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The Nintendo Switch is based on ARM and Tegra, it supports OpenGL / OpenGL ES 3.x, DirectX 12, Vulkan

It is the grand grand child of the OUYA, if you want so. The Switch OS is not Android, it is FreeBSD

How do become a Nintendo Switch developer is written here
https://www.yoyogames.com/blog/484/nintendo-switch-now-available

Nintendo LABO is offered in some schools these days
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/23/18009754/nintendo-labo-teacher-guide-educational-school


App Game Kit has
- Tier 1 Basic
- Tier 2 C++
- C# thingly
- Python thingly
- Java thingly

and is able to compile somehow to the Raspberri Pi. So there is an ARM compiler.

For me AppGameKit is easy to understand, and I want to create my program with AppGameKit, but don't want to forced to recreate my software later in Unity or GameMaker Studio, because of some export issues.

Nintendo is great for educational games. So it would be great to have the spirit of AppGameKit also on the Nintendo Switch.

App Game Kit on the Nintendo Switch maybe is a complicated thing, but an Export for Nintendo Switch with the offical Nintendo SDK from Nintendo, would be great.
How to get it? I guess, the AppGameKit developers have to contact Nintendo and or present a upcomming game.

There are some very beautiful GameGuru games out there and with GameGuru-Loader and some tweaks, there could be some great AppGameKit games be for the Nintendo Switch.
e.g.
Or 3D in AppGameKit itself, touch and gamepad controlls


But also a lot of great 2D games. Top down or plattformer made with AGK.
https://www.appgamekit.com/showcase

I understand, that the Build-In-Android-Export in AppGameKit is a selling point and I really like it for that. So with the Nintendo SDK it would be not so easy. So it maybe would be more like the use of "Tier 2 C++" and then using the Nintendo SDK.

But to be able to use Tier 1 Basic would be the selling point since we have so much code written in Tier 1 Basic. And the compiler can export to ARM Linux.


I guess it's possible, but it is a more complicated political thingly, I guess. It would also a little bit tricky, to discuss not working exports here, because of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Nintendo every developer have to sign to.

Not all things maybe are allowed on the system, so not all commands would execute properly. And there is the question of the costs. How much would be needed for some tweaks or re-creating the ARM compiler for the Nintendo Switch.
I would understand, if that export module would not be free.


So how do you feel about the Nintendo Switch?

+1 for this feature as the Switch is starting to get THE place to go for great indie games, however to develop on the machine you have to register a developer account which is easy but gives only access to WiiU and 3DS. Once you have done this you then email Nintendo with all your projects details and pitch it to them for them to green light and give you access to Switch. This is done on a case by case basis.

I think if AppGameKit export on Switch is possible, then TGC already have a great game which would easily be green lit in Echoes III as I think that game is better than some I have seen on Switch already.

Food for thought

This would be great I agree.

Absolutely. Switch is awesome.

I Think i have made this request here a while back
So iam onboard
But simpliest would probably be to integrate Xbox one ?
They seam to push indi games again ?

@Cliff

Yes, the XBox One thingly would be possible. We maybe would need a tutorial for that.

There are some ways I see, how to have a work-arround these days.

Using Tier 2 C++ or C# and Visual Studio and make an UWP-App. (This is free and would be the same for the Windows 10 Store)
Or, with HTML5 export and some container, also resulting in an UWP-App.

But having an Export-to-UWP-Button would be great. And it would be great, that we not have to re-programm all our code to C++ or C#.

(I could say, I also would be interested in Nintendo 3DS and WiiU, but the DevKits are a bit pricey.)

What I also really would like to see, would be an Raspberry-Pi-Export-button from Windows AppGameKit or Mac AGK. Which would create not only the Raspberian-File, but has also the option, to export a complete Image. And when using the Image-file on MicroSD, the Raspberry boots into my App/Game without hick hacks.
I am thinking about an 1 GB image without huzzle. Putting the card into an Raspberry Pi Zero or something and test it on the TV.

That could also be a way, to have "boxed" games. Because we could provide the hardware along with the game for the players.

AGK powered games on Nintendo Switch? that would be fantastic!

If developers include Switch export in AppGameKit that could bring a lot of new users to this community, mostly coming from GameMaker Studio which is not bad at all.

You have a point there as the cost for GameMaker to develop on the Switch is quite high.

I guess, if you want to make a high quality game, and do it fulltime, the ~ 1.500 $ per year are not so much. If you consider Unity with it's $125,- per month, okay it is more like an asset-shop-subscription. So the problem, I guess, is the 200.000,- $ a year thingly. So if your game would reach that goal, Unity would also cost 125,- * 12, so 1.500 a year.

200.000,- $ a year may sound much, but it is not for hobbiests, it is for professionals, if you want to export to the Nintendo Switch or the other consoles. So for GameMaker Studio it is about 1200,- if you have allready the Master Collection from Game Maker Studio 1 and for Switch only export it's about ~ 800,- So I guess, it would be the same like 100.000,- a year, but in Unity it's 35,- per months, so 420,- a year.

So what about Microsoft Office 365? Or Adobe Cloud? So they all want that money.

What would it need, to develope a game full time? An Artist maybe 40.000,- a year? A developer, about 60.000,- $ a year?

Unreal Engine is much more expensive with it's 5%. If we look at 100.000,- $ that would be 5.000,- $ not a yearly fee, but also a fee.

How often has you game to be downloaded? 1.000 times? 5.000 times? 50.000 times? Let it sell for 15,- $ and say ~ 33% are for the shop. So 10,- $ for the 15,- price tag.

For about 100.000,- $ you have to sell it 10.000 times a year.

And I guess, if it is not an asset flip, made with Unity put into steam, that could work.


The next thing is, you only get an DevKit from Nintendo with your "finished" game. This DevKit is about ~ 450,- $, I guess. So you would have to add this price as well.
And maybe you need to check some peripharals and invest there also in the Nintendo eco system ...

Pair of JoyCons ~ 80,-

If you develope for Android, you need also an Android device for testing. Apple iOS is much more expensive. You would need an MacOS-Device and an iOS-Device. Not an old one, because every some years, they decide, to not allow older iOS versions on phones. Or apps in the store.
So let's say, you invest in hardware also about 1.500,- $ with iPad and Mac Mini or so.

What I am saying is, I also don't like, that it is a yearly fee, but it is reasonable. And maybe it is also, to seperate the "kids" from the better games with more marketing budget.


What I would like to see in AppGameKit 2 is an easy Windows-to-Raspberry-Image-exporter. And maybe some little bit more easy way for UWP-Apps/games. And maybe, if someone has an Nintendo DevKit, also an easy way, to deliver that.

They could do it like with the VR-thingly. And to use it, you have to have a very good PC and a VR-headset, so maybe also about 2.000,- to 4.000,- and up investment before you can test anything simple.