Few things generate more emotions and hyperbole in the gaming world than Nintendo consoles, so I wanted to find a way to cut through the rhetoric and get a more accurate feel for how everyone perceives the console at this point given what we know.
To do this, I thought we could break down the console into those important categories that makeup a gaming console and assign each a score between 0-5, 5 being best and 0 being worst, and so that we're all on the same page try to grade according to how much room for improvement you believe there is rather than whether or not something seems "awesome" or "terrible"... For instance, if you cannot think of a way to improve something, that would be a 5.
At the end, add up your total points, share in the poll where your score fell, and feel free to state your score with accompanying explanation and thoughts in the comments. Don't worry if you feel your final count doesn't accurately reflect your sentiments if it seems too high or too low; this is merely to establish how much room for improvement there is and get a feel for the general impression most have of the console so far using uniform critical criteria, and is not intended as a final grade for the console itself. With that in mind, please really think these categories through and assign an honest value to each as well, avoiding the common "all 5's" or "all 0's" simply to express love or frustration. For instance, I loved both the Wii U and PS4, but I've no doubt they'd both lose plenty of points using this system.
Finally, I think we all ought to end our posts with one of three options that I will track in this OP regarding our outlook for the console itself: "Optimistic", "Reserved", and "Pesimistic". Also, state your strongest category and weakest category, which I will track as well.
Controllers: (Opinions of controllers themselves as opposed to pricing or availability)
If there's one thing Nintendo has become known for over the years it is their inventive control schemes. Things like the directional pad, analog stick, modern controller shape, shoulder buttons, rumble features, motion detection, screen displays and so forth are either partly rooted or entirely rooted in their past controllers. The Nintendo Switch controllers, though, are easily the most technically impressive controllers that I've seen for just about any electronic device to date.
Given how many features are involved, I'll simply share my impression. First, I'm happy to see that one of the most under-appreciated controllers of all time (the Pro Controller) is returning for this console. It's not included in the bundle, but this category is only concerned with opinions of the controllers rather than pricing or availability, so I won't be holding that against them here. The Pro Controller is everything one could need for a conventional gaming controller and, if it has even half of the battery life of the Wii U iteration, it's pretty much a perfect score from me.
Otherwise, the main controller looks, prior to holding it, superb. The two joycons having their own highly defined rumble features is itself impressive enough, but including the object detection in front of them was a very clever move, really opening up the possibilities for these controllers, and the capture button is pretty neat as well. My main previous concern, it being that they were too narrow with difficult to reach shoulder buttons, seems completely solved by the addition of those wrist-band covers. They are essentially Wii controllers that were drastically improved, except without the need of batteries.
I know for many people the controllers look odd, but given what's available (multiple modes and a superb conventional option) I really just can't think of much to be disappointed about. This was probably the strongest part of the presentation for me. If with hands on experience I find that they're uncomfortable or don't work well I'll obviously change my opinion, but for now there's nothing more I could ask for.
Score: 5
Battery Life:
Battery Life is said to range from 2.5 to 6.5 hours. I do not think people could reasonably expect too much more from a $300 console that is attempting to play games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo stated 3 hours for that game specifically), but it's still a bit shorter than I'd hoped. Really ever since I was a kid I always felt a portable system ought to aim for at least 4 hours of battery life, which generally covered a cross-country flight here in the US lol
That said, for the vast majority of cases this will be more than enough, be it drives of above average lengths, domestic flights, lunch breaks or in between classes on campus. With the ability to charge while playing in mobile mode and charging ports increasingly included in planes for international flights and easily acquirable car charging adapters, there's probably very few instances where someone will find themselves running out of power. A little more (~4 hours being the floor) would have garnered a perfect score from me, but this is passable.
Score: 4
Online Service:
I'm happy to hear that they'll actually bother to have a legit online service and that we'll get to try it out for the first few months. It's also cool that they're finally ditching region lock and commiting to combining different communities online. Finally, another positive is their share option, which will allow screenshots and the like not only to be shared on social media, but then easily saved and stored on a PC (something that their Miiverse pics/posts wouldn't allow for).
It irritates me, though, that they're joining in on this inane and ridiculous practice of charging owners for online services. Microsoft first realized they could leverage the nature of a closed platform to extort money for a service that out to be included, Sony decided to join in, and now even Nintendo has caved. If procucers of any phone, tablet, or pre-made PC attempted such a practice they'd be sunk instantly, and we really shouldn't stand for it.
Finally, while I'm not sure I fully understand how they intend to approach this yet, it sounds like they're suggesting a mobile app would be required for voice communication or inviting other players, which would be absolutely bizarre. I may be wrong about that, though, as they've not really said much about it.
Still, I'm just glad to hear they're actually taking online play seriously for once, and perhaps actually receiving subscription dollars for it will motivate them to make it an enjoyable experience. A step in the right direction for Nintendo, then, but a step in the wrong direction for the industry.
Score: 2
Internal Storage/Game Cards
Given they work in tandem, I felt I should group these two. My initial gut reaction to the 32gb hard drive was to be quite concerned, but then I remembered that this console will be fairly unique in the modern era in that the "game cards" largely negate the need for hard drive space. According to Nintendo, save games and patches are saved directly on the game card, which has the added benefit of allowing a person to, say, bring a game card to a friend's house and be able to play their saved files on someone else's system, much like how 3DS games work.
Unlike in the past, Game Cards are also no longer region locked, which is a definite plus. With the online services and ability to post to social media, it will be possible to save all screenshots and/or videos to devices outside of the Switch itself, which further negates the need for internal storage. If, however, you still find yourself short on space, the system accepts microSDXC cards.
The only concern I can come up with is if downloadable games fill the HD too quickly, but the easily swappable memory cards fixes that issue with the added benefit of being able to permanently preserve your downloadable games and not needing to redownload.
So, while a 32gb hard drive may initially frighten people, the system really won't require much internal storage. I'm very excited with the direction they took here and really can't think of any changes I'd want... Really, I wouldn't mind the other systems taking a similar approach.
Score: 4
Graphics/Specs
I'm never really very concerned with the power of Nintendo hardware, but I know it matters to many others. The main concerns for me are all largely covered.
When mobile, games will run at 720p, while when docked they can run up to 1080p. It is capable of connecting with 8 other consoles for local play, and it features fast WiFi support (wasn't sure if Nintendo would drop the ball there haha). It is also capable of running Unreal Engine 4.
There's little information in regards to the specs, so aside from what I've just stated, the only other clues are that 3rd party devs seem excited with it and decently taxing games are being ported over as we speak.
So, overall, it's about everything I'd hoped for a Nintendo console/mobile hybrid, if falling just a bit short.
Score: 4
Console/Game Box Aesthetic:
I'll be brief with this one. Really, I can't think of anything to improve. As awkward and clumsy as something with this many moving parts could look, it winds up looking sleek and pleasing. The box art (I'll link to examples below) looks beautiful as well. Everything about this console and its games gets an A+ in terms of presentation in my most humble of opinions.
Score: 5
Screen:
I've seen some people express concern about the screen, but I feel that is entirely unwarranted. The screen itself is the same size as the Gamepad and features 1280x720 resolution, running games at 720p. Perhaps more importantly, the viewing angles are reported to be very good (much better than other Nintendo devices) and motion still looks crisp. I've not found anyone who had a hands-on experience with the console that was actually disappointed by the screen, and given the goal (providing console games on the go for a reasonable cost), that's fairly impressive.
One welcome surprise is that the screen is a capacitive touch screen, which is to say it features the same kind of touch screen you find on tablets and smart phones. Capactive touch screens do not require the pressure that the Gamepad/DS/3DS do, and so the experience will be far more familiar to people and it makes touch gameplay easier. I do worry this might make it rather fragile, but given that Nintendo hardware is generally capable of surviving a nuclear apocalypse I suspect my concerns are unwarranted.
Basically, it's everything I hoped for, had the added unexpected return of touch features, and didn't try to include any wallet-breaking features like excessive resolution for a screen that size or an OLED screen, while also favoring battery life over unnecesary upgraded graphics. It is, in my opinion, exactly the screen this console needed.
Score: 5
Launch Titles:
They didn't really spend much time discussing launch titles, which concerns me as I was under the impression that the whole reason for postponing the launch to March was to allow for a robust launch lineup. Seriously, despite really searching I can only find a handful of games releasing in March, with the only Nintendo Exclusives being 1-2 Switch, Zelda BotW, Snippercuts, Skylanders Imaginator, and Super Bomberman R.
Given two of those were originally developed for the Wii U, I'm forced to question if they just completely forgot to develop a launch lineup. To me, this is evidence that they clearly had to move on from the Wii U much earlier than intended.
I really, really hope that there's more unannounced launch titles, as while I see many reasons to own a Switch in the future, the Zelda game is the only selling point we know of on launch day outside of whatever appeal they're able to generate for 1-2 Switch. That they couldn't even get that fun looking ARMS game ready by launch is an absolute crime, as I really liked what I saw there while the 1-2 Switch is little more than a Wii Sports title (i.e. tech demo).
I suppose Zelda keeps this from being a complete failure, and let's hope there's more to come.
Score: 2
Joy-Con Features/Games: (What do you think of the one-on-one Joy-Con playstyle/games?)
Nintendo opened with the 1-2 Switch, and it seemed apparent to me that they're attempting to recapture some of the lost customer base that the original Wii appealed to, with this being the new version of Wii Sports, basically being a tech demo.
Personally, I thought it looked rather fun, and I'm sure there's people out there it would appeal to. The 1-2 Switch game looked very simple (again, basically Wii Sports) but decently fun. ARMS, meanwhile, looked positively charming and was something I was legitimately excited to play (pretty disappointed to learn it doesn't launch until May).
If this feature were advertised properly it might help entice people, but I do worry Nintendo might focus too much on it as games like Splatoon 2/Zelda/Xenoblade/Fifa, the ability to play them on the go, and the ability to share a controller with a friend (something that would be very useful for a game like Fifa) are all much better selling points in my opinion.
Still, the object detection of the Joy-Cons does open the window for some unique gameplay, and that Arms boxing game looks like a ton of fun. I could see this appealing to people, but alone it wouldn't justify buying the system. I'm also curious whether or not this is a style of gameplay Nintendo intends to keep supporting, as they've not announced any other games of that style yet. There's definite room for improvement until we see a game with some depth, though it may never come.
Score: 4
Top Exclusives:
So far we've not seen too much from here, and there's undoubtedly a number of Nintendo titles in development that are not yet officially announced. We do know of a few though.
First, obviously, is Zelda BotW. Enough has been said about it, and all I'll add is that while looking incredible initially, it somehow always looks even better the more they share about it. That alone might sell a few consoles, especially as not many people have the Wii U. Playing it on the go (such as on a plane) would just be awesome, as my flight to and from Iceland a couple of weeks ago just flew by playing Ocarina of Time lol
Next, there was Mario Odyssey, which was... interesting? It looks like a superb game and I loved all of those colorful locations and such, but something about seeing him in a normal, realistic city just seemed off. Perhaps if it had some of that Mario look to it and the citizens all resembled Mario characters I would not have found it as jarring, but as it stood it briefly instigated a Sonic '06 flashback, something no game should do. Despite that, everything else looked excellent and I have no doubt that it will be another masterpiece in a long line of masterpieces... I just hope that mystery, sentient hat doesn't do anything to harm the experience lol
Finally, a few more worth mentioning were Splatoon 2, Snipperclips, ARMS, Fire Emblem Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Skylanders, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I'd say that Splatoon 2 looks pretty much like an expanded Splatoon 1 (which is a good thing), Snipperclips is going largely unnoticed and actually looks like a ton of fun, ARMS looks awesome, FE: Warriors we know literally nothing about but I'm sure people will enjoy it, XC 2 looks amazing, Skylanders appeals to that Skylanders crowd, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will easily be the best Mario Kart game to date as they've finally fixed the one glaring problem it had (a phoned in battle mode).
Overall, then, with what games we do know and some of the others that probably haven't been announced yet (such as that Super Mario Rabbids rpg), it does look like a fairly healthy first year of exclusives, even if it includes upgraded ports.
While it does seem like this shouldn't be too rare and Zelda was indeed developed for the Wii U, getting a massive Zelda and Mario game, along with sequels to a couple of the best games they've ever had in Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, is a pretty strong start by itself for a 9 month stretch by itself.
Score: 4
Third Party Support:
I definitely have more confidence in third party support than before, though the impression I'm getting is that most are looking to test the waters initially rather than fully buying into the system just yet. Bethesda's presentation and their revelation that Skyrim will indeed be coming to the Switch while expressing further interest in working with Nintendo was very cool to see (perhaps a Fallout port is coming?), while EA announcing that a Fifa designed specifically for the Switch was in the works was huge.
When it comes to the most mainstream of mainstream console gamers, a few franchise matter the most. As far as sports are concerned, the top and required franchises are Fifa, then Madden, and (trailing both a good deal) NBA2k, and at this point the Switch has two of three covered (no Madden port announced). Otherwise, you really should have both Call of Duty and Battlefield, and unfortunately we've not yet seen either of these announced for the Switch but, given both recently released games and the next titles won't be out for a while, that shouldn't be too surprising.
Otherwise, there's a decent showing of support from 3rd party developers, including Activision (something other than Dance Revolution), Ubisoft (that Mario/Rabbids RPG), Microsoft (Minecraft), and quite a number of smaller but still significant devs/publishers. It's not on the level of Sony/Microsoft yet, but as Nintendo stated over 80 games were in development, less than half have actually been announced at this time.
The showing, then, is better than I'd worried it might be, and it's encouraging to see that games like Skyrim can port over to the Switch without much issue. Add into that all of the genuinely excited chatter we've heard from a wide range of publishers, and I'd say Nintendo did a pretty darn good job of winning back support given how badly the Wii U flopped.
Score: 3
Price/Bundle
Taking a look at what's to be included in the bundle, I have mixed feelings. So far it appears it will include the console, a dock, two joy controllers, two joy-con straps, one joy-con grip, an hdmi cord, and an AC adapter; essentially everything you need to get started.
Personally, I think it would have been nice to include the Pro Controller, but Nintendo never does that as I suspect they really want you to first experience their new consoles with the new control scheme. Otherwise, a second joy-con grip would have been ideal (why only one?).
The make or break of this bundle for me, though, is whether or not it includes a game, something they (to my great concern) did not mention in their presentation. With all that you're getting in this console I really feel that, with a game like Zelda included in the bundle, $300 is a reasonable launching price. If there's no game (or, as I suspect, the only pack-in is that 1-2 Switch game), it may prove too high a price barrier for many who would otherwise buy it.
I do feel bad for Europeans where the price seems to vary but is a bit higher in general, but that's the nature of import fees and taxes. Really, it would be rather unfair to artificially inflate the US price to match that of Europe's, so I don't think Nintendo had much of a choice there. Hopefully Nintendo offers some pre-order deals that might make the purchase seem worthwhile, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that one.
Overall, I feel that the price is ok right now, and good if including a game like Zelda. While it would help sales, I don't think it reasonable for people to expect Nintendo to absorb losses the way Sony and Microsoft are often willing to do, though they're perfectly within their rights to allow that to influence their decision whether or not to purchase it.
Score: 3
Total Score: 45/60
Outlook: Optimistic
High: Screen/Aesthetic/Controller
Low: Launch Titles/Online Service
Basically, I liked what I saw, but it may see a weak launch. I'm personally very excited for it, but whether or not it will catch on still seems up in the air. They'll definitely have to do a good job advertising all of the unique features it offers... really, a commercial of someone playing Zelda/Skyrim on a couch, picking it up and continuing to play it on the go, and then sitting down with a friend, handing him a controller, and playing Mario Kart/Fifa with him would go a long way towards showing this thing off.
Still, I can tell I'll really enjoy it, and that's the important part :)
Total Outlooks:
Optimistic: 1
Reserved: 1
Pesimistic: 0
High Category:
1. Aesthetic (3)
2. Screen/Controllers (2)
3.
Low Category:
1. Launch Titles/Online Service (2)
2. Specs/Third Party Support/Pricing (1)
3.
