Home Gaming Hit or Miss: The Nintendo Switch Event

Hit or Miss: The Nintendo Switch Event

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You’ve probably already been inundated by the Nintendo Switch coverage today, but tough! We’ve got a lot more to say about the Switch.

As you already know it’s a hybrid handheld home console, letting you undock the unit and play games on the go. Today Nintendo revealed that you’d be getting roughly 3-6 hours of battery life from the thing, though you can charge it using USB, so plugging it in to a car or a power bank is a doddle. Nintendo’s never one for specs, but the system certainly seems like it’s capable of giving us a good time.

As for the event? I thought it was…well, okay. It left more questions than answers. Its biggest problem? Not enough software. There are just a few confirmed launch titles, and very few of those are must have games. Yes, there’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which looks incredible – but there’s nothing else in the launch library nearly as compelling.

Yes, there were a few other highlights – like the final confirmation that Skyrim is coming to the system, meaning you can FUS RO DAH on the go. The new Mario, Odyssey, looks amazing and more Splatoon is always a good thing. Still, as big of a Nintendo fan as I am, I wasn’t blown away. While I’ll definitely want a Switch, this morning’s event hasn’t convinced me that I need one now.

Here’s what others on the team had to say:

Matthew:

“I have a soft spot for Nintendo, so naturally, I’m very excited for the Switch. The reveal this morning may have lacked the solid launch lineup that people desire, but I’m not worried. I always end up waiting a couple of months to a year or two before purchasing a new console anyway. Come end of this year or 2018, I’m confident there will be loads of cool games to choose from. By then, I’ll also know whether the Switch is something worth having, or if it’s just another Wii U that ends up going unloved in the long run.”

Alessandro:

“A weak conference for Nintendo, and just proof that a proper focused Direct would’ve been much better. The strange focus on some of the more nuanced hardware features to the controllers to the ludicrous price revealed for them after the fact where just the start of the cracks that formed around the Switch by the end of the show. Breath of the Wild looks incredible, as did other announcements like Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey and more, but the lack or hard punches for launch coupled with many projects not even having launch windows is likely concerning for any on the fence sitters. Nintendo needed to hit it out the park today, but they’ll just settled for a quick bunt to first plate. Disappointing.”

Gavin

“I think the Switch is going to be a hit but only after release when the community starts showcasing its offerings better than Nintendo ever can.”

Darryn

“Change is good. Change is what keeps gaming alive, and in an industry that is utterly dominated by Sony and Microsoft right now, the Nintendo Switch feels like a breath of fresh air…of the wild. Haw. Seriously though, the Switch looks like a gateway drug towards larger gaming experiences. Nintendo may have made their money as a home console company, but they built they built a reputation with their handheld consoles, a market which even Sony has been unable to dethrone them from. Combining both home and handheld into one device? That’s genius, and a step in the right direction for Nintendo after the Wii U’s dismal performance. It’s a console which oozes confidence, and knows where it wants to go.

It’s Nintendo finally being modern, and it’s about damn time.”

Kervyn

“Despite me not really being a Nintendo fanboy nor much of a mobile gamer, the Switch has intrigued me with its fun party concepts and lineup of titles. Because who wouldn’t want to play Grand Theft Mario? (The pimp is in another castle, Mario!) Now if only I didn’t have to look a giant playing a tiny harmonica when using those Joy-Con controllers”

But you tell us! Did the event convince you to grab a Switch, or are you going to wait until there’s more on offer? Was The Switch Event a Hit or a Miss?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Critical Hit as an organisation.

Last Updated: January 13, 2017

107 Comments

  1. RinceThis

    January 13, 2017 at 10:37

    If, by some miracle, in 2018 they have a solid lineup of games I may consider buying one. But then again the PS4 and One would have been out even longer, will cost cheaper, and will have a larger range of games to choose from. The portability offers nothing to me. I am either driving, working, or sitting in front of my console. If I am flying and I cannot relax without a game for 10 hours I know I probably need help 😛

    Reply

    • Captain JJ

      January 13, 2017 at 10:38

      I must agree with you. Mobile gaming has never appealed to me much, but I know that for some it’s their only platform sometimes. So it could really work still.

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        January 13, 2017 at 10:43

        Yeah. I don’t know man. Nintendo offer the same games, great as they are, they they always do when launching. Just doesn’t do anything for me.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ

          January 13, 2017 at 10:46

          Very true. If I think back Nintendo was such a big deal. These days it’s become somewhat of a “let’s try this gimmick” approach.

          Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          January 13, 2017 at 10:48

          So it doesn’t…. switch you on?!

          Reply

    • Allykhat

      January 13, 2017 at 10:53

      Pretty much sums it up to be honest.

      The line-up is super weak and lets not forget, the Scorpio is coming soon.

      I only recently got back into Xbox, but I’d rather fork over for a better performing Xbox with a kick-ass list of released games than a lower performing hybrid console/handheld thing that most devs are kind of sitting back waiting to see if it actually works this time round before actually putting in the effort to Dev for it.

      Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    January 13, 2017 at 10:38

    Trevor:

    I Nintendon’t care.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ

      January 13, 2017 at 10:39

      JJ:

      Stop speaking about yourself in third person.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 13, 2017 at 10:39

        WRONG!

        Reply

        • Captain JJ

          January 13, 2017 at 10:41

          I know what you were going for, but if your opinion mattered it would be up there! 😛
          Sorry, I’m not insulting you. Don’t make me feel bad for it.

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 13, 2017 at 10:42

            No – I wasn’t talking in the 3rd person. Hah!

          • Captain JJ

            January 13, 2017 at 10:45

            Oh. Well, that had about the same impact as the Switch then, didn’t it?
            Trololooo

    • RinceThis

      January 13, 2017 at 10:43

      Pills. You forgot your pills again didn’t you?

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 13, 2017 at 10:46

        Depends on what pills you’re talking about.

        Reply

  3. HvR

    January 13, 2017 at 10:40

    Feel it wasn’t good enough.

    For it to be successful getting that 10% first adopter on day 1 buy is essential. A good reason why we are not seeing 3rd party launch dates are that publishers are waiting to see what the uptake would be and if adopters are waiting for 3rd party games to some to the table then there is a good chance of flopping faster than you can say U.

    Think I’m still optimistically interested but in no way polishing off the credit card.

    Reply

  4. Ottokie

    January 13, 2017 at 10:43

    I did not know what time it was on so I missed it completely xD

    Reply

    • PurplePariah

      January 13, 2017 at 10:51

      6am locally. Most of us were trying to coerce our eyes into receiving light.

      Reply

      • Ottokie

        January 13, 2017 at 10:52

        6am…yea no. That is an ungodly hour to be awake.

        Reply

        • Dresden

          January 13, 2017 at 11:49

          I was at work by then :/

          Reply

  5. PurplePariah

    January 13, 2017 at 10:50

    Darryn. You’re always so positive. It’s rad.

    I’m with Darryn. It’s new, it’s interesting, and it’s about time. Nintendo I think have realised where they’re strong, and have come up with something that literally and figuratively plays to their strengths. The launch lineup is lacking, mostly, but there’s no doubt that in a year the lineup will have grown substantially. Plus I’m really looking forward to the Pokemon sequel that gets the Breath of the Wild treatment. That alone will make this entire thing successful.

    Reply

    • Allykhat

      January 13, 2017 at 11:00

      Thing is, while there are valid points, Would you honestly drop 5-6k on the switch to play a remaster of a pokemon game most have already played on the 2/3DS? I didn’t buy Sun/Moon as yet due to time constraints, but after seeing the event this morning, I’d rather buy it for my 3DS than wait it out for the Switch to launch.

      Let’s be honest here, if Breath of the Wild wasn’t a launch title there would be very little interest overall in the Switch. Most people have Skyrim or have played Skyrim already. In handheld mode the Switch is apparently as strong as the PS3, maybe a bit below. If that’s the case, the PS3 ran Skyrim absolutely terribly. So that’s not really appealing.

      Third party buy in is where this Console will shine, but even in saying that, to bring the 3rd parties in, this thing needs to sell like hot cakes. The general consensus, at least from what I’ve seen around the net so far, is “meh”.

      Reply

      • PurplePariah

        January 13, 2017 at 11:04

        Yes I would drop 5k on this. Which is probably what it will launch at. And the Pokemon wouldn’t be a remaster. Zelda isn’t. Why would they do that? That’s not Nintendo’s style. That’s an Xbox/PS4/PC thing. To squeeze every ounce of cash from gamers. Like you and I.

        And I have 0 interest in Zelda by the way. None. I will literally never play it. Yet I’m SUPER excited for what this console can offer. See potential, and the world becomes colourful. See disaster, and the world goes grey.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          January 13, 2017 at 11:04

          But what if you see potential for disaster? :/

          Reply

          • PurplePariah

            January 13, 2017 at 11:05

            Then you are Trevor.

            SHURRUP YOU.

            *sigh*

            <3

        • Allykhat

          January 13, 2017 at 11:12

          “See potential, and the world becomes colourful. See disaster, and the world goes grey.”

          The WiiU (which I owned). No Man’s Sky.

          Two examples of that mindset. Fool me once, shame on you. I won’t be fooled twice.

          That’s the thing, and the WiiU did the same thing, made people SUPER excited for what it COULD do. Whether it actually CAN do those things remains to be seen.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            January 13, 2017 at 11:12

            True story.

          • PurplePariah

            January 13, 2017 at 11:12

            I didn’t say buy the hype. I said see potential.

          • Allykhat

            January 13, 2017 at 11:17

            Hype and Potential are two different things. There was a literal boat load of potential in both examples. One of which is offered by the same company marketing the Switch.

            To quote a particularly famous line from an extremely good game that had a lot of potential and delivered on it:
            “Do you know the meaning of insanity?”

          • PurplePariah

            January 13, 2017 at 11:19

            Yeah, but now instead of seeing potential, you’re doing the extreme opposite. I don’t blame you, but I think you’ve taken it too far left. Bring it back a bit – Nintendo are the leaders in the handheld space by an insane margin. This isn’t No Man’s Sky. This is Nintendo showing something they’re good at.

            Don’t just buy it day 1 – but don’t dismiss it as nothing because it doesn’t offer day 1 greatness.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 13, 2017 at 11:21

            That’s what I said, but she didn’t listen.

          • PurplePariah

            January 13, 2017 at 11:22

            I read that as “That’s what she said” and re-read my reply twice.

            I’m too jaded. -_-

          • Allykhat

            January 13, 2017 at 11:38

            Nintendo are only the leaders in the handheld space because nobody challenges them. Sony gave up the Vita, which is still an awesome machine btw (own one of those too), because they admitted it’s a space they didn’t want to go into.

            I may be way out in left field, but I’m not wrong. Neither are you, we both have solid arguments. But, as a consumer of Ninty before, having been burned by them before, I’ll give them credit for the Game Boy up to the 3DS, but the 3DS was made great by its line-up, not by the console itself. The same goes for this situation. The Switch may just be the next step in the evolution of gaming, but until it shows itself as such, I believe I know better than to put faith in what ifs, maybes and it could do’s.

    • The D

      January 13, 2017 at 11:05

      POSITIVE TO THE MAAAAAAAAAAAX

      Reply

  6. Sageville

    January 13, 2017 at 11:02

    Sageville:

    ” While no one can deny that the new Nintendo Switch is a gaming console, we cannot ignore the fact that sandwiches are delicious.”.

    Reply

    • Ir0nseraph

      January 13, 2017 at 12:04

      Lol

      Reply

  7. VampyreSquirrel

    January 13, 2017 at 11:08

    I’m excited for the Switch, BUT the launch TITLE (WHY ONE?) isn’t enough to get me to buy one on release. I’ll give it a while and then decide what I’m going to do console wise going forward.

    My biggest issue is I still want a PS4 :(.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      January 13, 2017 at 11:08

      get one, we can play golf again!

      Reply

      • VampyreSquirrel

        January 13, 2017 at 11:16

        Haha, I’m not buying GTAV again! I’ve already bought it twice 😛

        Reply

    • PurplePariah

      January 13, 2017 at 11:09

      My biggest holdup with the PS4 is that I already have a good PC with a huge library of games. I can’t justify a PS4.

      Now a mobile console, that fills a gap in my gaming needs.

      Reply

      • Ottokie

        January 13, 2017 at 11:14

        I feel the same about my PS4, I only bought it primarily for FF15. And don’t get a lot of time on it because my PC library far outweighs the PS4

        Reply

      • VampyreSquirrel

        January 13, 2017 at 11:16

        There are so many PS4 (and PS3) games I want to play, and since I went Xbox360 and PC there after, I feel I’m seriously missing out on some of the best games of the last decade (or so)

        Reply

        • PurplePariah

          January 13, 2017 at 11:17

          Oh yeah I feel serious FOMO with the PS4 lineup. Horizon Zero Dawn just being one huge example. But I still can’t justify the cost for a few games and FOMO. I can easily take R159 consolation prizes on Steam.

          Reply

          • VampyreSquirrel

            January 13, 2017 at 11:18

            Yeah, I totally get that, and I don’t REALLY want to pay R1000+ for games xD

  8. konfab

    January 13, 2017 at 11:09

    I don’t think it will be a Critical Hit.

    On mobile it is competing with Apple- who can make a better tablet, with better battery life and more functionality.

    On console it is competing with Sony and Microsoft, both of which are faster and will probably be around the same price.

    The price of the games is everything TBH, if they are the same price as PS4 or Xbox, it will be dead in the water.

    Reply

  9. RinceThis

    January 13, 2017 at 11:13

    Really not sure who they were targeting with only 2 games on release. The fanboYIS much?

    Reply

  10. PurplePariah

    January 13, 2017 at 11:15

    The Wii had a pretty meh launch lineup too people.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_launch

    And yet, look what that console achieved.

    Reply

  11. K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

    January 13, 2017 at 11:35

    Honestly I can see this being another Wii-U.. bunch of hardware gimmicks with a few great games sprinkled over the top. Just don’t see this sticking. I don’t believe for one second that anyone is going use those dumb joy-con controllers.

    Reply

  12. Lu

    January 13, 2017 at 11:35

    This is cheating, but I can play 90% of my steam library on my windows tab already. Either through in home streaming or direct installation. Won;t be Switching any time soon.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/55d6c45fb92fc24ae314d8461d121d8a7ac39c7303aac792ccc502d5bd8056ee.jpg

    Reply

  13. Raptor Rants

    January 13, 2017 at 11:37

    People should honestly be a little more excited.

    The fact that there are so many 3rd party titles is a good sign. If they launch well it could well cement 3rd party support in Nintendo. Something that’s been lacking for a while.

    Reply

    • K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

      January 13, 2017 at 11:40

      By 3rd party titles you mean a port of a seven year old game (Skyrim), a stripped down version of FIFA, a few more ports of old games, and a few JRPGs with no gameplay footage or launch window…

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        January 13, 2017 at 11:42

        oh you 🙂

        Reply

      • Raptor Rants

        January 13, 2017 at 11:45

        I hear you. But there is a bigger picture here. If these WORK and they work well then confidence in the switch will grow with 3rd party vendors. Increased confidence from others will spur them on to launch on the device for things going forward.

        Killing this before it’s even out the gate is a mistake. Rather see if it fails to do well with what is launching on it performance wise etc. If not, then this could help Nintendo get back in there.

        Reply

        • K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

          January 13, 2017 at 11:49

          I want to be hyped for this but it’s difficult to do that when they constantly make decisions that piss me off. You heard about how there’s no chat built into the console? You have to use a flippin app on your phone to chat with your friends.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            January 13, 2017 at 11:50

            What? You are kidding!?

          • K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

            January 13, 2017 at 11:50

            Yup 😉

          • RinceThis

            January 13, 2017 at 11:50

            Oh my words… Is that to stop the 4 people who buy switch from confirming only 4 people bought it? *Runs

          • K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

            January 13, 2017 at 11:50

            lulz

          • Raptor Rants

            January 13, 2017 at 11:57

            I didn’t hear that?

  14. WitWolfy

    January 13, 2017 at 12:48

    You wont get me again Ninty… I made the mistake by being hyped to the moon after on the reveal of The Wii U back in 2011 then buying it when it launched… Just to see month after month how every 3rd party dev slowly but surely declared how they dont have any plans on developing games for the system in the future… EVER.. Then to make matters worse, not releasing any games that appeal to me either…

    My biggest buyers remorse EVER!!!!

    Reply

  15. Craig "CrAiGiSh" Dodd

    January 13, 2017 at 14:21

    Never owned a Nintendo Console but this one does have me interested.

    Reply

  16. CypherGate

    January 13, 2017 at 16:01

    I’m a bit late to the comment party but what I think about the Switch right now is still 50/50. Id love to invest in the switch, but one of the major things is holding back. 3RD PARTY games. I dont want to throw R5000 into the switch only for it to have almost no 3RD party support and in all honesty…. I found not one game interesting in what was announced. Ok MAYBE breath of the wild looked quite awesome and MAYBE the Mario one (even though it gave me that one horrifically bad vibes of that one 3D sonic game I tried my best to forget and erase out of brain but simply cannot) other than that. Nothing else was interesting. Im not even going to talk about Skyrim. Id much rather prefer an announcement of the whole Borderlands franchise for launch than Skyrim.

    Reply

  17. oVg

    January 16, 2017 at 08:59

    I have a Vita

    Reply

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