Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/01/nintendo-switch-review-roundup.html
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Some lessons from 2014 still hold true today.
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How is this any surprise? Nintendo has been fucking up in the online space for several console generations now. It’s like they can’t do anything right here.
Their industrial design has always been pretty good and well thought out so it does surprise me that they seem to have missed the mark with these controllers.
I’m surprised there’s no mention of the launch lineup – which is absolutely terrible. It’s almost entirely re-releases of existing titles.
I’m a big gamer, so it saddens me to say that this is the first Nintendo console I have absolutely zero interest in owning at this point. After the complete bungling of the Wii U, Nintendo will really have to earn my trust anew if they want me to plunk down $300 (plus a lot more $$ when you add a game and Pro Controller) for one of these.
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Meh, can’t justify to buy another console … again.
Well, there’s several re-releases (I Am Setsuna, World of Goo, Shovel Knight, Little Inferno) but I believe the rest of their launch titles are newly developed for the platform.
I just checked. Of the 11 launch titles, 7 are ports (I’m including Legend of Zelda in this count since that’s also coming out on the Wii U), and 4 are unique to the Switch. Of those 4, 1-2 Switch seems like little more than a tech demo. Every review I’ve read said it’s an insult that Nintendo charges $50 for this instead of simply including it with the system.
I have nothing against ports or anything like that but just the launch lineup on the whole gives me little to be excited about. I already have a Wii U so I’m not going to rush out and buy a Switch to play Breath of the Wild.
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Weeelllll, it was developed specifically for the Switch, and is also being released as a “downgraded” version for WiiU, so I dunno if that qualifies as a “port”. But you’re correct that a bunch of the titles coming out before April are ports or HD remasters.
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Surprised they didn’t have a new exclusive Pokemon release for it. That would have been a big driver.
Still $300… ouch.
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Don’t you gamesplain me!! 
I realize it’s not technically a port but I put it into that bucket since it’s not an exclusive. That said, from what I’ve read in the reviews of LoZ it runs pretty poorly on the Switch so I shudder to think of what a downgraded version on the Wii U must feel like. Either way I’m in no rush to play it as my game backlog is already into the stratosphere.
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Re: controllers
I still feel that there is not a better gaming controller than Gamecube’s.
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You don’t feel this. You know this.
(I know it, too.)
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These are the Switch reviews I’m going to follow.
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For someone like me, who hasn’t owned a console since my PS3 was fried by lightening, and never owned a WiiU or DS, ports are just fine. In fact, I look forward to ports of all the best WiiU games I never got to play. And given the WiiU’s lack of popularity, I imagine there are a lot of folks just like me.
My head agrees with @jorpho though, it makes almost no sense to buy a console at launch. It makes much more sense to wait until at least November when the success of the platform is known, and when new games are likely to start hitting the shelves. Or to wait until November 2018 when a new Lite version comes out with smaller size, or longer battery life, or sleeker design. My heart though, is wanting the Switch pretty hard at launch. The question will be who controls the credit card, the heart or the head…
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Kotaku sez BoTW drops to about 24fps in dock mode, flawless in portable.
Notable: dock mode is higher res (900p for Zelda, 1080 targeted for most games). It is pretty disappointing in some ways but I’ll survive.
I preordered day one; it’s basically the console I’ve been hoping for for a long time and I can afford to indulge my hobbies like this. We’ll see how much I hate it or love it.
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Truthful. And yet so many people still fall in to the trap.
Mini-games do not a console make and for £279/$300 that really is a shocking launch lineup. Nintendo consoles have always failed on their inability to secure third-party titles and this doesn’t seem to be breaking that curse.
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If reviewers didnt bitch they’d be out of jobs.
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So you’re implying that it’s not a valid criticism?
The general point stands but specifically yes because other than special packages at higher price points, the idea of bundling a game at launch time hasnt been valid for several generations of consoles so this seems whiny.
Except the Wii came with Wii Sports, the Wii U came with Nintendo Land. These titles were both largely tech demos just like 1-2 Switch is. I don’t see complaints about charging an extra $50 for it instead of just including it as being beyond the pale or petty.
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