Nintendo Switch

[GoFlamesGo 6]

Anyone excited for the Nintendo Switch gaming console that is coming out in March? I saw the press conference for it the other day and it looks pretty amazing. I will probably get it when it comes out.

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

In the initial presentation I thought the idea was pretty cool, but now in this newest presentation I'm not as sure as I was. There's not a lot of great launch titles.

 

I already have a Wii U, and Mario Odyssey isn't coming out until probably holiday 2017, so I'll probably just grab Zelda on the Wii U and wait off on the Switch.

[Da Trifecta 1,899]

I will wait until it drops in price before approaching it

[Baozi 1,658]

No games I really want atm so I'll prob hold off. Only semi convinced on Zelda and fire emblem.

 

Also the fact that they are doing a psplus type online sub but worse is kind of off putting. Like honestly you don't even get to keep the free game of the month??

 

Also I'll probably wait for a secondary production line as well and waiting to see if games like ogre battle and what not make it to the virtual console.

[Beketov 9,026]

I've never personally bought a Nintendo console (though my wife bought a Wii and my parents owned an NES when I was a kid) anddont think the Switch will change that.

 

The idea of a portable / Home console is okay but I'm not sure the market is as sizeable as they think. Couple that with severely underwhelming hardware and graphics + very few games (and historically Nintendo is very bad at third party as well) and it just doesn't peak my interest.

 

I definitely know people who are into it and have pre-ordered one but for that price point ($400 pre-tax in Canada with no games) I'm just not interested.

[Baozi 1,658]

27 minutes ago, Beketov said:

I've never personally bought a Nintendo console (though my wife bought a Wii and my parents owned an NES when I was a kid) anddont think the Switch will change that.

 

The idea of a portable / Home console is okay but I'm not sure the market is as sizeable as they think. Couple that with severely underwhelming hardware and graphics + very few games (and historically Nintendo is very bad at third party as well) and it just doesn't peak my interest.

 

I definitely know people who are into it and have pre-ordered one but for that price point ($400 pre-tax in Canada with no games) I'm just not interested.

 

I'd have to disagree with your assessment of the market. There is an huge demand for mobile platforms of gaming as well as the traditional model of consoles. Gaming revenues for mobile gaming and similiar platforms has been growing at incredible rates with heavy forecast going forward.

 

 

Even if the switch fails, the market in itself that crosses over from console to handheld to tablet is a very large chunk. Of course it probably also bites into the smartphone gaming industry as well depending on its portability. So you're looking at an entry into a market of over 30% which is very sizable.

[Beketov 9,026]

1 hour ago, tfong said:

 

I'd have to disagree with your assessment of the market. There is an huge demand for mobile platforms of gaming as well as the traditional model of consoles. Gaming revenues for mobile gaming and similiar platforms has been growing at incredible rates with heavy forecast going forward.

 

 

Even if the switch fails, the market in itself that crosses over from console to handheld to tablet is a very large chunk. Of course it probably also bites into the smartphone gaming industry as well depending on its portability. So you're looking at an entry into a market of over 30% which is very sizable.

Oh I don't deny that at all, there are people who want portable, the DS market has proven that well and smartphone games are a huge market. Where I'm saying the market is confusing is this new market they are trying to create of home console / portable. Maybe it'll be huge and I'm undervaluing it but I'm not sure how many people will want to have an under-powered home console just for the few times they'll take it with them. It's a cool idea in theory but I don't know if it will really work well in practice. Especially considering the debs are likely going to need to build their games around 2 very different spec points since it appears that docked it draws more power than un-docked but it is supposed to run the same games for both.

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

Mobile gaming is the gaming of the future, for better or for worse.

 

That Mario Run or whatever it was called is going to be like our MarioKart or Super Mario 64 or whatever Mario you grew up on. Just like they have that Temple Run-esque game dressed up as a Sonic game. It's just the progression of things it seems.

 

I'm more of a purist myself, I still have my family's original NES, our Super Nintendo, N64, Sega, and even Atari. I don't play any of them regularly but I do have an old TV just for that purpose.

[Baozi 1,658]

I hate those run games personally, but then again im not big into platformers.

[Devise 4,475]

59 minutes ago, evrydayimbyfuglien said:

Mobile gaming is the gaming of the future, for better or for worse.

 

That Mario Run or whatever it was called is going to be like our MarioKart or Super Mario 64 or whatever Mario you grew up on. Just like they have that Temple Run-esque game dressed up as a Sonic game. It's just the progression of things it seems.

 

I'm more of a purist myself, I still have my family's original NES, our Super Nintendo, N64, Sega, and even Atari. I don't play any of them regularly but I do have an old TV just for that purpose.

 

Gotta disagree with a lot of this post, but that sentiment completely. I'm not implying mobile gaming isn't a large market, or that it won't continue to be. But Mario Run isn't comparable to Mario Kart or Super Mario 64 on any regard. I'm not just talking about in terms of quality of game, play style, controls, etc. I'm talking about marketing even. Super Mario Odysessy, which Nintendo has announced and themselves compared to Mario 64. They will release another Mario Kart on the Switch at some point. Run wasn't even made by Nintendo as a replacement to their tentpole franchises, just them arriving late to the mobile platform and refusing to do an experience that people really want, and instead just using going with the endless runner formula. 

But in regards specifically to your mobile gaming of the future. It's just a misguided statement imo. Gaming is the future. Seeing games progress into different markets as they have, such as VR, mobile etc isn't a sign that the other gaming markets are dying. All stats show that the demand for non mobile experiences, and that the audience of gamers who always enjoy playing on a TV with a controller or what have you is still just as large, and growing. 

 

If anything it's more just a sign that games are going to be continue to redefined, how we play them will, but in general the quality of games we play on any platform will continue to have a relatlively high standard. Sure there are stinkers out there. But every medium is beginning to get things worthwhile, and you'll see an audience that reflects that. I mean you already do in some regards, with players only playing on certain platforms and a mix and match of playing on a variety. 

Anyway in regards to the Nintendo Switch, I'm pretty much had it with this company honestly. Zelda looks great, so I'm going to play it on the second Wii U I impulse bought after I sold my first one for a TV. I impulse bought the Wii U because Mario Maker is so damn good and I had to play it. But the Switch doesn't know what it wants to be. It's a typical Nintendo move. They honed in on the aspects of the Wii U and the Wii that they thought worked. What I think they fail to realize is they are trying to market this thing as the replacement for both the Wii U and the 3DS, which is reportedly going to be stopped in production sometime in the next while here. You can't have an "on the go" console with the 2-3 hour undocked battery life Nintendo was talking about. 

As much as I love the idea of playing Skyrim or a game of similar control/quality on handheld, not if it' only lasts me 2 hours in battery life lol. Plus it's not like you play this things tablet while it's docked to a TV. At that point your using a traditional controller experience. And at that point I already have  PS4 with a better controller, a better library, a better online service, a better digital catalog, a better market strategy. We'll see how this thing does, and I'm still really eager to check out Zelda on Wii U. 

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

I figured with the money made from mobile gaming surpassing PC/console gaming this past year, it was a sign of things to come, people are spending more on mobile so companies are going to start creating more mobile content and less console-based. I could be totally wrong but the fact that more money was made in mobile where games are a lot cheaper means that a lot more had to be sold to make that money than say a $60 game.

 

Edit: As for the Mario/Sonic thing, I just meant that those games will be a lot of younger people's introduction to those franchises.

Edited January 17, 2017 by evrydayimbyfuglien

[Devise 4,475]

10 minutes ago, evrydayimbyfuglien said:

I figured with the money made from mobile gaming surpassing PC/console gaming this past year, it was a sign of things to come, people are spending more on mobile so companies are going to start creating more mobile content and less console-based. I could be totally wrong but the fact that more money was made in mobile where games are a lot cheaper means that a lot more had to be sold to make that money than say a $60 game.

 

 

I think it's more that while it is a sign of things to come, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to wipe out what came before. I'm with you in the beginning of that analysis, seeing mobile make up the largest sector of money made in games is a good indication of where big time publishers are going to start to push. Your seeing that now already. Mobile used to be a lot of overseas companies and not a lot of well known publishers. Now EA, Nintendo etc are getting involved.

 

But just because EA is now making Star Wars mobile games and money on that, the money they make on Battlefront as a console game for example, is still so large it makes zero sense to abandon that consumer base. Which is the point I was kind of making. The types of content and how you engage with it is still so vastly different between a home console and a tablet or phone that you risk simply losing consumers by saying "eh we aint making $60 games no more."

 

There is also that other element, where despite the fact that this is a business, it's also a creative one. Which means it's not always money driven. Passion projects by developers with or without a big budget especially in a Kickstarter world means more and more people are trying to make the game they always wanted to make, and often times that isn't a mobile thing. 

But I mean even from a business stand point it makes sense. Triple A publishers like an EA or an Activision have and will shut down some studios, but they aren't going to pull out of the console market entirely. What has happened instead is they have reduced the amount of risks they take in the console space, meaning they still publish or put that big AAA console mone into anything that market wise will sell. See Call of Duty, Star Wars, etc etc. Generally it ends up being a lot of sequels lol. But they still stay in the space. The thing about games is, it's all about install base. As long as a game still has a healthy active one, a publisher will make a game there. Considering there is almost 50 million PS4's out there and 25 Million Xbox Ones, that market is still ripe for cash from a business stand point. 

[JardyB10 4,865]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy/apologist and I'll blindly approve of everything they do. But I've never purchased a new console. I've barely purchased a console, period. I bought a new Playstation when the PS2 came out and they were a lot cheaper, and I bought my friend's old PS2 when he got a PS3. My parents got us a Wii for Christmas 3 or 4 years after they were released. I don't love console gaming enough to justify buying the newest shit when it's released.

 

So historically speaking, I probably will never own a Nintendo Switch. I might get a PS4 when PS5's are all the rage.

[Baozi 1,658]

VR is a niche, its not going to be a mainstream source of gaming at least for awhile. Its just too much work required to setup and in this generation we value convenience and ability to play on the fly.

[dasboot 521]

How many Switch enjoyers we got here?

 

The new Mario party is sick