4 ms·

How's the Switch a good example? The hardware (NVIDIA Tegra X1) is generic as can be - also used in NVIDIA Shield/Google Pixel C. If Switch didn't have Nintendo

How's the Switch a good example? The hardware (NVIDIA Tegra X1) is generic as can be - also used in NVIDIA Shield/Google Pixel C. If Switch didn't have Nintendo marketing behind it, it'd sink into obscurity as fast as other products on the same hardware platform. Sure it's different, but not in any creative way.

mlyle 5y ago
What-- because it uses hardware you can find in other things, it's not unique? * It's packaged dramatically differently from its primary Sony and Microsoft competitors. It aims squarely between handheld gaming and the console space and finds success there rather than being a watered down version of btoh. * It supports a wide variety of use cases-- single player portable, multiple players around the small screen, TV. * The controllers support a greater degree of motion tracking and are reconfigurable (snap on the sides, use sideways, etc. * It chooses a different microarchitecture from everyone else in the console gaming space. (No, the Shield and Google Pixel don't count).
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  Nintendo has brand power, IP and software. Sony and Microsoft are giving up on exclusives, but Nintendo always is making strong games in some of the series such as Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, etc. People frequently play the Switch in the same configuration as the PSP/PS Vita/Steam Deck so I think the trick hardware is overrated, but it is a solid platform that attracts various third party software, for instance almost all the JRPG that came out for PS 4 and the Vita now come out for the Switch.
  - mlyle 5y ago
    > Nintendo has brand power, IP and software. Oh, sure. I'm not saying someone other than one of the biggest gaming companies could have been successful with this. > People frequently play the Switch in the same configuration as the PSP/PS Vita/Steam Deck so I think the trick hardware is overrated We (adults) play it on the TV mostly, but it travels with us on trips. Kids play theirs handheld. Very often play 2 player with a kickstand. I was a big Vita fan; it feels like a better Vita but isn't completely worthless for TV gaming.
    - PaulHoule 5y ago
      Sony released a TV version of the Vita but never a version with both a screen and a video output. I looked at the Vita TV but kept buying parts to field-repair my handheld instead.
  - salamandersauce 5y ago
    Nintendo has previously stated that play time is split 50/50 across docked and handheld mode. How that holds up in the years since and with the introduction of the Switch Lite I don't know but it seems a pretty solid indication that it's more than just a trick. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/06/nintendo-docked-and-undocked-play-time-for-switch-is-about-even/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/06/nintendo-docked-and-u...
bri3d 5y ago
The default controllers, hardware problems aside, certainly represent a departure from the usual controllers of the PS/Xbox family. The Shield is actually a perfect example - it failed in the market as a weird gimmicky "normal console" controller with a screen glued to the top of it. On the flip side, with the Switch: * One handed motion controls are viable and used frequently. * Two-stick FPS games are possible but don't need to be the default, encouraging more innovative/interesting UIs. * IR camera enables Labo/Cardboard which is a very cool gimmick. * Easy docking, undocking, storage, and portability of the controllers. * The console includes two players by default. Most Switch games have a thought out, fun two-or-more players, in-person mode. Many have co-op. Split-screen games are an afterthought and don't even run correctly on most other modern consoles.
- bitwize 5y ago
  This is called "lateral thinking with withered technology" -- Nintendo's core principle of taking mature, generic technologies and combining them in innovative ways to create something new and interesting.

mlyle 5y ago

What-- because it uses hardware you can find in other things, it's not unique? * It's packaged dramatically differently from its primary Sony and Microsoft competitors. It aims squarely between handheld gaming and the console space and finds success there rather than being a watered down version of btoh. * It supports a wide variety of use cases-- single player portable, multiple players around the small screen, TV. * The controllers support a greater degree of motion tracking and are reconfigurable (snap on the sides, use sideways, etc. * It chooses a different microarchitecture from everyone else in the console gaming space. (No, the Shield and Google Pixel don't count).

PaulHoule 5y ago
Nintendo has brand power, IP and software. Sony and Microsoft are giving up on exclusives, but Nintendo always is making strong games in some of the series such as Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, etc. People frequently play the Switch in the same configuration as the PSP/PS Vita/Steam Deck so I think the trick hardware is overrated, but it is a solid platform that attracts various third party software, for instance almost all the JRPG that came out for PS 4 and the Vita now come out for the Switch.
- mlyle 5y ago
  > Nintendo has brand power, IP and software. Oh, sure. I'm not saying someone other than one of the biggest gaming companies could have been successful with this. > People frequently play the Switch in the same configuration as the PSP/PS Vita/Steam Deck so I think the trick hardware is overrated We (adults) play it on the TV mostly, but it travels with us on trips. Kids play theirs handheld. Very often play 2 player with a kickstand. I was a big Vita fan; it feels like a better Vita but isn't completely worthless for TV gaming.
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    Sony released a TV version of the Vita but never a version with both a screen and a video output. I looked at the Vita TV but kept buying parts to field-repair my handheld instead.
- salamandersauce 5y ago
  Nintendo has previously stated that play time is split 50/50 across docked and handheld mode. How that holds up in the years since and with the introduction of the Switch Lite I don't know but it seems a pretty solid indication that it's more than just a trick. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/06/nintendo-docked-and-undocked-play-time-for-switch-is-about-even/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/06/nintendo-docked-and-u...

bri3d 5y ago

The default controllers, hardware problems aside, certainly represent a departure from the usual controllers of the PS/Xbox family. The Shield is actually a perfect example - it failed in the market as a weird gimmicky "normal console" controller with a screen glued to the top of it. On the flip side, with the Switch: * One handed motion controls are viable and used frequently. * Two-stick FPS games are possible but don't need to be the default, encouraging more innovative/interesting UIs. * IR camera enables Labo/Cardboard which is a very cool gimmick. * Easy docking, undocking, storage, and portability of the controllers. * The console includes two players by default. Most Switch games have a thought out, fun two-or-more players, in-person mode. Many have co-op. Split-screen games are an afterthought and don't even run correctly on most other modern consoles.

bitwize 5y ago
This is called "lateral thinking with withered technology" -- Nintendo's core principle of taking mature, generic technologies and combining them in innovative ways to create something new and interesting.