Nintendo NX Reveal: Nintendo Switch

Not much of a portable if you need to carry around accessories to squeeze out more that a couple of hours of playtime on it.

I doubt the toy company type of approach will work on the audience they are apparently aiming for.

The thing can "transform" and kids will love it for it, but that novelty will wear off fast for the rest of the market.

For what it's worth I recently read that somewhere (MIT I think?) there was some sort of breakthrough, and they're testing batteries with twice the capacity of the ones we use now. But that was fairly recent so I doubt it applies to Switch.

Ok so NS will support Unreal Engine 4

Oh, that's cool! It should make things easier for IGA's team if they want to put Bloodstained on this new console

Well guys. This is my analysis of the Nintendo Switch with what I've gathered from the trailer, pics and articles.



1) The NS may not have/be a touch screen.

Given Nintendo's history with touch screen (DS, 3DS, WiiU), they always made sure that their hardware always had a slot to place the stylus that always came with the system. Take a look at this picture.






Ignore the active game screen and look at the top of the other NS. If one were have a port for the stylus, it can't be those five big holes because they are too big (and probably for ventilation) and the smaller one is the headphone jack. The other two on the right(from the PoV of the image) looks more like button than an actually stylus and even if it was, how would someone pull it out with ease?



Also by eliminating touch screen functionality, you remove two major hurdles.



A) The necessity to code touch screen stuff and focus more on gameplay.

B) Wasteful battery usage by removing all needs to even touch the screen or the perpetually active coding to detect where and when a touch screen is touched.

Side note to B - even taping on your smartphones and tablets will use some battery power and these little tapping adds up.



Also. When the NS is in console mode, how would some use a touch screen when there is a wall covering it?







2) Ease of Use
Nintendo is trying to tell us that this system is simple and straight forward to use. The whole detachable controller may seem gimmicky but it's small stuff compared to the Wii, Wii U, 3D, even VR right now. VR is nothing but gimmicky and way more complex.

Nintendo is also trying to tell us that all we have to do sit back, relax and play. Much like how it was from the NES to the Gamecube. Speaking of which.

3) Old School meets New School
This is the hidden genius of Nintendo's marketing with this reveal. It plays to the nostalgia of the older gamer community and adds a modern update. The simple turn on and play design of  Nintendo's golden age consoles while using modern tech and even pushing the envelope on what can be done with this tech without going overboard.

It also caters to kids more than one might think. It uses tech they are learning to use and are surrounded by while subtly teaching them what gameplay without gimmicks feels like. Much like when we were kids.

4) Not Backwards compatible 
Let's get this straight. If my analysis about no touch screen is true, there is no way that we'll be able to use DS, 3DS and Wii U games since usage of a touch screen was a thing for those systems.  We CAN get modified/updated versions of Wii U games but that's about it.

And that's enough for now. Sorry for the big post.

I doubt that its not a touch screen, especially since the NX is just a Wii U game pad as the console and not an add on. while it isnt compatible with Wii U disks, whos to say that it wont support digital wii u game downloads? If they were to not include the touch screen that would ruin their chances of having such a feature. Not to mention Wii U's let you download DS games from the E-shop and theres a mode where can have both DS screens on the touch screen. They could easily make that the default mode for Downloaded DS e-shop titles

Another thing to take into account is Super Mario Maker., a game that REQUIRES a touch screen in order to work. You can bet they are not going to keep it off the NS, it's likely going to be one of the first games they include in the NS's launch. so yea I'm not buying that the NS's screen isnt a touch screen, they've done so much with the touchscreens already to abandon it now.

So how heavy will this thing be? I mean, it will be sporting 3 battery packs in its portable form. If it is on the heftier side it won't be much of a portable for kids.



Darn it hydra, now I have to slap you too.

VR isn't a gimmick as it will, if not handled in an absolutely horrible manner, revolutionize certain genres.
It offers FPS, racing, horror, etc. games something that completely alters and improves the experience, peripheral vision.

Again, so many Wii U games require touch screen features, in fact you cant even turn on the console without a functioning game pad. Because of how important the touch screen is for Wii U games, not including the touch screen would destroy its chances for the NS to be able to digitally download and install Wii U e-shop games. If they don't include touch controls with the screen that's going to severely damage its sales because digital compatibility with Wii U games is the only way it'd be backwards compatible with them. Since most, if not all, Wii U games have some features that require the touch screen, some of them optional yes but for most its mandatory.

Nintendo has always been good about each new console generation being backwards compatible with the previous generation sans the 64-togame cube era. If they ended it now, with what could be the console that can possibly save their company; it'll end up causing more harm than good. Nintendo may as well just become a second or 3rd party development company if they don't include touch screen features with the NS, thats how dependent a lot of their recent games have become with it.