Nintendo Switch Event 2017-01-12 and Switch Launch discussion

[BRiT]

Alright, so I haven't seen anything about the following or I simply don't remember it if it was shown, but does the Nintendo Switch have any typical smart tablet apps for it? Does it have an internet browser, an email client, a calander, calculator, or social apps like twitter, reddit, or facebook? I know it doesnt have any apps for voice chatting since they require you to use your phone, tablet, pc, or other console to do voice chating. I dont think it even supports text chatting or messaging with friends.

I only recall a small blurb saying you could share screenshots (but wasnt clear on to what platforms it would share) and with the promise of them eventually managing to finish their software to do video sharing.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Pretty sure it doesn't. No mention of it, and as they assume you have a mobile device for online play, I can see the logic in assuming you'd use that device for everything else too.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I feel some people are not being fair.

It was pretty obvious from that start what Nintendo intends Switch to be. A console that you can take with you. The dock is fine. Nobody is going to dick around with cables and adapters hanging out of their tv to hook up a device to their tv so the dock will do just fine. Is a second dock expensive? Yes. Then again I can't see many people buying a extra dock. Besides, what if you want your PS4 in another room? You're gonna disconnect it every time? No, you buy another PS4.

The hardware looks like it's Wuu at best which is a disappointment, I think they could have done a bit more. Then again just doing what Sony and MS are doing probably wouldn't get them anywhere either so I can understand what they did with Switch. I think the concept isn't bad and could work but they do need games.

It is shocking to see they essentially don't have any software. Zelda is a Wuu port and apart from that all I'm seeing stuff that has been released on other platforms already or nobody cares about (just dance as a launch title?). The smart thing would be to have Zelda, Pokemon 3ds port and Mariokart 8 Deluxe ready at launch. Can't imaging that would have been all that hard as it would only mean porting three games rather than creating three new ones but everybody wants Zelda, Pokemon on the big screen is something everybody and their mom has been asking for for over a decade now and can't really go wrong with mariokart.

Instead Nintendo comes with Zelda and... nothing.

 

[Rootax]

Oh wait! Am I to gsther there is no hardware in the dock? Its just that tablet sitting in a fancy seat?
I should have watched the live stream, just like the wii U before this one is also confusing.

And from the replies to my call for one liner pitches it seems there is no one singular quality to define switch? Its a vita which u can output to tv too?

Right now what i see from cursory surfing is zelda=switch. Rest is all pretty much nothing being talked about for lengths. I still sont see what part of the market, except for mario+zelda fans, does it want to hit? I mean Xone wanted to be ur home entertainment device, ps4 wanted to scream games over anything else +power, what is switch? A tablet that has zelda on it?

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

A portable WiiU that you can connect to you TV when home. But they sell it like a Home Console that you can take outside. Hybrid, worst of both world... It's maybe a great 3DS successor (well, can be, if games are coming. Big if), but as a home console...

It's the first Nintendo home console that I won't buy. Yeah, I even bought the WiiU (for Wonderfull 101)... But this... I have no need for that. When I'm out, I don't have time to play, or can't play... Their launch trailer months ago was ridiculous in that regard. Who stop playing basketball IRL to play it on a small screen with tiny pad...

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

Personally, this is the most appealing Nintendo console for years. I owned the Gamecube but left the Wii and WiiU alone.

The launch price is high, but it's probably artificially high in preparation for a Christmas price drop. The paid online service probably isn't something I'll ever subscribe to because I'm on PS+. The lack of launch games is also wildly lacking.

Nonetheless, given that a Vita successor seems unlikely, this is really the only option that can scratch the dedicated portable itch. As much as people are unhappy that it isn't all that powerful for a home console, it's a mighty successor to the 3DS.

I'll buy one, but not at launch.

 

[CaffeinatedChris]

The dock is fine.

You misspelled "criminally overpriced for being a bunch of cheap injection-molded plastic with maybe thirty dollars of electronics in it" but that's an easy mistake to make.

what if you want your PS4 in another room? You're gonna disconnect it every time? No, you buy another PS4.

Or you use Remote Play on the PC, Mac, Android device, Vita, Vita TV, smart TV, smart BD player in the other room ... or you unplug HDMI/power and move it because it takes all of fifteen seconds to do?

 

[Rodéric]

Alright, so I haven't seen anything about the following or I simply don't remember it if it was shown, but does the Nintendo Switch have any typical smart tablet apps for it? Does it have an internet browser, an email client, a calander, calculator, or social apps like twitter, reddit, or facebook? I know it doesnt have any apps for voice chatting since they require you to use your phone, tablet, pc, or other console to do voice chating. I dont think it even supports text chatting or messaging with friends.

I only recall a small blurb saying you could share screenshots (but wasnt clear on to what platforms it would share) and with the promise of them eventually managing to finish their software to do video sharing.

Given the Wii U does have a browser, a YouTube app... I expect the Switch to have those as well.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

HDMI licensing. The HDMI consortium charges the HDCP fee only on devices with a HDMI port so by placing the port on an accessory Nintendo does not have to pay a fee per device just per dock. Now you may point out that they are only offering bundles with a dock right now but this means if they do ever offer a dockless sku they don't have to cut a slice for the HDMI folks. If you buy a USB-C -> HDMI or DP -> HDMI adaptor the fee is included in the cost of the adaptor which is why a number of notebook manufacturers don't ship HDMI (also the port is too thick for ultraslim these days anyway).

These are the fees for HDMI 2.0:
http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/terms.aspx
$10 000 per year plus $0.04 per device if you adopt HDCP.

And these are the fees for HDCP 2.2:
https://www.digital-cp.com/sites/default/files/Notice_of_HDCP_2.x_Device_Key_Fee_Increase_0.pdf

$15 000 per year plus $0.01 per device.


They can't go around the $25 000 annual fees, at least because of the Wii U and first SKUs for the Switch.

You're saying Nintendo is building a plastic slab with some hardware inside that is costing them at least ~$10 to make, just so they can save $0.05 on each unit of a future SKU that doesn't exist yet but may exist in the future.

This doesn't make sense from a financial perspective...
The dock is snake oil to make the handheld look like a decent home console, which it is not.

I feel some people are not being fair.

It was pretty obvious from that start what Nintendo intends Switch to be.

Nintendo is trying to sell the Switch as a high performance handheld that you can dock for a good Home Console experience. It is neither.
What you're actually getting is a handheld with mediocre performance that you can dock for a Home Console experience that doesn't seem to be much better than 10 year-old consoles.
All this for $30 more than the price of a much more powerful home console with the AAA game that won most awards in 2016.

Besides, what if you want your PS4 in another room? You're gonna disconnect it every time? No, you buy another PS4.

You buy a $100 Atom+Windows box and you stream the games from the PS4.
This is assuming you don't have a windows laptop or tablet around.
EDIT: Forgot the Android app for streaming to Xperia phones had been reverse-engineered a while ago, so you can actually just spend ~$40 in a similar Android box and get the same experience.

The launch price is high, but it's probably artificially high in preparation for a Christmas price drop.

And what are they going to sell during the 8 months between April and the holiday season?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

You misspelled "criminally overpriced for being a bunch of cheap injection-molded plastic with maybe thirty dollars of electronics in it" but that's an easy mistake to make.

Probably way less. I reckon the dock will be necessary for future accessories and not having one will be a barrier for adoption of those accessories and that's why they're bundling them in initially. Think Xbox One and Kinect.

But accessories for consoles has always licences to print money. I doubt the DualShock 4 costs Sony more than $7 to manufacture and box.

 

[CaffeinatedChris]

Probably way less. I reckon the dock will be necessary for future accessories and not having one will be a barrier for adoption of those accessories and that's why they're bundling them in initially. Think Xbox One and Kinect.

But accessories for consoles has always licences to print money. I doubt the DualShock 4 costs Sony more than $7 to manufacture and box.

I basically considered the price as "what's the cheapest USB-C hub I can find on Monoprice" and then considered that Nintendo might consider using more robust power filtering than something designed to be manufactured to bottom dollar.

Re: the dock being necessary, I can't see that happening. Nintendo's put enough focus on the Switch being portable in their promotion that anything anchoring it to/requiring a dock seems unlikely.

I think the Switch is their foot in the water for a potential replacement of the 3DS, similar to how the DS was a test launch for a dual-screen handheld. Had the DS bombed, I imagine we'd have a "Game Boy 3D" right now instead of the "3DS" - and similarly, if the Switch goes well as a dual-purpose console, we may see the 3DS wind down in a couple of years. If not, then we keep the 3DS/Switch

 

[dobwal]

To me, Nintendo just mucked up the marketing. It should of been heralded as the successor of the 3ds from the start.

The first look video starts off with Zelda being played on a TV followed by a montage of the switch being played as a portable.

A great portable system that can pass as a serviceable console experience is better than a half ass console that u can carry with you.

 

[Deleted member 2197]

Nintendo Switch allocations sold out at many UK and US retailers

It looks like the Nintendo Switch is a 'sell out success' as retailers with pre-allocated stock all seem to have run out already. Various reports in the last few hours state that Amazon UK and US websites had sold out on Friday, GameStop sold out yesterday, and other US retailers like Target, Toys R Us, Walmart and Best Buy all list the console, which launches March 3, as unavailable. Some accessories and game carts are still available.

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/101515-nintendo-switch-allocations-sold-many-uk-us-retailers/

 

[Exophase]

To me, Nintendo just mucked up the marketing. It should of been heralded as the successor of the 3ds from the start.

The first look video starts off with Zelda being played on a TV followed by a montage of the switch being played as a portable.

A great portable system that can pass as a serviceable console experience is better than a half ass console that u can carried with you.

They went all in with the JoyCon design and all of the compromises that entailed. May as well try to capitalize on it with the marketing as much as possible, although I'm still very skeptical that many people will use it the way they're showing it.

 

[Malo]

Nintendo Switch allocations sold out at many UK and US retailers


http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/101515-nintendo-switch-allocations-sold-many-uk-us-retailers/

Kind of irrelevant unless numbers are actually provided. I'm sure nintendo balanced between enough allocations to not sell out in 5 minutes but little enough to get the marketing PR of "all sold out!"

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Kind of irrelevant unless numbers are actually provided. I'm sure nintendo balanced between enough allocations to not sell out in 5 minutes but little enough to get the marketing PR of "all sold out!"

Yup.
Reception has been pretty negative at least in the west.
Never mind the apparent piss-poor performance of the device that will be harder to acknowledge by the general public (at least until they get that it's not getting the same CoD/Battlefield/NBA/NHL/etc. as the 2013 models): the console launch is being panned by its price and launch library.

 

[Exophase]

Kind of irrelevant unless numbers are actually provided. I'm sure nintendo balanced between enough allocations to not sell out in 5 minutes but little enough to get the marketing PR of "all sold out!"

Edit: my post was moved and I didn't quote. this comment was regarding info that US/UK allocations were sold out.

Exactly. This is what happened with the Wii U in 2012:

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has revealed that in the first week of its US release, the company has sold more than 400,000 Wii U consoles and plenty of accessories. That's only two thirds of how the original Wii performed, shifting 600,000 units in an equivalent period in 2006. But not only was that when the global economy was on a better footing, Nintendo also shipped fewer units this time around. As Fils-Aime also stated, the initial batch of stock has effectively sold out.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/118252-wii-u-sells-400k-first-week

And we all know how Wii U sales turned out.

I don't think it even really means much if the numbers are high compared to previous launches which were undoubtedly also very capacity constrained. It's easy for Nintendo to build up enough hype to guarantee the first couple million units over the first few months, but that barely scratches at the sales they need to make over the lifetime of the console to really be considered successful.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Here in Finland the Switch seems to be selling from €369 to €399, the place where I preordered sells it for €379.
That's about the same a 1TB PS4 Slim is selling, and often with a bundled in game.
And the Zelda game is €64.95 to €69.95, that's about €10 more than new PS4 and xbone games.

 

[Rodéric]

Nintendo sold the DS as the third pillar, yet it replaced the GBA in mere months, the same might be true for the Switch, it's pretty much all down to how many units they move.
As far as I'm concerned Nintendo will release a single console from now on to focus all its strength on it, it will be hybrid.
This one is Iwata's legacy, you can clearly see the Wii & Wii U DNA in the device.

I said it already, but I think the prices are all wrong, it's not the best way to get that console selling like hot cakes...

 

[Megadrive1988]

Extremely disappointing to say the least. Significant lower max performance docked than Shield TV, which was a low-end microconsole to begin with. Orice is way too high including accessories.

Launch lineup looks miserable outside of Zelda and western 3rd parties don't seem to be on board with few exceptions like Bethesda porting a 6 year old game (Skyrim).

I'm expecting 15-18M unit lifetime sales, unless they cut the price drastically for Holiday and beyond. Nintendo seems to have learned very little from Wii U.

 

[snarfbot]

You can get a really nice gamepad for Android and iOS for 30 dollars or less. And any high end phone is gonna outperform it. It's not that the product is bad it just costs too much. It's a low res LCD tablet with a dock and removable gamepad. It should cost $200 max to be competitive.