Official Nintendo Topic

[Rayfist]

With the Switch on the rise, I may as well just say (and I know a lot of people might feel indifferent here) these last few years of Nintendo have been some of the worst and I'm glad that the Wii U is finally ending, and not just because of the console and it's weak line of games, but Nintendo THEMSELVES. I've never seen any big named company act this incompetent to the point of not even understanding their own audience. I support Nintendo because I love their games, but shit like what they've been doing recently just makes me sort of ashamed to call myself a fan.

There's the issue of the NES classic shortage, I've been wanting to get one of these things in time before Christmas, but nope. Nintendo is purposely understocking these things to act like it's a "hot" new item and that its in high demand, this is just shitty for all of us looking to get it. Nintendo isn't a toy company so there's no reason for this stupidity from a game company. As we also all know, they've been constantly taking down fangames. Some people argue it's to 'protect' their IP's, but there is literally no harm in putting up a NON-PROFIT fangame. It's literally free advertising for Nintendo.

Another recent disaster is Super Mario Maker for 3DS, where more than HALF of the games base features from the Wii U version have been REMOVED. No level sharing, no search bar, only few courses from Wii U are able to be played, no mystery mushrooms, etc. I know rehashing Mario Maker is sort of cheap, but the concept of being able to bring a game like that where ever you go is pretty cool, so removing more than half of the features the game offered makes it a pointless purchase. And after reading Keane's review on Color Splash, I think I'll fucking pass.

[Master]

The Switch was shown off, on a talk show of all things:

[Rayfist]

Not bad, I do like how it doesn't appear that the framerate takes any dips when being used for portability.

[Master]

Yeah, it's quite impressive indeed. I've been wondering what this means for the 3DS though, the Wii U has been written off at this point, but there's been little about what the hybrid will do to the 3DS. There's been rumours that Pokemon Sun/Moon will be ported to the Switch, which is why I'm curious.

[Bradandez]

So Universal and Nintendo just showed off the first concept art for "Super Nintendo World".

[Master]

Rumours are going about that the Switch won't be as powerful as the base PS4. In all honesty, I'm not too bothered by this, but I wonder what this means for interested gamers in general.

EDIT: Some more detail

[Pirez]

I've just sent a mail to Nintendo about the delays of my WiiU's reparation. I wonder if I will ever see it again...

[Master]

That sucks, and with Wii U manufacture ending, it'd be tricky to get a replacement in the coming years. Hope you get it back safe and sound.

More rumours abound, this time, about Nintendo throwing their hat into the VR ring: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.ph ... stcount=12

And some detailed info:

[Pirez]

After one month and a half of waiting, my WiiU returned fully working and with a warranty extension. Turns out they simply forgot to publish the quote, hence the issue. Had I not sent a mail, they would have thought I gave up on my console and would have destroyed it.

Overall, I have mixed feeling about Nintendo's aftermarket...

[Master]

To be fair, mistakes happen. The question is, how often do said mistakes happen?

In other news, the Switch event is in a weeks time, I am feeling rather excited.

[Pirez]

To be fair, mistakes happen. The question is, how often do said mistakes happen?

My guess is : not that often, based on what I've read on the Internet. Customers are mostly satisfied of the response. The few complaints I've read are either people angry that they got charged for a major breakdown when they felt it was minor and people complaining about the service (but only for 3DS-es and without specifying the cause of their irk) when Nintendo handed repair to a consultant, which was the case for me.

[Master]

Hmm, so not too much cause for concern, I guess.

In other news, it's the final countdown to the Nintendo Switch stream. It'll be on at 04:00 Friday morning here, I'm contemplating waking up early for it, but I also have an exam on that day.

[Master]

Seeing as I can't sleep, I'm watching live, I'll bump this and hope for the best.

EDIT - FINAL COUNTDOWN!

- MARCH 3RD LAUNCH DATE, RRP IS $299.99.
- Paid online service, possibly like PSN+ or Xbox Live Gold - Details: http://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/
- REGION FREE, NO REGION LOCK!
- Package will include Switch, Joycon (L, R), Dock, Joycon Grip, AC Adaptor, HDMI Cable and Joycon straps

Modes:
- TV Mode, traditional
- Tabletop, use kickstand on tablet screen, and play with joycons
- Handheld, connect joycons and play on the go

Features:
- Battery life varies from 2.5 - 6.5 hours depending on games.
- Can charge via AC Adaptor or USB C.
- Can use Wi-Fi for local multiplayer.
- Touch Screen is capacitive (like Smartphone touch screens).
- Has NFC, like Wii U, so can use Amiibo.
- Also has share button, like PS4.
- 80 games in development

Joycon:
- Joycons have their own shoulder buttons, and can be shared between players ("sharing the joy")
- Joycons have colour variations, and also have slidable wrist straps.
- Joycon has a proximity sensor
- Has some crazy rumble called HD rumble, which apparently can simulate the feeling of ice in a glass, and water being poured into it.

Games:
- 1,2 Switch. Uses Joycons to pit two players in variety of motion challenges. Played via face-to-face, doesn't really involve the screen. It feels like Switch's Wii Sports.
- ARMS. A boxing game where you literally throw your punches. You've got spring-loaded boxing gloves which you launch at your opponents. Motion controlled. Spring Launch.
- Splatoon 2, sadly, no funny Spla2oon pun. Planned to launch in Summer.
- Super Mario Odyessy, now featuring the big City, amongst other things. It looks very open worldy and Sandboxy. This is the game we saw a glimpse of in the Switch reveal. Holiday 2017 launch.
- Xenoblade 2, I don't know much about the series, so I'll leave it to folks to look at trailers.
- There was another game teaser trailer involving Team Ninja, didn't get the name though.
- DragonQuest 10 & 11, DQ Heroes I & II.
- A Shin Megami Tensei, I think that was what the title was. It was powered by Unreal Engine 4, so that's confirmed.
- Project Octopath Traveller, Square Enix game.
- Skyrim, I don't know if it's the Special Edition or not though.
- A title by Grasshopper Manufacture, I'm not so sure what it's about.
- FIFA, yaayyyy...
- Breath of the Wild, Launch title.
- Sonic Mania
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

There was a montage at the end showing a lot of titles, I found this list:
Splatoon 2, Minecraft Story Mode - The Complete Adventure, Sylanders Imaginators, Project Octopath Traveler, Rayman Legends, Lego City Undercover, Farming Simulator, Has Been Heroes, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Project Sonic 2017, Just Dance 2017, EA Sports FIFA, Syberia 3, 1-2-Switch, Super Bomberman R, Minecraft, Rime, Steep, Fast RMX, and NBA 2k18

Companies/Studios talking about the Switch:
- SEGA
- Bethesda
- Grasshopper Manufacture
- EA

Now they're talking about Zelda: Breath of the Wild, being a bit evasive about its launch date. Never mind, they showed a trailer. AND IT'S A LAUNCH TITLE.

And that's all, feel free to display hype or disappointment when you see fit.

[Keane]

Overall they did a good job here, the console looks great and I'm glad things like the battery life, price and controllers are all in good shape. Unfortunately I'm not happy about paid online and it's not something I would invest a monthly subscription in, but at least it does imply we'll get superb online in return. I think the games stood out to me most though, Mario Odyssey and the new BotW trailer makes it look like Nintendo is learning from the Wii U's tresh decisions and we're finally going to some definitive, quality titles again. Especially looking at how varied, detailed and interesting everything visually and gameplay-wise looks in Odyssey, it's all finally on a scale that it should've been years ago. They look like proper reinventions of their series, and the excitement to actually play and explore what they've shown off in these trailers is so much better than the "Well, that's pretty good" vibe they've been giving off. I actually really, really wanna play these games.

Splatoon Two also looks great and I'm hoping we get to see details on what's new and updated. Personally though I'm not as excited for this game as I am Mario and Zelda, because it does just look like more Splatoon, and I still enjoy playing the first game. I would've rather had a Metroid or Animal Crossing in its place, but I understand the decision and it's definitely something I plan to buy. Playing a game like this on the go is also a major step up for portable gaming.

As for the presentation itself, it was alright. I did think this was a massively better console presentation than the Wii U which almost felt like they went "oh by the way we have this thing..." during E3. I thought a lot of it was unintentionally hilarious (especially accompanied by Vinesauce commentary) but one thing I will say is they didn't do an amazing job for what is supposed to be the big event for their life-saving console.

They should've definitely kicked off the game line-up with Mario, starting with Arms and 1 2 Switch was just a really goofy, casual intro, and looked like they were trying to go "hey its like as revolutionary as the wii right! and motion control is still cool right!" I mean I like the games, but just from a perspective of people who need to be won over by this, it was not a great start, and the whole "here are developers mentioning they're developers" also didn't really help that. I think it would've been better if they replaced some of that with "...and there's gamecube virtual console, and smash bros and mario maker ports, and lets talk about whats new in splatoon 2!". Still, I really enjoyed the event overall and it's good to not have to try and justify bullshit or go "well, that one part was good!", it was actually satisfying and successful.

[Master]

I haven't got much time to collect my thoughts, as I'm now getting ready for uni, but I'll see about posting my impressions when I get back. For now, I'll say I was somewhat impressed, but I feel Ninty was lacking some oomph, and it's something they desperately need.

[Rayfist]

I absolutely agree, the presentation was very well done. But the reveal was the most worrying part for me, it makes me glad they saved the best for last.

To put it simply, the joy con looked really lame to me, if that stuff is up your alley then maybe it'd be more suited for you, but it simply didn't interest me.
Once they actually started showing real games. They did really good.

I wanted to talk about Super Mario Oddysey, it really took me off guard. When I was hearing of a new Mario for the Switch, I expected what everyone else was, another mushroom kingdom with the same simplistic style that we've been repeatedly getting for quite a while now... but no. The first thing that took me by surprise was seeing Mario navigate this big city with other humans. I never though I'd say this but I'm actually hyped to see Nintendo adventuring outside its comfort zone with Mario. At the same time this gives me Mario 64 vibes! I can't wait to see more. Oddly enough, I would say I was most reminded of Sonic Adventure, where Sonic is interacting with humans, it was so strange at the time, but now seeing Mario do it will be interesting.

Also not that anyone here probably cares, but it seems that we are getting a new Shin Megami Tensei title. I was also really surprised by this as I was not expecting any type of SMT announcement. We don't know much, but it seems like it's being developed in unreal engine 4, and the new demon designs look god damn badass. I'm hoping this is the next mainline entry in the series, in other words SMT V.

And lastly, more Breath of The Wild, we finally got to see Zelda. While I think the footage that was shown was more of the same, it looks great, and the best part, it is COMING with the system on launch, so I now feel god damn obligated to pre order the system! Damn it Nintendo!

Some people here (Brad especially) may be incredibly surprised to hear... Xenoblade 2 did not impress me very much. The game looks fun, but the graphics really do look much of the same of what we've seen in Xenoblade X.

Also it seems a new No More Heroes title was pretty much confirmed, with no footage sadly. No More Heroes 2 was one of my favorite Wii games, the style of it, the violence, and the characters made for a really interesting game. Seeing the series finally be able to continue on the switch definitely excites me!

Splatoon 2... yeah I'm not impressed. I don't hold any bias against Splatoon, I really liked the first game actually, but I can't help but think Splatoon 2 looks far too similar to the first. When I first saw footage, I simply though it was a port of the first Splatoon game to the Switch. Otherwise it looks fun of course.

[Pirez]

Somebody will have to explain to me why the console is scheduled to be more expensive in Europe when the euro is stronger than the dollar.

[Dart]

TBH while Mario, SMT, Arms, and Rayman caught my interest I feel compelled to state my lack of faith in the console at launch, they literally only revealed Zelda as a launch title and quite frankly that's not good enough when it's getting a wiiu port as well. I'm not trying to be a pessimist here but it really seems like a waste of money to go full throttle into a system with little to offer from the get go.

[Bzzit]

That new Mario game looks amazing. Exactly what I wanted and more from a new 3D Mario.

Overall though, I'm getting déjà vu vibes that bring me back to the Wii U announcement. I just feel there isn't anything major that's going to draw in the casual consumers away from the PS4 and Xbox One.

[Droolie]

The event was well done, I think, but I was still disappointed with the games lineup.
The only game they showed that I cannot play on a system I already own and that I was slightly interested in was still Breath of the Wild.
Xenoblade 2 looked just alright, but somehow a lot more "generic" than the previous 2 Xenoblade games, and I really didn't like how Super Mario Odyssey looked with its clashing art styles. Bowser looked fabulous in that though, and the game really looks like a good adventure, so good for Mario fans I suppose.

About the system itself, it looks pretty good, and I like that motion controls are still in (here's hoping for another Zelda with them, I actually loved Skyward Sword's controls) but man, the joy-cons look way too tiny.