RawSteelUT

I've seen that in arcades, even. There was an arcade in Mall of the Americas that had a bunch of 360s and PS3s set up for people to play games on, with the biggest TV in the room reserved for an Xbox 360 playing SFIV. They didn't last as long as they should have - it was a nice arcade.

Actually, where WOULD one go about getting an Atari cartridge slot? Are slots in the style of those used in the Atari line even made?

If it's anything like the game, pass.

I understand and appreciate the optimism, but I don't see it. That card system for games is going to preclude the big games that have become the norm for much of the market. Sure, they'll get downgraded CoD versions maybe, less maps and the like, but outside of Nintendo's core demo, how many people are really going to use this thing for home console play as opposed to a home console?

Indeed. Though I wonder how much Nintendo's really been considered a competitor post-2009, when the Wii hype died down. It's really been Microsoft and Sony for quite a while...

Trying to make smartphone gamers into games purchasers is going to be a herculean task. Mobile gaming does have a fourth of the total industry base, but considering just how many devices are out there, that's kind of weak. Moreover, these people, while they play, have shown an unwillingness to pay for software, which is why we see so much adware and so many cynical micro-transaction games based on luring a few hardcore whales to make up for the masses of free players. Nintendo getting these people to even consider buying games on a semi-regular basis, either in e-shop or on cartridge, would be quite the coup, but I don't see it happening. At best, Nintendo is simply replacing the 3DS with something that has a TV player in the box. As Don said, Nintendo is bowing out of the home market. I'm not sure how I like less competition in the home space...

[[Accidental double-post, please delete]]

OK, so it'll use external cards for saving (hopefully), but have no hard drive support at all. Interesting, that. The 3DS was nowhere near 8GB, I don't think... The rom for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is 3.56GB For resolution, the 3DSXL's top screen is 800x240. On the vita, things aren't as rosy either. Of this list, the biggest game on the Vita is the 3.95 GB of Killzone: Mercenary. The Vita's screen resolution is 960x544. The 3DS, while supporting SD cards, had game save capacity on the cartridge, while the Vita used hilariously expensive, proprietary memory cards. The system will likely not get games as big as what we're seeing on even the current PS4 and Xbox One, to say nothing of what we'll eventually see with the Scorpio, and I'm honestly not sure they'll be much better graphically than the Wii U. Graphics are, of course, not everything, but this will likely send third parties backing away, reducing the appeal as a home system. Not only that, but companies making games on the 3DS and Vita for how cheap they are to produce might not want to jump on either, as there's going to be more pressure to make something more substantial. So what is the Switch, then? First party, indies and the occasional half-arsed party game?

Agreed. I wasn't really impressed. The thing that really gets me is the cartridge format. Seems like a HUGE concession to the portability of the device that will make 3rd parties recoil away, and the ability to take it with you or play on the TV doesn't seem like it would make for better games. Are they going to have Pokemon Go-like functionality in all their first party titles now? This just looks like Nintendo being esoteric for the sake of it once more.