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Syrenne McNulty, Switch Dev, gives wrong details on NS, Joycon, VC and more

10k

Banned
Check out Syrenne McNulty (@Sycoraxic98): https://twitter.com/Sycoraxic98?s=09

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/43976/episode-505-switchmas-presents

Timestamp is around 1:00h when she joins the podcast.

Syrenne is a registered Nintendo developer who's working on Monochrono for the Switch and Wii U.

She makes appearances on the RFN podcast sometimes and always gives some behind the scenes insight at Nintendo or the Japanese gaming industry.

While she's still under NDA and can't talk too much about technical specifications she did give some juicy tidbits that I thought were interesting.

I'm going to paraphrase for the people who just want a written version of what happened.

On Joy-con's

-Lots of tech

-HD rumble is the real deal. The bottom of the joycon will vibrate if an ice cube hits the bottom of the glass. And a full glass of ice cubes will make the top of the joycon rumble. Like the joycon becomes the glass. Basically the rumble can vibrate at different intensities but also at different locations instead of being one giant motor.

-IR pointer is great. It would be difficult to make Wii BC games work with it but not impossible.

-Comfortable to hold while separated and joined together. It doesn't look ergonomic but they fit in hands naturally.

-Motion tech is on par with Oculus Touch and Vive controllers. Very accurate. Way better than Wii motion plus and PS Move controllers.

-it detects subtle movements.

Switch Pro Controller

-Has everything the Joycon have including HD rumble and motion controls.

-No IR pointer.

-D-pad is iconic Nintendo dpad.

-Very comfortable

-Analog triggers

-Battery life is great but not 80 hours like the Wii U pro. Happy with battery life.

Developing for Switch
-Very happy with it

-Easy to develop for

-Anything she wants to do she can. No limits. Toolset is great.

-Can't talk specs.

MyNintendo and Virtual Console

-MyNintendo tracks all your 3DS and Wii U purchases. Not your Wii ones.

-Her theory on VC
is if you bought a VC game on 3DS or Wii U you'll pay an upgrade fee like you did ON Wii U. However, if you bought the same VC game on both Wii U and 3DS you'll get the Switch VC game for free. If you only bought it on Wii VC you're SOL.

Online subscription

-the free game a month is exactly like PS+. As long as you download within that free month it's yours to keep as long as you're subscribed.
-the free download a month is chosen by Nintendo because if they offered all VC games with online the player base would be split and you'd never find enough people for a match. Whereas with this method, everyone who's downloading the game is part of the same player pool.

Why VC sucks on Wii U

-Nintendo pays a license to put games on VC but Nintendo has to approach publishers and choose which games go on VC. So anytime you complain about a certain Sega or Konami game not on VC it's not Konami or Sega's fault, it's because Nintendo didn't pick that certain game to be on the platform.

Edit: I'm still listening to the podcast. Some more interesting tidbits.

Wii U never made money

-Every unit of Wii U sold was at a loss.

-Gamepad cost to build including Labour was $95.

-Wii U console itself costed $140-150. Add in shipping and retailer cut and there's no room for price drops.

-Switch price is setup for future price cuts that are still profitable. Ditto the expensive accessories.

Dock
-it's not just a passthrough. You won't see third party docks. It has proprietary technology. Not just an empty shell that charges and passthrough hdmi. That's why it's expensive.

-It has to read that the switch is docked, switch the signal to hdmi (since the switch doesn't have an hdmi port on the unit itself) and then hdmi to TV.
 

hughesta

Banned
very interesting that she's going against the already reported triggers and rental system for the subscription service. Hope she's right (and can't imagine she's intentionally spreading misinformation)
 

Derphoof

Member
Hey, that sounds pretty good. Hopefully the game subscription works just as described. Still can't wait to feel that HD Rumble.

Analog triggers will make GameCube VC a lot more viable.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
What the fuck is going on with the fucking triggers.

Give us a clear fucking answer.

EDIT: FOR FUCK SAKE
 

Strictly

Member
Finally some good news.

Edit:

She's already walked back the analog triggers statement on Twitter. They're digital.

jimmy-mcnulty.gif
 

NotLiquid

Member
Analog triggers? For serious?

So if everyone else says they're digital does that mean they have a hidden pressure sensitivity a la Dual Shock 3 face buttons? That's the only way any of this would make sense.

She's already walked back the analog triggers statement on Twitter. They're digital.

Well shit nevermind
 

Somnid

Member
Analog/digital talk so far is just based on how the triggers feel. Even if they are analog it sounds like the travel distance is short so it'll be kinda crappy.
 

Chairhome

Member
I wonder why her views on specific things don't agree with what others have said? Like specifically impressions of people saying the triggers are digital, but she says they're analog?

Ah, i guess she took it back.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
So false counter alarm on triggers!? Too bad.
hopefully she's keeping the VC monthly game snippets
 
I'm surprised the dev can mix up analog and digital triggers and also the monthly VC games are supposed to expire after the month no?
 

nynt9

Member
What she says about you being able to keep the free game a month directly contradicts direct questions asked and answered to Nintendo PR and explicit PR statements.

Probably an assumption on her part about something she didn't read carefully enough.
 

AdanVC

Member
Too bad about triggers not being analog but everything else is exciting. Looking forward to feel dat HD rumble.
 

Nbz

Member
What she says about you being able to keep the free game a month directly contradicts direct questions asked and answered to Nintendo PR and explicit PR statements.

Probably an assumption on her part about something she didn't read carefully enough.

I believe this episode was recorded directly after the Presentation and so her remarks are likely out of date. That interview happened the day after.
 

Nairume

Banned
For what it's worth, it does seem like they actually do have a way to track Wii VC purchases on their newer stuff, given you can handle upgrading them to the WiiU without having to be on the system.
 

maxcriden

Member
Thanks for the summary!

-the free game a month is exactly like PS+. As long as you download within that free month it's yours to keep as long as you're subscribed.
-the free download a month is chosen by Nintendo because if they offered all VC games with online the player base would be split and you'd never find enough people for a match. Whereas with this method, everyone who's downloading the game is part of the same player pool.
Isn't this first part contrary to what's been reported elsewhere? I thought you need to buy it if you want to play it after the month it's offered.

And to the second part, does this mean the VC game offered in a month will only have online for that month and thereafter the online functionality of it will be turned off?
 

TriAceJP

Member
When Nintendo confirmed the free VC game per month was only allowed that month, I'm taking this post with a grain of salt.
 
Thanks for the summary!


Isn't this first part contrary to what's been reported elsewhere? I thought you need to buy it if you want to play it after the month it's offered.

And to the second part, does this mean the VC game offered in a month will only have online for that month and thereafter the online functionality of it will be turned off?

I'm really curious to see what the final details will be on the first part. Even if it's a "rental" now, there's plenty of time for them to change their stance.

As for the second part, I think she just meant that she thinks the market is small for updating classic games with online play. I'd have to agree with her here. I don't think adding online to Super Mario Kart will lead to a large and consistent online community.
 

Jacobs

Member
According to another report you won't keep the VC game after one month. With her reporting falsely on the triggers, I can't take her report on the VC games serious.
 
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