Nintendo Unveils 'Switch', Its New Gaming Console and Tablet Hybrid (engadget.com) 269
And finally, we know what's Nintendo's next gaming console will look like. The company today released a "preview trailer" of the Nintendo Switch, or "Project NX" as we liked to call it before today. Engadget adds: Like the countless rumors previously asserted, it's indeed a hybrid mobile and home console with a tablet element and detachable controllers. The tablet itself (which Nintendo calls "the Switch Console" is thin and pretty attractive. It looks to have a screen measuring around 7 inches, of unspecified resolution. At home, it'll plug into the "Switch Dock," which in turn plugs into your TV. In the trailer, a gamer plugs in what looks to be an SD Card-style cartridge, meaning games are likely to be distributed both digitally and physically. It's powered by an unspecified custom Nvidia Tegra processor.Nintendo said it intends to launch the Switch in March of 2017.
Clever design (Score:5, Insightful)
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I disagree. Parents will hate it because kids will keep losing those damn controllers. Meanwhile gaming adults will hate the controllers because they have sharp edges that dig into their hands. And it there are any metal contacts (in the docking station, between controllers and pad, etc.) then everyone will hate it because they'll do nothing but wear out and get gummed up. (Remember the original consoles and blowing on the cartridges? Now add Cheetos-stained fingers if the
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We haven't seen the actual connectors in detail yet, knowing Nintendo it's probably going to be quite sturdy.
Or they may be using a wireless setup, even with the controller bits attached. Otherwise the controller sharing shown for Mario Kart and that NBA game won't work.
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> Parents will hate it because kids will keep losing
The gameboy cartridges? The N64 memory packs? The PS2 memory cards? The Wii controller? The Wii nunchuk? Their expensive Charizard card? Their fucking iPhones that kids have now?
Please. Kids aren't going to lose their expensive gaming tools any more now than before.
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The Microsoft Surface Pro tablet is a mobile device with a detachable keyboard controller. So is a smartphone or tablet with a clip-on MOGA controller.
Sometimes the NES freezes despite no blinking (Score:2)
The NES Game Pak edge connector [nesdev.com] has three parts: the CPU part, the PPU (Picture Processing Unit) part, and the CIC (Checking Integrated Circuit) part. Bad CIC connection (pins 34, 35, 70, and 71) causes blinking, as you mentioned. But bad CPU connection (pins 2-15 and 38-50) freezes the Control Deck on a blank screen, and bad PPU connection (pins 21-33 and 56-69) causes scrambled tiles, vertical lines, and even freezes in some games.
The PPU failure mode doesn't happen on later Nintendo systems, which have n
Re:Clever design (Score:5, Interesting)
Really digging the design for it, based on what the trailer shows. What's interesting, however, seems to be the fact that all of the computing is done in the tablet portion, which is itself relatively small, even by tablet standards, suggesting that it'll have some serious constraints in terms of the horsepower they can cram in there. That's par for the course with the last few generations of Nintendo consoles, of course, but it may also be an indication that they're continuing to target the casual crowd that they've been losing to general purpose mobile devices for nearly 10 years now.
I really hope Nintendo knocks it out of the park, but I have to admit that I'm slightly pessimistic about their prospects. Had they launched this console back in 2012 instead of the Wii U, they'd be in much better position today. The Wii sold a lot of people on having a console in their home and a 2012 Switch launch would have allowed them to take that experience to more places. But today? Their Wii customers went to Android and iOS instead of the Wii U. People were willing to give up the TV to get more mobility and they've grown to love those smartphones and tablets, so Nintendo is going to have an uphill battle to win people back. They'll really need to sell the "it can do both mobile and TV" angle, but even that path may be risky, since Apple or Google could very easily get into that space with an updated Apple TV or Chromecast that can do far more.
And while I know there are concerns about the horsepower, if I'm being honest, even the Wii U was already past the point of being "good enough" for the vast majority of their customers, hardcore gamers notwithstanding (but then again, those gamers will only be satisfied with a custom PC, since even the PS4 Pro and Scorpio next year won't be capable of running at or above 120Hz or doing above 4K, both of which are things hardcore folks are already asking for). What'll be more interesting is whether or not it has enough horsepower to fill open world games with NPCs that are each driven by their own AI routine, for instance. I recall Ubisoft showing the difference between consoles for one of their Assassin's Creed games a few years back and it was startling how much of an effect it had on the look and feel of the game to have the number of independently thinking NPCs doubled or tripled, thanks to the additional horsepower.
All of which is to say, I may pick one up eventually (depending on the price, games, etc.), but the Wii U is already one of the lesser-used consoles in our house (it's basically just there to play first party Nintendo games), so I'm not holding out much hope that the Switch will succeed in a market that has moved on.
Re:Clever design (Score:5, Interesting)
I am actually less concerned about horsepower than I am with ownership. To me, current generation graphics are good enough. Would Mario be any more fun if you can see each and every pore and pimple on his face?
My last Nintendo console was a Wii, which suffered a mishap. I lost all of my purchased games because Nintendo tied downloadables to the console instead of the account. I honestly gave the Wii U a pass just because of this.
If I buy a Switch and some downloadable games for it, and it is destroyed, will I have to re-purchase all of those games, or can they be transferred to a new console easily? I really want the sane standards set by Steam. I am not a favor of DRM, but since some publishers insist on it, at least Steam does it in a manner that is least obtrusive.
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To me, current generation graphics are good enough. Would Mario be any more fun if you can see each and every pore and pimple on his face?
Quite right. That's why I made a point of calling out concerns other than graphics regarding horsepower, since I agree that graphics are already good enough for most people.
To your other points, I definitely agree. Nintendo has a lot of work to do to catch up on that particular front.
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If I buy a Switch and some downloadable games for it, and it is destroyed, will I have to re-purchase all of those games,
LOL, this is Nintendo. Do you even need to ask?
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Really digging the design for it, based on what the trailer shows. What's interesting, however, seems to be the fact that all of the computing is done in the tablet portion, which is itself relatively small, even by tablet standards, suggesting that it'll have some serious constraints in terms of the horsepower they can cram in there.
To me, this looks like Nindendo's backdoor way of getting out of the home console business altogether. This is basically a handheld that you can also attach to your TV. It looks more like a rival to the PS Vita than the PS4.
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Damn, I actually called this one right. I was hoping I was wrong, but it is essentially a new DS with the ability to connect to a TV....
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Still, it could work out for them. Their handhelds have been their bread-and-butter for some time now. Why bother competing in the much more competitive home console market when you can dominate in the handheld market?
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You are probably thinking in terms of graphics but don't forget that more powerful consoles provide "horsepower" that can be used for any number of things like better AI [...]
Which I explicitly addressed in the very next sentence after the one you quoted, when I said:
What'll be more interesting is whether or not it has enough horsepower to fill open world games with NPCs that are each driven by their own AI routine, for instance.
And so on from there...
Re:Clever design (Score:4, Insightful)
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Modular design=easier to replace said broken things
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Easy is also usually the oppostie of CHEAP or even REASONABLE
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The original Gameboy had:
A battery cover. Batteries. Headphones. Small carts. An AC cable with AC/DC converter.
It's reasonable to expect that the kids who will get toys will not break them at some new and amusing rate. Nothing has changed. Ever.
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curious how it will work in reality.
My guess would be it will basically function as a PS Vita that also plugs into your TV--only with much shittier online capabilities and much less 3rd party games. The detachable controllers just look like a gimmick to me.
Of course, this is Nintendo, so they will sell like crazy at first. Then a year or two later, they'll all be gathering dust in closets as people realize that the games suck, online play sucks, Xbox and PS are still way more powerful, and the novelty has worn off. A new Mario game can only c
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Actually, online play is a meaningless feature for me in a console.
If I want to play with others, I'll stick with local or use a computer....
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If I want to play with others, I'll stick with local
I'm curious as to how single adults find partners for local multiplayer after leaving school. Other gamers on Slashdot keep telling me local is for kids' after-school play dates and online in pickup groups of strangers is for adults.
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You don't have friends already? Or you mean you like to play with total strangers?
Did everyone you went to school with die after you left school?
I mean local as in "C'mon over over man, we'll have some [insert drink of choice here] and play a few rounds of [game you all enjoy]!"
I'm sure it'll be a fine product (Score:3)
I think it'll depend on the price (Score:3, Interesting)
More than your average 7" tablet? It'll be a tougher sell for me.
The brand just doesn't inspire the idea of good times with games anymore. Just more tired and uninspiring retreads of their old properties. Not to mention the constant problems they've had with third parties. The Wii was drowning in shovelware. The WiiU was too underpowered for anyone to care about it.
This thing is supposed to be powered by a custom NVidia chip. So I don't know. Is it enough to attract good devs? Who can say at this point?
Media (Score:2)
Headline: TABLET SALES PLUMMET!!!
Reality: 180 MILLION tablets are going to be sold this year.
Maybe there are fewer tablets being sold, but that's a lot of tablets. If Nintendo can grab a few percent of that, it ain't bad.
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They're not competing with the iPad. They're competing with Sony PS and Xbox (sort of), except they're targeting a slightly different demo of the gamer market, and throwing in "hey it's a tablet too!"
Hard to stand out? I'd say this design stands out, as there's really nothing else quite like it. As to whether it will be successful, depends on the execution. All the old farts were poo-poohing the Wii before it came out too. That did okay.
What OS does it use? (Score:2)
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If they could run Android apps (even in some kind of speedy emulation), that would be a huge selling point. On launch, the tablet would have a vast library of games to choose from.
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Nintendo is the king of the walled garden (even compared to Apple). There will be a snowstorm in hell before they'll let you run just any old Android apps and games on one of their devices.
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Probably something ARM-based, and since it's Nvidia-powered, probably the latest iteration of the Tegra SoC.
Hoping (Score:4, Interesting)
So i'm pretty glad that motion controls don't seem to be a big feature of the Switch. However i am worried about the graphical quality. If their "unspecified custom Nvidia Tegra processor" can't easily handle ports from the PS4 and XBone (for the base models at the very least) Nintendo may end up in a tough spot.
They're trying to go for a "best of both worlds" approach, but with phone and tablet games eating into their market at one end and the PS4 and XBone capping it on the other end i'm not sure if we still live in an era where Nintendo can continue to survive on console exclusives alone.
But it _does_ look like a more interesting concept to me than the Wii and Wii U, so i'll try to keep my hopes up.
Re:Hoping (Score:5, Insightful)
> Nintendo can continue to survive
Nintendo will have no problem "surviving". Their profits are always high. Worldwide, Nintendo has like five thousand employees. It's difficult to compare that to the video game divisions of other corporations, but Nintendo runs pretty damned lean. Nintendo historically makes money when you buy their console, whereas everyone else loses money when you buy their console, and only goes into profitability when you have purchased several of their games.
> can't easily handle ports from the PS4 and XBone
It looks to be about as powerful as a Wii-U, if not more. I could be wrong- their video makes no claims except showing Wii-U games ported to the Switch. The big problem is this: ports fucking suck for Nintendo. When Nintendo has offered superior graphics in some case, the port doesn't use them. When Nintendo has offered different inputs, the ports ignore them. When Nintendo has offered different outputs, the ports ignore them. This is a BIG deal for them, because it basically means that ports are garbage. A game built for the Xbone will come over to PC with no optimization, shitty framerate, and bad controls. That same game will go over to the PS4 pretty damned well- maybe even better. But the Wii-U version will lack online features in many cases (even though Nintendo offers those), not use the motion controls, not use the tablet addition on the Wii-U, and instead just sit there with worse framerate, details, or levels. Because the port is just like a goddamned recompile and ship, apparently. If you have an Xbone and a Wii-U, you aren't playing ANY of those games on the Wii-U. You play Nintendo games on the Nintendo console- mostly.
There's ultimately no way for a portable to match the full consoles in power, right? So this is pretty clearly a departure from the Xbone / PS4 market, which they were only arguably sorta in to begin with.
The Wii-U was their best model before IMO. With more inputs and outputs than anything else, and the ability to just put most games straight on the pad and play portably anywhere in TV range, the console offered family friendliness and general coolness. Meanwhile, it was backward compatible with all Wii games and controllers. This thing looks cool, but I doubt it will work with everything. One of the screens shows it apparently using a Wii-U controller, but I can't be sure.
Will it be huge? Maybe, probably not. But it doesn't need to be huge for Nintendo to be profitable. That's always been the case. Nintendo will be fine with any manner of success. They have plenty of cash reserves if they bomb, but I doubt they'll bomb.
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"Nintendo will have no problem "surviving". Their profits are always high."
Not anymore they aren't. They lost $548 million in 2012 and $232 million in 2014, and their profits in 2013 and 2015-2016 only totals to $604 million. (Source [amigobulls.com])
"They have plenty of cash reserves if they bomb, but I doubt they'll bomb."
The Wii was obviously a huge success, but i doubt they'll be able to capture that kind of lighting again. Meanwhile the Wii U has been a failure from a sales and marketing perspective and is probably the biggest contributor to the huge losses above. I believe the New 3DS is doing okay now, but it had a very rocky start. So i don't have unbounded con
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There's ultimately no way for a portable to match the full consoles in power, right? So this is pretty clearly a departure from the Xbone / PS4 market, which they were only arguably sorta in to begin with.
There has been speculation for some time that Nintendo would get out of the home console business. To me this looks like a backdoor way of doing that, while still saving face by including a home TV dock.
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Skyrim is a 2011 game though (Score:2)
I mean nothing wrong with having it on the platform, but it isn't exactly the pinnacle of modern tech. It was released in 2011, and the console versions were designed to target systems with 512MB of RAM (unified for the 360, 256/256 system/GPU for the PS3) at 1280x720@30fps. That was fairly low spec then, since the consoles were old (remember Oblivion released in 2006 as one of the first flight titles on the Xbox 360) and is really low spec now. It wouldn't at all surprise me if my Shield Tablet could handl
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Looking at the trash available on the 'bone and pisser, pretty happy for it to stay there.
Yeah, "trash" like pretty much every top selling game for the last ten years.
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as a dude who grew up with an NES, and having a 2.5 year old kid -- i know what console i'll be getting in a year or so.
(hint: it's the switch, or a used WII U)
Partly the nostalgia, but truthfully, i'm more interested in fun games I can play with the kiddo than ultra realistic graphics (that's what my PC is for.)
I suspect there's a metric ton of 30 something year olds in a similar boat, with similar histories. Nintendo will have that as a market for years to come.
Nintendo OFFICIALLY has left the "console" market. (Score:4, Insightful)
This device appears to be nothing but a 7" tablet with a little plastic charging/video-out docking port that can use external wireless controllers.
This might be the next thing in portable gaming systems, but there is no way this will be 'console' class. It is basically a PS-vita with a dock.
Personally if I was going to carry around a 7" tablet device, I would just carry a real tablet that can do so much more.
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Personally if I was going to carry around a 7" tablet device, I would just carry a real tablet that can do so much more.
PC users say the same about consoles. "I'd rather have a device that I can do more than just play games on rather than just a console".
And you (and they) have a point, although this, specwise and softwarewise should be more oriented towards games.
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Agreed. Nintendo left the "serious" console market years ago and hasn't looked back. They are simply looking to merge their console "lite" product with the mobile platform, which on paper would seem to make a lot of sense for a lot of different reasons. How it will work in reality remains to be seen. As I recall everyone made fun of the original Wii back in the day (for lack of power), and it easily outsold probably both PS3 and Xbox360 together by a fair margin as a light gaming device.
I also agree with th
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"or wireless controllers (tho that last one might argue you need the wires for the true retro experience)."
Tape a string to the controller and the other end to the console ? ;)
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> I would just carry a real tablet that can do so much more
Without knowing how much the Switch costs, let me assure you that it will be less than a "real" tablet. Also, the big game changer here is a useful way to actually have fucking CONTROLS instead of just touch touch touch touch. Controllers are huge, and control the types of games that can be made.
I don't see this as a tablet competitor just because it has the same form factor at a glance. Adding controllers effectively and usefully gives them a
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Without knowing how much the Switch costs, let me assure you that it will be less than a "real" tablet.
How can you do that when it will likely cost at least as much as a typical tablet, because it will have faster graphics hardware? But at the same time, it will be poorly supported, because Tegra.
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How can you do that when it will likely cost at least as much as a typical tablet, because it will have faster graphics hardware?
The Nexus 7 (2012) tablet by ASUS had a Tegra 3 chipset, the latest at the time, and launched at $220. Or is the latest Tegra expected to cost more in 2017 than the Tegra 3 cost in 2012?
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Or is the latest Tegra expected to cost more in 2017 than the Tegra 3 cost in 2012?
I expect they'll want to make money on it, as they have historically.
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This announcement means Nintendo has officially left the console market and is now competing with ipads. This device appears to be nothing but a 7" tablet with a little plastic charging/video-out docking port that can use external wireless controllers. This might be the next thing in portable gaming systems, but there is no way this will be 'console' class. It is basically a PS-vita with a dock. Personally if I was going to carry around a 7" tablet device, I would just carry a real tablet that can do so much more.
If they strike a deal with Amazon to allow the Kindle and Video apps, this thing would actually replace a lot of what I use my phone for. The use case for this that has me interested is more mobile at home gaming, letting me move from the bedroom to the couch to the kitchen and let me keep playing using a controller, or disconnecting the controller for more general tablet use. Of course, my interest does hinge on the usability of the tablet as an actual, separate tablet.
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Personally if I was going to carry around a 7" tablet device, I would just carry a real tablet that can do so much more.
*I would just carry a real tablet that can do differently stuff. /FTFY
Since when people use tablet to play AAA games? NVIDIA Shield's failure is a good example about how the AAA games are yet to enter the tablet market. This is a bold move from Nintendo to succeed where all other have failed. They look at the number of tablet on the marked and are thinking about how much money they'll make if this market were massively buying their 60$ AAA games.
In my mind, it's their last attend to lead that hardware marke
Advert aimed at wrong market? (Score:3)
Must say doesn't look massively desirable otherwise. It's pretty big. Can't see this challenging the primacy of phones for mobile gaming, and already we see that even with controllers available most mobile players don't go for them.
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> They're playing on the TV, then the rest of the family needs the TV so they move over and carry on playing
That's actually the secret appeal of the Wii-U right now. Game is starting, the child presses the button that makes the pad into the output AND the input. You just can't go super crazy far from the console. This makes it into an actual portable, I guess. More compact than a Wii-U pad I think, though?
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Looks to me, sorry to say, like a kid's console. They're playing on the TV, then the rest of the family needs the TV so they move over and carry on playing.
Really? That makes it sound to me more like a gamers-with-kids console.
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Nintendo has always been about kids first.
And this is not a bad thing at all for adults as long as there is enough adult-friendly content.
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If I was Nintendo.... (Score:3)
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Probably not a "X1", the press releases mentioned it is a 'customized' (translation very stripped down, low cost, low power version) of the Terga.
Nintendo has never been about raw power for their consoles. None of their consoles thus far has even tried to match the competition there. The Wii was underpowered compared to the PS3 an X360, but it didn't need the power. Twilight Princess was still a very pretty game and a hell of a lot of fun. The big N has always been about spinning Mario in a new direction, not showing how many bullets can be simulated in Call of Modern Wargame 2099.
Sony has been pushing the "play anywhere" thing with their playstat
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The Gamecube certainly wasn't underpowered, it was on par with the Xbox for on-screen performance and superior in power to the PS2 (which was also notoriously difficult to program for).
N64 was more powerful than PS1, SNES was more powerful than Genesis. NES vs Master System is debatable.
It wasn't until the Wii that Big N said "you know what, we're getting off this graphics race and doing something weird and inexpensive instead!"
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But that's the same thing as the Gamecube vs. Xbox. Slower processors on paper, less memory. And yet it did very well in graphics comparisons.
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Strictly speaking the Genesis was more powerful than the SNES, processor-wise.
In some ways, the Genesis's Motorola 68000 CPU was more efficient, particularly with 16-bit multiplication and division and 32-bit addition and subtraction. In other ways, it was tied with the Super NES's WDC 65816 despite the latter's 8-bit bus because the 68000 could access memory only every fourth cycle. Overall memory bandwidth was roughly the same in both systems, both for access by the CPU and for DMA to video memory.
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The Wii wasn't just underpowered, it was outdated before it came out.
Compared to the PS3 and X360, it was so weak (no HD...) that it significantly affected the game experience. Yeah, plenty of good games, but it doesn't excuse the blurry mess. You have to live with your times, Nintendo.
The other consoles are fine. The WiiU clearly isn't on the level of the PS4 and XBone but at least, it's HD so it doesn't look too jarring when coming from the competition. And it has the excuse of being the first to market.
S
Plastic vs metal on those controller rails? (Score:3, Interesting)
Fortunately, looks like the controllers will function disconnected - but I'm just wondering how durable those controller slide rails will be.
One of the problems with the NDS series has been that the screen hinge often gets stressed and broken through normal use.
Here, the 'hinge' will be the connection between the controllers and the device you're connecting them to. Just looking at the grip style, I'd thing it would be a constant thing for players to tighten/angle their grip during play. I'd be interested in seeing the hardware reviews before buying to see if stress on those rails might flex the entire shell of the device over time.
On a similar note, I'm wondering if those slide rails also function as a controller charging mechanism, and how that might play into durability.
Still, looking very much forward to playing the upcoming Zelda game someday, just have to decide if it'll be on this thing, or buying a cheap used WiiU eventually.
Ryan Fenton
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I thinking mostly about the battery life, and if you can eventually replace them when they die.
I can fire up an original NES and plug it into a modern TV, and it will play perfectly just like when it was new, with no diminished performance. Can't do that with Switch if the batteries are dead and non-replaceable. Everything these days has nonreplaceable batteries, I guess we're just meant to throw devices away when the batteries die.
Different Target Market (Score:5, Interesting)
I like how Nintendo isn't even attempting to compete with the other two still. Totally different demographics, different use case, different technology.
It is a little depressing to see Nintendo release a console on a different cadence than the other two, and even two years later their hardware is less powerful. I guarantee this thing won't be running any 4k resolutions or VR framerates.
But that's not their target. They have always emphasized simpler games with unique gameplay. I think the trade off will be a bit easier to swallow this time, with the mobile-tablet form factor.
I'm concerned about those tiny-ass half-controllers though. Not sure how that'll play out with adult sized hands.
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I'm concerned about those tiny-ass half-controllers though. Not sure how that'll play out with adult sized hands.
We survived the original NES controllers, we'll survive the NES Classic controllers, so I guess we'll survive these too.
Either way, I think it's a really neat idea to make it so you can share "one" controller as two smaller, simpler controllers for some games.
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It is a little depressing to see Nintendo release a console on a different cadence than the other two, and even two years later their hardware is less powerful.
If what you care about is power then why do you even care about PS4 or XBone at all?
Play on the PC if you want power.
Play on a console if you want convenience. This latest gadget from Nintendo seems to be quite convenient.
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It is a little depressing to see Nintendo release a console on a different cadence than the other two, and even two years later their hardware is less powerful. I guarantee this thing won't be running any 4k resolutions or VR framerates.
I'm struggling to see what benefit Mario's perfectly bald cartoonish head would get from 4K. People seem to be fetishising the hardware while ignoring the fact that a large portion of the Nintendo catalogue not only are incredibly fine on their own, but actually use the lower powered hardware to their advantage by focusing on gameplay rather graphical masturbation.
Honestly I've given up on most AAA titles.
Backwards compatibility (Score:3, Insightful)
This seems more "portable" than "console", and from the video it seems there's not much in the way of peripherals to deal with legacy games.
Buuuuut, that would be a *huge* seller for me. If they come up with something that could replace not only my 3DS but any previous consoles, that's gold (and certainly something the competition seems to fail on). I wonder if the dock is going to allow peripherals, say like an optical drive and/or adaptors for old-style controllers.
The commercial reads like a dystopia. (Score:5, Insightful)
Dog wants to go outside? No need to stop playing with your virtual animals! International travel? You can stay immersed in the same game world the whole time! Hip millennial friends invite you to come socialise? Don't forget to bring the screen!
But seriously, the ad is stunning for its honesty. Normally, video game ads go to pains to avoid reminding you of what it feels like to see another human staring blankly at a screen, but this ad was basically one example after another. Always the 3rd-person, with almost no focus on the 1st-person experience... amazing.
Re: The commercial reads like a dystopia. (Score:2)
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Re:The commercial reads like a dystopia. (Score:5, Interesting)
What is wrong with me? Why am I so bitter?
Dammit Nintendo (Score:2)
I've always been a Nintendo guy, but they just don't keep up anymore. For me to upgrade from or to any console, here's what it needs so that I don't have a stack of devices sitting under my TV.
Re:Dammit Nintendo (Score:4, Insightful)
No. Just, please, no.
There is one thing and one thing alone that this console needs: Good games (from both Nintendo and 3rd party devs)
I'd much rather play an amazing game in pixel art than a boring game in stunning 4k. Focus on games.
Half of the stuff you listed can be accomplished with a $50 Roku. Or for a few dollars more, get a blueray player with streaming functionality. Why add all that extra overhead to a gaming console? Focus on games.
DVR Functionality? Seriously? Anyone still on cable can get their DVR through the cable company. If you're streaming Netflix, HBOGo, etc. (per your own demands) it's already DVR'ed. Do we really need Nintendo to bend over backwards to save you $5 a month on your cable bill. Focus on games.
Any extra bells and whistles you add will take away from the core functionality: games (and the requisite cooperation with outside developers to make games)
Once you go HTPC (Score:2)
You and in10se should consider upgrading from a video game console to a home theater PC (HTPC) with a BD-ROM drive and HDCP-capable HDMI or DVI display. It offers full HD video output, DVD-Video playback, BD-Video playback, Netflix playback, HBO GO playback, streaming from other devices, and DVR.* It also offers a good game library through GOG and Steam, user programmability in user mode under Windows,** and user programmability in both user and kernel mode under GNU/Linux.
* Recording encrypted cable is no
Interesting controller layout choice (Score:3)
Interesting that they went with the controller layout used by the Xbox, rather than a Playstation or Steam controller layout.
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You mean asymmetrical sticks, the layout used by the GameCube?
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Neat concept, but competes with smartphones (Score:2)
We are living in the future! (Score:3)
This is what you get when kids raised on Transformers reach adulthood and become product managers.
Re: (Score:2)
Excellent! (Score:2)
Nintendo unveils "Switch" (Score:2)
Jimmy Smits!
Third Party Support (Score:2)
I contend that the success or failure of the Switch has already been decided, and it all comes down to 3rd party support.
Nintendo makes some amazing games that utilize the tech extremely well, or are just very good games (or both). Splatoon, ZombiU, Hyrule Warriors (esepcially the DS version), Bravely Default, Fire Emblem: Awakening, hell even the WiiU Tech Demo (Nintendoland) has some damn fine stuff in there. The games that leverage the WiiU's tablet to provide asymmetric multiplayer are brilliant. Luig
Re:The answer is obvious... (Score:5, Funny)
Given the choice between a Switch or my Wii, I know which one I want to play with.
Erm... so which is it?
Re:So many important unaswered questions (Score:5, Informative)
Nope. Watch the video and freeze the screen. The tablet is all you get, what you see in the tablet is everything.
The docking station is a small cheap plastic thing with not connectors or ports or anything much at all it is clearly just used for charging and video out.
This is not a 'console' its a portable, and it will probably not be anything like console gaming or anything that can compete with Xbox or Playstation. Nintendo is clearly trying to compete here with iPads, not consoles.
Re: (Score:2)
How can you be so sure there's not an additional GPU in the base station?
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The advertisement shows people playing the same game on the TV and the tablet, picking up where they left off. Therefore, the games are developed to run on the tablet.
It's possible that the base station has additional hardware to drive a higher resolution TV, but I doubt it.
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But isn't it feasible that the games drop down to lesser graphical settings when played in tablet mode, and go full-fat when on the TV?
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Let's say, it would be possible to allow the console to run at a higher temperature when it is docked. Or to clock it lower to save on battery. But I doubt they'd do, as it complicates things and doesn't help with the point they make.
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Even if there's not an additional GPU in the docking station (which does seem unlikely) I could see the device upclocking itself when docked.
On the go it runs in a slower, more power efficient mode; on the dock it runs at full blast. Performance probably suffers in portable mode as a result, but the smaller screen means they can compensate by cutting back on the detail without it being so noticeable.
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The promo videos are showing Wii-U ports running at full speed.
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I'd hope it could run Wii-U software at full speed. The Nvidia Shield console uses a Tegra X1 and it is faster than the 360 and PS3. Wii-U was stronger than a 360 in some areas, but weaker in others. So it isn't much of a benchmark to hit now days.
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The Wii-U is the same console generation as the Xbone and the PS4. It lags both of those on specs, but that's not important. What is important is, the portable tablet thing they just showed can at least run games ported straight from their own console.
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It will run its own OS rather than Android. So you get the privilege of paying $6 for another copy of Super Mario Bros from the NES, or $9.99 for a SNES game.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, with Nintendo quality and the Nintendo game library.
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They will lose to the mobile market when in portable mode
How so? Currently "the mobile market" is centered around touch screen gaming, which is far from ideal for game genres that aren't point-and-click or continuous runners. Even the widely panned Turbo Touch 360 would make a better game controller than the flat sheet of glass that is a typical smartphone or tablet. True, clip-on gamepads for iOS and Android are available from brands such as MOGA, but I haven't seen any manufacturer release sales figures. In fact, I'm surprised about the lack of figures on MOGA' [mogaanywhere.com]