put in more storage, that's a problem. A fixable one, but I think any console that sells digital games needs more room than that. But the rest of the specs seem fine for their goals.

And games like Zelda look beautiful.  I'm not sure what the differences are between docked/on-the-go but Zelda looks great on the big screen and it also looks really good on the tablet and appears to run very smoothly.  It doesn't look like it loses much.  I don't understand the obsession with power in this case because people are acting like the Switch is 8-bit or something.  It has power. It can make beautiful looking games. It cannot do the top end PS4 PRO shit but who cares...  because at the end of the day you are going to buy a PlayStation or Xbox (or both) for that...    while Nintendo has a load of their own IPs you cannot play anywhere else.