Executive Producer Of Wolfenstein: Youngblood Says The Switch Version Is "A Miracle"

It is good to hear Panic Button getting more praise. I haven't partaken in any of the games personally, but I'm ever hopeful one day they will port a game that I am actually interested in. Their work already seems top-notch and I would love to see their efforts sometime.

Well keep the magic coming!

I have my fingers crossed for Doom, it looks better than the original.

Sooooo... this article basically states that the new Wolfenstein runs on Switch😑 I'd assume we all knew that. I do, however, appreciate Panic Button for their tremendous work on an underpowered little machine that I personally enjoy the hell out of.

I can’t say anything about Warframe but the others all are fantastic. Can’t wait to see Youngblood next week!

It'll be even more of a miracle if this game had a physical cartridge release. I don't accept digital download or download code as miracle.

@retro_player_22 Download only was the cost of getting a AAA 22GB game released on Switch at the same budget price point as other platforms while also allowing the makers of the game make a profit.

Panic Button are like the gods of porting games.

Rocket League runs much better on my switch than on my laptop.
The only problem is i cannot be competitive with joycons, and there is input lag when using pro controller. Plus tv lag when docked :/

Makes me wish Panic Button ported Bloodstained to Switch now.

I worry about their souls messing about with whatever dark arts are responsible for this kind of sorcery

@Indielink : No-one asked for the game to be a budget priced download-only release.

The "Deluxe Edition" could have been their way of justifying a mark-up with a cartridge release.

All they're doing is lowering the settings. I don't see how that's magic.

@Indielink Which is why I said it would be more of a miracle if it's possible. What you're trying to tell me is why it's not a miracle.

Nintendo has enough cash to buy Panic. Why not do that and have them port all 3rd party games? We might have rdr2 by now let alone a good bloodstained.

Just pre ordered this yesterday, been of 2 minds on it, but switch really lacks a fun fps with satisfying gun play, other then doom. That Panic Button are doing the port clinched it for me, there's something in that for other companies looking to port games.

@konbinilife have you played with your TV settings to reduced TV lag?

On topic, Panic Button are Gods. Wolfie2 and Doom were hella enjoyable, will definitely pick up young blood

Hokus pokus where's the cartridge? Not in here!

@FX29 I agree. If Panic button handled the Bloodstained ROTN port it would have been perfection.

Just imagine what they could do when the switch 2 eventually comes out it's using a more poweful upgrade of the current chipset.

I find it interesting that different devs seem more capable than others when it comes to porting games. It also seems to depend on which hardware those games were initially developed for (e.g. PC, Wii U ports seem more suited).

I think Nintendo are slowly realising there’s a lot of money in porting some of their own library, and I wish they’d have a look at the N64/GC back catalogue as lots of people would double dip to have games like F-Zero and Wind Waker as portable.

Love DOOM so much such an awesome game. I have Wolf2 as well on Switch, I’m really looking forward to seeing how this turns out, and especially excited for DOOM Eternal on Switch.

It proves what a miracle of engineering the switch is as well.

Oh look, another group of people not understanding how powerful the Switch is. No surprise there...

It's no magic. It's lowering resolution, lowering texture quality, lowering fps, lowering graphic effects..., what they did with the last Wolfenstein port, the engine is flexible. Miracle is what Factor 5 did on GameCube or what Rare did on Nintendo 64.

With respect, what were his parents thinking when they thought of his name

@BlueOcean Yeah Rare was always able to push the 64.

In retrospect I really wish Perfect Dark was a GameCube launch title. The system would have done better, and the game would run at a stable 30 instead of 6-20. But I love that game and the 64.

@Trajan Yep, if you have the chance try the Xbox port, it's amazing and it's 60 fps. It makes the final battle much easier!

Too bad they couldn't port Bloodstained.

@Mycroft

Preach. Graphics are only one piece of the puzzle to solve. Ports can take a lot of work, which is why companies like Panic Button exist.

I don’t care if it’s digital only, I’m still excited to boot this one up. My friend and I are gonna have a blast with this.

@BensonUii I mean if you've ever gamed on a PC then you know that you can get the settings wrong and the game will look worse or play worse or both.

Same thing. I seriously doubt they're reconstructing the game from the ground up for the Switch. It's just excellent publicity to claim they're magical.

Wolfenstein was one of the few games I’ve actually Finished so I’m looking forward to this one!

It’s has to be on physical too now that I’m planning on picking up a LIte.

Let's hear it for the boys!

Concerning the trailer, which I had not see previously, I gotta say, that's some crummy acting and animation. But this is Bethesda, and this is Wolfenstein, and I honestly don't know what I am supposed to expect.

@saintayu

Incredibly narrow viewpoint. Reducing the quality is only ONE piece of the puzzle to solve. Probably best if you just delete this comment.

@konbinilife If your TV is fairly new, it should have a mode that will fix that 'TV lag'. On mine it's actually called 'game mode', but I don't know if all brands call it that.

@saintayu It's really not that simple. If it were, Bethesda would just 'turn down' the settings themselves and release it. There's far more involved and you do their work a disservice by saying that's all Panic Button is doing.

@KIRO The physical version is just a download code in a box.

if it wasnt coming out same day as Three Houses i would probably pick up Wolfenstein but the 26 is all about Fire Emblem

Would be nice if they gave insight what a port actually means. I'm sure it's more than setting everything to 'low'. But WHAT?!

@Silly_G No one wants it to be download only I agree with that. I would STRONGLY prefer it be physical too but that would require jacking up the price a whole bunch which is still another thing that spawns the unholy rage of the masses.

The deluxe edition already justifies its markup by including what is essentially a second copy of the game.

Fun fact: The reason why Panic Button is so good at porting games to the Switch is because they had access to dev kits all the way back in 2012.

@saintayu this is a super ignorant comment. Porting games is a lot of work, you have to make those settings, utilize the right graphic technologies, and make many difficult decisions. Lots games have important system/resource loops that are so integrated into the game you have to completely change them. If it was really as easy as just "changing a few settings," flipping a few switches almost every single developer would do it and bad ports would be near non-existent.

Want both this and 2. Haven't played 2 yet so I'm hoping with the release of this 2 will go on sale

@Will808 @MoonKnight7 @BensonUii porting is not nearly as complicated as it used be. I don't care that someone on the internet claims to be a programmer. The point still stands that they are just porting the game.

Also Bethesda and other companies outsource porting for the same reason as any other thing is outsourced; they don't want to do it themselves. It doesn't mean that they couldn't.

Porting a game isn't nearly as complicated as you know actually creating one.

Edit: Also an executive producer would never blow smoke to make money. Absolutely not. Also I'm not saying that they're doing nothing at all. They clearly are.

But they've only made a handful of games themselves and they include Hulk Hogan's Main Event and Top Handed Rodeo Tour. The lack of actual successful games they created just proves my point.

@beazlen1 @Cotillion
Yep my tv has a “game mode” which helps a little, but i have RL on ps4 also hooked up to the same tv, and the input lag is noticeably worse on the switch version.
Even tried with pro controller wired.
Its so strange. There are tons of msg boards filled with users saying the same but Psyonix (and maybe Panic Button?) won’t even acknowledge it :/

I am looking forward to playing more Wolfenstein.

Though not practical, i wish panic button would port over all the things, Bioshock anyone? Only in my dreams 😢

Oh boy... after 2 years you would think they will stop doing this.

200 "Vs" youtube video later - "a miracle" - is the worst version of all of them. So I guess the other ones done on 7 year old hardware are a "super miracle" 🤔🙄

Just say you can play it as a handheld. No competition there.

@konbinilife Just wondering - is the lag related to the hdmi input of your tv? I only ask as I have no issue whatsoever with any ‘noticeable’ input lag for the Pro Controller (I don’t play Rocket League so that’s why I’m mentioning it as maybe it’s specific to this game... or maybe it’s just your TV lag via hdmi).

@FTL actually i dont notice the input lag in other games, but i also dont play other games competitively. So it could be the game or the switch.
But in another reply i mention, i also have Rocket League on ps4 hooked up to the same tv, and the input lag is noticeably worse when playing on Switch.

@saintayu

"Also Bethesda and other companies outsource porting for the same reason as any other thing is outsourced; they don't want to do it themselves. It doesn't mean that they couldn't"

Exactly... tons of time it is also cost control. The outsourced studio has a set budget and also holds all the long term employee labor liabilities.

In Design, PB would be an outside Production Studio. Basically you give them final art assets from the creative team to set in other formats.

If you go to their site, all their job listings are engineers... not a single creative artist level position. They not creating, just making Art run in another platform.

@saintayu

“Porting isn’t nearly as complicated as it used to be.”

Um, what?? Not even gonna bother with that one... ok then.

I’m sure Bethesda could do it, but porting to the Switch isn’t a simple drag and drop. Panic Button knows the hardware. They have a good idea how to change the code and assets. True Bethesda “doesn’t want to”, well cause, they didn’t port it. So they gave it to the studio who knows the hardware cause they know they probably couldn’t do any better themselves. Budget is also true, like the comment above says, they figure they’ll waste more time figuring out the port then just paying someone to do it for them.

So I really don’t get what your “point” is. Just cause Panic Button doesn’t make a lot of games, makes them not as talented, creative or what? What is your point exactly? You’re comparing apples and oranges. It’s different beasts to make games as opposed to a well made port that runs properly on a much different console. You’re lumping them together with very creative people, even though that’s not what they do. It’s like asking for a painting from a talented artist and then asking an engineer to make the same painting and saying the talented artist has better creative skills. Well, yeah... but that seems a bit unfair to compare in the first place.

@Indielink no cost difference. than a physical on any other playform

I still need to pick up the forst one for Nintendo Switch! I feel like I am really missing out.

@Dpullam

It was a really good port, with obvious sacrifices. It has probably the best use of HD rumble I’ve seen so far. Keep an eye out for sales, I’ve seem it go 50% off a few times.

@Dirty0814 There is no cost difference because the Switch version doesn't have a physical card in the box.

This is how franchise survive when others remaster and brings in new life.

@MoonKnight7 "Keep an eye out for sales, I’ve seem it go 50% off a few times."

You'll be doing that for a long time and miss any PreOrder bonus. Consider the games popularity coming to Switch.

@Indielink there is no cost difference in making a SD cartridge or a disk. A cartridge takes less time to transfer data where as a disk is cheaper. The offset the cost.
In fact the way the PS4 and Xbox are set up the disk means nothing anyway as you will need to dl the game. As for making a profit they would make a profit on a cartridge game for the same price but choose not to. A 32 gb SD card costs less than 7 bucks (3 or less in bulk for them). The cost is not the issue but the fact companies are all to lazy to have a game in physical form. They are acting like they do physical but yet slowly moving it to digital as you cannot play most games without downloading the game anyways. It's just marketing ploys

@SwitchForce

This person wanted to pick up the “first game on Switch.” I wasn’t referencing the new one, I was talking about Wolf 2.

@Dirty0814 The cost differences between Switch cartridges and the PS4 Blu Ray discs are well documented dude. Carts are expensive to produce, especially in the larger size a game like Wolf Youngblood requires and the game is already only 30USD.

Work that miracle on the Batman Arkham games please. Metal Gear Solid would be good as well.

@MoonKnight7 I got that version for Switch and the nephew had a blast playing it-if I am referencing that correct version.

@SwitchForce

Well there’s only one currently out on Switch, haha. Yeah Wolf 2 is what I was talking about. It’s really good! I had a blast playing it too.

Noone would ever have guessed that Bethesda/Zenimax would ever be #1 third party for any Nintendo console ever.

It's great that Switch gets 2 new AAA third party at the same time as other consoles. Wolf Y and Doom Eternal, but it won't stop there.

I'd be even more impressed if it came on cartridge

the only downside is whoever at bethesda decided to give the switch version code in a case instead of using a cartridge needs to be fired.

A 22gb download!? I was so looking forward to this game. I need a hard copy only because I am NOT using THAT much space! 👉😡👈

the switch is what it is and it's a superb piece of kit.metal gear would be cool though..👍 love that game

Wait...Wolfenstein Youngblood is out next week?!?

Bethesda really needs to step up their marketing for their non-Fallout/Elder Scrolls games.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was extremely boring and felt like a chore to play compared to “The New Order” and “Old Blood.” There were plenty of parts in the game that made you scratch your head and go “WTF” because it made zero sense lol. The only difference is that I was able to trade it in towards another game (Super Mario Maker 2) and this upcoming game is digital only. If the game sucks, than you’re stuck with it forever which isn’t fair.

@konbinilife Interesting - probably the game on Switch then.. Anyway, just incase it helps - most modern tv’s have different performance limitations depending on which port it’s plugged into and also whether it’s set to a game mode etc. You could try swapping the PS4 / Switch hdmi port and see if it makes a difference.

Can we get Panic Button to fix Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? Please!

@MoonKnight7 to create a game you need both engineers and artists. Creating code from scratch is harder than porting already made code.

I was being sarcastic about game settings because everyone acts like Panic Button is super talented when all their doing is optimizing already made games. They're literally the only ones people do this for. What about the studio that brought Skyrim or the numerous other quality ports handled by third parties? It runs as well on the Switch as it does anywhere else. Where is the praise of them? I guess they aren't hipster enough.

@saintayu well Skyrim isn’t Doom. They ported a large number of current gen titles, many of which people would initially scoff off the prospect. It doesn’t take much reasoning to see why that garnered a lot of attention.

@Mamabear Warframe is the best of all of them.

Why would anyone be in " A state of disbelief " ?

@BlueOcean exactly what I was thinking, they've done good work but it's easy to work miracles when you can halve the framerate, lower visual details and massively reduce resolution. Even then Wolfenstein barely works and Doom is pretty unplayable on higher difficulties. If anything it's a shame a version couldn't have been built from the ground up for Switch. It's cool to see these games and I've enjoyed Doom and will probably buy Doom Eternal but games made for Switch look and run a lot better

@TempOr Could be worse, I once met someone who had moved to the UK and possessed the name Ufuk...

I'd rather hear someone that has nothing to do with the project say the same thing.

@Indielink I would have paid $20 more for it to be all on one cartridge. Without question.

Digital only means I will skip it.

@electrolite77 $10 is a lot? It isn't even that. Let me pay it if I want to.

Panic Button are wizards. Love it! Already preloaded the game on my Switch yesterday.

So, apologies for my ignorance, but does this mean that the code I will get in the box on Friday will be 22GB? The same as if i were to download it from the eShop?

@saintayu

They got the spotlight because they pulled off what was a seemingly impossible port of Doom. Not only did they pull it off, they did an exceptional job. I don’t think you appreciate how difficult it is to lower the quality of something, but still keep the “soul” of the game intact. Then they pulled it off again with Wolf 2, so it wasn’t a fluke, they know what they’re doing. I advise you to watch some Digital Foundry videos on those ports, Panic Button even impressed them over there. Not an easy task.

And Bethesda gets praise all the time for being a boon on the Switch, so I don’t know where you’ve been on that. People were excited for them to join since Skyrim was revealed in the initial Switch trailer. Panic button is just doing a lot of the Switch ports lately, but hey guess what, if Bethesda ported Doom, Wolf 2 and Wolf Youngblood, and did just as good a job as Panic Button did, we’d welcome them with open arms too. But they didn’t, Panic Button did, so here we are. Bethesda didn’t even port Skyrim, Iron Galaxy did (they did an excellent job too). Bethesda clearly doesn’t have the time to do it (and who can blame them, they are very busy). But that doesn’t mean we appreciate them any less as an original content creator.

“Not hipster enough”?? Seriously? Wtf, yeah let’s just throw trendy words around cause I don’t know what else to say.

@GuruOfGreatness

As far as I know, it shouldn’t be any different. It would only be different if some of the game was on a cart, but the boxed game simply has a download voucher.

@electrolite77 $10 is more than the cost of the card. It makes perfect sense.

@MoonKnight7

Hmmmmmmm.......thank you. I thought that might be the situation.

Bit of a predicament now, as I LOVE the Wolfenstein games, and GAME has it for £34.99 with a 3 month Switch Online pass, so it saves me a few quid in September too to renew my membership. Got my pre-order too.

But, much like i never caved in and got Sonic Mania when it was just a box with a code in, as I always assumed that due to it's sales and high praise, that it would get a physical release, and it did, so I bought it; I would guess that maybe one day Wofenstein will get the same treatment.

@Nihon Falcom Panic Button can get your games to the Switch, just say the word

@StevenG I would do so as well. But I think people like you and I willing to spend nearly double the cost of the game for that card are in the minority.

@GuruOfGreatness

Yeah that’s a tough call, I mean, you can never say never. I would find it a little less likely for wolf Youngblood to get a true physical cart though, only because of the size. It’s 22 GB, and a budget game too being $30-40. Sonic Mania on the other hand probably fit easily on a 4GB cart. Cost is usually the issue for these situations.

But maybe a few years down the line and the carts come down in price, maybe there could be a special situation that comes up to put it on a cart, I just wouldn’t bank on it.

@electrolite77
Let me try small words.

The extra cost would be under $10. I will pay that.

Would pictures help?

@electrolite77 I think you are being way too literal. The cost difference is tiny. It's not a real explanation, just bull you are being fed.

Kindly sod off.

@electrolite77 That you think anyone cares is hilarious.
Please keep wasting your time. I bet you have to respond, you have so little self control you can't help but respond. Dance my monkey, dance.

@MoonKnight7

Well, fingers crossed then

This place used to have a nice community.