7 ms·

Transition from Switch Will Be 'Significant Challenge,' Ex-Nintendo Head Says

32 points by wallflower 4y ago

encryptluks2 4y ago
Nintendo had a good run, but aside from a few exclusive titles I'm done. Can't keep supporting a company that is hostile towards its users. I'd rather invest in a Steam Deck from here on out.
- RC_ITR 4y ago
  > Nintendo had a good run Such a funny way to describe a 130+ year old company.
  - eichin 4y ago
    Oh, like Nokia?
    - thematrixturtle 4y ago
      Nokia is alive and kicking. They've dropped out of the highly visible mobile phone game (Nokia has no stake in HMD Global, the company that now owns the trademark), but Nokia Networks is still the top supplier of mobile networks gear in the free world (sorry, Huawei).
    - bayindirh 4y ago
      Which is still strong in their core competency: Cellular network infrastructure and research.
    - Akronymus 4y ago
      I am literally typing this on a nokia phone. Having no bloat is pretty nice.
  - effingwewt 4y ago
    They truly did. I was a lifelong Nintendo enthusiast until the stuff with the 3DS started. They kept getting more and more user hostile, and sometimes quite literally! I own a switch and like the system, but still think PS Vita was far superior. Broken joycons, forcing new purchases of pairs only, so many failed I myself am part of the class action lawsuit against them over it. Suing and sending 'investigators' after enulation developers. Stealing fan-patches and translations and selling them on their store. Reselling games some of us have purchased numerous times, only to find the 'remakes' are just shitty emulated ports. And again they would download fan-fixed roms and use those. After D2 I am done. They didn't bother to give any way to use M/KB, the multiplayer is virtually non-existent, as is chat (typed, voice is non-existent). No mouse or use of stick-controled aiming such as in twin stick shooters breaks sorceress teleport, Enigma teleport, etc. I paid $60, which was bad enough for a shitty re-skin of a decades old game that could run on a graphing calculator, but I chose the wrong system to purchase it on. Nintendo is the definition of user hostile now, to the point of losing lifelong customers. They and Disney are in the same boat. They had the balls to think their shitty entertainment businesses had been around so long they were too big to fail and didn't need their customers. Well, maybe they don't need us, but they sure as shit need our money.
    - ShamelessC 4y ago
      Holy shit man, just stop purchasing the stuff. It's not the Nuremberg trials.
      - effingwewt 4y ago
        I have. Either way, how would that make any of the stuff they've done OK? Talk about next-level hand-waving.
    - ghostly_s 4y ago
      Nintendo has been offering free repair/replacement of Joy-Cons for quite some time now, and AFAIK they have been sold separately since launch. What are you on about?
      - 4y ago
- getthisgone 4y ago
  Now that encryptluks is out, yeah, I think we can all agree Nintendo is over. Well done, Nintendo. Nearly got there with the switch, but, sadly you missed the critical encryptluks market. And missing that market is critical to long term success. RIP.
10729287 4y ago
Would love Nintendo to bring back some personnality to their next system. Switch was such a downgrade from 3DS regarding experience. Android didn't help in terms of design or speed but I missed all the funny features and crazyness Nintendo got us used to with their previous handheld. Also, the eshop was such a pain in the ass to browse, again it screamed Android System all the way for both poor selection and unbearable slowness.
- vbitz 4y ago
  The Nintendo Switch is not Android-based. It runs on a modified version of the 3DS software (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_softwar...).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- fxtentacle 4y ago
  Yeah I also never understood why the eShop is so bad. Even scrolling around in videos takes forever. But then again, me and my friends always buy cartridges so that we can trade finished games. So maybe someone at Nintendo did the math and decided that a global CDN isn't worth it.
  - averne_ 4y ago
    Because it runs in a browser (WebKit-based), and because the browser is compiled without JIT for security concerns. It should really be a native applet, but Nintendo probably wanted to control it without needing a full firmware update.
    - danuker 4y ago
      They could have simplified the payload then (layout, JS...).
      - averne_ 4y ago
fxtentacle 4y ago
Actually he only said that it has historically been rare to see a company move from a highly successful system to the next highly successful system. So the "significant challenge" is to not end up like the PS2 to PS3 transition, or Xbox 1 to 360... Both of which still were very successful, just not quite as dominating as PS1 to PS2, for example. Also, the Switch dev forums are chock full with Indie teams who need a bit of funding and a bit of support and don't want to deal with PC and piracy anymore. So I'd predict we will have amazing new Switch indie games for years to come. In my opinion, the biggest issue for a Switch successor might be that for most great indie games, the console is already powerful enough. So there isn't any obvious hardware upgrade apart from the screen, which they already did. It's kind of the same reason why we don't upgrade our phones every 2 years anymore.
- krageon 4y ago
  There are very few Switch exclusive indie games that are good. I can't recall any, in fact. The Switch does have a lot of shovelware, but that's probably not the category of videogames you were focusing on.
  - fxtentacle 4y ago
    I didn't say "exclusive". My current favorites are Super Chariot, Cuphead, and Redout.
    - mkmk3 4y ago
      I hadn't heard of Redout or Super Chariot but both look exciting. I've also been browsing the shop going a year or two back but the store UI doesn't do much for assessing quality, which is a bit of a shame. I don't think it sets up the market well for smaller games.
    - krageon 4y ago
      > and don't want to deal with PC and piracy anymore Why is this relevant if they're still on PC anyway?
getthisgone 4y ago
If Nintendo just got their online story together, and let me move digital purchases to the next platform, I'd buy new hardware today. The switch is a fantastic device. It's only failure is that it's getting just a little long in the tooth.
- Shank 4y ago
  This is basically the reason why I grabbed a Steam Deck. The upside with having a Steam library is that so far, Steam is the longest-lived downloadable/online game platform there is. I'd rather have a portable Steam library and own all of my titles there than try to hedge my bets with the Switch. The Switch's hardware is absolutely lovely, but I can't help but feel like buying a lot of games on it is a bad idea at this point.
  - senectus1 4y ago
    steamdeck has a real chance to eat nintendo and sony's lunch... but yeah, I doubt it will given the poor progress they've been making.
iasay 4y ago
Nintendo are in a sticky situation. They are a poor value proposition these days. My kids quickly lost interest in their Switches when they saw Mario Kart prices and to play each other they would have to buy three copies. At best they get used for Animal Crossing that came with it and any free stuff and that's about it. What they tend to gravitate towards is their iPads where they can play < $10 games together which are available across family sharing (Minecraft, Among Us, Roblox are popular). They connect xbox controllers to the things and use that. The iPads are also fully blown computers so they are used for just about everything else in their lives. I don't think Nintendo have a chance against that.
- ErneX 4y ago
  Switch is going to outsell the PS4. I think they are doing fine.
  - iasay 4y ago
    I don't disagree with that. The problem is evolving it into a market saturated with general purpose devices and subscription services. That's something that Sony and Nintendo shrugged off. Lets throw this on the table: I actually played Fortnite on my iPad the other day via XBox Live streaming. It was perfectly playable, with an XBox controller streaming to my TV. And I didn't have to buy a Switch, PS4 or any up front cost on games at all.
    - arrrg 4y ago
      Even the cheapest iPad is more expensive than a Switch. And the setup is complicated and finicky. You need some way to stream to your TV or connect to your TV, you need a controller, iPads aren’t exactly optimized for gaming or easy to set up for gaming (relative to a Switch where everything just works). All those little things add a little friction but in the end that ends up adding up to a lot of friction. Also, unlike phones iPads are not general purpose devices that everyone has just around and if they have them, they may be tied up with other duties. Also, game quality is abysmal (if a lot less pricy). It’s just not a good fit. That might change, it might change slowly, I don’t know – but currently I don’t see general purpose devices as much of a threat for consoles. Reason for change? Reason for putting focus on things general purpose devices don’t do well? Sure. But no existential threat.

32 points by wallflower 4y ago

Nintendo had a good run, but aside from a few exclusive titles I'm done. Can't keep supporting a company that is hostile towards its users. I'd rather invest in a Steam Deck from here on out.

RC_ITR 4y ago
> Nintendo had a good run Such a funny way to describe a 130+ year old company.
- eichin 4y ago
  Oh, like Nokia?
  - thematrixturtle 4y ago
    Nokia is alive and kicking. They've dropped out of the highly visible mobile phone game (Nokia has no stake in HMD Global, the company that now owns the trademark), but Nokia Networks is still the top supplier of mobile networks gear in the free world (sorry, Huawei).
  - bayindirh 4y ago
    Which is still strong in their core competency: Cellular network infrastructure and research.
  - Akronymus 4y ago
    I am literally typing this on a nokia phone. Having no bloat is pretty nice.
- effingwewt 4y ago
  They truly did. I was a lifelong Nintendo enthusiast until the stuff with the 3DS started. They kept getting more and more user hostile, and sometimes quite literally! I own a switch and like the system, but still think PS Vita was far superior. Broken joycons, forcing new purchases of pairs only, so many failed I myself am part of the class action lawsuit against them over it. Suing and sending 'investigators' after enulation developers. Stealing fan-patches and translations and selling them on their store. Reselling games some of us have purchased numerous times, only to find the 'remakes' are just shitty emulated ports. And again they would download fan-fixed roms and use those. After D2 I am done. They didn't bother to give any way to use M/KB, the multiplayer is virtually non-existent, as is chat (typed, voice is non-existent). No mouse or use of stick-controled aiming such as in twin stick shooters breaks sorceress teleport, Enigma teleport, etc. I paid $60, which was bad enough for a shitty re-skin of a decades old game that could run on a graphing calculator, but I chose the wrong system to purchase it on. Nintendo is the definition of user hostile now, to the point of losing lifelong customers. They and Disney are in the same boat. They had the balls to think their shitty entertainment businesses had been around so long they were too big to fail and didn't need their customers. Well, maybe they don't need us, but they sure as shit need our money.
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    Holy shit man, just stop purchasing the stuff. It's not the Nuremberg trials.
    - effingwewt 4y ago
      I have. Either way, how would that make any of the stuff they've done OK? Talk about next-level hand-waving.
  - ghostly_s 4y ago
    Nintendo has been offering free repair/replacement of Joy-Cons for quite some time now, and AFAIK they have been sold separately since launch. What are you on about?
    - 4y ago
getthisgone 4y ago
Now that encryptluks is out, yeah, I think we can all agree Nintendo is over. Well done, Nintendo. Nearly got there with the switch, but, sadly you missed the critical encryptluks market. And missing that market is critical to long term success. RIP.

10729287 4y ago

Would love Nintendo to bring back some personnality to their next system. Switch was such a downgrade from 3DS regarding experience. Android didn't help in terms of design or speed but I missed all the funny features and crazyness Nintendo got us used to with their previous handheld. Also, the eshop was such a pain in the ass to browse, again it screamed Android System all the way for both poor selection and unbearable slowness.

vbitz 4y ago
The Nintendo Switch is not Android-based. It runs on a modified version of the 3DS software (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_softwar...).
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
fxtentacle 4y ago
Yeah I also never understood why the eShop is so bad. Even scrolling around in videos takes forever. But then again, me and my friends always buy cartridges so that we can trade finished games. So maybe someone at Nintendo did the math and decided that a global CDN isn't worth it.
- averne_ 4y ago
  Because it runs in a browser (WebKit-based), and because the browser is compiled without JIT for security concerns. It should really be a native applet, but Nintendo probably wanted to control it without needing a full firmware update.
  - danuker 4y ago
    They could have simplified the payload then (layout, JS...).
    - averne_ 4y ago

fxtentacle 4y ago

Actually he only said that it has historically been rare to see a company move from a highly successful system to the next highly successful system. So the "significant challenge" is to not end up like the PS2 to PS3 transition, or Xbox 1 to 360... Both of which still were very successful, just not quite as dominating as PS1 to PS2, for example. Also, the Switch dev forums are chock full with Indie teams who need a bit of funding and a bit of support and don't want to deal with PC and piracy anymore. So I'd predict we will have amazing new Switch indie games for years to come. In my opinion, the biggest issue for a Switch successor might be that for most great indie games, the console is already powerful enough. So there isn't any obvious hardware upgrade apart from the screen, which they already did. It's kind of the same reason why we don't upgrade our phones every 2 years anymore.

krageon 4y ago
There are very few Switch exclusive indie games that are good. I can't recall any, in fact. The Switch does have a lot of shovelware, but that's probably not the category of videogames you were focusing on.
- fxtentacle 4y ago
  I didn't say "exclusive". My current favorites are Super Chariot, Cuphead, and Redout.
  - mkmk3 4y ago
    I hadn't heard of Redout or Super Chariot but both look exciting. I've also been browsing the shop going a year or two back but the store UI doesn't do much for assessing quality, which is a bit of a shame. I don't think it sets up the market well for smaller games.
  - krageon 4y ago
    > and don't want to deal with PC and piracy anymore Why is this relevant if they're still on PC anyway?

getthisgone 4y ago

If Nintendo just got their online story together, and let me move digital purchases to the next platform, I'd buy new hardware today. The switch is a fantastic device. It's only failure is that it's getting just a little long in the tooth.

Shank 4y ago
This is basically the reason why I grabbed a Steam Deck. The upside with having a Steam library is that so far, Steam is the longest-lived downloadable/online game platform there is. I'd rather have a portable Steam library and own all of my titles there than try to hedge my bets with the Switch. The Switch's hardware is absolutely lovely, but I can't help but feel like buying a lot of games on it is a bad idea at this point.
- senectus1 4y ago
  steamdeck has a real chance to eat nintendo and sony's lunch... but yeah, I doubt it will given the poor progress they've been making.

iasay 4y ago

Nintendo are in a sticky situation. They are a poor value proposition these days. My kids quickly lost interest in their Switches when they saw Mario Kart prices and to play each other they would have to buy three copies. At best they get used for Animal Crossing that came with it and any free stuff and that's about it. What they tend to gravitate towards is their iPads where they can play < $10 games together which are available across family sharing (Minecraft, Among Us, Roblox are popular). They connect xbox controllers to the things and use that. The iPads are also fully blown computers so they are used for just about everything else in their lives. I don't think Nintendo have a chance against that.

ErneX 4y ago
Switch is going to outsell the PS4. I think they are doing fine.
- iasay 4y ago
  I don't disagree with that. The problem is evolving it into a market saturated with general purpose devices and subscription services. That's something that Sony and Nintendo shrugged off. Lets throw this on the table: I actually played Fortnite on my iPad the other day via XBox Live streaming. It was perfectly playable, with an XBox controller streaming to my TV. And I didn't have to buy a Switch, PS4 or any up front cost on games at all.
  - arrrg 4y ago
    Even the cheapest iPad is more expensive than a Switch. And the setup is complicated and finicky. You need some way to stream to your TV or connect to your TV, you need a controller, iPads aren’t exactly optimized for gaming or easy to set up for gaming (relative to a Switch where everything just works). All those little things add a little friction but in the end that ends up adding up to a lot of friction. Also, unlike phones iPads are not general purpose devices that everyone has just around and if they have them, they may be tied up with other duties. Also, game quality is abysmal (if a lot less pricy). It’s just not a good fit. That might change, it might change slowly, I don’t know – but currently I don’t see general purpose devices as much of a threat for consoles. Reason for change? Reason for putting focus on things general purpose devices don’t do well? Sure. But no existential threat.