Hello Master Malestrom.
I must admit that the trailer itself didn’t surprise me since most of what was revealed was already mentioned in the rumors before the reveal. But some parts did pick my attention:
1) They really dropped the cross-shapped directional buttons. This was mentioned in a rumor before, but since lots of them are always proven false later, I expected this one to be false. The new one reminds me of N64’s C-buttons.
2) The trailer heavily implied that 4-players local multiplayer is possible by using 2 Switch. Each side of the controller becomes a small controller, which is probably why they dropped the cross-directional buttons. This is like one of the best parts from the DS, but even better, since it looks like you can have any amount of screens for a local multiplayer, and possibly no restrictions on controllers.
3) Trailler didn’t show any touch capability. Given the concept, it seems logical to not have touch-based games since you may not have any screen within arm each, but does that means there’s no touch at all?
More:
-No D-pad? This is bad.
-Trailer did not show multiplayer on TV screen, how many people can
play?
-What controllers can you use?
-Cartridges? No download-only console for me.
-Is the tablet expensive and does it break easilly? I buy multiple
tablets/smartphones a year, because my kids tend to break these things.
-Trailer did show games and people, which is good, though nothing as
intensive or exciting as the Wii trailers a decade ago.
-No Super Mario Bros (of course, as it doesn’t have a D-pad)?
-No Wii Sports -type game you can play by motion controls?
I did like the idea, this is a little like the handle on Gamecube, only
better, however, how easilly the tablet is going to break is more than a
little concern.
What I didn’t like, was the lack of D-pad, which means no high-intensity
arcade gameplay, and nothing the like of Wii Sports or Super Mario Bros
was shown. There was no Wii Remote + nunchuck gameplay shown either, I
finally would like to be able to play shooters with the said controls.
Other than that, the device was a little too much like what was
rumoured, haha. Maybe the source for the rumours was Nintendo after all.
More:
Hello Master Malstrom,
I just want to point out that each one of these things has a thumb stick
instead of a D-Pad and that + thing you are thinking is the D-Pad, is
the Plus Button.
It sucks. Why do buttons need to be ‘plus’ or ‘minus’? The Wii-mote had + and – buttons, but they were circular and not in the actual shape of a plus or minus.
To refresh myself, I went back and watched the original Wii reveal as a comparison.
I wasn’t impressed with the Switch. While I appreciated Nintendo’s attempts to show the multiplayer capabilities of it on the go, it looks like a cheap tablet with controller add-ons you’d pick up and awkwardly attach on. I think a little color variation would’ve helped it stand out. Bring back the NES/SNES colors to liven it up! I can’t believe they swapped the symmetrical button layout the Wii U had, since that’s the same mistake the 3DS had with the poor d-pad desperately hanging on the edge. I still have a million questions about touch screens, battery life, controller durability, cartridges, account system, backwards compatibility, and so on, but what really stood out to me is how bland it felt. The original Wii trailer showed off Wii Sports, Mario/Zelda/Metroid, and a couple other titles. Nothing shown off on the Switch stood out at all. I know Nintendo is probably trying to keep the hype up by showing those off later, but I appreciate even more how the Wii was all all out blitz that blew everyone away with what it could do. With the Switch, all I wanted to say at the end was “called it”.
The games still sell the console. All I saw was ports, another Nintendo promise of 3rd party support by showing off a half-decade old game, and a hint at another 2D/3D Mario hybrid that will please neither group. Maybe this will change if I’m right about Nintendo spreading out the information, but for now, I give it a thumbs down. I’d just like to end it with the presentation of the system. Full of mid 20s guys, with a couple of girls. The Wii trailer showed how anyone could get in on the games, with the “”””casual”””” gamers using the Wiimote by itself, while assuring the hardcore they could still play their games with the nunchuck. I don’t see many people from the Wii audience using the Wii U Fuck You 2 frankenstein tablet. That finale with the MLG stage was the epitome of modern gaming in the worst way possible.
I could always be wrong, but I’m having a hard time seeing this take off like the Wii. If Nintendo can show off a simple way to use agnostic controllers and Wii-quality games, it may be salvageable, but I doubt they’re going to do it.
I think everyone is ‘underwhelmed’ because it was exactly the rumors and leaks that Eurogamer released. There was no ‘surprise’ in that fashion.
