Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

ipad or tablet. whichever.

That's what my money is on, too.

@Bass_X0: They're both the same thing.

@OorWullie: no they are not. Ipad is a subset of tablets. It is impossible for Nintendo to make an ipad.
nitpicking

@Therad: Yes of course,just like the Galaxy Tab is also a subset of tablets which would be impossible for Nintendo to make but at the end of the day they both have one thing in common,they are tablets.

@Blast: especially if it really is just a third pillar. A gamepad portable that's basically a Wii U that can dual boot the 3ds os. One device that plays your Wii U, 3ds, eshop, and vc games that can play on the TV.

I voted in the poll earlier but haven't said anything yet so... I figured it's worth chiming in now. I won't comment on the things I think don't need talking about because they make sense. I also won't say what I voted for because I think I've talked about that enough. I also think that another two of the options are equally reasonable. So instead I'll just comment on three options I think are pointless and why.

1. A portable console which can hook up to the TV
Possible, for sure. But this would also be a new portable console that's the successor to the 3DS. I mean you can call this idea a "hybrid" if you want but what you're talking about is a portable system.

2. Both a portable and home console. Games can scale down to fit on the portable
Ok, for sure. I actually think this will happen..... but technically that's also not very different to how it is now. It's really not that different to how it has always been for that matter. If the point about this selection is that they'll make it easier? Then sure. I'm down with that. But I still think that one of those devices will be "The NX" and the other will be something else. Purely because if they have two products they're going to sell them as two products. Why wouldn't they?

If you're selecting this because you think it's a hybrid? Well then it's not both. It can't be two devices AND a hybrid if that makes sense. If it's a hybrid then what you're talking about is a portable system that you can plug into your TV. That's literally the only way I can see a hybrid console existing. And again, as in my first point... if it's that then it's a portable system that you can hook upto your TV. That's not a "hybrid", that's a 3DS successor with HDMI out.

3. The first dedicated VR console
The Oculus is apparently going to retail for about $350US when it launches. And it's just a display. You want to bundle a console in the box ontop of that? Good luck convincing people to spend $600US. I'm a big supporter of VR and I do think it is a pretty big deal. But for a long, long time it's going to be a niche display device that some people have in addition to their monitors and TVs. The most we can probably hope for is that it'll eventually become a fairly mainstream device..... people have in addition to their monitors and TVs.

This is what it should be with all the features Sony and Microsoft consoles have.

@Blast: To me the only oncertainties would be internal storage, price, and battery life.

It will be a hybrid device with three options: Home (like Google's/Apple's TV and all that stuff), Portable and Home+Portable.

Home: the TV device a la Google/Apple/etc. with a controller.
Portable: the same thing but portable edition a la Nintendo 3DS.

Software will be the same for Home and Portable, in accordance with Nintendo united hardware division.

Beyond the likely fact that we’re still talking about the dancing humanoid stripper bananas we never knew we needed, I think there’s a chance the NX is going to be hardware agnostic. Seriously.

One platform, many form factors. A lot of them. Iterative hardware capabilities increase over time. Watch the library grow, and grow, and grow... and the devices the nx platform has evolve and become better each time.

I think it's reasonable to assume that there will be some form of shared framework that allows games to be developed for both devices at once easily. It only makes sense. That said I don't think "NX" is code for an entire ecosystem of products. There's nothing to suggest that the "NX" is that. Infact there have been plenty of hints that it's a specific piece of hardware. I know that's just semantics and doesn't change what the end result is but still. It's worth making that point.

And again for the people who love the hybrid idea. If it's a portable first then how is it going to hold its own in the home console space? It won't hold its own into the late 2010s as a portable system competing against the PS4/XBOne/PS5/XB2. And if it is powerful enough to compete in that space? It's going to be tethered to a powerpoint anyways so why even bother? It's an idea that's either trivial and so not worth entertaining or it's radical to the point where it's pathetic in one space or the other.

I believe it will be a home console with comparable specs to PS4, built around a camera tracking system with a new motion controller and a pair of glasses used to create inexpensive AR with head and gaze tracking. I think that the console will have a hybrid memory system. There will be at least 32GB of solid state memory for the OS and player data while games will be booted from removable/replaceable HDDs (meaning if you switch out the HDD, all of your player data and updates remain on board in the SSD). Why buy a $100 HDD that is 500GB at launch when you could get a 100GB for $20 (and maybe a second game instead).

It's hard to predict what design Nintendo will go with if they do a new motion controller. Logic would say you make two new wands that have analog sticks and are designed for the specific left/right hands so you don't need a dual analog pad. Nintendo may be thinking of keeping costs low and launching with one wand (that is useless for more complex, traditional titles like Zelda or a fps) and packing in a dual analog pad with every console.

Maybe they are thinking that they will just make the motion controller a zapper. I think that making the controller a pistol shows their misconception of how motion control should work with first person shooters. You shouldn't be aiming the reticule around in the screen like Duck Hunt-- you should be holding a key (A or LB) to move the camera like a mouse. You shouldn't be required to point the controller at the screen constantly because you shouldn't be controlling the gun in the first place. When you aim a gun in reality, you aim with your body; you don't point the gun with your wrist.

Man for a second I thought polls were added to the forums!

Well, I just put what I wanted: portable, home hybrid.

Considering absolutely everything points to that indeed being the case, I think you'll get what you want.

Because prices don't work like that. A 100GB HDD would cost about as much to make as a 500GB one if it was new. If you're lucky it'd maybe be 5-10% cheaper. Because that's how it works. The reason why you sometimes see 250GB or 320GB drives in the shop for next-to-nothing? They're clearing old stock. That's retailers literally selling them at a reduced margin while they still can.

Case and point some 3.5" drives at my local PC retailer....
500GB - $70AU ($140/TB)
1TB - $76AU ($76/TB)
2TB - $110AU ($55/TB)
3TB - $130AU ($43/TB)
4TB - $200AU ($50/TB)
5TB - $240AU ($48/TB)
6TB - $340AU ($56/TB)

So if you spend twice as much as you would for 500GB you'll get 3TB. That's how it works. A 100GB HDD? They'd probably have to charge $60AU. At which point you could spent just a tiny amount more and either get 5x the storage or an SSD instead. Which is why said local PC component retailer doesn't sell anything smaller than 500GB. Because why would they even bother? Who's going to buy that? Hell, at this point who's going to buy 500GB when 1TB is only a few dollars more?

Interesting idea, but the glasses will have to be wearable with glasses-users. According to some random article I found on Google, 53% of Americans already wear glasses. (75% wear corrective wear, 71% of those wear glasses instead of contacts, 75%*71%=53.25%)

It's too bad the poll didn't offer an option to vote for one of the submitted "other" categories. I put my own "other" down, but there were a few people that said the same thing as me. For the record, it seems to me like Nintendo is continuing with the angle they had with Wii and Wii U, and coming up with a gimmicky controller. I'm certain it's a home console, and I don't think its controller is going to be similar to the PS4, nor would they go with the hybrid or VR ideas. I mean, since everyone is talking about it, it wouldn't be their idea, would it? I feel like Nintendo is too proud to go with what everyone thinks they're doing.

I like the XDS rumor: it will be a portable, 3DS replacement.

It will have the same dual screen layout: a 720p main screen and a 480p lower touchscreen. Controls include dual circle pads, trigger/shoulder buttons, D-pad and the usual 4 face buttons. Coincidently, this matches the screen and controller layout of the Wii U. It can also sync with the Wii U, serving as a gamepad, and otherwise interact with the Wii U in weird and wonderful ways. It will be able to run all digital Wii U games, including all Wii U VC games (why do you think there is so little effort at the 3DS VC?).

All 3DS 3rd party game studios will eagerly jump at developing games for the NX. Hey, it's a powerful handheld that has more screen real estate than any cellphone out there. They will be given the new, unified NX platform SDK. Coincidently, the games they develop will also run on the Wii U.

With the NX portable's launch in July 2016, new games from 3rd party former-3DS developers will flood the market. Because the Wii U can also play these games (at least in digital form), it will also gain new life. That's why you don't see new Wii U games announced for 2016: they are actually the unannounced NX games.

A year later, the NX home console will launch. It will immediately have a large game library consisting of the Wii U library, the Wii U VC and the NX portable's library. You can plug in NX portable's cartridges into the home console: they are one and the same. Dual screen Wii U games will be playable by pairing the console with the NX portable. New games will launch that will run on both console and portable and allow them to interact in unique ways. Because nobody can do both portable and home console like Nintendo.

Yeah, this is not so much an informed prediction so much as wishful thinking. This alternate future would extend the life of my newly purchased Wii U and give me lots of shiny new games to play. But you can't prove me wrong until next summer at least

I read these threads as if they're lyrics to a Courtney Barnett song.... it's only way I can get enjoyment out of these fantasy predictions

So basically, you're saying it's the driver/writer components that make up most of the price. If the driver components were built into the system and the hard disks were separate (like the N64DD) then the price of the disks would be more relevant to the amount of memory.

It's not clear whether Nintendo would involve lenses in the glasses for passive or active 3D or if the final design would even feature lenses (this could be done with a sort of headband). Either way, it would be no more obtrusive to wearers of glasses than going to see a 3D movie.