@lostn: It's very probable that it can achieve that feat, that is if the handheld gaming market sees this as a great successor to the 3DS. That handheld sold 65 million strong, and the rumor is that Nintendo plans to take the biggest franchises from those like fire emblem and pokemon and push for Switch releases. Not to say that this will make the largest difference, but we shouldn't be quick to underestimate this console's potential.

Good job, lets hope this momentum continues, that will come down to AAA releases from third party software giants and Nintendo's ability to keep first party game releases steady.

@fox_fury: The overarching point is that you have the right to an opinion and trolls have the right to troll, but the reason BOW got critical acclaim is because it creates a cohesive, inventive, challenging and creative formula which makes for a stellar experience. You can compare this to any RPG you want, experiences are subjective, but understand the art and business of professional critique before throwing accusations around willy nilly. Especially since it's highly illegal to not disclose a paid review in the country Gamespot head office is situated in.

@giedrius1001: Devs will go back as far as the 80's to find usable mechanics if needed. It isn't taboo or considered late to do so if these elements envoke positive contribution to the final product. The game got the score it did because while the experience might only be new to Zelda fanatics, the game is also a treat for experienced RPGers as well.

It's like you're saying that because one donut shop is late to the party when using sugar as an ingredient, that the donut will magically taste less sweet because of it. Not like they are using stale ingredients, same as everyone else, they just finally decided to jump on the sugar wagon.

Now for your speculations about the Switch, you have merit to be skeptical, I am too, but do not under estimate the mobile gaming market and how large Nintendos hold is on that market.

@fox_fury: Nah buddy, I see you're new to journalism so I'll break it down for you... That's called a review embargo, these are used in ALL forms of media review, from movies to music and even news! Press are given early access to games (especially titles longer than 30 hours) to allow completion time and chance at editorial approval. Retailers are also given early copies and stock to give stores a chance to prepare for the release date embargo lift. This is done to avoid business impact of late review publication and unprepared retailer chaos in the event that consoles or game stock go missing or if preorders aren't all accounted for.

Now a Publisher has right to extend the embargo time thus challenging critics with a press for time before fans flood the stores. Legal ramifications depend on if critics were given Non disclosure agreements during the embargo time. Embargo times are generally lifted at midnight local time for retailers and between 11 pm and 3 am for critics depending on the NDA.

@giedrius1001: Critics have never been overtly harsh on games that borrow elements from other popular RPGs. It's not as if Publishers own pattents on individual game mechanic open world elements, only the games themselves by title, asset and the tools used to design them. Successful games have borrowed elements from other blockbusters for ages. Why critics would slam however is if these elements were copied without any particular grace, the mechanic fell out of place or was poorly implemented. The overall experience should also never feel like you're playing the game which the elements are from thus making it an outright copy or ripoff.

@fox_fury: I still bare heavy skepticism about the Switch, anti-Nintendo fanboy to the highest power, but even I know that the simple notion where the 71 critics scores compiled on metacritic are being all paid is outright BS.

@jkendt1989: Fair, but you make so many broad sweeping generalizations about the Switches long term performance and overall consumer interest.

Take a look at the Vita with remote play and Shield sales, or even Microsoft's Xbox one/Windows 10 streaming. You assume that the vast majority of Playstation, Xbox and PC consumers have any heavy interest at all in portable game streaming. That the majority of core gaming audiences would pick this over reliable performance heavy consoles and rigs at near 0 input lag or frame drop. Also assuming that cloud gaming and streaming services will be reliable enough on wifi in conjunction with the Switch device's outdated specs.

I also understand that you'd like to assume that a Tegra X1 chip will be able to withstand games benchmarked for modern consoles like PS4 pro at 8 cores1.8 teraflops or even a Scorpio in say... 2 years from now.

You also assume that PC Steam users are itching to own both a $300 handheld and a high end rig, or re-purchasing their entire Steam libraries just to be able to play these games on a Switch is also a bold prediction.

This is why Bethesda and EA have made statements expressing cautious enthusiasm for the Switch; publishers have pulled out their support for Nintendo's consoles in the past. This is mainly due to low user install bases, the cost/manpower, and difficulty of tweaking existing SDK's to undercut features in exchange for game performance.

@jkendt1989: This is all assuming Nintendo manages to build up a solid enough install base to maintain third party support negociations past 2018. The marketing has already shown leaps and bounds of improvement since WiiU i'll give it that but before you say analysts don't understand economics, you don't really seem to demonstrate that you understand all that well why the WiiU flopped and why the Wii's sales declined so rapidly post 2009.

@videogameninja: Beiber's been known for clocking quite the total fair chunk of hours on AAA shooters with his tour bus console setup according to him during an intetview. Celebs do indeed work hard to remain relevant but fortunately for them not nearly as hard or as frequent as us wage earners. Quite sad really, I'm sort of jealous haha.