Looking forward to "NX"? (aka The Switch Thread)

[iconoclast]

Looks like this thing will need Pokemon to save it. $300 for weak hardware, a dreadful launch lineup, and (an eventual) pay-to-play online service. Good luck.

[Xyga]

329€... when the PS4 slim is 279€ here, 336€ for the 1TB version, sorry but that launch price is a problem, especially considering we're clearly paying more than the US and Nintendo are fools if they imagine people don't notice something like that.

I'm not even arguing that the Switch is only a portion of the PS4's power, since the design is different and has its own concept-cost, the games are what's important but I'm definitely not impressed with the lineup yet.
Of course it could improve fast, but look what they have in front: 2017 will certainly be the first actually games-rich year for the PS4.

Bad timing from Nintendo and bad pricing for Europe ? I absolutely wish for the Switch to succeed, but don't they know today you're not allowed to disappoint at launch ?
I mean it's not the Xbox One's disaster but..

EDIT: to think they have Zelda ready for launch and they could make a formidable launch pack at 349€ that would at least feel like a deal and probably make people forget it's over 300, but no, eurofags will be required to pay the base console more than amerifags, then buy the 70€ standalone Zelda.

[TransatlanticFoe]

The console price is okay but the games are £60 WTF. I thought we were past that with Super Street Fighter II. That's going to be the sticking point, games that are 50% more than other consoles.

Pro controller £65 too, wat.

[ZellSF]

329€... when the PS4 slim is 279€ here, 336€ for the 1TB version, sorry but that launch price is a problem

Storage also makes for a hidden cost with the Switch. With 32GB of builtin storage, you want a microsd card. You can do fine with the 1TB HDD of the PS4 Slim.

[Udderdude]

Something I don't see mentioned much (or at all) is the size of the controllers. They look like hand cramp city. Ever tried to use a wiimote sideways? Yeah, it's pretty bad. Now imagine that, but even worse. I don't think even I can really use those things, and my hands are tiny.

Remember when the 3DS was first released, and anyone that wasn't a small child balked at the size of the d-pad and buttons? Get ready for balking 2.0 .. and I say this as someone that prefers the size of the original 3DS.

[Xyga]

The console price is okay

Really ? I haven't checked, how much is it in the UK ?

Remember there are plenty of ~200€ tablets with better screen, better autonomy, and similar if not better processing power.
Sure they don't play these games, and don't come with all the accessories, but still, selling the base console over 300 whatever currency...doesn't feel right.

Switch + Zelda = 400€. Ugh...

They'd better make an offer below the 300 bar before mid-yearr and go a little more easy on the games prices or the switch is fucked.
Seriously Nintendo wtf ?

[BryanM]

What's the maximum card read speed they can have on this thing? I think I read somewhere they're about 100 MB/s on the bleeding edge?

Really ? I haven't checked, how much is it in the UK ?

It's 280 shiny british sterling silver pounds.

The best deal is in Japan, where it goes for a measy 30,000 yen.

[Xyga]

So again more expensive than the US, but 10€ cheaper than the EU.

The best deal is in Japan, where it goes for a measy 30,000 yen.

That's 245€/£215.

Fuck you Nintendo.

[neorichieb1971]

I've just looked at the pricing and me too. I can't justify a console that costs what it does, plus the expensive games, plus the pro controller which I couldn't live without.

Look at this page -

http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/ni ... _id=505324

I'd have to spend almost £500 to get all the bits I want.

And Mario isn't out until next Christmas. So i'll probably get it then when its £200 + cheaper accessories or NCL can kiss my ass.


Edit - I'd only play on my TV, so the screen bit is an expensive add on I will never use.

[Stevens]

Ultra Super Turbo anyone?

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... t+fighter2

[Durandal]

To further add to the miracles of 2017, Fuckonami seems to be doing something right for once by announcing Super Bomberman R (as an exclusive for the Switch)
RET'S GOW!!!!!

[EmperorIng]

My favorite moment came when they were talking about all the "Nintendo DNA" in the Switch. I joked with my older brother "Well the Gamecube? It uh, has a handle on the back." TOTALLY CALLED IT MOTHERFUCKERS. The great legacy of the GC... having a lunch handle on it.

I watched the expo generally feeling impressed, though I am worried with just how much TECHNOLOGY they are trying to jam into this thing. It might make the games too muddled to rely on touch screens, gyro, 6 different configurations, etc etc. Though the presence of simplified controllers gives me hope for a continuation of games without over-complicated control schemes.

It's 280 shiny british sterling silver pounds.

The best deal is in Japan, where it goes for a measy 30,000 yen.

Well, at this moment, the yen, pound, and euro are at the lowest exchange I can remember them being, so for being a burger-eating clapping American this is a great time to import.
"Maybe importing a Switch will be worth it?" I thought, before thinking that Nintendo's online/update system will fuck that process up somehow.

To further add to the miracles of 2017, Fuckonami seems to be doing something right for once by announcing Super Bomberman R (as an exclusive for the Switch)
RET'S GOW!!!!!

A reveal of a new bomberman game was definitely not expected. With multiplayer out of the box, it would make for a nice initial purchase, especially since it's getting a retail release (it seems like).

[TransatlanticFoe]

The console price is okay

Really ? I haven't checked, how much is it in the UK ?

Remember there are plenty of ~200€ tablets with better screen, better autonomy, and similar if not better processing power.
Sure they don't play these games, and don't come with all the accessories, but still, selling the base console over 300 whatever currency...doesn't feel right.

Switch + Zelda = 400€. Ugh...

They'd better make an offer below the 300 bar before mid-yearr and go a little more easy on the games prices or the switch is fucked.
Seriously Nintendo wtf ?

Yeah I don't think the price is that bad. We don't know the specs but it's at least WiiU powered - I don't see a £200 tablet doing that, and having an attachable controller and TV dock. It's a bit more than PS4 slim and xbone S, but at this point we don't know how far off performance-wise it is or how much manufacturing costs will come down later - it's not £450 for an xbone with forced Kinect or £700 for a 3DO. I didn't see the price and immediately object anyway!

The rest is unreasonable though. Controllers have been getting expensive enough but £65 is moronic. £60 games is borderline suicide though, if you're 50%+ more expensive than the competition, you'll struggle to get anyone but the Nintendo diehards on board. I've been prioritising xbone games over 3DS games mainly on price and that's at £35!

It is positive that they've announced a tonne of titles, even if it's "new Square Enix RPG", "new Travis Touchdown" and "new Fire Emblem". But they need to deliver them and more surprises in 2017 - Microsoft have their Scorpio announcement and Sony won't be far behind, so Nintendo really need to maximise Switch's first 6 months.

Personally it still leaves me more hopeful than I was for WiiU, which I was waiting on Xenoblade X for for about 2 years and by the time it dropped there still weren't many titles I wanted - and the system was clearly dying so WTF was the point dropping £200 on a walking corpse (that's now a £250+ actual corpse!)?

[soprano1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03bAayBtcb0
This was well done.

[tomwhite2004]

but at this point we don't know how far off performance-wise it is or how much manufacturing costs will come down later - it's not £450 for an xbone with forced Kinect or £700 for a 3DO. I didn't see the price and immediately object anyway!

We have a pretty good idea of relative performance thanks to articles like the below...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... c-analysis

Not that specs matter too much, Xenoblade Chronicles X was absolutely beautiful and hell I spend 90% of my time playing 20 year old arcade games without a polygon in sight, just gimmie solid gameplay.

It's a bit more than PS4 slim and xbone S

You can frequently get £200 ps4 slim with uncharted 4 bundles so at least to me seems pretty expensive. And that's before going anywhere near the absurd pricing on pro controllers etc which I would want. And then there are prices like £60 for the new Zelda game, £20 more than the Wii U version, its just a piss take.

I really expected this presentation to have a deluge of games given the paucity of content on the Wii U over the past year or so and how much Nintendo was playing up third party support, time will tell........

[HydrogLox]

So again more expensive than the US, but 10€ cheaper than the EU.
...
That's 245€/£215.
Fuck you Nintendo.

The European prices tend to include local VAT/sales tax - the US price does not.

For example in ON, Canada:
(400 + 52 HST) Cdn$ / 1.6 = £282.64
400 Cdn$ / 1.31 = US$ 304.68

[Xyga]

I doubt this is the case here, never seen a manufactrer making a before-tax price announcement for a flagship product.
I've also bought quite a bit of stuff from US stores over the years and never seen anything like that.

[HydrogLox]

If a resident in UK ordered from zaavi at £279.99 right now is 20% VAT added or included?

Never seen a manufactrer making a before-tax price announcement for a flagship product.

In the US every state has a different tax rate. In Canada the tax rate varies between provinces/territories - harmonized just means that the same things are taxed by the federal and provincial government. So North American prices never include sales tax - unless it is part of some kind of sale.

I've also bought quite a bit of stuff from US stores over the years and never seen anything like that.

That is because the sales tax is supposed to be levied based on the location of the buyer. Without some kind of tax agreement in place you were never charged sales tax - and the tax becomes a matter of your local customs agency.

[tomwhite2004]

If a resident in UK ordered from zaavi at £279.99 right now is 20% VAT added or included?

VAT is never added at say checkout stage, its always included in the upfront price.

[Xyga]

I don't know how it works for Canadians buying stuff from the US but it's as tom says the incl.tax is always shown on the product page anyway.

Allow me to ask US citizens; when you buy a product like a game console: is the full price including tax different from state-to-state ?
meaning when you buy the $299 Switch the final price will vary depending on where you live ?

Then if yes; how much of a difference are we speaking about ? I can't even think of a big player like Nintendo or say, Apple, announce a price for a product that will be different everywhere.

In Europe every country has a different VAT %, but for a large quantity of products like for instance game consoles, the final price incl. VAT is fixed by the manufacturer.
Resellers can sell higher if they want, but never ever any price is announced ex-VAT.

[neorichieb1971]

Tax in the USA is approx 5-10% over the MSRP. Depending on which state.

[HydrogLox]

I don't know how it works for Canadians buying stuff from the US but it's as tom says the incl.tax is always shown on the product page anyway.

Exports are not charged sales tax. Both in the US and Canada the price on the shelf is only the price you pay IF it is a tax free item - otherwise sales tax goes on top. Some states/provinces/territories even allow tourists to reclaim sales taxes on larger items that they export back to their country of origin.

[Xyga]

Ok thanks for the clarification. But then leaving out exporting the console;

That means approximately $315 to $329 depending on the state, which is €296 to €309, or £258 to £270.

So @329€ it's still Europe the most expensive. Why do they do this ? because of it and the premium 70€ they ask for a game like Zelda this puts the total at 400€.
It's highly criticized in the press over here.

BTW what about Japan ? Do they pay a tax over the 30,000 JPY ?

EDIT: in case you're wondering why I'm making a big deal of this; this morning in my country the Switch could be preodered for as low as 309€, which is more line with the US and UK prices, but about mid-day all stored has set the price at 329€, which means Nintendo is behind it, specifically asking them to raise the price (which is legal only if you're in direct business with the distribution channel btw)

[HydrogLox]

So @329€ it's still Europe the most expensive.

If that is the price in Germany 329€ / 1.19 = 276.47€ * 1.06 = US$293.06 - so it's actually cheaper than in North America.

[Xyga]

What are you talking about ? I thought the sales tax in the US was 5 to 10% over the $299 MSRP.

[neorichieb1971]

329 euro = $350. So slightly more expensive.


One of the presentation points was no region lock this time around. So just buy the console where ever its cheapest.

I don't have a problem with the price of the console. Its the fact that the pro controller is not part of whats in the box. If it was, I wouldn't be so upset.

[HydrogLox]

Typical consumer perspective.
Nintendo doesn't benefit from the sales tax - your local government does.
So a fair comparison removes the sales tax before comparing prices.
Your beef isn't with Nintendo but your local government who elects to levy a 20%, 19%, 15%, 13%, ..., 6% consumer tax dependent on where you reside.

[neorichieb1971]

Typical consumer perspective.
Nintendo doesn't benefit from the sales tax - your local government does.
So a fair comparison removes the sales tax before comparing prices.
Your beef isn't with Nintendo but your local government who elects to levy a 20%, 19%, 15%, 13%, ..., 6% consumer tax dependent on where you reside.

Yes, but almost in all cases the US$ is the weakest currency and it always seems to have one of the lowest prices regardless of tax. Its the same on each console launch.

The latest 4K UHD Oppo blu ray player is $499 in the USA, its £600 in the UK. And in the USA you only pay sales tax if you buy the unit within your own state. If you buy it outside the state its sold you only pay the shipping and MSRP.

So which ever way you look at it, us Euro/UK guys get the raw end of the stick every time.

[Xyga]

No one knows for how much the resellers buy the stocks from Nintendo anyway, the fact is in my country some estimated that they did sufficient benefit this morning at 309€, then a few hours and calls later *bam* it's 329.

We do always get the raw end on this side of the Atlantic, that's quite common actually, but for a console everyone anticipated the rather low price, I'm disappointed Nintendo pulled something like that, it definitely poops the party over there.

Again I think a 349€ pack with Zelda would feel like a much more appealing deal. edit: okay 359 or 369 maybe if that's so hard for them, But 400€ ? No way Jose.
Sorry like most people I don't have much interest for the other launch titles.

[tomwhite2004]

Even if you removed the uk vat altogether its still too expensive against a ps4 slim, which itself has a pretty low spec by todays standards.

Does anyone think the device will actually be used as a portable handheld outside the home in the same manner as a ds or vita? Would anyone here really take a device the size of a wii u gamepad outside on public transport?