The official Nintendo Switch thread

[Bojay1997]

My feeling is that Nintendo has aimed their consoles more and more at the casual demographic with each generation, leaving me less and less interested in the process.

The last 2 consoles (as well as the 3DS) are LOADED with shovelware, most of it child-oriented. Look in the online markets. You'll find WAY more pony training games than anything on the Virtual Console or major releases. Now the usual retort to this is "every console has shovelware. Even the NES had shovelware." This is true, but the ratio of garbage to something playable has been much higher than other machines on the market.

Even the first-party Nintendo games are less enjoyable to me these days (except Pikmin 3, which I adored). The 2-D and 3-D Mario games are so easy they practically play themselves. The levels are a breeze to zoom through, and the only challenge is collecting the star coins, which gets old fast. They're great for children, and can be a great game for families to en, but they don't challenge me at all, and the aesthetics are generally uninspired.

I have a deep love for many Zelda games, but the last few have been so similar (and quite frankly, uninteresting to me) that I don't have excitement for them anymore. Look at the ad for the Switch and the footage of Zelda it's showing on there. It's Link fighting dudes on horseback. We've had 4 or 5 games use this exact same premise since 1998, and it's getting old. And making it open world doesn't help much when the setting and core gameplay are the same.

Splatoon is child-friendly Call of Duty. True, the paint mechanic is original and fun for awhile, and I love the setting/language and little touches like the Famicom game when it's loading, but in general it's offering the same online competitive multiplayer that has been done to death. There's really not much innovation there. Competitive online multiplayer is big in the gaming zeitgeist right now. Making a game like this is like low-hanging fruit.

As far as you're hope for "smaller projects", don't count on it. Nintendo takes risks on hardware, not on games. Most of their cheaper titles suck or are rehashes of 30+ year old games. I've felt that Sony consoles have had the most varied and unique libraries since PS2. Sony was way more willing to take a risk on licensing odd stuff. In the PS2 era we had brilliant innovations like the Ico/SOTC games and Katamari Demacy. Gravity Rush is a commercial failure but is and amazing game (if you haven't played it, you should!) Sony Backed Rezogun, and the arcade series on PS4 is quite eclectic. They have City Connection and, Exerion, and now they're releasing obscure Nichibitsu games.

In the end, though, I find the best gaming on the PC. Steam and GOG are a goldmine of unique stuff. Momodoro is an amazing Metroidvania game, and Princess Maker 2 for the PC-98 just got remastered and put on Steam. The Umihare Kawase games are all on there too. There are very few console exclusives anymore. Even the games I bought a PS4 to play ended up on Steam eventually, and with some tweaking run much better.

PC gaming can be frustrating when shit doesn't work, but the end results for your investment are fantastic. My advice to anyone would be to build yourself a midrange PC. It'll probably still perform better than the consoles (especially since you can adjust settings depending on your taste for hi-res effects or a higher frame rate) and you'll have access to so much more.

In short, not only am I unimpressed with the switch hardware, I'm not even confident that Nintendo will be producing compelling software. They are so risk-averse that they've just been shoveling out rehashes (or remakes) of the same 5 or so franchises for the past 10 years.

Edit: These are my opinions and impressions, and I am not peddling them as facts. Also, sorry for the long post. But if Tanooki can do it, I can too

I agree strongly with many of your points. I've been very disappointed with the software selection on the WiiU and the 3DS in recent years and Nintendo seems to be focusing less and less on pursuing innovative software design, instead being content to keep treading water and rehashing their IP and hoping that Amiibo sales and other gimmicks would get them through. Although I have no doubt that I will purchase the Switch at launch in the naive hope that Nintendo will return to software greatness, I can't help but feel disappointed in their decision to let Sony and Microsoft get so far ahead in sheer hardware performance. I remember when Nintendo made alternate design choices in hardware with platforms like the N64 and the Gamecube, but still managed to deliver technology that could compete with the other consoles. I own all three iterations of the Nvidia Shield and while I had high hopes for the platform, there are certain design compromises that had to be made to hit a certain price point and I think the same will hold true with the Switch. It's starting to feel like it's time for Nintendo to abandon hardware completely and just focus 100% on software. Unfortunately, like Sega, I can imagine Nintendo continuing down the path of churning out retread after retread with no new IP or other innovation to make them stand out from the rich and bountiful indie gaming scene that dominates STEAM and even the PS4 and Xbox One digital libraries.

[PreZZ]

Tanooki you made me remember of all those kids at school "i know cause my uncle works at nintendo!". Even if you do have inside info, nobody really knows all the specs and details yet.

[Graham Mitchell]

Tanooki you made me remember of all those kids at school "i know cause my uncle works at nintendo!". Even if you do have inside info, nobody really knows all the specs and details yet.

I grew up in Bellevue Washington, my friend's dad DID work at Nintendo. She hooked me up with mad Game and Watches. If she still has them she's sitting on a goldmine.

She was the first girl to have a crush on me. I didn't give a fuck. I just wanted to borrow donkey kong hockey and tropical fish.

[celerystalker]

I miss the kind of excitement I used to have growing up for new systems, like the first time I saw the NES or the night I first played Turbografx and SNES on the same night. It's been a long time since I truly was excited about a system... probably the Dreamcast, to the point where I was actively seeking out information or importing hardware and games early ('cause I wasn't waiting on Power Stone, dammit!).

That said, I like much of what I see so far here, though the controls concern me. Nintendo's stuff, while responsive, has really felt too small for my hands in the last 15 years, and I always cramp up with their portables. It's almost like they hate adult males. Hopefully there'll be a few good options out there... and maybe a game or two that'll be unique and fun. I still haven't talked myself into a Wii U, as only Mario Maker and Captain Toad have been calling my name so far.

[XYXZYZ]

The ad reminded me of the "Player Profile" section of Nintendo Power, when they always listed "camping, math homework, and playing sports" as the player's hobbies.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Here is what you can really expect

[kupomogli]

Here is what you can really expect ]

I was actually thinking of making a parody, although I'm too lazy so wouldn't ever go through with recording it, but basically do just as they did and rip off the Nintendo Switch ad, with the Playstation Switch. You know how the PSP Go has a tv out/charging dock and can use a PS3 controller? Mine parody idea though was to throw it in the faces of the Nintendo fanboys who keep stating how revolutionary Nintendo is and saying "how long until Sony/Microsoft copies the Nintendo Switch." Statements about how Nintendo did everything first is already annoying, but literally everything that comes out of the mouth of a die hard Nintendo fanboy is annoying.

PSP Go dock with the controller was the most similar. A single device that could be played portable, portable while viewing from a stand using a console controller, or on a tv. However, PSP2000 or 3000 could do to the tv just with the tv out. The Vita and PSTV and the TG16 and Turbo Express portable are similar but in these cases you had to buy the portable and the consolized version.