Nintendo NX is now Switch (Official thread) (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

Glad to hear it.

Contrary to my suggestion that it was universal, there are folks out there that are perfectly happy with it. But an awful lot of people are disappointed with it being unreliable. A possible sign I suppose that there's a bit of a quality control issue here, rather than an actual design flaw.

Out of curiosity, there's a test screen in the settings you could check. If you hit left or right as far from the center of the d-pad as possible and then slightly press up or down on the left/right side of the d-pad, many people will then see an up or down movement incorrectly be registered.

There's some thought that this is why people are triggering false diagonals in games where precision 4 way control is desirable (Pac-Man on Namco Museum or navigating a virtual keyboard, for two such examples where false diagonals can drive you batty). Ideally, you'd only get a diagonal input if you actually pressed up/right and other such combinations.

 

[Bryan^H]

The pro controller is the only way to go as far as I am concerned. It isn't my favorite, but way better than the hodge podge controller the system comes with. Way better.

The Switch is still hard to find, but Nintendo expects to sell like 7 million or more by the end of the year. I don't know if they're slowly stockpiling for the holidays or not, but considering it sells out immediately every time it hits shelves I think that would probably be a bad decision.

They're also producing SNES Classic consoles, but I have no idea if the factory line producing those is interfering with their capacity to make Switch consoles.

Stores are simply not receiving them to sell. I know an employee at Gamestop. Between all three area stores they haven't received the consoles in months. And when they do they are very limited and are forced to sell in expensive bundles. I talked to the manager at Walmart and was told the same thing "we got about a dozen systems in May, and haven't got any since then"(this was two weeks ago). And the same story at Meijer, and Target.

I never had this problem with Microsoft, or Sony systems. IT seems to me nearly 6 months after launch they should be available to buy in every retailer in town.

 

[CraigF]

^ As far as availability at Gamestop, there have been "rumors" as to why not so much... I have no idea if they're true, but I don't even bother checking at their Canadian stores for anything Nintendo. From practical experience: no real point, not for anything that's even remotely in demand.

WM here continues to give Nintendo a "lot" of shelf space, and "knowing" WM and their space vs sales requirements, I have to assume Nintendo is at least partly paying for it (to fly the brand flag so consumers don't forget about it) since there's rarely much there the last couple years. Often the stuff that's there is 3rd party junk; it's well-known outside of WallyWorld that it doesn't even work properly with the Nintendo device it's alleged to. Less of that these days, since the required Nintendo host devices aren't there either.

I know I've said it a lot in other Nintendo threads, but I really don't get them. Maybe they're super-geniuses (genii?) working well above even my comprehension level, and their master-plan is unfolding exactly as the scribes foretold eons ago.

 

[Bryan^H]

I know I've said it a lot in other Nintendo threads, but I really don't get them. Maybe they're super-geniuses (genii?) working well above even my comprehension level, and their master-plan is unfolding exactly as the scribes foretold eons ago.

I was told that Nintendo are taking a big hit in the Switch units, as they lose quite a bit of money on each unit, and they were waiting until the add on games, and accessories are plenty. To offset the cost of the unit with many "add-on sales". Sounds logical, but when Splatoon 2 launched and there wasn't a Switch unit to be had, anywhere..well it kind of made me scratch my head and wonder if Nintendo actually expects consumers to buy a game with nothing to play it on.
Strange strategy.

 

[LeoA]

Morgan won't like that. He firmly believes that Nintendo is making big money just off the sale of each Switch unit.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I've seen plenty of Switch units for sale at Walmart and Target over the summer. They sell out quickly but are restocked within a week or two. Amazon also occasionally has a flash sale of Switch units for Prime members.

 

[Tino]

I bought a Switch on impulse when it was suddenly available at BB one day.

That was over a month ago and it's still sitting in the bag. Have had no desire to open it or hook it up. No games interest me other that Zelda.

Back it goes to BB.

 

[Bryan^H]

I bought a Switch on impulse when it was suddenly available at BB one day.

That was over a month ago and it's still sitting in the bag. Have had no desire to open it or hook it up. No games interest me other that Zelda.

Back it goes to BB.

Hmm. Mario Odyssey is the only reason I bought one. From the gameplay footage it looks very close to Mario 64, which is one of my favorite games of all time. But other than that, I am also wondering if I made a mistake.

Is one game worth the purchase of completely new console?

 

[Tino]

Should have known better. Got burned by both the Wii and the Wii U. They were fun for ten minutes and that was it.

I'll stick with my Xbox and PS.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I've had the opposite experience. I love my Switch and was bored to tears with my Xbox 360 and PS4.

 

[CraigF]

I'll make a stop at one or two of the local Walmarts today and see how the Switch stock is. I did see some there a few weeks ago, but they were all the red/blue, and I wanted the gray (I know...). [Note: none were or are at Best Buy, by far the largest electronics retailer in Canada.] Not saying I was going to get one for sure, the VR setup for the PS4 is the same price here, and if we're talking "disposable toys", that might amuse me more. Plus be an excuse to dust off the PS4, it's my PS3s that still get the most use.

Edit: I didn't see any Switches. In fact, the WMs have XB1s in one of the usually-Nintendo display cases, didn't even bother to change the big sign at one store. Three slots for Nintendo now down to 2, 2 slots for each of XB360 and XB1, 4 slots for PS4 (some PS3 games in there). Only Nintendo hardware was Switch controllers and a lone 3DS.

 

[laser]

I was told that Nintendo are taking a big hit in the Switch units, as they lose quite a bit of money on each unit, and they were waiting until the add on games, and accessories are plenty. To offset the cost of the unit with many "add-on sales".

Morgan won't like that. He firmly believes that Nintendo is making big money just off the sale of each Switch unit.

Nintendo has been saying for years that they dislike selling at a loss. Whether it be high demand and/or a manufacturing bottleneck, all signs point to the Switch stock shortages being totally out of Nintendo's hands.

Hmm. Mario Odyssey is the only reason I bought one. From the gameplay footage it looks very close to Mario 64, which is one of my favorite games of all time. But other than that, I am also wondering if I made a mistake.

Is one game worth the purchase of completely new console?

No, one game isn't worth it. But as soon as Pikmin 4 comes out, it, Mario Odyssey, and Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will make it worth it for me. And if they can keep up the current release pace, odds are there will be even more attractive titles down the line.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Breath of the Wild was worth it for me plus I have faith Nintendo will double down on their efforts to bring a lot of good games to Switch since they are effectively killing off 3DS next year.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I never said Nintendo was making a ton of money off of Switch hardware sales. IIRC, Nintendo said the Switch is sold at either cost or a small profit per unit and was turning a bigger profit on the accessories and games. A teardown of the components showed that the hardware costs about $260 to make, meaning $40 of profit per unit (of course, minus the manufacturing/shipping costs). What I said previously was that Nintendo was going to be turning a huge profit because of the Switch in the near term because of the small profit from console sales, the bigger profit from accessory sales, and the profit from software sales. (And they announced at their last quarterly meeting that this was true. Have they recouped every last penny of R&D costs from developing the Switch? No, but I never claimed they did, whereas that was the basis for Leo's argument that Nintendo would not turn a profit on the Switch.) The Switch is quite popular and the general feeling from the gaming community is that Nintendo has created something great.

The list of games available is a bit weak at the moment, but considering this thing has been out for 5 months and already has one of the best games ever made (Zelda), Mario Kart, Splatoon, and a bunch of surprisingly good indie/downloadable games, it's doing pretty well. The good buzz and fan reception mean more high-quality games from third parties will be coming (at least, we all hope).

For what it's worth, comparing the Switch to the other consoles, I feel like I've been spoiled. I brought my Switch on a weeklong trip and thoroughly enjoyed playing it. Yet, when I'm at home, I feel like turning on my PS4 and having to use the TV is now a lot more work than I want to invest. I play my Switch mostly as a portable and in a room separate from where the base is connected to a TV.

The one thing the Switch is still missing is the virtual console.

 

[LeoA]

I never said that Nintendo wouldn't turn a profit with the Switch.

Quite to the contrary. I've been championing this very idea for years as Nintendo's way back to the top while you dismissed it completely with posts like this one from three years ago.

The handheld/console rumors are complete BS. It was literally some random guy posting the idea somewhere then pretending it was a rumor when it was completely made up. Nintendo openly said they have no plans to introduce new hardware until the Wii U has run its cycle and, frankly, a hybrid portable system is really really stupid. There's no economical way to engineer that and have it look decent.Zelda won't be pushed to the next gen. They showed off the dynamic demo when they revealed the Wii U and, while it wasn't anything more than a proof-of-concept for graphics and the tablet, it was basically a promise that the game is coming to this platform. They'll show it at E3 and it will likely be a fall 2014 release or spring 2015. They tend to show video of games within a year of launch, unlike MS and Sony who aim for the same decade.

 

[laser]

The handheld/console rumors are complete BS. It was literally some random guy posting the idea somewhere then pretending it was a rumor when it was completely made up. Nintendo openly said they have no plans to introduce new hardware until the Wii U has run its cycle and, frankly, a hybrid portable system is really really stupid. There's no economical way to engineer that and have it look decent.Zelda won't be pushed to the next gen. They showed off the dynamic demo when they revealed the Wii U and, while it wasn't anything more than a proof-of-concept for graphics and the tablet, it was basically a promise that the game is coming to this platform. They'll show it at E3 and it will likely be a fall 2014 release or spring 2015. They tend to show video of games within a year of launch, unlike MS and Sony who aim for the same decade.

Ouch. Talk about the absolute polar opposite happening.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

If you go back and look at that discussion in context, the specific rumors I was referring to were, in fact, complete BS. And the Wii U did run without any other hardware from Nintendo for 4 years. And Zelda did still release on the Wii U. The fact that Zelda got delayed multiple times and that their next piece of hardware was a mobile/console hybrid were things that none of us could have accurately predicted over 3 years ago, considering there really was absolutely zero real hard info about any of that. That said, minus having to wait longer for Breath of the Wild, I am glad with how wrong I turned out to be.

The discussion about Switch profits was you and I having a disagreement over whether we could consider their latest quarterly profits to be "profits from Switch" or if that would have to be reserved for some time years from now when the sum total of R&D, manufacturing, development of games, advertising costs, etc. versus income created a new profit on the entire Switch venture. I was saying that they would start to turn a profit (as in, quarterly profits) from the Switch starting around launch because of how well the launch went but you disagreed and said that the Switch would be a loss for a while (but not forever) because of the unknown cost of R&D that went on for years.

 

[LeoA]

I indeed didn't expect much from their last quarterly results. In fact, I fully expected a bit of a loss. But I definitely wasn't thinking that the entire Switch program as a whole would falter. I just figured it would take a bit longer for it to show concrete results on the balance sheet.

And Morgan, you refused to believe that a hybrid was even possible for the longest time, while ignoring every shred of anecdotal evidence like Nintendo's merging of handheld and console teams several years ago. You were adamant such a device as we got wasn't realistic or would be so crippled that it would never be something Nintendo would even consider.

Your crystal ball needs a tune up.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

What can I say, I only believe the possibility of things based on evidence. At that point in time, there was none.

Nintendo merging their console and handheld businesses together made sense once they started doing things like Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U then trying to simply increase the rate of release for new games. Towards the end of the Wii U's lifecycle, the idea of a hybrid system made sense. However, back in 2014, not even 2 years after the Wii U came out and with the 3DS really having picked up steam since its launch, the idea didn't seem to make sense.

 

[LeoA]

There's never any real evidence at such an early point. But I believe educated guesses and advancements in mobile technology led to many people ending up correct about what the Switch became.

For example, Nintendo's traditional 1st party software droughts that became such an issue once 3rd party support faltered, suddenly become much less of a problem when all your 1st/2nd party next-gen development is directed towards a single system.

No more dual Mario Kart releases for example. That means the Mario Kart project from a single team can be sold to your entire audience, while the second team can handle a different project that can also be sold to your entire audience.

Stuff like that at a time when Nintendo's console sales were at rock bottom and the 3DS was so far behind its predecessor, really started to add up after a time and all but confirm it before Nintendo themselves ever said anything.

It just made sense, I feel. And evidently Nintendo was thinking similarly. I believe it will pay dividends for everyone involved when all is said and done.