18th January 2017, 6:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 18th January 2017, 7:06 PM by A Black Falcon.)
First, we are again hearing that the online player connection service will be a smartphone app: http://nintendotoday.com/switch-app-matchmaking/ ... So, Nintendo is going to make what is the worst online matchmaking service ever, and then charge money for it? What? I hope they either give up on this or it fails badly, because this is a really bad idea. There is no reason whatsoever to force people to use an external device to have online chat and such, that's absurd! And they'd better not require this app to use online gaming on the Switch at all, because that would be incredibly obnoxious, both for forcing people to use multiple devices when they shouldn't have to, and for anyone who doesn't have a compatible device (do you have a Windows phone or tablet or a BlackBerry or something? Too bad, this is sure to be iOS/Android only...). I don't have a smartphone (because, of course, I don't want one) but do have Windows tablet, but somehow I doubt it will be compatible with this thing. But it's not just about me, for so many reasons this is an awful idea.
Oh yeah, and to add insult to injury, there will be no Miiverse on the Switch. I haven't used it all that often and I'm sure there are ways it could be improved, but having a system that lets people comment about individual games is great! Killing it for no good reason doesn't make much sense, particularly when your "replacement" is a phone app, of all things.
Beyond that bad stuff though, Nintendo followed this conference with a Fire Emblem Direct today/yesterday, which had a bunch of interesting announcements!
First, a new Fire Emblem game is announced for the 3DS. It's a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for the NES/Famicom, with new art and such. It looks interesting, and I hope it's good, unlike Shadow Dragon for the DS. It is nice to see another 3DS FE game, though! And it's coming this spring, too. I'm looking forward to it, despite how frustrating they are the Fire Emblem games are some of Nintendo's best when they are good.
Second, there will be a Fire Emblem game for the Switch next year. No details yet.
Third, they show a bit more of Fire Emblem Warriors. It's a Warriors game of course, and looks like one. Interestingly it is going to release on both New 3DS and the Switch, and it's releasing this fall too. So, this will be the second New 3DS-only retail release, huh? Going by what I've heard about how badly Hyrule Warriors runs on the regular 3DS this is probably a good move... though I have a New 3DS and Hyrule Warriors works just fine on it, so I don't know myself.
And last, they show what the iOS/Android FE game will be. It looks mediocre and has a big random-draw component, as you pay money for random characters to be added to your team. There is a basic strategy game too of course, but they only show single-screen matches with four characters per side, so it's pretty limited. I'm sure people who do like to waste money on random-draw purchases might get hooked to this though. I won't play it.
So, this shows that for this year at least the 3DS will still be supported, but that next year's FE game will be a Switch title suggests that they'd like to wind down support by that point, if the Switch does well of course -- just like the GBA/DS "third pillar" stuff pretty much. That's alright, though keeping the 3DS would be nice considering how un-portable the Switch really is -- between the 3 hour battery life and very large unit, that's nowhere near the portability of any model of 3DS.
Oh yeah, and to add insult to injury, there will be no Miiverse on the Switch. I haven't used it all that often and I'm sure there are ways it could be improved, but having a system that lets people comment about individual games is great! Killing it for no good reason doesn't make much sense, particularly when your "replacement" is a phone app, of all things.
Beyond that bad stuff though, Nintendo followed this conference with a Fire Emblem Direct today/yesterday, which had a bunch of interesting announcements!
First, a new Fire Emblem game is announced for the 3DS. It's a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for the NES/Famicom, with new art and such. It looks interesting, and I hope it's good, unlike Shadow Dragon for the DS. It is nice to see another 3DS FE game, though! And it's coming this spring, too. I'm looking forward to it, despite how frustrating they are the Fire Emblem games are some of Nintendo's best when they are good.
Second, there will be a Fire Emblem game for the Switch next year. No details yet.
Third, they show a bit more of Fire Emblem Warriors. It's a Warriors game of course, and looks like one. Interestingly it is going to release on both New 3DS and the Switch, and it's releasing this fall too. So, this will be the second New 3DS-only retail release, huh? Going by what I've heard about how badly Hyrule Warriors runs on the regular 3DS this is probably a good move... though I have a New 3DS and Hyrule Warriors works just fine on it, so I don't know myself.
And last, they show what the iOS/Android FE game will be. It looks mediocre and has a big random-draw component, as you pay money for random characters to be added to your team. There is a basic strategy game too of course, but they only show single-screen matches with four characters per side, so it's pretty limited. I'm sure people who do like to waste money on random-draw purchases might get hooked to this though. I won't play it.
So, this shows that for this year at least the 3DS will still be supported, but that next year's FE game will be a Switch title suggests that they'd like to wind down support by that point, if the Switch does well of course -- just like the GBA/DS "third pillar" stuff pretty much. That's alright, though keeping the 3DS would be nice considering how un-portable the Switch really is -- between the 3 hour battery life and very large unit, that's nowhere near the portability of any model of 3DS.