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Nintendo Switch: March 3rd 2017 worldwide, MSRP $300

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jonno394

Member
Have you guys who are wary about the price seen this?

16114350_10211913291007032_7661135648577460067_n.jpg

No, because comparing what consoles launched at doesn't really matter, it's what competition is available at the time of said consoles launch and their respective prices at that time that matters.

If all 3 consoles were launching at the same time with the prices in that chart, then great, Switch wouldnt look that bad, but it's not.
 

sinonobu

Banned
Do you guys think they will annouce more games for launch?
I mean seriously I don't think 5 games is not enough for new system launch.
 
I am not optimistic this is going to do well, but you are probably correct.

Nintendo is a company that does not move quickly to correct issues.

Again, I have one pre-ordered. I like my Wii U. But, I think this device is a great idea at a high-level that butt-fumbled pretty much all of the details. From power, to battery to price.

They may have been better off with a home console and portable sharing the same architecture with cross-buy, and had the home console work more like a PS4-Pro where the graphics are substantially higher IQ and resolution.

I think they effectively have an underpowered home console and an overpriced portable with poor battery life.

If I thought Nintendo knew how to message and advertise systems I would be more optimistic, but everything they have done with the Wii U has me not confident that they are going to explain what this is to the average consumer well enough.

I think the Wii U had unfocused marketing because it was an unfocused product. The Switch is a super Wii that you can take with you. If that idea resonates with people, then the power differences don't matter. A lot of it comes down to how well the fancy new rumble works.

I think Nintendo is on the right track here, so I am more optimistic.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Do you guys think they will annouce more games for launch?
I mean seriously I don't think 5 games is not enough for new system launch.

Well, we are 6 weeks away. Given the current response on the internet, they better drop those bombs pretty quick.
 

Fess

Member
Not a chance that it will launch with that price here. It's been a placeholder price on Webhallen for quite some time. It'd be considerably more expensive than what the Wii U launched at.
Place holders everywhere then, check prisjakt, I'm getting worried for real here :S
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
It's a shame. WiiU BC would have done wonders here.

I think they could have ported the games and charged 20-30 bucks for the greatest hits and gotten a lot of excitement from people. I'd buy some just to go portable with them.

And non Wii-U owners would have an instant collection of very good titles for year 1.

Instead we have 5 games on launch, Splatoon 2, a full-priced Mario Kart 8 port and a Mario game at Xmas.
 
Have you guys who are wary about the price seen this?

And? It's too expensive for a console that is underpowered compared to the competition, you're basically paying for a X360/PS3 but at a much greater price. Now, if you're a Nintendo die hard the price is meaningless to you or justified because maybe you don't even have a PS4 or Xbone and are just upgrading from the Wii-U. Well, that's well and good for you but Nintendo cannot survive off of die hards alone, that's why the Wii-U failed.

idea of the general gamer was that the Switch could be viewed as a secondary system. They have their current gen console to play all the latest and greatest releases including all the great third party games. The Switch would then be purchased to supplement their current choice of console so that they could play Nintendo games. However, at $300 without any games, no Pro Controller, no additional joysticks, paid online service, and two launch titles, that is unreasonable. Nintendo is positioning the Switch to be a PRIMARY console at that price, but again the only people who are interested in that are the die hard Nintendo fans and that's not the audience Nintendo needed to reach with the Switch.
 

Neoweee

Member
I think they could have ported the games and charged 20-30 bucks for the greatest hits and gotten a lot of excitement from people. I'd buy some just to go portable with them.

And non Wii-U owners would have an instant collection of very good titles for year 1.

Instead we have 5 games on launch, Splatoon 2, a full-priced Mario Kart 8 port and a Mario game at Xmas.

That is the disappointing part to me. Nintendo is shockingly bad at variable price points. Wii U ports should be many, and cheaper, and at launch. Instead they are trickling them out at higher prices.
 

Mr T.

Banned
Do you guys think they will annouce more games for launch?
I mean seriously I don't think 5 games is not enough for new system launch.

Have you played a new console at launch? You generally get 3-5 games and most of time it comes down to 1 of 2 games. If anything else you get a port of whats out with other consoles.
 
It's pretty crazy that there isn't more Wii U ports ready. Pokken, Bayonetta, Smash, etc. should have all been available Day 1. Sure they are older games and wouldn't be huge sellers but you could at least round out that pathetic launch lineup a little bit
 

Snaku

Banned
I think they could have ported the games and charged 20-30 bucks for the greatest hits and gotten a lot of excitement from people. I'd buy some just to go portable with them.

And non Wii-U owners would have an instant collection of very good titles for year 1.

Instead we have 5 games on launch, Splatoon 2, a full-priced Mario Kart 8 port and a Mario game at Xmas.

I sincerely doubt that's all they have this year. I think they didn't want to just blow their whole load last night and then have nothing exciting to announce between now and e3. They did that with the Wii U that one time, basically dropping all the bombs in one January Direct, and it backfired.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I think they effectively have an underpowered home console and an overpriced portable with poor battery life.

It sucks, but it was always a given with the hybrid approach. Trying to be jack of all trades ends up being master of none due the compromises that have to be made to make both work.

I've said all along they'd have been better off with just having a separate console and portable sku that shared carts/libraries.

Console could be a lot cheaper from not having the screen. Ideally they could have scrapped the joy con stuff and just went with a pro controller with gyro and hd rumble.

Portable could be better designed for portability, have integrated stick and buttons (saving money from having joycons) and have a longer battery life without ramping cost up (due to not having joy cons, dock etc.).

Still super simple to market. Call the console something like Nintendo Home and the portable something Like Nintendo Go or Nintendo Away or whatever and still focus on sharing games, having cloud saves etc. Could even do a bundle sku that included both.

They probably could have priced those around $200 each separate, $300-350 together if they wanted to push the bundle sku.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
That is the disappointing part to me. Nintendo is shockingly bad at variable price points. Wii U ports should be many, and cheaper, and at launch. Instead they are trickling them out at higher prices.

Nintendo I believe has been milking a decreasing population of hardcore Nintendo fans for the last 20 years and living off Pokemon to try and grow a younger fanbase.

I grew up with an NES controller in my hands, but it's getting harder and harder for me to justify buying their hardware. It feels like their cycles are getting shorter for hardware refresh and their software output lower and worse quality every gen.
 
I think they could have ported the games and charged 20-30 bucks for the greatest hits and gotten a lot of excitement from people. I'd buy some just to go portable with them.

And non Wii-U owners would have an instant collection of very good titles for year 1.

Instead we have 5 games on launch, Splatoon 2, a full-priced Mario Kart 8 port and a Mario game at Xmas.

Yup, I would be 100% in if nothing else changed but they had 4-5 games that were $20-30 digitally and greatest hits Wii U ready to go day zero.

As it stands I am thinking "well... how much do I want to play a new zelda game and MK8+? Horizon Zero Dawn comes out a week earlier, and Nier Automota and Ghost Recon Wildlands comes out the same week. The next game I'd probably buy is Mario in SIX months. Wait, why am I buying a switch..."
 

Mr T.

Banned
And? It's too expensive for a console that is underpowered compared to the competition, you're basically paying for a X360/PS3 but at a much greater price. Now, if you're a Nintendo die hard the price is meaningless to you or justified because maybe you don't even have a PS4 or Xbone and are just upgrading from the Wii-U. Well, that's well and good for you but Nintendo cannot survive off of die hards alone, that's why the Wii-U failed.

idea of the general gamer was that the Switch could be viewed as a secondary system. They have their current gen console to play all the latest and greatest releases including all the great third party games. The Switch would then be purchased to supplement their current choice of console so that they could play Nintendo games. However, at $300 without any games, no Pro Controller, no additional joysticks, paid online service, and two launch titles, that is unreasonable. Nintendo is positioning the Switch to be a PRIMARY console at that price, but again the only people who are interested in that are the die hard Nintendo fans and that's not the audience Nintendo needed to reach with the Switch.
Did these people miss the reveal trailer or millions of leaks/rumors the past 2 years that all said it would be a handheld/home console hybrid? Because you're trying to make it sound like they are selling a Xbox 360 home console, when its not.
 

TedHub

Banned
I think the Wii U had unfocused marketing because it was an unfocused product. The Switch is a super Wii that you can take with you. If that idea resonates with people, then the power differences don't matter. A lot of it comes down to how well the fancy new rumble works.

I think Nintendo is on the right track here, so I am more optimistic.

The crazy part to me is that, at least during that presentation, they hardly focused at all on the handheld aspect of the system.
 

Trace

Banned
Might be hedging bets to fall back to the 3DS if this doesn't take off.

I don't think I've ever talked to a developer that wants to get into 3DS development at this point. Any portable development will go to mobile for the foreseeable future if the Switch fails.
 
It's pretty crazy that there isn't more Wii U ports ready. Pokken, Bayonetta, Smash, etc. should have all been available Day 1. Sure they are older games and wouldn't be huge sellers but you could at least round out that pathetic launch lineup a little bit

This. I missed out on Wii U entirely. Why not have some of these available?
 

Fuchs

Member
This is so weird to me and I'm terribly confused and a bit frustrated about a lot of reactions about the event and the reveal of the entire hardware and the launch window games.

Everything I've seen so far is right up my alley: a stationary and portable system in one package with interesting control-features, a new kind of rumble mechanic and an okay launch line-up. I'm so happy that Nintendo always tries to introduce new stuff to the gaming world.
The only thing that's really bugging me is the price of the system
299$/329€ is a lot to ask for and I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been this kind of negativity towards the Switch, if it got a price tag of 250$/€.
I'm a-okay with the minimum battery hour of 3hrs, because I've never ever played for three hours straight on a mobile device.
Yeah, the launch line-up isn't the best, but it's not as terrible as a lot of people make it out to be. Did some of you really expect Nintendo to blow their load during the launch week?It's got Zelda BotW, which is all I need till the release of MK8 Deluxe in April.
If you are eager to play a fun multiplayer game at launch you need to check out Snipperclips, which looks charming and seems to be challenging as well.
Regarding 1,2 Switch, yeah it should've been a pack-in game. But nevertheless it looks like goofy fun. Imagine playing this with friends while drunk!
Maybe it's just me being weird, but I like the system a lot and it's nearly everything I wanted it to be from the start. I don't need an out-of-this world performance from my hardware.
All I want is a good time and a distraction from real life and I'm going to get this with the Switch.
I'm sorry for you who feel betrayed and disappointed by Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo isn't for you anymore.
Maybe you should move to Sony or Microsoft entirely or get a powerful pc if you want graphical demanding, but less risky and safe gaming experiences.
 

Etzer

Member
It's pretty crazy that there isn't more Wii U ports ready. Pokken, Bayonetta, Smash, etc. should have all been available Day 1. Sure they are older games and wouldn't be huge sellers but you could at least round out that pathetic launch lineup a little bit
I hadn't even thought of that but, yeah. It's crazy that there aren't more Wii U ports at launch.
 

Generate

Banned
And? It's too expensive for a console that is underpowered compared to the competition, you're basically paying for a X360/PS3 but at a much greater price. Now, if you're a Nintendo die hard the price is meaningless to you or justified because maybe you don't even have a PS4 or Xbone and are just upgrading from the Wii-U. Well, that's well and good for you but Nintendo cannot survive off of die hards alone, that's why the Wii-U failed.

idea of the general gamer was that the Switch could be viewed as a secondary system. They have their current gen console to play all the latest and greatest releases including all the great third party games. The Switch would then be purchased to supplement their current choice of console so that they could play Nintendo games. However, at $300 without any games, no Pro Controller, no additional joysticks, paid online service, and two launch titles, that is unreasonable. Nintendo is positioning the Switch to be a PRIMARY console at that price, but again the only people who are interested in that are the die hard Nintendo fans and that's not the audience Nintendo needed to reach with the Switch.

I have a ps4 already and it really is not scratching my gaming itch this gen so why wouldnt I look to Nintendo then?
 
if you want to use the switch as a traditional home console, you have to add 70$ for the Pro Controller.

Console + Controller + Game = 430$ !
 

Trace

Banned
This is so weird to me and I'm terribly confused and a bit frustrated about a lot of reactions about the event and the reveal of the entire hardware and the launch window games.

Everything I've seen so far is right up my alley: a stationary and portable system in one package with interesting control-features, a new kind of rumble mechanic and an okay launch line-up. I'm so happy that Nintendo always tries to introduce new stuff to the gaming world.
The only thing that's really bugging me is the price of the system
299$/329€ is a lot to ask for and I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been this kind of negativity towards the Switch, if it got a price tag of 250$/€.
I'm a-okay with the minimum battery hour of 3hrs, because I've never ever played for three hours straight on a mobile device.
Yeah, the launch line-up isn't the best, but it's not as terrible as a lot of people make it out to be. Did some of you really expect Nintendo to blow their load during the launch week?It's got Zelda BotW, which is all I need till the release of MK8 Deluxe in April.
If you are eager to play a fun multiplayer game at launch you need to check out Snipperclips, which looks charming and seems to be challenging as well.
Regarding 1,2 Switch, yeah it should've been a pack-in game. But nevertheless it looks like goofy fun. Imagine playing this with friends while drunk!
Maybe it's just me being weird, but I like the system a lot and it's nearly everything I wanted it to be from the start. I don't need an out-of-this world performance from my hardware.
All I want is a good time and a distraction from real life and I'm going to get this with the Switch.
I'm sorry for you who feel betrayed and disappointed by Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo isn't for you anymore.
Maybe you should move to Sony or Microsoft entirely or get a powerful pc if you want graphical demanding, but less risky and safe gaming experiences.

I'll explain the problems to you.

1: The Switch is horribly underpowered for a home console experience, while being simultaneously insanely overpriced for a portable console.

2: They haven't demonstrated any kind of appreciable third party support.

3. They were heavily selling the joy-con aspect of it with 1/2 Switch and Arms, and in the case of arms you need to have two full sets of joy-cons. Which happen to be $80 for a set and another $30 so you can charge them.

4. Really weak launch window, the only two "real exclusives" are Zelda and Mario, and Mario isn't until the end of the year.

5. To compound everything, the battery life is extremely weak for a portable. If I played Zelda on the way to school and back, it would be dead before I got home.

6. They have the balls to charge for online, when they have the worst online BY FAR.
 

jaybe00

Neo Member
They should have just launched an updated handheld instead at $199US. Give it backwards compatibility to 3DS, DS, and allowed all digital purchases to carry over. Drop 3D from the spec. Have an HDMI dongle as an optional accessory to stream to TV. Done.

Let the Wii U and its Wii backwards capability be the last Nintendo home console. Release Zelda BotW on it. Have a pack-in bundle. Sell some more Mario Kart DLC and perhaps Splatoon DLC as well. Make a version with the Pro controller and not the Screen gamepad for cheaper.

I would think their overall success would be better given their handheld successes than this Frankenstein.
 
Well, I just hope that you won't see the PS5 launch since the PS4 will be a better value proposition at that point of time.
I don't think you get it, and your defensive reaction suggests you might be too invested in this.

The value proposition of new hardware is compared with other new hardware in the launch timeframe AND existing hardware. The main benefit new hardware typically has is... new hardware. The kind that runs games at higher settings with better graphics. They typically also have the benefit of releasing with the popular third party games near the holiday season.

In the Switch's case, the hardware is mediocre in both the mobile and the console space. The launch lineup is pathetic, especially for people who own Wii-Us. And worst of all, it delivers this mediocre performance (and few games) at a price point much higher than the well-established, more technologically competent machines it competes against.
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
Almost everything I have read about the Switch today has had me either cringing or outright baffled. So many decisions have been made really poorly. Charge for online with free games? Great! Oh, for 30 days each. Online voice chat? Through your mobile phone. Low power cheap hardware? £280 with expensive peripherals and little memory. Great launch games? Only Zelda.

I have no doubt many thirsty Nintendo fans will eat this up and be grateful, but after having no reason to buy their last two systems, I was hoping this would change my mind, and it is even worse an offering than they were.
 

Shahadan

Member
It's pretty crazy that there isn't more Wii U ports ready. Pokken, Bayonetta, Smash, etc. should have all been available Day 1. Sure they are older games and wouldn't be huge sellers but you could at least round out that pathetic launch lineup a little bit

What people don't want to understand is that at launch you buy one or maybe two games and that's it because all that shit is expensive. Launching with a dozen games is counter productive, most of those would sell terribly and cost money. And they know most people interested will buy Zelda already.

A small number just makes more sense. The actual listing sucks though I agree and what it shows is actually the real problem here, third parties mostly aren't even bothering porting their stuff in the early months.
 

jmizzal

Member
All great but you are paying 300$ for PS3/X360 level of hardware 10 years later....

Fifa and Skyrim will be X360/PS3 ports LOL

What are you talking about, this is new tech, just becouse its not same high power are PS4pro and Scorpio doesnt mean its old tech. Its also and handheld console. Fifa is being build for Switch the guy clearly said it on the stream, and Skyrim is a port of the Xboxone/PS4 version.

Why does Switch need to be the exact same as PS4 and Xbox one?

I have a Xbox one, I dont need another one.
 

Vorg

Banned
That seems really unlikely. A new hardware variant this year is just way too fast I think. The holiday's will probably have a game bundled in for $300 at most.

It's not unlikely at all. Remember when they tried to sell the 3ds for 250 only to backpedal a few months later when they realized the price was utterly insane? I'm expecting a hardware/price revision before the end of the year as well. I think it's inevitable, tbh.
 
Sorry if this has been asked a number of times as I imagine it has:

does GameStop (online) charge you full for preorders or are they also "when it ships?" Thanks
 

VDenter

Banned
I'll explain the problems to you.

1: The Switch is horribly underpowered for a home console experience, while being simultaneously insanely overpriced for a portable console.

2: They haven't demonstrated any kind of appreciable third party support.

3. They were heavily selling the joy-con aspect of it with 1/2 Switch and Arms, and in the case of arms you need to have two full sets of joy-cons. Which happen to be $80 for a set and another $30 so you can charge them.

4. Really weak launch window, the only two "real exclusives" are Zelda and Mario, and Mario isn't until the end of the year.

5. To compound everything, the battery life is extremely weak for a portable. If I played Zelda on the way to school and back, it would be dead before I got home.

6. They have the balls to charge for online, when they have the worst online BY FAR.

You could go a bit further than this since Zelda is not even a exclusive title technically. After the price reveal i think most people will just decide to get it on the Wii U. It makes the launch window seems even worse.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
What is wrong about the grip with joycons. It doesn't look that uncomfortable.

Only issue really is that it seems that the packed in grip isn't the charging one. Thus you have to remove the joy cons and attach to the docked tablet to charge which is annoying to some vs. being able to just plug a controller in to charge. And if they die while you're playing you can play while docked (unless you buy a charging grip or pro controller). Though if their battery life is the 20 hours listed on the spec sheet that's a lesser concern.

Vs. a pro controller (or getting the $30 charging grip) where you can just plug and keep playing, or to charge over night without removing Joy Cons and putting on the tablet.
 
What are you talking about, this is new tech, just becouse its not same high power are PS4pro and Scorpio doesnt mean its old tech. Its also and handheld console. Fifa is being build for Switch the guy clearly said it on the stream, and Skyrim is a port of the Xboxone/PS4 version.

Why does Switch need to be the exact same as PS4 and Xbox one?

I have a Xbox one, I dont need another one.

New tech? An underclocked NVIDIA Shield TV with detachable controllers and a 720p LCD screen?
 
This was the first Nintendo console I thought about buying since the GC, but yeah... no. Playing console games on the couch on a tablet sounded awesome, but it's 300 which will mean it's 350-400 euros when it comes to Finland. Add in the ridiculous price or the pro controller (and other peripherals) and the poor lineup of games, I lost all the interest I had. They are sending it out to die at least here in Europe with that price.

Wii U had a massive drought in the end. Everyone assumed that Nintendo was making remakes of U games to be ready at launch. Even Skyrim isn't ready yet. Is Nintendo aiming for a ten year anniversary for that game before they release it? No excuse for that launch lineup after seeing how Wii U finished.

People comparing it to PS4 launch are missing the most obvious thing: PS4 had big 3rd party games right at launch and soon after. You know, the ones that sell about 90% of the consoles.
 
You could go a bit further than this since Zelda is not even a exclusive title technically. After the price reveal i think most people will just decide to get it on the Wii U. It makes the launch window seems even worse.

Yeah. I decided to forgo buying a Switch this year and getting Zelda on the WiiU.
 

joseale

Member
For me the system is cheap as hell, especially if you can actually get it for that price at launch. I'd pay twice that just for playing MonHun on my big-ass TV again. YMMV
 

7roject28

Member
Yup, my source told me it was $299. My source is my brain.

All this salt, I love it, lol. Watch, come release and it's sold out, people are gonna want it because of the Nintendo "artificial scarcity". Then complain about scalpers $500 ebay prices but buy it anyways because "artificial scarcity".
 

shtolky

Member
What people don't want to understand is that at launch you buy one or maybe two games and that's it because all that shit is expensive. Launching with a dozen games is counter productive, most of those would sell terribly and cost money. And they know most people interested will buy Zelda already.

A small number just makes more sense. The actual listing sucks though I agree and what it shows is actually the real problem here, third parties mostly aren't even bothering porting their stuff in the early months.


E3 is just two months after launch. Zelda will be out, and they won't just focus on Odyssey and Skyrim, etc. Plenty will be announced. They had a lot to get through last night, and they clearly wanted to save things for E3. Why blow your load for launch when Nintendo assumes most will be playing Zelda, Mario Kart, Splatoon, etc. I think the people that thought Mario and Zelda would be launch titles were deluding themselves. Where's Metroid? Where's Dark Souls? Where is Retro? I would bet my life that E3 will have some nice surprises, and we could also get a direct between now and then as well.
 
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