Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I would like to advocate for the forgotten games of Switch. World of Final Fantasy, which just released. Civilization VI, which releases Friday, And Ark Survival Evolved, which releases 2 weeks from Friday.

EDIT
Dark Souls Remastered Switch $28.90 @Walmart

@Grumblevolcano
While I am certainly understanding of the fact not every game can be played when there's too many games to play, and believe me that's something I struggle with constantly, I would still argue that Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate deserves to be at the top of the priority list. The game is just that good. I enjoyed it more than MH World even, and while that may not necessarily be the case for everyone, it's still going to be one of the absolute best games regardless. All the free DLC really helped make it a smooth experience, removing most of the early game grind. We've got 2 pages of item packs and they're still not done yet. So many honeys and max Potions and slickaxes, oh my gosh the slickaxes- those things are a Godsend.

I believe the game is on sale as well, or at least, it was. It was like $40 on the eshop, and the same physically.

@JaxonH I kinda wish you wouldn't, lol. Every time you remind me of something I pretty much have to redo my budget.

I want Civ but Nintendo got me with the mario party bundle. I need that other green joycon.

I'm going to get DQXI whenever I have the time to play that game. I bought a PSVR, so I think that will keep me occupied for the remainder of this year. I'm hoping to play some indie games on Switch this holiday. I've yet to play Undertale and Axion Verge. No interest in Anthem and Metro right now, so early next year is the perfect time to catch up on some games; DQXI, maybe RDR2, maybe Assassin's Creed. That's why I don't like open world games, they take so long to finish...

@Ryu_Niiyama
I love the green joycon. I use the neon blue for left and neon green for right. It's an amazing combination.

But ya, I do want to advocate for these games being forgotten because, I remember what happened to Wii U. Nintendo platforms are extremely susceptible to support being yanked. Publishers and developers are trigger-happy, and it doesn't take much to set them off.

I started becoming concerned recently when I noticed games weren't doing as well in the rankings. A noticeable decline occurred after the summer time, which has continued to this day. From Wolfenstein to South Park Stick of Truth and Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4 (granted VC4 seemingly did no better on PS4). I see World of Final Fantasy only make it up to about #15 in the eShop, which would normally be pretty good if it had received a physical release where the eShop ranking was only representing 5-10% of the sales. But for a digital only release where it's representing 100% of sales, for a quality current gen Final Fantasy title just 2 years old- spinoff or not... it's more than concerning (especially given the fact these Final Fantasy games have always been Sony exclusive- I expected a bigger splash within the userbase than the resounding thud of indifference we see today, and a poor response to Final Fantasy is not something we should want to see). There are indie games that have been out for months still charting higher. I see Civ 6 a few days away from launch, and it's still over #100th place in the eShop, and still in the #200s on Amazon. Ark Survival Evolved at like #950.

I'm just worried that people were really enthusiastic the first year, and games were doing great for a while, and now enthusiasm is waning, so certain game sales are starting to drop more and more. I don't want to see these types of games stop coming because they completely flop on Switch. Because I really love these types of games that are coming! I do. I think it's fantastic seeing all these games come over to Switch, and I want more.

What we need... is PS4 gamers on board with Switch, buying Switch versions of games. That is what's going to make the difference in third party game sales, and thus, sustained third party support. Sure, more Nintendo gamers are buying third party games then they traditionally have in the past, but it's just not enough. So unless PS4 gamers buy into the Switch ecosystem, and buy into the idea that a hybrid version of a game is worth owning moreso than a console-only version of a game (or at least in addition to), I'm not sure if it's sustainable to keep bringing a lot of these games over. You can't make someone be interested in something though- and if not enough people are interested in hybrid versions of these games, then that's just the reality I have to accept, unfortunate as it may be.

@JaxonH I was very excited for Ark when it was announced. Then there was silence from the dev. All of a sudden, it goes from summer to fall to winter, between 3 games I’m getting at retail (let’s go bundle, smash, Katamari) Plus, Warframe drops in 10 days for free. So that’s what happened to Ark for my interest. Maybe next year

@JaxonH I do agree with you, I was just yanking your chain. I also share much of your concern. Wiiu was a very active system for me because I kept up with the releases and my interests are diverse enough that I don't only play AAA games.

However I do see the shift you are talking about this year. Honestly I personally feel the switch has had a solid second year and since I tend to be opposite the general thought pattern of the mainstream that means that people are losing interest. Although I think what concerns me is that people complained about no 3rd party games on Wiiu...switch addresses that. We are getting games that are on other systems and many that are popular switch is doing fairly decent in the Fighting game sector for instance. The major esports contenders are missing but I'm seeing fighting games that go to switch and ps4 and skip the xbone. That is pretty major to me as a FG player.

Yet we have this odd backlash that complain that any game that doesnt come out in the same release window is a 'port'. I mean the paranoia was at the point that people thought smash was a port (I didn't care either way...but glad Sakurai just threw everything in there.). Plus we have some MAJOR games in the pipe line, new FE, new Yoshi, new SMT, new AC, a lot of strong indies (Wiiu really put the spotlight on indies which likely saved me from gaming fatigue as I've found some games that make me remember why I'm so fond of this hobby and switch is getting its fair share). 3DS devs are migrating (no matter where you stand on the 3ds/switch line this is significant as these are the devs that made a piece of tech that was outdated in comparison to its competitor upon release stand the test of time while that competitor faded) to switch which means more games and the switch is already becoming more diverse than any other nintendo platform since the game cube. You want FPS games? Here have some doom. You like open world games? Here skyrim...and if that is too unfamiliar Zelda is open world for days. (or months). And all this on the go and on the tv. I have 191 games on my wishlist right now (Send help)

Switch is becoming the JRPG watering hole with SE dumping everything they can toss on the system, and when people talk about the glory days of SNES and Nintendo ...a lot of those lists feature RPGs. I do hope more wRPGs show up though (I'm not jazzed about the witcher series...I don't find the story or characters interesting...but if it fell onto the switch I think that would be a nice feather. Same with ME, which I may hate the series but I know a lot of people that would go back again for a portable go.) And that's just old games....let alone the fact that devs that avoided Nintendo before are taking notice Falcom had jumped ship and is testing the waters, Bethesda...BETHESDA is waving a Nintendo flag.

That being said take what NL says with salt. All I hear from coworkers are about getting a switch for the holidays and I think a lot of that sentiment is hitting the masses. We early adopters have done our job and Nintendo marketing got a punch in the face. So I do see a positive future ahead.

I kinda wish the releases would slow a bit though....I just dug my xbone out of a box. Sorry for the text wall. I tried to make this shorter.

@HobbitGamer
Ark is definitely one I'm a bit cautious of pending performance, but I'm still excited. I don't need communication from the devs to remain interested in a title. I may not buy it if it turns out to be a poor port, but provided it is, I'm definitely getting it.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Oh I know you were 😃

I just think that we, as a fanbase, jumped to support great 3rd party titles initially because we had just experienced the Wii U era, and we knew if those games weren't supported properly we'd lose them permanently. But then I think some complacency set in after the first year, where a lot of people were like eh, Switch is selling well now, third party games are selling well now, we don't really have to support games we want to see on the system anymore (I'm interested but I'll buy it later, I'll buy it in the bargain bin, I'll buy it on PS4 instead, etc). But that's not true. It's not a situation where you just buy a few third party games for a 12 month span and expect support to be locked for the coming decade. It's going to take years of properly supporting these titles before developers feel secure enough to keep bringing their games. It's going to take all generation. Octopath did well. It prompted Square Enix to take a chance with the Final Fantasy series. But if nobody goes out and buys the Final Fantasy games they're bringing, they're not going to keep bringing them. Unfortunately we do have to prove ourselves over and over and over and over again. At least, for this generation anyways. We have to prove we want each and every series individually. So it's great that Octopath did well. But if we truly want Final Fantasy on Switch, then the Final Fantasy games they bring over need to sell. And if they don't sell, then we're probably not going to see anymore of them. Particularly when you consider Switch is the one platform they have to bend over backwards for to bring a game over. ARM architecture, less power, touchscreen, motion, several controllers, HD rumble that works differently than traditional rumble... so the juice needs to be worth the squeeze if they're going to continue squeezing.

Each and every game series that experiences a failure to launch on Switch, is in jeopardy of becoming a one-and-done game, or one-and-done spread of games. So while it's great Monster Hunter has done well, has Dark Souls? While it's great Diablo 3 is doing well, will Civilization VI? While it's great Octopath has done well, has Final Fantasy XV Pocket and World of Final Fantasy? Has any Ubisoft title done well on Switch that hasn't showcased Nintendo characters? These are the questions that we need to be asking.

@JaxonH, I also own a PS4. Here in the Uk Sony are really dominant, the price of PS4 games tend to really drop after around 8 weeks. Nintendo’s presence is on the up due to the Switch, but the games especially first party ones sure do hold their price! Zelda, Mario Kart, Pokken, Splatoon, Xenoblade, Mario Odessesy all between £39.99 and £56.99 according to Amazon. Now obviously it pays to shop around, but how many people really do that?

Do the core PS4 crowd really want hybrid gaming? Sony tried it with the Vita but screwed up the execution with the lack of R1 and L2 buttons, plus the connection to the PS4 tended to be flaky to say the least.

Anyway back to the Switch, as from now it’s my primary gaming machine. Civ 6 is really interesting me and after watching some videos on YouTube has more or less convinced me to palace a pre order. Amazon Uk has this retailing at a crazy price of £44.99, where two other online retailers are selling it for £35.

@Farmboy74
Do the core PS4 crowd really want hybrid gaming

I'm not sure. Part of me wants to say yes, and that Vita only failed because it fell too short of what true console gaming on the go is (incomplete button set, FAR too small analogs- that make the Joycon look like Xbox sticks in comparison), not enough power to run much of anything that wasn't designed ground up, etc.

Another part of me says no. They only care about graphics and 60 FPS and 4K, and we're doomed to a monotonous future of console-only gaming where mobile rules the seven portable-gaming seas

@JaxonH I liked it on X1. By dev silence I mean they didn’t even say a release day. Then 4 1/2 months later, listings creep out with dates. If you’ve been interested in it, I think you’ll enjoy it for sure. It is very fun, and on such a versatile and fast drop in/out system as Switch, bite size chucks will feel more fulfilling

@JaxonH Sony players don't care about 60fps. Almost all of their games are 30fps, with only a few like God of War 2018 and Shadow of the Colossus having the option at unlocked/60fps on a PS4 Pro. If they cared about it they would have *****ed and moaned about games like Bloodborne running at 30fps even on a Pro, but because it's for their system they put up and shut up as they should, because framerate matters less than enthusiastics like us think for the average player.

@DarthNocturnal I update it once a month but the shrinkage is only about 20 games or so. Also only about 15 are "meh I'll take a chance". I'm very, very careful about what I buy since I don't trade in games unless I have replaced it with a superior version (I gave away okami hd on ps4 because of the switch version) and I only recently cleared up a case of seller's remorse. (Finally replaced that NES I sold when I was 7...not kidding bought it on election day lol....after I voted of course). I also severely research games before I buy. I don't have time to play them but they will be fun when I do! LMAO.

@JaxonH Valid points and conversations that should keep happening especially among gamers that don't think about that 3rd party devs will risk losing goodwill for the easier targets. I've been a Nintendo gamer all my life so I'm just used to putting my support there first....used to the dismissal from 3rd parties as well. However devs that outright snub for no reason tend to get blacklisted in my house.

“Another part of me says no. They only care about graphics and 60 FPS and 4K, and we're doomed to a monotonous future of console-only gaming where mobile rules the seven portable-gaming seas”

Hopefully Nintendo will have something to say about that and keep going in the direction they have set with the Switch as I don’t really care for gaming on my mobile phone or tablet.

Personally I DO care about 60fps and even 144fps if the game supports it, but I also don't care about playing a game at 30fps. Dark Souls is perfectly balanced around 30fps due to how slow of a game that is, for example. Xenoblade doesn't need 60fps for anything. 3D Zelda is always 30fps. Etc.

However there are some games that pride themselves on 60fps for almost every game and demand they run at 60fps for the game that suits them. Bayonetta, for example, is a noticeably worse experience at 30fps. Doom at 30fps is still perfectly fine, but it is also noticeably worse. Metroid has been 60fps for almost every single game, with the exception of Federation Force and Samus Returns, and that's because the 3DS is so weak that even traditionally 60fps franchises like Mario ran at 30fps.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Activision and EA have no excuse.

I can't believe they couldn't even be bothered to release Spyro day and date- not that I personally care, I think it's over rated like Crash anyways, but the point remains they couldn't even be bothered to bring that game to Switch, at least day and date. They won't even bring the obvious choices, much less the riskier titles.

EA as well. Nothing but FIFA from them. Even Ubisoft is much more reserved, sticking more to board games, Just Dance and Wii party games than their actual core IP. And that's why I decided not to buy any of that stuff going forwars, even if it looks fun (like Risk). I dont want them thinking that's the stuff we want.

@EvilLucario
I'd agree with that. I care about framerates too, and always prefer 60 over 30. But I've never skipped a game for being 30 and never will. What matters is, is it playable and enjoyable. I've yet to find a game that wasn't. Usually if there's issues, it's due to sub-30 drops (and even then, it typically takes consistent drops into the teens before I start getting really turned off)

Switch's biggest test on the 3rd party front will be when PS5 and Scarlett are revealed. For the Switch's lifespan so far the power gap has been between the Switch and the base PS4/XB1 models but assuming PS5/Scarlett games won't be playable on PS4 Pro/XB1X which is a very safe assumption, the power gap massively increases and so these 3rd parties will even more need to know for sure that their games will sell well on Switch before putting in the effort to downgrade for Switch versions.

I think too many people want increased number FPS unnecessarily, some games I can understand, but for games that don't really have high speed action, it really wouldn't benefit, frames increase the smoothness of animations but sometimes it really wouldn't matter, but it just doesn't matter to some people, they would want Tetris with 120 FPS if they could get it, I think it's a useful tool, but I think there is a very good reason company "Whatever Corp.", game producer supreme, makes a game with only 30 or 45, it's probably for a very good reason

@Grumblevolcano

That's true !

Nintendo is preparing a Switch Pro right now. The last update of Unreal Engine 4 shows something pretty interesting. Cascade is going to be replace by the Niagara toolset for visual effects.
Niagara is compatible with Nintendo Switch but I doubt it can be used really well without an upgrade of the Switch SPECS.

Let's see.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Engine/Niagara/CascadeToN...

@Grumblevolcano that may prompt nintendo to shorten their console cycle since they are moving towards one console ecosystem as the 3ds can't live forever.

@JaxonH agreed on EA and Activision although Activision did crash so i think that Spyro is inbound. I understand that EA has issues with frostbyte engine and switch and they had to make a custom. However I would have thought that FIFA 18 would have given enough insight to put Madden or what I actually care about NHL. Also EA has other games that they could have ported to show token support. ME Trilogy for instance (Especially after the WIIU fiasco). The switch doesn't have many western Rpgs that aren't indies. That and even some of the Dragon Age games gets the M rating gamers looking at the system, allows them to milk one more sale (ME has been around the block), shuts people up about support (they can say more games are on the way) and still allows them to half snub Nintendo with new games. lol. But when they do what they do now it feels like a cold shoulder. They don't even treat PC like this.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Don't skip out on this one people. What a great game. I think it was on Wii U as well, not sure, but it's an excellent, emotional game you won't regret experiencing. UbiArt engine like Child of Light. And probably the best UbiArt game they released barring Rayman. It looks phenomenal on the handheld screen. If I didn't know the screen was 720p I would actually believe it was 1080p. It looks that good.

Also, full touchscreen support, for those who are interested. Personally I think it plays better just using the controls but I know some people always prefer alternatives. One more thing- I'm not sure if this was in the original version, but for all the historical facts that show you a real picture from WW1, you can press A to magnify the text which makes it super easy to read in handheld. This game just works incredibly well on Switch. I seriously cannot find fault in it in any way.

@Ryu_Niiyama
It's clear to me EA simply doesn't want to deal with Nintendo. They only put FIFA out so they can tell their shareholders they're "supporting" the system in some capacity. But the truth is they want easy money, and the easy money is with big AAA games with shiny graphics that can be used as a Trojan horse to mandate online as DRM and profit from exorbitant micro transactions.