Topic: Current Switch 2 line-up not good enough?

@ElRoberico
Very true. We all need to be nicer.

@rallydefault So people aren't allowed to express their opinions on what they've seen so far of trailers and footage? Wow, such respect for opposing views there!

Yes, I know I might be wrong. And I hope I am wrong. It's not a final judgment, I've tried to make that as clear as I can. But it does make me want to reconsider purchasing a game that otherwise would've been one of my most anticipated games in years. I've gone from wanting this game Day 1 to wait and see mode because of this reveal. That is the exact opposite of what marketing should be doing.

Honestly if this is your attitude I don't need to hear the rest. You clearly have 0 respect for opposing views and don't want to legitimately hear them out, you just want to spread toxic positivity and insist that this lineup can do no wrong.

@Bolt_Strike
When did I say you can’t express your views?

@rallydefault You're actively shutting down conversation by claiming people can't discuss upcoming games based on the information shared so far, which in MP4's case is quite substantial.

Be nicer. As long as it's on topic, why not just sit it out if you find it pointless, like most of us do for topics we don't care for.

@OmnitronVariant
When did I say these things can’t be discussed?

My only real complaint is that we haven't gotten more updated Switch 1 games. I've been holding off on playing some first party games in the hopes that they'll get an upgrade on Switch 2.

We have had a few duds. Welcome Tour, Drag x Drive and the dev kit thing has been problematic. But I think there's been more Ws than Ls here.

I can live without a Switch 2 quite easily for now. On paper the lineup sounds good but in practice... it's... meh? The new Mario Kart looks just okay at best. It has a small amount of tracks and the roster is basically all filler. It's just DLC bait. DK Bonanza looks fine, it's just not my kind of game. I don't look at it and say "shut up and take my money!" Drag X Drive... come on. Kirby Air Riders is weird because releasing two racing games back to back seems like a bad choice. The audience of one is going to cannibalize the other, my money is that World comes out on top. Sure, some people might buy both but not with this gen's prices. The price has made me incredibly picky. For $120 CAD, I better be getting the best gaming experience in the history of humanity. The only thing that would make me instantly purchase a Switch 2, no questions asked, would be Splatoon 4. Tomodachi Life is also unmissable for me, but that's Switch 1.
edit: Also this is completely my personal opinion as a casual gamer

To quote the message you are replying to:

Gameplay is not equal to 'battle mechanics'. Everything is part of the gameplay. Exploring and collecting, interacting with the art and Pokemon and characters and story. Games are a cohesive thing made from many parts. Different people enjoy different parts of the gameplay more or less. If your favorite part of Pokemon is the battle mechanics, that's fine. Others can prefer other aspects.

Mario Kart inevitably comes out on top against almost every series, but I agree it's a weird choice to have two racing games back-to-back and the existence of the Sonic racing game makes it even messier even if Nintendo had no say on that. I hope Kirby Air Riders has a demo — the game intrigues but I'm not going to drop $70 on a game I am not 100% convinced of when the alternatives are a series I have much more experience with and know will be good and a series which had a fun demo and will likely be on a cheap sale soon.

[quote=rallydefault]

Uhh. I'm pretty sure you can just catch them straight on as well in ZA? Or at least from what I remember off the trailer anyway.

I guess no hook on creating the first Pokedex is right though since this isn't the past anymore

I do agree with this but this isn't new. Kirby Air Ride literally came out right between F Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash, with I think only Mario Party 5 being a non-racing game around this time from Nintendo on Gamecube.

I'm sure it doesn't help but I also feel like Mario Kart is such a constant nowadays that it would ALWAYS be competing with Mario Kart anyway. It's going to sell millions and millions and millions of copies, every single year that the Switch 2 is a relevant console, its not going to stop selling just because it isn't new. So at that point, I guess why worry about releasing a racing game in the same year when its not even going to be the best year for Mario Kart World sales.

@FishyS
To me, gameplay is anything you actually control in the game.

Ok, that's a really excellent point. On the recent Japan September game sales list, Mario Kart World was number 1 but Mario Kart 8 was in the top 10 as well so even Mario Kart competes with Mario Kart 😆

I'm guessing you're not a fan of visual novels.

Regardless, there is certainly plenty of gameplay by any definition in Pokemon beyond just battle mechanics, especially in the more recent games.

@FishyS
Yea, I tried a couple of them and just couldn’t get into it.

So like, the collecting aspect of Pokemon games is borderline for me. I don’t really consider it something that the player actively does, if that makes any sense, because the capturing is typically part of the battle mechanics. And once it’s captured, it’s just… there? I guess you can look at it or whatever. But then the only time I see it again is if I…. use it in the battles.

So yea, just an insight into my thinking.

@rallydefault That's a valid opinion, it's just not how I personally play Pokemon. And I don't think I am that rare even if I am in a minority. It's also interesting that Arceus (and I assume/hope also Z-A) largely seperated collection from battling. Or rather it gave you two options of how to collect, one not involving battling.

As for after you collect... there is constantly re-organizing your collection, making different teams, feeding them items (or sandwiches...), changing their skills, deciding on names... taking them out and playing with them or watching them nap in silly ways (one of the best parts of S/V). I waste far too much time in my Pokemon menus in Pokemon games 😆

Anyways, we have now gotten infinitely off topic.

To pretend I am on the thread topic...I kind of agree with Skywake that Z-A doesn't feel like a game made for Switch 2, but it also doesn't feel like a game that will be as good on Switch 1, so I think it definitely counts towards the Switch 2 lineup. If nothing else, some people playing on Switch 1 will be jealous of the Switch 2 version.

@FishyS
I think, at least eventually, that these dual platform games like Metroid and Pokemon will end up selling more in Switch 2.

I think Metroid will sell more on Switch 2 right out the gate, but I think Pokemon will do much bigger numbers on Switch 1 for quite some time.

I've said this before but just to repeat, why should any of us care about the market as a whole? As long as the platform sells well enough that it gets supported by developers the sales don't matter. And at this point all of the evidence suggests that the Switch 2 is not struggling to sell. Really, the question of whether or not the platform has enough games is a personal one. Depending on what other platforms you have, when you buy it, what games you're into etc

For me? The Switch 2 Edition Tears of the Kingdom was a free remaster, because I had already paid for the year of NSO+ before the Switch 2 was even announced. To me Metroid Prime 4 is a Switch 2 game because I already have a Switch 2. To me Hades 2, which just released as a timed Switch 2 console exclusive, is not a new game because I already had it on Early Access. Street Fighter 6 is not new because I already had it on Steam

And the same equation applied to the Wii U. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was basically just a "Switch Edition" in the same way that TotK is on Switch 2. And I picked it up because, you know, portable Mario Kart. But unlike TotK it wasn't included in a sub I had already paid for, it was a full retail release. Breath of the Wild, like Prime 4, I consider to be a new game for the new platform. To me Doom did not count because I already had it on Steam, but all of the Jackbox Party Pack games did as did Thumper and Axiom Verge

What matters to a platform is that there are games that are playable. And there's plenty on the Switch 2 that is playable given how short a time it has been out. The more games that are playable and the better state they exist in? The more options people have on the platform? The more games there are for end users. I don't think the Switch 2 is lacking on this metric

I look at it this way, I love my Steam Deck. I think it's a great little device. Admittedly I mostly play Balatro on it (as does everyone who has a Deck) but I also played a fair chunk of Hades 2, Slay the Spire, Halo, Jedi Fallen Order, Hotshot Racing, Squadrons, Ori. It also makes a nice little emulation device for Wii U and Wii, controller config permitting, although I've been meaning to get a sensor-bar setup which would fix some of that. But by your metric none of this counts, the Deck is a horrible device, it has no exclusives.... and to me that just doesn't track

@skywake You are missing a fundamental but major difference between Steam Deck and Switch 2: The former is an open platform, the latter is closed.

On the Deck I am not limited to play only what’s on Steam, or approved for the Deck by Valve. I can and have installed Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and endless indie games from Itch on it. I have installed games on Steam that Valve haven’t approved and applied community fixes.

On Switch 2 we are limited to what is published specifically for it and the Switch 1, and then we’re also limited in how we get to play it. We don’t get to enjoy Animal Crossing in 1080p handheld until Nintendo lets us.

This means that expectations are higher for Nintendo to provide us more options in games that properly use the hardware because we literally have no alternative.

I’ve always been fine with that tradeoff in exchange for the “it just works” aspect of their consoles, and because they provided unique and great experiences. But with S2 a lot of S1 games don’t work, some work poorly, and the selection of unique experiences is poorer, based not just on what’s out but what meagre offerings were displayed in their last major Nintendo Direct.

Oh! on the comparisons of Steamdeck and Switch 2, you reminded me of what I did yesterday just for fun. (This is literally just for fun, and something I found a bit funny considering forum, chat, and facebook groups behavior)

So I went and check on local shopee, this is just shopee and just local, so it's very localized to my country and on that platform. Nonetheless, I picked that because it often has promotions and vouchers that help to cut prices. Also that BOTH of the consoles aren't sold officially so the stores imported it themselves situation.

So on that platform, I checked the sales from various sellers for Steamdeck (both LCD and OLED combined) and Switch 2 (all regions from HK to SEA, and both bundle and non bundle). These versions can't really be separated since they are all usually in the same product page.

Anyway, the end result is that Steamdeck sold around 202 in total, while Switch 2 itself sold around 800-900 in total.

Both might be more, but this is still kinda funny difference to me since it's by an order of magnitude. ESPECIALLY since the local group was really filled with people who screamed at how Switch 2 is too expensive, how the games are expensive and that steamdeck is so much more worth it (which is all true, since steam games tended to be cheaper within our region especially with the indies).

So yeah, just a little statistic I found funny about it, because I'm not sure why.