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Do we all agree that Nintendo is having a "soft launch" with Switch?

...and if yes, when do you expect they're going full launch?

I mean, all the evidence is there

- Not too many third party games, and lots of devs don't even seem to have dev kits yet. Most of big third party stuff will be coming by end of year
- Only 2-3 million units for launch
- OS by all accounts, seems incomplete
- No proper online functionality
- Seemingly no other apps (Netflix, browser, etc) besides core gaming functions.

It seems to me they are in a place where they simply CANNOT delay it any further, but on the other hand, they haven't set the system in a position where they're 100% comfortable with it yet.

So, they will launch and rely on the hardcore fans for now, hope that the USP and first party titles are strong enough, and the system will build steam around next holiday time. I'm not sure if Nintendo really minds too, maybe that was the plan all along.

What say you GAF?
 

Scrawnton

Member
It's soft but I like the roll out. Now if they nail VC and have games available from the get go then that's even better. As it stands now, I am buying a couple games a month after launch and that's cool with me.
 

AniHawk

Member
strategically it might benefit them to get all the problems out of the way in the main part of the year while still benefiting from launch. in the holiday, they'll probably bundle mario kart or 1 2 switch and/or drop the price. the 3ds provides a decent roadmap for this sort of thing, although the result in 2011 wasn't a plan but a reaction.
 
Absolutely. Hardware sounds really well engineered and designed, but the software side of the equation makes the device feel like a "minimum viable product". And Nintendo's relying on enthusiasts to get the device off the ground and generate buzz and good word for it. Which is what they did with DS.

There are way more games in the pipeline for the Switch but it feels like Nintendo's deliberately holding them back because it makes no sense to reveal them now rather than later. The launch window games that Nintendo courted from third parties also paint a similar picture - lots of throwbacks to 8- and 16-bit era genres, IP and games, as Kohler mentioned in his piece they weren't all that interested in having a game from Gearbox out in the launch window.
 

Cerium

Member
All of the comments from various developers saying they want a dev kit but don't have one yet and don't know when they're getting one is what convinced me.

I'm ready to be an ambassador though.
 
Definitely soft. I'm pleased with it, but it's not as immediately for the casual consumer as some might have presumed it would be. It's pretty clear they launched in terms of where the fiscal year ends and Wii U production being halted oppose to being fully ready for prime time. I think this winter with a good number of core games and Mario to advertise will be time for a big push, a drop to 250 if possible. I'm actually interested if online will be available at all on day one, I'm kind of suspicious that's why Mario Kart isn't being sold until the end of April.
 

z0m3le

Banned
The Switch is launching with 3 less months to support than an average console through it's first year. Day 1 isn't strong but it isn't as bad as say the DS's launch line up, and with E3 announcements coming and what is announced for 2017 being pretty good, I think by the end of the year it will be seen a bit differently.

The main thing is that the switch will probably sell really well the first few months leading into E3 anyways, and coming out of that with big announcements could change everyone's perception of it's future. Reggie already dared reporters to ask him about Metroid next year, while talking up the series like it has a reveal coming in the next 12 months, and FF2 is gonna be good.
 

Nerazar

Member
No need to jump in guns blazing if it's a March launch. I like the roll-out thing, actually, because there will be a lot of improvements until Christmas season.

And: it worked for the 3DS and the device got stronger and stronger throughout the year until the "real" launch.
 

DigSCCP

Member
They will only go full launch if the plataform becomes a sales hit.
If not they will go "WiiU mode" again : soft launch, droughs all gen, awful ending cycle with excuse that they are developing something for the next plataform.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Yes, it looks like this. For all the reasons already listed in the OP. Considering that the lobby and voice chat app is releasing with full features only in fall and also in fall is when the online subscription kicks in then it is fair to say that the real release date of Switch is fall 2017. The games line-up will be also much better then.

For now we get in March a console in Early Access.
 
As a non-Wii U owner, i'm pretty satisfied by the games coming up in the first 6 months. This will be my first time trying Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, Zelda, Fast RMX, Snipperclips, and later Mario Oddysey

If I owned a WiiU I would be annoyed to just buy this for Mario & Snipperclips honestly. Good thing I skipped the WiiU, makes the Switch purchase more worthwhile
 

LordKano

Member
Yes, it looks like this. For all the reasons already listed in the OP. Considering that the lobby and voice chat app is releasing with full features only in fall and also in fall is when the online subscription kicks in then it is fair to say that the real release date of Switch is fall 2017. The games line-up will be also much better then.

For now we get in March a console in Early Access.

Thing is, early access is supposed to be cheaper than the final release !
 

KingBroly

Banned
strategically it might benefit them to get all the problems out of the way in the main part of the year while still benefiting from launch. in the holiday, they'll probably bundle mario kart or 1 2 switch and/or drop the price. the 3ds provides a decent roadmap for this sort of thing, although the result in 2011 wasn't a plan but a reaction.

No Dock, No Grip, $199 in October is my guess.

Splatoon 2, Mario, FE Warriors, Xenoblade, Pokemon Stars and maybe Smash
 

Aldric

Member
Definitely. Feels very similar to the 3DS launch to me.

lt's been my impression as well. l see it bombing out of the gate then a significant price drop and the Pokemon HD/Mario Odyssey combo for the holyday season will ensure the system has a decent install base. That's the optimistic outcome of course, it might just flat out bomb.
 
Interesting perspective to take actually!

Having the "weak" launch now gives them time to iron out all the account and network related kinks in time for Christmas, as well as allowing their developers more time to finish up which should improve the quality of the games.

I don't know if there is any weight to this theory, but it's certainly possible! I just wish us early adopters didn't have to pay more to "test it out"
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Thing is, early access is supposed to be cheaper than the final release !

Well, Nintendo also desperately needs money for this fiscal year so it's early access but with all the benefits of being a whale. They are playing the Milk game with the enthusiasts.
 

Hermii

Member
Pat the nes punk brought up a good point not many others have brought up, namely that unlike other consoles the Switch is launching in March which is not a big shopping season. I think this holiday season is when the Switch will make it or break it. By then it got an ok library, Mario is launching, they will probably do a bundle, price and a marketing blitz.
 

tsab

Member
Yeah, they need to please the investors and launch it in 2016 FY.

Their worst move atm is not bundling 1-2switch though. I mean come on the budget of this title is not in millions. Wii had Wiisports bundled and the word of mouth worked.
 

Cyborg

Member
Switch is having a lot of problems, I hope this ends positieve. Lacking a lot of things at launch isnt something you can be proud of.
 

Mokujin

Member
For sure, early march aligns with the theory that they are rushing to market to be able to account launch sales into the end of the fiscal year.
 

Par Score

Member
Yeah, it's pretty clear the Switch is coming out half-baked.

They'll hoover up the sort of early adopters and Nintendo fans who will happily part with $300 on a wish and a promise, that's a few million easy sales at an inflated price.

Then when the system is actually ready for launch by for Holiday 2017 they'll position it with a much more attractive price point, probably a pack in too.

The "generous" interpretation is that this is the 3DS launch reborn as a proactive strategy, but even if it isn't then the 3DS launch has shown them exactly how to craft a reactive strategy.


Yeah that only works if you make it up to the hardcore fans. Pissing them off further will do no good.

Giving away 10 NES ROMs and 10 GBA ROMs costs Nintendo roughly zero dollars. I think that's a price they're willing to pay for the millions of dollars they make up front.
 

z0m3le

Banned
Pat the nes punk brought up a good point not many others have brought up, namely that unlike other consoles the Switch is launching in March which is not a big shopping season. I think this holiday season is when the Switch will make it or break it. By then it got an ok library, Mario is launching, they will probably do a bundle, price and a marketing blitz.

Not to mention the future of the device will be clearer after this E3.
 

tsab

Member
Thing is, early access is supposed to be cheaper than the final release !

Nvidia charges 100euros more for their early access GPUs. There is a trend here maybe.
Nintendo doing the Nvidia Founders Edition thingy and doing the Apple premium in pricing peripherals.
 

Oddish1

Member
Yeah that's what it feels like to me. I bet around November Nintendo will drop the "we made it so you can pick what games you want" and start bundling the system with games and then start aggressively marketing it. Mario Odyssey or when the online functionality is up and running is when it'll be a full launch.
 

Metal B

Member
Kinda obvious, yeah. Real launch is for the end of the year.
That's right. They need to launch it know, so that there finical year, which ends in march, doesn't look too bad (since the WiiU isn't very strong). Everybody, who buys the system now, is simply a Beta-Tester.
I bet, Nintendo promises a big relaunch to the 3rd Parties at the end of the year (Mario, Xenogears, there Online-Service and properly Smash and Pokemon), which is why FIFA, NBA and Skyrim are planed to release at that time.
 
It's obviously rushed and half baked but in terms of software i don't care so much since Zelda is going to keep me busy enough.

What would be really really really bad is if the actual hardware was half-baked because that is not something that can be fixed later on.

Thankfully most impressions about the hardware have been overwhelmingly positive so i finally decided to buy one at launch.
 

Par Score

Member
It's obviously rushed and half baked but in terms of software i don't care so much since Zelda is going to keep me busy enough.

What would be really really really bad is if the actual hardware was half-baked because that is not something that can be fixed later on.

Thankfully most impressions about the hardware have been overwhelmingly positive so i finally decided to buy one at launch.

That's demonstrably untrue, especially for Nintendo.

GBA SP, DS Lite, DSi, New 3DS, Wii MotionPlus, etc. Nintendo loves them some hardware revisions.
 
I don't see why they couldn't have delayed it another 6-8 months to get everything ready for a big Xmas launch, they've been coasting on fumes and tiny sales numbers for the last 2 years anyway so nobody expects any kind of output for the Wii U.

I'd argue that a flat launch is far more damaging for the brand than another year with little to no market presence, they're not exactly in a situation like Sony with the PS3 where 3rd parties will keep them going until they are firing on all cylinders. Well, unless they want to resort to a 3DS style drastic price cut to get customers attention.
 
I agree, I think that's also why they're not dropping the 3DS just yet. Nintendo knows they can't compete on price or library yet, and third party support for an underpowered system only happens when enough people buy it to make developing for it worthwhile. March is also kind of a bad time to launch a console. Nintendo's pretty much going to build up the library themselves the first year, slash the price, include a pack in, and announce the rest of the stuff they have in their pipeline. I think right now they're trying to just ensure that the Switch doesn't lose money until they're better positioned to build momentum. When they get Minecraft, FIFA, Skyrim, Sonic, and NBA 2K18, they can at least provide the illusion that they have 3rd party support and this time it'll be alongside their heavy hitters (unlike what was the case with the Wii U). It's like the 3DS launch but planned out without taking a loss on hardware.

Or I could be very wrong and Nintendo could truly be this arrogant. 1-2-Switch's existence makes me question whether or Nintendo knows what they're doing, and the way they dealt with the Switch's online plans has shown how incompetent they still are.
 

AniHawk

Member
No Dock, No Grip, $199 in October is my guess.

Splatoon 2, Mario, FE Warriors, Xenoblade, Pokemon Stars and maybe Smash

i think it'd be no dock, no grip, and 1 2 switch for $249.99. later they can also throw in a year of the online thing for free and mario kart 8 for a black friday bundle.
 

Taker666

Member
"Only 2-3 million units" does not make it a soft launch..that's around the amount that I'd expect most console launches to have (more than some).

I'm doubtful Nintendo will even sell through 3 million units in the first 6 months....unless they do a really high volume , high quality ad campaign.
 
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