Nintendo's Next Console Is Called Switch

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So Nintendo just took the wraps off its next-gen console called Switch. Aside from this video, there isn't much information and no pricing was given either. Well, what do you think?
 
I was expecting this. They have the best handheld on the market so it makes sense to bring that to the living room. Very clever and to me, less of a gimmick than with past consoles.

The Nintendo Switch doesn't have to be powerful. I just hope publishers are willing to bring over at least some of their titles in the near future.

As long as they can get us Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc .. I will be happy.

I didn't see a price announced? I'm thinking at least $299. Anymore than that and people are going to get the PS4 Pro.

If I had one complaint, it's the name. Switch? I think they missed a great opportunity at having a fun product name. It's pretty obvious to most that you can 'switch' between handheld and home console.

One thing the pirate in me is excited about is the rom carts. lol ... kidding ... kinda. We will see how that works out for them. I am sure it's going to be locked down very very tightly.

Yeah ... I'm excited about this.

My biggest fear is lack of content and Nintendo titles taking forever to get to market. There honestly needs to be a new Mario, Zelda and Metroid ever year no questions asked.
 
I honestly don't get the hype. As expected, it's pretty much just a Tegra based tablet. It's going to bleed third party support (again), leaving it reliant on a handful of Nintendo IPs to keep it afloat.

As a 3DS replacement, fine, but then again, competing against mobile probably isn't the best strategy.
 
I was expecting this. They have the best handheld on the market so it makes sense to bring that to the living room. Very clever and to me, less of a gimmick than with past consoles.

The Nintendo Switch doesn't have to be powerful. I just hope publishers are willing to bring over at least some of their titles in the near future.

As long as they can get us Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc .. I will be happy.

I didn't see a price announced? I'm thinking at least $299. Anymore than that and people are going to get the PS4 Pro.

If I had one complaint, it's the name. Switch? I think they missed a great opportunity at having a fun product name. It's pretty obvious to most that you can 'switch' between handheld and home console.

One thing the pirate in me is excited about is the rom carts. lol ... kidding ... kinda. We will see how that works out for them. I am sure it's going to be locked down very very tightly.

Yeah ... I'm excited about this.

My biggest fear is lack of content and Nintendo titles taking forever to get to market. There honestly needs to be a new Mario, Zelda and Metroid ever year no questions asked.

I agree that it's interesting and definatly can have a home next to my pc and xbox one, it's not competing with the one or ps4, it's being smart about it and at the same time I think it looks pretty cool.

However it's not a day 1 purchase for me. I will wait.
 
my problem is that I've never been a handled device guy. I am just getting used to have my phone with me all the time. Back in the Gameboy days, I've never had one, in roadtrips I will go dizzy very easily.
 
While I'm a little skeptical, I like it. Rather than trying to compete with the Xbox and PS4 directly, they're giving us something modular that can travel and seems to be focused on playing with other people locally. That's something the other systems have phased out for online play.
If it isn't too expensive, I'm in. I'd still rather be playing Mario Kart on the PS4/Xbox/PC, but I'm okay with this.
Hopefully the pricing is only $300'ish and there aren't 50 SKU's. That always ends up forcing you to buy a version priced way higher than the suggested retail in order to actually enjoy it.
 
I'll just echo what I said in the other thread since this one got made right after I made that post.

That thing basically looks like they took a Vita and made it bigger. Which is totally fine with me, because in my opinion the Vita is technically hands down one of the best handheld consoles ever released. It's small, it sips battery, it can be on standby for well over a week, it's responsive, the graphics are good, and there's nothing unnecessary on it. On the other hands, my 3DS....
... is a pile of crap. The only reason I use my 3DS is because it has some exclusives I want to play. Technically it's just a gimmicky, laggy POS. It's a pity Sony abandoned the Vita as they have. I guess Nintendo finally realized that since their graphics tend to be mediocre anyway, why bother having a full console when the majority of it could run on a mobile GPU. Or maybe that dock provides some extra functionality when plugged in, a la the external laptop GPU's of late.

As far as Nintendo consoles are involved, the last thing I bought new was a Gamecube. I also have a Wii (not U), but that's only because I found it for relatively cheap at the thrift store... There are a surprising amount of Wii's being donated in general, more than any other console. I rarely see anything beyond maybe a PS1 for the other manufacturers. Might mean that a lot of parents get a Wii for their kids and then donate it later.
 
I am not a fan of handhelds so I did not like what I saw.

First, I think you have to be a Nintendo fan tp be truly accepting of this new form factor / design. That def takes the edge off. But, the cool thing for people that don't care for the handheld can just leave it in the cradle and I sure many people will.
 
So it's a tablet with a place to hook a set of Bluetooth controls? I didn't get the unhooking of the controls at first because those can't cost that much, but from later on in the video I would guess those are stand alone as they showed them using it as a tablet only with the controls being used off the device wirelessly. It seems like those controls should be cheap enough that they didn't need to bother with all of that nonsense, but I guess I can see the advantage in that you can hook them to the device so you don't lose them. It basically looks like an oversized PSP and I'm not sure if it's pocket able or not. That's certainly more important than whether or not you can unhook the controller.

If the docking station is good, the controller is good, and they have good first party IP, this might sell okay as a 3DS replacement that also doubles as a console. I'm not so sure that it's going to be worthwhile to use it as a console only, but maybe. The main advantage for Nintendo is that it would unify their platform so that they only have one and it wouldn't matter at that point if someone was playing using this as a handheld or as a console, both would be playing together.


The disadvantage for Nintendo is that if they are successful, expect to see android tablet makers copy their idea and try to clone their device. The problem with tablets and phones has always been the lack of physical controls, which in turn tends to lead to simpler games because there is no way to control a complex game with a touchscreen. I've honestly thought about someone making a device just like Nintendo has made, but it has to be pocket able to be successful. No one carries around full sized controllers with them and I never see anyone using one of the rigs to hold a phone into clamp with controls, likely because they are too bulky and the game support isn't there to require it. Since this device will likely require all games to have the ability to use the controller, it should get over the hurdle of proper support from games. I'll be interested in seeing how this pans out of them as it's an idea that has been around, but no one has brought it to market with success.



I am not a fan of handhelds so I did not like what I saw.

I'm not either, but what if you bought this with the plan to ONLY use it as a console, and you could play games with a larger player base and maybe friends who would use this as a handheld?
 
Hopefully the pricing is only $300'ish and there aren't 50 SKU's.

Probably $300 for the "base" handheld setup. Then another $100 for the dock and "Joy-Con Grip", another $60 for the pro controller, etc.
 
Why does Nintendo continue to hold onto the belief that they owe the world a gaming console every few years? This silly idea confirms that they know their future is in mobile gaming but refuse to develop for iOS/Android for some reason.

They absolutely need to become a software company and provide great peripherals for existing platforms. It just makes no sense for them to go this route when the market is saturated to the teeth with handheld devices that have the graphics performance of an Xbox 360 (phones/tablets).
 
Here we go again. No Nintendo home console for you!

Seriously, can't they take the money they're blowing per unit on an LCD screen and battery and invest that into higher quality home hardware and just release a home console again? Given hardware standardization with the PS4 and Xbox One, it wouldn't even be that expensive to truly compete with those consoles on the power front while greatly expanding the third-party support.

Instead, they're offering a mixed-use device that will naturally both compromise the experience compared to other AC-locked devices and will cost more relative to the overall power of the hardware because of the included portability.

To me, this seems like a pass for at least the first year.
 
So at 2:05, is it 4 guys playing the same game, or 4 guys playing in the same game? Those marketing demos are always so suggestive of things that are not really possible.
 
Seems like a pretty awesome concept if it works as the video shows. Assuming it's at least as powerful as the Wii U, it'll be able to do what Nintendo does, which is games that lack cutting edge graphics, but are still fun to play.

I think this device will live or die based on battery life.
 
Why does Nintendo continue to hold onto the belief that they owe the world a gaming console every few years? This silly idea confirms that they know their future is in mobile gaming but refuse to develop for iOS/Android for some reason.

They absolutely need to become a software company and provide great peripherals for existing platforms. It just makes no sense for them to go this route when the market is saturated to the teeth with handheld devices that have the graphics performance of an Xbox 360 (phones/tablets).


First of all, Nintendo and mobile phones don't even come close to being anything remotely of a platform / showcase for them. So I hope your not talking about software for the mobile phone market.

And the market is ... what? Saturated with handhelds? Uhhh ... no. Nintendo is THE market for handhelds. What handhelds are you talking about?

Nintendo I think is perfectly comfortable with new hardware and in fact, it's good for all of us that they continue to release hardware. I read somewhere that Nintendo could lose 250 million a year for the next 25 years or something crazy and not be affected at all.

When you own the hardware its a whole completely different money game than when you have a few titles out here and there.

To me, Nintendo wouldn't be Nintendo without their own hardware.

It's kinda like Mcdonalds closing all their stores but that you could still go to Walmart and buy a Bigmac in the freezer section.
 
Since I got severely burned with WiiU I am not going to buy this day one, not until I am certain that this console can stay afloat with more than just Nintendo exclusives.

But I do have to say the idea is really interesting, system to bridge the gap between home console and portable. Nvidia Tegra chips pack a lot of punch. Obviously nothing compared to dedicated home console or PC but for the power draw its really strong and efficient chipset.
 
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NVIDIA Gaming Technology Powers Nintendo Switch | NVIDIA 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.
The Nintendo Switch’s gaming experience is also supported by fully custom software, including a revamped physics engine, new libraries, advanced game tools and libraries. NVIDIA additionally created new gaming APIs to fully harness this performance. The newest API, NVN, was built specifically to bring lightweight, fast gaming to the masses.
 
Conceptually this actually awesome, I love it, quite excited.

Need to see how 3rd party support and battery life pans out.

The form factor and modularity/flexibility of the thing is simply genius. That part where there show the guy on the plane propping it up and unhook in the controllers to play made my jaw drop.

Do want. I've never been a fan of Nintendo and I hated the Wii, but this actually looks fucking cool.
 
I really hope this has a Tegra X2, besides that looks very interesting.
 
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I don't get it... All this says to me is that Nintendo is still putting minimal effort into their online functionality.
 
I like the design, but I'll be waiting to see how third party devs support it after a year or two it's been out before I'd even consider buying it.
 
Probably $300 for the "base" handheld setup. Then another $100 for the dock and "Joy-Con Grip", another $60 for the pro controller, etc.

That's what I'm most afraid of. If it's $300, I'm in. Seems like a great travel companion and a good way to play games with friends face-to-face.
I don't feel like having to spend an additional $100 for things left out to keep the price low, though. Plus, just to allow my wife to play I'm sure I'll need at least one more controller...which is probably $50.
 
Why does Nintendo continue to hold onto the belief that they owe the world a gaming console every few years? This silly idea confirms that they know their future is in mobile gaming but refuse to develop for iOS/Android for some reason.

They absolutely need to become a software company and provide great peripherals for existing platforms. It just makes no sense for them to go this route when the market is saturated to the teeth with handheld devices that have the graphics performance of an Xbox 360 (phones/tablets).

They did develop a game for the iPhone. It's called Super Mario Run and they managed to dumb down a game that was designed with only 2 buttons to a game that has 1. I'm sure a lot of people have tried to play the original Super Mario Bros and it just doesn't work well at all because of trying to use a touch screen to control the game. No one has cracked the formula for complex games without a physical controller.


I think there is a chicken / egg problem with smart phones and tablets that would ultimately fail if they tried to shape a platform around another platform. No one has dedicated controls for their phones / tablets because most games don't support them. Most games don't support dedicated controls because there are no first party controls. I'm not sure what percentage of that market actually want physical controls or would use them because of the hassle of carrying around another thing in their pocket all of the time. If they want to make mobile games that have buttons, it's very difficult to hit a moving target because they would need to come up with something that works with the majority of phones that are refreshed yearly and continue to work. But on top of that, if someone were buying an accessory to their phone, they likely expect that accessory to work with their other games as well. This mixture of all of those things is likely why no one has succeeded yet in making controls for smart phones or tablets. Yes there are a lot of them out there, but none of them are widespread due to the challenges they face. By controlling the entire platform, Nintendo is able ensure that every game and every device will support controls and everything will work as intended.
 
Too early to say if im buying Day 1. It's just revealed, there is a good chance performance will be tested before release.

My key concerns are Hard drive... does it exist? Is it fast? Will it be able to use SSD quality SD Cards at full speed?

And of course everyone is concerned about GPU. This will essentially be a mystery for a while im sure.
 
I don't get it... All this says to me is that Nintendo is still putting minimal effort into their online functionality.

Wait and see :p this says nothing about online functionality, and I'm not sure online functionality would be the most important thing here.

The main attraction is probability, having said that I hope there is decent online MP support

I can finally fulfill my dream of playing CS while pooping.
 
I'm not sure I care about online play. Sony and MS have that down to a science. Yet neither does face-to-face well at all. One reason the Wii was such a hit is because it brought people together and gave them games to play at parties and gatherings. Nintendo seems to be focusing on that again. I certainly hope online isn't as bad as it has been, but I'm okay if it isn't the primary focus.
 
I'm not sure I care about online play. Sony and MS have that down to a science. Yet neither does face-to-face well at all. One reason the Wii was such a hit is because it brought people together and gave them games to play at parties and gatherings. Nintendo seems to be focusing on that again. I certainly hope online isn't as bad as it has been, but I'm okay if it isn't the primary focus.

The Wii was absolutely shit as a primary gaming console though. I remember I didn't have a pc for a month and my wrists were fucking killing me because I 100% Mario Galaxy

I have to believe nobody wants to move around when they just get home and want to relax and play a game
 
I'll have to wait to see how portable this thing is, and the price. The 3ds is quite portable because it folds, but this thing could be bigger and bulkier than the Vita, and you know how well that sold. Also, the 3ds was dead-in-the-water until the price dropped to $160, so anything above $250 would be a death-sentence.

The screen itself looks like it's kindle-sized, so it may be portable on it's own. But then you still have to pack those detachable controllers. I'm a little disappointed that didn't use the same analog stick design as on the 3DS, which was a lot shorter.

Also, where is the digital cross? You expect that maybe people don't use it anymore? BULLSHIT. REPEAT AFTER ME NINTENDO: "A DIAMOND SET OF BUTTONS IS NOT A DIGITAL PAD REPLACEMENT."

It's going to be a long hard road for Nintendo to convince consumers that a detachable controller mechanism like that won't break.
 
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I'm making a couple of assumptions:
1) No touchscreen. Once it's in the dock, there is no reason to have a touchscreen so having that be a core gameplay mechanic would be impossible. There will likely be limited "gimmicky" gameplay styles in most of the titles released.
2) Built for local multiplayer. Whether they've got one or not, you can sit and play with friends. Kickstands and controllers that break apart to support multiplayer baked right into the concept. This will be a God-send for Nintendo fans with families. Being able to just bring that on road trips to keep kids occupied or to break up the monotony when doing something less than fun.
3) Not particularly powerful. It's a custom Tegra, so it's not complete trash, but it's not a mean machine by any stretch of the imagination. It's got to be at least as powerful as the Wii U, right..? RIGHT?!

Either way, I'll grab it. I love Nintendo exclusives, and I never think far enough in advance to realize it's not worth the money I'm spending.
 
if they discontinue the DS and move the DS games to this then i am sold. gotta play my pokemon games on something. :D
 
I'm making a couple of assumptions:
1) No touchscreen. Once it's in the dock, there is no reason to have a touchscreen so having that be a core gameplay mechanic would be impossible. There will likely be limited "gimmicky" gameplay styles in most of the titles released..

There has to be a touchscreen. Otherwise, how do you use it when there's no controllers connected? And if there's no touch, there's no backward-compatibility for 3ds titles.

Just because they concentrated on non-touch doesn't mean it's not there.

You don't need two separate screens, you can just split the screen like the 2DS does.
 
And the market is ... what? Saturated with handhelds? Uhhh ... no. Nintendo is THE market for handhelds. What handhelds are you talking about?

Nintendo I think is perfectly comfortable with new hardware and in fact, it's good for all of us that they continue to release hardware. I read somewhere that Nintendo could lose 250 million a year for the next 25 years or something crazy and not be affected at all.

When you own the hardware its a whole completely different money game than when you have a few titles out here and there.

To me, Nintendo wouldn't be Nintendo without their own hardware.

It's kinda like Mcdonalds closing all their stores but that you could still go to Walmart and buy a Bigmac in the freezer section.

The handhelds I'm talking about is phones/tablets. This Switch console is basically a reworked nVidia Shield.

If Nintendo focused their resources on producing high quality peripherals and software for existing handhelds (for example...iPads) then they wouldn't need to release any new consoles of their own. Just imagine if they made universal tablet dock and controller that hooked up to your TV but used an Android Tablet or iPad to power it. That is basically this idea but they refuse to let their hardware go.

I bought a Wii and a DS way back when and both of them went completely unused after the first month or so. I eventually sold them after a year. For me, they just do not understand their market. They are attempting to create a market where there is none. They are not like Apple. They are unable to dictate where the gaming market goes. Yet they keep trying.

We all know Nintendo IPs is what it's all about. Mario, Zelda, Metroid. These games move hardware but are almost always designed with the poor hardware in mind. Imagine a world where they aren't tethered to creating their games around their hardware. It would be great for everyone.
 
Easiest way to think of the Nintendo NS:


Imagine that you have an Nvidia Shield Tablet with a Dock that allows it to get more power and active cooling converting it in an Nvidia Shield TV, that is one way to look at it IMHO, or think of how your laptop has the Energy Saving mode and Performance Mode.


For Nintendo this is their best bet, they need to double down on what they are strong which is mobile, the dock is a nice addition to make it more comfortable at home and to use it as a streaming set top box for Netflix and the like.


I just don't feel the tiny micro controllers and 2 people playing on the tablet, other than that, it seems good enough IMHO.
 
There has to be a touchscreen. Otherwise, how do you use it when there's no controllers connected? And if there's no touch, there's no backward-compatibility for 3ds titles.

Just because they concentrated on non-touch doesn't mean it's not there.

You don't need two separate screens, you can just split the screen like the 2DS does.

There was no indication in the video of a touch interface(which doesn't mean it's not there, obviously) and who knows if this is the iteration in which they start to deliberately eat their existing mobile marketshare.

Edit: The bezel styling makes me think a touch interface *probably* exists, but Nintendo is weird.
 
The Wii was absolutely shit as a primary gaming console though. I remember I didn't have a pc for a month and my wrists were fucking killing me because I 100% Mario Galaxy

I have to believe nobody wants to move around when they just get home and want to relax and play a game

It sold 101 million units, so clearly people DID want that. The hardware (and licensing) are what caused the Wii's somewhat early demise.
 
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