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DM235 on 25 October 2016
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Nautilus said:
DM235 said:

The PS4 was sold on potential, since it was the start of a new generation with superior hardware. If rumours are to be believed, then the NS hardware will be on par or worse than the launch XBox One, which put it at a disadvantage if they are trying to sell it at the same price point.  You say they will do well if they get everything right, but they appear to have underpowered hardware and poor marketing (they are going to miss the Christmas shopping season this year, and they skipped all of the major trade shows where they could have made a big splash with the general public).  The Wii U had great games with underpowered hardware, poor marketing and a high price point, and look how that turned out.  The new feature is remote play, which Sony tried with the Vita, and it didn't work for them in this increasingly mobile friendly market, so I just don't see it working for Nintendo either.

Can Nintendo still announce something amazing?  Sure.  At this point, I am not holding my breath, and I think price is the only way they can make a big splash to try and sell units.

Power is not everything.As long as it is powerful enough to run most games, it wont be an issue.Plus, they can sell the system on a potential, just like the PS4.Saying at this point that it could not happen, since we dont know its games and other features, is premature at best.And the comparison with the Vita is horrible.Switch is a true hybrid, built from the ground up to be used as a home console and a handheld.The Vita was a promise to have console-level games on a handheld unit, so its not a hybrid.And not only did Sony drop support rather fast, but all the other features that could be comparable to the Switch, such as the VitaTV(cant remember the exact name), were half cooked, since it played just a small number of titles, and wasnt available with the console itself, so it wasnt a feature that Sony could market for the Vta itself, that every Vita HAD that feature.

Now regarding losing christmas season and other big conferences, it could go either way.Would it be better to release this christmas?Most likely.But I dont think they stand to lose much at a March release, especially since the fact that the year will now last only 9-8 months for the Vita, so its easier to make for a more compelling first year for it.Plus it wouldnt be that far to the next holiday season, and Nintendo already having reapt the bigger profits with a bigger price from the early adopters and the nintendo fans, they could lower the price of the Switch or make a really good deal for black friday for example.Regarding conferences yeah, not much to go on until march, just PAX East.But that could be rectified with great marketing and maybe a Nintendo exclusive conference for the Switch.I know Im forcing with the last part, but that could happen.Plus E3 would be 3 months away, so they could further market it there.

I think, in the end, with the failure of the Wii U and its consequent backlash, I think Nintendo wont screw this up.Im optimistic.

I agree that power is not everything.  However, there are lots of consumers right now excited about powerful consoles that can support VR or 4K gaming.  Nintendo doesn't appear to have hardware supporting that.  Now, they aren't known for chasing the hardware crown, so I didn't expect them to do so with the NS.  So if Nintendo's hardware is not as powerful as the compentition, I wouldn't expect them to sell at an equal or higher price point then the competition and still be successful.

As for the Vita reference, I was referring to the Remote Play feature, where the Vita would connect to your PS4 and allow you to play your PS4 home console games on the go.  There are some obvious differences, as the Vita required a good network connection to be able to do this, while the NS won't have this requirement as the cartridges will go with you.  There was some hype for this feature at first, but it quickly fizzled.  I am pessimisstic about Nintendo getting additional sales for this feature.  And if you are only going to play at home with the NS, is it really that much different from the Wii U?

Nintendo will also have CES in January, but I think they could have had that teaser video ready for E3.  At next year's E3, Nintendo will have to compete with the Scorpio annoucements, and I fear these will drown out Nintendo.

I don't want Nintendo to fail, but they aren't doing enough things right to sell tens of millions of consoles.  I honestly think they need to start low, grow the install base quickly, and make it up with sales from great games.