Wii U had 26 3rd party games out at launch. Why? Because at the time the GPU was more powerful then 360/PS3 but CPU a bit lacking.
It's true it's 'easier' to develop, but not entirely. Developers still have to take games made for 1.3-14 TFlops and get it to work on 0.19-0.39 TFlops. That presents a problem. Most people heard UE4 can run on Switch... except most don't realize that most games aren't on UE4. UE4 in the PS4/XB1 era isn't used nearly as much as UE3 was in 360/PS3 era. UE4 is almost non-existent, whereas UE3 was ubiquitous and the go-to engine for PS3/360.
So no, it's going to be hard for developers to make any next-gen game on Switch, especially since they have to work in undocked mode which is basically last gen.
In other words, with PS4/XB1 OG systems already showing their age, and developers will be targeting PS4 Pro/Scorpio/PC's (remember GTX 1070 last year basically overclocks to 7 TFLops or 7000 GFLops for ~$399), somehow they are now going to work hard on 0.19-0.39?
As a handheld it should be great unless Nintendo releases another handheld (as they've hinted at), and if they continue to talk about support DS that splits support.
But as a console this thing looks like a Nintendo only box again, and far worse the Wii or Wii U were in that regards. If Switch was to become the 'next big thing' ( which it won't) you'd be talking about Wii type ports of AAA 3rd party games.
It's just way too underpowered. 0.19-0.39 TFlops in 2017 for a product that costs more then it's competitors? Docked mode equals the raw power of Nvidia's 8800GTS which came out in May 2007. Undocked mode, far less.
So in many ways, it's launching in a far more precarious state then even Wii U did. Even Wii U got two Call of Duty games. Skyrim is 6 years old at launch for Switch is not as good as Mass Effect 3, Batman, etc, etc all being like 8 months old.
It's also not good that just about every 3rd party port announced so far is based off the PS3/360 version or thereabouts. Even Skyrim isn't confirmed to be the remastered version, but probably some sort of hybrid.
@swyg: It's also the same version on Switch, so many people who have Wii U's that buy Switch won't be paying for Mario Kart a 2nd time. Some will, obviously, but the vast majority won't.
Actually gamers do care about sales, because it is indicative of the support the console will receive. Ignoring that is just pulling the wool over ones own eyes.
If it doesn't sell well, fewer games come, and Nintendo itself will cut off support early, see Wii U. No one wants that.
Game quality is relative. Tons of people felt the quality of their favorite games sufficed on PS4/XB1. To many people CoD is the must buy every year. To others Battlefield, or some RPG, etc.
Wii U had 26 3rd party games available at launch including a bunch of high profile AAA games, and games for the ground up designed around Wii U like Zombi U. It had CoD, Batman, Mass Effect, Sonic Racing, Assassin's Creed III, etc, etc.
Switch's launch pales in comparison.
Xeno 2 and Metroid? Likely not until 2018-2019. Mario Odyssey doesn't look very good. It's not open world, but small levels as seen from the youtube videos of the city level. Hopefully it turns out well, but looks small.
Splatoon 2 should be good, but alot of people will probably be fine with Splatoon on Wii U where there is no online fee and its online isn't in beta.
As for me, I can play Zelda on Wii U, which seems to have pretty much same performance aside from a slightly lower resolution 720p vs 900p. Same framerate issues. If BOTW had the power of its competitors behind it, it probably would be 1080/60. If Nintendo had made a 3 TFlop machine for $299-349 instead of a handheld, BOTW would of performed amazingly on it, perhaps even up to 4k/30.
After that, there's really nothing else on the horizon besides those games announced, but no actual release date announced. Let's face it, many of the games they showcased didn't even have gameplay at the reveal. It had title screens, or cutscenes, or even just people standing up there saying they are going to make games for it.
The problem with Switch is that it confined to a handheld power standard, and most people don't want to be limited by handheld standards. Most people don't even want a handheld. Not for more money, less packed in, and only 80 games in development which will trickle in over the next couple of years.
It's going to be awfully hard for AAA 3rd parties that will be targeting 1.3-20+TFlops when making their games over the next year or two to make those games work on 190-393 GFlops. Docked it's the raw power of 2007, with architectural improvements it's the power of 2008-2009. Even the underpowered Xbox One had the power of 2010 in 2013, and PS4 had the power of 2011 in 2013. Even if they can, most people will buy them elsewhere because Nintendo isn't giving people a path to upgrade from Xbox One or PS4, they would be asking people to massively downgrade for the appeal of portability. Portability isn't a big draw. It just isn't.
If the masses can't buy a Nintendo system to be a number 1 system, it's going to struggle with that area. It can be a number 1 handheld, but not a number 1 console.
I'm sure Switch will be great for handheld lovers, but just a Nintendo 1st party console. That's not very appealing, especially when it costs more.
But even Nintendo is hinting that they will continue support for 3DS and might be making another handheld. This would obviously make Nintendo 1st party support around the same level as Wii U got. That's not good.
Many people thought if Nintendo could up the 1st party games it would be more competitive, but if they are dividing with supporting 1-2 other systems, Switch 1st party content would be limited.
So yes, it's very important for people to gauge how a system is selling (and launch is the worst time to do that). People want a system that will have a ton of games over the next 5-8 years and don't want another Wii U debacle which was more like 3 years of support.
Because right now there is no guarantee it will even get the support or sales from a console perspective that Wii U got. Handheld will likely be solid, but console gamers aren't clamoring for handheld stuff.
It's going to be real interesting to see what happens this summer with sales of Switch, and next year. I don't expect many big announcements for anything soon from Nintendo at E3. Any game they tease that hasn't been talked about before would likely be 2019 at the earliest and likely 2019-2021 timeframe. Everything out through 2018 has likely already been discussed, it simply wouldn't be good business to set it on the sidelines while all those developers basically showed nothing at the reveal. It was content poor.
@heqteur: You do realize he didn't say he wasn't going to buy it right? That nothing he said indicated what you were alluding to.
You're not an entitled millenial if you buy a game, and play it on a PC through an emulator.
I have a Wii U and am getting Zelda on it. I'll also try playing it on my PC through an emulator called CEMU.
So please do tell us Gen X/Millenial gamers how he is depriving anyone of the fruit of their labor when they buy the game? Or when they buy the game AND also own the console?
When I play a game, it's not as if coins are dropping into their laps from a question mark box above them for how much time I played it.... but only if I do it on their device.
Why is it just about every time I hear someone use the world 'entitled' they have no clue as to what it means and/or completely whiff on its usage?
The simple fact is, the people that buy the Wii U version of the game will be able to play at 1080/60, 4k/60, maybe even 120fps if they have the PC and display to do it. They won't be able to do that with Switch, since it comes on a cartridge.
As for the reason many millenials aren't working, it has to do with the structure the likes of Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush(both), and Obama left them. The jobs are overseas as it was designed to be.
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