Ohhhhhhhhhh Nintendo what has become of you.
I had such high hopes for the new console, but again ya just had to shoot yourself in the foot as you seem to love to do of late. I am going to start with a positive, there was no Muppets this time, but seriously the release date, was unexpected. I don't think anyone had thought it would be but a mere 7 weeks or so from now. I honestly thought it would be later then that (it should have been later) but I will touch on that point later, so was a surprise the date for me at least and many on Twitter.
Another positive in theory they did have some third party devs appear on stage with them which I am hopeful will come to something in the coming year. That said though we all know this also happened when the Wii U was announced and we all know how that turned out. None of them committed to more then 1 game at this time for the most part, nor did they have any release dates. Another disconcerting thing was the fact most of the games will already have been out for over 1-2 yrs on other platforms. In the case of Skyrim it is a triple whammy as I see it, not only is it not the new remastered Skyrim, it had no release date and on top of that the game has been out for over 6 yrs.
I will addresse the fact a lot of friends saying " Yeah but you can play it on a portable device " Do you really want to play a game like Skyrim a massive sweeping epic game, known for it's panoramic vistas, huge modding community on sub 7" screen at 720p tops? It will have no mod support Nintendo I can not see allowing that to ever happen.
Ubisoft bringing Rayman legends thats cool and all but again it is over 3yrs old, now had it been a new Rayman game or a exclusive one then you have something. They announced a new Xenoblade game, all I can say is it better have a lot more content and be a hell of a lot more fun then the first one.
One highlight for many and I can see being a huge hit for them again is Splatoon 2, I can see that doing very well. The first game was a great hit for them and real popular with Twitch streamers and youtuber's. EA all they brought was FIFA like seriously, no PvZ, No Mass Effect, No Star Wars, FIFA???? Fifa while a hugely popular game there is no way I would play it with those joke Joy-Con controllers, which brings me to another point. What are you thinking Nintendo $80USD for a extra pair of controllers, $70USD for a Switch Pro controller, are you insane? or you just like pissing people off.
The emphasis on gimmicks like Motion control AGAIN!!!!! damn it Nintendo did you learn nothing from Xbox Kinects complete failure. People are not interested in Motion control anything unless it has to do with VR. Microsoft and others have tried to make it a thing and it just does not resonate with majority of gamers, enough with the damn gimmicks.
In the spirit of not turning this into a a novel will touch on just a cpl of more points, writing is difficult for me since my stroke.
Two of the big things where of course the new Legend of Zelda game, and a New Mario game, both fans have been itching for. I am going to come right out and say it No Mario Game at Launch is Unforgivable Having it in Christmas 2017 there is no excuse what so ever. On top of that who knows if it will release then, games are delayed all the time, and with no date who knows.
The Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild looked beautiful, all be it empty, but that maybe on purpose. I am sure they will host a launch day event and show it being far more alive, and it launches same day as the Switch. That also is the same day it releases for the Wii U, so in a sense you don't have a huge motivation as a parent o buy the Switch just because of Zelda. In Canada the Switch is a $400 console, if my kid already had a Wii U hell with buying it for the Switch just for one game. I'm sorry I know I won't be buying one day one I will just play it on my Friends Wii U.
Now as to the price, I am not shocked by it, I think it is a little high to be honest but it is not insane and is the high-end of expectations. The problem it is going to run into it is more expensive then either the PS4 or the Xbox one, systems which are far more powerful, with a full library. Not to mention the fact in 2017 Microsoft will be releasing the Scorpio which is understood to play all current Xbox one games. Sony will also be releasing Horizon Zero Dawn, probably God of War, The Last Of Us 2, huge sellers. On top of that they will all also have new Call of Duty games, probably Star Wars games, Battlefield game or expansions, plus FIFA, NHL, Madden and NBA2K games.
Last but not least the perephrial costs, Nintendo is out of their mind with them if most sane people will pay $70 for a Switch Pro Controller, supposedly the Wii U one wont work with Switch. The device only has 32GB of storage most new games install is 40-50GBs including patches. Yes it supports SD cards but again your asking me to pay more for your device then a PS4 with 500GB of storage. If you want to do couch co-op a spare pair of joy-cons are $80USD are you F'ing insane.
In the spirit if brevity I will not even go into the whole online service, need to use a smart device app to chat fiasco.
I really hope my feelings are dead wrong, I want Nintendo to succeed, more competition in the marketplace is a good thing for the consumer. For whatever reason Nintendo the past 5yrs gives me little to nothing to love about them, they are lost and I pray they find their way. Otherwise this is most likely their last console, and will become a Sega and just make games for everyone else. I would not be upset if that came to pass but would be a sorry end to one of the great innovators in gaming.
As always these are just my feelings and thoughts, I look forward to you sharing your own take on it all, and as I always close.
Play Nice together
David
