Nintendo Switch Launch Day Stream

3 hours of switch goodness

Yay! So quick! Thanks.

Is the sound cutting out for anyone else? Do they fix it? Oh.. It was just on the Chromecast. Dang.

hot switch scloosie shovelnight

aaawww Yisssss Rich in the house

Was the audio garbage during the stream too, or is that just some weird archive problem?

I'm still crying from Drew's last UPF

Finally some honest, nostalgia free thoughts on Zelda botw. This made me want the game more because everyone else is too emotional about it for me to get a real read on it.

The audio definitely had some problems during the stream. Started off sounding blown out. That was resolved pretty quickly, but there was a persistent, irritating whining sound that lasted for a good portion of the stream, and couple other brief audio glitches throughout. It mostly seemed to get better as the stream progressed, though.

Great stream, love/miss seeing Rich.

At first I was stupidly impulsive and frustrated by Jeff's comments because that exactly, but I totally agree. I think the crew do a great job of balancing opinions whether on purpose or not. This Zelda in particular is drawing some strange fanboyism out of me.

I think Zelda, Snipperclips and Shovel Knight is the way to go at launch.

This thing is underwhelming to say the least

My roommate got one today and man I want Zelda so bad despite how weird the fucking control layout is for it. Inverted X & Y axis? Thought Nintendo would have learned that lesson after Mario Sunshine.

Yasssss.

I assume this video archive will be on Youtube soon?

Oh hey it's Silver, the Irish guy from ... calls and stuff!

As far as console launch streams go, this one sure was pretty short and low-energy, which I obviously don't blame on the staff. This launch is pretty underwhelming, even by the standards of your average console release. It's great that Zelda seems awesome (even if Jeff isn't as taken by it) but Zelda also exists more or less identically on the Wii U. There's just not a lot here to make a show out of, otherwise.

Alright Rich!! The blonde Scott Baio!

@jeff Haha. You went into my friend request to you. ("Silver" with the Metroid logo is me, Silver from Wichita)

Feel free to accept or decline as you feel like.

hmph rich gallup? that name is totally made up.

@voshinova: i had misgivings because zelda seemed to be going after something done to death, but the way they approach it feels so refreshing that i was totally sold. there's still weird stuff like item durability, but i can forgive it for the way this manages to feel so new in an unexpected way.

As much as I adore Zelda and the console is super slick, it is missing games. It seems like so many sorts of games are a slam dunk for the system, even if its stuff like ports of vertical shoot em ups like Ikaruga and Do Don Pachi or the various quality local multiplayer games of the last 4 or so years. Hopefully the right 3rd parties gravitate towards the system in the coming months and start really putting work in.

That being said I barely will have enough time in the next few weeks to even get through Zelda anyway and I also have Horizon that I only got a handful of hours into as well so it isnt as if I'm hurting for good games to play.

Popplio number one!!

Yeah there is a super annoying hiss sound going on, it sounds exactly like my tinnitus and it is frustrating.

You mean Rich goodness

If there's one nice thing to note, haven't seen the return of ijustwanttodie@comcast.net.

The launch is more low key than some would like, but I like the look of a bunch of the games shown. Fast RMX looks solid and Snipperclips looks delightful.

@scott ster: @electrotherobot:

It's not surprising to see Jeff have a rough first impression of Breath of the Wild. Between Austin Walker's comparison's to Far Cry 2 and the survival inventory management that echoes Snake Eater, this new Zelda takes major cues from games that Jeff bounced off of.

So....you should really be pushing the release button on those Joycon when removing the straps. No wonder they're broken

Secret second Zelda Quick Look.

Also Jeff pretty much nailed my feelings. Replace the Zelda stuff in this game, with new characters or whatever and it's just another open world game. It doesn't feel like Zelda. People keep harping on the "well it's like the first Zelda!" and that point is really overblown. This is a modern ass, western style, open world game. People wanted change and they got it. Personally I never wanted it. It is what it is I guess.

yo man fuck popplio!

Switch is incredibly underwhelming. I'm glad I didn't buy into the hype.

Not that impressed with the Switch as a home console, but it could be decent as a handheld, provided the games are there like for the DS, which if the eShop is any indication, should be solid years to come. And that Zelda game should not be getting so many perfect scores with the frame drops and lag being that bad throughout the game. You take marks off for that.

I watched the video for that witch/bike game on the Japanese eShop. I think it wants you to drift all over the skies while you are chasing the objectives.

It still looks a not-very-good game.

It sure seems like the system level account stuff is less secure and less functional on the account level than any other modern console. Its seems like it would be easy for kids to accidentally add friends they don't really know, and easy for them to buy games on a parents account or a brother or sisters account instead of their own.

Are there even passwords for accounts? Are there two level passwords for buying?

This just seems like a huge mess and easy for a kid to do mischief.

@monkeyking1969: You can make the Switch request a password whenever you select your user if you want and there are parental controls which can prevent weird friend request situations so all of that should be a non issue.

Anyone else think that the dock looks like it's made out of some cheap ass plastic?

lol weird stream. a couple games then pork buns. to be expected, really.

Wish they could bundle the Zelda game with the console like Super Mario World that came with SNES. But what am I talking about, the console is sold out everywhere already.

The only mildly interesting thing here is Zelda and thats basicly the exact same experience as Wii U. Great console Nintendo!

FYI there's a lot of audio issues, immediate hot mics so careful with volume. Hard to listen to the beginning with headphones. Clipping and whine/feedback too. I swear I was hearing DTMF tones every so often too.

I went to Best Buy when they opened and easily got a Switch & Zelda along with the seven or so other people there.

It's really crazy to see Jeff give Horizon 5 stars, a game which is basically Sony's version of a really good Assassin's Creed game, and then look like he's bouncing off BotW, which is basically Nintendo taking all the defining (and greatest) parts of Zelda 1 and OoT, SotC, Souls, Morrowind, and Dragon's Dogma, and lathering it all in a generous coating of Nintendo class. I don't regret my purchase. The last time a game grabbed hold of me like this was Dark Souls in 2011 and to a lesser extent Dragon's Dogma in 2012, and this goes way beyond those for me because it's an amalgamation of those and so many more of my favorites.

Mmmm, no, because you cannot really tell who is who. So you kid will say, "I know Bobby...he is from my school." And teh parent will say, "Wait do you really know Bobby...? Are you sure this is Bobby form you school?" And, like every child in the fucking world you child will insist that that they KNOW that is their friend Booby so the parent will say, "Okay". But of course there is really know way to know without a 12 digit friend code.

All you really know is AT ONE POINT you played with them in a game and at one point you might have had that friend code...but that coudl have been you older brother playing that person, your parents playing that person....my friends Frank could change his screen name to Bobby ...and poof no my kid thinks Frank is his Bobby. Even Jeff pointed out you can change your name and that the friend code does not show up to confirm a person you were playing with is connected to a code.

Its a fucked up system, that is not secure or logical. It IS a real mess.

Yeah, I'm looking at this system and wondering wtf everybody is excited about lol. The battery life seems bad, the controllers look stupid, and there aren't any actual games besides zelda(which has bad framerate and is on the older console with basically the same graphics/performance). I'm reading peole saying it's a good handheld, but only has 2.5hr battery life...??? Zelda makes me want to get a wiiU but they are still overpriced for whatever reason, and the switch is only 100$ more but there is literally no reason beside zelda to get it.

I wonder how people will feel in a week or so when zelda is finished?

And for me, I am bouncing right off of Horizon 2 hours in and wish I could swap for Zelda as a PS4 owner.

The Far Cry analogy seems apt (i loved far cry 2, hated 3 and 4)

@monkeyking1969: But that would only be a problem if you posted your friend code online, surely?

I agree that NIntendo should have made it possible to include a message when sending requests and it is weird that you can't see the friend code but this is mainly a problem for public facing figures.

You can also add people in the vicinity without having to faff around with friend codes and I imagine that's the primary way kids will add friends.

I still really want to know why this thing has a touch screen.

Apparently because it's almost cheaper to get a touch screen than a non-touch screen at that size.

Unexpectedly, Fast RMX is one of my system sellers from the handful of races I played. That game just feels super fast (I mean, it's right in the title!!)

In general, this seems like a pretty good launch when you factor in the downloadable games. Zelda's the big AAA game and the bigger ones are gonna slowly trickle down later, but based on this video I'd be happy to buy a Switch now if I found one.

I may have to put my Vita out to pasture some day, unfortunately, as it's my go-to indie machine but this system might take that crown going forward.