I think you've been in some kind of echo chamber if you think the reactions to the Switch have had any kind of consistency. What I've seen most prominently has been middling to hopeful reactions. Glee and condemnation have mostly come from people already very much staked in an opinion regarding Nintendo.
That's exactly the point I'm trying to drive here. While it hasn't particularly been itt, I've come across many people pointing out the number of views and likes on the reveal video as a telling sing that this console will be a resounding success. I've also come across overly hopeful optimism in regard to how this console will perform not only in power and library, but more importantly in sales.
Personally, I've come across two separate camps of extremity, combined with like you said hopeful reactions, and more notably, apathy. I've mentioned the Switch to a number of my friends, and most have pretty much expressed negativity, to apathy toward it. Now granted, this is anecdotal evidence, and very skewed one in fact, considering Europe is essentially Sony territory, but one quick look at youtube also show a very telling trend. Aside from the NIntendotubers, who have been hyping this thing to all hell in order to cater to their niche audience, the majority of other gaming Youtubers have had very negative and apathetic reactions to it. Pewdiepie outright said it was ****, Angry Joe had a very meh reaction to it, Maximillian Dood was a little hopeful, but said that the library mattered the most to him, as well as dozens upon dozens of other gaming channels who have had very negative reactions to it. Many of who feel they should have just made a regular console.
Now in my opinion, yeah, these people already had a very strong opinion on Nintendo going into this due to NoA's near-fascist enforcement of copyright laws on YT. But it shouldn't be discredited. Especially since the most popular channel on YT outright said it was **** and that he didn't care for it. These guys are the voice of the industry, and have a MASSIVE influence. I might not personally like Pewdiepie's content, but millions of people do, and like when the popular guy in school decides what's cool and what's not, if PDP decides the Switch isn't cool, you're damn right tons of kids are gonna adopt this opinion.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is mostly directed toward Nintendo fans. It's that they should quell their excitement on this thing till we see not only more news, but more importantly how it ACTUALLY performs in sales, because that's what's gonna decide this console's lifetime and library, and Nintendo's track record has not been good at all these last few generations.
No, I don't necessarily mean you, or John, or Swamp, or anyone in particular. I'm speaking in broad terms, and I guess even playing devil's advocate, because even JUST after this thing was teased by Iwata, there has been massive hype building up behind it, and no, not from gamers, but particularly from hard core Nintendo fans. Spending days and days speculating over what this thing will be, and whatnot, while I sit here and remember all the promises Nintendo has failed to deliver these last few generations. This is actually an opinion I've held since just after the NX was teased, but I've withheld from really voicing it when all we had was patents and baseless rumors, and it would have been very pointless, and unjustified to overall assume that the machine would be one thing or another. But now that I've gotten a good look at it, and have enough info on it to make reasonable guesses at how it will perform, I can confidently say that I'm honestly not too impressed by it, and many people I've come across both online, and irl pretty much have had the same reaction to it.
Because the truth to me seems to be the system has potential, but not enough is known to do anything more than offer a cursory prediction. Yeah it's not going the route of power, surprise surprise, but this "gimmick", imo, has promise. Mostly because, unlike the last two Nintendo systems, the gimmick revolves not around changing how games function, but simply by expanding the options of how to play them. At its core and its default, the Switch is not any more complicated than a controller and a screen, it's just that this time the two are modular. To do that it needs to sacrifice power and battery life, both of which are unfortunate casualties, perhaps crippling (we'll see), but the gains of a consolidated library and portable functionality could outweigh that. Again, we'll see. If you so desire, you can sit on the couch, play your games and be unencumbered by any obtrusive and/or unorthodox mandatory controller setups. Or, if you want, you can play Skyrim on an airplane.
I don't entirely agree Katie.
For starters, this is just me and my personal opinion, but I'm not much of an enthusiast of portable gaming. Not since I was a kid really. If I leave my house, it's to do things, or to socialize. Even in transit, I don't much enjoy the absorption of getting really into a game as it can often result in missed stops and being late to whatever I was trying to get to. But that's just me. However, I think a large portion of other adults with a disposable income also feel the same way. When you're out and about, you're doing things, and your mind is focused on the tasks at hand. Gaming is really more of a way to relax on you free time, rather than something to squeeze in every hour of the day.
As far a children go, well yeah, there's still a market there, but like the majority of adults, most of them also own a tablet or a smartphone, which already offers a variety of things to do from playing games, to watching videos or shows, to music, etc... Is it worth it to sacrifice power for portability when making a home console?
Honestly, I would argue it's a very stupid move. As this was one of the limiting factors for the Wii, as stated by Nintendo themselves:
By 2008, two years after the Wii's release,
[174] Nintendo acknowledged several limitations and challenges with the system (such as the perception that the system catered primarily to a "
casual" audience
[175] and was unpopular among "
core" gamers).
[176] Game designer
Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that the lack of support for
high definition video output on the Wii and its limited network infrastructure also contributed to the system being regarded separately from its competitors' systems, the
Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3.
[177]
The Globe and Mail, in suggesting why Nintendo posted a record loss of $926 million for the initial six months of its 2011–2012 fiscal year, blamed the Wii's design for being "short-sighted". The Wii initially enjoyed phenomenal success because it was inexpensive (due to its being less sophisticated than its competitors) and introduced a "gaming gimmick". However, this approach meant that the Wii's hardware soon became outdated and could not keep up long-term (in contrast to more-advanced rivals such as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which are expected to continue doing well in 2012–2013) "as both user desires and surrounding technologies evolved" later in the
generation. Furthermore, price cuts and the introduction of motion-sensor controllers for the Xbox 360 and PS3 nullified advantages once held by the Wii.
The Globe suggested that there were other reasons for Nintendo's poor financial performance, including a strong yen and a tepid reception to the
Nintendo 3DS handheld as mobile gaming becomes popular on smartphones and tablets (such as the
iPad).
[180]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Reception
The Wii's lack of power resulted in much weaker 3rd party support than its competitors, and this severely hurt the console's sales later in its life, as well as its retention rate, as most Wii owners found themselves with very little to actually play.
Moreover, you also have the issue of Nvidia mobile chips using ARM architecture, rather than the x86 architecture of the competition, and industry leaders. This will result in added difficulty when porting over games from the PS4 and PC to Switch. Something that the WiiU actually struggled with during its launch, and why so many 3rd party ports were so hotly criticized on the WiiU. Here's an insider review from a dev during the early years of the WiiU, and his story on what a hassle WiiU development was:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-secret-developers-wii-u-the-inside-story
What all this tells me, is that this console is gonna have very little in regard to 3rd party support. Already we are seeing Bethesda and 2K games go out of their way to mention that neither Skyrim nor NBA 2K17 are confirmed for Switch, and Bioware outright stating that Mass Effect Andromeda will NOT come to Switch.
Sure, we have a long list of developers pledged to the Switch, but it's logical that the majority of these devs will be dipping their toes in the water with some ports of already released games, and maybe some upcoming games, before committing to making 3rd party Switch exclusives (which is what you really want). People seem to forget that 90% of PS4 games that have come out till today, and even some of the ones launching in 2017, are also playable on PS3. So I personally think it's likely that list of devs will be mostly composed of games also available on PS3.
So, while the gimmick might not be intrusive, it is limiting. This is the final year for the PS3, from here out, games are gonna start pushing the limits of the PS4 and Xbone, and sharing a library with their pro versions, leaving the Switch in the dust due to a lack of power. The entire point of people wanting Nintendo to make a more powerful console is so that it can keep up with the competition, and share a library with the PS4 and Xbone. Nintendo being able to expand their 1st party output more by consolidating the portable and console studios into one, won't make up for having to sacrifice 3rd party support yet again, especially potential 3rd party EXCLUSIVE support, which is often the hidden gems among Nintendo consoles. If the console underperforms in sales, which it most likely will due to, well, various reasons really, then there goes the 3rd party support, and really any reason to buy the console.
Yeah, at this point I too would much prefer it if they went 3rd party. I personally believe that if Nintendo was forced to compete on the platforms where you have titles like Dark Souls, and GTA, then Zelda would actually have to get proper art direction and theme, rather than just being cartoony again and again, and we might actually see Metroid and F-Zero again. As Endless Kirby titles, Yarn Yoshi games, and uninspired Paper Marios wouldn't see much love on PS4 or PC.
Then again, I'm also of the idea that regardless of how it performed, killing off the WiiU early was a terrible idea. But what do I know?
