HOLY SHIT THAT ZELDA TRAILER

Unfortunately for Nintendo, I already own a Wii-U. Zelda looks like a killer app (remember that phrase?) but I'm going to play it on their previous hardware.

It seems like the presentation was hardware lead instead of software lead. It was a lot of 'look how cool these joycons are' without showing a really compelling game to utilise them. I think the technology in them seems interesting, with the rumble and the motion sensor, which maybe explains why they are so expensive to by separately. But 1 2 Switch and ARMS seemed like things you would play half a dozen times and then stop. Maybe that's unfair but hey, it was there conference to prove me wrong.

It falls into the current VR problem for me of 'this tech looks really cool but I don't want to play any of these games'. I guess it's because they just don't have games ready. It would have been sweet to open the conference with Mario Odyssey but that's not out until the holidays. It would have been sweet to open with Zelda but... I don't know. Why didn't they open with Zelda? It's their launch title and it was a very impressive trailer.

Still. Games. They could have at least re-released Super Mario Sunshine so people had something aside Zelda at launch.

It does seem totally fucking nuts, right? But this is Nintendo and it is the internet, which they're pretty demonstrably bad at.

@circlenine: It could also mean there's actually no real way to have friends on the console and instead you have to do that through an app. Maybe Nintendo is just going to give up and say "just call your friends when you want to play games, why do you need an app for this??".

NEW DONK CITY is a top-tier fictional city name.

Shoutouts to Suda 51's Keiji Mutoh entrance.

Also, Capcom should work on Dhalsim DLC for that ARMS game. It's a natural fit.

@isomeri: I think this is going to be a good console, but boy do some of those games (e.g. the table tennis) look like they're going to disappoint in the same way those early ads with the Wii and sword wielding did.

Yup this will def be a wait a while purchase for me. Give it a couple of years until there is more than two games I want to play.

I was considering setting aside about 400 bucks in March to get this, a case, and a game, but the conference has turned that plan around. The Switch is still something I definitely want, but its software lineup is not selling me. Zelda is cool, but I've never cared enough about Zelda to have that "need it now" attitude. Splatoon 2 is awesome, but a ways out. ARMS seems interesting, but I need to see more of it. That's... about it. The art style of Mario Odyssey is selling me off that game HARD.

I think I'll use my money to pick up the Oculus Touch instead. I'll pick up a Switch later in the year when there's a good bundle. Might even wait for a possible revision with a better battery life (and bigger screen, fingers crossed.)

The relaunching of PS4 and Xbox One, with the Pro and Scorpio, as well as the extra presence of VR can be factors that hurt the Switch.

All of a sudden, people have high-end and new alternatives for their money.

But kidsmight help mitigate some of that effect. There are not a lot of alternatives for parents who refuse to buy a mobile or a tablet for their kids.

Screen grab of the UI doesn't have friends, party and messages its look like it gonna use the app which seems bonkers.

@thepanzini: Don't the avatars on the top left represent friends ?

The controllers are really a bit too pricey, but honestly I think it is sort of nice in a weird way that they're still doing the motion control thing because from what they showed of ARMS it looks like those Joy-cons have MotionPlus tech in them which was a poorly introduced and thus horribly underutilised bit of tech that honestly made motion controls pretty alright. So here's hoping some devs might actually do something cool with motion controls. Not entirely ready to give up on it just yet.

By the way, has anyone found any info on which "major European markets" the Switch will launch in on the 3rd of March? I've seen no specifics, so I'm kind of worried that this will be a similar situation as with the Xbox One, where the console is only sold in a couple of countries and then released elsewhere nine months later.

@pjgut: Seems to show people in your party normally when games show friends like this in Battlefront for example there would be a plus symbol to add more people, but none of this is baked into the console OS.

edit:

@ravingham91: Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017

Is the archive up yet? anyone got a link?

What is that? A handjob simulator at 4:40 and 4:41?

@ripelivejam: I think you are underestimating the power of the Nintendo brand name. I actually think moving towards a PS4/XBONE thing could be very successful for them if they did it right. Nintendo's first party stuff gives them an enormous advantage if only they would deploy it properly.

If Nintendo came out and said "Hey, we built a console that does everything the PS4 and XBONE do, has comparable graphics, but also has Mario and Zelda," I'd certainly be in line to buy that console. I've been dying for some good Mario and Zelda for awhile, but I can't justify buying an entire system just for those games if there's nothing else compelling to go with it.

(And maybe you have a different opinion, but nothing else they show really does it for me. I don't like the idea of motion controls. I don't need portability and probably wouldn't use it. And big blockbuster releases are either only going to be on other systems or those systems are going to have better versions).

I'm really hoping that stream was for old rich shareholders to think they are making wii 2. WiiSports 3 and Arms look neat but aren't anything I will pay money for because they have to be making a WarioWare right? I was on the preorder hype bus but unless we see some good games with gameplay today I think I can wait til the holiday season for a good bundle. Wanna see more of the Square Enix game, Super Bomberman R, and Puyo Puyo Tetris. Fingers crossed for Mario Strikers and a Metroid game.

Just spotted Jeff playing ARMS on the Treehouse livestream.

Dude what was up with those translators? Specifically the one during the presentations. The Suda51 section had me cringing and then the translator cracked up at something a few minutes later. Good lord.

The problem with this thinking is they are only putting out this Switch and Nintendo did get third party support on their handhelds. And then the other problem is the Nintendo games didn't look all that good or plentiful (or coming out that soon).

Ha! Just happened to catch these two as I was watching the Treehouse live presentation.

Supposedly 1,2 Switch is $50. Why Nintendo? Is there nobody there to point out the Wii's success was because it was novel?

@bribo: Thanks!

Just amazingly got a pre-order through at Target.com for the gray one.

From the Bomberman game:

SIIIIICKKKK

I mean, what else could we expect from Konami ?

@pjgut: You're so right but it's still crazy to watch. It's like they flipped over the guard rail a while ago and the mountain is loooooooooong

@artisanbreads: That said, does Nintendo have games with microtransactions right now (beyond mobile stuff) ? Would the Switch be the first Nintendo console to have games with them ?

I'm watching the treehouse stream and the new monster factory at the same time. The New monster factory is incredible.

So did the staff back out of covering this if you're saying the Treehouse stream has started?

@nodima: Jeff and Dan are at the event doing hands on stuff. They have a stream scheduled for 2 PM eastern to talk about what they saw.

I was beginning to figure that was the case. During the holidays my video ticker kept showing west coast times but I figured that had stopped; never noticed it's also saying that UPF is on at 3PM rather than 5PM my time. Guess I have a lot more free time in my early afternoon!

Ok that Snipperclips game looks like a lot of fun. Seeing these games in action is making a big difference.

They briefly showed the UI on the treehouse stream:

Some of the fears about their paid online service are confirmed. According to Nintendo of America: Monthly free classic game is only available for a month, after a month, it's gone for everyone unless you purchase the individual game. Meaning this service will not operate like PS+ games or Games with Gold on Xbox, even if you remain subscribed to the Nintendo online service, you lose access to the "free classic monthly" game at the end of each month.

Given Nintendo's awful track record for the quality of their online systems and the free games operating this way, this service better be dirt cheap in comparison to XBL/PSN...

any confirmation on region free?

I'm basically hoping for a 3DS type situation. Maybe in the summer they'll realize no one is buying this thing, they'll fix their dumb online concept, bring the prices down and invest massively in game development. For now their offering is hot garbage.

@liquiddragon: Yeah, its region free. They said in the main presentation. :D

@cirdain: cool thanks

@drainbamage: WOW that's terrible. What do you think the most you would pay for that service would be? I am not even sure I would do it for a dollar if you don't get to keep the game. An official nintendo rom is worth what 2-3 bucks max right? I just don't know. Maybe if they offer the game that month to purchase at a VERY steep discount, but then what do I do if its not a game I want? They would need some great deals for all games for the subscribers to justify any monthly price I think.

@cirdain They said it will be region free for the most part, I believe Jeff mentioned in his mixlr that means it would probably be up to the developer.

I missed the Giant Bomb crew commenting on the Switch presentation! I really hope they made a recording of their live show to post - I am sure they had some entertaining things to say about the Switch and its game line-up.

Yeahhhh....

I can see them reverse the game rental thing just from how laughable that is. Honestly, the only way I'd sign up for online is if it's only $20 or something annually.

@drainbamage: Wowowow. Nintendo could go pretty far with a Netflix-style subscription model. I'd be surprisingly happy to pay 5-10 euros a month for access to a catalog of 20-30 ever-changing Nintendo titles. But paying for access to one fleeting game per month is stupefying.

@isomeri said:

Yeah. If I were them, I'd just dispense with all the motion control-rumble-separable controller-potability bullshit. It's tacky, gimmicky, there are no games for it, and the tech never seems to move beyond the "that could be cool" range.

Just make a box that functions as a hardware version of their own little GOG store. Give it a few TB harddrive, a wireless connection and a couple of controllers and a UI that functions as a storefront. Then just open up the entire library of Nintendo games from the NES to the Wii. Charge people anywhere from 50 cents to a few bucks depending on era of the game. Basically a non-shitty version of the Ouya.

Seriously, I think Nintendo might be run by the dumbest people in the entire industry. Not only do they seem to have no grasp of how a digital ecosystem works in the modern world, they are sitting on a literal gold mine of nostalgia-fueled wealth. And refuse to do anything with it. I imagine them sitting in their board room talking like Dr. Evil: