Nintendo Switch

[Knuckles]

price: $300

release date: march 3rd

games at release date:

1-2-Switch - March 3
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - March 3
Skylanders Imaginators - March 3
Just Dance 2017 - March 3
Project Octopath Traveler - March 3
Has Been Heroes (March 2017)
Super Bomberman R (March 2017)
Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! (March 2017)
I am Setsuna (March 2017)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (April 28, 2017)
Sonic Mania (Spring 2017)
Puyo Puyo Tetris (Spring)
Lego City Undercover (Spring 2017)
Arms (Spring 2017)
Redout (Spring 2017)
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (Spring 2017)
Splatoon 2 (Summer 2017)
NBA 2K18 (September 2017)
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Autumn 2017)
Super Mario Odyssey (March 3 2017)
Fire Emblem Warriors (Holiday 2017)
Minecraft Nintendo Switch (2017)
Minecraft Story Mode (2017)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017)
Ultra Street Fighter 2 (2017)
Dragon Quest Heroes 1&2 (2017)
Dragon Quest X (2017)
Dragon Quest XI (2017)
FIFA 17 (2017)
Steep (2017)
Rayman Legends Definitive Edition (2017)
Shin Megami Tensei (2017)
Farming Simulator (2017)
Fast RMX (2017)
Dragonball Xenoverse 2 (2017)
Stardew Valley (TBD)
Yooka-Laylee (TBD)
Seasons of Heaven (TBD)
The Sacred Hero (TBD)

just to start plus 80 more in the works. so who is getting 1 other than me?

[Kieran King]

I'm not sure yet, but I'll definitely be interested in anybody's feedback on it.

[Stoner]

So, some of the pros and cons of the Switch, so far.  I mean it wont be out for another, month, but whatevs.

Pros

Actual get-up-and-go gameplay.  Unlike any console before, and much better than Sony's attempt at PS4/PSVita on the go gaming, this wont require you to purchase two separate consoles to play your game wherever you go.

3rd Party Support. Nintendo's biggest flaw with their systems for the last twenty years has been they have fantastic first party support, and little to no third party publishers making games for their systems.  And even when they WOULD get 3rd party games, they tended to have to make use of either Motion controls or the WiiU game pad, something devs didn't seem too terribly keen on making worthwhile in any fashion.  They've got Skyrim confirmed to be coming to the console, as well as FromSoft(Dark Souls) confirmed to be doing SOMETHING for the console.

Consolidation.  If 3rd party support is their biggest flaw, their second would have to be that their games are all divided in quality between their actual consoles and their handheld.  The Monster Hunter series, the first game in its genre(and arguably the best series) made its home on Nintendo starting with Monster Hunter Tri.  While Tri Ultimate was on the WiiU and the 3ds, we have since gotten two more Monster Hunter games solely on the 3ds.  We haven't gotten a console version of a Pokemon game since the GameCube.  And while people do love their 3ds systems, most would argue that the small screen just isn't optimal to play many games with.  As Nintendo caters to Japan first and everywhere else second, a large focus of theirs has been on the handheld.  With this console being both a home console and a handheld, it gives us the opportunity to do things we've been wanting for years.

Price Point.  The Switch is going to be $300 at release.  This is amazing.  For reference, PS4 and XBone only recently reduced down to that low for a new console, and that was only because they are releasing more powerful versions of those consoles at the higher price point.  For $300 you get the console and JoyCons(two little controllers you can use as one full controller when playing single player or two smaller SNES style controllers when playing certain multiplayer games), and I believe it will come pre-packaged with a WiiSports style game if you don't want to shell out the $60 for one of their games.

An honorable mention for the Pros list has to be that the Switch intends to use the same charging port as most non-Apple devices, as well. So that's gonna be nice. Especially considering the first Con I'm gonna mention here.

Cons

Battery Life.  To say that the battery life of the Switch is going to leave us wanting will be an understatement.  For most people it wont be a problem, but when you're like me and tend to play Monster Hunter/Pokemon/Final Fantasy Explorers/Fantasy Life(I could go on and on for days) for hours and hours at a time, the reported 4 hour life of the battery is going to come up.  But, again, its going to use the most common style of port for charging available meaning that's one less cord you'll have to tote.

Power.  The Switch is still going to be less powerful than the PS4 and XBone, especially with the PSPro and Scorpio versions of the two consoles coming out promising to make them even more powerful.  While its not as big a deal to me, there are some that will be less than happy with this fact.

Online Services.  This one has people all in a tizzy.  So its going to have a paid online service, like PSPlus and XBox Live.  But your friends list and any chatting you do will all be done through your phone via an app, not the console itself.  And whereas PSPlus and XBox Live give you free games every month that you can then play whenever you want(so long as you have a subscription in the case of PSPlus), the closest Nintendo is willing to come to that is a free rental of one of their classic games that expires at the end of that month.

Overall, I'm super pumped about the Switch.  There are some headscratchers in regards to what they're doing, but most people(myself included) are giving them a pass on the basis of "Fuck it, its Nintendo."  Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild looks like its going to be a fantastic game.  They have a Multiplayer game where you wont even look at your screen, and instead have to react based on your opponents actions as you compete against them(A spaghetti western "High Noon" style shootout game I can't recall the name of off the top of my head).  Nintendo is once again going out of the box like they did with the Wii and I think it will bring them similar success.

[Chris Stern]

I got one four weeks ago. Honestly, I love the damn thing. This was something I wanted Nintendo to do since they made the super gameboy way back on the SNES. It's a blending of home and portable so you can play portable games on your TV and console ones on the go. Only flaw is games, which given how fast this is selling out will hopefully mean third parties will heavily support it. I'm not expecting say Final Fantasy 15 or Mass effect Andromeda but a decent amount of titles shouldn't be unrealistic if sales stay strong.

[Judge]

I read somewhere (I know that's a reliable source) that BoTW had a 110% attach rate for the Switch version.  Meaning people were buying more copies of the game than there were available consoles, so they could play it later.  And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes out at the end of this week, which means even more systems will be sold.

I'm hyped too because right now I have 3 controllers (2 joy cons, 1 pro) and can instantly set up and go and play with  my nephews who love the game.

[Chris Stern]

I read somewhere (I know that's a reliable source) that BoTW had a 110% attach rate for the Switch version.  Meaning people were buying more copies of the game than there were available consoles, so they could play it later.  And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes out at the end of this week, which means even more systems will be sold.

I'm hyped too because right now I have 3 controllers (2 joy cons, 1 pro) and can instantly set up and go and play with  my nephews who love the game.

You are correct on that. Those figures came directly from Nintendo. In the US alone in there was 900,000 switches sold(2.5 million worldwide) and 950,000 or so copies of BOTW sold. Meaning that a additional 50,000 copies of botw were bought in anticipation of getting a switch later. That's insane. Now my number maybe off as I am going off memory here.