• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

CrowbCat: Nintendo Switch Painful Launch

The end of Nintendo as a reputable hardware maker. Other hardware launches have had their bag of issues sure, some far more severe like the Xbox 360's RROD but there's never been quite...as large and varied bag as this. Dock scratching, total design failure of the left Joycon and a fucking kickstand they couldnt even get right.

It's particularly perplexing because Nintendo had huge amounts of time to get their ducks in a row for this, to prove why they're going to remain in hardware for the foreseeable, and they rush and fuck it all up to this extent. Knowing what was at stake after the botched 3DS launch and botched WiiU launch.

Nintendo makes great games and I'm sure Zelda is one of the greats, but it being on a PS4 or PC would not affect it in any way. Nintendo just doesn't have the hardware R&D talent to do this anymore even when Nvidia had essentially already put this product out before.

It's really hard to compare the quality control of the Switch launch with other console launches because the Social Media landscape is pretty different than it was in the past. It's even significantly different than it was in 2013 for the PS4 and Xbox One launches. There are more facebook posts, more tweets and more youtube videos being made that can amplify or distort the actual scope of quality control issues.

I'm pretty sure you would find the situation less perplexing if you weren't trying to draw broad conclusions from anecdotal evidence.

I think it's far too soon for a "Nintendo is doomed" hot take. But take heart, "Nintendo is doomed" hot takes are evergreen and you will have a chance to wheel it out again soon enough.
 
This is why I hate Youtube and the fucking internet.
Whingeing, attention-seeking twats everywhere, going on and on and on, making the biggest fuss about the most normal of things.
 
Oh god, the sound that occurs when it crashes takes me back to the Wii devkit's crashing. Almost identical in a lot of instances. It was funny at times when you least expected it. But when it happened a lot, man, it was absolute torture.

I DO really want a Switch, but seeing stuff like this doesn't make me feel too bad about waiting a bit.
 
It's the sad reality of what gaming has become today. We live in a time where Mass Effect, Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda are out in the same month. Technology has allowed us to play these games in the most diverse ways yet gamers and their sense of entitlement sit on threads bashing a plastic dock for not being up to their standard. I'll go back to enjoying the games.

Please do. It's a lot better then being an asshole calling Switch owners with scratched screens from the dock's poor design, "entitled".
 
You know, I have never thought that Nintendo needed to just go third party and make a killing with their software more than I do now. As that is clearly their strength. They are so far behind the curve on the hardware and basic features front it's actually just plain embarrassing.

God no, the last thing I want is for any of the three console manufacturers to pull out. I don't even want to imagine a world where the console market is (again) controlled by two (or fewer) parties.
 
It's the sad reality of what gaming has become today. We live in a time where Mass Effect, Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda are out in the same month. Technology has allowed us to play these games in the most diverse ways yet gamers and their sense of entitlement sit on threads bashing a plastic dock for not being up to their standard. I'll go back to enjoying the games.

Lol up to their standards it fucking scratches screens what kind of insane response is that? "Up to their standards" It's a straight up design flaw people are annoyed it's a shit piece of plastic that every time you dock your $300 system it has a chance to scratch it, I'm sorry but that is some ball washing company response. Sense of entitlement my lord....
 
Sega never had a stable of franchises as strong as Nintendo does. It was also a toxic place to work and lacked any sort of clear focus on where they were going post hardware.

Nintendo would be going third party in an age where Steam just whizzes your game up there and making an x86 build with UE4 or Unity is all there is to it with minimal porting efforts between the other x86 boxes.

When you say "worked wonders for Sega" you could extrapolate anything you want from their failure. Just because one company falters in an approach does not mean all others will. Learning lessons from where others went wrong is what business is all a-fucking-bout.

Huh? I guess you wouldn't remember Sega's great bach of franchises because they all died when they went third-party. They had such a varied output with Shenmue, Sonic, Segagaga, Sakura Wars, Phantasy Star, Virtua Fighter, Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo, Shining Force... the list goes on and on and on and you just wonder where all this creative force went. I don't think Nintendo would do as poorly as Sega while third party, but we would never have a game like the recent Zelda again. Their hardware sales are their driving force and what makes them come up with all sorts of different ideas. Throwing them with a bunch of others on Steam would probably make some people happy but ultimately it would probably destroy the company.
 
That issue with the strap design is completely ridiculous. Was this not to be expected at any point during its concept stage?
 
Faulty units can and will happen. Every electronic product has a statistical failure rate.
But the screen scratching dock and the joycon locks are design faults I'm afraid. A glass screen protector is really not a bad idea if you use the dock regularly (like I do).
 
oooh no... not good, though when you take all of the internet, sure a lot of recorded footage of the bad systems will rise to the top, but still. Ouch
 
God no, the last thing I want is for any of the three console manufacturers to pull out. I don't even want to imagine a world where the console market is (again) controlled by two (or fewer) parties.

I get what you mean. But Nintendo is so far behind the curve it's just sad at this point. It's too bad as well, as they really make fantastic games. I am just not buying this horrible hardware in order to play them.
 
I like how there are so many posts like this accusing Gaffers of not being able to afford hardware because it doesn't look appealing to them. :p

There's also a bunch of posts from gaffers trying to tell themselves "yup this is why i didn't buy this i'm in the right" when they probably just didn't want it and that's reason enough.
 
They responded about the L Joycon issues after launch with a very fuzzy "oh well don't play next to aquariums, yah?"

That's likely just to buy them some time until they can come up with a real solution. I imagine we'll see a real announcement soon.

"These guys" already let faulty hardware get by easily. They're a very different company than the NES maker and exist in a very different world. Everyone has smartphones and tablets that present a clear quality level and Nintendo is just not keeping up with that. When you start making excuses about not trying to compete, its not long until you're not trying at all and just stop in that area. That's where we're at.

No, they still take quality control seriously. Hell, even outside that. Compare the 3DS to when it first launched, to what it is now. The difference is night and day. What makes you think the Switch isn't going be improved later on. If Nintendo wants people to get a functioning system for the holidays, these issues will be fixed.

Don't act like they're going to just do nothing about broken hardware and software. Nintendo has some of the best quality control in the industry, I think we should be giving them the benefit of the doubt on this.
 
Yeah the straps are real trash. I spent like 5 minutes trying to take one off and it felt like I was about to break the controller while trying to do so. I don't understand how they're like this.
 
I don't most of these issues are going to affect the vast majority of switch buyers, all this does is showing many instances where things have gone wrong and no instances of things having gone right (which would be impossible) which creates unnecessary controversy imo.

that being said, the dock is hot garbage, and I'm looking into taping on a cloth or something inside of the dock so it won't scratch the screen when I put it in. wtf Nintendo

also I'm a bit puzzled that Nintendo didn't (seemingly) anticipate that people would put on the strap for joycons wrong.

Personally my left Joycon have always seemed to work perfectly even at greater distances even though I know some people that do have issue.
 
The end of Nintendo as a reputable hardware maker. Other hardware launches have had their bag of issues sure, some far more severe like the Xbox 360's RROD but there's never been quite...as large and varied bag as this. Dock scratching, total design failure of the left Joycon and a fucking kickstand they couldnt even get right.

It's particularly perplexing because Nintendo had huge amounts of time to get their ducks in a row for this, to prove why they're going to remain in hardware for the foreseeable, and they rush and fuck it all up to this extent. Knowing what was at stake after the botched 3DS launch and botched WiiU launch.

Nintendo makes great games and I'm sure Zelda is one of the greats, but it being on a PS4 or PC would not affect it in any way. Nintendo just doesn't have the hardware R&D talent to do this anymore even when Nvidia had essentially already put this product out before.

Ridiculous. To pretend that this is anywhere near the RROD is crazy. Went through like six systems.
 
This is why I hate Youtube and the fucking internet.
Whingeing, attention-seeking twats everywhere, going on and on and on, making the biggest fuss about the most normal of things.

Good guy Nintendo got you covered with the Switch, no internet browser or Youtube to see the issues people are seeing.

But seriously, it's your choice to jump in and read a thread that you already know is bad news. In fact, CrowbCat videos are all that, his videos are funny because they sum up the internet on certain launch titles or hardware.
 
Nintendo produces some of the most durable, reliable hardware for decades and people grab their pitchforks the moment they see a sensationalist video from someone who earns a living putting up sensationalist videos.

What a time to be alive.
 
Glad I'm not getting a Switch yet.

A little off-topic, but damn, when did crowbcat's subscriber base explode so much?
 
Huh? I guess you wouldn't remember Sega's great bach of franchises because they all died when they went third-party. They had such a varied output with Shenmue, Sonic, Segagaga, Sakura Wars, Phantasy Star, Virtua Fighter, Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo, Shining Force... the list goes on and on and on and you just wonder where all this creative force went. I don't think Nintendo would do as poorly as Sega while third party, but we would never have a game like the recent Zelda again. Their hardware sales are their driving force and what makes them come up with all sorts of different ideas. Throwing them with a bunch of others on Steam would probably make some people happy but ultimately it would probably destroy the company.

I was a staunch Sega fan, I know. I think their creativity also boomed early on in their PS2/GC/XBOX efforts as well. But other than Sonic they simply did not have anything on the recognisable level of Nintendo's mascots and stalwarts, especially in the general publics eye.

The people buying Nintendo games right now would just give up on playing such games just because they had to buy a different box or portable screen would they? Fickle bunch then.

The "hardware is what drives their ideas" is a myth laid bare by the WiiU. Somehow Splatoon 2 will be "just as good" even though the second screen is gone. Zelda will be fully playable on a PC in short time through CEMU and it will be lacking nothing in innovation or new experiences compared to the Nintendo hardware versions. The same will no doubt be true of Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Stars and so on.

Nintendo has some of the best quality control in the industry, I think we should be giving them the benefit of the doubt on this.

You see, they quite simply don't anymore. That's why we're here right now. They could have launched Switch later, they didn't. It comes at the cost of that "best" moniker.
 
Nope as I'm a grumpy 40 year old rather than a self-obsessed, entitled, whiny, attention-seeking millennial twat.

Im 38 and feel the same way about everything you described. Only problem is people in this compilation arent losing their mind yelling into the camera....they seem and sound frustrated and defeated that the device they just bought doesnt work.
 
Nintendo produces some of the most durable, reliable hardware for decades and people grab their pitchforks the moment they see a sensationalist video from someone who earns a living putting up sensationalist videos.

What a time to be alive.
That and ignore pretty much all other CrowbCat videos doing the same thing to every other console. Though when those videos came out it was the same reaction. Just par for the course really.
 
Top Bottom