No doubt Nintendo has a long-term strategy here. First they announce the NX. Then they let rumors stew for over a year. Finally they release a 3-minute trailer. Then they say they won't speak on it again until at least Jan 1, which is less than three full months from release at that point. So how has this strategy worked on you? What, if anything specifically, sways you either way?

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@J.K. Riki

Oh no, I've found happiness in gaming this year. I've been having a ball with indie games on PS4 like Abzu, Furi, Slain, Gine Home, and some others. All in all I've probably enjoyed this year's new games more than last year's.

That said, I'm not going to trick myself into being happy about practices I consider to be consumer-unfriendly. I'd much rather just take my time and money elsewhere.

Kal-El814 said:

@deathly_hallowsTo play devil's advocate... If we're going to call the Bone and the PS4 watered down PCs (which is generally true even if that's a little reductive), I don't know why we shouldn't be treating this as a forked Shield Tablet. Nobody really cares about those, the market is pretty niche.

The difference is that the PS4 and Xbox One play the exact same games as the PC, like literally the same games, The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Doom, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, Gears of War 4, Battlefield One, etc. etc.

The NX will not play Android mobile games, it has the full might of one of the world's biggest publishers and developers behind it.

Since I hadn't stated my response yet, I gotta toss it to the More Hyped vote. It's one thing to speculate, but to see this thing and truly understand what it looks like… that makes my mind spin with possibilities! There's a concrete seed now to build off instead of wild speculation. Plus that "March 2017" double-down made me so happy to see.

Mop it up said:

I voted "No change." I didn't have any hype before and I still don't, because hardware doesn't excite me. I want to see games, and they hardly showed anything on that, and with one exception the games all looked like ports or enhanced ports at best. Now, I don't mean "no hype" as a negative thing. I'm still interested in knowing more, but there's hardly been anything really shown so I need more to form an opinion.

Pretty much the same for me.

@GameDadGrant
You lie Grant, you love hardware, just not this hardware, if this thing had a clamshell design with 2 screens, and one of them was "glasses-free" 3-D, then you'd be dancing in the streets.

I was part of the Club of 5 with the Wii U. Hype level was 5 out of 10.

Well, my hype level for the Switch is about a 7, now. So that's progress.

I still can't shake the feeling that I've just seen Nintendo's Dreamcast, though. Time will tell. Hope I'm wrong.

@kriswright

Huh, that's interesting. Why do you say that?

deathly_hallows said:

@GameDadGrant
You lie Grant, you love hardware, just not this hardware, if this thing had a clamshell design with 2 screens, and one of them was "glasses-free" 3-D, then you'd be dancing in the streets.

You may have a point. Well, then change my vote to "Less Hyped" since this hardware lacks those important features.

@GameDadGrant
3D, while really cool, was superfluous. It also took way too long for it to work as intended. That feature was only sticking around if 3D had completely taken off. It didn't. In fact you can probably (in part) thank 3D for that system struggling like it did upon release. In retrospect they really shouldn't have bothered with it. The system could have been that much cheaper, powerful, etc without it. I always liked it and thought it looked great, but ghosting and maintaining that sweet spot totally killed it.

The second screen thing was cool too, but it wasn't necessary for most games. Serious question: how many 3DS games and Wii U games really required it? I think the DS may have used it more, but that was last gen. I'm willing to bet most games could have been designed without it. For example Splatoon absolutely doesn't need two screens, and same goes for Paper Mario, and maybe even Zombi U.

I'm not saying it won't be missed, but it's not really worth the sacrifice in the end.

On the one hand, I think they nailed the concept. On the other hand, I'm worried about the mainstream reception. So, kind of the same...?

@Anand
So far, so good. It has a really good reception in general. It'll probably sell really well out the gate, and it should get some good word of mouth (this thing is a living, breathing advertisement when it's out in public) early on. The question is how long it'll last, or if the attention it gets will peter off.

But remember this thing is essentially double the games, and it combines Nintendo's install base into one, also including all the casuals who end up picking it up. It seems like it's being marketed as a cool piece of tech you need to have. That's smart.

Gamers are hungry for a new Nintendo console right now too since both 3DS and Wii U are feeling pretty old and outdated, and both systems are dealing with game droughts. I think this console might have a really strong start out the gate, and that's good for everyone. We've never really seen Nintendo's entire audience focus on buying one machine, so the initial sales could be pretty crazy.

Zelda looks fucking incredible and has the attention of many a gamer. If it's a launch title, that thing should move a lot of units. Couple that with whatever presumably awesome launch/launch window titles they'll have.

Then they could have a big marketing push come Holiday 2017 when it has to go up against Scorpio and whatever else. They'll also have some heavy hitters ready for that time too.

Man I hope this works out for them.

@carlosrox
The 2nd screen on the DS was brilliant, on the 3DS and Wii U not so much.

Things I don't want in any Nintendo system going forward:

1. Dual Screens
2. Motion Controls

Things I will always go back and play for my entire life:

1. The Nintendo DS and it's amazing library
2. Wii Sports

Some ideas are the right idea at the right time and the right place. Unfortunately that time passes, and people move on. Not every good idea works in perpetuity. Some ideas outlive their welcome and need to retire gracefully (or in the case of motion controls taken out back and shot).

@deathly_hallows

Where do you stand on IR aiming if you don't want motion controls anymore? Not quite the same thing but I think IR aiming should stay for sure. I can't go back on FPS games without it. Not that Nintendo has a ton.

Splatoon does motion perfectly too.

@DrFinkelstein
Too jittery and finicky for me, I prefer not to mess with it.

Motion controls are the reason I'm not picking up a PS VR, I'm really interested in VR but I heard the tracking on the Move is really jittery, I'm pretty sure it would make me sick. I just really want to live a motion-controls free life if possible, which is why I'm extra hyped about the Switch which will probably have motion controls but I doubt will require them.

I'm actually more hyped cause the consolidation of the portable and console divisions is now a reality. The one thing that worries me is the touch screen. I hope it will be revealed to be a touch screen at some point down the line.

@canonj

For all intents and purposes this is me in a nutshell.

@kriswright Isn't the Wii U already Nintendo's Dreamcast? Or do you mean literally the last system they produce?

@carlosrox

As far as the 3D goes...okay. Fine, maybe it did take a while to them to get it right. But here's the thing: THEY HAVE IT RIGHT, NOW! There is "super-stable" 3D on the NEW 3DS, and I can only imagine it would work even better in brand-new hardware! And this time it'd be in "HD" so it could look even better than it does on the 3DS. It's a damn shame they are going to just abandon it. Especially before we get to see its true potential. It's a really cool effect, it makes games look even better than they normally would. It's about as superfluous as high-def displays are. Neither do anything for the gameplay, but it looks great. Would you really want to give up HD? Why give up 3D? It makes no sense. IMO.

As for the second screen, for me, it boils down to screen real estate. Even for games that doesn't use the second screen for gameplay, the advantage of having the "main" screen free of UI clutter is an absolute GODSEND. Keep all that garbage of how many coins I've amassed, what level I'm on, and what my NPC partner is talking about on the bottom screen. If I want to look at it, I'll glance at it real fast. And anyone that's played something like Ocarina of Time 3D (for example) having your inventory all available for you on the bottom screen, ready at any moment with a quick tap is a huge help. And even though it's not unusual for it to be made fun of (for some reason), make no mistake that having the map on a different screen at all times is a big help. Let's not forget Rob's patented Map In The Lap phrase!

I dunno, this feels a bit like a step back, IMO. But maybe that's just me.

I'm more hyped purely because I know what the damn thing is now. I know what I am going to be getting and what it can play and do, so I can now form a proper opinion and get pumped for it.

@GameDadGrant
In a perfect world we'd have 4k 60fps in 3D with IR, gyros, motion, classic controls, and HMDs. I'm with you there. But $ is the real issue here. If 3D is driving up the costs and most people either don't want it or don't care then it's not gonna make it. I'm guessing the inclusion of 3D makes millions and millions of dollars difference to them.

As for the touch screen and design, same thing. Also, most of those things could be remedied by intelligent design. A game doesn't have to have an intrusive HUD if it's designed to not...be...intrusive, or fade away when not in any use! Maps could also be handled with a simple button press or well integrated into the game. The second screen is nice, but it's not necessary.