Nintendo's Next Console Is Called the Nintendo Switch

@voshinova: maybe heartstone first and then overwatch

Huh.

Looking at it, I expected the comments to be full of hate. But most everyone seems really excited.

Not that such a state is a bad thing. I am just very shocked people are so on board with this.

Me - I've never been a Nintendo fan (except that sweet, sweet Pokemon heroin) and this looks like pretty much every reason I dislike modern Nintendo (it's the gimmicks). But I don't lose anything by them releasing another system I don't want, and people seem pretty happy about it. Everyone wins and no one loses! Unless Nintendo fuck it all up and it's a piece of shit or something.

I don't believe people really want to play games on the go like that, so I think its a pretty silly concept.

I just want good games and I will buy any system they put out, the Wii U was great.

The modular controllers seems like a really cool idea when it comes to them being used for multiplayer. They look like they might be uncomfortable to hold at that size, but wow.

For the first time ever, I'm leaning towards buying a Nintendo system (apart from the 3DS).

I'm not going to lie, this is really exciting me and my friends who are not what you would call the first people to jump in and buy Nintendo stuff. I'm almost certainly getting one if only for the "Ohhhhh coooooooooooool!" of it all.

As a father with 3 children, I hope that this isn't priced at console prices because I am going to have to fucking buy at least 3 of these.

The guys's face at the back on the 2:31 mark cracks me up so much:

It's not even funny how my 3DS has become a Picross Machine. I recently bought the DS version of Picross 3D from the WiiU eShop.

I am part of the problem. But I need those rows.

If this is reasonably priced it will be a day 1 for me. Love everything about this so far.

If This console has strong developer support and decent online functionality I'll definitely be in. I've always wanted to get a 3DS, but I don't like playing games outside my house. Even if this turns out to be a weaker console, the idea of having Nintendos portable games available is attractive.

@drilbey said:

The guys's face at the back on the 2:31 mark cracks me up so much:

Hate to be this guy, but that main short haired girl is CRAZAAAAY cute. I'm fairly sure half of my decision to buy is because of her.

Seems cool, the one big thing I worry about is any tech that can run Skyrim remaster is probably only going to have a battery life of like 2-3 hours.

I love Nintendo games, and having the focus on one piece of hardware instead of two sound good too me! Gonna buy one for sure.

Have the Wii generation started earning their own money yet?

Is it just my imagination or does Zelda look super slow when they show it off there?
maybe it's just the whole video but the game looks like it's running at 20fps.

As somebody who doesn't do any "mobile gaming" this does literally nothing for me. But I'm curious how the battery run time will be on those things? Will the "mobile version" scale down graphics to make it last longer?

There's also something weird about seeing people take their "console" to the basketball court to play digital basketball instead of the real thing or taking their "console" along to a BBQ and having everybody watch while two people play.

Smartphone usage already has become a plague of its own for social gatherings, I'm not sure I like this new future we seem to be moving towards, but that's probably just me getting old ^^

The Wii generation was everyone.

Like many have already said, seeing a console that will let all the games nintendo make be for a single system sounds like a great idea. The only Nintendo system i have ever had is my 3ds XL, and while it has many awesome games i wish i could play things like monster hunter on a tv.

I look forward to this thing coming out and hope that it will be something more interesting than the ps4 xbox1. My pc can already handle all the next gen high def stuff.

I find myself surprisingly optimistic about this thing, might actually have to get one. :)

No. The very first sentence is "Everyone told everyone else so. And everyone was right.". It's a very Alex thing to say, and I love it.

Cool concept for sure but to me this is all about the new games (for example 3D Mario, Zelda) and the fact that it is a new (Nintendo) console. The handheld aspect is a feature that is good to have I guess but not the central thing for me to get hyped over. Another bonus could be that you don't have to own two Nintendo machines to get all the good games, like Wii U and 3DS.

Man...if publishing on Nintendo gets a little easier, this could be the new home of all those awesome little couch co-op games coming out of the indie scene.

One of the biggest issues with couch co-op is finding friends who want to come over and play them. If you can just take them wherever you want, and the damn thing comes with two controllers minimum already, this could really push that style of gameplay further into the mainstream, and hopefully give some of the more deserving games that get lost in the fray a little more staying power.

Well, Red Dead Redemption 2 will not come to PC (initially), so they are offering that. Besides some other occasional exclusives.

But I kind of agree with you. I am wondering more and more why I even got a PS4, since I play most games on PC.

Nintendo has been struggling in the console market, but ironically they are also the only console maker that offers a substantially different experience than what you can get on PC.

Meanwhile, PS4 and Xbox are trying to be MORE like PC, with the PS4 Pro and Scorpio. Interesting times.

@soulstoner: It kinda looks like the OUYA controller... but few controllers could be THAT horrific....

@sekou: Every time I see you in the comment section you are complaining, give it a rest. If you even attempted to actually read the sentence you so adamantly complained about, you'd know how funny it was and how much it fits Alex's personality.

I really think the name Switch is great. Looks good too.

@meteora3255 said:

Yep! Literally my first thought when I saw this thing was "B-b-b-but, where's the D-Pad?" It makes sense for them to be seperate buttons like that in order to make the detachable sides symmetrical, but it's still weird seeing a Nintendo platform without it.

Anyway, this looks interesting? I'm tentatively interested, but I'm kind of concerned that this is going for a mid-tier gaming market that might not exist? This is like three times bigger than something I'd actually be willing to use as a portable, and the portable elements of it seems like it would significantly hinder it's life as a regular console.

There are just a bunch of weird things about this design that make me worried about the overall product, like the cost of the screen vs. batteries vs. graphics hardware? If it's going to be docked most of the time at home that makes a high-quality (read: expensive) screen more of a cost and performance liability than anything.

I still kind of want one?

@player1: Appreciate your opinion, but unfortunately for you I'm allowed to not think the same as you; it's the craziest thing! If you didn't feel the need to be so defensive, you'd see I have a very valid point: games journalists LOVE to say 'we told you so' when a leaked tidbit of news get confirmed. Not an opinion, just a fact. the beauty is, now that I've pointed it out to you, you'll see it everywhere too. You're right though: I do tend to complain more than I praise, and I should work on that being more balanced. For your part, perhaps try and work at being more tolerant of others who don't think like you do. Take care.

The design is pretty cool but it looks a tiny bit flimsy, for instance that little leg they flip out to make the screen stand up. Also wonder how this works with today's gaming world so download-based for games and patches - how are they going to handle storage?

@soulstoner Wavebird Phat

@drekly: I don't really get what you were expecting? Competing with sony/MS in regards to power and graphics has never really been Nintendo's goal. It's always been about the first-party or otherwise exclusive games they make. So it's safe to assume the people this is for are people who like those games and Nintendo as a brand.

And it's ridiculous to insist it's not doing that well based on three minutes of footage.

"Nintendo confirms many of the rumors that have been circulating about the console since the company first announced its plans for a new platform."

Wasn't that a rumor even before the Wii U?? I remember hearing rumors about the "Nintendo Fusion" handheld/console thing back when the Wii U wasn't even out yet.

Every time Nintendo does something I think "surely this won't work?" and then they prove me wrong. I hope they can prove me wrong again with the Switch because I'm not really feeling it at the moment.

I just want a regular ass console from Nintendo. Something I can play my Call of Duty, Titanfall, FIFA, etc. on, along with Mario and Zelda. That's all I want. Instead, we get another machine that will never be the system of choice when it comes to third parties and basically just exists as yet another Nintendo-only system. I barely take the time to play simplistic time-waster games when I'm mobile, so I just couldn't see me using this as a mobile device. So other than being the place I have to go to if I want Mario, what's the point?

It certainly isn't a traditional name, but I kinda like it. The console looks neat and it makes me excited for Nintendo's future. Consolidation is really going to help their efforts justifying a purchase of their system. They can focus on one solid platform instead of two split efforts. And I mean let's face it, they may have gotten all those 3rd parties on board for support at launch, but we know how fast they give up. Now it's entirely possible the 3rd party could finally stick with supporting this new Nintendo console, but regardless of whether they do at least the big N themselves can bulk up software support on their own and more than likely still justify their own platform. Looking forward to next March.

Edit: Forgot to say. I am a little concerned with the size of the portable version of the switch. Part of the reason you want an on the go system is because it's easy to travel with. That thing looks about the size of the Wii U tablet, and that is nowhere near the right form factor for me to take it on the go.

@freshlysquozen: This is both a regular ass console and a portable. Why would the games be simplistic? Gameboy/DS/3DS games aren't.
The Wii U was a regular ass console and AAA third party companies ignored it after launch.

@freshlysquozen: i feel with a "regular ass console" nintendo would fade into obscurity. im glad theyre taking risks, and hell this isnt even much of a gimmick. its an actually useful gimmick for a majority. even if it never leaves my house it will still be nice to play on the bed/couch and not have to worry about signal strength. and you can completely ignore that feature anyway and just use it at home; theres your plain grey regular ass console, ill concede we need to see its performance in action, though.

It looks interesting from what the thing can do, being that it's a home and mobile platform at once. But there are a lot of things about this that worry me.

Firstly is it's Nintendo which automatically for me, given the past two systems, means overhyped and underdelivered.

Secondly is performance. It looks like it supports some advanced games and tech, but also in the video the performance was choppy as fuck. During the NBA 2K17 bit it was very clear, even with the Youtube compression and bullshit, that it was running sub 30. It's almost 2017, I have a gaming PC and a PS4, why is this for me? Nintendo needs to sell me on this system and they haven't so far. I have a phone for mobile gaming if I get the itch for that so I really couldn't care about a lot of that stuff. Their software is typically good but I need more. I need to be wowed for me to even be interested, and nothing really wowed me. It looked like more of the same. Also, yes, graphics and performance does matter at this point in time. Games all generally play the same and the only real difference is what's under the hood, so that's what interests me.

Thirdly has to tie to performance somewhat, and that's developer support. The Wii U had a lot of lip service when it had it's debut but nothing came to pass from that. Developers are already, 4 years into this cycle, complaining about power causing both Sony and Microsoft to release updated systems to counteract that. If this thing is once again the lowest on the totem pole and it causes devs to be hampered by it's limitations why would they develop for it? Why would they willingly choose to be constrained by limited performance when limited performance is already an issue for them?

Dunno. On one hand Mario and Zelda, on the other hand Nintendo and all the fucking bullshit that you have to deal with because of that name. I'll wait and see. I'm most certainly not going to go buy one now or jump up and down screaming, "Nintendo HYPU!" like some people are.

So I've seen numerous comments around the internet comparing the guy with the dog to Chris Pratt.

What? Dude is like a poor man's Ethan Hawke, maybe. But looks nothing like Chris Pratt.

I think this system looks cool and hope it takes off (i.e., that there isn't some huge caveat like crappy battery that they're hiding). Re third-party, IMHO it's *not* really power that is the main factor (esp. if targeting 720p, which seems like a real possibility for this), it is install base, which is the negative feedback loop that killed Wii U. One big question mark for me is how long have devs been aware of the specs and how many games will actually be ready in March. The list of partners Nintendo put out is exciting, but it doesn't mean anything until there are actual products out there.

Also regarding performance, I think it's pretty likely most/all game footage here was added in post, so I doubt the framerate of it means anything, since it would have been mangled by downcasting (video probably shot @ 24). I think Nintendo would sacrifice resolution before going sub-30 on tablet gameplay.

I may have not worded that very well. When I referenced simplistic mobile games, I was saying that when I am out in public, I don't even find time to play clickers and games like that on my phone, let alone a console experience. That's just not how I occupy my time.

The Wii U was hamstrung from the start and never had a chance with third parties who had moved on to stronger hardware and was hardly a "regular ass" console.

But the tablet piece is the console. I just don't think it's realistic to expect that to compare with what even the PS4 and X1 are doing. I want a Nintendo console where I could see myself choosing the Nintendo console's third party games over the Sony or Microsoft system's versions. Otherwise, it's just a Nintendo games machine, and while that's great, I need a bit more than that. I want to be able to play shooters or Rocket League or whatever on the same system I play Zelda, Metroid, and Mario.

It's a cool idea, and I'm interested to see more, but it doesn't look like it'll be a day one buy for me, if ever.

Cant wait to find out more, I remember reading somewhere you cant play the full game on the handheld counterpart, that would be a deal breaker for me.

Not a great name IMO and honestly beyond the obvious things to be worried about until Nintendo clarifies (price, power, battery life), I have huge misgivings about the controls. Forget that the individual ones are maybe, just maybe small enough for a toddler or Donald Trump's hands, forget that each of those having individual batteries that drain independently from the system is a potential problem and forget that they are small enough to lose. Look at the placement of the right thumbstick! It's DIRECTLY under the four face buttons. Just looking at that tells me I'll either have to extend my thumb up and over the stick to get to the buttons, or I'm going to be constantly repositioning my right hand. It was terrible with the Vita and this looks to be just as bad or worse.

@freshlysquozen: i still don't see how it's impossible that the switch can't offer those kind of experiences. maybe it's on par with the other console's performance. we don't know yet.

Looks like Nintendo is aiming at non/casual gamer's again... it's a console for social people, and as we all know, 'tis a basement life for us gamers.

"Gonna appreciate how much fun all these smiling millennials seem to be having with the Nintendo Switch." Nailed them damn millennials @alex

Nintendo has been rubbish for a long time. This console looks great and I'd love this kind of portability, but I don't can't help but feel skeptical about the future of Nintendo Switch.

Im nintendo fan, but after WiiU i'm sceptic. I dont buy it. I wait for some review.

Every console Nintendo releases is a service to video games. It may not always succeed, and it may be reviled by so-called 'hardcore gamers', but it, invariably, changes the face of gaming either immediately, or in the long term (save for the WiiU, which was a sort of half-step). I hope this one works out for them so they can continue to revolutionize the video games hardware industry.