Nintendo Bait & Switch- Optimistic or Worried?

On 10/21/2016 at 07:21 PM by NintendoFanJon

Nintendo released a trailer for their brand new console coming out in March 2017. The Nintendo Switch.

Now I would like to comment alone, but I also have way too much to say in regards to this. And to Nintendo I have this to say to you. You aren't going to convince me that easily. Nintendo loves to bait me with these console reveals and for the most part I fold like a cheap tent and buy it launch day. But something changed for me last generation. For the first time... I didn't head out on launch day. I didn't buy a Wii U until they offered to bundle the Wii U with Mario Kart 8 and a free game.

I suppose the same will be true this go araound as way. I'm taking a wait and see approach. Yes I did see the list of developers that Nintendo is getting, but I'm raising more questions than answers. Here is the list:

I'm pleasantly surprised to see various developers on this list and it appears on paper that this could work exceptionally. But I'm not quite sold. Nintendo has not had fantastic 3rd party support since going back to the N64. They will always have you excited at something that essentially gets ruined later on. One example coming to mind is the exclusive Resident Evil 4 plans on the Gamecube. Now every system has RE4 playable practically. The Sega-Nintendo Sonic exclusivity deal on Wii U? Didn't hold much merit in the end. Companies like Ubisoft and EA cut and ran far away from Nintendo last gen... who is to say it won't be similar?

I'm not quite sold with the new studios on board yet either. Bethesda is bringing Skyrim... a game that has now been out for 5 years. Now is that to say that this version of Skyrim will be on par with the PS4 and XboxOne counterparts? There is a lot to process there. According to NVIDIA'S blog: Nintendo Switch is powered by the performance of the custom Tegra processor. The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an NVIDIA GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards. I am not a tech savvant, nor do I have any idea what it means.

But what about other games? Skyrim is 5 years old, but are we going to get Fallout 4? Any other Bethesda games? What about From Software? I have no idea what games are or aren't lined up. I mean it's one thing to say that Square-Enix or Konami are involved, but are we going to get FFXV? Or is it going to be Nintendo Eshop games? Or they could cut and run like last time. That my friends should be worrisome.

I'm not sold on what looks to be the launch titles. None of them are really new games (With the exception of the Mario game which looks to be a Super Mario 3D World sequel type game. I'm sure GameExplain will go into a 15 minute discussion over 30 seconds worth of footage, but that's the vibe I'm getting. Other than the aforementioned Mario, and five years late to the party Skyrim, there looks to be a Splatoon 2 or possible Expansion/enhanced port, Mario Kart 8.5 (Again more than likely and expansion or enhanced port of Mario Kart 8), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the NBA 2K series... That's not to reassuring. If you are a Wii U owner you already own 2 of the launch title games and you might end up buying breath of the wild on Wii U instead. so that's 3 titles off the list leaving you with a 5 year old port, a sports game, and probably still in development Mario game. I doubt it gets released in time for launch.

I do love the idea of gaming on the go and being able to marry the console/handheld task. This will hopefully keep Nintendo on task in terms of game development. This is definitely the last we'll see of the Wii U support, the 3DS may be likely around the corner. I'm more of the mind to figure out if there will be some incentive. Nintendo Eshop needs overhauled in someway. There should be a way to transfer all your favorite classic titles to the new indie games hot on the market over. If it's called the Switch, make it easy to do so. But it also leads me to wonder if Wii U downloadable titles could potentially be played. If it's all through the Nintendo network it should theoretically be possible, considering the Nintendo eshop is similar across both 3DS and Wii U, but it may not be so. If for say you have Super Mario Bros. as an NES classic that you downloaded through the eshop on your wii u it should be possible to transfer that save file. Afterall the Wii was able to do that with VC titles... granted you had to access the Wii channel to do so, but it was there. Nobody wants to fork over $5 to buy Mario for the umpteenth time. Something that has been relatively a sour point among fans.

I'll say this about the Switch...hopefully it is a Switch in terms of how we game and how Nintendo thinks. Hopefully Nintendo does the following:

1. You have developers on board that you didn't have. Keep that going. Don't shut them out. If the console is easy to develop for get those kits out there! Make incentives, get timed exclusives. Nintendo has never had that fantastic 3rd party franchise since the SNES days. Build that back up. Get out there. Give gamers something to hope for.

2. Better eshop/Online network. This goes without saying. Eshop is a mess at times, having to redownload titles, lack of being able to transfer between consoles, server issues when online. Fix your network Nintendo. Continue to parade indie titles. Heck, help indie devs out with development. Maybe you could snatch up a studio like Yacht Club games and get exclusive downloadable games only available on the Switch.

3. Price- it's estimated the Switch will cost $300-350 at launch. To put that into perspective:

Sony - PlayStation 4 500GB Call of Duty: Black Ops III Standard Edition Bundle - Jet Black at Best Buy is $299.99 plus tax at Best Buy

Microsoft - Xbox One S 500GB Console Halo Collection Bundle at Best Buy also $299.99 plus tax at Best Buy.

Nintendo you better have at least 500GB of memory and a game bundled with your console...and no... a Wii Sports/ NintendoLand demo game will not cut it. Nor will a 32 GB console.

So you better market this console better than you did the Wii U Nintendo. Or you'll end up where you were 5 years ago.

As I said I'll wait and see. My mind is an enigma, but so is the Switch itself. We'll definitely get more information as March gets closer. But, will the Switch be able to convince the gamers it scorned? Will it marry that tightrope of casual/nerd/fanboy that it failed at with the Wii U? For me I hope it works out, but I won't be out there on launch day.

Cary Woodham

10/21/2016 at 08:49 PM

I'm a little concerned about the sturdiness of the thing, but I think it's too early to make too many negative (or positive) assumptions about a 3 minute video announcement. I don't know why they couldn't have revealed this earlier, honestly. And the list of third parties is padded out a bit. For example, Traveller's Tales is on the list, and they make nothing but LEGO games now. But who publishes them? WB Games, also on the list. I'm looking forward to more Switch announcements, especially concerning games. Nintendo makes most of the games that I'm interested in, so that's what will get me to buy any new console they make.

NintendoFanJon

10/23/2016 at 05:22 PM

Yeah I definitely see a point there, but Travellers Tales does do other stuff like the walking dead, minecraft, etc. But yeah it is true they are a subsidiary of WB Games. So it really doesn't make sense lol.

10/23/2016 at 08:32 PM

I think you're thinking of TellTale Games with the Walking Dead and Minecraft stuff.

KnightDriver

10/22/2016 at 03:30 AM

I think the days of comparing Nintendo's console to the others is over. They are doing their own thing and it's aimed at a younger audience. Microsoft and Sony are trying to be everything for everybody, but they don't have Nintendo properties and it'll stay that way. I'm not sure I want huge memory space for the Switch. I'll probably play just a handful of games on there anyway. As for virtual console. I'm still using my Wii for that. Do I want to carry them all over. Maybe. But maybe not. Anyway, I gotta go watch that trailer because I don't much about this Switch at the moment. Is it going to be like a phone on the go and a console at home?

mothman

10/22/2016 at 08:18 AM

But this one is definitely not aimed at a younger audience. There are no little kids or grandparents in the trailer, just 20 or 30 somethings.

10/23/2016 at 05:25 PM

The switch is definitely tapping into a market where you can play both on the go and at home as a console. And while yes they will aim at their usual fanbase I hope that perhaps they market it as more than just for younger audiences, which it does in the teaser.

10/24/2016 at 01:17 AM

Wired's podcast today mentioned it was aimed at millennials. I guess those like my niece and nephew who grew up on tablets and phones for gaming.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

10/22/2016 at 08:52 AM

I want to see DS/3DS backwards compatibility. All I want to see is some sort of peripheral add-on. I like playing my games on a big screen, where I can sit back and relax.

Machocruz

10/22/2016 at 06:53 PM

I'm thinking you will be able to stream WiiU and 3DS games. Maybe the entire Nintendo catalog going back to NES. A robust account system.

10/22/2016 at 08:51 PM

I don't think the 3DS can stream games, or did you mean download? Then yeah I can see that happening. If Nintendo's efforts towards consolidating accounts was for this end.

10/23/2016 at 01:05 PM

I'm thinking stream 3DS and Wii U games from a server onto Switch. A glorified virtual console.

Casey Curran Staff Writer

10/23/2016 at 01:34 PM

Bare minimum they should let you transfer Virtual Console purchases from both consoles to there. It would be nice if any digital retail games would transfer too, 3DS shouldn't be too tricky and hopefully Wii U could work as well. I can see physical media not working, but they should at least attempt digital similar to how MS did 360 on XB1

10/23/2016 at 05:38 PM

Yeah that's a tough call for sure. I agree that at the least Virtual console and Eshop downloadable only games should make the transition easily enough. Since it plays cartridges physical media for Wii U is out of the question and even the cartridges for Switch will be different from 3DS. I wonder about the various games that are on Wii U and 3DS though if you could download them from the eshop. I know the Switch wll have amiibo support, but I haven't come across if it's been confirmed to have a touchscreen, gyroscopic controls, or have dual screen support. From the looks of the trailer as soon as you take the gamepad out of the cradle, the TV display switches to the gamepad entirely. I am thinking thats why we get enhanced ports of Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, and Smash...but those don't even need a second screen aside from perhaps Splatoon, but titles like Nintendoland ring to mind as puzzling to implement a switch without changing something as it utilized the gamepad in different ways. I'm not quite sure myself.

10/23/2016 at 06:29 PM

One possible solution for the 3DS' two screens is to tilt the system vertically similarly to how DS games played on the Wii U. Could need an accessory to better play games vertically, but you can still just take the controllers off if you place it well for that.

10/22/2016 at 07:30 PM

Keep in mind that this was a hardware reveal, first and foremost. A tease. Not a software reveal. This is a good thing. They've whet people's appetites an created speculation. People will now be tuning in by the droves when they do their software reveal.

And obviously they are aiming at "normal" people, so far. This casual/hardcore duality that gets a lot of press in the fishbowl/echo chamber that is the games' press and forums does not exist in the real world. You don't sell 80 million plus consoles to nerds or fanboys or any other niche groups.

10/23/2016 at 05:44 PM

Yeah absolutely. It's a good teaser and definitely promotes plenty of discussion. I agree that it will aim at normal people, but I'm hoping it marries successflly that tightrope it tried to walk with the Wii U where both 5, 15, 25, and 50 year olds can pick up and play easily. I still know people who think the Wii U was just a tablet for the Wii. That's why I like this trailer. It looks accessible to pick up and play and it is completely different so people won't get confused as to what the world it is.

PixlBit