mullen

@RaphaBoss Nintendo also has third party, but mostly in Japan that you may less care about (as you don't like 3DS). Dedicate devices like 3DS is their main target platfomr when it's about Nintendo. Do you want to scare away these 3rd parties as well? Plus, my main point is not whether there are 3rd party or not, the point is that there is no problem for Nintendo to supports both devices if they use the same chipset. Most 3rd party release same games on different platforms with different chipsets, so one more device with same chipset would be just too easy for them, and for Nintendo (unless you think Nintendo is not technically as capable as many other developers)

For me, I use streaming service and web browser sometimes on Wii U (game pad). Compared to phone, it's larger, and compared to smart TV, typing and navigation is much easier. I can keep the TV on for the sports live while watching video on the Wii U, or check some news, etc.. However, I don't know if Switch could act the same way as Wii U game pad (I just put the game pad on sofa all the time, while probably need to dock Switch near TV most of the time). It's really hard to say, but I just want to point out that they are not totally useless, even if they are already available on several other devices.
However, if Switch could support Android apps later, maybe that will be when such services will be available.

Somewhat off topic, I watched the Japanese version Switch live that day and my feeling is that, is this device Nintendo Switch, or Xbox Switch? Lots of English in the Japanese version live, and so many western actors in the video. Even Miyamoto and Aonuma were in New York. We all know how Xbox ends in Japan. Of course Switch will never be as bad as Xbox in Japan, but its goal should be as good as 3DS, right? Otherwise, how could you define it as the 3DS successor? There's huge gap between Xbox and 3DS sales in Japan as we all know. My theory is that as Switch does not target to Japanese market that much, there should be something cares about it. 3DS for now (otherwise all developers and players will escape to PSV, and it will be a extremely hard battle to drag them back), and something else in the future, no matter if it's Switch Mini, or 4DS. However, there's probability that, like new 3DS non-XL, such portable device may not be generally available in all markets, but instead like limited edition.

@brutalpanda The thing you don't understand is that the ones who need a true 3DS successor don't care about whether the screen is big enough for "AAA games", or any so called "AAA games". Those "AAA games" are not meant to be in the pocket. All we care are the games like Pokémon (main series), Animal Crossing, Ace Attorney, etc., "small" but also much more deeper than most phone games. GTA, COD in the pocket? Even if that's true, I will not play them in this way. Meanwhile, not be able to take the Pokémon anywhere anytime (without a bag)? That's killing me.

Finally an English article considers about Japanese market. Never forget that Nintendo is a Japanese company so it will never only consider what western markets want.

@Tarvaax Or the developers find that their great ideas / series best fit a portable gaming system that Switch doesn't work (means that could take with the player all the time without a bag), and thus try to explore the options on mobile phones or PSV instead? Many games are not meaningful on large screen, and more meaningful to be able to play anywhere, anytime. Developers more care about where they can get money, less care about whether Nintendo can win. It doesn't matter whether Nintendo has one or two consoles, it only matters whether Nintendo has the one that fits.

Btw, for VR, performance is really important. It's not anything about whether it looks good or not, it's all about whether you will easily get headache or not. As it's very unlikely that current Switch has enough power for VR (even Xbox One and PS4 are not optimal, not to say Switch without the dock), adding VR feature only means most players will easily get headache.

@westman98 It can also mean "we are going to create successor to the 3DS later". Otherwise, why say "right now"?. Again, one device satisfies some of the customers doesn't mean it satisfies all current customers, not even large part of them.

@MadameSpuki Exactly. They have different markets, different players want different devices, and some (like me) want both. I don't see any 3DS fans want to stop Switch, but some Switch die-hard fans just try their best to stop 3DS fans to continue enjoy in the way they like. I think someone here really need to try to understand others. I understand they consider tablet-size device as portable, but I hope they can also understand there are lots of players that take 3DS anywhere anytime in the pocket, and not take a bag all the time, that only consider phone-size device as portable to their convenience.

I'm not surprised at all and this is totally make sense. Unless Nintendo want to totally give up their large market in Japan, of which many of them are children who can't afford a lot and also would like to take the gaming system anywhere, including school, NS just doesn't fit. NS targets for adult and western market, but Nintendo can't forget their homeland and the future. I know many here don't agree with me, but that's only because you are adult or western, and don't know much about the other part of the world.

I see up to now it's around 2/3 complete, so this time it's very likely to be a success.

@Setery10 I got 3 starters (different generations) by starters so far.

@RaphaBoss Considering lots of titles are available on both PS4 and PSV, many games could be able to both console friendly and mobile friendly (and that's also why there's Switch). Also considering the chipset used in Switch, Nintendo can easily make another mobile friendly system with the same chipset after 1 or 2 years (put same thing and more in a even smaller machine). And with same chipset, it would be trivial for 3rd party to support both at the same time.

@RaphaBoss Question, if next year Nintendo announces 4DS or Switch Mini which could fit in your pocket / longer battery life / touch friendly / lots of mobile friendly game / even mobile data or GPS support, will you boycott it because it looks like many fans here just think Switch as how it looks like now is the only love they have and they can't stand with any other new devices from Nintendo unless it's a Switch's successor after 3~5 years.

As usually Japanese Fire Emblem came first, I usually go with Japanese version, but this time all versions are going to be released at the same time. I don't know how to choose now (considering shipping speed NA version actually comes first).
I have 2 big concerns. One is the censorship, as you know what happened to the last 2 titles. Another concern is the collection edition. Japanese version has a collection edition with Blu-ray that has 4 latest games' all in-game movie in HD, and I don't know if there will be collection edition in US and if the Blu-ray will be region-locked. So hard to make decision this time.

@NEStalgia it's not a matter that whether you care about the free game or not, it's about general publish, millions of users. If most users think it matters (you know, people goes for many free bonus even they are useless) and thus paid service for Switch doesn't worth, it just means you can't find friends and many active players online and your online experience will only be worth.

I'm glad that today someone who claims that 3DS is going to die could shut up as there are at least 2 new Fire Emblem games on 3DS (and one is exclusive). I have more confidence now that Nintendo will continue supporting 3DS and may even consider its true successor. I still deny to consider Switch is the successor of both Wii U and 3DS, and think Switch is only the successor of Wii U. Therefore, it's very logical to say if a game want to release to both home console and handheld, it's going to be on both Switch and 3DS. I would not surprise if there will be new Mario or Pokémon on 3DS this year or next year as well.

Some fans still don't understand or may be just avoid to talk is that many negative comments for the paid service is not because of the fact that you need to pay money, but because of the high possibility that you can't get what worth the money: either the fee will be too high, or the service is not enough, compared to all other competitors. So far the announced services are far less than competitors while we can't expect the price will be far cheaper as well (considered how much it will cost for the additional controllers). The negative comments here don't really want the service to be free, but hope that Nintendo can take it into consideration and either announce a reasonable low price, or announce more exciting services that worth the money.

I put 4 3DS(XL)s in my pockets right now. I roughly measured that and think I could remove 2 3DS(XL)s from my pockets and put one Switch in instead (controller and the tablet need to be separated).
However, without StreetPass, it seems meaningless to put Switch in the pocket. StreetPass is great as I knew many friends through StreetPass meeting, and also saw hundreds or thousands of players took 3DS to game / anime conference.

I know someone uses Xbox and PS as example to say nothing wrong with paid online service, but the huge difference is Xbox and PS provide much more than what Switch currently said to provide (for the free game, on Xbox you get them forever, not only during subscription, and not just old platform simulator; one-month (S)NES is more like a game demo to me that want to further attract player to pay them. For online play, so far other platforms has more games require heavy online play than Nintendo), and we yet don't know if Nintendo will ask for the same price or even higher. I'm afraid of that may be true since the additional controllers of switch is more expensive than what they worth and the price of competitors. Let's say, if it's 1~2 dollars per month, it may be acceptable, but if 3~5 dollars per month, I doubt how many players will buy it; and if there are few players buy it, you could not have a better online experience as well since you can't even find your friends online.

I only knew there is second mission after reading the news about the failure of the first mission. There is no system notification or in-game broadcast for the event, so it's really easy to get ignore. The goal also set too high. I hope the third mission could be much easier, as I still want lots of free FC.
Btw, registering the game also not easy for me, as I couldn't log in to my account, until custom service telling me that I need to log into another site and change privacy setting forth and back to make my account available again.

The biggest question is what you could get with the paid service. If the only thing you could get is the ability to play online, that's what Xbox Live did and get heavily criticized, until there were also free games monthly, digital game discount, etc. Considering the current library of Switch, I doubt the above would be true or interesting for Switch (even free VC game is not interesting as for many fans who already bought VC games on previous platform, it's supposed to be free). I don't think it's wrong for paid online service, but it's just the wrong time, especially lack of BC (otherwise they can provide free Wii / Wii U game monthly with the subscription).

As there's no BC, paid online service, and most of interesting games have no release date yet, I will hold my money until the new Mario game this winter. I can save several months' service fee, and may get discount at that time, choose from different great bundle versions or even more colors, while almost miss nothing before it.
On the good side, its region free means I can choose some Japanese title freely (few more lunch title actually, but the games either I already have on other platforms, or not interested), and it's smaller than I thought that without joy-con, it can fit my pocket (just 10mm larger than 3ds xl). I probably want to see if I can find a pouch that could store the pad and joy-con as separated parts.

@NinjaAceTrainer Exactly same for me. That's the only one I missed. I hope there will be a second chance.

It's too bad many players here still think Switch can be a replacement of portable gaming. It's not portable at all. It's too large and battery life is too short, and games designed for TV doesn't always suitable for mobile playing (you could start and stop anytime), not to say the price. If Nintendo only goes with Switch in the future, it will only sell better than Wii U, but no way to catch up with 3DS, not to say combined markets. PSV or the successor of it will get its change to totally conquer the handheld gaming if Nintendo kills its 3DS line, just like PS4 win because both Wii U and Xbox One make multiple mistakes. Switch is only a TV console that has limited portability, but not a portable system at all.

The Switch is not a really portable gaming device as 3DS because it's too large to fit in your pocket or put in some bags. It's comparable to small tablet, not large phone (3DS), and in fact small tablet market is dying while large phone market is still growing. That's why Switch can't replace 3DS, and can't sell as much as 3DS could (could be better than Wii U, of course, but Wii U sell number is much worse than 3DS).
I think after 1~2 years, when Nintendo realizes that Switch can't cover most of 3DS market, they may release a true successor of 3DS; or they think they can't fight against smart phone anymore and totally give up that market.

@DanteSolablood or who would going to buy Pokémon Sun and Moon.

@subpopz If it BC, I would buy it day one to replace my Wii U. If not, I will only buy it when there's big enough library and (probably) price drops. That's a simple call since my TV don't have tens of HDMI ports (and I don't want to have several HDMI hubs and remote controllers to confuse myself). That's the rule for me, no exception.

@ThomasBW84 If, I mean if Nintendo want to back-compatible with Wii U disc, they can just release a separate external DVD-ROM asking for $50, and I would buy it. They can just say if you want dual-screen experience like Wii U, buy a second NS to mimic gamepad and I would buy it (or they can release a Joy-Con grip with touchscreen, asking for $100). Why I already has a Wii U but still want NS to play those games? Because I don't have 10 HDMI ports with my TV or that large enough spaces with my TV cabinet to store all kinds of game consoles I owned. I would rather pay extra $300 to make any 2 consoles to be one.
Similar for 3DS. My pockets are large enough for several 3DSes, but not likely large enough for another NS. I want the new devices can replace that, tough it's clearly that even with back-compatible, NS is still too large to take out. I'm afraid there will be no real 3DS successor anymore, just hope I'm wrong.

What I want is the yellow Pikachu new 3DS LL that would be available in Japan along with Sun and Moon. I hope US can sell that version sometime as well.

Here is my hope:
1. Tablet and controller could be sold separately, so I could have 2 tablets and 1 dock (similarly, dock could be sold separately so I could connect one tablet to 2 TVs).
2. I hope there is a special vertical mount for controllers (sold separately) and thus you could play 3DS/DS games vertically for dual screens (which means it needs touchscreen).
3. I hope it's compatible with current Wii U pad so that you could play Wii U games (may need a separate DVD-ROM as well for physical version, maybe around $30~$50).
4. (For the future) if possible, dock could provide additional computation power so that after 3~4 years, I could pay around $150~$200 to upgrade dock and get 4k capability.

@Wouwter Actually Microsoft is much more open to other platforms. Maybe the reason Minecraft may appear on Nintendo platform is just because Microsoft own it now.

I never ever thought about groping before I read this article. Well, that's the culture difference. So what, it's not a US commercial, so that's fine.

Don't forget the Gyakuten Kenji (Ace Attorney: Investigation) 2 was not localized yet and probably will not forever. I doubt if this game will get localized. Don't forget that while Naruhodou Ryuuichi is a Japanese, Phoenix Wright is an American.

After reading the title, I'd say oh my god, that's too bad. But after reading the content, I think maybe that's not that bad: or maybe it's a good idea. However, it's important to play the game or try the demo myself. Whatever, already pre-order the game so hopefully I'll not get disappointed.

The game is originally described as the western version Project Mirai 2. Later, Sega decided to also release the Japanese version at the same time. Now, Japanese version already got the demo and will get released next week but the western version is pushed back to September. Well, I think I can save my money and wait until the Japanese version be on sale.
Btw, the AR cards are in all Japanese physical versions but is considered as some bonus for the special version in US? And you players feels good to wait for extra months and pay more money just for some cards that should be included free in all versions?

Please don't blame customers for not buying new IP. It's really the game itself problem. The art style is just too terrible, and no one cares about American characters outside of American. Many games on 3DS these years, e.g., Bravely Default, Tomodachi Life (for western players), pushmo, Denpa man, got success to certain point. I can see Splatoon may get somewhat success if it's also interesting in single player mode and has some interesting story as well (and may also need a 3DS version). The style of Nintendo IP is anime style / cute. If Nintendo throw away its own style and try something totally different (especially if that style is only popular in a very limited market), this is the result.

Fire Emblem TV show could be epic!

I think the problem is Nintendo has not yet figured out why the system is cracked and just simply play some tricks trying to block the flashcard, which show that it's totally meaningless. The best chance for them is when new 3DS was release, at which time flashcard was already available and there was a chance to block it from hardware side. Unfortunately, either Nintendo did nothing or didn't fix the root cause, new 3DS failed to block flashcard. At that time, the game is over, any software update is meaningless if there's hardware defect.

@KeeperBvK if not limited to west, Nintendo is going to release Yakuman Phoenix (3DS) on 2/18, which is free to download / limited play, and 1000 yen / 6 months for full experience. However, if you just consider in the west, I don't think it's something likely to happen.

@ryanator008 So you think it's a good practice to disappoint 1/3 of its player and force some of them to buy the model they originally don't want? Do you also think NOE is so stupid to sell regular new 3DS which they can simply force player to switch to new 3DS XL? What if NOA decide to sell regular new 3DS after 6 months? Do you think NOA make a totally wrong decision at that time if that happens and say NOA should not touch regular new 3DS at all?

Assuming there are 10 persons on the bus, when the bus entered the first Nintendo Zone, the first person who streetpasses the zone can get 5 new tags, and the second person can get 4 new tags plus 1 tag from the first person (or may not), and the third person can only get 3 new tags... You can see what's the problem with many people going to the same Nintendo Zone at the same time. Another issue is that organized streetpass groups. I doubt if they can find enough groups and members showing on the way regularly. If that's something easy, streetpass should no longer be a problem and the bus is not that necessary. Even it's possible, every 3ds can only get 10 tags each time, which means if the players there can't clean up their tags in time, there are still some attendees can't get tags.

@ryanator008 You have no evidence for that "most". I already see lots of players claim that they will not buy new 3ds until regular version available. The main reason is XL doesn't fit their pocket.

@ryanator008 For every 3 new 3DS series there is one new 3DS non-XL, how can you say XL sells way better?
1/3 of the potential sales is still a very large number.

FYI, before it closes, Japanese Club Nintendo will provide an original 3DS download game called ニッキーの旅するクイズ (Nikki's Journey Quiz) for 80 points. For anyone who still have some JP Club Points, save it for this game because you probably can't find it anywhere else.

I don't know as players, why so many of them talks about marketing. The question is as simple as: do you or any of your friends want to by a regular new 3DS if it's available in NA? If nobody want to bother about it, it's done. But I found at least 1/3 of players want it and really disappointed. That's the matter. It's true that maybe half of them will be forced to buy new 3DS XL, which means NOA only lose 1/6 of the total potential buyers, but on the other hand, don't forget that the one who got regular new 3DS will more likely to throw more money in all on the device because of the cover plate.

I'd like to nominate some games that are at least more interesting to me: Project Mirai Deluxe, Bravely Second, and Pokemon Z (if there is).

Not only it's too expensive (almost $30), if you checked the demo video in eShop (not sure now, but at least when it was first available), the demo video is in 2D (not 3D) and in English (not Japanese). It just gave me a feel that Nintendo don't want to sell this, just simply throw something Disney gave to the shelf.

ORAS intentionally provide multiply hints to the players that the stories happen in a totally different dimension than original RS, I just thought it should already be a commonsense until I saw there are still so many comments that strongly against it.
It's still too early to say how many dimensions are there, but it's clearly that there are different dimensions and new stories and further titles will based on this theory. It's not a big matter if the players aware of that or not, but it's highly likely that the script writers will create new games based on it to convince at least themselves and players that treat the story seriously.

How many trophies in 3DS game in total?