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Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Grand Reveal of the Nintendo Switch (Formerly NX)

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I... really am at a loss for words on this.

This may be the most pressing and relevant embedded-YouTube-video-then-react article in the past quarter for KoopaTV! For many months, people have incessantly been demanding news from Nintendo about the Nintendo NX, demeaning any other announcement from the company as irrelevant. 

Personally, I'm still satisfied by my 3DS and Wii U, so I never understood why people got so worked up over the lack of official NX news.

Well, WAIT NO LONGER. Nintendo has finally announced the identity of the Nintendo NX, now called the Nintendo Switch! Here is the official press release, and here is their OFFICIAL DEBUT TRAILER:



(I recommend reading the press release first, or you'll be like me and have no idea what the hell is going on.)

Now that I've watched the trailer, read the press release, and then watched the trailer again while making notes, here are my official first impressions about the Nintendo Switch! 

First of all, it's important to differentiate between the different parts. I've made this diagram explaining them:

Nintendo Switch NX Joy-Con controller accessory Pro Dock Grip explanation infographic
Identifying the many Nintendo Switch parts, and when they're used.

The name of the game here is flexibility. Do you want a home console experience in front of a television? You got it. You want to take your HD experiences on the go with you? You got that too. There are buzzwords going on in the technology industry formed by putting the prefix “omni-” (all) before a word, like omnichannel. Essentially, it's the customer that chooses their own destiny, their own journey, of how and where to experience the product. And it's up to the company to have the same consistent experience at every possible channel.

Personally, I don't really care about being able to take Joy-Cons (the name of those sound like a brand of cheap Chinese bootleg vibrators) off and giving them to other people. I don't want people to take my controllers and put their Doritos-smudged fingers on them. I'm wondering, in the circumstance that a friend brings their Nintendo Switch to your house, and takes off their Joy-Cons... and you have your Nintendo Switch and take off your Joy-Cons... if the Joy-Cons are interchangeable so that friend leaves your house with your Joy-Cons on their Nintendo Switch and you'll never know the difference because somewhere in that process, you lost track of which Joy-Cons belong to which Nintendo Switch.


Nintendo Switch basketball player fan jock on table high five
You think this idiot jock who is sitting on the table and is going to knock over the Nintendo Switch with his ass is concerned about returning the Joy-Con to the correct Nintendo Switch system?

...I'm also wondering what happens to Miiverse.

The quick-and-dirty interpretation of the Nintendo Switch is that it will be a replacement for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, and the historically separate console and handheld line of products will merge into this one product. That's not confirmed by Nintendo or anything, but it's hard to see how Nintendo is going to come out and convince anyone to buy a 4DS or whatever when they can get a Nintendo Switch and it'll be portable anyway.

...Unless the new handheld line will be telling people to buy Apple iPhones, and they get a kickback.

Is the Nintendo Switch suddenly going to be this super social console that Nintendo is portraying? I doubt it.

King Boo Mario Kart Nintendo Switch trailer
King Boo is overjoyed that he's appearing in a Mario Kart game, even if it's unofficial!
He made his debut in Mario Kart: Double-Dash!!, which is where the course is from, and the concept of two items is from.

There is a lot of third-party developer interest in the Nintendo Switch, and a lot of smaller developers are also interested in the challenge of developing for it. (These are the same developers that avoided the Wii U.) I'm particularly interested in Grasshopper Manufacture being on Nintendo's list, because that might mean No More Heroes 3!

There are many details we do not know about the system, such as pricing and some of the exact features of the controller and the console. Those will be revealed in due time, according to Nintendo. I'm wondering, given all of the Mario Kart: Double-Dash!! references in the above screenshot, if the Switch will have a GameCube Virtual Console.

By the way, people are totally going to make fun of the system by rhyming “Switch” with certain less-than-flattering terms. Mark my words.


Ludwig is still satisfied with owning a 3DS and a Wii U, and never engaged with the rumours that have been plaguing the Nintendo NX for months. He's skeptical due to lack of information, not because he believes Nintendo's vision is incompatible with delivering an excellent product. You should Follow him on Miiverse at PrinceOfKoopas before it closes. Or, at least, before the end of the year.


The NX/Switch is still coming out March 2017, so anyone expecting a delay is wrong. 
You can anticipate playing Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest XI on the Nintendo Switch. 
For what it's worth, we know that Ubisoft's support includes Just Dance 2017.
It appears that the Nintendo Switch will return to using cartridges, which is great!
Just a quick reminder not to assume the games shown in the trailer will actually be real games. See the Wii U's unveiling trailer trailer for an example.
Somehow, people had to have gaming journalists tell them that the Nintendo Switch won't accept Wii U discs.
Ludwig has an epiphany about what earlier Nintendo product the Nintendo Switch reminds him of!
The Nintendo Switch has a presentation dedicated to it in early January 2017, with much more details. Including No More Heroes 3!
Miiverse won't be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
The Super Mario game shown in this trailer is Super Mario Odyssey!
The Nintendo Switch has launched to the world. You're lucky to get one at launch.
Ludwig finally bought a Nintendo Switch, and gives feedback on all of its parts here.

10 comments :

  1. Meanwhile Splatoon Switch edition has tentacle styles and pants? Now we know Nintendo may be open to listening to awful ideas if they listened to that.

    *sigh* Boys vs Girls Splatfest here we come. It's a disaster to make that a reality, whether you are a feminist or not. It won't end well.

    I don't think I would get back into a Splatoon sequel that easily until they figure out how to minimize squidpartiers/saboteurs, maybe make each ranked mode give a seperate rank (Splat Zones gives its own rank letter score, etc.) and made an overall average rank letter score, and maybe make Turf Wars have a rank score as well so newbs won't be overwhelmed by experts.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It's too early to figure out if such a disaster will take place. After all, it's not confirmed there will be a Splatoon on Nintendo Switch done like what they showed.

      Hey, don't knock on squid partiers!
      Turf Wars is already matchmaked based on level. The problem is that is overrided by the feature that allows Wii U friends to join into a room.

      Delete
  2. Switch it off, switch to another system, the name comes with easy ways to make fun of it even without rhymes. Still, at least it's not a confusing name.

    I'll be writing up my full thoughts today.

    I kind of hope this doesn't replace Nintendo's handhelds, because while it IS portable, it looks much bigger than the 3DS.

    *clears throat* Also, I'm sure Dragon Quest fans appreciate you optimism, but so far only Japanese players can anticipate playing DQX and DQXI. XI seems likely for localization with how things have gone lately for the franchise, but X will be dependent on fans sending letters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rawk spoiled the name of the system for me when I logged into AIM but before I came to Nintendo's site with this:
      rawkhawk2010 (11:48:32 AM): they call it nintendo switch because once you see it you'll switch to a dreamcast

      I think if you take the Joy-Cons off and put those in one pocket, and put the Switch in another pocket, you could fit it. Maybe? Or get fanny packs back.

      I'm still convinced MOTHER 3 is coming out before the Wii U ends, by the way.

      Delete
    2. Mother 3 as a surprise last hurrah for the console?

      Delete
  3. Although the name may not the best, Switch is certainly is better than Wii U. The advertising has also vastly improved since then. Just compare the Switch's reveal trailer to the Wii U's and you can see how far along Nintendo has come along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg

    The Wii U was marketed as an extra controller and not an entirely new system. This is partially why the system didn't sell right off the bat. The Switch, on the other hand, is shown to be a new hybrid console from Nintendo. The variety of games shown including Skyrim: Remastered also entices others who would not normally play on Nintendo consoles to pick up the Switch because third party support will be there. So far, Nintendo has done a great job at marketing the system.

    Only time will tell how successful this console will be. From everything that has been revealed so far, I cannot wait to pick it up whenever I have enough money for it. Until then, I still have a backlog of Wii U games to finish before I make the Switch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I take an issue with your comment. You said the Wii U was marketed as an extra controller. That's not how Nintendo themselves tried to market it, but it is how the mainstream media talked about it.
      Nintendo made stuff like this, although a year late:
      http://www.tqcast.com/2013/11/06/wii-u-finally-gets-the-comparison-it-needs-to-dominate/

      When it was released, they had a video of someone remarking about the HD graphical upgrade. A controller can't do that! (They also had someone say whoever came up with the Gamepad idea is a genius, so...)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCi-9qu4bD0

      But yeah, I'm happy they're off of the Wii brand.

      Delete
  4. Putting it in your pocket would be like trying to put a current tablet tablet in your pocket, from what I can tell. Not feasible, or not at all comfortable if you manage to somehow pull it off, in my opinion.

    One thing: King Boo was a playable character in Mario Kart Wii too, not just Double Dash.

    Nice diagram too, haha. No, really, it gets the point across.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Backpacks it is.

      ...oh. You're right about the King Boo point.
      I confess that I never actually unlocked all of the characters in Mario Kart Wii, but that's on the Dry Bowser end. I probably unlocked King Boo. ...Sorry, I'll change the caption for accuracy.

      Thank you. :)

      Delete

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