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Kinda crazy that Switch didn't get any major AAA third parties for launch........

Mikey Jr.

Member
Which is why we have a $50 Bomberman and $40 version of a 9 year-old $15 downloadable game. Publishers taking advantage of a barren lineup.

The Wii U had Tank! Tank! Tank! for equivalence.

It's partly why despite wanting this Day 1 all of last year I'll be waiting for the Holiday.

I can play Zelda on Wii U and aside from that only Puyo Puyo seems worth the current cost. The next Switch games I look forward to ate ARMS and Splatoon 2.

With Wii U at launch I got NSMBU, Nintendo Land with the console, AC III, the exclusive Zombie U, ports of Tekken Tag 2 and Sonic that had exclusive modes. Tekken actually had a lot more to its Wii U version. These all felt justifiable at full cost as opposed to many Switch Launch titles.

Yeah, the bomberman thing is egregious.

Dunno, the whole platform right now is being supported by indie titles.

I wonder about the future of the switch and its relation to the major third parties. They didn't even bother to show up for the launch with a crappy fruitcake.
 
This is a good thing. Jim Sterling did a good video about how post launch droughts are caused by every publisher tripping over themselves to release a ton of software at launch. Then nothing for a long time.

Better for Nintendo to come out with one big gun, a couple proof of concept smaller titles, and then space out the other major title releases throughout the year so we always have something to look forward to. Plus a ton of indies to fill in the gaps. Do you all not care about software droughts?
 

Jashobeam

Member
yea that's why most people have 2 consoles, Switch being mainly a machine for playing Nintendo exclusives. It'd be great to play full consoles games like GTAV and Battlefield on the go though. If only Switch had released instead of the Wii U during the previous gen.
 
I really get what's being said here, though. I own an XB1 and have owned a X360, but prior to that I've only ever owned Nintendo consoles (NES through Wii, some handhelds in the mix).

I'm a Nintendo fanboy at heart. But I don't have the entertainment dollars to spend on multiple consoles. And if I'm going to choose one, I'm going to get the console I can play with my friends. If Nintendo would just do the damn thing and get some of the big AAA games I could have the best of both worlds: my favorite first party with the AAAs that I can play with friends. I don't think it's too much to ask for.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
As though that means anything.

"Handheld system gets handheld games".

Then why on Earth does it have Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey? Ostensibly NOT "handheld" games.

Because no one other than Nintendo is going to make anything for it that isn't a "handheld" game?

They have moved up the metric for what a handheld game is but that doesn't mean from a graphical perspective Mario and Zelda are on par with AAA releases on PS4. Or, to make them work well and look good on switch it just takes too much effort.

They aren't going to get any ports.
 

Crazyorloco

Member
While I'm happy with my purchase I'm wondering what the hell happened to world of goo and a bunch of other launch games
 

Lo-Volt

Member
I do feel like it was made worse by the almost Saturn-like pace with which Nintendo suddenly did all of this stuff. If the market really embraces this idea, the larger publishers will have to do something to cover their bases. But I think even the Wii U's level of launch support is unreasonable at this point. The Switch is basically a chance for Nintendo teams to shine, honestly.
 

TheDragon

Member
It probably does not matter to a vast majority of users who are buying it, but certainly ensures that Switch would not be anywhere near a success as compared to when Xbox One,
At least Zelda ensures that the early adopters have a great game to play first.
 
As though that means anything.

"Handheld system gets handheld games".

Then why on Earth does it have Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey? Ostensibly NOT "handheld" games.

It gets handheld games in the sense that it's considerably weaker hardware than the other, more normal home consoles. You can't just straight port something like Infinite Warfare or Watch Dogs 2 to the Switch, it doesn't have the power to handle them. You would need to create lots of new, lower quality assets.

Obviously Nintendo is going to release big games on it as they want people to buy their new system (which right now seems to mean, uh, ports of Wii U titles). But it doesn't make sense for Activision or Ubisoft to create massive new AAA experiences for it, particularly at launch. If they were still releasing tons of cross-gen games you could see it happening (which is why it's getting titles like Dragon Quest Heroes), but in general they aren't.

(Last I heard its carts weren't even big enough to fit these games, even if the hardware could run them. I could be wrong here.)
 

Gator86

Member
Yeah, the bomberman thing is egregious.

Dunno, the whole platform right now is being supported by indie titles.

I wonder about the future of the switch and its relation to the major third parties. They didn't even bother to show up for the launch with a crappy fruitcake.

Switch is gonna be entirely indies available elsewhere, Nintendo, and hilarious/sad droughts. Why bother pretending? They'll show up if Nintendo can move some units. If they can't 3rd parties should keep telling them to get fucked.
 
I'm just sad we didn't get an Ubisoft game that uniquely takes advantage of the system as we usually do. Zombi U was great, and Red Steel was an OK start
What feature does the Switch have that cannot be done on either the PS4 or XB1 that would call for a unique third party game? Besides just being able to play the console experience on the go?
 

Dr. Buni

Member
It is not crazy at all, it is the expected. Speaking of expectations, I wouldn't bet on the system ever having significant third party titles.
As though that means anything.

"Handheld system gets handheld games".

Then why on Earth does it have Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey? Ostensibly NOT "handheld" games.
These are definitely handheld games. They are being released for a handheld, therefore they are handheld games.

Tip: There is no such thing as "handheld game" and "console game".
 
who buys Nintendo hardware for the third party games

To kinda answer your question. I look back as a kid NES SNES and Gamecube, most of my fondest memories are 3rd party games. Might be why I don't get really hyped for Nintendo home consoles as much, even though I do like Mario and Zelda, I really want weird 3rd party games too. You are right though, now a days post Wii I don't know why you would buy Nintendo hardware for third party games. I would argue the 3DS but even that late in it's life was mainly just 1st party unlike the DS.

Switch has got Zelda. This alone is enough.

No it's really not. Nintendo doesn't speak for everyone when they think that everyone likes/content with just Zelda.
 

JordanN

Banned
The Switch doesn't have a gimmick that makes third party games worth it.

Wii had motion controls, which was something different from PS3/360. And the Gamecube graphics made it ok to take risks since Publishers could afford it.

Wii U had 360 graphics and a second screen, so it could at least get last gen ports and do something new before the PS4/XBO took over.

Switch is weaker than this generations consoles, and its main gimmick is "games on the go". To a Publisher, why take the risk with this when the games are so expensive?
 

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
I agree. Granted launching against Zelda is a fools endeavor but I thought they would have something else to show. WiiU launch was beastly in contrast.
 
Wii U Launch Lineup:

Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Skylanders Giants
Transformers Prime
Wipeout 3
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
FIFA Soccer 13
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
New Super Mario Bros. U
Ninja Gaiden: Razor’s Edge
Nintendo Land
Sing Party
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Warrios Orochi 3 Hyper
Darksiders II
Assassin’s Creed III
ESPN Sports Connection
Just Dance 4
Rabbids Land
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
ZombiU
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Game Party Champions
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition

WiiU came off the momentum of Wii. Switch is coming off the momentum of WiiU
 
its only a port if it is released at a later date. Its a simultaneous release.

In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed

Designed for Wii U originally and adapted to run on the Switch, unless you're making the argument that it was a Switch game from the beginning.
 

Forkball

Member
Does Just Dance still sell well? I know in its infancy it moved an insane number of units, especially on the Wii, but I'm not sure who is still buying them.

Yeah. Switch launch isn't anything special. The Wii U launch looks good on paper, but many of those third party games were weeks or months old by the time they hit the Wii U. People who wanted to play them weren't going to wait, and especially weren't going to pick up new hardware to play it. The third party (timed) exclusives or day one releases were Ninja Gaiden 3, Epic Mickey 2, and ZombiU. All three of those were hammered pretty hard in reviews, though ZombiU had its fans. Can't say the Switch front is different in that regard, since exclusive launch titles like 1 2 Switch and Bomberman are getting torn apart, but I wouldn't say the Wii U launch was noticeably better. NSMB U is an amazing game, but not something you would show off to convince someone to get a console.
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
WiiU came off the momentum of Wii. Switch is coming off the momentum of WiiU

Ehhhh. Are multimillion dollar corporations so single minded?

Employee: Sir, should we have some third party games ready for switch launch?

Boss: Nahh, fuck it. WiiU sucked lol.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Hahahahaha so PSVR is the metric? Lol.

Well i was reply to the guy who brought in PSVR into this thread.

Designed for Wii U originally and adapted to run on the Switch, unless you're making the argument that it was a Switch game from the beginning.

I believe its pretty obvious that we are talking about release date when we talks about port. I thought that was pretty obvious when I talk about PSVR no having a better library if you have a Vive/Rift.
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
Does Just Dance still sell well? I know in its infancy it moved an insane number of units, especially on the Wii, but I'm not sure who is still buying them.

Yeah. Switch launch isn't anything special. The Wii U launch looks good on paper, but many of those third party games were weeks or months old by the time they hit the Wii U. People who wanted to play them weren't going to wait, and especially weren't going to pick up new hardware to play it. The third party (timed) exclusives or day one releases were Ninja Gaiden 3, Epic Mickey 2, and ZombiU. All three of those were hammered pretty hard in reviews, though ZombiU had its fans. Can't say the Switch front is different in that regard, since exclusive launch titles like 1 2 Switch and Bomberman are getting torn apart, but I wouldn't say the Wii U launch was noticeably better. NSMB U is an amazing game, but not something you would show off to convince someone to get a console.

I'm not debating quality of third party games. Not my argument.

I'm questioning the reasoning of third parties not showing up at all.
 

Vitacat

Member
3rd parties would be insane to jump onboard Switch until it proves to be a successful platform.

I bought a Switch last night, and camped for 15 hours to get it. So, I love this thing and think it has great potential, and at very least will offer some amazing 1st party and exclusive games, and a ton of great indies.

But if you bought the Switch expecting AAA 3rd party games at launch, you're delusional. The WiiU burned bridges, and porting current AAA multiplats is going to be a big task, because the Switch is signifcantly underpowered compared to every other current gen gaming platform. Now, like I said, if the Switch sells well, and I think it might, then and only then will be see 3rd parties bother to port popular AAA games. They will probably not look as good or perform as smoothly as they do on other consoles, but you will be able to play them anywhere with ease. Trade offs. It's all about trade offs.
 
its only a port if it is released at a later date. Its a simultaneous release.



what I mean was it is enough to sell more units than PSVR. Check back the posts I quote
I don't understand why ports are inherently bad. The Switch would be wise to embrace any and all third party ports that come their way to help fatten their guaranteed anemic third party support.

More choice for the player is always good, who cares if it's on another platform?

To the original poster's point, it's highly concerning that a $400/$500 niche peripheral add-on device had a more varied line-up than a Nintendo flagship hardware launch.
 

mindsale

Member
What's crazy to me is how few of Nintendo's own first and second parties had Switch content ready for the "launch year" or whatever. They weren't exactly releasing anything for a couple years on the Wii U.

I say this as a Switch owner.
 

VariantX

Member
The success of the Wii U, or lack of success, is what defined 3rd party support for the switch. It simply wasn't going to be there at launch. They're all in wait and see mode right now. It's not crazy it's the expected outcome after a chain of events stemming from a decision Nintendo made with the Wii U.
 
Ehhhh. Are multimillion dollar corporations so single minded?

Employee: Sir, should we have some third party games ready for switch launch?

Boss: Nahh, fuck it. WiiU sucked lol.

Bottom line is profit.. gotta ask yourself if its worth putting the hours and resources for such ports.
 
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