Polygon: Nintendo is already repeating the Wii U's mistakes with Switch

The switch will be great if you want 1 or maybe 2 titles a year for 3 years then nothing for 2 while they announce the next system.

This isn't even true of the Wii U. There are plenty of complaints to throw at the Wii U, you don't need to make stuff up

Anyway, I disagree with this article. I think it's too early (even though it's less than two weeks away) to really say anything like this. They have been upfront about their online service not being complete at launch. The lack of a full web browser doesn't really mean that much.
 
Except it's not confirmed in any way.

In addition, the ability for developers to use a rendering engine for web pages doesn't mean the system is capable of handling captive portals.

The wording in the leak made it sound like it was only available to developers.
 
A $300 portable system with a laughable library of games for the first few months will not be selling out. I think it is going to take Pokemon and a $100 price cut before it sells relatively well. Western publishers aren't really confident in the Switch at all, and it shows with the lack of support.

I wouldn't call Zelda a system seller either. Not even close. Genuine system sellers are very rare and Zelda is not one of them.

This is just laughable, but I'm willing to hear out your logic to substantiate your claims.
 
I was thinking about that the other day, no browser could mean no public WiFi. Hopefully they have a solution planned
 
Zelda is far from selling as many copies as Mario or Pokémon. I think BotW is different enough to widen its audience though.

Yeah, I think this Zelda will be the best selling game of the franchise. They've nailed it. It has what western audiences want from an open world game.
 
Yeah that's a great counterargument to the Polygon piece. Apparently account systems don't sell consoles.

Vita's failure had nothing to do with it's functionality. The Vita's failure to gain traction shouldn't undercut the importance of its vast feature set. It made it a great handheld from a hardware and system software perspective.

I don't just want the Switch to sell well or just have great games. I want it to be a great console/handheld from a system software standpoint. Not having this stuff is a bad thing, regardless of how much of a factor it has in sales.
 
It's a hybrid. Portable and home. 300 is fair. The library will not be as bad as you think. Arms could very well be a new hit IP and 12switch is a party game.
I for one dig it and am really looking at combining consoles and playing Zelda on the go and at home.
 
Yeah they certainly didn't learn their lesson considering you need a smartphone to chat in game. The original Xbox had voice chat VIA their gamepad/headset and that came out over 15 years ago.

That isn't the only lesson not learned. The fact that the WiiU wasn't more powerful than the Xbox360 and PS3 was painfully obvious. Now here we are 5 years later and the Switch is still behind the times in the hardware race. That to me is the biggest problem with Nintendo ever since the Wii was released. They got lucky releasing an underpowered unit back then thanks to the motion control/casual gamer craze, however when they tried it again with the WiiU it was a major mistake and the sales were horrible as a result. There aren't many third party companies that will spend money making games for a console that 1) apparently is so hard to develop for and 2)ends up being a money losing venture due to the lack of power and inferior online service compared to Microsoft and Sony's consoles.

Lastly, original first party titles were few and far between on the WiiU and it looks like we'll be seeing the same for Switch (for the first year at least). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a joke. Pretty much the same game as the WiiU beyond the improved battle mode (which should have been on the original game in the first place. Splatoon doesn't look a whole lost different from the original but they still are putting a 2 in the name.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but we could definitely be looking at the last home console Nintendo ever releases. They should have knocked the ball out of the park and released a system with significantly better specs than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio, but instead they gambled on the gimmicky, lower powered hybrid device. Nintendo would have had to sell a super powered console at a loss initially much in the same way Sony did with the PS3 over 10 years ago, but look at how popular that system became. They were able to recoup their hardware losses and cash in on software sales.
 
Yes, there is a lack of details regarding system/online features. There's no opinion there, just how it is. They did a rundown of all that stuff on Wii U two weeks before launch. Mostly because they did a lot of new things (for them) there (accounts, etc) so that was necessary. My problem is, what do we absolutely need to know now before it is out? Do we flip on our purchase design one way or the other if we know "wow, it has brightness settings" or "the eShop now has the menu on the right side" or "I can make 8 accounts instead of 12?" Personally, I feel if that stuff is what breaks the camel's back, then why day-1 anyway? I have a huge larger issue with the day-1 hype culture and incessant need to have EVERY THING KNOWN RIGHT NOW WAIT NOT YESTERDAY in general. A lot of the recent friction some of my reactions here have caused came from me just being a lot more chill about certain things than others.

Yup, due to internet and how the gaming community integrated into it we have this cancerous mindset where the lack of information means impending doom. It strange really, considering that there are many cases already where quality of launch doesn't indicate anything of the console (home or handheld) lifetime quality. But people seems more keen to drum their chest while constantly shouting "(Ninten)Doomed!!!1!
 
This holiday season will give us an insight about the general interest in the system, and just like Polygon have pointed out, it's not looking too good. If you look at every mistake Nintendo did with the Wii U the Switch has it. Under-powered? Check. no third party games? Check. Expensive at launch? Check. no modern online features? Check, And so on. The only thing different about it is that it can be used as a handheld device exclusively, but the market has changed. I don't think that there are a lot of people are going to spend $300 on a dedicated device to game. The Switch does not have any productivity apps either. You can get some seriously good tablets for $300 these days. Hell even nvidia shield which is more powerful is also much cheaper.

I might be proven wrong, but it doesn't make these concerns any less important. Nintendo suffers from a rigid management system that really resists change. Not adapting to changes in the market is what ultimately killed a lot of tech giants in the past. Sony turned everything around because they fundamentally changed their approach with the launch of the PS4 compared to the PS3. Now it's heading toward being the most successful console in the market.
 
I always laugh when people throw complaints about "online capabilities/infrastructure" when in reality they're talking about "features" because I doubt anybody really knows what the "online capabilities/infrastructure" of any of platform holders. It even sounds like concern trolling.
 
This is just laughable, but I'm willing to hear out your logic to substantiate your claims.

I am sure some people might buy a Nintendo system for Zelda but I doubt there are many. When I think of a system seller I think of Pokemon. I don't think of Zelda.

It's my favoruite Nintendo franchise and something I would personally buy a system for but I don't think many would do the same. The last Zelda game sold like 4 million? A very successful series and those are respectable numbers but 4 million on a system with a 100 million install base? Eh. Mario Kart on the Wii U outsold the highest selling Zelda on the Wii. Zelda is just not the sales monster that other Nintendo franchises are. Very successful, but not the game to think of when talking about Nintendo system sellers.
 
I am sure some people might buy a Nintendo system for Zelda but I doubt there are many. When I think of a system seller I think of Pokemon. I don't think of Zelda.

It's my favoruite Nintendo franchise and something I would personally buy a system for but I don't think many would do the same. The last Zelda game sold like 4 million? A very successful series and those are respectable numbers but 4 million on a system with a 100 million install base? Eh. Mario Kart on the Wii U outsold the highest selling Zelda on the Wii. Zelda is just not the sales monster that other Nintendo franchises are. Very successful, but not the game to think of when talking about Nintendo system sellers.
Twilight Princess had a huge attach rate with Wii's launch. I want to say 75% but am open to correction.
 
Yeah they certainly didn't learn their lesson considering you need a smartphone to chat in game. The original Xbox had voice chat VIA their gamepad/headset and that came out over 15 years ago.

That isn't the only lesson not learned. The fact that the WiiU wasn't more powerful than the Xbox360 and PS3 was painfully obvious. Now here we are 5 years later and the Switch is still behind the times in the hardware race. That to me is the biggest problem with Nintendo ever since the Wii was released. They got lucky releasing an underpowered unit back then thanks to the motion control/casual gamer craze, however when they tried it again with the WiiU it was a major mistake and the sales were horrible as a result. There aren't many third party companies that will spend money making games for a console that 1) apparently is so hard to develop for and 2)ends up being a money losing venture due to the lack of power and inferior online service compared to Microsoft and Sony's consoles.

Lastly, original first party titles were few and far between on the WiiU and it looks like we'll be seeing the same for Switch (for the first year at least). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a joke. Pretty much the same game as the WiiU beyond the improved battle mode (which should have been on the original game in the first place. Splatoon doesn't look a whole lost different from the original but they still are putting a 2 in the name.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but we could definitely be looking at the last home console Nintendo ever releases. They should have knocked the ball out of the park and released a system with significantly better specs than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio, but instead they gambled on the gimmicky, lower powered hybrid device. Nintendo would have had to sell a super powered console at a loss initially much in the same way Sony did with the PS3 over 10 years ago, but look at how popular that system became. They were able to recoup their hardware losses and cash in on software sales.
Why would you bold your entire post?
 
Twilight Princess had a huge attach rate with Wii's launch. I want to say 75% but am open to correction.

That was the number i remember too, it was zelda that sold it at launch wi sports at Christmas, i expect zelda to similarly sell launch switches with mario kart selling to the masses
 
Arms will be a surprise hit.
Zelda is a top 3 game this year (guaranteed).


Down the line, really looking to see what year 2 has. There will be enough to keep me happy until then. Resident evil 7 or something at e3 would make me shite myself. You never know.
 
Yer not looking at reality here. The reality is not in the 90s, or the 2000s. The reality is now. And the reality is that Nintendo has not sold a shitload of hardware for a long time minus the Wii and a handheld. Things have changed. Handhelds are not nearly as popular. And most people do not buy systems to play OLD GAMES. Come on dude. You can't just sit there and pretend everyone else has stayed in the past.

The Switch has an big uphill battle right now. The tech kids are more and more capable these days. When it comes to Mario or whatever cool game on a PS4 the decision will have to be made. And people are rightfully still terrified of Nintendo after the WiiU.
I know you are banned, but isn't GTAV(an old game) being sold with most systems, making it in the top 10 for years now?
 
That isn't the only lesson not learned. The fact that the WiiU wasn't more powerful than the Xbox360 and PS3 was painfully obvious. Now here we are 5 years later and the Switch is still behind the times in the hardware race. That to me is the biggest problem with Nintendo ever since the Wii was released. They got lucky releasing an underpowered unit back then thanks to the motion control/casual gamer craze, however when they tried it again with the WiiU it was a major mistake and the sales were horrible as a result. There aren't many third party companies that will spend money making games for a console that 1) apparently is so hard to develop for and 2)ends up being a money losing venture due to the lack of power and inferior online service compared to Microsoft and Sony's consoles.

Actually, the Wii U was more powerful than the PS3 and 360, and was powerful enough to get most of the multiplatform titles from those systems during the early 8th generation. But what killed the Wii U wasn't under-powered hardware, the Wii and DS got by just fine being under-powered. No, what killed the Wii U was badly designed hardware and lackluster engine support, because the Wii U wasn't designed with external middle-ware in mind.

Contrary to belief, there's nothing wrong with having an under-powered system, especially if it's powerful enough to for what you want to do with it. Thing is though, if you don't have a good architecture, then no matter how powerful your system is, developers will have a problem with it. Sega learned that the hard way with the Saturn, and it took Sony 3 years to get developers to take the PS3 seriously.

Considering the Switch is way easier to developer for, and has out of the box support for nearly every modern engine under the sun, it being relatively under-powered won't be much of a problem.

They should have knocked the ball out of the park and released a system with significantly better specs than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio, but instead they gambled on the gimmicky, lower powered hybrid device. Nintendo would have had to sell a super powered console at a loss initially much in the same way Sony did with the PS3 over 10 years ago, but look at how popular that system became. They were able to recoup their hardware losses and cash in on software sales.
What exactly would that accomplish though? Nintendo has no business taking on Sony and Microsoft head on because not only does it not fit Nintendo's creative philosophy, but Nintendo has nothing to gain from it either. And selling such a powerful system like that at a massive loss? Right because that worked so well last time, and it would be great if Nintendo can just bleed more money like that. Selling a console at a loss is a big risk, because software sales can only help so much. And unless you're doing it for a very calculated business reason, you're better off not doing so, because it can easily backfire and create near bankruptcy. Notice how Sony is still trying to recover from the damage the PS3's initial performance did, and the massive debt it caused them.
 
Considering the Switch is way easier to developer for, and has out of the box support for nearly every modern engine under the sun, it being relatively under-powered won't be much of a problem.

I mean, if this is really true then the very thin launch line-up from 3rd parties is pretty perplexing. Also, Nintendo ditched the WiiU some time ago, even their output should be stronger IMO. Why aren't they launching with like half of the WiiU 1st party library (ports) right from the start?
 
I mean, if this is really true then the very thin launch line-up from 3rd parties is pretty perplexing. Also, Nintendo ditched the WiiU some time ago, even their output should be stronger IMO. Why aren't they launching with like half of the WiiU 1st party library (ports) right from the start?

You can't blame 3rd parties for being weary considering how badly Nintendo handled the Wii U, but indie developers are already announcing more and more games for it, so that's a start. Nintendo's first year lineup for the Switch is actually pretty strong. Considering there's the most ambitious Zelda game yet available day one (granted, it's also a Wii U game, but most people are going to get the Switch version), then Mario Kart a month later, ARMS in the Spring, Splatoon 2 in the Summer, then Mario Odyssey in the fall, and who knows what else they have lined up for E3. It's not amazing, but it's a hell of a lot better than the Wii U's first year.
 
I mean, if this is really true then the very thin launch line-up from 3rd parties is pretty perplexing. Also, Nintendo ditched the WiiU some time ago, even their output should be stronger IMO. Why aren't they launching with like half of the WiiU 1st party library (ports) right from the start?

It is not perplexing. Game developers don't just have staff hanging around doing nothing incase a new development platform appears. Everyone is working, money is spent, budgets are scheduled, planning is required. Indie developers are able to work faster in this regard because their company structures are more flexible. Games from large companies take time, and if Nintendo only gave out the first dev kits less than a year ago, and Japanese plan their budgets in April they don't have any money or staff to work on software for the Switch.

Even if Nintendo has a bunch of games finished or almost finished for Switch they wouldn't release all at the same time, they would just be competing with themselves.


You can't blame 3rd parties for being weary considering how badly Nintendo handled the Wii U, but indie developers are already announcing more and more games for it, so that's a start. Nintendo's first year lineup for the Switch is actually pretty strong. Considering there's the most ambitious Zelda game yet available day one (granted, it's also a Wii U game, but most people are going to get the Switch version), then Mario Kart a month later, ARMS in the Spring, Splatoon 2 in the Summer, then Mario Odyssey in the fall, and who knows what else they have lined up for E3. It's not amazing, but it's a hell of a lot better than the Wii U's first year.

There hasn't even been enough time to know if developers are weary or not.
 
I mean, if this is really true then the very thin launch line-up from 3rd parties is pretty perplexing. Also, Nintendo ditched the WiiU some time ago, even their output should be stronger IMO. Why aren't they launching with like half of the WiiU 1st party library (ports) right from the start?

Almost no one got dev kits until very recently. That was a mistake on Nintendo's part but really has nothing to do with it's portability.
 
There hasn't even been enough time to know if developers are weary or not.

Yeah, someone mentioned earlier that many developers haven't been receiving development kits until rather recently,which was Nintendo's fault. Either way, the point is, after the Wii U, don't expect 3rd parties to be there day one.
 
This article title just makes me think of Jeff Goldblum critiquing John Hammond from Jurassic Park 2, "We're not making the same mistakes twice." No, you're not. You're making entirely new ones.
 
Vita's failure had nothing to do with it's functionality. The Vita's failure to gain traction shouldn't undercut the importance of its vast feature set. It made it a great handheld from a hardware and system software perspective.

I don't just want the Switch to sell well or just have great games. I want it to be a great console/handheld from a system software standpoint. Not having this stuff is a bad thing, regardless of how much of a factor it has in sales.

.
 
What is this fantasy world where people will be bringing switch's to parties and shit with everyone crowding around a 5 inch screen?
 
What is this fantasy world where people will be bringing switch's to parties and shit with everyone crowding around a 5 inch screen?

The same fantasy worlds where people take their Switch to work to play 4-player Mario Kart with their colleagues during lunch breaks every day.

I mean, I can't judge where these people work, but that's a straight up fantasy as well for any professional business i've worked at. At school I could see it.
 
The same fantasy worlds where people take their Switch to work to play 4-player Mario Kart with their colleagues during lunch breaks every day.

I mean, I can't judge where these people work, but that's a straight up fantasy as well for any professional business i've worked at. At school I could see it.

There's three of us at work getting the Switch including myself. We can either do what we did before with Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, and pass each Switch around to a new person every race. Or use Tabletop mode to link the 3 Switch's for full 6 player action. Everyday on our lunch breaks.
 
There's three of us at work getting the Switch including myself. We can either do what we did before with Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, and pass each Switch around to a new person every race. Or use Tabletop mode to link the 3 Switch's for full 6 player action. Everyday on our lunch breaks.

I mean, that sounds like a great use case for the Switch. I could see this happening back when I still worked retail.

But this sounds like a fantasy world compared to my current workplace, lol.
 
Buying Switch, Own WiiU and I agree with this article. I am expecting the Switch to fail based on everything I have read, seen and heard. It feels like WiiU 2, but I fucking love Nintendo games so I don't care.

I think a good data point would be - how many NON WiiU /3ds owners are planning on or have bought Switch.
It feels like this is like WiiU where scalpers/ constrained supply/rabid Nintendo loyalists drain the initial release and then after we fail off, there is little to no second wave...release dribbled out...console gets savaged and pretty soon we have a meme of the Switch outside a rainy window. I would love to be wrong and have 3DS die in a fire , all those developers come over and have Switch be this truly unique and viable secondary platform that lasts 6 years. Make it so Nintendo...and new Metroid
 
The same fantasy worlds where people take their Switch to work to play with their colleagues during lunch breaks every day.

that's a straight up fantasy as well for any professional business i've worked at.
Well I learnt today what you don't experience yourself... is a fantasy. We live in fantasy world!

Fantasy_World.jpeg


Well no, sadly. The good news is, I have gamer buddies at work, whom I lunch with daily for one hour or more. On Friday, we play urban soccer within a 2 hours lunch break - 10 professionals from our company. And we don't sell flowers, but software, and are highly successful on our market.

Keep hope, there are nicer job environnements than you've experienced.
 
The same fantasy worlds where people take their Switch to work to play 4-player Mario Kart with their colleagues during lunch breaks every day.

I mean, I can't judge where these people work, but that's a straight up fantasy as well for any professional business i've worked at. At school I could see it.


Here we have PS4s at work and we can play Fifa or SF IV whenever we want. We also have board games, massage chairs or other nice places to relax. And we regularly have Nerf fights too...
This is not the perfect place to work (when looking at some other criteria) but there are now many work places like this where everything is more "fun".

But I can understand that it's more a "type of work"' thing than a workplace thing.
Mobile, Web & Digital are nice things to work on if you like to have a "fun" place to work.

and I thought France was reaaaaaally late regarding all this, seems I was wrong.
 
People I know that are gamers: Don't care.
People I know that are not gamers: Don't even know about it.

Same here...


I really don't know how Nintendo is going to cater to the GTA/COD/FIFA crowd with the Switch.

The gamers I know are PS/XBOX gamers and don't care about Nintendo, and the younger ones play on their phone/tablet.

Switch seems to only cater to Nintendo fans. That's how I see it. Don't think a PS/Xbox gamer is going to buy a Switch just so that they can play Zelda or Mario Kart - franchises they never cared about before. I don't think that the portability is going to make them Nintendo fans all of a sudden.
 
Well I learnt today what Hoo-doo doesn't experience himself... is a fantasy. We live in fantasy world!

Fantasy_World.jpeg


Well no, sadly. The good news is, I have gamer buddies at work, whom I lunch with daily for one hour or more. On Friday, we play urban soccer within a 2 hours lunch break - 10 professionals from our company. And we don't sell flowers, but software, and are highly successful on our market.

Keep hope, there are nicer job environnements than you've experienced.

I mean, that sounds great. But my career is rather unlikely to lead me towards work environments where this is a real option. And I love my job environment all the same.
So i'll concede that I might be the anomaly here.

But on the other hand, I do have periods where I have time to kill when i'm getting occasional night shifts. During those nights the strict professionalism kinda loosens up a bit, I could definitely see some value there. 🤔
 
Twilight Princess had a huge attach rate with Wii's launch. I want to say 75% but am open to correction.

That was also 10 years ago. Since then we have had a single additional Zelda game (on consoles) 5 years ago. That's 2 console Zelda games in a decade. The 2 games combined for about 12.26 million sales.

Be comparison Fallout 3 launched in 2008, with New Vegas in 2010, and Fallout 4 in 2015. Fallout 3 and 4 each did 12 million in sales. New Vegas doesn't have any solid sales numbers, but assuming it's even half, that means Fallout games are averaging ~10 million per game, while Zelda on consoles is averaging ~6 million--if we throw out NV it slants more heavily in Fallout's favor.

Zelda games are excellent games--but they aren't the kind of sales monsters people seem to think they are. Even Twilight Princess on the Wii--Nintendo's highest selling console--only moved ~7 million copies, against an install base of 101.63 million. Wind Waker HD gave the Wii U a slight bump, but in the end it only sold 2.11 million. The simple reality is that Zelda peaked on the N64 for a lot of people.
 
Wow, I don't know where you guys work. But we never play games in our office. (government - tax division)

I know some co-workers talked about the Wii during the craze, but we never talk about games during work or lunch.
But the average age here is 52 years old, so yeah :p
 
GAF is not an accurate reflection of the greater, wider appeal of Nintendo today. The fact that people here are measuring the Wii's success -- and that of the Switch -- by the scope of it's software library is indicative of a misunderstanding, imo.

Nintendo's target audience is no longer the family on the couch, that much is certain. Who their exact audience is for this system is anyone's guess, but with the limited online functionality, I doubt it's the young, male demographic.

By the way, where can I get a good video that showcases the system's key selling points and games?

Link me.
 
GAF is not an accurate reflection of the greater, wider appeal of Nintendo today.

Nintendo's target audience is no longer the family on the couch, that much is certain. Who their exact audience is for this system is anyone's guess, but with the limited online functionality, I doubt it's the young, male demographic.

That is a real problem for Nintendo. They don't exactly have a young fanbase outside of Pokemon. It's the driving force behind their handheld sales. Most kids these days have grown up playing games like Minecraft, not games like Zelda and Metroid.
 
That is a real problem for Nintendo. They don't exactly have a young fanbase outside of Pokemon. It's the driving force behind their handheld sales. Most kids these days have grown up playing games like Minecraft, not games like Zelda and Metroid.

Compared to MS who design and build the console ground up as a network device. Okay, they took it too far when the XB1, but it goes to demonstrate the stark contrast in attitudes between these companies. Nintendo is -- to their credit -- trying to introduce something new with each console, but these Japanese companies seem to have a real problem in getting their head around online multiplayer. It took Sony a decade after the PS3 to get it right.
 
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