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[oahda]

I have basically the same question as this person:

http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/137606/can-a-switch-dev-kit-do-everything-a-normal-switch-console-can-do

Do NDA's still come into play at this point when it's as good as out? Does anybody know?

[JWki]

NDAs would still apply when it's out.
I'd assume the replies stating that a dev kit doesn't replace the retail version are accurate.

[oahda]

So they're still not very indie friendly if that's the case... /: I'm going to log on to the dev portal tonight and see if I can figure anything out (don't have my password on me and the password retrieval never ever works on that site). Will keep my hopes up for a little longer. Having to get both isn't a realistic option.

[pelle]

It is funny how 99 % of interesting questions on programming/gamedev stackexchanges are always closed as being off-topic. Luckily usually there are a few useful answers showing up in time and they at least allow those answers to remain.

[_glitch]

It is funny how 99 % of interesting questions on programming/gamedev stackexchanges are always closed as being off-topic. Luckily usually there are a few useful answers showing up in time and they at least allow those answers to remain.

This is so true...

[JWki]

Looking at the prices, both would be around 800$ to 900$ right?
That... seems somewhat reasonable, indie friendliness surely shapes the SDK pricing they don't force you to have your own private one to develop after all that's more like private enjoyment. You can just get the SDK after all to develop games for it.
Getting both is "only" about the same as getting a HTC Vive for example.

[oahda]

It's a near-reasonable pricing if it doubles for both purposes, but not if I have to get it separately from a regular console IMO. Smartphone and tablet providers got this years ago.

[JWki]

But wouldn't the price for both be a bit less than twice what the console is? So that's the same as if the devkit was 200 % of the retail price but could be used as a regular console isn't it?
It's within the range of what I'd expect for a handheld console devkit in any case.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

I doubt the consoles double as kits. Usually devkits have more ram so you can load debugging code. Also multiple ethernet connections for testing network stuff while still being able to deploy.

[oahda]

You got the question the wrong way round. p;

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Oh jebus my bad. I really need a day off

That said, I've never seen a devkit that can play retail games.

[quantumpotato]

Oh jebus my bad. I really need a day off

That said, I've never seen a devkit that can play retail games.

Original Xbox can. Shipped with a TB harddrive, you could access a list of games with black+white+start and rip discs into the HD.

[quantumpotato]

So they're still not very indie friendly if that's the case... /:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/292788/Becoming_a_Nintendo_Switch_indie_dev_will_be_tough_early_on.php

I'm not sure what their developer portal is like (I'm yet to sign the NDAs); but it sounds it's very possible to develop a game, attempt to publish it, then have it rejected because Nintendo doubts it's potential.

[oahda]

No Switch section on there right now. Heard we'll have to wait for some time if we don't already have a deal for that to crop up, but it'll be there eventually, so my question isn't really relevant until that happens anyway. :[

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Oh jebus my bad. I really need a day off

That said, I've never seen a devkit that can play retail games.

Original Xbox can. Shipped with a TB harddrive, you could access a list of games with black+white+start and rip discs into the HD.

The next two certainly couldn't and the ps series cant either (at least 3/4, I can't remember for 2). EDIT : Also googling the topic seems to indicate the original couldn't play retail games unless you flashed it as a retail kit.


If this switch is a consumer facing product I could see Nintendo allowing it to play retail games. We'll just have to wait and see what they do.

[quantumpotato]

No Switch section on there right now. Heard we'll have to wait for some time if we don't already have a deal for that to crop up, but it'll be there eventually, so my question isn't really relevant until that happens anyway. :[

That's disappointing. Please post if you see anything (that doesn't violate your NDA).

I stumbled upon a reddit thread from ~year+ ago about the Wii U, consensus then was saying the same thing: indie games with big hits will get on there, otherwise come back after you've sold .1 million copies. A few commenters talked about "not having low level access to hardware unless you were a big, trusted studio" which I thought was an interesting thing to say. I hadn't even thought about a console manufacturer giving favor to studios but Nintendo is very tight-lipped about this stuff.

I'm secretly hoping that the Switch will get homebrewed (housebroken?) and a pirate market will crop up..

[oahda]

It'll supposedly be more open this time—just not right away.

And presumably modern enough that even an existing C++/OpenGL game should be relatively easy to have working on there even in retrospect so long as the proper system calls are abstracted properly and easy to swap in a Switch implementation for, so at least I have that.

But I'm guessing even tho I wasn't planning on buying a Switch on launch anyway, I'll still end up getting one way before the devkit becomes available, so eh. We'll see tho.

[JWki]

So a friend of mine now actually got the devkit at work and offered to answer my questions about it but then remembered he's under nda. I know it's a black one tho.

[quantumpotato]

So a friend of mine now actually got the devkit at work and offered to answer my questions about it but then remembered he's under nda. I know it's a black one tho.

I tweeted at Kirk Scott asking about applying for game dev, they emailed me a sample marketing-style form for a sample game and said to reply with my own game. "Why is your game best for the switch?" "Key features that take advantage of the Switch", etc.

[oahda]

what about multiplatform