Topic: Nintendo Switch coming in March 2017

[Protoman Blues]

So there's a huge drop of Nintendo news coming out of their financial briefing today. Here's some of the info

-Nintendo NX will launch globally in March 2017
-No NX at E3. E3 will instead focus on Wii U Legend of Zelda
-Legend of Zelda will be coming out for both Wii U & NX in March 2017
-New smartphone apps for Fire Emblem & Animal Crossing series in the fall supposedly (oh good lord, do you not care about my phone battery life, Nintendo)

I'm sure there's more to come, but yeah. Who knows what the Wii U will have for this year, if anything. Zelda is officially a release title for the NX, which makes perfect sense. More apps since Miitomo is pretty popular.

[Mirby]

Let's just stare at this awesome Zelda U/NX art for now.

[Protoman Blues]

I'm very curious about that book! That looks like the Eye of Truth on it!

[Mirby]

As am I.

Also I made the image transparent.

[Protoman Blues]

Oh and Pokemon Sun/Moon is coming this holiday season, which makes sense!

[Mirby]

Apparently Zelda will be the only playable game Nintendo provides at E3, and their presentation will be all about Zelda. Which makes sense, it is the 30th Anniversary after all.

[Protoman Blues]

Yeah, makes sense. They're pretty much getting further and further away from E3 as a whole. With the Nintendo Directs they put out whenever they damn well please, it makes sense. They might save the NX stuff for the Tokyo Game Show, or just put out info whenever they're ready too.

[Amatiramisu]

about time we get some news anyway

[Da Dood]

Dunno if I want to buy a new console anytime soon, so I'm glad at least they didn't push Zelda as an NX exclusive.

Finally some real news about this!

[Hypershell]

Yeah, everyone's flipping out about Zelda being delayed, which Zelda games always are, and Nintendo not doing what everyone expected for E3, which they never do.

Personally, I'd find it hilarious if the "later time" for NX was a Direct two days or so after E3, like that one year when everyone was ticked that their E3 presentation was essentially directed at their investors.  I guess the big question is, do they actually not want to talk about NX that soon, or do they just want to reveal on their own terms so as not to be fighting for the spotlight?

I'm sure they've got 3DS news too, but you honestly have to wonder if the known Wii U games (Tokyo Mirage, Paper Mario, Zelda) are all it has left.  Their console transitions tend to leave the last gen high and dry right away, after all.  Something tells me that the Wii U is going to be riding on the eShop for a while.

[Sakura Leic]

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/02/nintendo-nx-2017-release-lineup/

I'm really liking how they're approaching this.

[Amatiramisu]

>not selling at a loss
>probably means weaker hardware
gg no re nintenderp

I really hope they're not doing what I think they're doing.

[Sakura Leic]

The thing is the Wii U did the exact opposite and it still had weaker hardware regardless so whether they sold at a loss or not isn't going to make the Hardware better.  Remember the thing can't even support the Unreal 4 Engine.

I think Nintendo is at least trying a smarter approach by not releasing the thing for a Holiday Rush and trying to concentrate on making a good launch library.   We're definitely going to see the new Zelda game at last and I'm sure Pikmin 4 will be a launch title as well.  While I do hope they don't skimp on the Hardware, and for the love of god please don't alienate the 3rd parties so much, I think this idea is at least on the right track in terms of a business plan. In the end it's not the fancy hardware that's going to be the end all be all, it's what they do with it and hopefully they make the most of whatever they have.

[Hypershell]

If you want the biggest most expensive hardware, that's what PC gaming is for.

To be fair, Nintendo is damn good at optimizing hardware when they want to be; GCN sold for dirt cheap in the tail end of its life cycle.  Wii U had a rather expensive hardware gimmick and we still don't really know what the NX is doing in that department.  Also, the Wii U did not come under fire merely for raw power but also for its system architecture (PowerPC as opposed to x86).

I think the people hoping for a 4k NX are going to be very disappointed.  I mean, Sony is JUST NOW getting to that, and they're the big multimedia giant.  Nintendo is not going to out-Sony Sony.

I AM however cautiously optimistic that this may finally be the time that Nintendo learns their lesson with internal storage.  My Nintendo is clearly built to push digital sales, SOMEBODY should have realized that they need to have a piece of hardware that "just works" out of the box for that, and doesn't leave people reluctant to shop due to lack of storage space. 

[Sakura Leic]

Seriously if 32 GBs isn't even enough for a Smart Phone for some people what makes game developers think that's acceptable for game storage?

I mean granted the Wii U was at least compatible with Standard External Hard Drives, something the Vita should have taken note with *grumble grumble*, but seriously that was pathetic as hell even then.

But yeah I never expected a 4K NX, hell I still don't expect the thing to play DVDs.

I mean I'm not much of a specs whore so when I look at something that has specs as a main selling point I just smile and nod until they put up and shut up about what kind of software support they have.  Software is the blood and life of anything, which unfortunately the Wii U also didn't have enough of even if what they had was good.

[Amatiramisu]

You can build a PC that outperforms (see: crushes) the PS4 for about 50-100 dollars more than the price of the console. It's not a big equation. Nintendo should be fully capable of doing the same. Especially since AMD is releasing new hardware aimed at equal performance to a top-of-the-line nVidia card for half the price.

It's not hard to actually put working parts in a box. It doesn't cost that much either.

If Microsoft and Sony are selling at a loss and making up the difference with software, and succeeding, why is Nintendo so wary to do the same?

[Sakura Leic]

Because if that was the last thing I tried and it didn't work then I wouldn't try it again anytime soon, ie the [tornado fang]ing Wii U.  They sold it at a loss, and it back fired tremendously.

[Amatiramisu]

Yes, but it was a combination of selling it at a loss AND stupid design decisions. AKA PowerPC, low-spec hardware bottleneck, and 32 goddamn GB of storage.

It didn't help that they spent the next few years releasing honestly mediocre titles in an attempt to bolster sales. I can't honestly say the Wii U has any real GEMS outside Bayonetta 2, Smash, and Mario Kart. Please enlighten me if it does, because the rest seem just like... Okay Nintendo games. Very cookie cutter.

[Sakura Leic]

And again even with all that I still wouldn't do it in Nintendo's shoes, especially since unlike Sony or Microsoft they aren't multimedia power houses that sell TV's and Computers or any other devices and programs like Windows 10 or Sony Vegas.  Sony and Microsoft's console divisions are merely different branches of 2 huge corporations which has much more resources than Nintendo can hope to have at this point.

Nintendo is strictly a game company, and they don't have much to fall back on unlike the other giants.

So no in Nintendo's case selling at a loss is a bad idea because it's that much more risky because they have much more to lose. 

[Amatiramisu]

This is like admitting there's no point in taking risks when you're a smaller company. They didn't take a risk with the Wii U and instead stuck to the same philosophy of "underpowered hardware + gimmick controller + good games = wii-tier success" and completely cocked it over because they thought that philosophy would carry them through this gen. If they keep playing this safe, then I guarantee you the NX will be another Wii U.

Hell, if the NX doesn't have a [tornado fang]ing gimmick controller and is just marketed as a Gamecube 2.0 then I guarantee you it will already see more success than the Wii. But if they keep to stupid design/marketing decisions, then they're going to flop.

I'm sorry if I don't have faith in Nintendo right now. I was let down by them this entire gen.

[Phi]

Yes, but it was a combination of selling it at a loss AND stupid design decisions. AKA PowerPC, low-spec hardware bottleneck, and 32 goddamn GB of storage.

It didn't help that they spent the next few years releasing honestly mediocre titles in an attempt to bolster sales. I can't honestly say the Wii U has any real GEMS outside Bayonetta 2, Smash, and Mario Kart. Please enlighten me if it does, because the rest seem just like... Okay Nintendo games. Very cookie cutter.

Wonderful 101, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

I can now tolerate the latter, now that they realize having the Shin Megami name in the title is bullshit

[Sakura Leic]

Pikmin 3 is also good if a very short game and I look forward to Pikmin 4 on the NX, and don't forget Bayonetta 2 as well.

[Phi]

Ammy already mentioned Bayo 2.

[Sakura Leic]

Yeah my bad, it got lost in all the techno specs argument that I still don't really agree with.

[Amatiramisu]

Wonderful 101, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

Wonderful 101 is more of a cult thing.

I'll give you X.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions isn't even out, so that can't be argued for.

I didn't really see any buzz about Pikmin 3 either.

The problem with the Wii U's releases are that there are some GOOD games, but they don't generate enough buzz to carry the console. I was reluctant to mention Bayonetta 2 but I did on merit that it saved the franchise and Bayo being in Smash likely carried it further.

Hell, even Star Fox Zero is being made out to be another Metroid: Other M.