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I've had every previous Nintendo console to date except for the Wii U. I've gone through 2 SNES's, 2 N64's, 2 Gamecubes, 3 Wii's, but 0 Wii U's. Nintendo had a

I've had every previous Nintendo console to date except for the Wii U. I've gone through 2 SNES's, 2 N64's, 2 Gamecubes, 3 Wii's, but 0 Wii U's. Nintendo had a great streak going, and they just ruined it with such a shit piece of hardware. Sure, the Wii was pretty terrible, but it redeemed itself with the ease of which it can be hacked and customized, plus the Wiimotes were pretty neat even if not perfect. My solution to shitty hardware? Buy the games and emulate. Never touch that awful gamepad. I don't care if full-blown 100% commercial emulation dropped tomorrow, I will still buy a Switch this year and probably another in a couple years. Hardware design is extremely important, and with Nintendo's commitment to continually finishing last in the GFX arms race, it's all they have. At least with the Switch, they found a way to justify reduced graphical performance with a hybrid mobile design. As soon as some nice third-party joycons hit the market, I'm in.

ReverseCold 9y ago
> third-party joycons You don't like first party Nintendo controllers better? I always find first party to be higher quality, even if the third party one is more expensive.
- kakarot 9y ago
  Generally yes, but I have yet to hear a single positive thing about the joycons. Word on the street is they're cheap and unreliable and the exact opposite of ergonomic. The usual Nintendo approach of throwing decades of controller design research out the window. If you watched their E3 presentation, it was entirely focused on how awesome the controllers were. They got significantly more attention than any other aspect of the console. This was the first major sign that something was wrong. It seemed almost like they were trying to convince themselves of the controller's quality and usefulness. I've also heard that there are issues with the controllers working correctly when a cellphone sits between them and the console, and this is pretty major considering a mobile phone is more or less required for online multiplayer. I will hold back until something better appears, unless it seems like that just isn't going to happen.
  - paublyrne 9y ago
    > Generally yes, but I have yet to hear a single positive thing about the joycons. I really like the joycons. I didn't buy the pro controller when I bought the Switch, but suspected I would buy it a bit later. Now I'm not really inclined to, the boxed joycons are great.
  - ry_ry 9y ago
    The mobile phone thing almost certainly isn't an issue - my phone generally sits between the sofa and the Switch and I've never had any connectivity problems, regardless of what the phone is doing.
  - ReverseCold 9y ago
    The Joycons feel great (when using both), I have no idea what "word on the street" is talking about. Using them for 2P mode is "meh" - playable but not the best. The Pro Controller also exists, which is a standard controller if you want to use that. It's on Groupon for $30 right now. You can also use your own GameCube controllers with an adapter if you want.
    - bsimpson 9y ago
      I've only played handheld or with the joycons separated - I haven't tried that in-box faux-controller-mount-thing. I can't imagine wanting to either. I like the freedom of being able to hold each hand however it wants to be held, without clutching onto them both onto a 5 inch wide piece of plastic. It's also the first game system I've bought in more than a decade, so I'm not exactly accustomed to any particular controller style.
      - ReverseCold 9y ago
        > I like the freedom of being able to hold each hand however it wants to be held, without clutching onto them both onto a 5 inch wide piece of plastic Yup, this is a very nice/laid back way to play some games. It's one of my favorite things about the joy cons.
    - kaybe 9y ago
elsonrodriguez 9y ago
> Hardware design is extremely important, and with Nintendo's commitment to continually finishing last in the GFX arms race, it's all they have. I'd like to point out that the Gamecube was much better than the Playstation 2 in terms of graphics. In fact, I'd say that they learned their lesson about being a "Me Too" player that generation, and began to focus on usability and innovation instead of raw speed. This is a lesson they should have learned from their portables, but somehow never applied it to their consoles.
- kakarot 9y ago
  The Gamecube edged out in certain aspects like lighting and color accuracy, and the Playstation 2 won out in other ways. It was definitely a beefy GPU that stood toe-to-toe with Sony's... ATI did a good job. Unfortunately, Nintendo thought it was a good idea to barely increase GPU performance between generations and with the Wii we basically got a Gamecube V2 instead of a console that actually competed with the new generation on a hardware level.
  - Brockenstein 9y ago
    Right and the GameCube sold ~20 million units, which is abysmal for Nintendo. Far fewer than any other Nintendo console up until that point, only the WiiU has sold worse. But the Wii sold ~100 million units and was an unqualified success. I think elsonrodriguez's point was this. Nintendo has released consoles with enough power to best all or some competition previously, in the form of the N64 and the GameCube. That power didn't translate into sales. The N64 sold 1/3 as many units as the PSOne. The GameCube sold ~1/8th as many units as the PS2. But the Wii sold more units than the Xbox360 or the PS3. >Unfortunately, Nintendo thought it was a good idea to barely increase GPU performance between generations and with the Wii we basically got a Gamecube V2 instead of a console that actually competed with the new generation on a hardware level. Given the Wii's success it seems clear that they didn't need to compete on the hardware level to be successful. And seeing how competing on hardware hasn't worked out for them (terribly well) in the past it's arguably not a good strategy for them to continue. It certainly seems like Nintendo's biggest success stories don't center around unparalleled technical specs. Rather, low cost hardware that's used really well.

ReverseCold 9y ago

> third-party joycons You don't like first party Nintendo controllers better? I always find first party to be higher quality, even if the third party one is more expensive.

kakarot 9y ago
Generally yes, but I have yet to hear a single positive thing about the joycons. Word on the street is they're cheap and unreliable and the exact opposite of ergonomic. The usual Nintendo approach of throwing decades of controller design research out the window. If you watched their E3 presentation, it was entirely focused on how awesome the controllers were. They got significantly more attention than any other aspect of the console. This was the first major sign that something was wrong. It seemed almost like they were trying to convince themselves of the controller's quality and usefulness. I've also heard that there are issues with the controllers working correctly when a cellphone sits between them and the console, and this is pretty major considering a mobile phone is more or less required for online multiplayer. I will hold back until something better appears, unless it seems like that just isn't going to happen.
- paublyrne 9y ago
  > Generally yes, but I have yet to hear a single positive thing about the joycons. I really like the joycons. I didn't buy the pro controller when I bought the Switch, but suspected I would buy it a bit later. Now I'm not really inclined to, the boxed joycons are great.
- ry_ry 9y ago
  The mobile phone thing almost certainly isn't an issue - my phone generally sits between the sofa and the Switch and I've never had any connectivity problems, regardless of what the phone is doing.
- ReverseCold 9y ago
  The Joycons feel great (when using both), I have no idea what "word on the street" is talking about. Using them for 2P mode is "meh" - playable but not the best. The Pro Controller also exists, which is a standard controller if you want to use that. It's on Groupon for $30 right now. You can also use your own GameCube controllers with an adapter if you want.
  - bsimpson 9y ago
    I've only played handheld or with the joycons separated - I haven't tried that in-box faux-controller-mount-thing. I can't imagine wanting to either. I like the freedom of being able to hold each hand however it wants to be held, without clutching onto them both onto a 5 inch wide piece of plastic. It's also the first game system I've bought in more than a decade, so I'm not exactly accustomed to any particular controller style.
    - ReverseCold 9y ago
      > I like the freedom of being able to hold each hand however it wants to be held, without clutching onto them both onto a 5 inch wide piece of plastic Yup, this is a very nice/laid back way to play some games. It's one of my favorite things about the joy cons.
  - kaybe 9y ago

elsonrodriguez 9y ago

> Hardware design is extremely important, and with Nintendo's commitment to continually finishing last in the GFX arms race, it's all they have. I'd like to point out that the Gamecube was much better than the Playstation 2 in terms of graphics. In fact, I'd say that they learned their lesson about being a "Me Too" player that generation, and began to focus on usability and innovation instead of raw speed. This is a lesson they should have learned from their portables, but somehow never applied it to their consoles.

kakarot 9y ago
The Gamecube edged out in certain aspects like lighting and color accuracy, and the Playstation 2 won out in other ways. It was definitely a beefy GPU that stood toe-to-toe with Sony's... ATI did a good job. Unfortunately, Nintendo thought it was a good idea to barely increase GPU performance between generations and with the Wii we basically got a Gamecube V2 instead of a console that actually competed with the new generation on a hardware level.
- Brockenstein 9y ago
  Right and the GameCube sold ~20 million units, which is abysmal for Nintendo. Far fewer than any other Nintendo console up until that point, only the WiiU has sold worse. But the Wii sold ~100 million units and was an unqualified success. I think elsonrodriguez's point was this. Nintendo has released consoles with enough power to best all or some competition previously, in the form of the N64 and the GameCube. That power didn't translate into sales. The N64 sold 1/3 as many units as the PSOne. The GameCube sold ~1/8th as many units as the PS2. But the Wii sold more units than the Xbox360 or the PS3. >Unfortunately, Nintendo thought it was a good idea to barely increase GPU performance between generations and with the Wii we basically got a Gamecube V2 instead of a console that actually competed with the new generation on a hardware level. Given the Wii's success it seems clear that they didn't need to compete on the hardware level to be successful. And seeing how competing on hardware hasn't worked out for them (terribly well) in the past it's arguably not a good strategy for them to continue. It certainly seems like Nintendo's biggest success stories don't center around unparalleled technical specs. Rather, low cost hardware that's used really well.