My worry for the Switch

I'm personally pleased enough with the tech, but it needs games.

It needs 3rd f*cking party games.

And I'm not talking Call of Duty. I'm fine with it being unable to run the generic blockbuster multiplats. Almost everyone has some other way to play those.

The thing that made the SNES great was not only Nintendo developed titles OR multiplats (which were frankly quite unusual at that time). Of course they helped - Super Mario World et al were indeed system defining. But it was also unique 3rd party titles. Many games even had the same name across platforms but were completely different. Regardless of same name or not, these 3rd party exclusives gave the SNES an astonishing breadth of gaming, across genres, and from cutesy to gritty visuals.

The Switch may not (*will not) run TES6, but it can certainly run dungeon crawlers and flight sims and RTS (thank you semi-precise touchscreen and motion controls) and a whole myriad of genres that - in some cases - the competing consoles would actually be worse at (as in the case of RTS).

I'm talking BREADTH of gaming options, that aren't limited to the (admittedly adorable) Nintendo aesthetic. Games that are built FOR its hardware, but come from creative minds outside the Nintendo software development machinery. That's where Nintendo's money needs to be going. I am eager to play the next Mario, but I'm also ready to barf at the idea of another system built around little else (yeah yeah, and Zelda and some motion stuff and Splatoon)

What are your thoughts? I don't think the loss of the AAA blockbusters is what hurts. I think it is still at a tipping point where it can sink or soar depending on how it does with indies and big-publisher platform exclusives.

I don't think that's really possible anymore in this day and age. It's not only expensive but it takes a lot of manpower to make games these days. I don't think that third parties can afford to make the games that they make currently on the other platforms and then have the resources to make unique games for the Switch as well.

I do miss the old days when consoles would have very different and unique game libraries from each other, not just different 1st party games, but different 3rd party games as well, but sadly that just doesn't happen very often anymore on any console. Nowadays, most 3rd party games are going to release on at least 2 different platforms and be almost identical so developers can make more money.

I do hope that with the Nintendo Switch being not just a console but also a handheld as well that it will receive the kind of unique 3rd party games that have had their home on handhelds in the past and wouldn't get released on consoles prior to the Nintendo Switch. If this happens then the Nintendo Switch should end up with a pretty unique exclusive 3rd party library that will give it a different identity than what PS4 and Xbox have and I think that is the kind of 3rd party support that would be best for Nintendo.

I also agree that Nintendo doesn't need the big epic AAA games since most people that buy Nintendo consoles also own at least one other platform and would just buy those games on one of their other platforms anyway. Given how retro gaming has been getting more and more popular in recent years, I hope and think it would be a good idea for Nintendo to try to make the Nintendo Switch the go-to console for 2D and retro style games by trying to get developers to make these kinds of games for the Nintendo Switch instead of getting downgraded ports of the big epic AAA games. Not only would these kind of games be pretty cheap to make and probably sell better on Nintendo's system than downgraded ports of AAA multiplats, it would also give it a larger library of unique games, a more unique identity, and plays to the Nintendo Switch's strengths.

I would love to see 3rd party games that are designed specifically for the switch. That's what it needs the most and I think it will get a few but probably not as many as we would like. It probably depends on how good the sales are for the Switch.

My main concern is that people ignore the system not because of the issues it actually has but because I am getting the impression that gamers have a preconceived notion that all games must conform to be the exact same across all platforms minus a trickling few exclusives. I hope things don't move in that direction where Western multi-platform games are the only thing that quantifies quality.

The system and accessories are expensive and some of the games are overpriced too. The idea of tying online to a mobile phone app is also very weird. Those are my main worries right now.

The game lineup for year 1 looks great though.

I've got mixed concerns, most of which 'will it get a better model because of its estimate handheld limitations?

I know some ain't too bothered about potentially two hours for playing Zelda, future Monster Hunters, and Mario. Because they plan on using it purely at home. However, that to me isn't enough. And is a big deal. Sometimes I'm on trains for over four hours a day.

I don't want to be charging the Switch all the time either. Give me a longer lasting model, like they did with the latest 3DS models. I don't care if it costs more.

Also launch games got me thinking my earliest will be the holidays regardless, however at this rate I'm going to see how the battery life handles in the reviews.

aye. well basically they need to have a more robust selection of games. whether thats through deals with 3rd parties or acquiring new developers, they need to widen the types and styles of games that they make. they also need to look outside japan a lot more. they need to bring different influences to their games. they should be trying to intercept smaller teams before they get to kickstarter and such like.

focus on indies and AA developers in areas where nintendo are weak. the wiius greatest issue was that its selection of games, though top notch in quality generally (lets not talk about starfox zero), only appealed to existing nintendo fans.

i remember, before the wiiu was released, that project offset was rumoured to be coming to it (well it was a video of project offset but they didnt say that and were spreading fud). of course it wasnt going to happen. that whole thing just died due to intel buying the developer. but i will say one thing about the rumour....it made people sit up and say "hold on a sec there....thats interesting".

I think that's a great point. I also really think it would be a missed opportunity if some RTS don't make it to the console - I know, I know, not gonna happen, but it COULD. With the touch screen and decent motion controls the point-and-click interface is there. Age of Empires was perfectly fine on pocketPC, and we know from games like World of Goo that the core point-and-click mechanic that you need for an RTS it worked fine with the primitive OG wiimotes. Given that the Switch is secretly a Shield in disguise, the type of porting that will happen for the Shield could happen here without too much headache. And that's a genre that traditional consoles just don't do well with.

I'm getting it mainly for my wife. I'm more than happy sticking to my PS4. I'm sure I will play it some but it will serve me by distracting my wife with retro games while I play my PS4 yet still be spending time together not having to go into seperate rooms.