Nintendo Switch first impressions

To be honest, the Switch is going to get minimal usage outside of the house for me personally. Once it's docked, it will be staying in there. Will pick up a Pro Controller and I'm set.

But isn't that the beauty of it though? That if you do want to take it out, you can. And you'll be playing the definitive version of a game and not a lesser version like you would say with a 3DS version with low res graphics.

Depending on what's in the switch you might be playing a low res game when it's docked, who knows though!
 
Mario Galaxy 2 still looks really good.

I'm sure the new Mario game will be a damn sight better than that.

That's good enough for me.
 
Does anyone know if this will support Wii u pro controller
 
Not impressed, I'll stick with my PlayStation Vita, the Wii U did nothing for me, this just smacks of a everything but nothing console/handheld hybrid.

Commise
Mario Galaxy 2 still looks really good.

I'm sure the new Mario game will be a damn sight better than that.

That's good enough for me.

Just playing through that at the mo. Onto the last world :)
 
Commise


Just playing through that at the mo. Onto the last world :)

My son watches the Galaxy speed runs on twitch and I've watched a few bits here and there. Amazing players. The game is incredible. Played it a couple of times through with the biggest grin on my face.
 
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My son watches the Galaxy speed runs on twitch and I've watched a few bits here and there. Amazing players. The game is incredible. Played it a could of times through with the biggest grin on my face.

It's amazing it really is.
 
I'm intrigued by switch but doubt I would bite unless it was £200.

Part of me is really craving old school mario these days. I'd love the switch to have been more of a GameCube 2 but hey ho.

Probably just play Mario when he comes to iOS
 
My son watches the Galaxy speed runs on twitch and I've watched a few bits here and there. Amazing players. The game is incredible. Played it a couple of times through with the biggest grin on my face.
Stunning games - both of them.
 
I've been thinking a bit more about the Switch and this is kind of where I am at with it so far: -

Positives

  • The concept is great. Being able to take your games with you in their full form and play on the screen or dock your console at a mates house etc. is fantastic. It's actually something that I would personally use a lot and would take it when I stay away/go on holiday etc. but also if I am really into a game and can't hog the TV all of the time.
  • The device looks slick and well designed.
  • The attachable controllers are a great idea as they will also allow for potential first or third party replacements, which do something else (i.e. more buttons, a mini trackball etc.). Although see simplicity below as whilst this seems possible, I also like the fact that they have gone back to one control style.
  • The screen looks sharp & bright.
  • Simplicity. It looks like they have finally done away with the motion controllers and have gone for a fairly unified main controller style.
  • The potential to have multiple docs around the house.
  • Should be some great 1st & 2nd party titles on the system.
Negatives
  • I can't see the unit having the processing power to be able to cope with ports of cross party games.
  • The biggest one for me is that Nintendo seem to be constantly looking for need ways to innovate now. Now this sounds like a positive, but they are actually doing it the wrong way round. When they were successful, they were driven by delivering the ultimate home video game experience. To do this, they released the best console hardware at the time, the best games (using their seal of approval to gain trust post Atari and beyond) and innovative peripherals and controller developments were born out of the necessity to control their games. Their first gamepad was perfect for the 2D games on the NES and the mainly 2D games on the SNES. With the birth of full 3D worlds, they introduced the analogue stick for the N64. With the Wii it was backwards. They focused on the controller and then wanted developers to develop for it (despite the fairly low power of the system) - they generally didn't. They continued in this vein with the Wii U and the touch screen. Again 3rd party devs didn't specifically develop for it much, given the again relatively low power of the system and the 'different' controller. Now the good thing about the Switch (as mentioned in positives) is that they have moved back to a more recognised control system. It is therefore already far better than the Wii and Wii U, but they have still let this 'take your game with you' concept drive the design of the console. My concern is that once again, the console could be underpowered.
Stuff we don't know for certain
  • Is there additional processing power in the dock? If the tablet and additional doc processing power could combine to raise the capabilities to that of the other two, then the system becomes very viable for 3rd parties then.
  • Is there a touch screen. I don't think that there will be as I don't see the overall system working if that's the case.
  • The online system and accounts
  • Battery life for the tablet
  • Backward compatibility
  • Handheld screen resolution
  • Dock output resolution
  • Media capabilities
  • The storage capabilities of the handheld. Can it be upgraded with SD cards or is that slot just for game cards? I'd prefer to download my games, rather than buy on cart, so hopefully there's at least a terabyte of storage in the device.
  • Price
Personally, I love a console launch and I am looking forward to the Switch. I do have my reservations about it being a success, as I did about the Wii U (nearly didn't get one at launch, but caved at the last minute lol), but I will still be there on day 1.
 
Are Nintendo seriously not going to reveal the system specs and price until next year?

What the Hell is wrong with this company! They really haven't got a clue on how to launch hardware have they.
...Didn't Sony only just reveal the specs & price for the PS4 Pro just 2 months before its release date on 10th Nov? What the hell is wrong with Sony?

p.s could you remind me of the full system specs & price of the Scorpio please? ;)
 
Are Nintendo seriously not going to reveal the system specs and price until next year?

What the Hell is wrong with this company! They really haven't got a clue on how to launch hardware have they.

I know there's loads of questions, it would be nice if they drip fed us over a few short directs, it's only 6 months away, a tidbit a month would keep the pr momentum going, the excitement levels up and give them a chance to get some feedback and make small tweaks if needs be. Waiting until new year they risk becoming forgotten in the ps4 pro release and Christmas rush.
 
...Didn't Sony only just reveal the specs & price for the PS4 Pro just 2 months before its release date on 10th Nov? What the hell is wrong with Sony?

p.s could you remind me of the full system specs & price of the Scorpio please? ;)

To be fair though, Sony only unveiled the PS4 Pro a couple of months ago. Before then, there were rumours of the Neo, but we didn't know if it was going to be this year or next.

MS haven't given exact specs of the Scorpio, but they have given details of performance they hope to produce. It was still over a year to release when they unveiled however and the components that they may use to deliver that spec will change and alter in price a fair bit before they go into final production. The Switch is clearly at the stage where they will know the final specs.

My view is that they want people to focus on the console design and not that it's underpowered. I guess that this was the case with the PS4 Pro to some extent as compared to the Scorpio it does lack power.
 
I'm intrigued by switch but doubt I would bite unless it was £200.

Part of me is really craving old school mario these days. I'd love the switch to have been more of a GameCube 2 but hey ho.

Probably just play Mario when he comes to iOS

Looking at it and going on past releases im going to take a guess at £250+ at launch. Add in the exchange rate issues and it could be £300. Now considering for those prices you can get and X1 or PS4 is this going to be competitive? You normally pay a premium for Nintendo stuff but after the Wii U they could do with undercutting the opposition.
 
My view is that they want people to focus on the console design and not that it's underpowered.

Or they know their target audience and they know what's important to them? Assuming it's underpowered because they haven't revealed specs is a bit of a stretch. If I had a choice between the trailer from last week and a dry tech spec press release, I'd pick the trailer all year long.
 
I'm not normally one for buying any console on release, but I will be very tempted by the Switch if the release games are strong enough. By this I mean Zelda, which I am assuming will be a release title, and 1-2 other good games. Another Nintendo title would be a hude bonus. I'll be watching for news with crossed fingers for the next few months!
 
Or they know their target audience and they know what's important to them? Assuming it's underpowered because they haven't revealed specs is a bit of a stretch. If I had a choice between the trailer from last week and a dry tech spec press release, I'd pick the trailer all year long.
Yes you may be right. It's interesting times. I guess that by combining mobile and tv console into one device, this stands a chance of selling fairly well, but there are some potential issues with that.

- The handhelds they have previously sold have been fairly cheap (around the £100 - £150 mark) and if this comes in at £250 - £300, will it attract that market, or will they shy away from the Switch.
- Nintendo expected the Wii U to sell around 100 million units, but it has instead been a huge flop, selling only 13 million units! If Nintendo only manage to attract this hardcore, then they are in big trouble.

You could say that with this device they are getting the benefits of the 3DS and the Wii U in one device and logically there's a lot of sense in that. For me though, the 3DS and the DS before it sold well because they were fantastic devices which met a specific need. They were fairly compact, durable (the clamshell design made them idea for kids), very simply to use and had some great games on them. Being cheap, they were something that was easily within reach as a birthday/Christmas present and they sold very well to their key marketplace - Kids!

The issues with the Switch are that it's going to be more expensive (at least £250 I'd say) and it looks less durable (big screen which is likely to smash, no clamshell design etc.). It just doesn't look like something that's aimed at the DS/3DS marketplace (kids).

Like I have stated previously, I quite like it, but I just can't see it being a commercial success, as I just can't see who it's aimed at, other than the 10-15 million Nintendo hardcore. The wider gaming market just look at Nintendo as a kids toy now and not really a viable player along side Sony & Nintendo any more. Can they change minds with the Switch? I just don't see it, but would be happy to be proven wrong.
 
I don't think this is being aimed at the 3DS/DS market - as you say this doesn't look to be super portable in terms of keeping it safe. I think it's primarily a home console that has the added benefit of being easy to take round someone's house etc, rather than the 3DS/DS which is a chuck it in your bag have it all the time type console.

While I thought that this was their way of bringing both 3DS and Wii U groups together, it's pretty clear now that isn't their intent. The lack of backwards compatibility suggests to me that the 3DS will be carrying on for a while (unless that's something they're going to explain further in future reveals..)
 
To be fair though, Sony only unveiled the PS4 Pro a couple of months ago. Before then, there were rumours of the Neo, but we didn't know if it was going to be this year or next.
That was sort of his point/complaint about the Switch.

You can level the same at Sony & MS.
'What sort of company doesn't even unveil their console until 2 months before launch? They think they can wait until next year to unveil detailed specs for Scorpio? ...Sony/MS haven't got a clue how to launch hardware' etc
 
Give me 3 games at launch I want to play and I'll be day one. The power side of things doesn't really concern me. I just want news on day one games.
 
Nintendo haven't released tech specs themselves since the GameCube - they're always revealed afterwards by sites like Digital Foundry. If you look at the specs on their own they always look worse than they are in reality. Nintendo are VERY good at optimising their hardware so it performs beyond the sum of its parts. They just need to get better at providing developer tools & hardware instructions so other teams can get the same level of oomph Nintendo do.
 
Give me a Mario/ or luigi Zelda and something like pilot wings and I am sold.

I think this will run Wii u games via eshop- the HD then needs to be good. ? 1tb seems a Stanford. Could it cross play with any 3ds games- i.e. Mk 7 etc?

I don't like the rc- it's massive! I hope a pro controller comes out!
 
Wii U compat really depends on the horse power. It will have to be emulation as the chip architecture is so different.

The one nagging thing that's bouncing round my head is the similarity to the NVidia Shield. Will it be running an Android variant, and if so what are the odds of their being an awful lot of shovelware free to play pap released...?

Let's hope not on both cases, hope for a nice slick "to the metal" O/S to wring every last mhz out of what's there...
 

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