[eludwig]

Just a few quick comments on the Switch after a day of use.

First, a quick digression, Nintendo seems to have gauged the launch demand pretty well. There are some other comments here regarding Target morning waits. I was 2nd on line at 6:40am in a northern NJ Target. The guy in front of me had slept in his car (!), but he seemed to be the only one that did. By 7:45 the line was 20ish people. Our Target had 25 consoles. So everyone that got there by 8 (opening time) got one. Nice.

The hardware seems really good. I was surprised at how nice it all fit together (nice, solid clicks) for a product that costs half as much as an iPad! It's obviously still a "toy," but I don't mean that in a bad way. The finish is below typical Apple HW standards for sure, but I think that's to be expected at $299. It feels rugged enough to take with you, although as some said, a screen protector might be nice for extended away play.

To me, the nicest, most thoughtful thing about the HW of this gen of tech products is (believe it or not) USB C! Can I please shout out my love for this freaking connector!! GO USBC! Seriously, I didn’t realize how much subliminal psychic damage non-symmetrical USB plugs have done to me. This connector is so great. You no longer feel that weird little moment of anxiety where you know it will take you an extra second to look inside the damn connector and re-orient the blasted plug 3 times. If you are an old man like me (58), you will probably need to go find a pair of reading glasses, adding insult to injury.

The new Zelda is breathtaking, but you can tell that it wasn't designed for the small screen. It looks really, really great on my OLED 1080p TV, where I think it is meant to be played. Little things like HUD element size are too small for my eyes on the little screen. The FOV is not quite right for the small screen either. Not deal killers, but also things that could be fixed in a patch.

The Pro controller is a very nice "on the couch" controller. Very solid. No lag time. The analog sticks are fine, although I much prefer a mouse for camera controls, but that is my age talking.

I am totally loving this little thing. It's well put together, the only game I care about is Zelda, so the software is great. I think Nintendo has a potential home run here.

[Magnets]

How is selling out by 9AM considered 'gauging the demand well'? What about all of the people who go at lunch of after work?

I'm pretty sure they always like to sell out as a marketing ploy anyway

[eludwig]

Yes, I hear you. I guess I say that because I assumed it would be much worse? It was understood that they would be hard to come by at launch. There were a set amount produced that had to go to a set number of stores. By scheduling the launch on a Friday (school and work day) I think they were trying to have enough for the die hards.

[Klathmon]

Well if you plan to sell out you don't waste any money on extra product you won't sell.

Overproducing just throws money away, means you need to push back your launch date longer, or build much more manufacturing than you'll ever need again.

[poppysan]

But grossly under-producing infuriates people who won't be able to purchase the product for months due to a silly marketing ploy. I still cannot buy the Nintendo classic in-store, and it came out 4th quarter 2016.

[wernercd]

So... how do YOU plan on correctly predicting how popular or unpopular something is?

Isn't this one of the major pain points for many small companies that put stuff up? Correctly gauging 1) how much it costs to mass produce something and 2) how many they actually will sell?

If you are in charge of Nintendo... and you put something out like the Wii, Nintendo Class, etc... how do you expect to get the amount sold right on the first shot?

In my opinion? It's a damn hard problem... it only takes a little bit of internet power - everyone going ape shit over something inconsequential - and BAM what you expected to sell 1 million units is now out of stock and you have millions of people mad.

Now that millions of people want it... will they still want it in 6 months when you ramp up production or is the fad over?

People make it seem like this is an easy question to answer... where is the millions your willing to put on the line for similar questions...

[aanm1988]

> So... how do YOU plan on correctly predicting how popular or unpopular something is?

I'd pull numbers out of thin air.

Isn't this one of the major pain points for many small companies that put stuff up? Correctly gauging 1) how much it costs to mass produce something and 2) how many they actually will sell?

Sure.

> If you are in charge of Nintendo... and you put something out like the Wii, Nintendo Class, etc... how do you expect to get the amount sold right on the first shot?

by using some of the hundreds of millions in profits to do some fucking research. This isn't a small company.

[fred256]

Agreed, I don't understand why the NES Classic Mini is still pretty much impossible to buy anywhere, and is 2.5-3x MSRP at third-party sellers on Amazon/Ebay. Surely by now Nintendo could've ramped production to match demand?

[wernercd]

How do you determine demand? Something like this could be a passing fad... build millions and bam no one wants it anymore...

[fred256]

I'm assuming 6 months after launch they'd have a decent idea of what the demand is.

[adventurer]

Selling out by 9 shows they at least didn't overproduce to a flop considering how awful the WiiU sold?

[erelde]

About the USB C, can you use a standard C to HDMI converter, or do you have to use the base ?

[mikeevans]

I tried it with the USB-C multiport adapter from my MacBook 12 and it didn't work.

[TazeTSchnitzel]

The protocols might be different. The MacBook (and thus its accessories) use DisplayPort Alternate Mode, perhaps the Switch uses HDMI Alternate Mode.

[eludwig]

I was wondering this as well. I don't have such a cable, but I am thinking it might work. The USB C connector on the dock looks like it just feeds right into the hdmi cable.

There isn't much info online about this. Just old forum posts.

[berberous]

Reddit seems to think there's a lockout chip in the handheld that prevents you from using anything but the dock to connect to a tv.

[erelde]

Maybe you could rip open the base (it seems it's only plastic), do a little work and get back the power/hdmi/usb c converter inside it.