Itll depend on how long theyll be playing each game. Jeff streamed Funky Barn for 4 hours at his home and im sure they can easily play Zelda longer than that.

You could have made many of these same arguments prior to the launch of the Wii U, but that stream ended up being six and a half hours long. They played plenty of games that had already appeared on other platforms--Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Batman--just to see how the new system ran them, which they could do again with the Switch. Add in the necessity to show off the "switching" capabilities of the system and some likely messing around with whatever the frontend and online stuff ends up being and I'm sure the stream will be decently sizeable.

@wemibelle: @forteexe21: I suppose so, I guess they may just make quick looks out of each of the games they are showing as well.

Depends if we get a 1-2-Switch Endurance Run or not.

I am hoping for another 4 hour Funky Barn stream! Either the barn is funky or the #content is junky!

Seriously though I think there is plenty to stream. 28 1 2 Switch mini games and Zelda is more than enough for a long stream, plus Bomberman and UI stuff.

If all else fails Vinny can see how much money Dan would require to swallow a Joy Con. I think he would do it for $50.

@bigsocrates: He would say he'd do it for $50 but then when it was brought up he'd waffle out of it :p

There are currently 10 switch launch games. About half of these are older games so these will probably only get a small section to see how it runs or if there's unique stuff. Otherwise I'm sure they can fill 4 or 5 hours with stuff If they are enjoying it.

They are going to cover it for as long as content and stuff to talk about holds out; they won't short-shrift the console. In most cases if given the chance they will often play every game they can get their hands on. If the past is any indication, they will give at least a few moments of commentary on all the important aspects of design, firmware and software. If that just lasts three hours? Well, that what you'll get for coverage.

I hope that we will get a West Coast and East coast perspective, not because I think ist will be different, but I'd like to see hands-on from both teams. I will be looking for Austin's and Patrick's coverage at Waypoint as well.

It won't be the shortest coverage, they covered new hardware thoroughly; but I bet if you don't like what they are saying you will WISH it was shorter!

The Wii U launched with more games than either the PS4 or the Xbox One (34 vs 25 and 22), and yet the stream was almost two hours shorter. I wouldn't think that the number of games is necessarily tied to the length of the stream, they could easily play Zelda for two hours not to mention the OS features, which are still largely a mystery.

@wemibelle: The thing is, there aren't any multiplatform games coming out for the Switch. There are no Batmans or Calls of Duty; the entire launch lineup (day one) is:

1-2 Switch

Zelda: BotW

Skylanders

Bomberman

Just Dance

I Am Setsuna

The Binding of Isaac

Little Inferno

Human Resource Machine

World of Goo

Everything else is scheduled to come out later this year. So, they've got 1-2 Switch, which we've kind of seen in action already, Zelda, which could be a nice long stream on its own, and every other game is a known quantity already, and not particularly strenuous hardware-wise.

I hope there is at least something about the online system worth showing so that the East and West coast offices can chat about it at the same time. That would at least give them more to talk about.

Definitely excited to see them cover everything about it before I buy.

@reasonableman: yowsa but that is a bad launch lineup. I mean I already knew it was bad but looking at it all in one place....

There isn't even a "small but good" game to supplement Zelda because everything is mega expensive. Binding of Isaac is launching at a robust $40 (has been free on PS+ and is $15 right now, albeit without the DLC, which is $11 more) and Bomberman is going for an explosive $50 even though most people seem very lukewarm on it.

This is dire, folks. This is shockingly bad. I have asked it before, but what have Nintendo's internal development teams been doing? They put out basically nothing on the Wii U last year and not a ton on 3DS.

@bigsocrates:

Making games to launch throughout the year, like they've said. The Wii U launch lineup was huge then it had nothing for 8 months and look what happened there. The Switch is aiming for a steady stream, and it's got Snipperclips in March, Mario Kart in April, Arms in spring (almost certainly May), Splatoon in the summer (and the testfire in March). They clearly don't care about a huge day one launch lineup and I think it's the right move. It did the Wii U no favours.

A switch is that like a VITA ? or a expansion for my Wii ?

Also no funky Barn :'(

I would wager a guess and say that they've been working on everything else that they plan on announcing in their directs throughout the year. We're still in the second month of the year, and Nintendo has a tendency to announce things sporadically during the entire year rather than all at one venue. Now, whether or not we'll see those games this year or not is going to be interesting.

The fact that 2D Boy provides a third of the games in a console lineup is really insane. Almost as insane as having World of goo be one of your 10 launch games in 2017.

I am really hoping Nintendo's silence on Virtual Console is going to end this week but I know they probably won't say anything at all. Would be nice to have them say, "and here's a virtual console care package for buying this system at launch" and "here's all your past VC purchases free of charge on the switch!"

@apdls: that is...not an impressive lineup. Mario Kart and Splatoon are enhanced ports (it says Splatoon 2 but my impression is it is mostly the same maps and weapons.) Arms looks decidedly B-tier but at full price (something the Switch seems to specialize in.)

Maybe Nintendo will announce more stuff and make it a strong year but if they have it why hide it? Why not announce it now to build hype and good will?

I want to like this thing so bad. I have it pre-ordered. I am really excited about the portability of the machine and I love Nintendo's core games so much...If they can't get me hyped up I don't know how this thing is going to succeed.

One halfway decent port of a 3 year old game every few months is not going to do it.

Switch is about the most excited I've been for a console launch since I can remember. Getting to take it with you and actually having good games on it is a huge leg up. I can't even remember when my PS4 started getting good games. A year in? Maybe? If that. Switch will get one on launch.

@zevvion: PS4 launched with Assassin's Creed 4 (aka the good one), Resogun, Lego Marvel Superheroes, NBA 2k14, and some other decent if not great stuff like Super Motherload and Killzone: Shadowfall (good multiplayer for Killzone fans.) Also some older but still good games like Injustice and Flower.

Is Zelda better than any one of those games? Almost certainly, but it is also on Wii U and it is the loan oasis in a vast desert.

@zevvion:Ps4 launched with good games, so I'm not really sure what you're talking about. Granted, its all a matter of opinion but there were critically and fan praised games as early as...day one. Switch is getting, literally, one good game at launch. Ps4 had nearly 20 solid titles, even if some of them were third party or on another system. No one can factually say that about the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo has literally been completely silent about MAJOR parts of this console's release and we're 2 weeks out.

Angry Birds Star Wars [2] Rovio Retail

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag [3] Ubisoft Retail

Battlefield 4 [4] DICE Retail

Blacklight: Retribution (Beta) [5] Zombie Studios PSN / F2P

Call of Duty: Ghosts* Infinity Ward Retail

Contrast [6] Compulsion Games PSN / PS+

DC Universe Online* Sony Online Entertainment PSN / F2P

DiveKick [7] One True Game Studios PSN

FIFA 14* EA Sports Retail

Flower (Cross-Buy) [8] ThatGameCompany PSN

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition [9] NetherRealm Studios Retail

Just Dance 2014 [10] Ubisoft Retail

Killzone Shadow Fall [11] Guerilla Games Retail

Knack [12]

SCE Japan Studio Retail

LEGO: Marvel Super Heroes* TT Games Retail

Madden NFL 25* EA Sports Retail

NBA 2K14* Visual Concepts Retail

NBA Live 14* EA Sports Retail

Need for Speed: Rivals [13] Ghost, Criterion Retail

PlayRoom [14] Sony Pack-in

Resogun [15] Housemarque PSN / PS+

Skylanders Swap Force* Vicarious Visions Retail

Sound Shapes (Cross-Buy) [16] Queasy Games PSN

Super Motherload [17] XGen Studios PSN

Trine 2: The Complete Story [18] Frozenbyte PSN

Warframe [19] Digital Extremes PSN / F2P

Might be an age thing but frankly the Switch lineup is perfect for me. I had a Wii U very late but never bought any games for it.

Zelda and Mario Kart are already too many games for me to add to my outside-SFV time. Between Nioh, Horizon, Battlefield 1, Mass Effect, Persona 5, oh shit still playing FFXV too... I'm already looking at playing some/most of these next year.

As for Giant Bomb's coverage, well, I don't care for it being long for the sake of being long. It's really not that important to me. The hardware is far more interesting at launch than the software in any case. Playing every launch game is a funny idea but often kinda boring anyways. Show them menus baby!

@geraltitude: I don'the have a ton of time to add a bunch of huge games to my docket either, but I would like some smaller stuff to play as a portable (Zelda is not great for short sessions on the subway as far as I can tell.) Binding of Isaac would work if it weren't years old and twice the price of the same game on other platforms. Bomberman would be OK if it wasn't $50 for Gamecube era graphics and a typical thin 1 player mode.

I guess I just really wish this were launching with an Animal Crossing game or a Kirby platformer or a New Super Mario bros or even something like the 3DS Streetpass games. Something where I could have fun quick diversions to play on the subway.

Of course the Virtual Console COULD fill that hole with retro goodness, but it doesn't seem headed that way.

@bigsocrates: @sammo21 Assassin's Creed was OK. Not as great as the average Zelda game, and from what I've seen this new one if more than just an average Zelda game. All those other games are absolutely not great games to me, which is indeed subjective as you said, but look at Giant Bomb's GOTY list that year. Which games were even legitimately in contention that year? I think it was just Assassin's Creed and not that strongly to boot and some minor talk of Battlefield. So it's not like those games were highly praised critically and by the community.

But yeah, it goes without saying I'm talking about games I would like to play. And I am talking fantastically great games too, which I don't feel like any of PS4's launch games fall under.

Wait there's only one Switch exclusive game launching? And no virtual console? Or we just don't know what there will be there day one?

@zevvion: I mean, this is a conversation that has no end, but, for what it's worth, I did feel Resogun was the launch game for PS4, but it was overlooked because it was smaller and rather arcadey. I still play it today!

@bigsocrates: I'm not usually one to give unsolicited purchasing advice, but... I think you should not buy a Switch lol. Maybe wait till fall and see what's going on? At the very least Mario will land then. Seems you are really interested in the portable aspect, which for me is just a cherry on top. I agree right now I am also looking for better portable options, and definitely VC will (at some point) be able to fill that gap out, but so hard to say right now when that will occur. To me, the launch of the Switch is really just about Zelda. Everything else is a side dish. I see myself splitting time 80% Zelda, 10% Mario with my GF, then maybe/hopefully another 10% in the VC. I'm not running out the door to buy a Switch because I'm dead broke now, but my plan is to pick one up by April or May. That's assuming I can hold patience, which is hard, as historically I am Day 1 on most major consoles.

@geraltitude: For what it's worth to you: I can totally see someone being very much into Resogun. I'm not saying the game is shit, I just don't like that game too much is all. It's like Call of Duty BlackOps. I heard it is fantastic. I also don't care one bit. Just not having fun playing it.

@geraltitude: I have a pre-order in and I can afford it (got a nice bonus from work that let me pay off my student loans early, so even though I am saving most of that money I have disposable income.)

I really want to like this thing, and the fact that Nintendo never reduces its hardware price means that waiting seems pointless (I am still annoyed I never got a Wii U because the damn price did not drop.) And if it were just the launch lineup I could look past it but the ludicrous prices for many of the games, the ridiculous secrets, Nintendo is just absurdly anti-consumer. It is like they actively dislike their customers or at the very least do not care.

I voted yes before I read

and thinking about it, yeah, they could probably put some time into some of those games for their coverage.

So I'm seeing some debate here about what systems had what games at launch, and if they were any good. Well, we can take a slightly more objective approach and look at PS4/Switch games that were/will be brand new at the time, i.e. games that you couldn't get on a PS3/Wii U and would have to buy the new system for in order to play, which might give us an idea of what GB is looking at in terms of new Switch coverage day one:

PS4 games not on the PS3:

• AC: Black Flag (out on PS4 before XBONE)
• Blacklight: Retribution
• Forced
• Killzone Shadow Fall
• Knack
• Need For Speed Rivals (came out on PS4 before PS3)
• Resogun (came out on PS4 before PS3)
• Super Motherload (came out on PS4 before PS3)
• The Playroom
• Warframe

So that's 10 if you are generous, 7 if you take out the ones that came to the PS3 a few weeks later, or 3 games if you include all other platforms like the PC and the XBONE (just Killzone, Knack, and The Playroom).

Contrast that to the Switch games not on the Wii U:

• I Am Setsuna (not on Wii U but previously out on PS4/Vita)
• Super Bomberman R
• 1-2-Switch!

And once again, disqualifying any games that are out on any other platform will leave you with just 1-2-Switch! and Super Bomberman R.

Now, that's a very narrowband comparison; if you don't have a Wii U (or any console), the Switch lineup becomes more attractive (in terms of number of games, not quality), and this also discounts any improvements in graphical fidelity or performance that might make the upgrade worth it/having GB take a look at it ( I did the same for the PS4 comparison, however) but this should take out the "yeah well it had those games but I don't like them" argument so we can just look at the numbers.

From the simple perspective of "What new things does the switch bring to the table day one?" the answer is two games, one being a minigame collection. Even if you think you're crazy to play Zelda on anything other than the Switch and should just ignore the Wii U version, the PS4 still compares very favorably, although I'm not sure why anyone would be shocked at that fact as most recent Nintendo systems (maybe even most systems in general?) have gone through a launch/post launch drought at some point.

@bigsocrates: I don't think this is a fair assessment at all. Splatoon 2 isn't just an enhanced port, it's adding a fair amount, and Arms absolutely looks like a full price fighting game. Hell, it's shipping with a lot more than SFV did at least! Obvious joke but true. If you're not interested that's fine but these games are all fairly major.

The more important thing is that compared to other platform releases this is a lot. Five major first party releases in around three months from launch is a lot by any platform's standards. The current consoles definitely didn't have that. If you bought a PS4 or Xbox One at launch you had nothing but a subpar Thief game (also on older platforms) until March. The Wii U had almost nothing until July. The Switch will not have those problems. Zelda will sell launch day, what they need to do is keep momentum on the software releases.

I'm honestly ok with software trickling out through the whole year. I have my other systems to fill the gaps, as long as the gaps aren't like 6 months of nothing good.

i expect a scrub league tournament for 1,2 switch. Someone has to dethrone Dan at the milking game.

@zevvion said:

Had the same experience as you with Black Ops, so I feel you. Games, huh? Can't live with em, can't live without 'em. To tie back in to your original point, I think it was a quite a long time after Resogun that I had my next "amazing" PS4 game. In general, I feel people seriously downplay how amazing / incredible / once in decade it is to have a game even in spitting distance of the average quality of a Zelda game at the launch of a console. Sure, I'm assuming the next one will be great, but it's a hell of a track record.

Yeah I wouldn't advise waiting to save money, but just to have more to play if Zelda doesn't feel like enough. Since the hardware / software prices aren't going to drop, and since I don't intend to play more than Zelda on the Switch for the foreseeable future, for me it doesn't really matter what else is around. But to be honest I dunno why you pre-ordered lol ? I suppose if it's just a "whatever, it's affordable" than god bless but really, almost every single thing you said is pretty negative so are you not just setting yourself up for disappointment? I hope for your sake there are some good VC announcements soon or some bite-sized stuff drops.

Maybe Ouya? Not including post-launch coverage of the slow burning trash fire.

It'll just be a Zelda quick look lol

I don't expect much love from them. Hoping for 4+ hours :D

Maybe they'll compare Wii U to Switch and send off the Wii U.

Anyway it's a staged launch. Like everybody knows already. They spread out the games over a few months time and I think it's the right call. Of course giving the haters more fuel to say it launches with hardly any games. Which was true for their beloved consoles too but it wasn't a big deal when that happened.

@rasrimra: When I bought my Ps4 I had several games to play and a couple of those last me for a few months...and that launch included both retail and downloadable games.

That's uh.

Huh.

The WiiU was considered to have a staged launch. It only launched with a few specific exclusives ( Funky Barn, New Super Mario Bros, Nintendo Land, and ZombiU. ), the big "sell" was a massive list of the gens top selling AAA games in the hopes people who didn't get them on the Ps3/Xbox might use them to justify a WiiU.

Over the next few months the exclusives came as they were promised at the systems reveal. Within 2-3 months you had Lego City Undercover and MH3U. Within 4-5 you had New Super Luigi and Game and Wario. Within 5-6 you had Pikmin 3. 6+ you got into Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World, Dr Luigi. All of that was in the first "year." pushed out over the course of several months. And I'm omitting a bunch of smaller stuff like the NES Remix.

In the second year you got Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Pushmo World, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 1-2, Super Smash Bros, and Captain Toad. Again, omitting a bunch of smaller stuff like multiple NES Remixes.

All of those games were revealed alongside the WiiU to be put out over the next two years. The WiiU kept launching 1-2 games a month for almost 3 straight years, which I'd say is pretty good for a staged launch.

You also have to remember the WiiU -launch- was a success. It sold between 4-6 million of it's total 14 million sales in the first few months. It was accepted by the Nintendo community, and they tried very hard to spread it's awareness out to other gaming communities. The problem was never that the WiiU was awful or lacked games, it was that it wasn't good enough for Nintendo anymore. And that's a real problem when you take a look at the Xbox One and see that it's still only sitting around 16-18 million sales, or the Ps4 which is sitting around 40 million sales. Nintendo seems to have pulled a Square Enix and thought the thing needed to sell closer to the 100 million sales the Wii was at, which it was never going to do. Even if the WiiU sold another 5 million copies and passed the Xbox One, it would have been considered a failure by Nintendo.

When you realize what happened to the WiiU, it's really hard to look at the Switch and feel confident. Even if this thing has a successful launch, which it looks like it will, it'll probably end up capping early just like the WiiU did. And what then? If Nintendo needs this thing to reach 40 million sales for it to be considered successful, what happens when it doesn't just like the WiiU?

And then what of the games? While the WiiU launched with 4 exclusives, the Switch is launching with 1-2 Switch. You can look up comparisons of WiiU/Switch Zelda gameplay and it looks near identical and apparently has very similar framerate issues in the same places. That's a rough sell. Then I get a single game per month for 3 months before nothing for a whole year? Even the next years lineup looks weak, as so far we only know of Xenoblade, No More Heroes, and a Fire Emblem in 2018. And I want those games, don't get me wrong, but it's a hard comparison to the significantly beefier WiiU first/second year lineup.

Nintendo can't afford "haters" with this launch. This apparently needs to be such a success it makes the Ps4 look weak. It needs to move past the Nintendo fanbase and energize the Xbox/Playstation fanbases, alongside bringing back the unattached family group. We saw what happens when the Nintendo fanbase gets a console that's just for them. The WiiU WAS the "I don't care about AAA or sales or anything, I'll buy it for the Nintendo games." console 100%, and Nintendo couldn't justify it. The Switch cannot be that thing, and yet everyone seems to be confident it will be, and that's perfect for them. Meanwhile we have people that are fanboys like the OP suggesting they might be cancelling their preorder, or the GB guys constantly doing preorder checks to see who is still getting one after x new news bit.

As someone who really, really loved the WiiU, and loves playing Nintendo games, I'm genuinely worried about how the Switch will do. If that makes me a hater, then I guess I'm a hater.

6 hours of a 50 turn 1-2-Switch game on a stream called Switch Party.

Anyway, I think it will depend on how much time they spend with each game. How many games are available at launch? 11 or something like that?

Does anyone really want to watch them play World of Goo, though?

@reasonableman: Bomberman isn't a known quantity, well, at least this iteration of Bomberman isn't.

Struggling to get excited for the Switch. A bunch of unboxing videos have hit the web today with folks getting super excited, but for what? I don't care for Zelda so what else is there?

@nals: That's not the case with the Wii U at all. The Wii U launch was massive. 34 games, which might be the most ever for a platform. Definitely far more than the PS4 and Xbox One, and about three times that of the Switch. But the thing died post release. It had Lego City Undercover and a port of Monster Hunter 3, four months after launch and then nothing until July. So you had two B-tier third party exclusives, one of which a remaster, and that was it for 8 months. The Switch at least has three big first party releases in its first three months after the launch to complement the token two big first party launch games. The Wii U had a pretty bad drought, the Switch won't. It's clear that with the Wii U Nintendo was banking on third party titles that got delayed or cancelled early on, and TW101 and Pikmin 3 which both got delayed severely (they were supposed to be Q1). The Switch has several times as many games for the early months as the Wii U did. That's why this is staged and the Wii U wasn't, and hopefully that will mean better sales. It'll definitely keep the Switch in the media for longer.

Anyway with Specter of Torment being a Switch timed exclusive and at launch now, I guess there are two games worth getting at launch! Will be cool to see the guys cover that one.

Is "staged launch" the new code phrase for a lack of games at launch, as though they planned it that way?

I'm a Wii U owner, and this launch is rooooough. Maybe it says something about me as a Nintendo fan, but I only want to play Mario and thats not out for ages. I bought a Wii U as someone that never owned an N64, a Wii, an NES, or SNES, so being exposed to this huge library of glorious content was one of the best experiences of my life as a gamer. Now that this one is relying on its own two feet, It seems terrible.

If they treat it the same way they did the newer consoles then yes, however it is a Nintendo system, so you have to factor in the arcane menus and connecting to wifi, etc.

Also hoping they test out undocking every game, curious how other games handle it, they have shown Zelda handling it like a champ but I'm dubious that every game will be as smooth

I am sure they will find a way to make it longer especially since jason is out and it will be drews last day. ;-)