Nintendo Switch Lite 

This week we finally got to see the long rumored next iteration of the popular Nintendo console, The Nintendo Switch DS, I mean lite. 

Top level impressions, first starting with the good and that’s the price.  I think the price point is amazing, especially considering the vast library that would be available to purchasers on day one when this version is released on September 20. Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Super Smash, Super Mario Party, Mario Maker 2, Mario Bros U, Pokémon, Captain Toad, Yoshi and many more but those are the ones just off the top of my head. At 199 this is going to get a lot more people in the door. 

The other great thing about the new lite is the addition of the proper d pad.  I think this is another great move and something that will make playing platforms a lot easier.  I love and finished games like Celeste and Hollow Knight but that requires precise movement especially near the end of the game when every movement is the difference between life and death. This has also got people a little excited about the potential of bringing a true DPad to the original switch or on updated Joy cons. However, I don’t think this is in the future for a few reasons, the first being that Doug Bowser, talking to CNET said that they don’t have any plans to bring DPad to the original Switch. That could just be corporate talk that we have all heard before when they say something isn’t happening and then it does.  I think this actually won’t happen as since the JoyCons are detachable and can be used as an individual controller with the directional being used in place of the abxy buttons when detached. I do think they should provide the option for gamers to purchase a Dpad JoyCons if they want. 

Speaking of JoyCons this brings us to the downsides of the switch lite. The first being that the JoyCons are non detachable now.  I have to assume they have enough data to base this decision on but it seems like one of the original core pillars of the switch was the share ability that it provided and the option to play with friends anywhere.  It also doesn’t have a kickstand which isn’t the biggest deal if you are removing the detachable JoyCons. I have detached the JoyCons many times since purchasing a Switch on day 1 but I have used the kickstand maybe 5 times so that seems like a waste of design.  Another huge switch pillar if not the main switch pillar, if not the whole naming convention behind the system is that the switch lite will no longer be able to dock and play on your tv. I can understand removing the detachable JoyCons and Rumble HD, I can understand removing the kickstand but removing switchable feature of this system seems crazy to me. 

As for the rumored switch pro, don’t expect that anytime this year as the lite will be this holidays sku and you don’t want to confuse potential new customers with 3 different models.  I guess if you are trying to predict when the pro will come out I would suggest same time next year which would put it at fall 2020 and be poised for strong holiday sales as well as reinvigoration of the switch lineup and smartly paired along side a flagship title that would benefit from pro features. This would be games like Metroid prime 4, the next MARIO game or breath of the wild sequel. 

It’s clear that they aren’t really trying to position this as a alternate switch but more as a DS successor. If this is the case then I think this is a great move and I think this holiday season the switch lite will be quite the gift for the young kids. I also remember reading something a while back when they were trying to incorporate the switch teams and the ds teams so that they are all working on the same device and content would be higher.  This could be the start of that although in the same CNET interview, bowser said that they will continue to support the DS as long as the customers are still supporting it.

Other changes to the lite include the fact that the screen is smaller and the system weighs less due to smaller screen and removal of many features. 

The Switch Lite is due out on September 20 the same day as Links Awakening, which is a very smart move those two should go hand in hand on purchase day. 

Turbo Grafx 

The Turbo Grafx mini was announced about a month ago but this week we got to see the full picture and roadmap for the retro console. It was announced that Konami would be handling the release so its unsure if they bought the rights from NEC as the system was a joint project between NEC and Hudson soft. One thing is for sure is that a lot of games for the system were developed by Hudson Soft and it’s possible that they had all the rights to the system.  NEC could have just been the chip maker and manufacturers of the system. In 2012 Hudson Soft was merged into Konami which explains why they are releasing the TurboGrafx mini. 

Based on all of the information that we have right now I don’t think this system will see a positive outcome for a few reasons. 

First the release date is March 2020.  What are they thinking. March is already looking so packed with AAA releases that consumers will have no money left. Most gamers wouldn’t be able to buy all the games they want let alone a novelty console. FF7 Remake, Watch Dogs Legion,  Animal Crossing, Cyberpunk 2077, Gods and Monsters are all games that are due out around the time the TurboGrafx is supposed to be hitting store shelves. The system only sold around 10 million when it was released in the late eighties while the two Nintendo systems that it was sandwiched between had sold around 50 mil for the snes and 60 mil for the nes.  You also had the sega genesis with around 30 million in sales.  10 million is still impressive to be able to manufacture and sell that many consoles but compared to what on the market they paled in comparison.  Youre hoping that those 10 million people have enough fond memories of your system to buy it.

The second major issue I have with this system is the cost.  It is going to hit the market at 99, which is way too much and we all saw what happened when Sony released their mini at the higher price point. Arguably it had many more issues than just price but it’s safe to say that Nintendo has the most gaming nostalgia and even they didn’t release either of their systems at 99. 

That brings us to our final issue with this mini and that is the game list.  I owned this system and I don’t remember half of these games. Granted my age was in the single digits at the time but I do remember the popular games this system had.  There wasn’t many but bonks adventure and legendary axe were two of them and both of these games are absent from the list.  Bonks revenge is on the list so it can’t be a licensing issue. In fact the smart thing to would be to put adventure and revenge on the system. The good news is that the game list is 50 strong with about half being the North American system and the other half being the Japanese version.  Although I still down think quantity will help the fates of this system when it gets released next spring. 

Man of Medan 

As a huge fan of horror games and choose your own adventure type games, Until Dawn really hit the mark for me back in 2015. This is why one of my more anticipated games at the start of the year was the next true horror game from Super massive games.  After until dawn the company tried experimenting a bunch with some VR games as well as a few other titles and most were not very well received by fans and critics alike. 

This is why I am excited for Man of Medan as it looks like a true successor to Until Dawn and hopefully a return to form. One of my favorite reasons for liking these games is that they are a great time to play with my wife as it doesn’t require fast twitch skills. Usually one of us will play for a set amount of time and then pass the controller back and forth.  Both trying to make decisions quickly as they arise before timers run out.  Well this week Bandai Namco announced a new multiplayer mode coming to the game called “shared story” mode.  Basically think of 2018’s “A way out” where both person gets to control different parts of the story at the same time on a sort of split screen format. This system was quite good in “a way out” so I am excited to see other developers do something similar. 

They also announced another mode called “movie night” and this works similar to Until Dawn in that only one person is playing game at a time but at the start of the game you enter the names of who will be playing the game and when it’s time to switch to the character your assigned the game tells you to pass the controller.  I think I will prefer trying the shared story mode but I applaud super massive for understanding what kind of game they are making and how to get more people involved.  This sounds like a game you would want to share with friends and then they share with their friends and so on the equation will go.  This will hopefully help lead to better sales for the game.  

Which leads right into the next new detail about the game and that is Man of Medan will only be 29.99 which is great but kind of interesting and makes me wonder just how long the game will actually be at that price. Until Dawn was around 8-10 hours so if we are in the same ballpark I would be happy with that. Especially if supermassive hits the target of releasing the dark pictures anthology at 2 per year. They have previously announced that there would be a total of 8 games released under the dark pictures anthology banner. All the games will be there own original story with completely original teams behind each one with just the engine and assets being used which will help the developer hit the mark of 2 per year. Man of Medan is due out August 30th which could be a sweet spot for that game as people will be hungry for new content and it will be right before most of the fall games start releasing. If they place the next one 6 months out as they plan then that would put the next game in the February window which could be a decent sweet spot right before the massive spring of 2020 that is to be expected. I thought until dawn was a blast so I’m very exited to see what 4 years of new technology and experience can do for the team at super massive and how it will affect Man of Medan at the end of August.