NXpress Nintendo Podcast 83: The Nintendo Switch Review

14 Comments

1. 

   ex fact0r

   January 15, 2017 at 4:57 am

   Kinda cringy listening to this…

   Tim, the “boring” Sony conference you were referring to was 2016’s “Sony Playstation Meeting”, which was advertised as an investor-centric event. The point of the event was boring spreadsheets, specs, and statistics, and anyone who was paying attention knew that was the kind of event it was going to be. It was men in suits playing powerpoint presentations. Nintendo’s Switch reveal was NOT an investor meeting… the stage and presentation style alone prove that. Nintendo was trying to appeal to fans, and they fell flat on their face.The conferences Rick was comparing the Switch event to are Sony’s recent E3 and PSX events, and anyone with half a brain cell can point out that Sony’s effort puts them in an entirely different league than Nintendo. If you want to know how to win both investors and fans, look at the PS4 reveal/announcement from E3 2013. Sorry, but anyone who is willing to say the Switch event is better, or even on par with Sony’s recent E3/PSX events is simply a Nintendo apologist in denial.

   Rick makes a very valid point in saying that 3rd party developers seem
   hesitant to dive in. Do you know why the Switch version of Skyrim isn’t a
   launch title? Because its not a direct port, because the Switch can’t
   run a direct port. That’s proven by how bad the game looked when shown
   during the event. Bethesda needs time to customize the game around the
   system’s specs, and most 3rd parties don’t wanna waste resources doing
   that, which was proven by the N64/Cube/Wii/WiiU lack of support. The
   Switch’s 3rd party line up looks bleak as Hell.

   Tim, your friend asks a very valid question: What if you don’t like Zelda? I understand that you like Zelda, and that’s enough for you, but if you’re going to analyze Nintendo’s strategy and the console’s worth, then you need to acknowledge that there is a direct correlation between a console’s success and the size of its library. N64 Vs. PS1, GameCube Vs. Xbox/PS2, Wii Vs. 360/PS3… Nintendo’s library of games paled in comparison in each of those match ups, and to no surprise, Nintendo was destroyed in terms of software sales in all those generations. It doesn’t matter if you guys personally don’t want/need 3rd party games on the Switch, because the general gaming audience wants to buy consoles with large libraries… so why buy the Switch on launch if you don’t care about Zelda? Hell, why buy the Switch on launch if you’re a Nintendo fan who owns a Wii U? You can play Zelda on the Wii U, and reliable sources like Digital Foundry have proven that the Switch version of BoTW runs poorly (and lets face it, the game is coming out in a few weeks, so the existing version isn’t going to get much more optimization). It’s fine that you guys, the diehard Nintendo fans, are happy, but Nintendo needs to appeal to a broader audience to avoid having another Wii U situation, and they failed to do that with this event. After a console reveal there’s no worse sign than a bunch of people asking “Why should I care about this machine?”, and that’s exactly what people are wondering.

   It’s really rare that I find myself siding with Rick in a debate, but I’m firmly with him here, as he seems to be the only one looking at this event from a somewhat realistic / objective viewpoint.

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   • 

     Ricky D

     January 15, 2017 at 5:25 am

     That is the point I was trying to make and there was far more that was edited out since the show ran over two hours. For example, when I say 1-2-Switch is the worst idea Nintendo has had, I’m not referring to the final product. Maybe they made a good enough game that does its job but the idea behind it initially was to make a game that will sell a console. Make the next Wii Sports and this is evident considering they decided to open the event with footage of this game first and not say, Zelda or Mario or anything else for that matter. Virtual Boy may have been a poorly made piece of hardware but the idea to create a console that can play virtual reality was a great idea. There is a difference.

     And thanks for siding with me. My frustration is that I want Nintendo to succeed and as I mentioned in the podcast, the event was poorly organized. And I completely disagree with Patrick that this was an event for investors. If this was an event for investors, it wouldn’t be streamed on Twitch. They wouldn’t have Suda come out and talk about Travis Touchdown because chances are none of those suits know what that name means.

     I just had a one hour conversation with a tech specialist and after talking to him, I am more optimistic about the hardware itself. It all comes down to the Nvidea processor and how it will run. Cloud computing has revolutionized industries and it they use Cloud Computing, it won’t matter. The Switch will run just fine.

     As for Zelda … you must remember that the game was made for the Wii U not the Switch so obviously it isn’t going to look as good as future Nintendo games. There is still so many unanswered questions and so much we need to learn. I honestly think this is going to be huge. I was at EB Games today and there were lineups to buy this thing, and that is days after the initial reveal. There were parents there asking if this was the next Wii.

     More games will be announced throughout the year. I imagine the library will have about 150 games within the first year.

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   • 

     Patrick

     January 15, 2017 at 8:11 pm

     Matt, I had to laugh at almost all of this. Hilarious stuff. If you think most of those Sony conferences were any better than this, then it’s you who are the fanboy in denial. There’s no way Nintendo’s presentation was some sort of resounding entertainment success, but console presentations rarely are (to those who are truly “realistic/objective”). Hell, had Sony not been gifted a few huge Microsoft pr blunders, no one would remember the PS4 introduction. The Switch’s reveal was awkward as hell, like so many of these things. No worse than the norm. And yes, clearly the Japanese businessmen that made up the audience were there because the whole presentation was made to appeal to fans…

     Nintendo obviously tried to straddle two lines here. Whether they were successful from a fan’s point of view depends on how excited you are for the games shown. Whether trotting out Suda 51 (who yes, could have been there for investors’ sake as well), Sega man, and the EA guy was successful from a business standpoint is something I won’t know because I’m not a Japanese shareholder. And neither are you. That was my point from the podcast. It’s so incredibly obvious that this wasn’t just for fans (as “anyone with half a brain cell” could point out), and maybe that was a mistake – not splitting it into two presentations – but if you want to continue looking at it with blinders on go ahead I guess.

     By the way, it’s hard to take any of your “facts” seriously when you make up so many. Wii had a smaller library than 360/PS3? Check that again. Sure, the Gamecube was “destroyed” by the PS2, but the Xbox? Better check that again as well.

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     • 

       ex fact0r

       January 15, 2017 at 8:51 pm

       LOL. You’re the type of person who googles “all Wii games” and then counts the literal hundreds of shovelware apps found on the Wii shop as actual games. And yes, the original Xbox’s library has will over 1000 games… hundreds more than the Gamecube’s. So yes, hard numbers (aka facts) prove I’m 100% correct, again.

       I also said they got destroyed in software sales because, ya know, they did. Go to vgchartz, look at the top 200 selling games for the Wii Vs. The 360 (or PS3), take out bundled in games like Kinect Adventures and Wii sports, and then do the math… see that Nintendo lost by hundreds of millions of dollars… then realize that bigger you make the list of games the worse it gets for Nintendo… then realize that vgchartz doesn’t account for digital sales which doesn’t hurt Nintendo’s numbers very much but hurts M$’s and Sony’s significantly, which means Nintendo lost even harder than the numbers on that site indicate. Wow, I’m 100% correct again.

       “If you think most of those Sony conferences were any better than this, then it’s you who are the fanboy in denial.”

       ^That sentence right there proves, unequivocally, that you have not the slightest clue what you’re talking about, and much like Nintendo’s executives, you live in your own bubble, completely disconnected from reality.

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       • 

         ex fact0r

         January 15, 2017 at 8:54 pm

         Oh, and one more thing: It’s so funny that you think this event wasn’t directed at fans. You have no idea what an investor meeting actually looks like, lol.

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       • 

         Patrick

         January 15, 2017 at 9:07 pm

         LOL. You’re the type of person who doesn’t look anything up until his errors are challenged, doesn’t read counter arguments carefully, and even then still touts unsubstantiated claims as fact. Shovelware doesn’t count as part of the library? You’re cracking me up. So did the Xbox “destroy” the Gamecube? I never questioned the library on that one, but console sales and attach rate aren’t far off there. But I guess it’s you who determines what is worthy or not, oh wise and knowing one.

         “That sentence right there proves, unequivocally, that you have not the slightest clue what you’re talking about, and much like Nintendo’s executives, you live in your own bubble, completely disconnected from reality”

         ^That sentence right there proves, unequivocally, that you are someone to never be taken seriously in any debate.

         Good to tangle, as always, but I can only spend so much time in the asylum before I risk going crazy myself.

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         • 

           Oliver Rebbeck

           January 16, 2017 at 12:46 pm

           Come on guys, play nice. Discussions don’t need to be filled with condescending remarks. I have to say though the actual presentation of the conference was just plain badly executed, as great as the games and console might be that conference was awful, there’s no real defence for it, Nintendo fans or otherwise. Sony conferences have been quite horrendous in the past too, but in recent years they’ve made possible the smartest decision to make them all about the games, about showing something for the fans. They understand that where Nintendo – by way of this conference – clearly do not.
     • 

       John Cal McCormick

       January 15, 2017 at 9:59 pm

       The PS4 reveal was good, that’s why its remembered as such. It showed numerous first party AAA games, indie games, third party games, and highlighted all the ways that Sony had learned from the disastrous PS3 launch.Xbox One hadn’t even been announced when the PS4 reveal happened so that point doesn’t even make sense. And since then their conferences have largely been home runs (as have Microsoft’s, post-E3 2013).

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   • 

     Oliver Rebbeck

     January 16, 2017 at 12:37 pm

     The conference was a categorical failure, I spent a lot of it laughing at how bad the actual level of presentation was. The lighting was horrendous, the translator was abysmal. These are not the signs of a professional and expensive company, it felt cheap, shoddy and not well thought out. If they expect people to ‘buy’ into this console they have to really sell it. They did nothing of the sort, and listening to the apparent prices of everything over here in the UK it sounds like another Wii U, aka a failure.

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2. 

   John Cal McCormick

   January 15, 2017 at 6:29 pm

   I just listened to this and I’m totally on board with a lot of the issues that Ricky has because they’re a lot of the issues I have with the presentation too. We just talked about the Switch presentation when we recorded Random Encounters just now, and we were largely of the same opinion.

   This presentation was shambolic. Not going to rail on it too much because I just spent over an hour doing that when we were recording, but everything about it – pacing, tone, the decision to put it in front of an audience and not have any audible reaction from them, the translator, the order of what was shown – everything was detrimental to the Switch. I guarantee there are people that were excited for Switch that watched this presentation and decided not to pre-order based on it.

   So weird considering how well put together the reveal trailer was. Watching this show was like going back in time to the really awkward days of E3. It started well enough but once 1, 2 Switch arrived it was like, oh no, oh no, we didn’t ask for this, Nintendo. What are you doing? That, the lack of enthusiasm or excitement, and them basically admitting there’s no third party support were huge problems.

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   • 

     Ricky D

     January 15, 2017 at 8:15 pm

     I love how Sega showed up to just show off a logo. I mean, of all the presenters on stage, the Yakuza looking dude was the most reluctant. It was embarrassing to see Nintendo so desperate that they felt they even needed Sega present to try and sell a console when all Sega has is Sonic, and who the hell cares about Sonic. Seriously. Lots of pretty logos though.

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     • 

       John Cal McCormick

       January 15, 2017 at 8:50 pm

       It would have been better if they hadn’t done the third party stuff at all. SEGA arrived apparently to let us know that they’d heard of the Switch and little else. It was weird, and kinda desperate.

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       • 

         Ricky D

         January 15, 2017 at 9:15 pm

         We are finally on the same page. Imagine if the presentation showed more of the Square Enix games or the Ubisoft games. At least those companies have fully confirmed they are on board. I wanted to see more of that odd looking Square Enix game or Bomberman for example.

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           John Cal McCormick

           January 15, 2017 at 9:22 pm

           I’m guessing they would have if they’d have had more to show. Surely they didn’t send SEGA and Suda 51 out there with little more than a brief mention of Travis Touchdown between them if they had other options. But there were a lot of things about this presentation that seem to indicate that the Switch isn’t ready and it’s being rushed out. Honestly, given the crummy launch line up and the lack of a finalised online system, I’m amazed they didn’t wait and launch this console closer to Mario.