So what do people think of the Nintendo Switch? As a console I think The Switch is a great idea, with the Wii U i've always thought it would be nice if I could take the gamepad and use it else where in the house (i know you can to some degree, the range isn't great if you have thick walls). The switch improved on the Wii U and made a truly hybrid console, which you can take anywhere. A great innovation! I've always liked the Nintendo handheld consoles, so been able to take The Switch and dock it when at home, using it like a proper home console is a great idea I think. You could even have a dock in multiple rooms if you have more than one place you'd like to play. Sadly the games are really lacking as it stand I think. The only thing i really like the look of is Fast RMX, given how much i enjoyed Fast Racing Neo on the Wii U I think that would be a lot of fun. Mario Kart 8 is basically the Wii U game with a few more battle courses, no new normal race circuits or anything. If this was a new Mario Kart game i think that would have made the switch a day one purchase for me, as Mario Kart 8 was one of the reasons i eventually got a Wii U. Super Bomber Man R looks ok, but lets be honest its Bomber Man which hasn't really changed since the 90's, so £40-50 for a Bomber Man game doesn't really appeal to me. I guess if your a Zelda fan however that would be a good reason to pick The Switch up on launch day, i'm not however. Like most Nintendo handheld consoles I think your wise to wait a couple of years for the improved model. The GBA SP, DS Lite and 3DS XL were all massive improvements compared to the earlier model released just a year or two before. By the time The Switch has a game library worth playing Nintendo might have released an improved model with greater battery life, or even just a better hardware given how quickly mobile technology is evolving today. Plus after a couple of years it will probably be cheaper. I did pre-order when Amazon announced they were taking Switch pre-orders, knowing they would be limited quantities available. However now all the hype has died down and we know what's going to be out anytime soon, I think if I got a Switch it would just collect dust for at least the next year, so i'm probably going to cancel my pre-order. It's likely going to be at least Christmas 2018 before we see stuff like Pokemon, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros and so on released on The Switch. Do you plan on getting The Switch? if so what are you looking forward to?
As a Console? I think it looks amazing and it's a great idea. This is what the Wii U should have been from the start. If they're actually trying to make it the next handheld after the 3DS? Hell no. If Nintendo actually intends on making the Switch the next handheld just because "it can be played away from the TV", and Game Freak actually intends on making the next Pokémon main series a Switch title, then I guess that doesn't really matter for me since I'm already out of the Pokémon game so I don't really care if I never bother with the Switch. But seriously? - That thing is huge, the only thing that's handheld about it is that it can rely on its own internal power supply (battery) and it has a second screen on itself so that you can play it away from the TV, anywhere you want. It's even bigger than the 3DS XL dammit. - The detachable controllers. As far as I'm aware, Nintendo's intended target audience is younger, and in the case of home consoles, tends to be family since the Wii. The average non-gamer family will play some games together from time to time (Wii Sports and such is fun to play with your family, on special occasions or any other time, regardless of who you are, imo.) Parents likely won't ever be the ones to want to bring out outside to play elsewhere, so that leaves us with the children. Children lose game cards and styluses all the time with the 3DS, why is it a good idea to have the controllers be detachable on a system if you intend on it being a portable system, that they will take outside? Losing a stylus okay, they're cheap and easy to replace (and it's just a small piece of plastic anyway.) Losing a game, can't really do anything to prevent that because the game needs to be detachable anyway (unless you made the system digital-only lel) but the controller being detachable is meh if you intend on it being an actual handheld, and your intended target audience is on the younger end. - The price. $300 launch price, are you serious Nintendo? For a home console, sure, $300 is fine. For a handheld? hahahahahaha The PS Vita already struggled heavily at $250/$300, and Nintendo's more popular alternative (the 3DS) struggled at $250 as well, so much that they didn't have a choice but to cut the price down to $170. Yep, a handheld at a starting price of $300 is sure to succeed! It's not like Nintendo had very bad results with their own previous attempt to sell a handheld at $250 or anything, nope. Nintendo aren't getting a free pass for selling a handheld at $300 just because they're Nintendo, and I certainly won't accept paying $300 for a handheld just because Nintendo decided that they wanted to bundle a whole non-optional home console with it. - This is specifically a Pokémon point, but a big thing about Pokémon were the two different versions you could get, and you had to trade with the other to complete the Pokédex. Families with two children or more often had two (or more) 3DSes with each children having their own Pokémon game, and they'd play it together, trade, etc. Do you really think a parent would accept buying their children two Nintendo Switch? Hell no. Some parents might, but I can guarantee you that the vast majority won't. The $300 price point is already a factor, but how many parents do you think would have bought their children more than one home console...? N64, Gamecube, Wii, they buy them one and it's good enough for everyone, if they all want to play it they can take turns, or play multiplayer with one controller each. They never needed two and it's not gonna start now. Rich families might buy more than one, but I'm pretty sure the average family wouldn't, and as far as I know Nintendo's target audience isn't specifically the rich (that probably wouldn't be a very sustainable business model as far as gaming goes, anyway.) I might have had some more to say about it, but I don't remember any more and I think I've said enough anyway.
Regardless of the benefits / issues or cost of the console, I've had to preorder one just for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It feels like I'm stuck buying Nintendo consoles for life because Mario Kart online takes up a fair chunk of my free time. But I enjoy it that much that its practically like I'm paying for one game. Though it is a dirty-release with very few new components added. Though the one promising thing about it is if it does get updated to support the new online features including voice chat, matchmaking and friends list. Playing Mario Kart 8 online dispite being crazily fun, is quite a lonely experience compared to what we're use to on say Xbox or Playstation. I tend to only really play it split screen online with my housemate for that reason. The Wii U will get sold (if its not worth peanuts) as soon as Mario Kart comes out in April. Otherwise I'll keep it around and modded for homebrew if the scene continues to grow.
I'd agree its a high launch price if you look at it as been a handheld console, the 3DS only really became a success when the price was slashed massively. I'll be interested to see how the switch is received as it will certainly be the most unique console out there. I do really want it to succeed as I do think it's an awesome concept. I do wonder how the online play will be, as it's free at launch as its more of a beta from what i've gathered. When the online service launches in the fall it will be paid for, so i'd certainly be expecting Xbox / PS4 quality gaming, with hopefully free virtual console games each month if you do subscribe. A used Wii U is probably worth more now than what you paid for it if you look at the Amazon / Ebay prices. I do think it's worth keeping though as its an Nintendo console capable of playing just about Nintendo's entire back catalog of games (minus the 3DS) once hacked for homebrew. Either way i do want the Switch to do well and am still conflicted about my pre-order!
Lol that just makes it worse. As a console paid online is alright I suppose (people are used to free online with Nintendo, but maybe this will let them have actual good online services this time around.) But as a handheld, you're already paying out the butt for the system, and then they want you to pay even more for online features, when you already have a 3DS. Is it known whether or not the Switch would have local wireless?
I must admit im not keen on paying for online on an Nintendo console, the first reason is because i already pay for Xbox Live and dont use it that much as it is. Then when it comes to Nintendo home console i've always used the consoles for local play. The Wii U is the only current gen console which actually has any real games you can play locally with 4 people (which is something i really like about it). I'd probably end up having to pay for Nintendo Wi-Fi to get event Pokemon and trade, then on top of that Pokebank is chargeable. I wont judge the service yet though as Nintendo could surprise and do a good job of it, maybe even incorporating things like Pokebank in to the subscription. Nothing has been said about local Wi-Fi yet, but i'd imagine it's like on Xbox, games can take advantage of a local network and allow you to system link if they desire. Sadly few games actually do this on the Xbox One and you need 4x Xbox's, 4x TV's and 4x copies of the game and 4x Xbox Live subscriptions to play 4 player co-op. Where as last gen most games let you split screen and system link, meaning 4 people could play with half the equipment and no Xbox Live subscription. It's realistic to get 2x consoles going in the same room for a LAN, but 4x consoles / screens is just too much to randomly do. With that in mind I am hoping Nintendo dont forget one thing they do get right that no one else does is local split screen gaming. That certainly still has a place in 2017, something i'd imagine Nintendos target demographic actually make use of too.
I'm wondering about local wireless mainly because if they did release a main series Pokémon pair, it needs to have local wireless capabilities for trading/battling. Unless they did something like a Colo/XD style game I guess. Or they could deviate from what Pokémon already is and stop making pairs, just have one game in which you can get everything without having to trade.