Nintendo Switch

[cageymaru]

Kotaku article.
http://kotaku.com/heres-your-first-...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

Nintendo Switch page. Hammered for me.
Nintendo Switch™ - Official Site - Nintendo's New Video Game System

Official Nintendo reveal.


Powered by Nvidia!
NVIDIA Gaming Technology Powers Nintendo Switch | NVIDIA Blog

 

[Wildace]

The only potential selling point for me would be how the pokemon game is for it

 

[Stoly]

So apparently nintendo is still doing Gamecube level graphics...

I kind of like the concept though. I do recall nvidia having a prototype tablet/console Shield back when the shield portable was released.

 

[Q-BZ]

Nintendo will probably find some way to do well in a niche and I wish them all the best but I am going to say something I've been saying ever since the Gamecube:


I personally have little to no confidence left in their hardware decisions and I really wish they would go to software only development focuses and nothing else at this point.

They could be *the* most enviable, crown jewel, second party developer overnight if they felt like it. Or third party even.

Again: I wish them all the best and I hope my expectations here are proven wrong.

 

[Wildace]

So apparently nintendo is still doing Gamecube level graphics...

It is hard to say what the graphics level is based on the video, since there is a 99% chance all footage of the actual games was likely added in post while editing the video. And we all know video editors are really wizards.

 

[delita]

Definitely want one, hopefully other adults will get into the portability thing, right now I would feel very weird being a 30 year old man playing a handheld console in any kind of public place. Some people are cool with it, I just feel weird. But if it gets heavily adopted because of this gen of console, I'm all in for it. Either way, I'd play it at home for sure.

 

[bigdogchris]

Looks neat. I bet it will sell well.

I can't imagine they will stuff PS4/XBOne level graphics into that hand held. It would get way to hot. Unless they are doing something where the processing is done on the base station and streamed over Wi-Fi to the screen.

 

[cageymaru]

So apparently nintendo is still doing Gamecube level graphics...

I kind of like the concept though. I do recall nvidia having a prototype tablet/console Shield back when the shield portable was released.

NVIDIA Gaming Technology Powers Nintendo Switch | NVIDIA Blog

A Console Architecture for the Living Room and Beyond
Nintendo Switch is powered by the performance of the custom Tegra processor. The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an NVIDIA GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards.

 

[cageymaru]

So what's the battery power looking like on those Tegra handhelds?

 

[nvgrim]

Definitely want one, hopefully other adults will get into the portability thing, right now I would feel very weird being a 30 year old man playing a handheld console in any kind of public place. Some people are cool with it, I just feel weird. But if it gets heavily adopted because of this gen of console, I'm all in for it. Either way, I'd play it at home for sure.

Im 27 and i havent played my ds in litterally a year. I just dont find mobile games that fun as i did when i was younger. Plus now that everything wants to be 3d graphics instead of 2d like old GB games you get terrible looking graphics with the worst aliasing ever. Look that the lines on everything in the new pokemon game, they are so jagged and not smooth its very distracting. Also the games are pretty shallow and bland due to them being a portable game and looking at a 5 inch screen sucks when i can just us my tv or monitor at home to play games on.

 

[4saken]

Very interesting concept, but still not seeing anything to make me use this over another console. Don't really think I need the portability factor. Just another "handheld" for gaming in that aspect.

 

[Deleted member 83233]

I'll be picking it up as soon as it's available. This looks exactly like what I thought it would be, and it's exactly what I want.

 

[bpizzle1]

Looks like they're pushing 3rd party support since they made a point of showing Skyrim and NBA2K in the promo. I have to admit, portable full on console games would be pretty darn cool. That said, I have 2 concerns:

1) How much processing power is sacrificed in portable mode? It may be just the video, but when he moves Zelda to portable, it looks like it's suddenly playing at like 15fps. I assume the dock adds some sort of additional cpu/gpu power to the device.

2) Battery life. The WiiU controller is pretty notorious for bad battery life. Sure, it'd be cool to take Zelda on the road with you, but if you can only play it for 45min then it's basically a useless gimmick.

 

[psy81]

I think I'll buy this, although I never game outside my home I'm itching to play some Nintendo titles its been too long...

 

[Q-BZ]

The Nintendo Switch Debuts With A Gimmick That's Actually Worthwhile

Forced ad at beginning.

 

[Deleted member 83233]

Their partner list looks pretty similar to the Vulkan partners list. I haven't seen any completely concrete spec on the processor yet, but everything I'm looking at hints toward custom Pascal Tegra. That's actually pretty close to what I had speculated. I'm guessing it's scaled back just a bit from the level of performance in the automotive version (my reasoning being battery life) Still, even if it was half as powerful as Pascal Tegra for automotive, that puts it above the current PS4 and XBOne iterations at least in raw performance numbers. Really curious about this chip, and hope someone spills the specs soon.

As far as the form factor goes, I love it. I play my 3DS and Wii U mostly in bed before I go to sleep, or on the couch when something's on the TV that I'm not interested in, and this looks perfect for that, and with a lot more power.

Pretty excited for it.

 

[Domingo]

For me it's all going to come down to pricing. I like the focus on local play and playing "real" games on the go.

 

[nvgrim]

Wow that skyrim footage looks so laggy. A new console cant even play a 5 year old game...typical Nintendo.

 

[SeymourGore]

This is looking what the Wii U should've been. I'm concerned about the specs as well (Skyrim isn't exactly a new title), but the concept is really good. And I like how the screen is protected when it's docked.

I think this is exactly the type of console the Japanese market will eat right up, and hopefully will buoy the NA/Euro 3rd party support.

 

[Wildace]

I'm concerned about the specs as well (Skyrim isn't exactly a new title),

Its not new, but im sure its the special edition version too which is a little more demanding but that might not mean much either since they will cater how it looks to the consoles performance any way. I would be more worried about it being stuck at 30fps tho.. can't stand frame rates that low

 

[bpizzle1]

This is looking what the Wii U should've been. I'm concerned about the specs as well (Skyrim isn't exactly a new title), but the concept is really good. And I like how the screen is protected when it's docked.

I think this is exactly the type of console the Japanese market will eat right up, and hopefully will buoy the NA/Euro 3rd party support.

I think that's the key here. This thing is going to sell like hotcakes in Japan. They're really into the mobile scene over there, so this is right on point for that market. That actually bodes well for 3rd party support, too.

 

[Hornet]

I like this idea a lot. I think it will be a great replacement for the 3DS

 

[atom]

This is an NVidia shield without android.

 

[psy81]

I wonder what the screen resolution will be...Hopefully at least 1080p. Rumors have it that it will be pretty pricey...

 

[Azureth]

$299.99 for basic bundle.
$399.99 for bundle.

 

[Stoly]

I'm not sure how will it perform. The ShieldTV is quite powerful as it can rival the xbox360. So I'll assume it may be close to xbone at least when docked.

 

[MavericK]

I am intrigued, but not sold yet.

-Backwards compatibility with Wii-U games? (or even 3DS games maybe?)
-How powerful compared to current-gen consoles?
-Battery life of tablet?
-Resolution of tablet?

 

[tonyftw]

Buying it just for mario and zelda.

 

[harmattan]

I'm nearly sold. Fun Nintendo games in a portable package. Also, 3rd party support looks promising (well done Bethesda).

As for the GPU, there were rumors a while back that nV was doing a custom Tegra for the next Nintendo console -- I guess this is it. I'm guessing somewhere around PS4 or Xbox 1 performance (2 gflops) if theyre using a 16mn Tegra 4 revision. More than adequete for Skyrim at 1080p.

 

[Domingo]

I see this as 75% successor to the 3DS and only 25% successor to the WiiU. It isn't that much of a jump if you're only interested in a living room console and I don't see the reality of 2-4 people huddling around a tiny screen going very well.
There are lots of compelling possibilities, but the unanswered questions really do leave a lot of doubt. Price, specs, logistics, BC, etc. can make or break this thing.

 

[mycomputersucks]

It is running a modified tegra soc. Likely an x2(not released) but maybe a beefed up x1(Q2 2015). We are looking at between .5 and 1.5 TFlops which puts it below the ps4 and maybe comparable with the xbox one. However, if the mobile screen is 720p or 900p then it should be able to maintain a decent framerate. The question is how it will balance battery and performance. What sacrifices will be made to give us 3 to 4 hours of mobile gameplay?

 

[SeymourGore]

I'm expecting there to be some combined battery upgrade/gamepad shells from 3rd parties.

Really starting to feel the hype for this product - giving me near PS4/Xbone console but in a mobile/hybrid form factor. This is the type of thing that would perfectly complement my gaming PC.

I'm just hoping the Virtual Console is still there (and properly revamped/expanded), and there's way to expand the memory (I don't want to own a bunch of cartridges).

 

[bpizzle1]

I'm expecting there to be some combined battery upgrade/gamepad shells from 3rd parties.

Really starting to feel the hype for this product - giving me near PS4/Xbone console but in a mobile/hybrid form factor. This is the type of thing that would perfectly complement my gaming PC.

I'm just hoping the Virtual Console is still there (and properly revamped/expanded), and there's way to expand the memory (I don't want to own a bunch of cartridges).

Im starting to get a bit hyped myself the more I read online. At this point, I'm probably going to pre-order it as soon as it goes live on Amazon. Xbone level power in a hybrid portable is exactly what I need to complement my gaming PC.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

I think this is perfect for adults, but it will be poor for kids. The main reason is the durability factor. Adults are now used to caring for cellphones, but kids generally aren't. How soon will it be before the sliding action wears out when taking it apart? As in, how hard is it to break the dovetail system on any of the peripherals? And it's unlikely that the stand on the portable system would survive half a year with kids (hopefully there will be an aftermarket to get cases, or I predict there will be a lot of ticked parents when this thing gets knocked over and hits the floor).

Despite those comments though, I think this console is intriguing. Nintendo is clearly seeking to make gaming a part of our lives in a way that isn't possible with traditional home consoles or PCs. It's shareable and portable. So in those senses it's unique. If they cram a cellular connection in there for portable multiplayer this device could be the competitive platform of choice for a lot of people. It's just too bad that Iwata didn't get to see it.

 

[Shantarr]

...How soon will it be before the sliding action wears out...

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I just want the new Zelda game! (this console looks neat though and in all seriousness, I agree with your concerns.)

 

[SeymourGore]

As far as the 'gimmick' of the Switch - this is the type of gimmick (switching from tv console to mobile console, with multiple *traditional* gamepad options) that I can get behind.

Switch is a good name, especially after the slightly embarrassing to say 'Wii'. 'Nintendo Duo' would've been really cool too, and it's been a long time since the TurboDuo so I'm sure there'd be no confusion between the two platforms.

Oh, and loving the matte black design. Hated the glossiness of the Wii U console.

 

[zamardii12]

So apparently nintendo is still doing Gamecube level graphics...

I kind of like the concept though. I do recall nvidia having a prototype tablet/console Shield back when the shield portable was released.

Pretty sure I saw high-end Skyrim graphics. Just because Mario games and Splatoon look cartoonish doesn't mean the graphics are Gamecube level. That's not fair. It depends on the art style of the game. I think it'll be more than capable to run nice games.

 

[Deleted member 83233]

Pretty sure I saw high-end Skyrim graphics. Just because Mario games and Splatoon look cartoonish doesn't mean the graphics are Gamecube level. That's not fair. It depends on the art style of the game. I think it'll be more than capable to run nice games.

Definitely. If it's a Pascal Tegra, and isn't heavily cut back, it should perform extremely well.

 

[Ur_Mom]

Like the Wii-U, it's too expensive compared to the competition. I don't care about the gimmicks, I care about the games. Portable is nice, but the 3DS works great for me. I won't be using that big thing for much portability. It'll stay cradled for most of it's life. So, it's just a console sitting next to the TV for me. Too expensive for what I'm getting. I love the first party Nintendo games. Excellent. I'd love one just for that. Once prices drop to half of what they are aiming at.

It looks nice, looks fun. Just can't get past that price. It's high due to the feature that I won't use - portable. I don't need that screen. It's cool, and if I had the time and needed it, I'd get a lot of use from it. I just don't that often. I'll pull out the 3DS and play a game here and there. It's fun and I can do it anywhere. This one would be a home console only...

 

[Sonicks]

It's high due to the feature that I won't use - portable. I don't need that screen. It's cool, and if I had the time and needed it, I'd get a lot of use from it. I just don't that often. I'll pull out the 3DS and play a game here and there. It's fun and I can do it anywhere. This one would be a home console only...

This is my main gripe with this hardware. They opted for a 'double feature' but most people only want the one thing, whichever it is, yet they will end up paying for both. The screen, the batteries, the dock, all of it is extra to someone who will only use it as a home console.

It really makes me wonder why has Nintendo been so out of touch with it's target audience with the Wii, WiiU, 3DS, and now this. They are really throwing in every idea they can think of just to cast as wide a net as they can but it doesn't seem to end up as a focused product....the 3DS turning into the 2DS is one huge example of this.