Next on this forum "Game vs not a game", a thread where people elaborate at length on screwd up theories on which games are really games and which games really aren't. Prepare your nonsense, folks !
@bluemage1989 Thanks! As I say, I just find the common 'oh great, more ports' complaint to be a bit over-simplistic - and it just got me thinking...surely only certain games deserve the negativity? ..so perhaps it'd be better to distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly?
I also like what @TheLZdragon added - there's certainly a difference between a 'version', a 'straight-up port', an 'emulation' and a 'remaster/remake' ..so a game that was, for example, a 'timed exclusive' on PS4, but later got released on Xbox One (with no noticeable changes) could be regarded as a 'straight-up port' - something like Okami HD, which will feature unique controls on Switch, is more of a specific 'version' - Virtual Console titles are 'emulations' of original games - and any title that gets a full-on overhaul (like Crash, compared to the PS1 originals) would be a 'remake/remaster'
...and then there are anomalies (like the Switch version of FIFA 18) that bare little-to-no resemblance to games of the same name available on other platforms (and that, under the hood, are completely different) where it'd perhaps be more appropriate to label them 'unique' versions than anything else!
Of course, it's far easier just to use the blanket term 'port' in most cases - but it'd often be useful to distinguish between the different 'flavours' when looking at, or being critical of, certain games
You're just overcomplicating yourself for no good reason.
Basically everyone in this thread has agreed on what makes a port a port.
To be fair whatever the technical definition is "port" means less to consumers than it used to. Not only is a lot of content multi-platform these days from the get go but development cycles in general are different. We have a lot of annualised releases and a lot of the games that aren't annualised are getting ongoing support. A couple of decades ago a port to a new platform near launch pretty much always meant getting a sub-par release of a game nobody cared about anymore. These days it could be technically identical to that but for consumers it's a game like Rocket League on Switch which isn't sub-par or irrelevant
Someone seems to get it.
Clever you. Now this thread is just another fluff piece on how everything is good and damn those naysayers. I actually enjoyed reading the opinion of others on how they define ports and not referencing the abundance of them on Switch. Toxic rubbish.
@Shellcore I liked hearing the different opinions too which was the point of the thread. Then you have the few elite ones who say “no it’s this and nothing else!”
I say port and let the buyers decide that how it should go but then first make a port Demo and let the NS community try it and give feedback that would be the fastest way to know how it will fare when released or not released based on enough feedback.
In my view, a "port" is a game that was originally released on a specific platform(s) and then released at a later date on another platform(s) with minimal or only token changes to the game itself. Some could be considered "Enhanced" ports (like MK8 Deluxe, whilst I don't consider Breath of the Wild a port as the game launched on two systems simultaneously and development did continue on both systems prior to its release.
For example, I consider DK Tropical Freeze a port because there isn't much in the way of new content (but the mere fact of new content means its not a "Straight Port".
On the other hand I consider Mario Kart 8 Deluxe an "Enhanced Port" as it contains all the DLC plus some extra new content and some tweaks. It may be on the lighter side of "Enhanced Port" but still one.
Well, a port is the fastest, and cheapest, way to gauge a system, so far I know. A ground-up Switch title isn't a port, and something that has been on another system is /shrug.
@Shellcore
Not all good but certainly different. Just look at the pages spent talking about Smash on Switch. Is it a port or not? Probably yes but likely not in a way some consumers will recognize it as such.
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
"Don't stir the pot" is a nice way of saying "they're too dumb to reason with"
Not read everything since my last post - have we agreed that there are lots of different ports yet?
A regular bog standard port - those things have existed for thousands of years and they mostly take ships. That type of port would be a great place to find sailors but I’m not sure how many I’ll see on my Switch because I personally live inland quite high above sea level.
Airports are a bit more recent. They tend to be big and have a long runway for aircraft. I can understand why people don’t like this type of port because they’re huge and create a lot of noise and air pollution.
Spaceports are a very new development. The owner of Amazon is investing heavily in them but most people will never see this type of port in person.
Then there’s the liquid port. I don’t drink but I understand it’s expensive - which may be why publishers think they have to price their ports on Switch so highly?!
@StuTwo Also we have USB ports which the Switch has not one, not two but three! Some may say this is overkill but as someone who has no issue with ports, I say the more the merrier.
@OorWullie I’d never even considered that. The Switch has more ports when in the dock (itself another word for port) than it does in handheld mode. And the types of port in the dock are different from the USB c port on the handheld unit.
Modern ports usually just differ between frame rate, resolution and what textures are used. In the past it meant an entirely different game that was made using the original as a template.
I think that time is the biggest factor with ports, if its release is in the same release window then its fine and seen more as just a version for that system. If it's a game released over 6 months later at full price, when other versions have been played to death and been heavily discounted then it feels a bit dirtier.
The Switch gets away with some older ports because it offers the game in a portable form which wasn't possible before. It also gets flack for it because it's a new system. Ports have been a big part of this gen though, the early years of PS4 we're filled with PS3 'remasters' and they continue to come on all systems.
I've bought a fair few ports/remasters on the Switch - LA Noire, Rogue Trooper, World of Goo, FIFA 18 (a modified port of 16 or 17), Bayonetta & 2, RE Revelations 2. The next port I'll buy will probably be Wolfenstein 2. I'd buy more too if I liked/wanted the game enough, ports of games such as Red Dead Redemption or a Mass Effect collection would be a day one buy.
To me Virtual Console games are the definition of a port. A game from an old system shovelled across to a new one with the bare minimum of work done to get it running and nothing done to take advantage of the system it's being ported to.
I would call a port any version of a game not released at or near the same time as other versions and does not use an updated art style/graphics engine. If it breaks the first rule it's a multiplatform release and if it breaks the second it's a remake/remaster (with the difference being those two being whether or not any new game content or major features are included in the new version).
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Topic: Port vs not a port
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