Electronics

[gardenman]

Last night we finally got more information on the Nintendo Switch which will be launching on March 3, 2017 at $299. The Joy Con controllers look pretty neat, if not maybe a tick small. They each have all kinds of sensors built into them which may open up their capabilities down the road.

I was a little disappointed in the games that were announced. The new Zelda looks nice and is a launch day game, but the new Mariogame Odyssey won't be ready until the fall holiday season, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe won't be available until sometime in April/May. Splatoon 2 won't be ready until the summer. I didn't hear anything about the new Pikmin game that's supposed to be ready to roll out.

Nintendo's having more online announcements later ths morning, so maybe we'll learn more about games then. The launch day lineup looks pretty bare except for Zelda and a couple of new games that appear to have been designed to show off the Joy Con controllers one called "1-2 Switch" and the other one called "Arms." Both looked a little gimmicky to me.

All in all it was a decent presentation, but I'm not sure Nintendo learned a lot from their Wii U debacle.The list of launch day games is kind of thin at this point. If there's one thing we've learned in the past, it's that planned launch dates get pushed back on a routine basis. I'll want to hear from first hand users how the controllers really feel in one's hands.

[gardenman]

I watched the Nintendo Treehouse presentation yesterday and I think my favorite game they showed is Snipper Clips. That looks really neat and fun to play. It's a very unique puzzle solving game for up to four players where you reshape the other players (and they reshape you) by clipping off bits and pieces. There's a video of it up on YouTube that's pretty fun to watch.

One of the things we don't know about the Switch is what else it can do. Nintendo has focused like a laser beam on its game console role, but I'm betting there's more there than just that. I've got to think there's a web surfing ability and likely compatibility with one of the major tablet OS's (Apple or Android.)

Apple has never shared it's OS with any other hardware maker, but Nintendo did put their Super Mario Run app out on the Apple OS first, so maybe that's a clue that Apple is getting a bit more flexible when it comes to the Nintendo Switch? A $300 gaming console that could also double as an i-Pad would have the Switch selling in big numbers.

If not the Apple OS then we're apt to see the Android OS built in. Either would open a up a vast library of additional games for the switch owners to play at launch. A number of companies have now made Android compatible gaming devices for HDTV's. (Amazon's Fire TV being just one example.) I don't think the Switch will be just a gaming console. We haven't seen any tablet-like properties from it (web surfing, app use) and I'm pretty sure Nintendo didn't design and build a portable tablet-like gaming console that can't surf the net or run apps, including Nintendo's own apps.

Before the launch date on 3/3/2017, we're apt to learn a lot more about the other capabilities of the Switch. I'm betting there will be something significant to come out of those future presentations. I'm not sure Apple is willing to let their OS be used in a rival product just yet, but if they are, the Switch will become very, very popular. At the very least, I expect Android compatibility will be incorporated if Apple is still reluctant to allow others to use their OS. That would let Switch buyers use their new consoles to also play games like Candy Crush, Angry Birds, etc. either on the tablet portion or on their connected HDTV's.

[ULY]

Nintendo did a better job distinguishing the Switch from the Wii U then it did with the Wii U as a sucessor to the Wii. What the console is rather than what we think it is was done better. Now the marketing game needs to be implemented rather than just hoping WOM will push the console.

[gardenman]

I'm hoping we learn more about the Switch soon. My gut says it'll have either Android or Apple's OS built in so the Switch can be used as a full tablet when not being used to play games. That would make it a lot more attractive. That initial game lineup sounds good, but we saw games get pushed way back with the WiiU and I'm not sure how much I trust their predictions right now. We're just now seeing some gameplay of the new Mario game which looks kind of neat. Nintendo is apparently planning to make a big splash at E3.