1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Get in tech with technology with tech Stuff from half 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer and 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: I love all things tech, and it's time to revisit 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: an old favorite topic on tech Stuff. Two years ago, 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: back in twos sixteen, I updated a series I've been 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: doing about the company Nintendo. Now. In the first two parts, 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: I covered Nintendo from its origins up until about two 9 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 1: thousand and eleven, So two thousand eleven was when we 10 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: recorded those first two episodes. Chris Pallette, my original co host, 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: and I recorded those shows. Then in part three, I 12 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: covered two thousand eleven to early two thousand sixteen, but 13 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: at that stage, Nintendo had yet to come out with 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: its most recent console, which we now know, of course, 15 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: as the Nintendo Switch. Uh So today I thought it'd 16 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: be a good time to revisit the company yet again 17 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: and catch us up on what it's been doing over 18 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: the last couple of years. But first, I figure we 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: can do a really quick summary of where the company 20 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: came from in case you aren't eager to dig up 21 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: those old episodes and listen to them all over again. 22 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: So this is sort of the previously on tech stuff. 23 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Back in the late nineteenth century, in the late eighteen hundreds, 24 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: and yes, that's how old Nintendo is, there was a 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: man named Fusahiro Yamauchi who founded a hanafuda cards company 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: and he called it Nintendo Copai. Hanafudo cards are used 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: for lots of different games in Japan. They're kind of 28 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,639 Speaker 1: like Western playing cards, like poker cards in that way, 29 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: so we use those cards to play all sorts of 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: games like bridge or poker, or hearts or spades, and 31 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: tons of other games. Well back in the eighteen eighties, 32 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: no one could possibly have foreseen the future of this 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: playing card company and what it would become in the 34 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: latter half of the twentieth century. For two generations, business 35 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: grew steadily, and by generations, I mean Yamauchi's son would 36 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: take over the business and then his grandson would take 37 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: over the business. It actually followed the family line. By 38 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, Fusahiro's grandson and the third president of Nintendo, 39 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: Hiroshi Yamauchi, was heading a company that was the dominant 40 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: producer of plastic playing cards in Japan. But Hiroshi Yamachi 41 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: recognized that there was a need to diversify the business, 42 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: so he made a licensing deal with Disney to print 43 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: the famous company's cartoon characters on these playing cards. This 44 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: actually opened up a new market for Nintendo, because up 45 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: to that point the cards were largely the realm of gamblers, 46 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: but now with popular Disney characters on cards, there was 47 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: suddenly this huge appeal to a younger audience. Nintendo also 48 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: produced books that laid out rules for new card games 49 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: that were suitable for kids, so that kids just didn't 50 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: become hardened gamblers using classic Disney characters now. While this 51 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: continued on, the company began to launch different businesses and 52 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: lots of different industries in an attempt to diversify, because 53 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: at that point, Yamachi saw that the playing card business 54 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: was very niche oriented. He actually saw other playing card 55 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: factories while he toured the world and realized they were 56 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: all very small operations and that if he stuck with 57 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: that one business, it would limit Nintendo too much. Unfortunately, 58 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: most of these other ventures Nintendo entered into failed miserably 59 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: in the market, so the playing card business was drying up, 60 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: and their various attempts to diversify even going into things 61 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: like hotel els and uh and and vehicles. None of 62 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: that was working out. That's when an engineer named gun 63 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: Pay your KOI helped inject some life back into the business. 64 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: He created an extending arm. He was working in Nintendo 65 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: in a manufacturing plant, and he took various pieces and 66 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: he created essentially kind of a robotic arm or an extender, 67 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: like a grabber sort of thing. And people saw it 68 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: and thought, well, that's kind of neat, you know what, 69 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: I think kids would really like that. So the company 70 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: decided to make a consumer version as a toy, and 71 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: Nintendo entered into the toy making business in earnest and 72 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: really the company still considers itself to be a toy company. 73 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: By the late nineties seventies, Nintendo had returned to a 74 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: more stable place in the industry, as was one of 75 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: the few companies producing toys at that time in Japan. 76 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: As computers and video games started to emerge, Nintendo got 77 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: into those as well, and at first the company acted 78 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: as a distributor for other ducts like the Magna Vox Odyssey. 79 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: Then the company began to produce arcade games like the 80 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: legendary Donkey Kong for actual video game arcades, not for 81 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: home use. Following the arcade game success, they began to 82 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: make video game cartridges for various home systems, like the 83 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: Atari twenty six hundred, and then company executives decided it 84 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: was time for Nintendo to make a console of its 85 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: very own instead of making games for other platforms. But 86 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: it was pretty bad timing all things considered, because Nintendo 87 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: was just getting into developing a console as the market 88 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: in the United States was headed toward a major collapse. 89 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: In the early nineteen eighties, the US market was oversaturated 90 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: with various consoles like you Had the A twenty six hundred, 91 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,799 Speaker 1: the Atari fifty two hundred, the Intellivision, the Colliquo Vision, 92 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 1: and tons more. Plus there were home computers that were 93 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 1: coming out around this same time, like the t Lash 94 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: four A, the Commodore sixty four, and the Apple two. 95 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: Low quality controls and companies like Atari meant that there 96 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,679 Speaker 1: was also a flood of substandard games that were rushed 97 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: to market in an effort to make a quick buck. 98 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: The consumer market couldn't sustain this pace, and by three 99 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: the whole thing was caving in on itself as consumers 100 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: got tired of feeling like they were being fleeced. Stores 101 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: were even beginning to refuse to carry games and systems 102 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: because of this bad impression. So this was not the 103 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: best time to debut a console, and yet Nintendo continued. 104 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: They persevered, and they introduced the Fama com which is 105 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: better known in the United States as the Nintendo Entertainment System. 106 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: In the US, the company paired this video game console 107 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: with a robot of questionable utility. This was actually a 108 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,239 Speaker 1: ploy to get toy stores to carry the Nintendo, since 109 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: they were awfully shy about getting back into the home 110 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: video game market after that crash in ninety eight three. 111 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: But the plan worked and Nintendo earned itself a spot 112 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: in video game history, creating some of the most beloved 113 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: franchises in the video game world in the process. You 114 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: can listen to the first two episodes of the Nintendo 115 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: Story UH to hear the full account of what I 116 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: just summarized, plus obviously I go into a lot more detail. However, 117 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: we are going to skip ahead a bit. We're just 118 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: gonna acknowledge that Nintendo produced several consoles. There was the 119 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: Super Nintendo, the Nintendo sixty four, the GameCube, the Wei, 120 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: and the Weiu, not to mention numerous handheld game systems 121 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: since the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. At the 122 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: time of my last recording, the most recent system on 123 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: the market was the Weiu, which, while innovative, had failed 124 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: to make a real impact on gamers. In fact, we 125 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: Use sales hit somewhere around thirteen and a half million 126 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: towards the end of twenty seventeen. That actually puts it 127 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: at the bottom of Nintendo's consoles in terms of sales. 128 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: Contrasted with the Wei, the predecessor to the We You, 129 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: and that was the best selling home console Nintendo ever produced. 130 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: The we sold more than one hundred one million units. 131 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: The only Nintendo device to out sell the we was 132 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: the handheld Nintendo d S, which sold an astonishing one 133 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: fifty four million units, putting it right behind the PlayStation 134 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: two for best selling video game system of all time. 135 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: It's hard to see that we You as anything other 136 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: than a commercial failure. One other thing I should mention 137 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: that I covered in the third episode of the Nintendo 138 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: Story was the passing of sartorro I Watta. He had 139 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: served as Nintendo's fourth president, the first one not of 140 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: the Amachi line from two thousand twelve to two thousand fifteen. 141 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: A Wata gets a lot of credit for Nintendo's focus 142 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: on creating accessible and innovative methods of playing games rather 143 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: than on raw computing power or graphics, so contrast that 144 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: with like the Xbox or the PlayStation consoles. His death 145 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: and from complications due to bile duct cancer shocked the 146 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,959 Speaker 1: video game industry. And what a successor and the fifth 147 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: president of Nintendo is Tatsumi Kimishima. Kimishima worked at san 148 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: Hua Bank of Japan for more than two decades before 149 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: he transitioned his career in a big way because in 150 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: two thousand he was elected the Chief financial Officer of 151 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: the Pokemon Company. So he went from working in a 152 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: financial institution for twenty seven years to becoming the CFO 153 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,079 Speaker 1: centered around cartoon characters that are forced to fight one 154 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 1: another for our entertainment. It's quite the leap. In two 155 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: thousand two, the first president of Nintendo of America, Minoru Arakawa, 156 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: he retired, so Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that Kimishima was the 157 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: ideal candidate to head that part of Nintendo's business, and 158 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: Kimishima began the second president of Nintendo of America. In 159 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, he became the CEO of Nintendo 160 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: of America. Then he changed over to become the managing 161 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: director of Nintendo. When I Wada passed away suddenly in 162 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, he was selected to become the company's 163 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: fifth president. It was Kimmishima who would introduced the next 164 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: Nintendo console to the world. When I recorded part three 165 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: of the series back in we knew there was a 166 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: new Nintendo console on the way, but we didn't really 167 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: have any details other than a code name. In March, 168 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: Nintendo called the new console the n X, that being 169 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: its code name, and earnings call in April sixteen revealed 170 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: that the company planned to have a worldwide rollout of 171 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: this new console by March of seventeen, but there was 172 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: still no mention of a name. This would hold true 173 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: all the way through E three. That's the big Video 174 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: Game trade show that takes place in Los Angeles, California 175 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: each year. Nintendo's booth included a section themed after the 176 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: upcoming legend of Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. Now, 177 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: while Breath of the Wild would become a flagship title, 178 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: a launch title for the Nintendo Switch, the new hardware 179 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: was nowhere to be found on the show floor, at 180 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: least not for the average attendee. Breath of the Wild 181 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: would also get a release on the previous generation of hardware, 182 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,079 Speaker 1: that being the Wii You That was the version that 183 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: attendees got to try out while they were on the 184 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 1: show floor. This led some in the video game journalism 185 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: world to question Nintendo's strategy. You have a new console 186 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: on the way, so some analysts are saying, why are 187 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: you releasing a game that would be a killer title 188 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: for this new console on your older hardware, which presumably 189 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: would strain the capabilities of this older hardware to the 190 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: limit in order to create a comparable experience to the 191 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: one gamers would have on a brand new system. Now, 192 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: to be fair, Breath of the Wild started out as 193 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: a we U title that was the beginning of the project. 194 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: It was only when Nintendo was starting to develop the 195 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: Switch that they said, let's also develop a version of 196 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: this title for our next generation console. So it wasn't 197 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: like Nintendo set out from the beginning to create a 198 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: splintered experience, but there were a lot of theories that 199 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: were going on around that time. Some people said, well, 200 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 1: the we use sales numbers are so low that Nintendo's 201 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: just not worried about cannibalizing its own sales because there 202 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: aren't enough we U units out there for it to 203 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: make a huge impact. Other people said, well, maybe this 204 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 1: was an attempt to sell a few more we U 205 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: consoles before Nintendo stopped producing them entirely. Uh. Either way, 206 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: Breath of the Wild came out both for the we 207 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: U and the Nintendo Switch at the same time, that 208 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: being March of Seen. Effectively, it was the first Nintendo 209 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: game for the Switch and the final Nintendo game for 210 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: the we U. And by Nintendo game, I mean game 211 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: actually developed by the company Nintendo, not through a third 212 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: party that that then published on Nintendo. But I'll chat 213 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: more about Breath of the Wild when we get to Seen. 214 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: Back to E three now. Traditionally, companies take the opportunity 215 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: at E three to host enormous press events and announced 216 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: upcoming hardware and game titles. Nintendo has done this in 217 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: the past, but more recently Nintendo has started to distance 218 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: itself from the media circus that is Press day at 219 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: E three, opting instead to broadcast some live streamed announcements 220 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: over the Internet. This included a lengthy demo of Breath 221 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: of the Wild, in which the company showed off the 222 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: open world style of gameplay, as well as new elements 223 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: never before seen in Zelda games, and the company also 224 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: announced that a new mobile game was on the way 225 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,280 Speaker 1: to Android and iOS phones that summer. That game would 226 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: be Pokemon Go. Now I've done a full episode about 227 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: Pokemon Go, but for those who somehow missed out on 228 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: this game, it encouraged players to venture out into the 229 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: real world to hunt virtual Pokemon monsters. You'd use poke 230 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: balls to attempt to capture these monsters and add them 231 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: to your Poka decks. I'm told these words make sense. 232 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: The game featured several other items and gameplay elements, many 233 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: of which were designed to encourage players to purchase virtual 234 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: tools that they could then use within the game, and 235 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: it linked real world areas of interest, such as public 236 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: art installations, with important in game sites like gyms, where 237 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: the three factions within the game could battle it out 238 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: over which team ran the facility. Pokemon Go would become 239 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: a big hit for about a month, encouraging people to 240 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: wander blindly around while flicking at their screens in an 241 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: effort to capture rare Pokemon critters. I remember being somewhat 242 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: irritated as I tried to walk to or from work 243 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: and having the maneuver around groups of people standing in 244 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: the middle of the sidewalk trying to catch yet another 245 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: Piggy or Boba sor or whatever the heck they were called. 246 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: But all right, this is where I have to admit 247 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: I also played it. I had I had the game too. 248 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: I was one of those jerks. The game still is 249 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: going to this day, and there are a lot of 250 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: people who still play it. Later generations of Pokemon monsters 251 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: have been added to the game over time. I think 252 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: the overall popularity of the game has been in a 253 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: slight decline, but it's left a hardcore group of enthusiasts 254 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: who continue to try and catch them all. Still, this 255 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: game brought a lot of attention to mobile gaming and 256 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: also to augmented reality. I think you could argue that 257 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: the augmented reality aspect of the game was pretty basic 258 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: in its implementation, but it's still required people to merge 259 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: real world experiences within game experiences, so I think it's 260 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: still counts. Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Go were 261 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: the two big announcements at E three, but the world 262 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: was still waiting to find out what the next Nintendo 263 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: console would be called, and Nintendo had another classic trick 264 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: but sleeve to reveal a little later that same summer. 265 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: I'll tell you more about that in just a second, 266 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 267 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: In July, Nintendo announced it would offer up a limited 268 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: run of a special console, the nes Mini. It looked 269 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: like a manager version of the original Nintendo Entertainment System 270 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: here in America. In other markets that more closely resembled 271 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: the original colors and formed factor of the Famicom system. 272 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: The emulator had thirty games coded onto it and could 273 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: hold saves for those games, which already put it ahead 274 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: of the original system it was copying. The cost of 275 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: the nes Mini was sixty dollars here in America, making 276 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: it about two dollars a game, and those games included 277 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: a lot of classic bestsellers in Nintendo's history, such as 278 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,479 Speaker 1: Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, the fiendishly Difficult 279 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: Ghost in Goblins, Donkey Kong, which was the game that 280 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: really gave Nintendo its start in video games in the 281 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: first place, and punch Out, my personal favorite of the 282 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: games from that era. The console shipped with a single 283 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: in NES Classic controller with a notoriously short chord. People 284 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: really complained about how short that controller's chord was. It 285 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: was designed to copy the old rectangular controllers of the 286 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: original in E s. It's also compatible with the WE 287 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: Classic Controller Pro, so if you have one of those, 288 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: you could hook that up to the NES Classic Mini. 289 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: The announcement revealed that the consoles would become available in November. 290 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: A month before that, various retailers began to offer pre 291 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: sale reservations for the system. They sold out practically as 292 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: soon as they became available. The ne NES Classic Mini 293 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,359 Speaker 1: became a sought after item. Now. I was able to 294 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: get one, but only because I happened to get a 295 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: message from the Amazon Treasure truck, which stopped here in 296 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: Atlanta with a few reserved systems at a regular retail price. 297 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: But other people were not so lucky and either had 298 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: to go without or cough up ridiculous amounts of money 299 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: on sites like eBay. Nintendo had only produced about two 300 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: point three million units. That sounds like a lot, but 301 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: it didn't come close to meeting demand. The original nes 302 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: sold more than sixty million units when it was still 303 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: in production. To make matters worse, the company announced on 304 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,640 Speaker 1: well right around April seen that it had discontinued the 305 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,879 Speaker 1: ne NES Classic, which made fans go bonkers because there 306 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: were so many who wanted to get one and didn't 307 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: have the chance. It also drove up the price for 308 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: the remaining units considerably on those resale sites like eBay. Later, 309 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: Nintendo would say that by mid eighteen it would begin 310 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: to produce more in NES Classic editions. This was likely 311 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: in response not just to the fans who felt left 312 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: out because they never had a chance to buy one 313 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: of them, but also to combat the rising market of 314 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: third party clones that were springing up. These cloned systems 315 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: often used emulators that were not optimized to run Nintendo games, 316 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: so they would create an unsatisfactory gaming experience for anyone 317 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,719 Speaker 1: who bought them. As of the recording of this podcast, 318 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: Nintendo has yet to make more of these available, but 319 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: a visit to the product's website says they're coming in 320 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: the summer of One other thing that happened with the 321 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: NES Classic was that hackers learned how to access the 322 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: system's memory and add in new games. There have been 323 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 1: several hacks that allow a NES Classic Mini owners the 324 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,360 Speaker 1: chance to add their consoles library and increase it dramatically, 325 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,640 Speaker 1: including using titles that were not on the original in Nes. 326 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: This is the point in the podcast where I mentioned 327 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: that while you certainly can hack your in NES Classic 328 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: to do these things, there's always a risk involved with 329 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: such activities. If you break your system, you may find 330 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: that you've got a sixty dollar paper weight and very 331 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: little chance of turning it back into any sort of 332 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: useful piece of hardware. So just be careful and know 333 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: what you're getting into before you start messing about. In October, 334 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: Nintendo finally announced that the n X console would officially 335 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: bear the name Nintendo Switch. The Switch is a hybrid console, 336 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: meaning it can be both a docked console that uses 337 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: a television as the display, or you can undock it 338 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: and use the device as a handheld gaming system. The 339 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: handheld version of the console looks like a video screen 340 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 1: flanked by two detachable game controllers called joy Con controllers. 341 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: Each controller has a thumbstick and buttons. Nintendo announced that 342 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: the system would also support a more traditional game controller 343 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: similar to Xbox controllers, called a Nintendo Switch Pro controller. 344 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: While Sintendo didn't initially announced the tech specs for the switch, 345 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: those details did later become public. With the joy cons attached, 346 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: the switch measures four inches or ten centimeters tall, nine 347 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: point four inches wide, or about twenty four cimeters and 348 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 1: half an inch thick or one point to seven centimeters. 349 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: That doesn't take into consideration the height of the thumbstick, however, 350 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: so if you take those into account, the thickness increases 351 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: to one point one two inches or two point eight centimeters. 352 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 1: It weighs about point eighty eight pounds, so not even 353 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: a full pound. It's about point four kilograms with the 354 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: joy cons attached. The Nintendo Switch has an in Video 355 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: tegra X one s o C as the brains of 356 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: the machine. S o C stands for system on a chip. 357 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: This is an integration of several different pieces you would 358 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: find in your typical computer device, such as a central 359 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: processing unit more on that in a second, a graphics 360 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,159 Speaker 1: processing unit, a memory controller, and some other components, but 361 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: they would all be put on a single chip. This 362 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: saves space and it's great for things like portable devices. 363 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: The CPU powering the Nintendo Switch is an arm cortex, 364 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: a fifty seven with four processing cores, meaning it's a 365 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: quad core processor. And just to remind you guys, that 366 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: means the CPU can break up certain types of computational 367 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: problems into smaller problems that each core can tackle individually. 368 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: Not all computational problems work this way, but many that 369 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: are related to video games fall into that category. One 370 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: day I'll have to do a full episode on ARM 371 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: processors and the company behind them, but as a quick 372 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: and dirty explanation, I'll simplify it to say that ARM 373 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: processors are typically less complex than the type you find 374 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: in desktop computers, such as those that use Intel's X 375 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 1: eight six architecture. They consume less power and they generate 376 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: less heat than those more complicated CP use, which makes 377 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: them ideal for mobile devices. The graphics processing unit has 378 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: two hundred fifty six cores. It's also KUDA enabled or 379 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: c U D A KUDA as an acronym that stands 380 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: for a Compute Unified Device Architecture, and it's an Application 381 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: Programming interface or a p I from Nvidia. The purpose 382 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: of KUDA is to give developers access to a hardware's 383 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: capabilities so that the software the developers design runs smoothly 384 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,479 Speaker 1: on that hardware. When docked, the switches GPU runs at 385 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: a max clock speed of seven sixty eight mega hurts. 386 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: In handheld mode, it down shifts to three hundred seven 387 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: point to mega hurts. The switch is also home to 388 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,959 Speaker 1: several sensors, such as an accelerometer and a brightness sensor 389 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: that allows not just for dynamic adjustments, but also the 390 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: potential for gameplay mechanics further on, so you might have 391 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 1: a game that relies on you turning the switch this 392 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,959 Speaker 1: way or that in handheld mode, or going outside into 393 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: bright sunlight in some cases. The display on the handheld 394 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: switch device is six point two inches on the diagonal 395 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: and has a resolution of twelve eighty by seven twenty pixels. 396 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: It also has multi touch support for up to ten 397 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: points of contact. When you dock the switch, it sends 398 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: video out at ten a DP resolution and sixty frames 399 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: a second natively, though many games run at a frame 400 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: rate much lower than sixty. The system has a pair 401 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: of speakers and audio is in stereo. The battery for 402 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: the switch is a lithium ion rechargeable battery that, according 403 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 1: to Nintendo, will provide between two and a half and 404 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: six and a half hours of battery life, but that 405 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: depends upon the type of game you play, so some 406 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: of them push the system a little harder than others, 407 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: and so the battery life is shorter than others. The 408 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: harder you push the system, the more juice you're burning through, 409 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: So it takes about three hours to charge a switch 410 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: all the way back up to fully charged from fully drained. 411 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: The switch has thirty two gigabytes of storage space on 412 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: or the device, which is important because all save games 413 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: are stored on the hardware. That means if something happens 414 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: to your switch, you lose all of your saves. There's 415 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: no cloud saving feature to keep your progress in a game. 416 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,479 Speaker 1: If your switch is lost, stolen, or damaged, you pretty 417 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: much lose everything. Now, some of that storage space is 418 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: not available to the user because the system reserves it 419 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: for system critical operations. You can purchase memory cards in 420 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: the micro S d h C or micro S d 421 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: x C formats, with each card holding up to two 422 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: terabytes of additional storage if you've got the cash for 423 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. The Nintendo Switch can connect to 424 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 1: the Internet via WiFi or a local area network or 425 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 1: land adapter. It also has Bluetooth four point one and 426 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: yet no support for Bluetooth headphones, much to the consternation 427 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,880 Speaker 1: of some gamers I follow online, such as Ashley Jenkins, 428 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: who has spoken extensively about the switch. This is essentially 429 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: a plug for miss jenkins work on her series The 430 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: No and just in the interest of full disclosure, I 431 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: don't think she has any idea who I am, so 432 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: this is just me as a fan of her work. 433 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: She does good coverage of stuff like this. The switch 434 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: does have a three and a half millimeter headphone jack, 435 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: but it's located in a spot that some gamers just 436 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: feels awkward. Plus a lot of people just don't want 437 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: to have chords and cables anymore. They prefer this bluetooth 438 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: wireless approach. Switch owners can access multiplayer through online services 439 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 1: that will eventually be locked behind a subscription service similar 440 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: to Xbox Live, but that has not been launched yet. 441 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: There's a sort of a free preview version of what 442 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: is available, but the paid subscription approach hasn't gone into 443 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: effect It's supposed to before the end of Gamers can 444 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,719 Speaker 1: also purchase games online and download them to the switch, 445 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: though the limited storage space presents a bit of a 446 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: challenge in that regard, because while thirty two gigabytes sounds 447 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: like a lot, video games these days can easily dwarf 448 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: that amount of storage space. Games for the Nintendo Switch 449 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: are on game cards, which are essentially cartridges. These small 450 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: cartridges have a special coding called dina tonium benzoit. This 451 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 1: stuff doesn't help the performance of the cards in any way. Instead, 452 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: it's meant to act as a deterrent for would be 453 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: cartridge choppers. See, Nintendo was worried that some young enthusiasts 454 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 1: might want to pop one of these cards into his 455 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: or her hungry little mouth, so they use this coding 456 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: to give the cartridges a bitter taste. In fact, this 457 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: chemical has a reputation for being the most bitter chemical 458 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: compound produced. It's an additive used in many toxic compounds 459 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: in an effort to dissuade people from ingesting them. So 460 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: you'll find this stuff and cleaners and automotive supplies and 461 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 1: things like that. However, the chemical itself is non toxic. 462 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: It just gets added to toxic stuff because it tastes 463 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: really awful and it makes people rethink their decisions. Also, 464 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 1: it was apparently discovered accidentally when a bunch of chemists 465 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: were working on creating a dental and aesthetic. So you 466 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: gotta wonder what it was like the day they found 467 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: out how bitter that stuff was. Anyway, let's get back 468 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: to the Switch. The announcement got folks excited, but the 469 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: actual launch of the console was half a year away. 470 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: We learned about the name and some of the specs 471 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: by the end of twenty sixteen, but it wouldn't be 472 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: until the spring of when the Switch made its debut. 473 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: And when it did, a few media outlets picked up 474 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: on something unusual first. Like a lot of Nintendo launches, 475 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: the Switch was in very high demand right out of 476 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: the gate. Demand in some markets greatly exceeded supply, which 477 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: resulted in long waits for fans as they checked their 478 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: local stores and online retailers for updated inventories. By April seventeen, 479 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: a month after the system went on sale, and initial 480 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: figure said that nine hundred six thousand Nintendo Switch units 481 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 1: had been sold, so just under a million. But here's 482 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: the weird part. Those figures also said that nine hundred 483 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: twenty six thousand copies of Zelda Breath of the Wild 484 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: had also been sold. In other words, twenty thousand more 485 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: copies of the game were sold than actual Nintendo switches. 486 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: But you say, wait a minute, Breath of the Wild 487 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: was available not just for the Switch but also the 488 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: Wei U, So surely that nine six thousand number includes both, right, 489 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: that explains the discrepancy. But no, it doesn't, because the 490 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: nine six thousand figure was just for copies of the 491 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: Switch version of Breath of the Wild. The WU version 492 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: sold about four hundred sixty thousand units in that same 493 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: time frame. So what we're left with is a story 494 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,719 Speaker 1: about how a game for a system actually out sold 495 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: the system itself. So what gives? Forbes ran a story 496 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: on this in April when he's seventeen, and the writer 497 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: offered up a few hypotheses to potentially explain this discrepancy. 498 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: One possible explanation was double dippers. There could be some 499 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: enthusiastic gamers who had bought two copies of the game, 500 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: one basic version that they were just going to play, 501 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: and one a collector's version that they wanted to keep. 502 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: That's possible. Maybe some of them just never planned to 503 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: play it at all. They just wanted to buy the 504 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,959 Speaker 1: Zelda game because they love Zelda so much. And it 505 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: was more or less a collectible, though an expensive one. 506 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: Maybe some people thought I'll buy this now and then 507 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: I'm gonna mark it up and sell it online for 508 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: people who can't find a copy in their local stores. 509 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: That's another possibility. Or it could be that they were 510 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: buying the game because they wanted to have a game 511 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: as soon as they got a switch, but the switch 512 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,239 Speaker 1: itself wasn't yet available in their market. Maybe it had 513 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: already sold out and they were waiting for new shipments, 514 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: but meanwhile Zelda was available, and they thought, well, I 515 00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: can go ahead and buy the game now, and that way, 516 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: when the Soul gets here, I'll have something to play 517 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: on it right away. That's also a possibility. Whatever the reason, 518 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: it meant that Breath of the Wild enjoyed a attach 519 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: rate that that means that there was a copy of 520 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: the game sold for every single system sold in that time. Technically, 521 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 1: you could actually say that it had a one percent 522 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,719 Speaker 1: attach rate, because, like I said, they sold more copies 523 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: of the game than they sold of the console, as 524 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: the comparison that we use. Most celebrated title was New 525 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: Super Mario Brothers. You so New Super Mario Brothers, You 526 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: biggest title on the WU and had a sixtent attach 527 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: rate both the system and Breath of the Wild. We're 528 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: doing well right out of the gate. Breath of the 529 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,959 Speaker 1: Wild continues to do well to this day. They passed 530 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: the six point seven million mark in Januar on the Switch, 531 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: and they had another million in sales on the WEIU, 532 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: which put Breath of the Wild just behind Legend of 533 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: Zelda Twilight Princess for the most popular Zelda title of 534 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: all time. By that time, the Nintendo Switch had gained 535 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: this distinction of becoming the fastest selling console in US history, 536 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: at least according to Nintendo. One game that did surpass 537 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 1: Breath of the Wild in attach rates by the end 538 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: of seventeen, at least in the US, was Super Mario Odyssey, 539 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: a three D platform starring Nintendo's beloved mascot Mario Mario 540 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,920 Speaker 1: because we learned his last name is Mario and the 541 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: presumably his first name is Mario, so there you go. 542 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: Super Mario Odyssey didn't come out until October two thousand, seventeen, 543 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: but it has sold more than nine million copies, so 544 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: it rocketed to first place for all Nintendo Switch titles. 545 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: Other launch titles for the Nintendo Switch included a couple 546 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: of Shovel Night Games. Those are a series of comedic, 547 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: medieval themed side scrolling adventure games. Ubisoft's Just Dance seventeen 548 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: was another launch title. Super ammerman Are from Activision was 549 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: another one, also a game called One to Switch from Nintendo. 550 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: That last one is a party game that pits players 551 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 1: against each other in a series of mini games, some 552 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: of which are truly bizarre. Now I've got more to 553 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: say about Nintendo and what's been going on over the 554 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: last few months, but before I get into this last section, 555 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break to thank our sponsor. One 556 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: thing that happened not long after the switch announcement was 557 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: the release of the mobile game Super Mario Run on iOS. 558 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: A version for Android would launch in March. The game 559 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,120 Speaker 1: is a side scroller in which a little Mario runs 560 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 1: across the screen. Players control when Mario jumps, and they 561 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: collect coins and avoid obstacles and enemies along the way. 562 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: The goal is to get through a level and as 563 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: little time as possible. There are other elements to the game, 564 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,959 Speaker 1: but that's the basic idea. This was a big move 565 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: for Nintendo, which for years had avoided making its ip 566 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: available on any hardware that was not produced by the 567 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: company itself. Ever since, it got into making its own consoles, 568 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,440 Speaker 1: and it kind of stuck to that philosophy. The game 569 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: has received a mixed reaction from critics and fans. Some 570 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: people were critical of the game's price tag, which was 571 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: ten dollars that's considered to be pretty high for some 572 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,399 Speaker 1: mobile games, and there was a lot of criticism as 573 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: well that the game requires a persistent Internet connection in 574 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,360 Speaker 1: order to work. The internet connection makes it tricky to 575 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,800 Speaker 1: play the game in places where many people feel it 576 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: would actually work best, like on a plane. Still, the 577 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: game's sales helped boost Nintendo's financials in a positive way 578 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:47,880 Speaker 1: last year. In that was a huge year for Nintendo. 579 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: It was enjoying success with the launch of the Switch, 580 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: it was having to dance around supply issues with the 581 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: NES Classic Mini, which was way more popular than the 582 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,360 Speaker 1: company appeared to have anticipated, and then June seventeen, the 583 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: company made another announcement it was making another classic system emulator. 584 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: This time it was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like 585 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: the NES Classic Mini, this system looks like a manta 586 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: version of the original console, and depending on what market 587 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: you live in it would look like the original S 588 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,919 Speaker 1: and E S for that market. The Supernintendo first became 589 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: available in nine here in the US, although it had 590 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,759 Speaker 1: already shown up a little bit earlier in Japan back 591 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: in n While the NES was an eight bit video 592 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: game system, the S and E S up the ANTI 593 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,360 Speaker 1: with a sixteen bit approach. The S and E S 594 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 1: Classic attempts to cash in on the nostalgia players have 595 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 1: for that beloved system. Like the NES Classic, it has 596 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: a selection of games that are saved to the system itself. 597 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,520 Speaker 1: In the United States, those titles included things like Contra three, 598 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,320 Speaker 1: Donkey Kong Country, Final, Fantasy Three, The Legend of Zelda, 599 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter to Herbo, Hyper Fighting, 600 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: Super Metroid, and Super Mario World, among others. Other regions 601 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: had a slightly different lineup of games. Nintendo made a 602 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,200 Speaker 1: promise that the company would do better with this S 603 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:17,320 Speaker 1: and E S Classic than it had with the NES Classic. 604 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,879 Speaker 1: It produced more units of the Manager console. Even so, 605 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 1: the demand for the S and E S Classic was 606 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: crazy high, and finding one became a big challenge for 607 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,880 Speaker 1: many people. Nintendo had originally intended to only offer up 608 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: a limited run of this console, but after having seen 609 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 1: what happened with the NES Classic, the company committed to 610 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: producing more units throughout two thousand eighteen. This was around 611 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: the same time the Nintendo also committed to producing more 612 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: NE NES Classics. Reporters discovered that the two systems, the 613 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,680 Speaker 1: S and E S and the NES Classics were running 614 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:55,280 Speaker 1: on exactly the same hardware, which means you could, in theory, 615 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,879 Speaker 1: by one and hack it to run games meant for 616 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,280 Speaker 1: the other. But again I advise against doing that unless 617 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,879 Speaker 1: you are confident you know what you're doing and you're 618 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: cool with accepting the risk that a mistake could turn 619 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,839 Speaker 1: your classic console emulator into a nostalgic piece of otherwise 620 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:18,760 Speaker 1: inert plastic. In early Nintendo announced a product called Labo. 621 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: Labo is a line of kits that are meant to 622 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: encourage STEM learning, that's science, technology, engineering, and math by 623 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: giving kids a chance to build various devices out of 624 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:35,440 Speaker 1: pieces of cardboard pre cut pieces of cardboard, and it 625 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 1: uses the Nintendo Switch as the brains and sensors and 626 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,800 Speaker 1: even the motors for some of these gadgets. Nintendo calls 627 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: these gadgets toy cons. Some of them allow you to 628 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: make a new controller system for the switch, such as 629 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: a cardboard set of handlebars for like a motorcycle game. 630 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 1: Others let you make music. There's a cardboard piano which 631 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: relies on the infrared sensor on the right joy con 632 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 1: that dete which key is being pressed at any given time. 633 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: There's even a fully fledged robot suit kit, which lets 634 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,720 Speaker 1: you control a virtual robot character while you wear special 635 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: cuffs on your wrists and ankles, and you use that 636 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,800 Speaker 1: to move this virtual robot around like a digital puppet. 637 00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 1: As of the recording of this podcast, the Labo products 638 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: have not yet officially hit store shelves. That will happen 639 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 1: on April eighteen. They're pretty expensive. The Variety kit will 640 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: set you back about seventy dollars, while the Robot Kit 641 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: costs a whopping eighty dollars. Now, keep in mind these 642 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:38,360 Speaker 1: kits are largely cardboard, so some people have criticized this, 643 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 1: saying Nintendo is charging exorbitant amounts of money for what 644 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: amounts to a cardboard kit. Other people are saying, well, 645 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,560 Speaker 1: you could argue that, but this is also a valuable 646 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,959 Speaker 1: teaching tool for people who want to learn more about 647 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,399 Speaker 1: engineering robotics. That kind of thing and it could lead 648 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,279 Speaker 1: to all sorts of really cool applications. So there are 649 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: people on both sides of the fence on this. But 650 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,920 Speaker 1: that's about it for this update. I could add that 651 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:06,360 Speaker 1: the Nintendo Switch has featured games made famous on other platforms, 652 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:10,880 Speaker 1: such as Elder Scrolls five, Skyrim, or the upcoming release 653 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,319 Speaker 1: of Wolfenstein too for the Switch. These games have a 654 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,400 Speaker 1: much more mature tone than what you would typically find 655 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 1: on Nintendo, but there have been other titles on other 656 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 1: Nintendo consoles that dealt with dark subject matter in the past, 657 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,080 Speaker 1: so it's not like this is brand new. It's just 658 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: a very, um, let's say, visceral example of that trend. 659 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: And with E three coming up as the recording of 660 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 1: this podcast, I'm sure there will likely be other announcements 661 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,799 Speaker 1: that will necessitate an update to the series again. You know, 662 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: in a couple of years. Nintendo continues to be an 663 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:51,680 Speaker 1: important player in the video game industry, and they continue 664 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 1: to cater to a different kind of audience than the 665 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 1: audiences that Sony and Microsoft are going after with the 666 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:04,160 Speaker 1: A Station and Xbox platforms, respectively. That doesn't mean that 667 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:08,040 Speaker 1: a gamer can't enjoy one or more of those systems. 668 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:10,279 Speaker 1: They might have all of them, but what it does 669 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: mean is Nintendo does not want to play by the 670 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 1: rules that Microsoft and Sony are setting, where they're really 671 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:22,919 Speaker 1: focusing on the technical capabilities of their respective systems and 672 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: how many pixels they can show, whether they can go 673 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,840 Speaker 1: into four K or eight K resolution, uh, how realistic 674 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 1: the animations are. All of that is stuff that Microsoft 675 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: and Sony have really been concentrating on, while Nintendo says, 676 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:39,760 Speaker 1: you know what, We're gonna leave that to you because 677 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,800 Speaker 1: that game changes all the time. And if you bank 678 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,680 Speaker 1: on making your console the state of the art in 679 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 1: graphics and sound of today, next year, you're already behind 680 00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: again because those continue to get better and better, but 681 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,480 Speaker 1: your console is going to remain the same. If instead 682 00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:01,440 Speaker 1: of that, you try and come up with innovative ways 683 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 1: to play games, whether it's creating more group based games 684 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,359 Speaker 1: so that you get lots of people over at your 685 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:13,920 Speaker 1: house to experience something together, or different control schemes so 686 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,800 Speaker 1: that you control your game in a completely different way, 687 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: it means that you've differentiated your console from these other 688 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:25,160 Speaker 1: two powerhouses, and it's worked more or less for Nintendo 689 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,960 Speaker 1: over the past few generations. It worked great for the 690 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:30,960 Speaker 1: we did not work so great for the WEIU, and 691 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,360 Speaker 1: it seems to be working great for the Switch, which, 692 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:39,040 Speaker 1: if it stays on its current trajectory, stands to become 693 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,480 Speaker 1: one of the best selling game consoles of all time, 694 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:47,560 Speaker 1: assuming that can sustain that level of growth. In the meantime, 695 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,759 Speaker 1: I look forward to seeing what else Nintendo comes out 696 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:54,160 Speaker 1: with over the next few months. I do not currently 697 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,600 Speaker 1: own an Nintendo Switch. The last Nintendo console I purchased 698 00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: was the first Nintendo we But I've seen enough of 699 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,440 Speaker 1: the Switch to make me curious and perhaps I might 700 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,440 Speaker 1: even explore purchasing one. I definitely want to play with one. 701 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,399 Speaker 1: I haven't even really had the chance to do that, 702 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,640 Speaker 1: but then I don't get out much. I hope to 703 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,480 Speaker 1: get a chance to play with one and maybe purchase 704 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,560 Speaker 1: one for myself at some point if I really like it. 705 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:22,920 Speaker 1: What I really need to do is hook ond that 706 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: Nintendo Entertainment System Classic many that I have. Because here's 707 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,359 Speaker 1: where I admit something that I'm not proud of. It's 708 00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:32,960 Speaker 1: still in the shrink wrap because while I bought it 709 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:35,360 Speaker 1: two years ago, I have not had a chance to 710 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,120 Speaker 1: play it yet. That's my life, guys. I'm still playing 711 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 1: through Skyrim on the PC. But I hope to be 712 00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:45,759 Speaker 1: able to play more of these games, and I hope 713 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:49,520 Speaker 1: to do more episodes about big, big companies in tech, 714 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:52,879 Speaker 1: as well as the products they work on, the innovations 715 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,319 Speaker 1: they've created, the way that they've shaped our world. If 716 00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:58,879 Speaker 1: you have suggestions for any sort of tech topic, whether 717 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,759 Speaker 1: it's a company, a specific technology, somewhat important in the 718 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:06,680 Speaker 1: technological world, anything along those lines, let me know. Send 719 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,520 Speaker 1: me an email. The address is tech Stuff at how 720 00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,880 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, or you can drop me a 721 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: line on Facebook or Twitter. The handle for both of 722 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 1: those is text stuff h s W. Follow us on 723 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,680 Speaker 1: Instagram and make sure you dropped by twitch dot tv 724 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:25,040 Speaker 1: slash tech Stuff. I record these shows live. You can 725 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,880 Speaker 1: watch me as I live stream and make mistakes and 726 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: yell at my producer for not having seen movies that 727 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,279 Speaker 1: I think are important but probably aren't important, but you know, 728 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,040 Speaker 1: I still maintain that they are important. You'll get to 729 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,920 Speaker 1: see all of this amazing content if you go to 730 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:43,279 Speaker 1: twitch dot tv slash tech stuff. Plus, you can join 731 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,719 Speaker 1: in on the chat room and you can tell me 732 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:49,359 Speaker 1: that I'm being a mini head, because sometimes I am. 733 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:51,600 Speaker 1: I look forward to seeing you and I'll talk to 734 00:43:51,640 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: you again really soon. For more on this and thousands 735 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is that how stuff works? Dot com 736 00:44:12,239 --> 00:44:12,279 Speaker 1: m