A Tale of Two Switch Reviews

[cuttheredwire]

You may not recall, but iMore had a scathing review of the Nintendo Switch last year. Granted, this before anyone had actually reviewed it, but it claimed Nintendo had mobile gaming "wrong."

Nintendo Switch shows they still don't get mobile gaming | iMore

Fast forward to now, and we get a very different perspective.

Nintendo Switch Review: Success where everything else has failed | iMore

I've played it and can't get one because it sells out so fast. The comments on the first article were telling more so than the article, but it did have some interesting points.

In any case, I was hoping that iMore would reference this article and comment on how surprised they were by the Switch. They didn't expect much, and now it's a featured section.

What's everyone else's thoughts on those little snippets of history?

 

[robertk328]

Thanks for posting the articles, I've added them to my Reading List to peek at during lunch today.

 

[mvpilot172]

When tablets first arrived there was a promise of "real" gaming on a mobile device. Even after tablets got powerful enough the run complex games they just never arrived. Freemium games ultimately killed the prospect of developing console quality games in Android and IOS. Then enter the Switch, proving a tablet can be a "real" gaming device offering full console quality games on the go.

 

[cuttheredwire]

When tablets first arrived there was a promise of "real" gaming on a mobile device. Even after tablets got powerful enough the run complex games they just never arrived. Freemium games ultimately killed the prospect of developing console quality games in Android and IOS. Then enter the Switch, proving a tablet can be a "real" gaming device offering full console quality games on the go.

Ya, compare the Switch to an iPad with GameVice: it's about the same thing. :/

 

[mvpilot172]

The iPad mini 4 is more than capable as a powerful gaming device, I have one. The quality of the games and simply what the mobile gaming ecosystem has become holds it back as a gaming platform though.

 

[fury]

Keep in mind these are two different authors. Maybe the latter was always super hyped up about it, maybe the former is still in a wait-and-see.

When tablets first arrived there was a promise of "real" gaming on a mobile device. Even after tablets got powerful enough the run complex games they just never arrived. Freemium games ultimately killed the prospect of developing console quality games in Android and IOS. Then enter the Switch, proving a tablet can be a "real" gaming device offering full console quality games on the go.

I concur.

I will admit I wasn't too sure about it, because of all the letdowns I've experienced in mobile gaming. Then it launched to raving reviews (probably just as much about Zelda as the Switch itself) and I wanted it so bad I was almost willing to pay the scalper price. I think I now know why--they got it right.

I have several MFi controllers, one of which even expands to fit an iPhone 5/5s/SE, but so few games actually use them, and most that do use them still heavily rely on the touchscreen for menus and between levels. So, not many people are buying them because the games aren't supporting them, and vice versa. (Chicken, meet egg)

I have a Lightning to HDMI adapter for connecting my phone to the TV (or in the event I lack a TV, simply AirPlay to a computer). I was actually super excited when HDMI/AirPlay mirroring first arrived and a couple games really made an effort to use it (Real Racing 2 party play comes to mind). But as with the controllers, so few games account for the TV experience that these days, it's really mostly just useful for streaming/recording the screen for Twitch or YouTube. The encoding/decoding delay in the Lightning to HDMI scheme isn't all that great for gaming either.

Mobile hardware has gotten so good so fast that the iPhone 7 and iPad Pro you hold in the palm of your hands are basically about as powerful as an Xbox 360 or PS3 or Wii U (give or take a couple hundred gigaflops). You'd never know it, because the budget for making a game that really shows that off won't work very often in the "1 star, should have been free/given me money" economy. That, plus the thousand people still hanging onto an iPad 2 and leaving scathing reviews because you didn't spend weeks painstakingly tweaking your free game to scale down to a 6 year old device.

Nintendo Switch takes all of those concepts and bakes them into the console from the very start, so the developers know exactly what feature set to target. Everyone has a controller. Everyone can at any moment connect to a TV or grab and go. Everyone's Switch has the same Tegra X1 that can bust out amazing visuals, and the screen resolution is optimized for that, so it's not sacrificing RAM and horsepower fighting to push millions of pixels to a Retina display. And people are accustomed to expecting to pay $20 for a decent game or $60 for a full AAA experience.

I'm excited for mobile gaming in a way I never was with iOS and Android, and I hope this improves gaming's prospects on phones, too, because they're still a bit more pocketable than a Switch.

 

[Matty]

I think this is pretty normal for reviews. A product gets early leaks and people point fingers at all the things that are wrong.

Then the product launches and you see lots of great reviews (if it's actually good) and then maybe 1 or 2 years later, they look back and talk about everything that's wrong with it and why this new product is now better

I genuinely think that, even in 2 years time, the Switch will still be awesome to play on. It's one of those 'special' products that doesn't grow old.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Yeah, for better or worse this is exactly right. In principal, a top-of-the-line iPhone with a Gamevice or a 12.9 inch iPad and a controller would be the best possible portable gaming systems: tons of power, lots of devices already in peoples hands, etc. But in practice, I think the Switch's simplicity (games alone) makes its market better able to sustain the high costs of software. It's a shame we can't somehow have the best of both worlds though. I would kill for the opportunity to pay 30 bucks for full-fledged games like Fire Emblem or Zelda on iOS.

 

[Centerion]

Another big issue with mobile banking in particular, even with iOS, is that everyone expects you to support more than one device, so you can't "just" develop a game focused upon the 12" iPad for instance, no! You HAVE to make it work on a smaller screen like the iPhone. I agree with those mentioning the budget. I REFUSE to pay anything over $20 for an app, no matter how good it is! Weird to think that I don't seem to really hesitate paying $40 for a 3DS game, $50 for a Wii U title, or now $60 for Switch titles like Breath of the Wild... It's all in perceived value.

A title like Smash Bros I know will pay for itself in time I spend I'm it, but I highly doubt (or at least that's the way it always seems) that is ever going to get me even a bit of the same time-value. I bought a 2ds at $100ish for the express purpose of gaming. I bought a more powerful phone admittedly for way more for "light" gaming. I'm always going to subconsciously believe that that's all its capable of, as that's all its every really marketed as...

 

[cuttheredwire]

Another big issue with mobile banking in particular, even with iOS, is that everyone expects you to support more than one device, so you can't "just" develop a game focused upon the 12" iPad for instance, no! You HAVE to make it work on a smaller screen like the iPhone.

Funny thing is that you can make iPad onky apps, or the iPad app could theoretically be very different. Sadly, the reality is people want small, large, and larger with Apple TV out. Why buy a game that doesn't include it if it is similar to one that does, even if you don't have an Apple TV (yet)?

 

[GlassHasMass]

I think this is pretty normal for reviews. A product gets early leaks and people point fingers at all the things that are wrong.

Then the product launches and you see lots of great reviews (if it's actually good) and then maybe 1 or 2 years later, they look back and talk about everything that's wrong with it and why this new product is now better ??????

I genuinely think that, even in 2 years time, the Switch will still be awesome to play on. It's one of those 'special' products that doesn't grow old.

I agree with you under one condition...

Nintendo would have to keep releasing new games.

The biggest issue with the wiiU was that there were only like 5 quality games for it.

For the switch to stay a great console they need to continue wwith support by providing future quality games.

Or make it so that other game studios make their games Switch compatible

Also had anyone heard or read anything about a Super Smash Bros game for the switch?

I love Smash Bros!

 

[splatune]

No news of Smash Bros. for Switch yet. With Sakurai saying he was stepping away, it'll be interested to see if they bring it back with someone else at the helm.

 

[Reed Parish]

No news of Smash Bros. for Switch yet. With Sakurai saying he was stepping away, it'll be interested to see if they bring it back with someone else at the helm.

i dont think smash bros would be released for the switch considering the last two smash games were not first even intended to be made when Sakurai began the first game

 

[splatune]

You may not recall, but iMore had a scathing review of the Nintendo Switch last year. Granted, this before anyone had actually reviewed it, but it claimed Nintendo had mobile gaming "wrong."

Nintendo Switch shows they still don't get mobile gaming | iMore

Fast forward to now, and we get a very different perspective.

Nintendo Switch Review: Success where everything else has failed | iMore

I've played it and can't get one because it sells out so fast. The comments on the first article were telling more so than the article, but it did have some interesting points.

In any case, I was hoping that iMore would reference this article and comment on how surprised they were by the Switch. They didn't expect much, and now it's a featured section.

What's everyone else's thoughts on those little snippets of history?

Oh very interesting. It's pretty important to note these are written by two different authors. Since this is not primarily a Nintendo-centric website, it's possible that there is little or no editorial oversight concerned about this appearance of "change of heart". These authors might just have different opinions on the Switch which would explain why they're not referencing the prior article. But either way, I think it's worth pointing out that both of these can be "right." Even though the Switch has had good success, I've never seen anyone playing one in the wild, and my friends that own them only play them at home. So you could still make a case that Nintendo doesn't "get" mobile. But, I think the Nintendo DS/3DS are pretty strong evidence against that

 

[Reed Parish]

I think this is pretty normal for reviews. A product gets early leaks and people point fingers at all the things that are wrong.

Then the product launches and you see lots of great reviews (if it's actually good) and then maybe 1 or 2 years later, they look back and talk about everything that's wrong with it and why this new product is now better ??????

I genuinely think that, even in 2 years time, the Switch will still be awesome to play on. It's one of those 'special' products that doesn't grow old.

Yea I agree. I just hope it lasts long.