The Nintendo Switch

Will be revealed at 7am PT/10am ET through Nintendo's official channels.

It's only a preview trailer. Substanstive reveal expected next week.

Remind me what this thing is again?

Nobody knows yet.

Hybdrid console/handheld. Good news is you don't have to choose between what Ninty platform you get, all games come to one place.

Bad news.. well, maybe it looks like a a Frankenstein monster. Expect to see the concept today and software lineup next week.

Gettin' ready for thread title change!

Seriously though the one positive thing (maybe) coming out from this is that it seems like it's been known about, in development for long enough where we might actually get to see something substantial in terms of info and real games tomorrow. The rumors have been for a March 2017 release date for ages.

The March 2017 date is official, from Nintendo.

I don't think we'll see much of games tomorrow since this is labelled as a 3 minute preview. The solid word on the street is a bigger thing next week.

But yeah, the March date was, in the words of Nintendo execs, partially to ensure a strong (1st party) lineup for the first year of this thing. Unlike the Wii U which relied on 3rd party ports.

Yeah that's a good thing unless it means "we're not expecting any 3rd party support at all this time around", which is probably does.

feel like at this point if you're still a Nintendo fan you just accept it :(
that said I skipped both Wiis so I might jump back in with this system

I don't really care about western 3rd party support on a nintendo console. And I don't think Nintendo's got much riding on it either. It's irrelevant. The DS and 3DS thrived without it. Nintendo needs to offer an alternative.

My PC already makes whatever MS / Sony console I reluctantly end up buying redundant in terms of your Call of Dutys and sports games.

Well actually sports games is the one genre still better on PSXbox than PC.

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

lol Nintendo Switch is a terrible name
Looks kinda dope tho

Name isn't so bad. Does look cool. But maybe that's just Zelda.

I'm totally on board, despite the pretty terrible name

trailer is v weird, thing itself looks p cool

Switch is a little dumb but leagues better than Wii or WiiU or GameCube

Terrible trailer o_O

Like the thing tho.

the first time the dude walked over and put the little controllers on and picked it up I whispered "what is this devilry?!?"

haha

i am into this!

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-switch/

so, hardware-wise it's a really neat nvidia shield?

what does the core system come with tho? How much extra shit are they requiring me to buy?

agreed on dumb name, cool looking device. not sure about the detachable controller nubs but i like the rest

also why make a trailer where people are doing more fun things they would probably rather be doing than playing video games

also the DS had awesome 3rd party support, what you smoking. Even the 3DS's third-party support is way better than their consoles

I would guess it comes with the display/dock/controller wings and the standalone controller is extra?

DS and 3DS have great Japanese 3rd party support yes, not western. Because this is also a portable I believe they'll be able to retain Japanese 3rd party support, further differentiating their lineup from the competition.

Vanagon cameo

xp yeah I think the standalone controller is basically the Pro controller like on the Wii/U

Just consolidating 1st party output to one device is pretty huge, hopefully this means more variety as they don't need to work on 2 Mario Kart games at once for example

pending further information, i am into this. third party support is good from an adoption/longevity pov, Nintendo standards on a powerful handheld is cool (especially if it's more comfortably designed than the wii u tablet)

Cautious optimism

Has it been confirmed that there's no touch? People are surprised there's no use of that in the trailer...

is this likely to be region locked?

i skipped both wiis but i think it may be time to get back into this crap

xp

@ArcadeGirl64 53s53 seconds ago
As I previously reported in my September 2nd post, Nintendo Switch is 100% region free.

The people whose leaks have been most accurate e.g. Emily Rogers have been saying that it will be region free, and Iwata said on a few occasions that they were thinking about it. This console has got to have some big dumb thing wrong with it tho so it could be that :/

holding out for the big mario party announcement

I'm going to end up having to buy two of these.

i was also surprised that apparently there's no touch-capability.

i haven't had a nintendo console since the wii (which i attempted to mod and ended up bricking within 2 years), but i'm not sure this is going to be the one.

the whole gimmick where you can transform it into a handheld and go off to the williamsburg party and play videogames on the rooftop at the bbq - that's kinda cool in theory but i know i would never do something like that. when i walk my dog in the early morning, i like to just sit on the bench and pay attention to her, i don't want to resume my dragon quest at that moment. and after getting beaten down IRL 2v2 basketball underneath a bustling highway, i know my bros aren't going to want to play nba 2k18 with me. they'll probably be mad at me for being bad at basketball irl, 15 minutes earlier. i don't play games on public transport either. i'm just not a handheld person, so i feel like the main purpose of the system design isn't aimed toward me.

kind of raisin' an eyebrow at the cartridge thing, although maybe these days cartridges can handle resource-intensive games? either way, i guess it has to be a cartridge so that you can Switch(tm) your game into mobile mode so you can level up while you're eating brunch and windsurfing in the afternoon.

whoooa, that came out way more negative than i meant it to be, sorry. i'm sure this will be a cool system and i will be jealous of all people getting to play the nintendo 1st party franchise sequels, for real.

solid state storage is fast in a way optical media will never be, and I get the impression that the Japanese market wouldn't be about a download-only platform. Also yeah carrying around an optical drive would work about as well as a discman.

(a discman that needed to stream textures to the GPU without skipping.)

idk i think the portability is actually pretty interesting/compelling. the best thing about the Xbox one right now is how it integrates into the windows 10 ecosystem. i can play it on my pc in my office, on my laptop in bed, or on the TV directly from the Xbox in the usual way. this limited portability is pretty awesome, and extending the possibility to take the game with you anywhere is a logical extension and seems pretty cool. Xps

yeh I play handhelds mostly at home, in bed etc. playing an Atlus game while cycling is on TV is my jam!

Kind of funny that there were no kids in that video, unless I missed something.

I think the average age of someone playing video games is now around 30

goin' for chill hipster demo?

going for that disposable income demo for sure

I would like to see all the cables involved for connectivity ie power/recharging etc

The WiiU is a monster for too many cables, I don't want to go through that again.

i can play it on my pc in my office,

oh is that a thing? like, via remote desktop or something? this makes me pretty glad i don't have an xbox.

You win, getting Celeste ty

celeste is fantastic. ILG game of the year iirc.

celeste is indeed excellent but it's more of a SMB (super meat boy) spiritual sequel than SMB (super mario bros)

SMB can be played by your mother who doesn't know that you can hold Y to run and only uses the spin jump button--SMB cannot

oh i thought it was a real question and not a rhetorical one

Oh, yeah. I thought you were originally complaining that it was dumb the switch wouldn't automatically dump the save files when you uninstall the corresponding game.

And looking back that is where I misread the conversation.

lukas if you want great platformers you should play VVVVVV and super meat boy too. donkey kong tropical freeze too.

no, the way they handle it is good. the only bad gotcha with save data is you can't back it up to a sd card but i guess they're paranoid about people using that as a hacking entry point

Celeste is like Super Meat Boy but it's *also* like Super Mario Bros 3! And it's even a little bit like Undertale maybe? There's a lot there.

Very minor point, but I love the menus. They have the polish of like Gran Turismo or something.

holiday eshop sale is up i think

gonna take a flyer on saga scarlet grace

nothing in the sale I really want, spent too much during the BF one so kinda relieved ha

Anyone play Heave Ho?

may pick up river city girls and hyper light drifter in the sale

worth the cop ?

so river city girls is good?

i haven't played it yet despite buying it at release. i think the consensus was that it's fine?

ciderpress-certified indie treasure Yoku's Island Express is on deep sale

did anyone here ever play "the friends of ringo ishikawa"? i remember it got a mention or two when it came out

Celeste is dumb. Hyper light drifter is dumb.

I think my next game is going to be FF-IX pc version with the Moguri Texture Mod & Polygon Upscaling (image comparison)

Games now on sale that I will recommend:

Transistor - I picked this up last time it went on sale, very pretty/stylish ARPG from the same folks as Bastion. Neat combat & upgrade system. Good oblique storytelling.

Death Road to Canada - Kind of a slight game, but it's a v. funny survival roguelike with Oregon Trail elements.

The Count Lucanor - Folkloric horror Zeldalike with no combat; cute art style belies that this game goes to some genuinely unsettling places. The gameplay isn't deep, but it's a very well-written and well-paced adventure.

anyone play the touryst

unless there's some twist i didn't get to in the first hour, there's just not much interest to it gameplay-wise. feels very tech demo-y, the visual style is slick for switch but that's it

There was a Digital Foundry review of the game that basically called it a masterpiece, and in true nerd fashion based that assessment entirely on how it was designed and how it plays (stable frame rate, etc.). But not once did the review say anything about whether or not it was actually a good game.

here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT39Ji_J_RE

that's digital foundry's thing, graphics tech focused reviews

Oh, I understand, but it still seems strange to call anything "game of the year" based exclusively on how it runs.

they probably liked the game! i didn't but i'm one person

Yeah, but in that entire nearly 20 minute review, it's *exclusively* about performance. If I had heard even one good thing in the review about the game itself, even in passing, I might have actually bought it. But there's only so much praise for the frame rate of impeccable pixel rain can do to get me to pay.

that's digital foundry's thing, graphics tech focused reviews

I dunno, I'd think the game of the year or whatever would be the game that rocks all specs *and* is a good game. Otherwise they might as well review screen savers.

I mean, there’s a reason that hardly anyone reads Windshields Monthly.

That's a sweeping generalization.

lol

*groan*

"fine wiper speed control does nothing. we put it in there to fuck with people."

- Windshields Monthly

i'm holding off for HD windshields

The wipers we tested clocked in at a locked 30 fps, which is remarkable, given all they are tasked with doing. Factor in the clarity of the subsequent view through the windshield and such features as fluid propulsion, frequency adjustment and removable blades, and calling the Subaru Outback the Car of the Year is a no-brainer.

this is gonna go on for another ten posts isn't it
*hits defroster, looks balefully out the rear window*

Started playing Breath of the Wild over the festive period. Have unlocked large amounts of the map and around 20 or 30 shrines.

Is it ok to search out one of the Divine Beasts yet or am I best just grinding for a while, upgrading armour and making elixirs? Whenever I head further afield from the initial areas I tend to get killed fairly quickly by some of the monsters I come up against, like those flying wizardry twats.

Also wondering where I can get ancient cores or shafts as only seem to find screws and gears, even from the couple of Guardians I've taken out with the shield parry?

there's chests in shrines that have them i think? they probably drop from some type of guardian too just at a rarer rate

you can do the divine beasts whenever you want, they're not a challenge combat wise except maybe the desert one

recall them dropping from the 'test of strength' or whatever shrine guardians or yeah in chests

I'd go after a divine beast now because the skills you win can be extremely useful for exploring.

Cheers both. Had assumed the Divine Beats quests would involve too powerful bad guys.

Checked my inventory earlier and noticed I already had two shafts so just need one more for the next Slate upgrade.

Fucking amazing game tho and my 9 year old is absolutely loving it too. It's the first adventure/RPG game he's ever got into as it's usually just Roblox or Rocket League/Mario Kart type games for him. It's quite a buzz to come down in the morning and instead of finding him on his tablet, he's on the Switch and can't wait to tell me he's completed another three shrines and tamed an awesome horse.

Is it important to be good at fighting in BoW? because I'm awful at it. e.g. every time I try to backflip I just end up crouching.

not really? you will have to fight a few bosses at some point but they're not that hard and pretty much all overworld encounters can be bypassed via stealth or various cheese strats

cheese is good. thanks.

using the magnetism ability to wave a chunk of metal around and whack enemies does a fair amount of damage is all i'm saying

For music theory nerds. Last half of the video goes into the creator having fun making his own arrangement, but the first half is solid content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owkk5s4w1eQ

three houses - only just started but digging it so far. do we have a thread for it?

FIRE EMBLEM