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

[Rodéric]

ARM & AMD64 have different strengths and weaknesses, it would need some work to get it to run well, also relative difference in power means you'd need to be more optimal overall, can't throw that much junk at the CPU knowing it will handle it because its designers know how skilled mainstream programmers really are...

 

[Goodtwin]

Now that Switch has shown sustained success on a weekly basis, publishers are going to start looking at the platform more seriously. However, its unlikely for these publishers to assume that the market on Switch is the same as the PlayStation and Xbox. They will still be cautious, and probably choose the games to port based on the resources required to accomplish it, and identifying which IP's are the most likely to do well with the "Nintendo" gamer. If Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare is in development now, EA will probably include Switch.

The markets are different. Approaching it in the same way you do on PlayStation and Xbox will likely result in disappointment. Bomberman R is on its way to selling a million copies on Switch. Puyo Puyo Tetris is doing the best on Switch compared to other consoles. The ecosystem is just different, and while there is a great deal of potential to sell a lot of software on Switch, its unlikely to mirror the success stories on other consoles. Indies are finding success with Nintendo, so much so that Runner 3 and Steamworld Dig 2 are exclusive to Switch. Even with Yooka Laylee coming late to Switch, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it sold as well or better than other platforms. Retro inspired games are likely to find success on Switch, and it seems Capcom is assuming this as well with Ultra Street Fighter 2.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Until there are some decent cross-platform titles, how can anyone gauge the Switch audience? Would Bomberman R not sell on PS4XB1 because the audience is different? Obviously more light, portable type games will do better on Switch.

 

[Goodtwin]

Until there are some decent cross-platform titles, how can anyone gauge the Switch audience? Would Bomberman R not sell on PS4XB1 because the audience is different? Obviously more light, portable type games will do better on Switch.

I hope we get to find out, but Nintendo's audience has historically had very different buying habits post SNES era. Even on Gamecube, a lot of popular multi plat games sold very poorly even compared to the Xbox version, and they had similar install bases. Prince Of Persia Forgotten Sands on Wii was a ground up Wii build, was excellent, and still sold very poorly even with a massive install base. Western Publishers have all but abandoned portable gaming. I'm not trying to say that their is a clear picture of what the Switch audience looks like at this point, but am suggesting that its likely different from the competition, and third parties will most likely be cautious investing too much money into ports that have historically sold poorly on Nintendo platforms.

I think Bomberman R would have sold very poorly on PS4 and X1. Do you think it would have sold a million units on either of those platforms? I am betting we will see a trend where games like Snake Pass for example do better on Switch than X1 and PS4 despite having a much smaller install base. There is absolutely zero chance that COD WWII would sell anywhere near the numbers it will do on either the PS4 or X1. Even if it was a solid port that really showed a tremendous effort, it will still sell a small fraction on Switch compared to the competition. This is true of most AAA games. Take a series like Monster Hunter, tremendous success on 3DS and even did pretty well on Wii U. There just seems to be a different minded consumer on Nintendo hardware. PS4 and X1 have been out over three years now. If you haven't picked up a PS4/X1 to play the games that thrive on those consoles, why would they suddenly be so enticed to buy a Switch to play those games? The markets are different, and there will certainly be a lot of cross over, but the top 20 best selling games on Switch will look totally different than PS4 and X1, where their top 20 list will have tremendous redundancy.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Brainfart du jour : there were many announcements related to silicon processes, such as 16FFC that's a cheaper 16nm process, 12FFC that will be another cheap 16nm process, a new "22nm" as upgrade path to cheap 28nm, "12FFN" which is kind of 12FFC prototype for nvidia high margin GPUs, and also competitors's FD-SOI processes or other processes I might overlook or possibly aren't announced yet.

So, to sum this up I think there will be many die shrink options for the Switch. Could be 12FFC, or soon to be "useless" 12FFN machinery like the Switch is currently using the semi-useless 20nm process. So I have a little conspiracy theory that we'll see a re-launch of Nintendo Switch with the main chip on 12FFN when enough Volta GV100 chips have been made and it (the process) has outlived its usefulness.
Can easily be a 12FFC chip though if 12FFN is just a 0.x version of 12FFC.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

YES!!! No... YES!!! No... ARGH!!!!

YES - as in, "WOOOOOOOO, Monster Hunter is coming to the Nintendo Switch!!!" It's a port of Monster Hunter XX on 3DS which hasn't yet seen a NA or European release. Hopefully Capcom's port of this will feature greatly upgraded graphics. But even if it's just the same graphics scaled up, at least it won't be a jaggy mess like it is on the 3DS low resolution screen. This is something I've been hoping for ever since the Switch was announced.

No... - as in, "I STILL CAN'T FIND A GDAMN UNIT IN STOCK ANYWHERE AT ANYTHING CLOSE TO MSRP!!!" And with that announcement, I can only imagine demand is going to be driven even higher (MH: Generations sold over 4 million copies on 3DS).

Sigh. I need Nintendo to stop announcing really good titles for the 3DS so enough people lose interest in the platform that I can actually buy one for MSRP.

I've seen some speculation that Capcom might decide not to release the 3DS version of Monster Hunter XX outside of Japan and instead just release the Switch version. I don't think Capcom would be that silly, but who knows.

Regards,
SB

 

[Rodéric]

Please stop being a cheap ass releasing ports on Wii U & Switch dear CAPCOM, thank you !

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Looks like there are reports out now that Nintendo may be boosting production up to 18 million in preparation for the Holiday shopping season.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/28/15706682/nintendo-switch-reportedly-boosting-production-gaming

That's a report on a recent article by the Financial Times (original article locked behind a paywall). The Wall Street Journal had previously claimed that Nintendo had increased production orders to 16 million back in March. Other than mentioning increased production, Nintendo hasn't publicly commented on numbers recently.

Assuming demand holds, that's likely a good number. Even if demand starts to falter sometime this summer, it's inevitable that it will spike up considerably over the Holiday season.

Regards,
SB

 

[Goodtwin]

Please stop being a cheap ass releasing ports on Wii U & Switch dear CAPCOM, thank you !

I think it is understandable for Capcom come out of the gate a bit soft with releases on Switch. Nintendo was coming off a terrible performance with Wii U, and thus all major Publishers have been very cautious. Ultra Street Fighter 2 is actually a very fun game, and the more simplified gameplay compared to newer iterations makes playing two player with the joy cons work surprisingly well for some good casual competition with your friends. Monster Hunter has sold based on its gameplay concept, graphics have never really been a selling point. Still, its going to look really clean on Switch at 1080p and most likely 60fps. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U ran an unlocked framerate, but generally hovered around 40fps.

So far things are exactly as I expected, the software announcements are more Vita/3DS than PS4/X1. Square Enix just announced another RPG for Switch in Lost Sphear. Monster Hunter XX being announced gave Nintendo's stock value a big boost. These are titles that wouldnt move the needle for PS4 or X1 in the slightest. Third party support is building up quickly, but when people talk about third party support where they really mean EA, Activision, and Ubisoft, then those companies are still more likely to be more selective with what they bring to the platform.

 

[pharma]

Nintendo announces some big changes to its Switch online service subscription

Instead of a one month virtual console game rental, Nintendo’s online subscription buyers will now gain access to “a library of classic games with added online play”. You will be able to play as many of those games as you like for as long as you want if you have an active subscription. Beyond that, you also get access to online multiplayer features.

https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matt...es-to-its-switch-online-service-subscription/

 

[BRiT]

Pharma, I cant believe you didnt share the more interesting tidbits, namely that they have pushed back their online service until 2018.


Nintendo revealed on Thursday evening that the Switch online service, which was original set to launch before the end of the year, has been pushed back to 2018. Switch owners will be able to play online for free until the service launches next year, at which point they can pick up a 12-month membership for $19.99, a 3-month membership for $7.99 or a 1-month membership for $3.99.

http://bgr.com/2017/06/02/nintendo-switch-online-service-delay-price/

 

[dobwal]

That seems kind of crazy. To take a free feature at launch only to put it behind a paywall a year later.

I hope Nintendo provides some some sort of disclaimer because to those who don't keep with Nintendo news, it might be perceived as a bait and switch tactic by some.

Ideally it might be better to grandfather all current games with multiplayer modes and keep those modes free.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It can't be bait and switch if you don't pay for it. If free, it's a free sample, a taster. They are free to change the pricing model whenever they want to whatever they want and let the market decide if they value it.

 

[Rodéric]

Produce them faster Ninty, I want one and can't find one at a non stupid price

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

There was a news article one or two weeks ago that mentioned Nintendo cannot produce them any faster because they have problems procuring (flash) memory and screens due to smartphone manufacturers buying up the bulk and getting priority because of that.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

There was a news article one or two weeks ago that mentioned Nintendo cannot produce them any faster because they have problems procuring (flash) memory and screens due to smartphone manufacturers buying up the bulk and getting priority because of that.

That's certainly a possibility, demand for NAND has spiked significantly with SSD prices also climbing considerably higher than they were a year ago.

Regards,
SB

 

[Silent_Buddha]

OK, this was not at all what I expected. The latest Co-optional podcast, Dodger mentioned that everyone in her office who have a Switch use it docked versus as a handheld. But in a poll of the users watching the stream, it was roughly equally split between mostly handheld, mostly docked, or evenly split docked/handheld.

My expectations was that most people would use it predominantly as a handheld and that just isn't the case. Fascinating.

BTW - lots of praise for the PS Vita and its ergonomics compared to the Switch on the podcast. It makes me wonder if Nintendo will do anything to revise their control layout for the follow up to the Switch.

Another possible solution would be if a 3rd party were allowed to make joycons for the Switch, but none of the hosts know whether that would be something Nintendo would allow.

Regards,
SB

 

[wco81]

Is the Switch any good for streaming?

People are using Shield boxes for 4K HDR streams of Netflix and other streaming services.

 

[mpg1]

BTW - lots of praise for the PS Vita and its ergonomics compared to the Switch on the podcast. It makes me wonder if Nintendo will do anything to revise their control layout for the follow up to the Switch.

Another possible solution would be if a 3rd party were allowed to make joycons for the Switch, but none of the hosts know whether that would be something Nintendo would allow.

Regards,
SB

Haven't had hands on of a Switch yet but from my observation they need to offset the sticks and buttons/d-pad like Xbox One/Switch Pro controllers ...it would require wider joycons.

 

[Globalisateur]

Haven't had hands on of a Switch yet but from my observation they need to offset the sticks and buttons/d-pad like Xbox One/Switch Pro controllers ...it would require wider joycons.

Well, I just did. Played a bit of Mario Kart deluxe (docked) using one mini controller. Main problem for me was the cheap stick: too much deadzone (and unreliability), almost unplayable if you are not used to play with a stick. Most of my friends (casual gamers, mostly) preferred to play with the motion controls because of how unreliable the stick was.

Before playing the game I literally saw them naturally trying the stick (it was a recent gift, they just began to play this game in front of me), complaining it wasn't working as expected, and preferring to turn with the motion controls.