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[MetalSlimeHunt]

They're in for a bad time if it doesn't. 720p on the big screen is archaic even by Nintendo standards.

[Sean Mirrsen]

So I took a long hard look at the trailer again, and noticed a few things.

Firstly, the car holder thing has an assortment of holes in it. One is for the cartridge slot, curiously. Another on top for the vent, and a pair along the bottom of the back, matching the long thin holes on the back of the console I thought to be intakes previously. No holes on the bottom.

Now, following with the assumption that air is a substance that cannot be generated inside the console, it needs to get in there somehow, so the long holes on the back of the console's main body are pretty definitely intakes. Long, spanning most of the width, so hard to totally obstruct.

Then, I caught the briefest of glimpses into the space inside the dock where the console is slotted, it's visible for a split second when the woman towards the end of the trailer takes her Switch out of the dock. It's all tiny and blurry, but there's definitely some kind of protruding contact plate in the middle, no surprise there - and there's something on the back of the slot, towards the bottom. Impossible to make it out without CSI:Miami's "zoom and enhance" technology, but it's something that may or may not be a slot/opening leading into the back of the dock.

And finally there's a brief moment in the esports scene where the back of the dock is visible. The entire top of the back, like maybe 20% of its height, is one giant intake. At first it looked like maybe a shadow from the monitors in front, but it is way too uniform, way too dark, and just way too weird-looking. It's a big, rectangular black hole. There are no other openings that could let air in for the docked console.

So. The dock is increasingly looking like a supercharger station. There is no need for a dock that's "just" an assortment of connection ports and charging circuitry to be that large, and I don't think a giant hole in the back is something that might be needed for something else. Added power and added cooling seems to be its main purpose, so while it won't actually contain any extra processing power, boosting the console's performance should be a thing that it's going to do.

[TheBronzePickle]

My question is, with that level of cooling for an overclocked system, how loud is the cooling going to be? I can't imagine Nintendo would let the console get too loud, but at the same time if the system's going to overclock itself by any significant amount, it's probably going to need a strong airflow, isn't it?

[Folly]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pretty much nailed my feelings towards Switch.

[Drakale]

Not really interested, until they announce a proper metroid game, or a HD monster hunter.

[SOLDIER First]

Not really interested, until they announce a proper metroid game, or a monster hunter.

fixed

[Ozyton]

Honestly I'm more excited to play Monster Hunter without hand cramps or eye strain than I am about playing it with pretty visuals. Although, MH is one of those games that would greatly benefit from pretty visuals. It's such a shame to have to experience that world in 240p.

There's a couple games I've wanted on the WiiU but it's never been enough to justify purchasing an entire console. MH would be that justified purchase for me.

[Krevsin]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pretty much nailed my feelings towards Switch.

Nitpick: the Vita failed because of atrocious marketing on Sony's behalf. I don't expect Nintendo will make the same mistakes and the Switch might make for a decent handheld.

Other than that, very accurate summary of my thoughts on the matter as well. (seriously why would you play basketball in videogames while on a basketball court with friends and a ball what even is this how they think millenials work)

[Sean Mirrsen]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pretty much nailed my feelings towards Switch.

Nitpick: the Vita failed because of atrocious marketing on Sony's behalf. I don't expect Nintendo will make the same mistakes and the Switch might make for a decent handheld.

Other than that, very accurate summary of my thoughts on the matter as well. (seriously why would you play basketball in videogames while on a basketball court with friends and a ball what even is this how they think millenials work)

The Renegade Faction guys (on their Renegades React channel) were probably the only people in the near internet-space to immediately see why the basketball players were playing basketball on the Switches. Literally in the space of the second while the game was being shown played, before seeing any follow-up clues.

>camera shows basketball players setting up their consoles to play<
Nate: "- Why aren't they playing the regular basketba- oh it's probably another team's time on the court" >camera changes to view from the side, showing people playing on the court in the background< "yeah, another team's time on the court!
Ben: "- Yep."

Really, the only thing I can really agree with in that comic is that the kickstand does look like the flimsiest part of the device. Other than that it's literally an Nvidia Shield tablet with optional attachable controllers, except also with first party software and a powerful brand recognizable by non-gamers. The Shield Tablet (and the Portable before it, and the Android TV after it) all had enough power at their time, but could not broadly compete with everything on account of being just another Android device with extra programs attached. A Nintendo console, handheld or stationary, in theory has all the games it would ever need if it only had the power to run them and attract developers to make and port games for it. So this "Ninvidia Swield" is basically the two companies each getting what they needed from the other.

But I'm sure its inevitable army of haters will take to calling it the "Shitch" before long. Neither of the Shield/Switch portmanteau names really sound right, but that one is just asking to be misused. <_<

[DemonOfWrath]

Yeah let's be honest the whole "Let's take this thing to a party!!!" style idea is crap.

Hopefully Nintendo gets their marketing right, as really the line I think they should be going for is "You can play this on a big TV AND have a portable device that shits on your iPad/tablet/phone in one go!". It's not an underpowered console with a mobile gimmick, rather it's a powerful mobile device with better controls than a touchscreen with a gimmick of also being a Nintendo home console. They don't want to compete in the PS4/XB1 arms race, they want to compete with tablets and phones and crush those.

For me I'm super excited (more that I thought I'd be, even when I first saw the reveal) for this for a few reasons:
1) Nintendo console, give me Zelda damnit!
1a) Nintendo have been holding WiiU releases for this, it's basically an open secret, so the starting lineup of games should be good, and avoid the problems the WiiU had. Not to mention it appears they have 3rd party support onboard.
2) This may also serve as the replacement for the 3DS. That system is getting really old now and it's showing. Playing a newer game on an older 3DS is a bit painful.
2a) That means all those nice portable games people might not play due to various limitations of the 3DS (hi Monster Hunter 4, no I will not play you on a tiny screen after MH3U on the Wii U) will have more power and the ability to play on a big screen instead. That also gives Nintendo some really potent potential for system sellers, next set of Pokemon games anyone?
3) This immediately becomes the best mobile gaming device (physical size ignored). I spend a good hour and a half+ on a bus each day and I could REALLY use this. I don't own a 3DS because nothing on it interests me enough to get one considering small screen size and hand cramps. Games on my phone destroy the battery, lag like all hell and are generally crap (because touch screen controls are awful). I could grab a tablet and play games on that, but the games are still crap. This gives a system with actual controls (Nintendo has stated the physical controls have to be supported so yay) so the games will be better than iOS crap.

Really all I want out of this are the good old set of Nintendo exclusives, (so Zelda, gimme a good 3D Mario, for the love of god bring back Metroid PLEASE), a Monster Hunter I can play on a big screen (probable), and a couple of good games I don't mind playing on a smaller screen for bus trips.

Best-case scenario is some good cheaper games that already exist and fit shorter play sessions get ports onto it (say Gungeon, or Darkest Dungeon for example), as I think I remember they're using more common architechture for this as opposed to their older systems.

[Krevsin]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pretty much nailed my feelings towards Switch.

Nitpick: the Vita failed because of atrocious marketing on Sony's behalf. I don't expect Nintendo will make the same mistakes and the Switch might make for a decent handheld.

Other than that, very accurate summary of my thoughts on the matter as well. (seriously why would you play basketball in videogames while on a basketball court with friends and a ball what even is this how they think millenials work)

The Renegade Faction guys (on their Renegades React channel) were probably the only people in the near internet-space to immediately see why the basketball players were playing basketball on the Switches. Literally in the space of the second while the game was being shown played, before seeing any follow-up clues.

>camera shows basketball players setting up their consoles to play<
Nate: "- Why aren't they playing the regular basketba- oh it's probably another team's time on the court" >camera changes to view from the side, showing people playing on the court in the background< "yeah, another team's time on the court!
Ben: "- Yep."

So they're playing videogame basketball after having played basketball for however long they had their time while waiting for the other team to finish so they could play basketball some more in real life.

I mean after basketball usually most sane people just go get drinks or go home and play their games with friends there. Instead of waiting outside to have another go at basketball while sweaty and in the cool evening air, just waiting to get pneumonia like a bunch of dolts.

Bleh at this point I'm just taking offense at what's clearly just a bit of marketing, designed to showcase how portable-and-yet-local-multiplayer the switch is. I guess commercials just annoy me like that. 

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The real reason everybody's lashing out at Nintendo is they don't like being reminded they don't have any friends. 

[Ozyton]

Let's be serious. When was the last time you saw a commercial for something like this that accurately portrayed reality?

I feel Nintendo did great on the reveal. It shows pretty much everything you can do with it (except for the possibility of a touch screen) and doesn't appear to be directly targeted at kids. Nitpicking at the ridiculous circumstances portrayed is... nitpicking. Everyone knows that the portability is going to be used while going to the toilet or travelling, including commuting to work/school. I don't think anyone seriously thinks that people are going to bring it to a (rooftop) party witch the switch without switching being the main activity at said party.

Another strength seems to be just how easy it is to develop for the system, assuming what we've heard is true. With consoles basically just being clunkier PCs that require little set-up these days it's astonishing how difficult it is to port games between the systems. Honestly I feel that instead of making the original XboX in 2001, Microsoft could have gotten away with selling a pre-built PC, sold it as a console, and just have the dashboard be the primary UI and have a Steam-like marketplace. Of course, that didn't happen (I'm not counting Games for Windows), and now Valve are pretty much the masters of PC while nobody can take Microsoft's PC gaming efforts seriously anymore, especially considering the somewhat hilarious conflict they've created between the OS that most PC games run on (Windows) and their own console efforts (Xbox). Then you have Sony which had a super unique processor for the PS3 (not sure about PS4) that made it unappealing to develop for, or at least made it a pain to develop multi-platform.

Then you have Nintendo which simply cannot afford to be a "dumbed down" PC like the other brands considering how much competition there is, so they have to... switch it up. Make a console with a built-in screen, slots to attach wireless controllers, and make it the size of a tablet that can also easily be docked to play on a TV like a plug-and-play device. The fact that such a vastly different piece of hardware from the rest of the systems is so easy to develop and port for... that's a big deal, especially where third party support is concerned.

Then there's the price. We won't know for certain what MSRP will be at launch but from the sounds of it they can basically sell this thing at a PS4 Slim price. If you're in the market for a gaming console and don't care about 4k or VR nonsense then the Switch should theoretically be a good contender. The main drawback to the Switch when compared to the other systems is that the other systems can be used as multimedia devices to play blu-ray movies. This could be a fairly big deal considering a lot of people seem to just relegate their consoles to 'cheap blu-ray and Netflix machine' once they've played all the games they want or the games stop being released. Good luck sticking a disk into the Switch.

I suppose I'm just reiterating what we already know at this point, but that's my take on matters...

[BigD145]

Blu-ray players are down to dvd player prices; 40 bucks US. No console is a cheap blu-ray player. Blu-ray players are cheaper than a single game.

[Krevsin]

Let's be serious. When was the last time you saw a commercial for something like this that accurately portrayed reality?

I feel Nintendo did great on the reveal. It shows pretty much everything you can do with it (except for the possibility of a touch screen) and doesn't appear to be directly targeted at kids. Nitpicking at the ridiculous circumstances portrayed is... nitpicking. Everyone knows that the portability is going to be used while going to the toilet or travelling, including commuting to work/school. I don't think anyone seriously thinks that people are going to bring it to a (rooftop) party witch the switch without switching being the main activity at said party.

Another strength seems to be just how easy it is to develop for the system, assuming what we've heard is true. With consoles basically just being clunkier PCs that require little set-up these days it's astonishing how difficult it is to port games between the systems. Honestly I feel that instead of making the original XboX in 2001, Microsoft could have gotten away with selling a pre-built PC, sold it as a console, and just have the dashboard be the primary UI and have a Steam-like marketplace. Of course, that didn't happen (I'm not counting Games for Windows), and now Valve are pretty much the masters of PC while nobody can take Microsoft's PC gaming efforts seriously anymore, especially considering the somewhat hilarious conflict they've created between the OS that most PC games run on (Windows) and their own console efforts (Xbox). Then you have Sony which had a super unique processor for the PS3 (not sure about PS4) that made it unappealing to develop for, or at least made it a pain to develop multi-platform.

Then you have Nintendo which simply cannot afford to be a "dumbed down" PC like the other brands considering how much competition there is, so they have to... switch it up. Make a console with a built-in screen, slots to attach wireless controllers, and make it the size of a tablet that can also easily be docked to play on a TV like a plug-and-play device. The fact that such a vastly different piece of hardware from the rest of the systems is so easy to develop and port for... that's a big deal, especially where third party support is concerned.

Then there's the price. We won't know for certain what MSRP will be at launch but from the sounds of it they can basically sell this thing at a PS4 Slim price. If you're in the market for a gaming console and don't care about 4k or VR nonsense then the Switch should theoretically be a good contender. The main drawback to the Switch when compared to the other systems is that the other systems can be used as multimedia devices to play blu-ray movies. This could be a fairly big deal considering a lot of people seem to just relegate their consoles to 'cheap blu-ray and Netflix machine' once they've played all the games they want or the games stop being released. Good luck sticking a disk into the Switch.

I suppose I'm just reiterating what we already know at this point, but that's my take on matters...

Well the problem is that Nintendo is being tight-lipped about everything that hasn't already been said in the commercial and that the Switch will have a modified Tegra in its guts. Everything else is based on leaks, rumors etcetera and should be taken with a large grain of salt as per usual.

And while the list of 3rd party supporters for the Swich is great and dandy, the Wii U also started with 3rd party support only for it to evaporate incredibly fast.

I prefer to wait until January when more will be revealed by official sources than having to comb through every rumor and supposed leak that comes up.