
Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video] - ocdtrekkie
http://www.nintendo.com/switch
======
emdowling
It is so reassuring to see Nintendo create a modern gaming machine that
doesn't try to be a living room hub or an iPad competitor. Going entirely by
the video alone, every single design decision has been made with a clear focus
on gaming. The simple docking action for transitioning it to the TV, the
versatility and portability of the controllers, the reasonable size, etc all
combine to make this (again, judging entirely from the video) a focused,
confident release that finally embraces the changing way people play games.

Besides an original Gameboy (which I loved), I've never owned a Nintendo
console. After seeing this trailer, it is an instant buy for me in March.

The only thing I want to know more about is the online store. From what I
understand, Nintendo's eStore has a lot of shortcomings in a lot of weird
areas. I hope they address those. I have an Xbox One and about 25 games, all
of which were purchased digitally. I'm not sure I could go back to physical
versions of games.

~~~
revjx
The Nintendo Shop on the Wii U is reasonable, actually. It's fairly easy to
use, discoverability is decent. It's pretty basic but it's (in my opinion)
their best attempt yet.

Assuming they build on what they've learn from that, I'd hope the store for
this system will be even better.

My most-wanted feature for the shop is for them to stop forcing me to buy the
'classics' on every bloody Nintendo system I buy! I must own Super Mario World
3 or 4 times by now.

(Obviously they're not actually forcing me, but it would be good to have
cross-platform pass for that kind of content)

~~~
blakeyrat
It has a bad UI.

But the real killer is: games are still tied to hardware, not user account.
Which means, if your console dies, you lose all your purchases. (Unless that's
changed VERY recently.)

If you're used to the Xbox store like the grandparent, going to the Nintendo
Shop is like stepping back in time a decade.

~~~
delecti
I'm fairly confident you're incorrect. There's a single shared account between
the 3DS and Wii U online stores, and I also know for sure that 3DS purchases
are tied to your user account, rather than your hardware. I suppose it's
possible that it works differently for the Wii U than the 3DS ecosystems, but
that seems unlikely. You can still only have an account attached to a single
console (of each type) at a time, but if you lose one or it dies, you can
reattach your account to the new one.

~~~
squeaky-clean
Sorry, but that's the way it is. You do share the 3DS and Wii U accounts, but
game titles are tied to the console. Nintendo has no instructions on how to
transfer games to a different 3ds system without having both of them
physically there and working [0]. I wanted to trade in my 3DS for a discount
on a "New 3DS", but wouldn't have both systems to transfer my games. (Though
I've read most Gamestop's will let you do the transfer in their store when you
do the trade-in, I haven't tried).

It seems a Kotaku author was able to get their games transferred by contacting
Nintendo directly. So at least there's that [1]. There's no direct way to
download your games onto a new 3ds. And additional source about transferring
between systems [2].

[0] [http://en-americas-
support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...](http://en-americas-
support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/227/~/how-to-transfer-content-
between-nintendo-3ds,-nintendo-3ds-xl,-and-nintendo-2ds)

[1] [http://kotaku.com/salvaging-games-from-a-broken-3ds-is-
surpr...](http://kotaku.com/salvaging-games-from-a-broken-3ds-is-surprisingly-
easy-1687498063)

[2] [http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/154883/how-to-
get-...](http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/154883/how-to-get-my-
previously-owned-3ds-games-without-the-original-system)

~~~
merb
> but game titles are tied to the console

they are not. you only need to contact Nintendo if your account is still TIED
TO ANOTHER 3DS. However if it isn't you can just buy a new 3DS and selling the
old one before you have the new one. If you've forgotten to detach your
account your games are missing.

Here a german letter (I translated it) that I got from Nintendo before selling
my 3DS (I wanted to sell the Games with the Account):

    
    
        Die Spiele, die Sie mit Ihrer NNID erworben haben, werden für den Nachbesitzer also nicht verfügbar sein, vielmehr sind die Lizenzen der Spiele
        mit Ihrer NNID verknüpft. 
        Spiele sind auch nicht zwischen NNID's übertragbar.
    
        Eventuell vorinstallierte Spiele (wie z.B. Mario Kart 7) sind mit der Seriennummer der Konsole verknüpft und werden für den Nachbesitzer wieder
        verfügbar sein, solange Sie vorher keinen Datentransfer auf eine andere Konsole aus der New Nintendo 3DS-Familie durchgeführt haben.
    

NNID = Nintendo ID. In short it says Licenses are connected with the Nintendo
ID. Only Games that are pre-installed on the Console will be tied with the
Console ID, if you didn't do any Datatransfer to another Device.

However I detached the ID and bough a 2DS later and I still can play all the
Games on my NNID. Basically I only sold the 3DS + Cartridge Games.

------
mratzloff
If there's a "switch" here, it's Nintendo finally taking feedback from
customers and third parties seriously.

Console with graphical power that rivals Xbox One and PS4. Check.

Industry-standard architecture and tooling (Unity), allowing third parties to
flood in. Check.

Blends their successful portable division with their console division (this
has been a common refrain for awhile now). Check.

They already addressed multiplayer, although they could go further with that.

This is going to be a major windfall for them.

~~~
Pxtl
Realistically, I'm betting this one is going to lag the competition in terms
of specs, and imho that's okay. Nintendo made a huge splash with the Wii while
making a weaker device.

This thing has to run on batteries. It has to include mobile-quality batteries
_and_ a screen, which is an added cost that other consoles don't have.

With those components in mind, I fully expect it to have comparatively weak
hardware so they can hit a comparable price-point.

~~~
city41
Lagging in specs is a major reason 3rd parties shun Nintendo's consoles.
Porting a game between XB1, PS4 and PC is relatively easy due to them all
being of similar caliber. But the cutbacks required for porting to Wii U
usually means they just don't bother.

~~~
Pxtl
Yes, but if they target PC release then realistically they have to support the
whole gamut of PCs, including lower-spec ones. If the Switch turns out to have
similar video-performance to a low-mid-range consumer video board, then that's
realistically something that PC ports will already be supporting.

~~~
indy
The current consoles are already at the low-mid range of PC video cards. If
the Switch is even less powerful than say the Xbox One it will be a pain to
support when developing a multi-platform title.

------
neals
Maybe not a popular opinion right now... but I'm so glad there's at least one
brand out there that isn't jumping the 'VR'/'AR' \- bandwagon.

I've tried to get into VR with the oculus and the VIVE, but no, it's just not
for me. Happy to see Nintendo do what they do best: come up with a great
formfactor, but let games be games.

~~~
drawkbox
A big part of the 3DS launch was AR [1][2]. They actually used it in unique
ways. They haven't yet gone to head based VR/AR but device level like mobile
was part of the 3DS pitch/features.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43uSXA9qUe8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43uSXA9qUe8)
[2] [http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/ar-cards](http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/ar-
cards)

~~~
joshschreuder
Don't know if you own a 3DS, but personally I never used AR again beyond the 5
minutes after unboxing and I got one pretty soon after launch. Is it used in
titles in any meaningful way?

~~~
komali2
I didn't even know the 3DS had AR features and I probably have 300 hours
logged at least on it.

~~~
hudell
When it first launched, that's basically all we had to play.

------
6stringmerc
Very clever. Anchor for home, and again trying for the mobile area where their
creativity really worked (3DS). I'll be curious in the system specs and the
decisions they made - such as having that apparent card slot. Hooray for the
headphone jack.

I'll never understand the marketing motivation to show a bunch of people
getting together for a social gathering and togetherness, then cram together
to watch / play on something with a screen the size of a hardback novel.

~~~
wmeredith
Yeah, the two people playing Mario Kart split screen on that thing was
laughable.

~~~
hprotagonist
with half a controller each, too.

~~~
nkg
I can't imagine how complicated it must be to develop a decent game that works
with a full controller, half a controller, 2 full controllers, 4x1/2
controllers, etc

~~~
mathw
Wii U devs are already doing that kind of thing. Mario Kart 8 supports a
ridiculous variety of controllers from both the Wii and the Wii U, which
actually is great if you're me because you can suddenly do four-player Mario
Kart thanks to those old Wiimotes lying around!

I hope the Switch can still talk to Wiimotes. Even if they drop sensor bar and
the ability to point (which will prevent most Wii games coming to Virtual
Console without substantial modifications), being able to pair with one and
use the nunchuck or the classic controller would be great for someone like me
who has a Wii gathering dust and a Wii U on active service.

~~~
JimmyAustin
Given that the sensor bar is just two IR diodes spaced apart, it's not
unimaginable that they could just integrate it into the body of the console
itself. There exists a youtube video of someone using two Zippo lighters to
emulate it.

------
nlawalker
The most interesting thing to me is a design decision that combines an
important aspect of the original NES with an important aspect of all of
Nintendo's portable machines since the DS: a reduced barrier to entry for
multiple people to play. In 1989, every NES sold came with two controllers out
of the box. Similarly, every portable Nintendo system since the original DS
has supported Download Play, which requires each player to have their own
console, but only a single copy of a game.

It looks like you'll be able to use the standard Switch controller as two
"half controllers." Sure, you get limited functionality, but _one_ person with
_one_ standard (portable!) console and _one_ multiplayer game like Mario Kart
can say those all-important words to anyone, anytime: "Want to play?"

------
exelius
So this is a good usage model, but I'm not sure people want to carry yet
another tablet just for gaming. The only way I can see this thing taking off
is if it can fall back into an Android tablet mode for web browsing, e-mail,
etc. But as a portable gaming console, it seems pretty boss. I'm curious what
the hardware specs are and how they differ from other tablets on the market.

Because if it can't do everything else my current tablet can, I'm gonna have
to carry a tablet AND this thing. Done right, Nintendo can make this thing the
first real challenger to the iPad for mass-market adoption. But they've gotta
treat it as a first-party Android device and get updates out ASAP and not muck
with the interface too much. I'm willing to bet they could work out a rev-
share agreement with Google on the Google Play store and Google Play Apps (and
keeping their own Nintendo licensing scheme).

But let's not kid ourselves here: Nintendo is a Japanese company and it
operates like one. That means they'll try to own the entire value chain and
miss out on any network effects, while simultaneously moving themselves from a
market with a 5-10 year refresh cycle to one with a 2-3 year refresh cycle.
While it means they could sell more tablets to repeat customers, it also means
that they have less time to be patient for success (as happened with the Wii
and WiiU) since it also increases customer churn. Network effects and platform
lock-in are a lot more important when the refresh cycle is shorter, because
there are more opportunities for your customers to jump off the train.

I wish Nintendo luck, and I think that this is a good usage model. But I'm not
convinced it's compelling enough to displace the tablets that people are
already carrying around with them unless it can also duplicate the capability
of those devices.

~~~
mcgrath_sh
I'm in the opposite camp as you are. I'm thrilled that this appears to be a
gaming only device. I have devices that do what my tablets do. My 3DS has
hundreds of hours into it. I love having a portable device that is for gaming
only. I don't want notifications popping while looking for Rupees or a phone
call when trying to hunt for legendary birds.

I also have no issues carrying a separate device for that. IMO, touch gaming
for anything beyond the basics is terrible. Even Minecraft is way better with
a mouse and keyboard or controller.

Having an all encompassing device from a company that has continually nailed
_portable_ gaming is something I will continue to buy. The big screen of this,
for me, is an added bonus.

~~~
hendryau
Let's be honest, no one has ever had to farm for Rupees in Zelda :)

~~~
chongli
Having to farm for rupees is the reason I never finished the Windwaker. That
damn reinforce hunt quest sucked all the air out of the room and destroyed the
game's momentum entirely.

------
zelias
Nintendo has been trying to blend mobile and console gaming since the Gamecube
(anyone else remember the GBA link??). I think they've finally succeeded in a
way that can make the transition between the two seamless.

In a space currently dominated by two nearly-identical competitors (XBONE and
PS4), I think Nintendo has the opportunity to capture a large portion of the
market.

~~~
blakeyrat
The Xbone and PS4 can both play Skyrim and Fallout 4. Nothing Nintendo's put
out can come close. Just sayin'.

Different people have different priorities when it comes to gaming.

~~~
ben174
Not sure if you noticed in the Switch launch video, but that's Skyrim they're
playing. It looks like Nintendo is putting some effort into third party this
time, and they'll be the only "console" which allows you to play "console"
third party games portably. Pretty significant advantage.

~~~
TheBranca18
That's quite a jump you made there: a port of a game that came out in 2011. I
don't really think getting Skyrim is a big deal. If you were around for the
Wii U launch, they got a ton of third party ports. Comically a game like Mass
Effect 3 when I'm pretty sure the first two games didn't appear on any
Nintendo platform.

I'd also be wary about battery life. The 3DS and its sleep mode aren't known
for being very good on that front.

------
KaoruAoiShiho
Powered by nvidia: [https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-
switch/](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-switch/)

~~~
dharma1
probably the same X1 SoC as Nvidia Shield? Or a new X2?

Thought AMD would be their supplier before, but I don't think they have any
mobile chips

~~~
technologia
Its the X2, its supposed to be one of the first major releases for it. I hope
that means we can start to order Jetson X2 modules in the near future

~~~
dharma1
I find the Jetsons really overpriced... I can pick up a TX1 Nvidia shield TV
for £150 with controllers (and even install Ubuntu on it), but the Jetson dev
kit with the same SoC is £500? It's like they don't want people to start using
them

------
bigtunacan
This is a pretty brilliant move in concept. While phones and tablets have
encroached on the handheld gaming space, the DS is still a huge success and
where Nintendo has continued to dominate the market.

As a parent, I have 4 of the current gen DS systems. One for myself and one
for each of my three children.

Nintendo has really struggled to stay relevant in the console space though as
seen by the Wii U's underwhelming sales.

If this device is priced right and can continue on their virtual handheld
monopoly then they become a sort of defacto console system for the masses. For
the first time in ages I'm curious to see what is going to happen with
Nintendo.

~~~
erickhill
I'm assuming the Switch replaces the Wii U. But will the 3DS live on? I assume
the answer there is yes as well, but the lines between the two products is
getting really blurry, isn't it?

~~~
bigtunacan
This is the same question that's in my mind. With it's form factor it could
potentially replace both.

Part of the issue is going to come down to pricing. With a handheld each
person needs their own device. If this can be kept sub $200 it's sort of a no
brained. If it is priced similarly to consoles today it's a harder sell.

I am also left wondering if this could end up sold as different packages. It
could be packaged as a full console edition and a handheld only lite edition
at different price points.

~~~
komali2
I disagree that it will replace both. The DS brings ruggedness and a smaller
form factor. I can't see me bringing this little flimsy tablet with probably
max ~8 hours of battery life with me on one of my travels. My 3DS has had no
trouble being thrown into a ruck and dragged across SE Asia needing a charge a
week.

~~~
flukus
They could always release the same device in a smaller form factor at some
point.

~~~
djur
This is my guess. Since it uses cartridges and a single screen, there's
nothing stopping them from selling a version which is a single smaller unit
with better battery life but without TV/local multiplayer capabilities.

------
revjx
I'm quite excited by this. The video was a bit lengthy but it demonstrated the
concept quite well.

Glimpses of Mario, what appeared to be Skyrim, too - more third party support
this time perhaps?

I'm most interested to see the price and the spec of the machine. Xbox One and
PS4 seem to have become more homogenised in terms of architecture than the
last generation of consoles (PS3 was especially weird), if the Switch follows
suit it would hopefully encourage more third party support. Assuming the power
is there.

~~~
jamstruth
Its not running x86 like the PS4 and XBone that's for sure.

Its apparently running a Tegra chip[1]. Exact specs... well we can only guess
at this point. So its more similar to an Android tablet than the other
consoles.

So the hardware is more standard but its still not the same standard as the
other boxes. That could hurt 3rd party adoption.

[1] [https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-
switch/](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-switch/)

~~~
slantyyz
>> So the hardware is more standard but its still not the same standard as the
other boxes.

That could be a double edged sword. I think Nintendo doing a "me-too" console
that is like the PS4/XBone/Steam would hurt them more than it helps them. And
as it is, Steam already offers a portability element if you've got a decent
laptop with a discrete GPU.

>> That could hurt 3rd party adoption.

At this point, I think Nintendo is going to struggle no matter what they do.
They're in third place and unless Nintendo can make it worthwhile for 3rd
parties with huge hardware sales, it's not going to be pretty.

~~~
sjm-lbm
I actually totally disagree. Their mobile products are, in essence, "me-too"
products that are larger and less powerful than a smartphone - and they sell
well because they have great software and excellent (for games)
interfaces/controls.

This seems like an attempt to take that concept into something higher-
end/something that is designed to connect to a TV (at least sometimes). I've
got to think that will go quite well for them.

The years when the Wii outsold the PS3/X360 are not all _that_ far past. If
they come out with something different and compelling, the market will
respond.

~~~
slantyyz
Don't get me wrong, I actually -like- the system and it might very well be the
first console I buy since the PS3. But practically speaking, I don't think the
rest of the market will view this console as favorably as I do.

Clarifications of my original response:

By "me too" I was referring to the original post's point of going x86 in a
traditional TV box in the way that XB1/PS4 did.

By "struggle", I was specifically talking about third party software support
in the post I replied to. On the TV console front, Nintendo's primary strength
going back to the Wii (and maybe further) has always been first party games.
Most of the third party games on the Wii and Wii U were not very good. In
other words, if you're buying a Nintendo TV console for the third party games,
I think that would be a big mistake, regardless of how long the list of
committed 3rd party developers is.

Addressing some of your points:

>> Their mobile products are, in essence, "me-too" products that are larger
and less powerful than a smartphone

By "mobile products", I assume that you're referring to the DS/DSi/3DS - how
are those "me-too"? What other successful portable consoles have that clam
shell form factor? If anything, Nintendo's mobile form factors (starting with
the original Game Boy) were the ones that were historically copied by others.

>> The years when the Wii outsold the PS3/X360 are not all that far past. If
they come out with something different and compelling, the market will
respond.

Yes, but the market for gaming is completely different now. Games are no
longer the exclusive territory of proprietary tv consoles or portable gaming
devices (i.e., psp, 3ds).

On the TV console side, Steam is a legitimate substitute for a TV console. I
myself switched to Steam since most of the AAA titles I played (2D/3D fighting
games) are now all available on PC and I can bring them with me in the form of
a laptop with a discrete GPU. And with Steam, I can regularly upgrade my
hardware with full backwards compatibility for my purchased games.

On the portable gaming side, phones and tablets have basically taken over the
market. The only reason why I bought a 3DS is so that I can have my fill of
2D/3D fighting games (with a real controller and buttons) in my pocket, but
I'm in a very small niche.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
>On the portable gaming side, phones and tablets have basically taken over the
market.

You say that, but phone games have an exceptionally limited capability without
extra hardware (like a controller), and few phone games are designed to take
advantage of a controller in any case. If you want to actually play good
mobile games, you need a mobile console, and Nintendo's are some of the best.
The Gameboy line defined portable gaming for over a decade, and there are
still holdouts using them to this day (I count myself as one of them: >20
hours of gameplay, countless classic games, one of the best tools for chiptune
music creation on the market, and all in a tiny form factor? sold!), and the
DS is the console of choice if you want Real games on the go.

If you're looking for something cheap to carry your retro games around on,
might I recommend a GBA? It has a lot of good games in its own right, you can
play all the GB/GBC games, and with the aid of PocketNES + mkrom (they're
around, but you might have to do some digging to find them) you can emulate
NES games pretty well, provided you pony up for a flashcart and flasher (I got
mine from [http://bennvenn.myshopify.com](http://bennvenn.myshopify.com): $57
for a flasher and card reader, plus one GBA flash cart. And he's offering a
decent SD-based card for the original GB for half the price of an Everdrive
(although it has some limitations that the Everdrive does not, it will run
most GB games). So it's a good place to look for that sort of stuff). Yes, a
hacked PSP is better, but it's a lot harder to find one, much harder to get it
working, significantly more expensive, and a heck of a lot easier to brick
(which is what I did to mine).

~~~
slantyyz
What you're saying is technically true, but for the vast majority of people
it's about the convenience of not having to carry a second device.

In the same way that a real camera is better than a smartphone, convenience
trumps quality.

>> If you're looking for something cheap to carry your retro games around on,
might I recommend a GBA?

I have a 3DS because I wanted to play Street Fighter, Tekken and Dead Or Alive
on the go. But I don't always bring it with me. In fact, I only bring it with
me on vacations. And when I'm out on the go with just my phone, well, I don't
play anything at all - it's not a huge loss. FWIW, you can already do
everything you mention and more on a 2DS/3DS with the right "accessories" and
a little bit of time.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
Of course. But I find it more of a pain. And it's harder to hack than a PSP,
and less capable, AFAIK.

Also, I actually don't have a 2/3DS, because I have no money. A GBA costs
~$20.

~~~
slantyyz
Price aside, it's actually easy. Just buy a micro-SD card and the right
"accessory" (there are maybe only two worth buying) and it takes a few
minutes. With the most popular accessory, you can also run any home brew .3ds
files very easily.

It only gets hard if you want to play online, which means you need to do .CIA
files, which becomes difficult (it also requires a new SD card). But if
playing online isn't a priority, it's not even an issue.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
Oh. I thought it hadn't been cracked yet. Ah well.

Yeah, I'll stick to my GBA for now. I've got very little money.

------
Bahamut
This looks amazing - nice form factor for easy use on the go (demonstrated in
many ways in the video, including on airplanes), but still letting you have a
classic game experience. It shows smart usage of now standard wireless tech
and highly portable & fast storage.

It's amazing how slow game consoles change minus beefed up computing
capabilities, and while Nintendo has had some hit or misses, this shift looks
like a vastly superior improvement over the initial ideas brought forth by the
Wii U.

~~~
nol13
Agree, my first reaction is, "I want one."

------
captainmuon
Very promising. I like how haptic it is. Part of the magic of old Nintendo was
the feeling of slotting in a cartridge, and handling a well-designed device
and controller. They will not go back to cartriges obviously, but it seems
like they put a lot of thought into this... like car engineers do when the
have the doors make a specific sound when they close.

~~~
morley
> They will not go back to cartriges obviously

It does indeed use cartridges:

[http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344618/nintendo-
switch-n...](http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344618/nintendo-switch-nx-
games-cartridges)

~~~
chipperyman573
Aren't SD cards and cartridges different? I thought that cartridges used ROM
while SD cards can be written to.

~~~
buzzybee
From a user standpoint, when we speak of "cartridge" we're talking about the
packaging - 8-track tapes were also called "cartridges". Calling any game cart
"ROM" has been a little bit off in that old cartridges were PCBs that could
contain arbitrary chips, custom hardware, battery-backed RAM, etc.

With the modern carts, it's all flash memory - both the game binary and any
user data can coexist. That said, it's much less common than in the NES era,
but not unheard of, to incorporate custom hardware on the cart. For example
the DS Game Card[0] has an infrared variation. With this change the overall
performance model now is guided around working with flash memory - you have
big mass storage, longer load times, and don't get to do any fancy bank-
switching tricks or rely on an additional co-processor or an extra RAM bank.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_game_card#Nintendo_DS...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_game_card#Nintendo_DS_Game_Card)

------
yumaikas
There are two major things that I'm curious about:

Price point: How much is this going to cost per unit? I'd imagine it's going
to be much cheaper than the other current gen consoles

Battery life: If it doesn't get more than 1-2 hours, or else come with some
way to extend the battery life via an accessory, it will be kinda
underwhelming.

That being said, this is a _very_ intriguing idea, and is a good focus on an
easy to understand concept. Funny image: Two people playing on a Switch with
the controllers snapped onto it, doing some top down game like air hockey or
something.

~~~
joshmn
I'd like to expect battery would be at least 3 hours while gaming. Considering
that we know it's using a Tegra chip like the Nvidia Shield and the Shield
gets ~2 hours, and Nintendo has a track record for battery-optimized gaming
(Gameboy).

With the Shield's battery saver setting, it gets about 4 hours, and 7 hours
for streaming. Again, I'd like to think Nintendo is doing better than this
here.

~~~
nameless912
The internet is saying 4 hours+, and I'm inclined to believe them. After all,
they were right about everything else (seriously, go check out /r/nx: it's 90%
shit posts, but the rest is speccing this thing out to an almost insanely
detailed degree, even months ago).

------
pimeys
Their stock price also went up over one billion today.

[http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344202/nintendo-nx-
share...](http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344202/nintendo-nx-shares-
market-value)

~~~
theDoug
Close concept, but it's important to know that market cap is different than
stock price!

~~~
pimeys
Some day I learn how to write a comment before submitting :) Nice catch.

------
tvanantwerp
Of the featured use cases, gaming on a plane is the only one that made a ton
of sense to me. (Binging on Stardew Valley on a laptop during my last trip to
China actually helped a lot with jet lag recovery.) The other featured cases,
I'm not so sure. I definitely miss the days of my youth when my friends and I
huddled around a TV split four ways. But I also don't see us returning to
gaming together in person either. The most bizarre use case featured is for
esports--I see no advantage to using the Nintendo Switch versus a more
powerful console or PC in competitive gaming.

As a piece of hardware, this looks really cool and innovative. But I don't
actually know if the product-market fit is there.

~~~
jerf
Despite the non-existence of children in that video, don't forget they still
sell a lot stuff to children. My kids aren't old enough to be running around
with 3DSs with all their friends yet, so I don't know how prevalent it is in
practice. But if everyone who had a Wii could also that easily pick it up and
cart it somewhere, that would be a huge network effect compared even to the
3DS. There is a very good chance this could become a Thing for that age group,
and given how children are, it could simply become expected that you have a
Switch.

Also... since no one else has mentioned it yet and it's not really worth its
own comment... this is a _wildly_ better name than "Wii". The Wii was a
success, but I'd say in spite of the name.

~~~
r-w
> Also... since no one else has mentioned it yet and it's not really worth its
> own comment... this is a wildly better name than "Wii". The Wii was a
> success, but I'd say in spite of the name.

Swiitch? ;)

------
Pxtl
It's perfect. It was the obvious direction putting together the ideas that the
Razer Edge and various snap-on-phone gamepads and the controllers of the Wii
and the Wii-U implied, as well as Nintendo's attempts to create input-parity
with the Wii-U and the DS by having them share the same "2 screens, one is
touch" layout.

------
Tiktaalik
It looks very promising. Nintendo's strengths are in portable and local coop
play, and they've managed to create a new product that excels at both.

------
dogma1138
Battery life on tegra devices is abysmal I'm really wondering if the guy can
get from the gate to the plane without it running out if you run full 3D
graphics games like those.

~~~
greenshackle2
Yeah that's an excellent point. The Nvidia Shield (Tegra K1) can pull 15-20
watts while gaming. I can play hearthstone for like 3 hours _when plugged in_.

5V usb port at 2.1A = 10.5W = battery gets drained even when plugged in.

It has a 20Whr battery, if I'm at 90%, and I'm wary of draining it below 10%,
that leaves me with 16Whr = an hour at most of gaming on battery alone, on a
brand new full capacity battery.

~~~
dogma1138
And Hearthstone isn't a demanding title, the streaming works fine but any of
the "native" Tegra AAA 3D games kill the drain the device before you finish a
level (30min~ and honestly even under that, some games are going to flat out
at like 10).

Doesn't help that the device gets pretty darn hot also.

Portable gaming sounds fun until you remember that batteries suck, sure
they've improved much but what improved is also the power management.
3D/Graphics are still a power hog, so you get a tiny package with almost no
battery to speak off and a heating element all in one.

Hey but if you play
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tt2kgames....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tt2kgames.Borderlands2)
or somethig similar at least you know you can defer hypothermia by about 10-15
min if you are on batery :)

~~~
greenshackle2
The Shield is 1900x1200, the Switch will run at 720p in mobile mode, for
"performance reasons". Pretty sure they mean for battery life reasons. It will
push out 1080p when docked so it's not like the GPU can't handle it.

~~~
dogma1138
The AAA PC ports do not run anywhere close to the native 1200p resolution of
the Shield, the run at sub 720p so it doesn't matter.

Most other games also don't run at 1200p, and probably not even 1080p unless
they are simple games.

Current consoles don't push 1080p games properly so the non-native resolution
was never even in question.

~~~
greenshackle2
Ouch. Backpack full of battery packs it is then.

------
shanusmagnus
Not really relevant to anything, but I'm so grateful the movie includes the
guy on the plane playing the Switch while ACTUALLY WEARING HEADPHONES. People
who play videogames (or movies) on planes while piping audio through the
speaker for everyone to "enjoy" should be force-ejected through some kind of
special chute.

------
slavik81
You know, I always thought the idea of a hybrid console/handheld was a
terrible idea. I expect that mobile considerations are going to make it
graphically underwhelming compared to the next Xbox and PlayStations. I also
figure that graphical considerations for TV play are going to make it eat
battery. We'll see if the jack of all trades is master is any.

But, on the other hand, Nintendo's games are just plain fun. I didn't buy a
Wii U because I didn't want that giant tablet controller and its charging
stand taking up space on my coffee table, but every time I saw Splatoon I
wished I had room for it.

Perhaps this can fit in my life.

------
sodafountan
I just don't have faith in Nintendo anymore, they have a track record now of
so many failed consoles and disappointments, lack of third party support, even
the new Zelda doesn't get me that excited (and I've been a die hard fan for
years, playing Ocarina of Time as a kid made me want to learn how to make
games). We'll see how this one turns out.

~~~
mcgrath_sh
So, the Wii U is so many failed consoles now? The Wii was a raging success.
The 3DS is a wonderful mobile gaming platform that I have poured hundreds of
hours into. The Wii U wasn't great and was more of a half iteration than a
full one. Yes, Nintendo made a mis-step there. But the Wii, DS, and 3DS were
_far_ from failures.

~~~
kodt
The Wii was very successful. But was very underpowered when compared to the
360 and PS3. As a result it did not get many popular AAA multi-platform games
such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Assassins Creed, etc.. and when it did
get games from those franchises it was a simplified or less feature filled
version of the game.

It meant that the Wii was not really viable as your "only" system if you were
interested in those games. While the NES, SNES, N64, and Gamecube were either
competitive or the leaders technically in their gen.

~~~
karmelapple
There's no need to be the tech leader if you're making a great product that
people love. The Wii reached out to customers that didn't previously play
video games. It was quite amazing.

People who don't know about other franchises, and perhaps don't want the more
mature subject matter of the three big franchises you mention, were more than
happy with the fun a Wii gave them.

------
bitwize
For a second I wondered, is Nintendo building network hardware now?

My worry here is that Nintendo may be making the same mistake that BlackBerry
made: doubling down on hardware when they should be building out their app
ecosystem on dominant mobile platforms.

That said, the Switch looks cool. Really freaking cool. I just wonder if it'll
be enough.

~~~
ben174
Maybe you missed the Super Mario Run announcement?

[https://supermariorun.com](https://supermariorun.com)

~~~
bitwize
Obviously playing second fiddle to the main series. It reuses assets from
NSMBU, one of the least loved of the 2D series. It's a good early attempt on
mobile from Nintendo, but they're clearly testing the waters still, not all
in.

------
colinthompson
Looks really cool. Too bad it’s not out in time for christmas. The thing would
sell like crazy this year.

What I find most notable in the video is their nod to competitive-gaming /
esports, which Nintendo has such a long history of shunning/disrespecting/mis-
understanding. Maybe they’re finally trying to atone for the debacle around
the whole Smash scene? (Then again, maybe it’s just the marketing people who
put this video together thought that would be fun to add and have no idea
about Nintendo’s history here.)

------
Tiktaalik
If they've switched to a capacitive touch screen instead of resistive then
there's the potential for easily porting Unity based Mobile iOS/Android games
to this.

This could be a great new marketplace for indies that make pay up front mobile
games.

F2P mobile games monetization strategies rely on huge install bases that the
Switch is unlikely to reach, so porting these games over may not make as much
sense, but it could still be worthwhile to port to the device in order to
provide more gameplay options to existing users.

~~~
jasonkostempski
I couldn't find anything that shows/says it has any kind of touch screen. I
hope it doesn't. I also hope there isn't any kind of indie market, there's
already plenty of options for that and it would be nice not to have to sift
through a hundred FNAF rip-offs to find something worth playing.

~~~
eridius
I really doubt it will have a touch screen. You wouldn't be able to use it
when it's docked, which means games would have to be designed such that touch
is completely unnecessary to the experience, so why even bother trying to cram
it in?

------
astrostl
My family has a Wii U, and it's connected to the only TV we really use in the
house. The Wii U game pad permits pad-only play on some, but not all, games
and doesn't have any capacity for multiplayer on it. I think this addresses
the, "someone is taking over the TV" and, "take it outdoors" kind of use cases
very nicely. Surprised they didn't play up the family aspect of it for that,
but I guess that's an (only?) already-captured demographic.

------
Unbeliever69
I must be very out of touch with the gaming habits of millenials. The intro
movie itself seemed like some nerdy wish-fulfillment. Who acts like this?
Where can I meet some stunning gaming hottie like the one in the airport? Will
the Switch make my life this fantastic?

~~~
fullshark
Yeah the video seems to be selling a use case that likely isn't very common.
How often are people going to go a bar and sit around a switch playing video
games? Maybe once or twice? I imagine the dominant gaming habits are what
Xbox/PS focus on (one person in a room, possibly connected by internet to
others).

~~~
eridius
I dunno. The Switch seems to have a lot of focus on local multiplayer. And
with how portable it is, I can definitely imagine heading over to my local
gaming store to find someone else that I can play with.

------
protoster
Oh my god, a sane name for once. It was really getting out of hand with the DS
and Wii when the same name referred to several different generations of
hardware in a non obvious way. (DS, DS Lite, 3DS, 2DS, New 3DS, try making
heads or tails of that).

------
bane
Looking at the concept video it's clear that Nintendo is doubling down again
on the idea of personal, physical interaction as the concept for multiplayer
activities -- the "you and a friend in the living room" idea. I applaud this,
but online gaming is something that Nintendo really struggles to "get" and has
cultural issues with as well.

There was a an article (gamasutra maybe?) about how the N with the Wii,
fundamentally had no idea what their competition was up to or understood
gaming notions that had become very commonplace by that time -- like online
matchmaking for gaming, etc.

However, as a gamer, I think this is definitely setting a differentiable and
right path that doesn't tie Nintendo to just selling another port target for
games.

I'm reminded of this old Reddit post that presages some of what's in this
video:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/FutureGaming/comments/2eox69/the_un...](https://www.reddit.com/r/FutureGaming/comments/2eox69/the_unified_future_a_thought_piece/)

[https://pdf.yt/d/J5nSHPu5dzdpWwvn](https://pdf.yt/d/J5nSHPu5dzdpWwvn)

~~~
pluma
I think it's really cultural. Nintendo doesn't "get" online gaming because
it's fundamentally different from Nintendo's DNA.

Nintendo is about children and families and friends playing together. Online
gaming is about playing in a global community of millions of strangers who may
become friends or turn around and spoil everything.

That risk is accepted by gamers who play multiplayer online games, especially
competitive games with online matchmaking, but it doesn't fit in the "we're
all friends and family" narrative.

I think it's brilliant. Looking at the concept video, it seems like local coop
multiplayer is built right into the controller but they also show local
network multiplayer for parties and competitions. It's trivial and emphasised
by the design choices.

Games that do online multiplayer well generally don't work well with local
multiplayer. What works well for one doesn't necessarily work well for the
other. This reminds me of GameBoy link cables and 1990s LAN parties -- and I
think that's an aspect of gaming that has been neglected by other companies
who favoured the online experience.

Also it makes perfect sense for Nintendo not to attempt to get a foot in the
door in an oversaturated market they don't have any experience in. This is the
first time since the original Wii that I've been genuinely surprised by
Nintendo and it looks a lot less gimmicky.

------
lucaspiller
Direct link to the YouTube video. It doesn't load with uBlock Origin:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI)

~~~
fwn
I don't think it has anything to do with uBlock Origin.

EasyPrivacy apparently breaks some Youtube embeds and only fixed it partially.
In the end, it's almost never the content blocker but the lists you choose to
enable.

edit: but thank you for the link!

------
sssilver
I often wonder whether it would be a good idea for Apple to acquire Nintendo,
and have them focus on building phenomenal gaming experiences on the iOS
platform through focusing on software and device accessories (e.g.
controllers). For some reason Apple and Nintendo in my head feel like they
share important DNA traits.

~~~
maherbeg
That would be a great partnership. In my mind though, I feel like Disney would
be the better acquirer. Think about how awesome it would be to goto Disney
World and get to see Spiderman, Luke Skywalker and Mario all at the same time.
They'd be able to take the Nintendo brand even further with the cross overs,
merchandising, movies etc.

~~~
sssilver
That doesn't speak to me too well, to me all Disney work seems like a clone of
each other -- you've seen one, you've seen them all. They are even
stylistically (nearly) identical. The plots are all the same. The characters
are all the same (and very shallow). I loathe that they now get to milk the
Star Wars cow. I'd be very upset if Disney acquired Nintendo, even worse than
I was when they got Pixar (and ruined it).

This may be naive, but while Disney strikes me as profits first, and nothing
else really matters, and everything else is a byproduct, both Nintendo and
Apple strike me as companies that actually give a shit about the final
product, and profits are just a vehicle to achieve excellence in that.

------
4minute
Everyone is worried about graphics. Nintendo systems have never been about
graphics. It's all about the games. They are combined two of the best selling
consoles EVER. The 3D is the second highest selling console ever. The wii is
fifth. The Switch brings both of them together. You can experience the awesome
Nintendo literally anywhere at anytime. You can't get that with any other
console. Now they are bring in major titles and giving us multiple good
controllers for when they are needed. That's fucking awesome. I was about to
buy the PS4 Pro edition, but fuck that I'm waiting for this. I'm hoping they
still alway 3DS controllers to connect to the console so I can play with my
3DS friends with the portable device and the dock.

------
norea-armozel
I read somewhere it seems the Switch won't be region locked which is very
interesting. I wonder if Nintendo is cutting the initial 3rd party devs a deal
on the new cartridges then (considering they'll likely be still more expensive
than your standard Bluray DVD).

------
microcolonel
Here's the link to the video on YouTube, I tried to load the linked page about
12 times and it failed each time, turns out the video is on YouTube anyway.

[https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI](https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI)

------
idealpersona
Skyrim was released almost 5 years ago, yet an updated version of it is used
to advertise the capabilities of a next-generation console. It's really
disappointing to see the amount of recycling in entertainment in the past 10
years. More disappointing that people eat it up.

Also, the entire selling point is being mobile crossover. That seems like a
great secondary feature, but alone... that's it? Where is the imagination that
brought us the Wii?

I can only hope Nintendo attracts enough development to make interesting
(perhaps Pokemon Go-influenced) unique crossover use cases, beyond just
playing the same game the same way on a TV and at the airport.

~~~
thom
Skyrim being there was a very powerful signal to me. I've played RPGs since
the 80s, and almost exclusively done it on PCs and Xboxes. I've never had any
interest in Japanese games or hardware. The fact that I could now play Skyrim
on a bus is cool, but the implication here is much wider, whether or not it's
a flagship launch title.

------
apricot13
I'm so excited for this, I've (eventually) owned every nintendo
console/handheld (I'm looking at you badly marketed WiiU).

I really hope they fix some of the issues with the eShop - it needs work, but
its improved a lot!

What happens when you lose the right part of the controller? can you buy them
individually or do I need a whole new pad?

If my screen gets scratched - can I just replace the screen section?

What happens to my save data - if my bag gets damaged/stolen, will I lose all
my save data or is backed up in the cloud/the switch device?

will it come in different colours - I like that the 3ds is so customisable!

------
white-flame
No touch controls or motion controls in sight! I think they'd ultimately be
incompatible with this anyway.

You can't have good local portable multiplayer if one player always has their
fingers on the screen, blocking the other's view.

Motion would be very haphazard, due to all the usage styles. Where would the
motion sensors go? If it's part of the tablet, you can't play while docked to
your TV. If it's part of the joycons, you'd probably have to remove them to
play some games, which would be again annoying if it's docked. If the pro
controller has motion controls as well, some games requiring both joycons
wouldn't bother using it. You'd have to have at least 4 sets of motion
controls across the parts for it to work ubiquitously.

All in all, it makes a lot of sense that we might not see those 2 clunky
features returning, which is great.

But all the bits (dock, tablet, 2 joycons, joycon mounting stump, pro
controller) is a bit too clap-trap for me. I had used Wii Fit for a while on
someone else's Wii and liked it, so I got a Wii U version. The addition of the
touchscreen plus wiimotes in the Wii U made it a mess of always picking up and
putting down things, which was super annoying. Having fewer input schemes, and
using them well, would be preferable, in my opinion.

------
calferreira
Is it just me or the console mechanism looks fragile ? If you keep pulling and
putting the side remotes, it looks like it might break in the future.

Also, it will be quite the challenge for nintendo to gain momentum with the
handheld part of the console. Everyone plays on phones and tablets these days,
so i don't see much incentive on that part.

They should've stalled pokemon go and launched it with the new console.

That would create a massive demand for the new console.

~~~
jedimastert
> Also, it will be quite the challenge for nintendo to gain momentum with the
> handheld part of the console.

They're also the only company in the handheld market right now, with a
surprising amount of sales, (even with the 2DS), so they don't really have to
gain momentum as much as keep it.

I think putting their next handheld and console in the same basket means
massive sales, especially for one side or the other that hasn't really crossed
over yet. It's gonna be really interesting, and I'm pretty curious to see it
in real life.

------
finstell
Am I the only one who found it funny that people, all dressed up, playing a
basketball game on the device right in front of a basketball field?

~~~
namiller2
What's a basketball field?

~~~
lewisl9029
It's where they place the basketball rings.

------
FullMtlAlcoholc
This looks like a very well designed console and I appreciate that Nintendo
takes chances does try to offer something different with each console release.

The crucial element that is going to determine whether I purchase this or not
is will it support location-based gaming? Touchscreens, gyros, and cameras
aren't necessary, but location based-gaming and the spontaneous, real-world
social interactions it generates was the only reason I played Pokemon GO. I do
understand that designing games with this in mind and making it fun for all
players is a difficult if not impossible problem to solve for those who don't
live in dense urban areas

I'm also disappointed that Nintendo isn't developing for VR yet. While I
respect them for not following the herd, if any developer is going to lay the
foundational design patterns for VR gaming, it's Nintendo. Mario 64 and Zelda:
Ocarina of time did this for 3D.

It'll be interesting to see if this becomes more than a gimmick.

------
gwbas1c
I like how they emphasize that the Switch uses a standard headphone jack.

------
candl
Hopefully the docking station provides additional CPU/GPU power, otherwise
this would be no different to a PS Vita.

~~~
loulouxiv
Since at multiple times the video shows you can walk away with the console
with the game still running, I don't think the dock will do anything more than
charging/HDMI

~~~
Roboprog
Maybe it's a heat sink, too.

------
GrumpyYoungMan
Looks intriguing, although, as always, it boils down to what games will be
available. I'll reserve judgement until we hear more about them.

In handheld mode, one wonders if they were able to keep parity with the
battery life and the touchscreen capability that the DS/3DS had. Losing those
would be a significant minus.

------
jacobmischka
This is a good idea and seems well-executed. While still essentially a
gimmick, the portability is a much better and more useful gimmick than the
Wii's motion controls or the Wii U's touchscreen controller. It seems to get
in the way of gaming much less than those did.

Unfortunately, while it's a rather good gimmick, it seems like Nintendo is
repeating its usual mistake of sacrificing gaming power for it. Releasing a
device with a 720p screen in 2016 is almost as bad as releasing a device with
a 400x240 screen in 2011, in my opinion.

Nintendo has a very bad habit of making devices that compete with the previous
generation of its competitors' devices instead of the next one.

------
daodedickinson
I dunno... I never play games except at home now, so there's nothing
interesting here for me. It's just gonna come down to whether I want to play
Smash / Mario Kart / Mario, like it pretty much has since the GameCube.

~~~
mentos
Heh this is how I feel, Nintendo Switch is the on the go gaming system for the
generation that doesnt leave home

~~~
daodedickinson
I mean, back in 2002 I bought a power converter once so I could hook up my
small CRT and GameCube and play Wind Waker in the back of our truck on a 10
hour road trip so I understand the appeal, just commenting that it's not
longer there for me.

------
anotheryou
What is so big in the dock? Speakers (not really needed with hdmi TVs, no?)?

Also an interesting decision to cover the docked screen (probably to keep 100%
compatibility to the single mobile screen and not waste resources while
powering the big screen).

~~~
mbreese
Power supply for charging? Wired ethernet port? (doubtful) Maybe a hard drive
for local game storage? Discrete/external GPU for pushing more pixels? I doubt
4K, but its possible... also, the portable screen might not be 1080.

I'm sure we'll learn more over the next 6 months... but there's a lot of
things you could do with a dock like that.

------
joeax
Anybody have any info on how the Switch will be backwards compatible with Wii
U discs (i.e. a portable drive perhaps), and 3DS cartridges? I have a stack of
Wii U games that hopefully will still be playable.

~~~
ben174
Since all Wii U games are available as digital downloads, I'd expect that's
the only compatibility you're going to get. They _might_ have some kind of
trade-in-your-disc-for-a-digital-download offering, but I seriously doubt it.
It would be very un-Nintendo of them.

------
wodenokoto
The way the switch controller can be used as 1 full controller or two mini
controllers is brilliant.

However, it looks as big as an iPad mini. So logging it around, I might
actually want it to have tablet functions too.

~~~
Pxtl
Nintendo is always firmly in the gaming market - they're quite stubborn about
it. I don't expect it will ever be useful as a general-purpose tablet other
than supporting Netflix.

Hopefully as the technology develops in a couple of years we'll see a Switch
Mini to take the place of the NDS, so at least it will be small-enough to lug
around easily.

~~~
cableshaft
Maybe we'll get another Mario Paint, though. That's all you really need.

------
ericzawo
This looks amazing, and the fact they got Skyrim in the trailer is a great
promise of its graphical prowess. I just hope they take online gaming
seriously this generation.

~~~
eropple
_> the fact they got Skyrim in the trailer is a great promise of its graphical
prowess_

Skyrim is a five-year-old game at this point. It's not exactly an indication
of graphical horsepower.

~~~
norea-armozel
It's likely the Special Edition Skyrim release which uses Fallout 4's engine.

~~~
paulmd
All of the TES and FO3/4 games have been using the same engine since Oblivion.
Bethesda now calls their internal build of GameBryo "Creation Engine" but it's
very much the same thing. I think you can actually still pull "GameBryo" out
of the EXE using the Unix `strings` util, and you can definitely see it from
the game data.

So "ported to the FO4 engine" doesn't really mean much. It's like saying that
Half-Life 2 has been ported to CS:GO's engine. Yeah, it's a more modern build
of the engine but it's still the same engine and it's not going to look or run
drastically different unless the assets are also revamped at the same time.

Also, my personal opinion (from the outside) is that Bethesda doesn't seem to
have done a good job maintaining their codebase. Fallout 4 still doesn't
really look any better than Skyrim (the facial animations are especially
terrible), it's quirky/buggy as hell (framerate-locked physics in 2016?) and
it runs like shit even on high-end machines. An engine from a game released in
2006 shouldn't struggle to hold 50 fps at 1440p on a 780 Ti. TF2 gets slagged
on a lot for its shitty codebase but it's nowhere near that bad.

~~~
norea-armozel
I must be lucky because I never had issues with FO4 on my PC even with the
crazy mods I've added.

~~~
paulmd
I did the same in FO3. Decent but not outstanding games on their own but
really great once the modders get going. I really like loot-driven games with
more realistic gun physics (more damage taken/given, high accuracy, etc). The
base FO4's weapon/armor mod system is doing much better for me than FO3 did
but I still am pining for variety. I've been meaning to restart FO4 with some
mods.

The performance issues were really terrible at launch. It's somewhat better
now but it really prefers current-gen hardware and running from an SSD. It's
really sensitive to memory bandwidth too.

~~~
norea-armozel
The thing that killed my interest in FO4 is the lackluster story. I don't mind
the whole setup but it felt they never built up the story enough to make it
comparison to New Vegas' endings which I felt were more interesting. It always
seems Bethesda fumbles with lore in their games more than anything.

------
okonomiyaki3000
I'm not a gamer but it looks pretty innovative. I wonder about the strategy of
announcing 2 months before Christmas and launching 3 months after though.

~~~
josho
That's a smart strategy.

Lots of consoles are going to be sold this xmas, so Nintendo announcing now
may help hold people off from switching to msft/sony.

The only better strategy would have been an Xmas launch, a spring launch means
they aimed for xmas but the schedule slipped.

------
chenster
Is it like a Wii U flipped? It's awfully resemble Gamevice controller for iPad
- [https://gamevice.com](https://gamevice.com) \- except it's also an iPad,
which is as big as 12 inches! How does Switch gets its content, by download,
or old-fashion cartridge (I'm totally cool with that). And lastly, the battery
lasts how long??

------
nilkn
This actually looks amazing. I haven't bought a game console in a while and
have in fact been actively avoiding them in favor of PC gaming and Steam,
especially now that we've got the Steam Link and Steam Controller. However,
this has enough value add that I could totally see myself buying this. This
might just be the best thing I've seen from Nintendo in a long time.

------
Jamieee
Is this an upgrade for the 3DS, the Wii U or both? I was looking at picking up
a couple of the new 3DS, doesn't seem worthwhile now.

~~~
bananicorn
To me this seems like an entirely new console, actually. I wonder if this is
the "Nintendo NX" they were talking about or if that was only the codename for
this project...

~~~
Jamieee
So you don't see it as a replacement to either line? You think nintendo will
continue to develop and maintain all three?

~~~
rocky1138
It's a replacement for the Wii U, certainly.

The 3DS remains to be seen.

------
cmrdporcupine
The "Switch" appears to mean many things, but also a "Switch" (for their non-
gameboy/DS systems) to the ARM platform and a break from the PowerPC-based
systems of the past.

Which means breaking compatibility, but certainly makes it possible for them
to lower costs reduce power consumption and iterate more quickly.

------
SZJX
I pretty much doubt the graphics quality could be that nice as shown in the
demo while maintaining excellent battery power. Guess the final graphics won't
be that much better than PS Vita. Still, looks like a really exciting concept
so am really looking forward to the release and would like to see how it goes.

------
justicezyx
I personally feel this is going to be mediocre at best: 1\. Limited appealing
to main stream consumers 2\. Awkward physical spec, tablet's down fall pretty
much proved that how big a mobile device should be 3\. No one would want to
write games for this...

~~~
PrimHelios
I disagree completely with your second and third points. Look how well the New
3DS XL is doing, the Switch seems to be about the same size.

Nobody _needs_ to write games for it, it already runs Unreal, Unity, and the
creation engine, which covers about 90% of the AAA games on the market right
now.

------
technologia
I wonder if the Tegra X2 in here would be at all able to use any other
nintendo devices as an external gpu since they no include the pascal
architecture. For example possibly using the new nintendo nx with the switch
somehow. Just a thought.

~~~
kodt
The Switch is the NX. NX was just the code name, now it has been revealed.

------
SadWebDeveloper
I didn't get it... is it a handheld or a phone/tablet device? my question
whatever it would replace my phone or just be another device on my backpack
like the iPad, Laptop and tons of extra chargers, i carry to almost
everywhere?

~~~
kodt
Seems to be a gaming device and not a tablet or phone replacement.

I would say with 100% confidence there is no way it would replace your phone.

And I would say with 90% confidence it will not replace a tablet. It may have
a web browser, YouTube, Netflix, and a few token apps but don't expect full
Android or anything. I could be wrong of course.

------
r-w
What happens if multiple people from the same household want to use local
multiplayer on different screens? That's the only case where the one-to-one
relationship between console and portable screen breaks down.

------
beernutz
Does anyone else think the controller stick on the right looks like a problem?
I can't help thinking that I will keep bumping the analog stick if I attempt
to use my thumb to press the buttons at the top.

------
aikah
At the end of the day it's not about the console, but the games running on it.
Not going to buy this if the only thing I can play on it is Mario or Zelda. I
wish Nintendo a lot of success though.

------
s3r3nity
This might be a dumb question, but can someone elaborate on how you can get
such good graphics like they were showing in the Skyrim and Zelda images on
such a small cartridge (i.e. not a disc?)

~~~
tuccinator
My thoughts are that the small cartridge is relative to an SD card, or a USB
flash drive. The reasons other companies don't use them is because they are
expensive to use unlike discs. The speed of the cartridges are faster than
discs as well.

~~~
ThatGeoGuy
IIRC this is basically the same way the PS Vita handles it. Although in that
case you can definitely smell something fishy with the way those "custom" save
cards are priced. It's only a tiny bit larger than a MicroSD card and has 1/2
the capacity of one? But twice the price?

Hopefully the cartridge usage in the Switch doesn't drive prices up too much
because of it. I get that production is more expensive, but after a certain
point there are definitely some questions about why standard flash storage
solutions aren't good enough.

------
Someone
[https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/20/switch-is-nintendos-
next...](https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/20/switch-is-nintendos-next-game-
console/): _" The Switch will be released worldwide in March 2017."_

Can I interpret that as "we missed the holiday season, and pre-announce this
because we think its Osborne-effect
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect))
will be smaller than its effect on the sales numbers of our competitors?

------
chejazi
Exciting product. Criticism: the detachable controllers don't appear very
ergonomic. They are small in size and the detaching mechanism look looks
somewhat flimsy.

~~~
djhworld
It looks like they're offering a more traditional gamepad style controller,
like the Wii Classic Controller

~~~
eridius
It's called the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, and if you want to compare it
to previous controllers, you should compare it to the Wii U Pro Controller
(which is actually one of my favorite controllers).

------
MollyR
This reminds me of the nvidia shield tablet but done right.

------
djhworld
Light on details, outside of the association with nvidia there's still a lot
of questions that need answering

Saying that though, I am almost certainly going to get one.

------
xwvvvvwx
Seems like it will be a challenge to build games that are compelling on both a
large screen while seated in your living room and on a small screen when
you're out and about (from both a UX and gameplay perspective).

With that said it's a smart move to use the same controller for both use
cases.

Overall looks pretty slick, interested to see how this plays out.

~~~
blkhp19
Why? It would just scale to the display size.

------
sergiotapia
Day 1 purchase for me. I want one for the car so my kids can play Mario Kart
in the back.

------
rebootthesystem
It's interesting to me to watch a video about a new gaming platform and have
that video show me all the ways in which said platform will destroy nearly all
forms of real human interaction with others, reducing us to unthinking drones
looking at screens moving little virtual characters around while our brains
whittle away.

This is the problem with the gaming industry. It's the equivalent of very
smart engineers using their skills on the web to find ever more effective ways
to make people click on ads. It's such a waste of human talent.

Gaming is different but not really. Most of the popular games have no real
redeeming qualities. They are black holes into which youth can get sucked
into, burn hours, days and years and, in extreme cases, ruin their lives.
This, I think, is despicable.

If you want to do well in gaming you have to use your skills to find ways to
create addictive games that shift a person into a Pavlovian state where they
want more, they keep clicking the buttons and, eventually, they send you
money. This has certainly been proven by the iOS space. Games like "Clash of
Clans" is one of many examples of this.

Getting truly creative to find ways for people to engage with more intelligent
and useful activities is very, very difficult. And so, to usurp part of a
phrase that paints an amazing image...when they go low, we go lower.

I have long been disenchanted with what the gaming industry has done to kids.
It's making money at the expense of their brains and emotions. It's selling
drugs in digital form.

I didn't used to think this way until I saw the effect on my own kids. To make
a long story short, my two little ones started to lie to us and play a couple
of these addictive games on their iPods.

We have a simple rule at our house: On Saturday's you can play the available
games for a couple of hours. The rest of the week play with legos, go outside,
play with the dogs, etc.

This worked very well for many years (almost 18 to be precise). In fact, in a
lot of cases they'd play less than two hours because they'd get sick of it and
prefer to go for physical play.

Until a couple of games surfaced. And they, like evolved bacteria, became
immune to the mechanism that made my kids decide to stop playing. Soon we
would discover them playing the games in secret under their blankets at 11 at
night instead of sleeping. Warnings did not work. And, after a couple of them
we took the iPads and iPods away. They had become destructive devices rather
than the opposite.

My kids were lying to me in a manner which I would imagine was no different
than kids lying about taking drugs.

They've been off the iOS devices and these games for a year. They get their
devices back in January. Cleared of all the addictive games. We'll see what
happens.

So, yeah, I look at a video like the one for the Switch and immediately
imagine how many lives it will destroy if used as portrayed.

~~~
mercer
I share your feelings when it comes to many games, but I don't think it
generally applies to Nintendo.

The problem is that the word 'game' is too vague. Nobody would think to put
'viral videos' and 'Tarantino\'s latest film' in the same pile (except perhaps
those who really dislike Tarantino), and yet that's what we do with gaming.

Some games were as good as some of the best novels I've read (Planescape
Torment, Thief, System Shock). Some multiplayer games left me with friends for
life (UT, Quake, Halo). Some games offered a creative outlet just as rewarding
as the Lego or tin soldiers I had growing up (Minecraft, Neverwinter Nights
level creation, Chip's Challenge), and some games actually tricked me into
learning interesting things (Assassin's Creed 2, Civilization, etc.)

I'm not a parent, but if I had kids I'd probably limit their gaming too, but
I'd put way more emphasis on controlling the _kind_ of games they played. Cow
Clickers (or most MMORPGS)? Not so much. Minecraft with coding mods? Hell yes!

All that said, if you'd be making an argument against sitting inside and media
consumption in general, I'd probably agree a little more. There is still
something fundamentally different about playing outside and interacting with
other kids directly, and I hope I can make my kids do that instead of just
staring at screens all day.

~~~
rebootthesystem
Of course, there are no absolutes. There are good games out there that, with
moderation, do no harm. That's what I tell my kids. It's not that I don't want
them to play. They need to have fun and some of these games are fun. It's
about moderation.

Here's reality, it is well documented that gaming addition is hard for adults
to kick. There are stories of people wasting years of their lives on this
stuff. Young kids don't have any self moderation skills whatsoever other than
physical exhaustion. Addictive games are a perfect match for young one's.

I wish I had taken videos of my kids lying about their "use". The look on
their faces was that of addicts. Nothing less, nothing more. You could tell a
mile away they were in denial and their little brains just wanted more drugs.
Dangerous stuff.

------
fiatjaf
Multiplayer solved in all the ways possible.

------
Waterluvian
I feel like it will be mediocre at both living room and mobile gaming.

How can it possibly be powerful enough to attract third party developers?

Doesn't this compete with 3DS?

~~~
cmrdporcupine
I actually think you're quite wrong.

My NVIDIA Shield Android TV box is Tegra based, and it drives 4k games pretty
darn decent. It's no PS4 but I don't need that (and PS4 can't do 4k games) and
you don't need that to run good (non-VR) games. And Nintendo is apparently
using their own custom Tegra SoC so it's likely a step above the couple year
old Tegra that is in the Shield.

Also the promo video shows Skyrim being played on it. Whether it's real
footage or not, I don't know, but it doesn't look bad at all, and requires
some decent GPU heft.

And if they're smart about this the switch to an ARM SoC means they'll be able
to iterate more quickly and produce new higher spec'd or cheaper models to
follow up and keep market, like they should have done with the Wii.

~~~
Waterluvian
Thanks for sharing. Maybe my perception of what mobile-sized hardware can do
is out-of-date.

------
sebringj
Might be a good time to buy Nintendo stock.

~~~
sebringj
I went all in with Nintendo's Wii offering after watching the Japanese
commercials and made a nice chunk of change. The Wii was a game changer at the
time and I get the same happy tingly feeling offering on this as well.
Nintendo innovated again in the completely sideways manner we are used to,
bucking the VR roadmap.

------
eganist
[https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI](https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI)

Direct link to the trailer video

~~~
ianai
Only way I could get it on hotel wifi (bad connection). Thanks!

------
Tiktaalik
Weird. Was the thread title edited? "Switch – New Video Game System [video]."
I'm pretty sure everyone knows who Nintendo is and it's more descriptive to
say that in the title.

------
dingo_bat
I most excited by the prospect that this supports local WLAN multiplayer. At
least that's what it looks like in the video.

------
questionr
[https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI](https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI)

------
dysfunctor
Is Nintendo making a big mistake by missing Christmas with this thing?

~~~
nkassis
I wonder if it really matters in year one for a nintendo console given they
will probably struggle to push out enough to meet just standard demand anyway.

------
LargeCompanies
I don't get it... what is exciting about a GameCube/iPad hybrid?

Why not create a VR/AR console hybrid that lets you create things at home and
then experience them in the real world... digitally graffiti your town at home
then go out and check out your art work and or messages? Maybe that's an app
already... leave your friends messages in certain locations seen via an AR
app?

~~~
city41
That's just not Nintendo's style. They pretty much always shun new tech and
instead prefer to use established tech in new ways.

And yes the 3DS has some minor AR, but that was just a tiny little
gimmick/experiment.

~~~
ChrisClark
Well, except for the Virtual Boy, and we all know how well that went. In fact,
that could be the reason they don't do that anymore.

------
jmcdiesel
So instead of a portable screen/controller like the WiiU that's separate from
the main machine - the main machine IS the portable part that could easily be
dropped/broken, now? Or am I missing something?

Im failing to see how this design is superior to the Wii U's approach

~~~
scrabble
You can't take the Wii U tablet with you. It's not the core of the system.
This allows Nintendo to combine their console and handheld divisions so that
they can unify their focus and have a steady stream of software, even if third
parties don't show up.

~~~
jmcdiesel
Ok, Fair enough... I guess I just looked at the size and didn't get to "mobile
device" to take with you... so I just missed the point completely.. :)

------
shmerl
If Nintendo will support Vulkan on Switch, that would be good.

This looks more interesting though:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smachteam/smach-z-
the-h...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smachteam/smach-z-the-handheld-
gaming-pc)

And it's supposed to run Linux. Recent AMD GPU means it will work with
amdgpu/radeonsi for OpenGL and radv for Vulkan eventually.

However after disastrous Jolla tablet crowdfunding, I'm not so eager to back
hardware campaigns anymore. But I'll surely buy such device if they'll pull
off making them in the end.

