f13.net

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI

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Ah ah ah yeah.  Ahh ahh ahh yeah yeah.  :awesome_for_real:

I liked the esports part at the end.   :facepalm:

Looks alright. Wonder if they'll keep making DSs too or if they're just doing one console/handheld.

It's interesting that there was no mention of a VR headset in that teaser.  Are they betting that seamless mobility will beat out immersion?

As much as we like to ignore Nintendo stuff here this probably deserves its own thread.

What the fuck did I just watch?

Oh right, the devolution of a video game company.

Dark Souls Mobile?

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvN3l32WAAAfr2q.jpg)

Based on that video, the only physical medium I'm seeing are cartridges and there's not really enough space for an SSD hard drive. So what kind of storage space does it have for downloaded games? Or is it all "IN THE CLOUD?"

I'm not sure Nintendo knows what the Internet is.

Agree.  Remember the handle on the GameCube?

Miyamoto is a legend but they need some new blood.

256Gb micro SD cards are a thing.

Are they a thing in this console? Or handheld? Or whatever the fuck this thing is supposed to be?

And is that Skyrim?

I'm reading your post in Old Man Voice.

No idea, I'm just pointing out that storage is small.

And yes, that was Skyrim.

Yeah, while I could laugh and point at Nintendo for going with Cartridges in the N64 era, not now.  They make micro SD cards (or whatever) that can hold the data for any game in existence for pretty cheap now.

Then you are hearing it correctly.  :why_so_serious:

 :awesome_for_real:

So if this is basically Nintendo's version of Nvidia's shield, I wonder if I can stream PC games to it.  Even if it has to be hacked to do it, that would make this the most interesting thing to come out from Nintendo in a long time, imho.

It looks like an interesting take on the whole "One gaming device" concept.

And the "there's no storage!!!" thing is kinda silly since, as mentioned before, NAND capacity per area has increased at an insane rate in recent years. Most of the space taken up by a 2.5" SSD is the plastic case and air at this point.

Better idea than Wii U, lesser idea than original Wii. They're still riffing on "it's all about the controller" when clearly it's not.

As someone who liked fair chunk of 3DS software but hates playing on an actual 3DS, this thing could work out alright.

I'm afraid we're going to lose the old school feel of 3DS games as the hardware power available makes everyone push for graphics over gameplay.

I think it's pretty interesting. With the feverish adoption of the very latest smartphone model plateauing, the mobile industry effectively locked up by the already established players that hit it big absent the what's-way-below-"rare" Flappy Bird or ridiculously expensive surprise hit, the Nintendo brands still carrying huge cache, and Nintendo still being a purpose-built hardware-for-gaming company, that they were able to match the use-case of mobile without ceding their portfolio to ephemeral mobile platforms is a pretty good bet.

They're gonna need to clear up their positioning though. The video they posted was super muddy. None of that promise has really been realized on the mobile devices we all already have with us 24/7 predominantly because people don't want those kind of experiences (even though a bunch of attempts have been made). So expecting people to want that from a device that looks like a small nVidia Shield/TV setup is kinda missing the point. And I agree with the nVidia Shield reference Lemming said, because I felt the same even before I knew it was nVidia that powers this thing.

They're going to need a Wii Sports of Switch to entice new people. They need that at minimum before you can start getting people to want the latest Zelda/Metroid/Mario/whatever on it, because your most ardent fans are still using their Wii/U/DS so don't need to switch.

Will be curious to see how this starts to get sold to normals.

My biggest gripe is the built in failure point. Having the control portion literally pull off the controller and shove onto the portable shit is beyond stupid and completely unnecessary. It makes the controller bigger and provides something that is nearly guaranteed to just stop working and get dirty and gunky and awful - especially with kids fucking with it.

I kept thinking, dude, play with your damn dog!

No, bad idea, I tried that once.  Dog couldn't last hit at all, we ended up getting wrecked like 33-4.

Nintendo's gimmicky hardware just drives me nuts. 

:rimshot:

Watched the announcement video. Thought 'the Surface Pro and Nvidia Shield in our house can already do all of that and more'.

I think it's a great idea.

It removes the bifurcation of Nintendo's developer support (3DS vs. Wii U). It gives preference to the platform that actually has more developer support (3DS) and higher LTD sales. It's a HW platform that already has engine support by Unreal, Unity and others and is similar enough to mobile platforms like Android or the iPhone.

It's actually not that bad of an idea from a business standpoint and as a value proposition to developers. It's similar enough to other mobile platforms to make porting easy or to kickstart a port to mobile with the Switch as a central device (given a viable install base) and it's also different enough from the mobile app economy established on Android or iPhone so that you can actually price your game at other tiers than $0.99/$1.99/$2.99 and still can expect reasonably high sales. It also has a traditional input scheme which makes development even more similar to other platforms.

Basically don't see it as competition to existing stationary platforms like PC or XBone/PS 4 but more of a "mobile-like" platform with an existing eco system of people that actually pay for games. Which could offset the costs of porting/developing for other mobile eco systems

The dock is also a smarter solution to the use case they've been trying to push with the Wii U. Play your games on a TV at home or take it to another room (or on the road) when your SO or the parents want to watch GoT. No Kids hogging the living room PC when you want to watch Netflix and you can take your games with you while your away (or when you're on a road trip and the Kids are sitting in the back)

This system automatically has all of Nintendo's own franchises plus Pokémon and Monster Hunter and might see business from traditional 3rd party developers just from the fact that it's essentially an NVidia shield and therefore similar enough to existing mobile platforms based on ARM cores just with a customer base that will actually spend more on games than an iPhone user would.

The only question I have is if the detachable controllers and the dock are built sturdily enough.

Yeah I don't get the hate.  A console where I can take any game, plug it into my TV to play full 1080p with advanced graphics then undock it to take it on the train with me to work, to conferences, on vacation, etc... is a fantastic idea imo.  You can tell in that video that video quality degrades a bit when you go into hand-held mode (framerate wise at the very least you can see in that video) but that's a fine trade-off for battery (I wonder if the dock has an external GPU to help or if it just maximizes the screen's GPU usage when docked).

I'm also excited by the fact that it looks like this device will have as close to zero touch support as possible, cause god fuck touch (even stylus touch on the 3DS).  

I'm also pretty excited on the casual tease of a new Mario 64 type game.

*edit*: Shit just being able to efficiently take games from TV to Bed will be massively appreciated by me.  I could never do that with the Wii U due walls, distance, and lack of game support for using the gamepad as a second screen.

I'll reserve judgement until I see what developers want to participate because without a great library, what's the point?

The interesting thing about this model is Nintendo has pretty decent third party lineup with the 3DS, so if they can transition them all to the Switch and add new ones (now that there's no forced gimmick) then maybe that will work. 

Of course that requires Nintendo to not have a complete shit e-shop and developer tools, neither of which I have much trust in.  While cartridges are appropriate for this type of device they are also extremely developer hostile because Nintendo forces developers to pay for the cartridges outright.  So we'll have to see.

Tell you what, they were very clear that it had a 3.5mm jack in that video.  :why_so_serious:

My problem was that the video did a fuck horrible job of explaining just what the fuck this device was. It was too busy showing millenials in cities having rooftop parties without pot or alcohol, something I do not believe exists nor do I believe would include a Switch.

I totally get what you are saying but it also makes me happy that Nintendo finally put what seems to be a good looking screen on their handheld (hard to say for sure since this is just a trailer).

If they can get developers who are currently still developing for Vita & 3DS, plus get some of the best PC 'indy' games, plus have a full Nintendo lineup, there COULD be a good mix of games for this.  OR they could just try to sell people virtual console games for $5 a crack again :awesome_for_real:

Well not with those tiny controllers I guess...

I think I bought this last year when it was called the NVidia Shield.

https://shield.nvidia.com/tablet/k1

https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/21/nintendo-switch-is-the-spiritual-successor-to-the-nvidia-shield/

I didn't buy the Shield.  I didn't think it would get a mainline Zelda game.

I am, of course, doomed to buy this, as I am doomed to purchase all of Nintendo's stuff until I perish and leave a corpse under a tombstone that reads "Y U NO METROID".

I do not know where I will put it, though.  The WiiU pad was bothersome enough to find a place for.  My son should be happy that the squid shooter was on it.

Wouldn't you just..... put it in the dock?

I don't really want to get into what my AV setup looks like, but there's not a neat place for something like that which is convenient.  I guess I could banish the GameCube from the shelf above the TV (itself inconvenient at that height), or probably I'll put the Switch in the basement which has a more normal TV setup.  That's where the WiiU went.

The video explained exactly what the Switch is. It's a handheld tablet-like gaming system with detachable side controllers that can be placed into a dock that then switches the output from the tablet screen to a TV alongside a proper wired standard-sized controller like any other console. It showed this process multiple times. I am not seeing the confusion here.

Is it cartridge-media based? It looked like it. Maybe? Is there additional storage on the device? Is there any storage on the device whatsoever? Do I buy DVD's to play games? Does it have any wires at all? Is that base a charging dock? Why are there so many controller configurations? Is it a touchscreen? Motion-controlled? Is it some kind of hybrid mobile/tablet/console system that's going to have all the worst parts of all 3 styles of play and be really good at none of them? Is it Wifi or Bluetooth? What's the price? Also, why should I give a shit since it's Nintendo and they've clearly shown me nothing in the last 5 years that I give two fucks about buying?

The video was shit. Also, millenials cannot afford those apartments.

But but, Nintendo games!!/1/

I think this is a better play than the Wii-U, with Nintendo shifting their target away from Microsoft and Sony and towards Google (Android/Cast) and Apple (AirPlay). It's not a bad strategy considering the mobile multi-touch screen market is pretty locked up and the platform just isn't good at some of the kinds of games Nintendo is known for. Yea sure, you can make a Mario Kart or Super Mario whatevernumberitisinow playable. But will it be good? We'll know when the first licensed one comes out, but I don't know it'll go for purists.

But, I do not know about the TV connection. Aside from this not being a big use case even though it's been possible for years on mobile, I don't know if the DS crowd really wants it and if there's enough Nintendo-on-TV people left that haven't already gone mobile.

However, I want this to be successful because casual games need more competition, and I have faith they'll knock it out of the park with some showcase launch titles like they did on the original Wii (and personally, I don't care about third party support. I'm passed the point of having faith in a device based on the breadth of its library. I want good stuff, not all of the stuff these days).

Err the video explicitely showed them putting a cartridge in.  You can also tell by the way it docks that it either doesn't have a touch screen or it's touch screen is useless because you won't be able to interact with it while it's docked and utilizing the TV.  Also I don't see how you can question if it will have Wifi since uh.... how else is it going to have internet when it's not docked and you are not within 100feet of the dock (a use case the video clearly shows).

Don't let your apparent hatred for all things Nintendo hit you on the way out.

Nintendo said they were working on making ports for Mario Maker and Splatoon.

Mario Maker's level designer works best with touch. If Mario Maker is announced expect the screen to be touch capable.

This is my reaction too. That shit is going to break so fast once my nephew and niece start using it, with all the sliding and docking and everything.

I will likely get one of these because I can't see myself ever playing any of these games on the TV but as an in-bed thing, sure. Why not. This also means I won't disconnect the controllers very often.

It looks like you can leave the side-mounted controllers permanently attached for handheld/tablet use, and use a traditional console controller when it is docked. Which is probably what 90%+ of people will do (most of the rest will just never dock it, or never undock it). The back-to-back play with 4 people waving around half a controller while squinting at a tiny screen seems like something that will never actually happen.

--Dave

I was about ready to say this. This is basically an NVidia shield with god willing, updated hardware.

Not that it will save it since I think it has a Tegra in it, and unless they DRAMATICALLY changed the architecture of the Tegra it is a gigantic piece of shit. There seems to be actual buzz about this whereas no one could really tell if the WiiU was a new console, so who knows. I don't think this'll save Nintendo on the hardware end because no matter how many devs you put in a picture that shit always dries up when your console isn't up to hardware parity with everything else.

The best part was using a 5 year-old game in the demo reel. Wow, cool, Skyrim. That's worth $300 or whatever.

So folks: After the WiiU- will people still pay the $300 Mario and Zelda tax?

Nintendo were paying their own tax making Mario and Zelda games twice for 2 platforms.

Now we're going to see this company make some more new IP and actually refresh old IP that has languished in the face of making more Marios, more Kirbys and franchising Zelda.

You need to get out of Mississippi.

I agree completely. Still don't think millenials can afford those apartments though.  :why_so_serious:

Refer to the job thread. :awesome_for_real:

Re: Mario tax... that console fee is amortized over several games, if you're one of the target audience.  Besides Mario (to use WiiU examples), you can amortize across Splatoon and LEGO City Undercover as well.

I realize I'm an outlier, but I think $450 for LEGO City Undercover was not a bad deal.  Then you account for my son playing Mario Maker in the basement instead of something on my 360/PS3/PS4 and it gets even better.

Sometimes I am glad I am poor.  :why_so_serious:

Presser happening now.

March 3, 2017 worldwide (most regions)
$299.99 USD
Region-free
Online service (like PSN+) will be free to test until fall, service price to be announced at a later date.

I'm signing off the stream, the games they're showing so far look like drek. The form factor and design is pretty neat. I hope the games are quality and the hardware tests are solid, though I have my doubts.

No Mario until holidays 2017. The Splatoon 2 presentation was one of the cringiest things I've ever seen.

Frame rates looked really awful.

Nintendo [ds] xxxl

Im less than thrilled.

2 actual launch games that aren't the garbage that comes with it. Jesus Christ. At least my son seems to be over the Wii now. Took him a whole week to get sick of Smash.  Glad I bought it.  :oh_i_see:

I'm sure this will do fantastic, but, common Nintendo, stop being horrible at hardware releases. What are the odds on a persistent shortage post launch? Maybe my local Target will get a whole 3 of them!

Subscription charges for online features... which will not be available until ~6 months after launch.

Didn't watch any of the presser. Saw that pre-orders had gone up, so I figured what the hell, might as well pre-order one just in case. Shortly after took a look at all the announced games and promptly canceled the pre-order. Holy shit, what a mess.

I'm one of the 4 people in the world like has and likes their Wii U. Breath of the Wild looks like it will be a good game, but since I can play that on the Wii U I have no incentive to get this thing at all.

I would also never use its mobile features. I have enough shit to carry around as it is.

Extra controller is $80.  :ye_gods:

edit:
And.. exactly one game worth buying at launch. One. Yah, this is an absurd console launch. I really wish Nintendo would just stop making hardware and go full bore software dev.

What in the ever living holy monkey fuck of shit is this? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7p47TOmicQ)

What in the fuck is Mario doing in Vice City? Every one of those games either looks like yet another retread of something Nintendo's already done or a shittastic motion-controlled flailfest of bad game ideas.

Wait the controllers are motion controllers?

Why didn't they tell us this before?

If you are being serious or even if you aren't, here's the specs on the Joy Con controllers (http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/12/14260812/nintendo-switch-joy-con-controller-new-features).

Yep, definitely going to forget this one exists except as a reason to mock Nintendo.

$80 for each controller, $300 and it comes with one I assume?

$620 for this to replace my WiiU. Nope. I'll just buy the WiiU edition of Zelda and wait and see what happens with the Switch.

The announcement in October made no mention of motion controllers.

Well, it didn't actually mention much of anything.  :why_so_serious: I just assumed from the video of the sexy millenials playing the thing during their rooftop party on top of the building none of them could afford to live in that the controllers had some form of motion to them (and because it's Nintendo).

For $299, this is what comes in the box:

Nintendo Switch™ Console
Nintendo Switch Dock
Joy-Con™ (L) Gray
Joy-Con (R) Gray
Joy-Con Wrist Straps
Joy-Con Grip
High Speed HDMI™ Cable
Nintendo Switch AC Adapter

The Pro controller seems to be $70, but the base system seems to have everything you would need for $299 for single player and two player wonk games. Not recommending the purchase, just clarifying.

From http://www.nintendo.com/switch/buy-now/ on the What's Included tab.

It's 80 for two,  50 for one and 70 for one pro controller.


Paid online is a deal breaker for me. I'll wait til the Wii U is at fire sale prices to play Zelda and Splatoon.

I am so sick of motion fucking anything

This is just ridiculous. The multiplayer voice chat is a smart phone app (http://nintendoeverything.com/reggie-talks-switch-online-service-info-teased-on-rebuying-classic-games-supply-concerns-3ds-here-to-stay/):


So you pay a subscription and have to use your smartphone to chat with the people you're playing with instead of just plugging earbuds into your controller? What? WTF? I seriously do not understand what planet Nintendo live on, or how they're still in business.

nintendo sucks at online

we've known this since online was a thing

they will never, ever change

It's definitely less of a gamble than the WiiU was and this has a proper name to differentiate it. Shame about everything else.

You make it sound like you'll have to chat through your phone which hardly seems like their intent. It sounds like they want you to authenticate yourself through your phone. Since for most phones it literally represents their digital life it's much easier to enforce identities and social lists to their standards.

No, chatting through a "smart device" app really is their intent.

http://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/


Edit: a

Only Nintendo would feel it would be easier to deliver voice chat over a pile of assorted hardware and software that they have no control over instead of the dedicated, vertically integrated, completely in-house console they've built.

Amazing, really.

Interestingly my son and his friends already use their cell phones to chat while gaming.  Doesn't matter if it is Steam or a console.  So I think you guys are just old.  Not wrong, just old.
Using wifi instead of cell to chat would actually help these guys to get a more reliable connection.

Additionally, my son watches YouTube on his phone while playing games.  I don't get it.

The middle-school crowd is all worked up about Splatoon 2.  Also they somehow completely ignored the PSVR and played Smash Bros all weekend.  Very excited about the Switch.  We will see how the grades and scout rankups look when the time arrives.

It's worth noting that children have terrible taste and are pretty stupid.

That's part of being a child.

No argument.  See: Popularity of FFVII

I bet they sell a lot of Switches, though.

I know a couple of late 20-somethings who were excited about the Switch but now are not, mostly because of the pricing in the UK which is egregious.

But I totally take your point about oldness making the smartphone chat thing seem stupid. And Schild's point about young people being stupid.

I definitely want to play the new Zelda, but I don't see any reason to buy a switch instead of getting it on the Wii U.

RE: motion controls, the only games I ever thought provided a worthwhile experience with motion controls were Skyward Sword and the Wii U Mario Kart. Swinging my sword around in Skyward Sword worked well enough to be fun and was pleasingly visceral.  I kept thinking "this would have been my favorite thing ever when I was ten," and I think anyone who didn't enjoy that experience must have been incapable of letting themselves go and buying into the game's fantasy.  At the most basic level, playing that game was fun.  Driving around in Mario Kart is similarly fun in an elemental way even though you can't control the game as precisely with motion controls.  All this is to say that I have a lot of sympathy for what Nintendo has been trying to get at over the last ten years, and I think it's unfortunate that there's been so little buy-in from gamers or developers for alternative control schemes. Or in other words, what's wrong with gimmicks if they fill you with joy?

Wii was enormously popular because of the motion controls.

On the other hand, the gimmicks usually don't fill me with joy, they fill me with frustration.

I'll fight you

I've gone full circle with games consoles. I just want to play Mario Kart. Games for adults on the adult consoles just don't interest me any more.

I'm sure they will sell all 2 million Switches they're launching with, because forced scarcity works wonders to push your stock in predictable ways.

I'd honestly rather replay 13 than 7.  :awesome_for_real:

I almost want a Switch just for an improved handheld with launch Zelda.

I'll buy one if this is what I'm getting instead of a 4DS, but not at launch.
It was enormously popular, but not with core gamers. I was working at Gamestop for the Wii's whole life cycle, and we sold a ton to older adults and nursing homes. The biggest problem Nintendo had, though, was that these folks were largely content with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort; there were a few other games that would get them to spend money (Wii Fit, Just Dance) but very few of our Wii customers converted into regular shoppers.

This is simply anecdotal. Wii had a high software attachment ratio.

Tweet (https://twitter.com/goosemangus/status/836912833925263361) from a trusted longstanding reviewer: "Right now, I'm playing what might just be the greatest game I have ever played. In my life. Ever." One of his co-workers revealed (https://twitter.com/eliotfish/status/837107236040122368) it is the new Zelda. He would be playing it on Switch.

tl;dr - The boy did indeed impress us and earned a Switch.  I do not, however, know how to get one tomorrow.

Wife wants to wait until my son's birthday. It's in June.  :facepalm:

BOTW sounds really good (although the 'Greatest Game Ever' rhetoric coming out of reviewers always makes me wary) but not £300+ good.

+1. The kids might be getting one of these for christmas, provided BOTW isn't the only good game out by then.

Splatoon 2 is on the Good Game list.  Will it be out in 2017?  Who knows?

Despite everything I said in the Horizon thread about not wanting to play some games on a PS4 standard rather than a Pro, I'm absolutely willing to play BOTW on the WiiU rather than buy a Switch right now.

That will probably save you a lot of irritation.

The boy insists that Splatoon 2 will be out this summer, and since he has become entirely capable of collecting reliable info from the internet, I'll trust him.

He concocted a plan where we stop by Wal-Mart on the way to school (since Target opens at 0800) and see if they have one.  We both agree that we want the red/blue one and won't even consider a grey one.

Good luck.

You may even want to check with WalMart tonight around midnight.  Though if yours is anything like the ones here they don't even know they have shit to put out until the day after release.  Mine seems to believe  release date is the day they should schedule the overnight shift to stock.

I remain uninterested in Nintendo consoles. I'm not sure when it happened but I seriously just stopped caring about 99% of Nintendo's properties at some point.

I thought I was uninterested. I'm suddenly caring about this like I cared about the original Wii (and bought one on launch day after not even caring until then).

The hype around Zelda is pretty intense but I was never a Zelda person and I have a Wii U (yeah, yeah) so after I've gotten tired of Mass Effect I may give it a try on there first before deciding whether or not to get a Switch (assuming Nintendo actually makes enough).

Nintendo ALWAYS understocks its consoles on launch to drive up the "we must have this!!!!" part of the brain. Rarity makes people want things more. Its one of their shady business practices that made me give 2 fingers to Mario years ago.

Do we know if there are any important differences between the WiiU and Switch versions of BOTW?  I have a WiiU, and there is no time I am getting a Switch anytime soon.  And am a big Zelda fan, as are the kids.

Sorta Edit:  I found a list of differences.  I doubt they matter much, but here they are:

Both launch on the same day, March 3.
Both have a frame rate of 30 FPS.
Both versions of the game offer the same content.
On a TV, the Nintendo Switch version of the game renders in 900p while the Wii U version renders in 720p.
The Nintendo Switch version has higher-quality environmental sounds. As a result, the sound of steps, water, grass, etc. are more realistic and enhance the game's open-air feel.
The physical copy of the Wii U version will require 3 GB of available memory on the Wii U system or an external drive.
Some icons, such as on-screen buttons, differ between the two versions.
A Special Edition and Master Edition of the Wii U version are not available.

[/url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgT6KpNnILc]Here's[/url] a side-by-side comparison of the WiiU & Switch versions. Look pretty similar to me, although the Switch is brihter and more vibrant. You can see more differences when it gets to outside scenes with grass etc. being apparent on the Switch. I've seen people on Reddit saying that there's FPS drops on the WiiU in towns etc.

Personally if I had a WiiU I'd be happy to play it on that for now but I am also an incredibly patient gamer (as well as having no money) so I'd probably be just as happy to play it in 2 years time for £10 or whatever.

Much of those difference appear to be contrast/brightness related.  I mean, I can see other differences, but I am guessing it won't bother me.  And I wonder if those are on the built in screens or on a TV/monitor, I imagine that is an important distinction.  See how I am talking myself into this?  Pretty sure I am going to grab the WiiU version.  Today.  I should really just go now.

It looks to me as if the texture resolutions are lower on the WiiU, especially on the backgrounds. But the differences are small in that video - although I find the lack of detail sprites like the grass etc. quite noticable, I'm sure that's only because it's side by side with the Switch version.

At the end of the day if the cost of a Switch now isn't a big deal to you then fair enough, but I'd expect it to be difficult to find one right now and for the price to drop considerably in 6-12 months. I don't believe that a higher price point than a PS4 or XBone (especially if you include things like a decent memory card and back up battery, which most reviewers seem to think are mandatory) is sustainable past the initial rush.

Son bought a WiiU that's been gathering dust since he found out his school friends have PS4s. Guess I'm getting Zelda for that, and while he plays Overwatch I can play Zelda. Woo.

Found a stock of over ten Switches at a Target near my office, but they are all Grey so I passed.

Color should have nothing to do with that correct decision.

Wii U version runs at 720p and 30fps. Switch version runs at 900p and 30 fps while docked and 720p and 30 ffps undocked. The Switch version also runs more consistently at 30 fps (Wii U dips more frequently below 30 fps) and supposedly has better draw distances in some places.

Edit: Oops didn't see Cyrrex's edit on the previous page, his list of differences is more complete:

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=25420.msg1455098#msg1455098

That also assumes Nintendo makes enough copies of the Wii U version, which is already sold out through the normal channels. Smells like another Xenoblade Chronicles fiasco which oddly enough was also made by Monolith Soft.

I got it as a digital download. It's not like I need to worry about saving room for a ton of great Wii U releases coming up.

i have played my wii u exactly once

Mine was used strictly for 8 player Smash Bros. Tournaments, and occasionally Mario Kart.

I have actually got more mileage out of mine than I would have expected.  My 5 year old has played a thousand hours of Mario on the thing, and both of the last two Zelda remakes have been played a lot as well.  Even some of the old Zeldas from their store.  Not much beyond that, however, which probably proves that Nintendo should really just be making first party games and not consoles.

Played BOTW for around 4-5 hours so far. It's not feeling like the best game ever made (nor would I expect it to at this point in the game) but it's enjoyable so far. There's a very slight Assassin's Creed vibe in the sense that they have you climbing around at times in a way I'm not used to in Zelda games and they even have you climbing towers to unlock parts of the map.

Among Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World and Wind Waker HD I've probably spent a few hundred hours playing n my WiiU. That being said I probably won't spent another 400 Euro an a device to play two games on it.

Got a Switch. Breath seems great.

The switch however is a total piece of shit.

As one of my friends said they should have called it the Nintendo Zelda.

Bought BotW for the WiiU because I didn't feel like paying $500 for a glorified Zelda hardware dongle yet again. Great, great game. Breath of the Wild is probably the best game Nintendo has ever made.

They couldn't even be bothered to integrate the WiiU tablet controller though. It does literally nothing in that game. It doesn't even display the map or your inventory. It shows a black screen with the BotW logo and that's it. It doesn't even output game audio unless you play the game on the tablet controller. Still drains the battery though.

BotW being in development for WiiU was clearly a lie, they always intended it to be a Switch game because this game has no features exclusive to the WiiU version. The game doesn't even bother to tell you that the battery of the WiiU tablet has died if you play it on a Pro Controller.

Oh and the person that thought it would be a good idea to put jump on 'X' on the default move set should be slapped repeatedly.

My understanding is that they actually disabled the Wii U specific features, presumably so that it wouldn't offer advantages over the Switch version.

That would be bloody stupid if true. Then again Nintendo would absolutely do something like that... My issue is that the WiiU tablet can't go in the power save mode (it always displays the Breath of the Wild logo and the 'Play on WiiU tablet' hint) and so the battery is dead after a few hours of play, even though I don't use it. (Playing BotW on a WiiiU Pro Controller). ... and since you bloody well need the tablet to do anything with the WiiU it's really annoying.

The WiiU version is fine by the way. It only runs on 720p (the Switch version runs on 900p when docked) and it has a few issues with stutter and pop in but nothing really dramatic so far.

720p/900p at 30 fps for a launch title unfortunately points to the Switch being rather limited performance-wise. Especially if you consider that BotW is using cell shading and other types of visual trickery and is not really aiming for photo realism. It's still a very gorgeous game don't get me wrong. More often than not though it's because of Nintendo's mastery of environmental design and animation and not because of raw graphical power. It would have been significantly better if they had opted for a NVidia Tegra 2 instead of the Tegra.

I can't imagine any current AAA title being able to run on the Switch without a significant graphics overhaul. So I don't expect the Switch third party support to be any better than for the WiiU. Given the glacial pace at which Nintendo releases first party titles and given that the Nintendo second party developer ecosystem is dead and has been for a long time I'd be surprised if the Switch actually manages to get a significant number of titles.

Nintendo hasn't even managed to put out a WiiU exclusive Zelda in 4 1/2 years. So I'm looking forward to one of each Zelda, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Splatoon and Pokemon a few "New Super Mario" remixes and not much of anything else. I wouldn't even be surprised if they didn't put out a new Metroid Prime or Metroid game.

I, too, am a bit cheesed by the stupid lack of support for the WiiU tablet.  On the other hand, BOTW appears to be moving a lot of switches out the door, so you can sorta see why they wouldn't want to put such a significant added feature on the WiiU version.  It doesn't really change the game much, but it is pretty glaring when you consider both the last two remakes of old Zelda games did it quite nicely.

ARISE!

I finally got around to picking one of these up, along with Super Mario Odyssey which is a really great Mario game. Octopath is probably next on my list, and/or Xenoblade Chronicles 2. What else is out there that's really worth playing?

Binding of Isaac Rebirth
Enter the Gungeon

That's really all I play on mine.

I liked Battle Chef Brigade quite a bit.

Breath and Xenobakde are good. The latter is fucking enormous, I’m not sure I’ve scratched the surface at chapter 3 and 50 hours. Also darkest dungeon as a portable option is good.

I’ll fully admit to buying Skyrim on it too, playing it from bed last winter was awesome.

I'm not going to lie, I like Golf Story personally.

If you like movement dependent exploration and challenging combat Hollow Knight is a great pick up.

If you're into RTT games then I strongly recommend Fire Emblem Warriors.


If you want multiplayer Splatoon 2 and Mario Tennis Aces will be very satisfying with their gameplay fundamentals. The way content is structured might irritate you but the gameplay of each more than make up for it.

I have a nagging feeling that the Switch is WiiU 2.0 for me.  I own two games for this damned thing and it's been out for two years.

What kind of games do you like?

In addition to what's already been mentioned, for Nintendo-exclusives if you like side-scrolling platformers there's Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze.

I've got a fair amount on the Switch.

Breath of the Wild - Goofy and awkward at first, but it's the best Zelda game I've ever played.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - This is a top 5 JPRG. Also, game doesn't end at finish. You've got a NG+ or you can try the optional world bosses. Just loads of content.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - family loves this. It's really easy to just pick up and play.

Mario v. Rabids: Kingdom Battle - Nice Xcom light. If the Rabids annoy you, I might skip it. 

Super Mario Odyssey - fantastic game. Just a delight even with how f'ing bad I am at platformers.

Nintendo Labo - the boy got this for his birthday. It's pretty neat.

Some downloaded games:

Stardew Valley - it's portable Stardew Valley. Family sunk hundreds of hours into this.

Minecraft - it's Minecraft. Played a lot of this split screen with my son.

Overcooked - I liked it, but the family found it too frustrating.

Hollow Knight - again, I am shit at platformers. This is a lovely looking, super hard (for me) Metroidvania. It's cheap, so it's probably worth it for the aesthetics alone.

I'll probably pick up Octopath Traveler and Mario Tennis at some point. Also, there's a SMT coming to the Switch.

SMT is a big reason I pulled the trigger. Xenoblade and Mario Kart are probably my next 2 purchases. Tried to grab them at Gamestop this weekend because I've got trade in credit and a B2G1 coupon, but literally no store in a 50mile radius has 3 good used games (or 2 games + a pro controller).

If you want to eventually play online, I wouldn't pick up used games. I've heard stuff about online eligibility being tied to the original cart owner.

BTW, the first part of Xenoblade is really slow. But it does pick up and keeps adding systems/quirks for you to play around with.

I don't usually like tactics style games, but Rabbids was a lot of fun.  Zelda is very good, as is Odyssey.  I'm waiting for metroid......I hope it's amazing.

Good to know; picked it up earlier today. I dislike the voice acting and feel there are a lot of cutscenes that should be "Press A to advance dialog" bits; otherwise I'm enjoying it.

There's a Japanese language track available for download.

That'll help, thanks. Still annoyed at the numerous cutscenes that should be VN-style dialog screens instead. This might be on me, since I'm playing exclusively in handheld mode, often muted with a TV show of my wife's choosing on in the background. Color coated subs or something would go a long way to helping me keep things straight.

Octopath art style is great, IMO.

I really want to like XC2 but it isn't easy. The frequent one-shot-wipes from the roaming level 80s are getting really old, and the sidequests feel like old school MMO bullshit. "Find my son" Ok, found him. "Before I go back to dad, find me 7 stupid weeds" Quick travel, harvesr, repeat literally 40 times. "Oh you found my son and his weeds? Go buy me acorns that cost 30k gold and I'll give you 500 gold. Or go farm trash to trade for them, I guess." :uhrr: :angryfist: :mob:

The combat is also super terrible solo, since your first Blade is a rogue so none of your positional stuff works. Once I got a tank it got much better. I'm really hoping to have a full party soon so I stop dying to dumb nonsense.

Don't do side quests when not full party.  Just barrel through the story at that point. Salvage for cash. Don't sweat positional nonsense, just make sure you're timing your strikes right and taking advantages of combos and party meter.

The game really requires an explorer's mindset - things are not a direct line from quest to quest. My primary gripe is the length of the battles in chapter 3-5 (I'm at chapter 5 now) and sometimes a battle with 4-5 mobs can last many minutes.

In other Switch news, I have Octopath which has not caught me yet. I also have Dead Cells which is flipping amazing. Legitimately hard to put down. I also bought Okami which hasn't aged well from the gameplay, but it looks so damn pretty on the small Switch screen.

I honestly feel the battles are too fast right now, and whenever I'm having a long epic battle there's a 50% chance I get one shotted by some roaming level 80+ dickhead just as we're nearing the end.

We really need a new side scrolling platformer for this.  Donkey Kong country was great, but I'd love a new Mario side scroller.  Hopefully the Yoshi game will be decent.