The Nintendo Switch is Exciting and Forward-Thinking

Ben Eberle of Gamer Professionals writes:

"Nintendo finally revealed their “NX” console this morning, now officially known as the Nintendo Switch. The Japanese company has certainly had their missteps with hardware in recent memory. Most people agree that Nintendo are great game designers, but lack a solid grasp on what players want from their consoles. There’s no doubt that they are in a separate category aside from Playstation and Microsoft, but Switch is on a completely different level."

[GamerProfessionals]

First time in a long, long time that I've been interested in the company. Finally time to dust off the nintendo wallet and get ready to spend on that.

[Kingthrash360]

Holy mother of god.
This is my first time seeing it.
Looking like a day one for me...ps4p switch and xbo combo wallet breaker.
I'm happy for Nintendo.

Is it me or are the code names for console better than the actual name lol.
Neo>pro NX>switch I don't know what scorpio likely better than its actual name....I'd take dolphin over wii any day. Lol

[Gazondaily]

Looks great. Hopefully it works well and has a decent battery life.

The portable nature of it is great. Nintendo- always changing the game.

[mikeslemonade]

HAHA shows how much of a gamer I am. I basically called this almost 2 years ago.

"Handheld you can dock", and no agrees.

http://n4g.com/news/1699678...

I predicted Fall of 2016 release which is close enough. While you WiiU fans thought WiiU would have another 2-3 years.

http://n4g.com/news/1699525...

[Gazondaily]

@Mike

"I basically called this almost 2 years ago. "

You also said it would be a joint venture between Microsoft and Nintendo 😂😂😂

"HAHA shows how much of a gamer I am. "
😂😂😂

[darthv72]

Wow... there is some impressive features for this device. I like how the side controllers can separate into individual controllers for head to head. I been saying for some time that there will likely be a hybrid system. I just didnt think it would be Nintendo releasing it. Good showing in the trailer.

@mike & abizz... it doesnt matter who said what first. hell I been saying for even longer that there would be portable that doubles as a home console ever since the PSP Go came out. Basically the Go could dock to a TV and use a regular controller but at the time the tech wasnt there to produce HD quality graphics. Now it is.

What would make this even more awesome is if the cart slot also accepted 3ds games so you could play those on a tv as well with some sort of filter to make them look good on a bigger screen (sans the 3d effect)

[ABizzel1]

@Mikeslemonade

I got you beat, by almost a year.

http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...

That being said what I find slightly funny about this entire situation is that this concept is nothing but a more powerful Wii U in reverse, where the handheld/gamepad comes first, and the docking to the TV comes second.

That being said I'm all for it. I like the Wii U, but it cost too much, the gaming library just wasn't there for me, and no one wanted to buy it.

Most of my friends prefer Nintendo's handhelds over their console, so this works for us. I truly feel this will be their only device for the next 5 years, so Nintendo can put 100% of their effort into this hybrid alone meaning all their IP's in one place FINALLY. And it looks like it's going to have the best of Wii U running on it, so gamers who skipped the console can have a second chance at playing those games.

[mikeslemonade]

@Septic

That was my wishful thinking. Microsoft would have came up something better than this with Nintendo.

Seems like a flop like the rest Nintendo's home consoles. They will only succeed if they bring in the 3DS devs and hault 3DS game development for the sake of helping this console.

But I will buy it as a I said. I got too much disposable income. I'm waiting for the preorders to appear for this flop of a console.

[mikeslemonade]

@abizzle

Okay props to you. It was only logical for them to fuse there handheld market to home console. This is there way of giving up their traditional home consoles since they weren't making any money.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/p...
for email alerts for the preorder. Still no preordering yet.

[ocelot07]

@mikeslemonade

I did the same thing but about 6 or so months ago over on the nintendo life forums. I said it sounds like it's going to be like the Neo Geo X console. It will be a handheld with a base station for the TV. As you can imagine not a lot of people was with me on it.

[fr0sty]

My thoughts... a compromise is going to have to be made somewhere. You can't squeeze a bright HD display, battery, and mobile processing units into a console and not gimp the console's power to keep costs down, or raise costs to keep power up, so I see this either being priced higher than Nintendo traditionally prices their consoles (rumored to be true, but doubtful because, Nintendo), or the system is going to again by significantly weaker than its competition, which is far more par for the course.

[deafdani]

@ABizzel and @Mikeslemonade:

I called this out in an article I wrote 4 years and 7 months ago, a full 8 months before the Wii U even came out.

http://89decibeles.com/colu...

It's in spanish, but it basically says that Nintendo in a next iteration is going to move all of the internal processings in the controller itself, which you then will be able to play with on the Go, or dock to your TV at home to play it as a traditional console.

This Switch concept that Nintendo showed today actually goes beyond this, but the basic idea is the exact same.

So, I got all of you beat. *puts on cool sunglasses*

[rainslacker]

@ABizzel

Meh, I got you all beat. Even though I didn't attribute it to Nintendo, since they were just releasing their WiiU at the time, I said if either MS or Sony came onto the E3 stage and presented something like this, they'd win. This was well before this generations reveal.

So there....I win....in your proverbial faces! :)

JK, awesome looking system. Looking forward to it.

Those complaining about power....Take it for what it is. It's a souped up handheld, which can double as a home system. It's the best of both worlds, likely will be pretty affordable, and if the other rumors are true, will have more power with the docking base. As far as portables go, it's the best looking you can get outside of a $700-800 smart phone.

@Frosty below

Wasn't trying to say people would prefer a smart phone, or imply that the switch is a better deal due to price or whatever. Just that the graphics quality for games would likely only be available on a mobile device in that price range, as the lower end ones wouldn't be comparable. On top of that, the mobile devices aren't going to have the same resources available to it for actual gaming that the handheld platforms would have due to the bloated OS's, poor memory sizes and speeds, and general available resources within the system itself, which requires much more power to brute force higher end graphics.

But mostly, not about which is better for people, as it wasn't a contention of selling point, simply what it would take to get to the same level on the mobile end of things.

[fr0sty]

@rainslacker

The $700-800 smartphone thing isn't directly comparable since most people get their phones subsidized as part of their monthly plan, so they only end up spending a couple hundred at most. Furthermore, those cell phones are more powerful than the switch, and can do far more than just play games. Switch also only has a 720p screens, with modern phones exceeding 1080p and with HDR capability.

So, Nintendo does still have a hill to climb there.

[deafdani]

I actually like Switch way more than NX, which sounded generic and unspecific. Switch perfectly encapsulates what this console's all about.

[rainslacker]

"Is it me or are the code names for console better than the actual name"

Sometimes. But I can see a lot of the marketing for NX to be some play on the word Switch. Like, "make the Switch", kind of like Wii was "Wii want to play". Good way to go after the people who are so hung up on mobile devices...although I'm unsure how effective that'll be without throwing the Apple logo on there.

[NewMonday]

exactly whet everyone thought it would be, good thing I held off the WiiU

now with good hardware we have the prospect of the Switch+PS4 combining to form a big market for Japanese developers

[GamerProfessionals]

The Wii U isn't a bad console by any means, actually. The good games it does have are actually, well, for lack of a better term, really darn good. I think it's just been misconceived as a Wii accessory or upgrade rather than a separate console idea.

[ABizzel1]

The funny thing is this is nothing but a Wii U in reverse where the handheld comes first, and the home console comes second.

Which IMO is what Nintendo needs to do anyway.

As @GamerProfessionals said Wii U was a decent console, it just was a misfire on too many points. Price was too high, hardware was underpowered with a bad architecture for developers, support was bad, and for casual - modest Nintendo fans there simply weren't enough games to play.

Wii U unfortunately was an easy sale only for the most core of Nintendo gamers.

Thankfully with Switch (NX / Go would have been better), they have another chance to pull a Wii on us where they turn a failed console and concept (GameCube / Wii U), into a success (Wii / Switch). With the Wii U was the controller, but still using the innards of the GameCube. For Switch its the concept of Wii U in reverse, and using better hardware and architecture for better support.

[EverydayGuy]

They make great handhelds, but on the console side there will probably lacking like mostly low and medium with some high setting. Hopfully there is a SLI configuration with the docking feature.

[NorthernFrost]

Nintendo is back!

[Eonjay]

Exactly! In much the same way the PS4 redeemed Sony and the PS3, it looks like Switch will redeem Nintendo and the Wii U. Also, with complete mobile support for all games - even third party, and what is sure to be a great price, this is the first chance I see at a company being able to challenge Sony's dominance in the marketplace. I think this will become just as essential as the PS4.

[GamerProfessionals]

Who else can even think of novel ideas like this at this point in the game?

[ShadowKnight]

That's right buddy !!🙌

[EddieNX]

Nintendo fans finaly are finally getting what we deserve! It's amazing and any self respecting gamer is gunna want one.

@remix haha I might have to

[remixx116]

So are you changing your name to EddieSwitch??

[deafdani]

@remixx116: he's not changing his name... he's switching it.

;)

[beggda35]

Couldn't agree more!

[subtenko]

not just yet,, aint being fooled by first impressions. I'll wait a year or two and see how they REALLY handle this.

If you think things cant turn out for the worst, ill use no mans sky as an example (yea I know they arent the only example)

[rainslacker]

I think they have a hit on their hands.

Always said when Nintendo actually strikes gold, they hit the mother load, and this looks like it will appeal to quite a few diverse markets, and given their use of millennials in their advertising, I expect them to target the hipsters with this idea that it's something trendy and social, while relying on the regular gaming markets to simply buy the system because of their normal penchant for doing so.

Name is pretty clever too. Simple yet descriptive. People like that kind of stuff and makes it into a nice buzzword....and I can already see some of the marketing going forward..."make the 'switch'" and so forth.

[yeahokwhatever]

I don't know..I'm hesitant. Price is really important with this. It doesn't seem to have close to the horsepower the current consoles already have, which will likely make some 3rd party support hesitant as porting is likely going to be a bit harder than xb1/pc/ps4. If the price isn't very, very reasonable, its gonna WiiU it.

[Ristul]

I'm getting it, looks awesome! Finally Nintendo got it right!

[GamerProfessionals]

This has a lot of interesting possibilities behind the concept; that combined with the supporting partners makes this a pretty big deal. Best they don't miss the opportunity here.

[UCForce]

I'm very respect what Nintendo is doing ! They are back.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Is it just me or does that new Mario look like its running on U4?

[MoveTheGlow]

Entirely possible, especially given Nvidia tech's powering it.

[deafdani]

To me it looked like the same engine used for Super Mario 3D World, which was used for Captain Toad Treasure Tracker and Mario Kart 8 as well. Those three games are among the best looking games available on the Wii U.

This new Mario could be running on an improved version of that engine.

[ZaWarudo]

I don't know, i'm not convinced. It looks gimmicky as hell.

[Eonjay]

Which part looks gimicky? The form factor looks great, the functionality looks good. The controller... its okay but they were quick to show compatibility with the Pro controller so its all good.

[kneon]

The whole thing looks gimmicky. Just look at how many parts there are, this isn't going to be cheap to manufacture, so they will be compromising on the home console experience in order to add the portability gimmick, which frankly is going after a declining market.

Portable gaming is phones, and to a lesser extent tablets. This isn't going to appeal to many people outside the Nintendo core, it's just too big and clunky to bother taking with you.

[Rippcity]

@Kneon Agreed. It's too clunky to take on the go and honestly who ever thought of detachable controllers is a fucking idiot. No one wants this bullshit Fisher Price garbage! Fucking Nintendo at it again with the lame gimmicks that no one will ever use. Who is gonna bring this thing over to their friend's and then try and play Mario Kart on that tiny ass screen! Fucking nobody will! Especially with half a controller. I hope everyone realizes how stupid this console is so they just fail once and for all and go software only.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

It didn't use two screens at once, it just let you take your game with you.
How is that a negative thing for a home console?

[Kreisen]

If its that small and portable it cant have high specs. Most likely what your looking at here is an overpriced tablet that cant do anything but play the equivalent of last gen games (that zelda game looks last gen sorry). This is WiiU 2.0...........

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

@Kreisen
https://blogs.nvidia.com/bl...

Get educated.
The Nintendo Switch was designed by 500 people for the past years using a custom chip base of Nvidia most powerful GPU.

[iplay1up2]

Haters going to hate! I suppose the new BOTW trailer looks like crap to you too. Grow up!

[Kreisen]

This is modern day Nintendo in a nutshell, you get shit hardware followed by gimmicks, gimmicks and more gimmicks.

[Apocalypze]

-kneon

True Portable gaming is not on phones, Nintendo has a chance on recovering that market, we shall wait and see...

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I'm a fan of the standard Switch controller, but I suspect most will like the Switch Pro more, due to it resembling a Wii U Pro or Dualshock.

That said, glad to see Nintendo's flipped the right switches with this reveal.
The new Mario game looks great, and Skyrim was a sweet surprise!

[Eonjay]

I just mentioned that above but in defense of the Switch controller, its the first time we have seen support for two players right out of the box without needing to purchase a second controller.

[Concertoine]

I bet the 399 bundle will come with the pro controller, too. Hell, maybe even the 299 one. Nintendos got an uphill battle so they need to get these things into homes fast.

[yeahokwhatever]

Pong.

[_-EDMIX-_]

? But this is exactly what the Leaks stated the very leaks that you are making sound as if they weren't possibly true, you have an entire article bragging that it's a "Home console" and this reveal is showing it's indeed a handheld that outs to a TV.

OHHHH it suddenly makes sense because Nintendo said so? What about when over a year ago I stated it would be the best idea for them to Simply make a handheld that outs to a TV?

I called a long time ago that they were quietly going to exit the dedicated console Market.

This is exactly just that and I can't be more excited that they're focusing on a single device. Trust me you'll start falling in love with the idea the more Nintendo keeps talking about it as it seems to me if anyone else is saying it's going to happen , it's the worst idea in the world the second Nintendo States they're doing it suddenly they're geniuses....

Go figure.

Thought it wasn't going to be a handheld? Thought they weren't going to leave behind their 3DS fan base?

[Gazondaily]

They aren't exiting the home console market though based on what was shown. The trailer shows them successfully merging the two.

IF it works well then that is massive. The system in the trailer seems very agile. Let's see how it works in reality.

I see very little reason to complain at this stage.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Except it's not a handheld that outs to a TV.
It's a home console that has merged with handheld portability, just like Septic said.
Are you blind?
Did you not see the emphasis which they placed upon being able to use more than one controller( the Switch standard and the Switch Pro) for playing the games when it is docked?
Did you not see the emphasis on home console games like Skyrim? Splatoon? A new NBA game and a next gen Mario?
They are not exiting the dedicated console market; they've created a new home console that injects new life into home console games, through a hook that even core gamers will love.

The take as you go portion is exactly as I said it was; it's the "hook" of the system that's given focus to differentiate itself from other consoles, but it's definitely a home console at heart.
If it weren't, then it wouldn't even have a dock; it'd just be the tablet and a pack-in plastic stand, with some HDMI outputs on the screen portion itself.

It's just as I said, and just as Nintendo's site said; this is a HOME CONSOLE.

Don't worry, you'll learn to love it regardless.
Well, unless you squirm away the moment specs are revealed instead of looking at what games come to it...

[_-EDMIX-_]

@sep- "quietly going to exit the dedicated console Market"

ie "dedicated console Market" I'm not entirely sure why you disregarded that one point to try to spin a narrative towards something.

Who said I'm complaining? I'm even purchasing it day one so exactly what are you talking about?

@wonder- "Except it's not a handheld that outs to a TV"

The base unit is a handheld you connect it and it out to a TV at 100% by default of what the device is a handheld that out to a TV I'm not even sure why you're even trying to dispute a solid fact that the device is a portable that you could play on the TV as an option.

So you're still trying to spend this even despite almost a year of me telling you exactly what it was going to be?

Is the PSP 3000 Series now a console too? Is the IOS and Android phones now consoles too because they can out to TVs? It sounds to me like this term has become very loose since you found out your "home console" is just a handheld can out to the TV suddenly now everything is a console to you lol

Sure. That's the stupidest spin I've ever heard in a long time.

Just because a game is on a Home console does not mean it cannot be played on a portable that is like saying that the PSP is a console simply because you could play Metal Gear Solid 1 On it.

The console is not a console because Metal Gear Solid 1 is playable on it it is a console because it is dedicated to Simply playing off of the TV it is not made to be portable a portable is simply just that it has the ability to be taken on the go the games that it's actually playing is actually irrelevant I'm not even sure why you're desperately trying to spin this anyway just to have the term used on the device.

You can take it on the go while using it it has a screen it is a portable leave that alone I don't even understand what you're trying to dispute are you basically saying the definition portable doesn't exist anymore?

Are you basing this on logic or stress?

You lost all your credibility by making such a claim and it was probably best you just accepted what this was as opposed to trying to desperately win based on some sort of emotional victory that you need.

Portable- I could take it on the go.

Dedicated console - I can not take it on the go it only functions to run off of a TV, it is too powerful at the time to run on a mobile device.

That is not to say that the games featured on a dedicated console could not one day run on a portable that's not actually what the term actually means.

Final Fantasy 1 was a game that released on a dedicated console it was also released on multiple phones and handhelds is it are those devices suddenly now dedicated consoles too?

I'm not entirely sure why you just tried to use a piece of software to define a damn piece of Hardware that doesn't make any sense and your again trying to spend something to win lol

By default this cannot be a dedicated console because dedicated means it only is, this has an option to be a portable therefore by default it is not dedicated it has the ability to be a portable thus it is a portable by default of having that ability.

[Gazondaily]

"ie "dedicated console Market" I'm not entirely sure why you disregarded that one point to try to spin a narrative towards something. "

I'm not spinning any narrative. I respectfully responded to you. One day you will learn to do the same.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@septic- the switch is not a dedicated console because its a portable which by default means it is not dedicated to being a console.

I'm not entirely sure why you can't actually understand what that term means. Having the ability to take it on the go also means its entire design has been dedicated to making it a portable in regards to its Hardware , heat distribution and even the format in which it plays its games, which means it must be a portable foremost in its Hardware design, which means that the only thing that even remotely makes it a console is being able to play on a television which doesn't really mean anything because any device can play off of a television that actually doesn't make it a dedicated console.

Your phone could play off of a television is that now a dedicated console? The PSP 3000 could play off of a television is that now a dedicated console? Do you not understand what the term dedicated actually means? Put it this way it is not designed only to be a console but it's foremost has to be designed to actually be a portable.

I've never seen so many people desperately trying to spin what this is even despite many devices having this ability never being used the term.

When did you ever hear Sony call the PSP a dedicated console?

Since when was the switches only feature being a console? Dedicated simply means it is only a console, it is only designed to Simply play off of the TV at its maximum strength.

Or it's too powerful to actually be a handheld that's clearly not the case with the switch...

[MasterCornholio]

Question.

Plus and minus in the controller?

Hmmmmm

Looks like Nintendo still has more surprises for us.

[Eonjay]

Are we sure that doesn't just denote the player one and player two?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Pretty sure that's no different than the plus and minus buttons on the Wii U.XD

[MasterCornholio]

I don't own a Wii U. What do they do?

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Those button are just Start and Select. It been that way since the Wii

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

They're literally no different from Start and Select buttons.XD

[feraldrgn]

Apparently they are the Start & Select buttons. :)

[Scatpants]

This looks like the portable to finally replace my Vita. Hopefully it's not mountains of shovelware with 4 good releases a year like the 3DS. I'm also curious if it has good normal tablet features like a web browser and comic/ebook reader etc.

[GamerProfessionals]

The Vita might even have to be give up at this point. Looks like that but much better.

[slate91]

I think this type of console opens the door to a pokemon red/blue full 3d remake.

[DualWielding]

Need to hear abiut cost

[TheDreamCorridor]

All this hype from Nintendo fanboys.

Guess what? Everyone hyped the Wii U the same way, and we all know how that turned out.

[GamerProfessionals]

Seems like they're much more receptive to third parties this time.