On January 12, 2017, Nintendo held a presentation to the public revealing the details on their newest console, the Nintendo Switch, to the masses. The entire conference/presentation can be viewed in its entirety below. I'm going to offer my thoughts and reactions to what was shown off here from our friends at Nintendo.
My Thoughts:
On Hardware
For some reason, I thought Nintendo was going to announce a $500 price tag at launch, but after the lukewarm reception of the Wii U, I should have known that they were going to price another console around that range when both the PS4 and XB1 are in the $250-$400 range. The $300 price tag is more than reasonable and affordable for a lot of people with tax return season coming around the corner in the US.
Just looking at the visuals on this console, I have to say that I'm not really impressed in the least. Zelda: Breath of the Wild has to be their most visually appealing title just from the artstyle alone, but Mario Odyssey and ARMS seems to be pushing the hardware as well. I'm skeptical that the performance will maintain a steady output, especially in portable mode away from its main docking station.
I don't know if people have see the price listings on retailers online, but controllers for the Switch are going to be expensive as a single game for current gen titles on PS4/XB1. The Pro Switch controller retails for $80+, the replacement/extra Joy-Pads will cost you $50 each with an additional $30 to $45 if you buy the docking station and protective casings for them. So yeah, another $80-95 more on that $300 price tag if you want spare controllers. Boy, if you have children that's going to be wrap if they take that thing to school and someone steals the tablet and Joy-Pad(s) or break one. (Whistles) Those things look more fragile than ANYTHING that came with the damn Wii and Wii U.
That would end quicker than Riley fighting Butch Magnus on The Boondocks if some random bully wanted to take that thing from you.
On Games
Suda51 confirmed that the protagonist of No More Heroes, Travis Touchdown, shall return in an undisclosed title for the Switch. He was rambling about indie gaming, so I don't know what that is going to have to do with anything. Just confirm No More Heroes 3, dammit!
Xenoblade 2 was shown off. I'm surprised that's not a launch title but with that, Fire Emblem, and Shin Migemi Tensin on the Switch it looks like they are trying to lure in the JRPG gamers for sure. Nintendo lost a lot of that fanbase going back as far as the transition from the SNES to the N64 (hence why Final Fantasy VII went to Sony's PlayStation console instead of the N64) and it looks like they are trying to get back into fans' good graces.
Ultra Street Fighter II was announced by Capcom in post-event feed and confirms that Evil Ryu and Violent Ken (normally only playable in CvS2 if memory serves...) are playable characters. It looks like an update to Street Fighter II HD Remix to me. If so, a lot of old school fans will love this. Capcom might want to be careful as if this has fight stick support then they could see players abandoning Street Fighter V in favor to this since the community isn't exactly crazy about the changes they are implementing in SFV Season 2.
ARMS looks like Punch-Out!! crossed with One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy. If Luffy isn't a guest fighter or DLC of some kind then I'm going to be disappointed. That game looks pretty damn sweet. I would love to see a tournament of that at EVO next year. Ironically enough, it's one of the poll options for the last spot/fans' choice for EVO this year.
Splatoon 2 I really didn't get "hype" for. It looks fun but I never really played the original so I really don't care to see a sequel. I'm all for a non-violent FPS for kids to enjoy with their own age group instead of trying to curse at adults on Halo and Call of Duty (laughs)... Still if that's your cup of tea, then by all means enjoy yourself.
Super Mario Odyssey reminded me of that episode of the Simpsons where 3D Homer was stuck in the real world. I hope this doesn't end up as facepalm-worthy as those 3D Sonic games where they had him interacting with normal humans and such. And what the hell is this with Bowser trying to marry Princess Peach? Thirty years and he's still dead set on trying to take Mario's girl? Regardless of all of that, the game looks simply amazing. Glad to see Mario get another 3D sandbox outing like Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64.
Nintendo saved the best for last, revealing that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be a launch title for the console.
As amazing as this trailer was, it's sad that this is the best that Nintendo has to offer in terms of a launch title for the Switch in March. Pretty much it's going to be the ONLY title releasing at launch with little to next to nothing coming out until later in the year. It wasn't revealed until AFTER this announcement that the title will be available on both the Switch AND the Wii U. The Switch version won't have any other extra content over the Wii U version outside of better visual quality. So much for a system seller there...
For me, I don't think it's worth it. I still have potentially 2-3 more Zelda games to go through before tackling this one so it'll be worth the wait (Currently streaming Twilight Princess with possibly Wind Waker and Skyward Sword to follow afterwards), so I don't have to jump out and buy this one at launch. Besides, if Breath of the Wild is the only thing that is going to be available at launch, then why bother? It would benefit everyone if they just wait later down road when there's a healthy selection of games available for purchase.
At the same time, I feel that Nintendo is going to handle this release the same as the Amiibos, original Wii, and NES Classic and end up having extremely short units available just to create this false sense of high demand for the product. I still don't have a NES Classic that like I would want for the nostalgia and I honestly don't feel like being caught up into that debacle. I stood with friends hunting down Amiibos and the original Wii units like madmen, when years later I got a slightly used Wii for $7 that works like a dream. Yeah, I don't see any rush to jump out to get this console YET. I'm not saying there's not anything good here, but it seems like Nintendo are just trying to jump the gun before E3 this spring/summer with more incentives to get a Scorpio or PlayStation 4 Pro are on the table.
The Verdict?
For me, I don't think it's worth it. I still have potentially 2-3 more Zelda games to go through before tackling this one so it'll be worth the wait (Currently streaming Twilight Princess with possibly Wind Waker and Skyward Sword to follow afterwards), so I don't have to jump out and buy this one at launch. Besides, if Breath of the Wild is the only thing that is going to be available at launch, then why bother? It would benefit everyone if they just wait later down road when there's a healthy selection of games available for purchase.
At the same time, I feel that Nintendo is going to handle this release the same as the Amiibos, original Wii, and NES Classic and end up having extremely short units available just to create this false sense of high demand for the product. I still don't have a NES Classic that like I would want for the nostalgia and I honestly don't feel like being caught up into that debacle. I stood with friends hunting down Amiibos and the original Wii units like madmen, when years later I got a slightly used Wii for $7 that works like a dream. Yeah, I don't see any rush to jump out to get this console YET. I'm not saying there's not anything good here, but it seems like Nintendo are just trying to jump the gun before E3 this spring/summer with more incentives to get a Scorpio or PlayStation 4 Pro are on the table.
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