Nintendo Switch

[Hyo Razuki]

This is speaking from some anger, experience here living in Japan for abit too long but let me assure you its probably true to a large degree..

It's mind numbingly explainable why Nintendo seems to have nothing to show for years.
Despite their quirky and weird stance in the video game market as the outsider who makes different and unique consoles..
They are a very traditional Japanese minded company. They probably have meeting after meeting to talk about when they will talk about talking about talking. They probably have 20 different department sub-heads for each department. They will fucking stall the shit out of everything because nobody has the balls to push the button first if its not the upper management telling them to do it.
They will all sit around the meeting room talking about concepts while looking at fresh unopened bottles of tea because nobody even wants to be the first person to crack the seal on a tea bottle and dare have a sip even if nobody is looking or cares because why the fuck else would tea bottles be there! They are just there to look nice on the table next to the meeting packet and binder which took a month to create but will never be read outside of the meeting room.
Infact fucking remind everyone in the next email to place them in the correct recycling bin in the copy room because last time someone put one in the wrong bin.

Anyways, freakin hell they are gonna need a miracle to have a successful launch now and the rest of 2017 for that matter.
This is by far the worst launch line up I've ever seen. Makes PS3's look amazing. Infact id rather play Tale of Genji, Resistance Fall of Man and Ridge Racer 7 for all of 2017 than anything coming to Switch in all of 2017 including Mario which imo i'm worried about the gameplay seeing that trailer still. Looking alittle stiff.

I think the problem you're describing is common in all corporate environments, not just in Japan. But I belive you're right about Japanese employees being a bit more dependent and obedient to their superiors and thus even less proactive.

But while this might really explain part of the problem, other Japanese corporations get shit done too and they sometimes even manage to develop fantastic games. I reckon Nintendo have been planning this launch for long enough and they've got only Zelda ready for launch? That's hard to explain.

[Thief]

I recently let my girlfriend play mario 64, uninformed and unbiased and all. she fucking HATED it. she knows I'm more of a sega fan but I do own every nintendo console in existence and she wanted to play a 3d platformer. truth be told I hate that game as well but I never told her. I have no f'n idea what's good about mario 64 either and wanted to test out what she thought. terrible camera angles and worse controls thanks to the stupid placement of the analogue stick and unresponsive controls in general.

I agree, I'm not particularly fond that game (other than nostalgia). Sunshine is much better for me, more interesting worlds, interesting water mechanic, better controls/visuals, good theme.

[Axm]

But while this might really explain part of the problem, other Japanese corporations get shit done too and they sometimes even manage to develop fantastic games.[/color]

Obviously ya, but then games like FF15, The Last Guardian and every Gran Turisimo come to mind. These days Japanese devs are being left in the dust in development speed by comparison to the west. Nothing to do with which games I prefer mind you or the quality, just the stringent hierarchical way of them getting things done is sometimes best left out of certain things like game development. From the outside it looks like they are asleep. They better make some big announcements soon or else this will be the last console they do.

[JohnBlack]

Ohhhh, why cant they just make a black box with nintendo logo. And spend money on cool games with so much IP they have and good software to make this games true AAA titles. Is it so hard to do? sony doing it for like 20 years.

[Coromasta]

Like Microsoft? I really like the idea of the Nintendo switch, but they to need to get games for it.
It kinda feels like the launch of the sega saturn, a few launch games and then nothing interesting for 6 months.

[JohnBlack]

Like Microsoft? I really like the idea of the Nintendo switch, but they to need to get games for it.
It kinda feels like the launch of the sega saturn, a few launch games and then nothing interesting for 6 months.

The Idea is great but its already outdated. Switch is good console but not after Wii U, Nintendo had to release it instead of Wii U in 2012.

[Coromasta]

Like Microsoft? I really like the idea of the Nintendo switch, but they to need to get games for it.
It kinda feels like the launch of the sega saturn, a few launch games and then nothing interesting for 6 months.

The Idea is great but its already outdated. Switch is good console but not after Wii U, Nintendo had to release it instead of Wii U in 2012.

If they did release it in 2012 the tech would be very pricey, but yeah it would be very cool if they did.

[Anonymous81]

I honestly feel it would do better if they marketed it as the successor to the 3DS, but that you can connect to your TV and play like a home console too optionally.

By positioning it as a home console first (which they keep stressing, saying the portability is secondary to it being a home console,) they create certain expectations which, so far, are not being met imo.

The games are great for me, but the third party support is just not there for a major contemporary home console to be reflected in it. Anyone buying it knows it will automatically have the most inferior versions of multiplats that end up with it at least graphically, and possibly in terms of features due to storage.

For instance, NBA 2K18 is coming to it... but NBA2K17 was over 47GB. Switch has only 32GB on of board storage, so digital sales of NBA 2K18 even if it comes in lighter weight than its predecessor seem unlikely. Physical maybe, sure. But that's it. And more likely, it will be a stripped down, feature-cut iteration. Which may also be why EA's FIFA game on the system is untitled, and not FIFA 2018 or any other definitive title - because it'll be some proprietary, stripped down "special" edition. This is likely why it doesn't look like Skyrim is the remastered edition as well. The vanilla Skyrim clocked in at only 6 - 11 GB... but the special edition is 20+ GB. While SD media can come in any size up to terabytes, obviously nintendo will limit game card size for cost efficiency. For instance, BotW clocks in at 14GB.)

So unless they want to make expensive micro SD expansions mandatory for games, or limit to physical releases... I expect inferior ports of multiplats.

Given the above, and the other issues, and the lack of Mass Effect, Red Dead 2, Resident Evil (rumored but I deem it unlikely personally,) CoD, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed (again, rumored, and we shall see,) this is a big, big handicap they're giving their platform when it costs the same as a PS4, and more than an Xbone.

On the other hand, if it was their new HANDHELD, and had all these games, AND could be played on TV? Now that suddenly looks like a bargain. But then it's not priced as high, and they refuse to sell at a loss. So... there we are.

Again, this is enough for me personally. I'm SUPER excited to be honest. Can't wait. But I have minimal hopes for wide success for the platform sadly.

ETA: Just confirmed Borderlands 3 won't be coming to it either because, "Nintendo has other priorities." See, this is what I'm talking about. People can say, "Meh I don't like _____" anyway. About one game that's all well and good. But when the laundry list of third party major releases unannounced and probably not coming for it is this long, and their competition literally has Mass Effect etc. launching within their launch window... that's really hard to ignore for the average gamer who isn't a hardcore Nintendo fan. (Like I am, since I'm hopelessly enamored with anything nostalgic. I mean, that's why I'm here after all lol.)

[Hyo Razuki]

But while this might really explain part of the problem, other Japanese corporations get shit done too and they sometimes even manage to develop fantastic games.[/color]

Obviously ya, but then games like FF15, The Last Guardian and every Gran Turisimo come to mind. These days Japanese devs are being left in the dust in development speed by comparison to the west. Nothing to do with which games I prefer mind you or the quality, just the stringent hierarchical way of them getting things done is sometimes best left out of certain things like game development. From the outside it looks like they are asleep. They better make some big announcements soon or else this will be the last console they do.

Yes, it's kind of startling. Games like Persona 5, FF15 and Last Guardian have each taken like 10 years to develop. The question is do great Western games get released in timely fashion? Do Western studios manage to stay on schedule with games like Uncharted, The Witcher or CoD, Fifa, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed?

I don't know too much about Western developers, I'm too much of a Japan-focused gamer but let's assume Japanese companies have more of a delay and procrastination issue than Western ones do. Why is it that almost every time a Japanese studio manages to come up with something relevant, the project suffers delay after delay?

Are the studios understaffed? If so, why can't they hire more people? Margins don't allow it? Then how come Western developers deliver on schedule? Is game developer not considered an attractive job anymore by young Japanese and the industry faces a shortage of fresh blood? This would confirm what Yu said about the difficulty finding decent (and affordable) UE4 devs in Japan because most young guys gravitate towards mobile game development nowadays.

Also, nobody having the balls to take any first step ultimately boils down to incompetence on management level. If fear of making a mistake completely hampers your employees ability to work smoothly, you need to change your corporate culture.

[Sonikku]

For OL.

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[AnimeGamer183]

But while this might really explain part of the problem, other Japanese corporations get shit done too and they sometimes even manage to develop fantastic games.[/color]

Obviously ya, but then games like FF15, The Last Guardian and every Gran Turisimo come to mind. These days Japanese devs are being left in the dust in development speed by comparison to the west. Nothing to do with which games I prefer mind you or the quality, just the stringent hierarchical way of them getting things done is sometimes best left out of certain things like game development. From the outside it looks like they are asleep. They better make some big announcements soon or else this will be the last console they do.

Square didnt seem to have a problem with it in the PS1 days. I feel japanese games came out alot faster back then.

[Axm]

Living in Japan and seeing it first hand, the older generation actually seem to make decisions faster than the younger. The younger generation here is really timid and tbh lazy in decision making.
Couple that with mobile smart phone games getting all the attention and human resources these days and its no wonder Japan is being trounced by the west in quantity of console games developed and released.

[AnimeGamer183]

Japan sure is an unusual place it seems. Their social structure seems unstable I guess could explain it? The new generation is so unsure of themselves? I wonder where it all stems from? I wish they could collectively gain their confidence back...

[mrandyk]

There is not one problem with the Switch concept. It's a genius piece of hardware. However, it will have no games whatsoever at launch. Wait for a price drop or that killer app.

[mrandyk]

Think it might be the first Mario I've been interested in playing since the GC era.

If you liked Mario 64 then you really should try Galaxy 1 & 2. Disregard whatever preconceptions have put you off them, and approach them as a continuation of that series. For me, along with SM64, they're two of the best games ever made.

Could not play Mario Galaxy. BS motion controls were an absolute nuisance and ruined the entire experience. Nintendo should fix those games and re-release them without the tacked on motion controls.