Nintendo Switch

[SacredWarrior]

Nintendo's latest console that's sweeping the gaming industry by storm!

Do any of you own the system (or plan to) and what are your overall thoughts on it? Do you think it will be a success or a failure?

I do indeed plan on getting a Switch hopefully for my birthday next year. Ironically the Switch came out on March 3rd which is a day after said birthday :P

I think the Switch will be very successful if Nintendo plays their cards right and from the looks of it, they definitely are doing just that!

I wish Nintendo the best with the Switch and I hope that it's their most successful console yet!

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Boy, do I want the Switch. Proooobably just because of MK8 Deluxe.

I like the concept, though. It's got the small screen/controller thing of the Wii U, a singe, big controller for playing on another screen, and two smaller controllers for both cases. Its adaptability in terms of who can play at any moment, and how easy it is to do so, is probably its main selling point.

I certainly think this thing will be a success.

 

[Kagayours]

I bought a Switch over the summer. It's gr8. Or at least, Breath of the Wild is gr8. I haven't bought any other games for it yet because it looks like Switch games are a solid $60 on average, and that's a bit of a steep price tag when my enthusiasm level for a given game is anything below "I really really definitely want this".

I might get Pokken Tournament DX if I ever find it on sale or something. XD I enjoyed the free trial of it. And I'm definitely getting Mario Odyssey when it comes out. OwO (Or at least, once I can afford to spend the money on it, after it comes out.)

And I definitely like the whole hybrid-portable thing. Every Nintendo console has a gimmick, but I think this particular gimmick is a winner -- especially compared to the Wii U, where the gimmick was kind of stupid (what if your controller... had a screen... but with the same display as the TV screen??). And I think that's a large part of the reason why hardly anyone really wanted a Wii U, and most people I know who did get a Wii U only did so kind of begrudgingly because they really wanted to play the games that were coming out on that system. XD

The Switch, though, feels like the more refined version of the nugget of potential that was in the Wii U. And by that I mean, I can easily imagine someone at Nintendo being like "haha, I could just take this Wii U controller into another room and play it like a handheld because I don't need to look at the TV screen", and then another Nintendo employee laughing along and then being like "......wait a minute" And thus, the Switch was born.

As for whether or not it will be a success: I mean, isn't it already kind of a success?? Last I checked, Nintendo could hardly manufacture the damn things fast enough to keep up with demand. XD The only reason I was able to buy my Switch was because I obsessively checked 5 or 6 different retailers online, every day, until one of them had a Switch in stock. :P I haven't seen this much enthusiasm for a Nintendo console since the Wii.

Not to mention: the Switch has its whole life ahead of it. I felt lukewarm towards the Wii U for pretty much its whole lifespan, and I did kind-of-sort-of think about getting one whenever there were games coming out on it that I wanted. But like, by the time the Wii U's era was coming to a close, there were really only 2 games that I would've really wanted to buy for it: Smash 4 and Breath of the Wild. And not only did BotW also come out on the Switch, but then Mario Odyssey also became a thing. And they announced that there would be a "main series Pokemon RPG" coming to the Switch at some point. So at that point it was like: the Switch already has more going for it in my mind than the Wii U ever did, and the Switch's life has only just begun. XD And the thought of all the potential that the Switch still had to offer, on top of everything good that was already going for it, was what made me solidify my decision to buy one.

I'm looking forward to what more the Switch's era has to offer. OwO

Also the parental controls video is fucking adorable. Much more adorable than you would expect from a video about parental controls. If you haven't seen it yet then you should.

 

[LunaValentine]

I have a Switch. I love my Switch. I play Stardew Valley on it, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, and Breath of the Wild. I'm looking forward to Super Mario Oddsey (9 days!) and I think as long as Nintendo treats 3rd party devs nice and gets a good library out it will be fine.

 

[Quiet One]

Kind of scratched my head when you asked if we think it'll be a success. It's already a success. There's tons of games out and coming out, and everything. It already outsold the Wii U's entire life cycle in a few months.

Have one, but can't touch it until Christmas. Can't come soon enough. @Kagayours try the eshop. There's some good games on there, I hear, for between 10-20 bucks, like Shovel Knight for 25 and some indie platformers for ten or so.

 

[SacredWarrior]

Kind of scratched my head when you asked if we think it'll be a success. It's already a success. There's tons of games out and coming out, and everything. It already outsold the Wii U's entire life cycle in a few months.

As for whether or not it will be a success: I mean, isn't it already kind of a success?? Last I checked, Nintendo could hardly manufacture the damn things fast enough to keep up with demand. XD The only reason I was able to buy my Switch was because I obsessively checked 5 or 6 different retailers online, every day, until one of them had a Switch in stock. :P I haven't seen this much enthusiasm for a Nintendo console since the Wii.

And look at how the Wii turned out :( Yeah it was very successful but look at how it's regarded now. I don't want the same thing to happen to the Switch basically.

 

[Quiet One]

Um...confused by your criticism. The Wii is still considered to have been a success for Nintendo. I don't see it being likely for the Switch to fade into obscurity any time soon. As has already been said, Nintendo's having its notorious difficulty keeping up with demand, so people will keep clamoring for the system for quite a while until said demand is met. And new games are being announced almost every week.

The Wii's gimmick was waggle tech. The Switch's is that you can play at home or on the go with multiple people. That's a much longer-lasting concept. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

 

[Kagayours]

And look at how the Wii turned out :( Yeah it was very successful but look at how it's regarded now. I don't want the same thing to happen to the Switch basically.

:/ The only major thing I can think of that dragged the Wii's reputation down is all the shovelware titles that only aimed to make a quick buck off of poorly-implemented motion controls in ugly Wii Sports-ripoffs.

But like Quiet One said, the Wii is still a super-successful system for Nintendo and it had a lot of solid games. Solid games which are much more memorable than the shovelware titles. :P

Also, the Wii's shovelware all tried to cash in on the gimmicky motion controls. The original DS also had a lot of cheap titles that went way overboard with the system's touch controls. But unlike motion controls and touch controls, which make it really easy for shovelware developers to rush out a bunch of gimmicky games that revolve around those features -- the Switch's call to fame is its hybrid handheld/home console functionality. And the gameplay hardly differs between handheld and TV modes. Literally the only difference I've noticed is that you lose your screen brightness slider in TV mode, for obvious reasons. And I'm not sure it's even possible for the games themselves to detect which mode the console is in, much less transition between radically different gameplay modes to match.

Which means, you can't make a cheap shovelware game that only cashes in on the idea of switching between handheld and TV modes.

Which therefore means, the Switch won't be remembered some odd number of years down the line by a bunch of gimmicky games that only existed to show off this specific feature, the way the Wii kind of was.

 

[Hatsune Candy]

I absolutely love my Switch, I got one as soon as I could. (about a month after launch) The portable aspect is amazing and I find my using it far more than I ever thought I would. For only having 720p resolution, the screen looks sharper and clearer than my 32" 1080p TV. The Joycons are a lot more comfortable than I originally thought they were gonna be, although I think I still prefer the pro controller for TV mode.

My only complaint so far is that the accessories are waaay too expensive. I would love to buy an extra dock for our other TV, but for $90 dollars? That's nearly 1/3 the price of the Switch itself, ain't no way I'm paying that much for a minor convenience; I'll probably just end up getting a third party dock for far cheaper. Also, where is Virtual Console for crying out loud, I want my Super Mario 64 on the go God damn it.

As for the games, Breath of the Wild is great, Splatoon 2 is great, Mario Kart is great, and I couldn't possibly be any more excited for Super Mario Odyssey, which comes out in less than two weeks. (Man, I can't believe it's this close already, time sure does go by fast). And there are so many other great games on the horizon that I can only hope I'll have enough money for when the time comes.

 

[Darog]

if Nintendo can actually give a damn to it's lesser big franchises, maybe I'll actually get one. Granted, I know they are doing something new with Metroid, plus as well Samus Returns was a great return for the series. I still want something new from the Mother Series.

Also, once Xenoblade Chronicles 2 drops I'll probably get one. Breath of The Wild looks like yet another open world title that I've seen plenty of times already, Mario Odyssey doesn't interest me the slightest, plus as well the bunch of Wii title re-releases, and the 100th version of Skyrim does NOT interest me the slightest. To me though, one game is not enough to justify the price point regardless of quality.

XC2, Fire Emblem Warriors and the new Metroid game are the ones making me want it though. until SOMETHING is out in regards to that possible Pokemon Switch game, it's just a hypothetical.

 

[SacredWarrior]

if Nintendo can actually give a damn to it's lesser big franchises, maybe I'll actually get one

 

[Hatsune Candy]

Breath of The Wild looks like yet another open world title that I've seen plenty of times already

It's really not, though, it is soo much more than that. This is coming from someone who does not typically enjoy the open world genre. I tried soo many times to get into games like Skyrim and Fallout, and I just couldn't, but Breath of the Wild is on a whole different level. You'd really be missing out greatly if you continue to dismiss it as "just another open world game".

 

[Quiet One]

@Darog have to agree with Candy on this one. Like 80% of the Switches sold were sold JUST for Breath of the Wild. All you have to do is watch a let's play on YouTube and you'll see how great this is. I will say it's not the greatest game of all time, but the fact that people were so impressed that they said it was for quite a while is kind of impressive.

Also, just got Samus Returns two days ago and tried for the first time this morning. I've died 20 times in the tutorial. Hardest game I've ever played. Haven't played many games lately, so take that as it comes.

 

[Hatsune Candy]

Like 80% of the Switches sold were sold JUST for Breath of the Wild.

If I recall correctly, the Switch version of Breath of the Wild actually outsold the system itself in the first few weeks following launch. That means people were buying the game long before they could even get their hands on a Switch. (I was actually one of those people, it was so worth it)

 

[SacredWarrior]

If I recall correctly, the Switch version of Breath of the Wild actually outsold the system itself in the first few weeks following launch. That means people were buying the game long before they could even get their hands on a Switch. (I was actually one of those people, it was so worth it)

How in the hell did they manage to do that? Didn't BOTW come out on the same day as the Switch?

 

[Hatsune Candy]

How in the hell did they manage to do that? Didn't BOTW come out on the same day as the Switch?

Well, yeah, but not everyone (including myself) could get a Switch right away; there were supply shortages for the longest time. BotW was simply easier to get ahold of, probably because it's far easier to mass produce cartridges than it is entire consoles.

 

[SacredWarrior]

Well, yeah, but not everyone (including myself) could get a Switch right away; there were supply shortages for the longest time. BotW was simply easier to get ahold of, probably because it's far easier to mass produce cartridges than is entire consoles.

Yeah that makes sense then. Why not just get it for the Wii U if that was the case?

 

[Hatsune Candy]

Why not just get it for the Wii U if that was the case?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who went that route, I know at least one person who did. But for me, among mant other reasons, the prospect of playing a Zelda game of that magnitude wherever I go was just too good to pass up.

 

[Kagayours]

Yeah that makes sense then. Why not just get it for the Wii U if that was the case?

Lots of those people probably didn't have a Wii U. XD And they decided they would rather wait to get their hands on the new console than to buy the one that's already nearing the end of its life.

That's what I did, anyway. Except I did wait to buy BotW until I had a Switch (although I did buy them on the same day).

And I have to second what everyone else has already said about BotW being a phenomenal game. And I would also like to add that it is gorgeous at times. The whole atmosphere of the game is just breathtaking. owo

Also if you buy the Wolf Link amiibo then Wolf Link can follow you around in BotW and bark his head off at every last bird he sees and it's honestly kind of hilarious. Just thought I'd throw that detail out there.

 

[Joan]

My dad finally got himself a Switch recently and has been having tons of fun in BotW. He recently found a horse with ridiculous blond hair and named it "Fabio", and then he found a blue horse that so far is only called "blue horse". It's hilarious to watch XD

We still don't have a household Switch or anything, but from what I can see, it's very much a mobile console anyway. o.o Though, I was looking at the games that are planned to be released for the Switch, and it looks like it's getting a lot of 3rd-party games this time around o_o