Alarmo? I think NINTENDO needs to "Wake Up."

This post isn't going to be an expose' about the product itself. I will say briefly that it's a clever little device, I suppose. Not something I'm particularly interested in, but I can see avid Nintendo fans that are collectors finding interest for this device. I think $99 dollars is WAY too expensive though for what it does. There are a few things that come to mind here. One thing is that it seems like the mystery has been solved regarding the FCC patent filing model number CLO-001 by Nintendo for a device with a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio and a 24GHz mmWave sensor.

I mean, even the model number gives it away. "CLO"-001. The first letters in the word "clock" are "CLO." You see that they only showed the bottom of the device as if they showed it from the front or back, it would have given it away as a clock because Alarmo is a typical old-fashioned clock shape. The other thing that comes to mind here is timing. This seems to be a very odd time to announce such a device as this. Granted, you do want to start planting seeds now for the Holiday season, but you already know where I am going with this. The whole world is on edge with baited-breath waiting for Nintendo to give us something substantive regarding the successor to the Nintendo Switch. We are nearing the end of 2024 and quickly closing in on March of 2025 which will be a full 8 years that the Nintendo Switch has been on the market. We are in October of 2024 and we have not even heard a code-name for this blasted-device yet. This is ridiculous. Let me show you how unprecedented this is. In 1993, we first started hearing about 'Project Reality' and on June 23rd, 1994, they officially announced the console as the 'Ultra 64' which would eventually become the Nintendo 64 released in 1996. In 1998, we first started hearing about the 'Project Dolphin,' and Nintendo officially announced it on May 12th, 1999. That would eventually become the Nintendo GameCube in 2001. In 2001, Nintendo began working with Gyration, Inc. to leverage their motion-control technology. At E3 2004, then President Of Nintendo of Japan the late Saturo Iwata announced the 'Nintendo Revolution.' This would go on to become the Nintendo Wii in 2006. In regards to the Wii U, it is a little more complicated because management at Nintendo were too stubborn to admit that the motion-control bubble had burst, HARD, and they needed to move on. They were still trying to find ways to hang on to the Wii. So, no concrete announcement came from Nintendo regarding the rumored 'Project Cafe' until E3 2011 when the Wii U was unveiled. I think a lot of this indecision by Nintendo played a huge role in the lack of innovation and features for the console, but that is a different conversation. In 2013, we first heard from Saturo Iwata that Nintendo's next-generation device would be a family of devices sharing a common operating-system. 'Project NX' was first announced by Nintendo in 2015, and we got the Nintendo Switch in 2017. So, you see the trend here. This isn't just with Nintendo. Both Microsoft and Sony have done the same thing in regards to generational hardware. So, to be this far along and not to have ANYTHING concrete from Nintendo except a short announcement from current Nintendo of Japan President, Shuntaro Furukawa, stating that they will ANNOUNCE (not release) the successor to the Nintendo Switch before the end of the fiscal-year which is in March-April of 2025 for Nintendo. In a vacuum, as annoying as it is for them to keep us waiting this long with nothing to go on, it's not "wrong" from a business standpoint necessarily depending on what it is. If there is something that isn't ready, or something that they don't want competitors to know about the console until it is too late for them to respond, I guess I understand that strategy. What I DO NOT understand is the fact that you would announce a digital alarm clock right around the time people were expecting you to at least say SOMETHING about the Switch successor. I refuse to believe that Nintendo is that daft or dilapidated. They know what fans are saying online. This Alarmo device is something that could have waited. It would make more sense to announce this just before Black Friday. People already will have the money in hand ready to start buying gifts. Even though $99 is a little steep, I think more people would be willing to buy it then, because it would put the idea in people's minds for a perfect Christmas gift for someone they know that loves Nintendo. Even if you know officially from Nintendo when Switch 2 is coming by that point (hopefully,) this would be a nice present in the meantime. Now, people can still do that, and will do that. I'm just saying that this is pretty dense on their part at best, mean-spirited at worst to announce this thing, now. Nintendo needs to wake up, and grow up. If you are gonna be quiet, then STAY quiet until you are ready to talk about what your consumers actually WANT. They are getting dragged BIG TIME by major news outlets for doing this. When you combine this with the Nintendo attacking emulation, and with the lawsuit against Pocket Pair, they are not making the best decisions right now as a corporation. They seem to be consumed by their own arrogance and even greed. They'd better snap out of it quick.

What is REALLY behind all these Nintendo lawsuits?

A lot of people are confused as to why Nintendo seems to be on an mission to wipe out all emulators that have anything to do with their IP. The timing of all of this seems a bit strange. It could even be a bit "convenient." The team from Moore's Law Is Dead has not gotten the credit that it deserves for breaking TANGIBLE information regarding the Nintendo Switch successor. These are the same people that broke information regarding the PS5 Pro and even have the litigation from Sony to prove it. However, this idea was suggested by one of their followers during a live-stream. Pay attention to the 1:23:56 mark of this video.

Interesting huh? It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If Nintendo is close to releasing the Switch successor and the OS is basically the same as the predecessor, it would be very easy for someone to emulate it right off the bat and that would severely cut into sales. Rest assured, people are still gonna mod it and emulate it anyway. In this day and age you can't stop people from cracking any version of technology. However, this aggressive action by Nintendo could be a sign that the Switch successor is coming sooner rather than later. It just seems like there is too much subterfuge regarding the Switch successor and I feel like they are waiting too long. The longer they drag this out, the worse it is going to be for them in the long run. Just announce the thing and get it over with. Even if the best-case scenario of the rumored specs are true, it's really nothing to get that excited about. You are still talking about a 10th generation console that is barely above the 8th gen in portable-mode, and somewhere between the 8th and 9th gen when docked. In the short-term, it will be fine, but in the long-term when we start seeing more and more games built from the ground-up on PS5 and XSX hardware, you will start to see a significant difference in quality and performance. For people that only play with Nintendo consoles, it may feel like a substantial-leap, but for people that are used to playing games on pretty much everything else, it's barely even on the level they WERE in the previous generation. I also think that the reason why Nintendo sued Pocket Pair is because Palworld does things that Nintendo was planning to do with the next-gen Pok'e'mon game, what they SHOULD have done already in Pok'e'mon a long time ago, and they got beat to the punch. Again, waiting too long will cost you. This could backfire on Nintendo because if I were the lawyers for Pocket Pair, I would demand that Nintendo make public any and all patents that they have they "claim" Palworld infringes on. Now, EVERYBODY will know what you are planning. Even if court statements are redacted, that won't save them. Ask Microsoft. I really think Nintendo has let the success of the Switch go to their heads. Pride goes before the fall.

Is more power "enough?"

I wanted to let the dust settle from the supposed "leak" of the successor to the Nintendo Switch last week before I gave my perspective. I think people need to keep things in proper context. First of all, this "leak" is someone that took pictures of a prototype, and 3D rendered composites based off of photographs on that prototype, possibility even a dev-kit. It is NOT confirmation of the final design. Many things made apparent in those images may or may not be in the final product, or only serve a purpose in development. For instance, the second USB port could be for developers to use while the prototype is docked to get around the hassle of the problems using the normal USB port when docked.

Also, sometimes dev-kits have more RAM allocated than the final product does. Remember when the Wii U dev-kits had 3GB of RAM, but the final product only had 2GB of RAM with 1GB allocated to the OS? Don't forget that we have seen people "leak" photographs of so-called prototypes of hardware before. Remember that ridiculous oval-shaped controller that was supposed to be the NX?

These were "real," because it was a physical, tangible thing. It just wasn't the Nintendo Switch. Someone took the actual US patent filing by Nintendo here...

...and just 3D-printed a prototype off of it.

Anyone can say anything they want about images leaked on the internet that Nintendo refuses to comment on one way or another because there is no risk of being "wrong." People within the industry that claim their "sources" claim that the leaked images match up with what they were TOLD, can easily dismiss it later on if the Switch successor looks like something else. They can just say,

"Well, it was a prototype, so it wasn't a final design"

....and their journalistic-integrity is not harmed because technically, that usually is the case in the creation of any mass-market product.

I myself work in Graphic design, and when working with a client, as designers we create many of what would fit the description as a "prototype" for a design.

We start off with the concepts that the client wants. Then, we create a "mood board" which encapsulates all that information from the client along with ideas, colors, patterns, textures, typefaces, etc. that we as the designer may want to use. Then from there, we create rough sketches of what the final product might look like. Maybe somewhere between 8-12 of very loose rough sketch ideas of the final product. Next, we select 3 or 4 of the strongest design ideas and create refined sketches by making the design look more polished and like a finished product. Lastly, we select the one concept that we feel is the strongest and go with that as the final design, and put that design through all the paces to make sure that the design meets the expectations of the client. I say all that to say that at anytime in that entire process, someone can randomly pull one of my revisions and claim that is the final design. Sure, it is "real" because I actually did it, but that does not mean that it is indicative of the final design, or if I'm even using that particular concept going forward. So, this is just an illustration of how product design works and that you can't just take images of something still in development and run away claiming you have the final design.

I do find it puzzling as to why Nintendo is using all of this secrecy and subterfuge for something as transparent as a more-powerful console. If that is ALL the Switch successor has to offer, there really is no excuse to be this quiet, or to have developers locked up in NDAs.

Everyone expects it to be more powerful than the predecessor, and everyone knows that it is coming. No one's jaw is gonna drop unless the final product gives you PS5/XSX-level performance with clock-speeds maxed out and DLSS fully-engaged. Still, while that would be a shock to those born after the GameCube era, those of us older than that remember the days when Nintendo had bleeding-edge technology every generation. Even if Nintendo is delaying the RELEASE of the Switch successor because the want to minimize shortages, that has little to no bearing on the ANNOUNCEMENT of the product.

When you look at other forms factors of technology announcing the next iteration of their device that is a continuation, the specs and capabilities are fully available long before the device hits the market. We just have to wait for it to come out. People already know what the specs are for the newest iPhone, or Android phone, or GPU from AMD or nVidia long before they release, and these are companies actually in competition with each other. So, it just doesn't make any sense for Nintendo to be this quiet, and it is gotten silly at this point. It seems like there is something else they are hiding in addition to the increase in performance.

Whenever the Switch successor is revealed, POWER is what needs to be at the forefront of the Direct, or conference, or what ever method they choose to unveil this. I don't need to see ANY of the normal (and annoying) "You can play the new Nintendo console with family and friends" nonsense showing people with the fake smiling and laughing, and playing games in ways most of us never do in front of blank screens. We need to see POWER.

The VERY FIRST THING that needs to be shown in that presentation is a AAA 1st-party title built from the ground-up on that hardware with clock speeds running at the max, Ray-Tracing in full effect, and DLSS turned wide open. I don't care what it is. It doesn't have to be Mario or Zelda (although that would drive the point home the best.) It does need to be something familiar that everyone knows. Maybe a new Donkey Kong game? Imagine a Donkey Kong game done in the style of Ratchet and Clank for the PS4 or even the PS5? Yeah, I'll give you some time to let this image sink into your mind............ ...................... Once you do that to get everyone's attention, then you can elaborate on the specs of the console that make it possible. Then, you show some more ground-up games running on max settings. Next, you show some established 3rd-party IPs that are KNOWN to require high-performance from hardware to run smoothly. Lastly, you end with a teaser of a major game coming down the line. That's how I would reveal the Switch successor is it is just a more-powerful Switch and that's all. How would you do it?