Well, after watching the Nintendo Switch presentation last night, I have a problem. On one hand I was underwhelmed with the whole conference. On the other hand I saw a handful of items that makes me want to get one. I'm gonna break down what I took away from the presentation:
1. Release Date 3/3/2017 for $299.99 A March release date is something that was known well before this presentation. All this does is confirm it. The price does not surprise me too much. When you step back at look at it, you are buying a tablet, controller, docking station, two joy-con straps and a joy-con grip. On the other hand at that price point you are competing with the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The question becomes will first party titles be enough to warrant that price? 2. Online will become a pay service in the fall When the system launches the online will be free for everyone and it was mentioned to switch to a pay model in the fall. No price was mentioned which I felt it should have been. If Nintendo implementing a pay system is what it is going to take to support online communication between players, a stable online connection and other online features, then so be it. But this can also be considered a blow to people who were looking at Nintendo for the up to now free online. 3. Region Free System This is great news for someone like me who does like Japanese games that do not always come over here to the US. If you do not import games this news means nothing to you. 4. Basic Switch Information We already knew that you could play this on the TV, on a table or as a handheld. Being able to connect up to 8 Switches locally for multiplayer is a neat concept, but where is this practical? Sure, I could see 4 being connected locally, but outside of esports and maybe college campuses doing up to eight at one time seems a little much. 5. Joy-Cons The fact they focused on the motion controls concerns me. I'm not against motion controls, but if I want to play with motion controls, I'll play my Wii. But if these controllers have better motion sensing, that can definitely lead to better quality motion games (hopefully). The screenshot/eventual video recording button is a nice touch. These still look small, I'm curious how comfortable they are going to be when using them. Just because they sound like a great piece of tech does not mean they are going to good in practice for gaming. 6. Joy-Con Games 1, 2, Switch is a party game. Not having to use the screen to play and instead focusing on the other player sounds interesting. But I would have to see it in practice. Being a launch game will help get people involved with using the Switch in a group setting. Arms caught my interest with its combat. With the options to play single player, local multiplayer and online, this is one I'm going to keep an eye on. And a spring release date means its not too far off after the console launches. 7. Splatoon 2 Hard to believe by the time this comes out in the summer of this year Splatoon will be two years old. When a sequel comes out I expect there to be what they announced, new stages, weapons and specials. Still, knowing they are going to have a new Splatoon game on the Switch is a good thing. 8. Super Mario Odyssey A sand box Mario game that uses real world landscapes. These types of games do not interest me but I can see a lot of people happy about this one. 9. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 /Fire Emblem Warriors I own Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii but never got a chance to play it. The trailer did look good though. Fire Emblem Warriors was, for me, the best news out of the whole presentation. I am a fan of Fire Emblem games and I am a huge fan of Dynasty Warrior games. Combine the two and if this gets a confirmed US release date (or since the system is region free, English subtitles/menu options), I might plan my purchase of the Switch around it. 10. Other Announced Games -Dragon Quest 10 and 11 coming to the Switch is a good sign, Dragon Quest is a major franchise in Japan. -I like that they are bringing Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2 to the Switch, but these are Dynasty Warrior style games that might not appeal to the masses. -Altus announcing a new Shin Megami Tensei game for the Switch is not surprising since they have been releasing games from this franchise on the 3DS. It is good to know though. -Octopath Traveler from Square Enix looks like it could become a unique RPG -SEGA comes out and talks about the Switch, but did not show anything off. -Bethesda talked about Skyrim on the Switch, and while it is great that a game like Skyrim is coming to the Switch, this is nothing we did not already know. -FIFA game on the switch. Soccer fans rejoice -Suda51 is making a game for the Switch 11. Zelda Trailer I'm not the biggest Zelda fan but I have to admit the trailer they showed was pretty dam good. If I do get a Switch I will get this game at some point. The reveal that this is going to be a launch title is important, this game is a system seller. While the presentation answered some questions, I had some that were not. How much hard drive space is in the tablet? How is the online going to work? What other launch games are coming out besides Zelda and 1, 2, Switch? We have six weeks until launch and I'm sure some of those questions are going to be answered. Still, you think they would have said something during this presentation. Also, no mention of a new Metroid was a letdown for me. Doesn't mean one won't be announced later (probably E3), but since we did not get a Metroid game on the Wii U, announcing one now, even for the 2017 Holiday, would have given me more interest in getting a Switch sooner rather than later. Like I said, as a whole I was not overly impressed with the presentation. While a few things caught my eye, I did not see enough to warrant me to rush and go preorder one. Still, with them showing Zelda and Mario that was enough to get a lot of people on board with getting a Switch. In the end it is not the die hard fans that need convincing. Was there enough to convince the non die hard Nintendo fans to get one? Time will tell. Comments are closed.
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