Topic: Nintendo Switch 2

@Ryu_Niiyama
BTW, given your affinity for PC, have you explored mouse mode for NSW2 to the extent I have? I bet if you got a good peripheral and firm portable lap mousepad or beanbag weighted armrest mousepad you could enjoy games like Civilization VII just as much as PC. Idk if that game is your jam, it was just an example.

@CJD87
Sorry for so many repeated posts. But a lot was said to reply to.

We've reached a point where technology has outstripped storage medium. You simply cannot have a portable, miniature console that plays these 50-70GB AAA games requiring extremely fast data streaming but also have a cheap, cost effective storage medium capable of sufficient read speeds to the extent the performance isn't compromised.

PSP tried keeping discs and it didnt work out well. Cartridges are the ONLY solution and they're not only expensive as all heck, they're still not fast enough for some games even despite the exorbitant cost. Sure, they could make carts as fast if not faster than mSD Express but the cart would cost half the price of the game itself!

Its just a painful fact of reality that games have outgrown physical media. They just have. Either we stay stuck in the stone age of PS3 era graphics and load times for the sake of having plastic tat on a shelf, or we accept that gaming has outgrown physical media and its unfortunately a relic of a bygone era.

Now.

Having said that, I DO think a reasonable compromise would be to use cheap NSW1 carts to store the game and have the system install off the cart, then play as a digital game when the cart is inserted. Essentially game key carts BUT where the game is copied from the cart as opposed to being downloaded. I think that would think satisfy physical collectors because they could then yeah install the game regardless of internet but it would retain all the advantages of high speed data transfer being installed to the system.

But, i also think it's time Nintendo gamers. Take a moment to really ponder and reflect upon whether physical media is really all that it's cracked up to be. How many games in your collection are complete, bug free editions requiring zero patches or updates or DLC off the cart? 1-2% at most? The versions we get on carts aren't worth playing anyways, because they're usually broken pieces of crap. It's the day 1 updates and post release fixes that make the game worth owning. Who cares about preserving a game on a cart if it's a garbage version anyways?

Im buying physical on NSW2 but ONLY for games on cart. Which is terrific for me? Because it means it's a lot cheaper to collect for this system. I only own 9 physical games, with Yooka-Laylee, Mortal Kombat and Sonic Racing on pre-order. So 12 total after that.

But I own several dozen digital NSW2 games. Street Fighter 6. It's still getting more seasons of characters. So even if it was on cart it would still be missing tons of content. Sagat just released. Speaking of which, it's such a ripoff for those passes- $40 for 4 characters and if you want the extra costumes (like the original M Bison costume) its a $60 pass... PER SEASON!!! So even the $60 version doesnt contain the $60 pass content for seasons 1-2, only the $40 character pass content. Meaning, I would have to spend an additional $180 to get all tbe characters, stages and costumes up through season 3 which just began with Sagat. I'm just going to wait until they're done with the game, and they release an ultimate version that has all the content, and I'll buy that. Until then the $60 version is good enough for me.

But ya. Handheld gaming, if you want AAA console experiences, simply can't exist with the old technologies used in eras past. Games require ssd speeds nowadays (or at the VERY least microSD express speeds) which means digital. Not to mention the size of the games themselves makes physical media a non-viable option nowadays.

I know that's really hard for some people to accept and believe me, i really struggled with this back when I was all physical. I was so angry when games would require downloads, and I found myself constantly miserable and and angry all the time. When games would get announced, it should have been exciting and a time for celebration, I would be pissing and moaning, sulking in my corner about how unfair it is. And then one day, I realized if you can't beat em, join em. I embraced digital wholeheartedly with both arms and i have to say, I've never been happier ever since.

@JaxonH I mean I’d sign it but I lost a bit of love for this site years ago but especially noticed a difference from when Tom Whitehead stepped down as editor (hence why I am not in the forums as much and try to just post one liners or comments that are (imo) closed enough not to invite replies.) So I don’t think an open letter will do anything but I’m willing to sign in solidarity. I simply read less reviews and look for let’s plays online. (as a person that digests information best via reading that sucks but it is what it is)

To answer your question: currently no. My apartment is mostly boxes still (I’m cooking out of my rice cooker only because I am still looking for my pots lol) so I haven’t done much switch 2 wise than hook it up to a monitor to play. (TVs are still in boxes) It’s gonna be months before I’m unpacked (and I don’t know what has to be replaced yet from my not so great movers). That being said I have a lap station that I use for my PC when everything is hooked up, so I intend on leveraging mouse mode eventually. Since I knew I was moving, I have not really bought much for the Switch 2 as I have to have my den set up first so I know where items will go or it will drive me nuts. I do wanna try Civ (but more interested in Nobunaga’s ambition) on switch 2 and am quite excited for mouse mode but simply am not set up yet. Also in a cert run so will be gaming less and less for the next 6 or so months.

Edit: I am pretty much pro digital at this point. I know while you got into gaming later you have a large collection but I’ve been maintaining mine for 37 years and it is exhausting. Moving is either back breaking, time consuming or expensive as heck. I’m literally willing to rebuy enhanced switch games digitally on switch 2 if it doesn’t mean I have to look for a widdle cartridge. I am enjoying my Auntie/middle aged lady era. Bring on 40.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I actually sold 400 Switch games, all my Vita, PS4, PS5, 360, X1 and XSX games as well as my Vita for $8,000.

I could have made way more selling individually on ebay, but who wants to make six hundred individual listings and pay for shipping and deal with people who need returns and sending the wrong item accidentally.So having to refund them and pay for the return shipping...

My shelf for switch games is less than half the size it used to be. I only kept first party, Capcom, Square Enix, Sega and Atlus, Cave Shmups and Toaplan Coll. 1+2, and a variety of my faves like indies and what have you. I realize nobody cares and I'm going to die eventually- God willing even if He blesses me with another thirty years, and after that happens, this stuff will just be yeah, auctioned off or end up in a salvation army somewhere. I was born into this world with nothing, and I'm nothing. I'm going to leave with nothing. So I'm starting to become a lot less attached to physical things in this world. And putting my focus on building up real treasure in heaven where it doesnt corrode or rust. And by building up treasure in heaven I mean by doing good works and acts of kindness and love that will stand the test of fire rather than acts of selfishness and materialistic gain.

That's not to say, I have abandoned everything and am moving to Tibet to become a monk lol, i just don't feel that obsessive compulsion for materialistic tat that I once had.

I'm at a place now where I like to buy things that are practical that I will actually use. Like the portable battery- that solves a real issue, and it's something that I will actually get use from. Ya know?

edit
Tell me this isn't the most pimped out NSW2 you've ever seen...

Magnetic battery, magnetic rail attachments that serve as NSW1 joycon adapters, Mobapad M6 HD for chief ergonomics, HD Rumble and D-pad, can just pull off and use wirelessly as split joycon with rail attachments still on them, armrest mousepad with new mouse peripheral, firm mousepad which has a white grip surface on the bottom so you can flip it to use as a sturdy, non-slip stand for tabletop...

This is how we Switch gamers roll. To all my NSW2 kings out there, throw your hands up! Let these PC master racists (maybe not a good wording lol? PC master race-ERS... then again if the shoe fits..), these Playstation trolly travelers, these Xbox.... well, Im not sure there's any Xbox enthusiasts left but if there are, let them know too: this is how us trybrid gamers roll. We don't need to drop $1,000 on hardware to boast about 4 more frames than the next guy. Give us a nice portable gaming device, and we'll trick that puppy out so hard it'll be seeing double vision. All for a pittance.

• Switch joycon adapters: $10
• Mobapad M6 HD: $50
• Portable Magnetic Battery: $70 (Amazon has ones for $30, I just cant vouch for how strong the magnet holds)
• Mouse peripheral: $10
• Portable mousepad: $10
• Jsaux Steamdeck Case: $20
• Disassembled NSW1 grip (wings removed so Mobapad M6 HD can attach): free
• Extra AC Adapter: $20
• Game Cartridge mSD EX storage: $10

Total cost = $200 and that's the DELUXO pimp-my-hybrid option. Now, if you're an absolute madman like I am you'll also buy x2 1TB microSD Express cards, one for NSW2 games kept inserted and the 2nd as a spare stored in the fake cartridge storage slot with all your NSW1 games you'd prefer to play on NSW2. But that's only for the absolute mad men like myself. For most people... that won't apply.

This fits in your cartridge slot and can store a 2nd mSD EX. One for NSW2 games and the spare in here for NSW1 games!

@JaxonH Thanks mate, I can tell how passionate you are in the content and wording of your posts - appreciate the time taken to scribe them!

Yeh, we all should have hopefully known what we were signing up to with Switch2 - in terms of performance, porting etc etc. Outlaws being a recent 'shining star' is such a great benchmark set for other ports, and it remarkably seems that this game is having some kind of renaissance via Switch2.... rising from the ashes and clawing back the initial poor performance of sales. I think if Outlaws continues to sell well, this might well pave the way for other developers to look at Switch2 as a real cash cow for ports that otherwise might not have been deemed justified.

Looking forward to the direct later

@CJD87
Do you still have a NSW1 even though you've upgraded and are now playing on NSW2?

If you do and it's a v2 or better yet, OLED, i highly recommend dropping a franklin to get it chipped.

Reason bing, there's still a lot of games that are only releasing on NSW1, not getting NSW2 versions. And while we can certainly play them via BC, the problem is a lot of times the handheld mode is is capped with a maximum resolution of 540p. Or framerate is capped at 30fps.

With a chipped OLED you can output docked image on the handheld screen (and since docked image is usually 720p at the bare minimum), that means getting full native resolution in handheld mode. Plus, there is a feature that lets you override the maximum frame rate and, provided, it's not too demanding for the system you can set to 60fps also. Typically you can do one or the other- either output 720p-1080p docked image in handheld but keep framerate the same (though you can at least overclock it to ensure it remains stable), OR keep the handheld resolution and increase to 60fps. It really depends on the game. But a lot of times I have found the docked image isn't much better but it takes a ton of overclocking to do it, which means you have no hope of 60fps. In which case you may as well just output the normal handheld resolution and crank it to 60fps.

Many games, we'll actually be best played on NSW2, because it's so much more powerful, it's able to get 60fps when even the highest overclocking cant on NSW1 OLED (Monster Hunter Stories 2 for example- I can get it 50-55fps but that's pushing the limits of overheating, the system in handheld mode).

But there are a a good number of games that will actually look and play better on a chipped OLED simply because you can get that 720p in handheld mode. So not only do you get a better experience, but for every game that plays better that way, that's one less game taking up precious space on your NSW2 mSD EX card.

Borderlands 2, I can run 720p 60fp (via overriding the 30fps cap and overclocking) on my OLED. so why would I waste space downloading it on NSW2? But games like Bayonetta 3 can go either way. 720p 60fps locked on either system. I chose NSW2 just because it's a bigger screen and I like it more.

But like Romancing Saga 2. The NSW2 version increases the resolution and frame rate to 60fps. But I can output docked 720p image in handheld and overclock for 60fps. It looks and runs terrific, and if I play it on NSW1 OLED I can save 25GB archiving the NSW2 Edition.

I think it's a really good investment. Particularly, because that there's only so many games you can fit on a 1TB mSD EX so every game that you can output 720p handheld and get stable 30fps or even 60fps on a chipped OLED, that's a lot of space that you're saving, and you can use a normal mSD also.

Immortals Fenyx Rising looks OK on NSW2. But handheld is capped at 540p. On NSW1 OLED I get 720p and stable 30fps. So it's simply a better experience.

For the life of me, I do not understand why nintendo did not program NSW2 to output all BC games in docked mode, regardless of being in handheld or on the TV. Ah well.

I'm just making a pitch fur the viability of keeping a chipped NSW1 around.

Jsaux grips arrived. Have to buy the "shell case" which comes with them ($27 but there's a $20 option without front lid cover- that's the one I bought since I don't care about the case anyways).

I think these grips are amazing. Granted, there still isn't a d-pad or rear grip buttons, but that's okay. These feel amazing and yet dont make the Switch 2 super ultra wide like the Mobapad M6 HD with attachment does.

Highly, highly recommend!

@JaxonH Ah I sold my SWOLED for a Steamdeck a while ago, then sold my deck to finance my Sw2… no regrets!

I do miss the Steam sales though, software pricing was insane

Appreciate the tips though

@CJD87
Here's another tip:

Buy a set of Vouchers for $99.99 and use them on Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends Z-A, then buy the $9.99 upgrades for each of them, effectively rendering them as $60 NSW2 games!

Not to mention if you bought that $120 eShop credit at gcx.raise you'd have spent $108 at most (that's with the standard 10% off but 3rd party sellers often have eShop credit for 12-14% off).

That means you get Metroid and Pokémon NSW2 Editions for $54 each!

@JaxonH that’s not a bad shout at all…. Although tbh I’m not sold on Z-A, despite enjoying LA!

Got Silksong to polish off, just nearing the end of Act1. Worst boss for me so far was Savage Beastfly, but I foolishly did about 50 attempts before realising I was in need of a few upgrades first. The 2 nerfed bosses weren’t much trouble at all, it was Widow who caused me the most grief!

I’ll probably jump on Hades 2 come the end of this month and play that concurrently with FF Tactics I think

Funnily enough the game i am most excited to get is Outlaws(!) but I need to keep reminding myself the Ubi sale is always an inevitability

Switch2 has a pretty great lineup into February- I honestly wasn’t expecting Resi9 either. I assumed 7/8 would be quick wins as they were already cloud-based on Sw1… but 9 was a very pleasant surprise.

What did you make of the direct? I actually thought it was OK enough, ‘something for everyone’ I guess…. Although it never ceases to amaze me how many times Nintendo can repackage the same games and sell as a shiny new package ha!

Third party has me much more pumped up these days, maybe my tastes have changed

@JaxonH Oh wow. Kinda glad I didn’t know you were doing that or I would have asked to peruse the sale and I don't need more stuff. I’ll wait until either my eye craps out or I am actually elderly to offload mine but nice to know if there was a crisis I could get a decent chunk of change. My hope is to get old enough that I just give it away.

Always good to work on being a good person especially in these times. I’m gonna be in this apartment till I leave the state unless something major happens but I’ve maintained my collection while homeless so I will do what I must.

Dang. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed after that Direct.

It really feels like they're loading the next couple months pretty heavily... like, more than usual?

I didn't expect the Hyrule Warriors game to come out until January or February, and it's in the same month as Air Riders, right? That seems like 2 relatively big games right on top of each other.

And then Pokemon in the same month as Mario Galaxy 2... another 2 big games in the same month.

And then Prime 4 just a few days into December... it's a bit nuts, really.

@rallydefault Yeah, they're packing things in more at the end of this year than I expected. But I'm also surprised Mario Wonder DLC is so far off.

So many expensive 2025 games though... I'll have to decide which to get.

@FishyS
Yea, it's gonna be a ton of money, especially during the holidays.

I know I wanna get the Hyrule Warriors game at launch as well as Prime 4. And Air Riders, if I'm being honest with myself. Ugh... and the Galaxy collection. lol

The only one I'm not that into is the Pokemon game. I'm not the biggest Pokemon fan, but everyone who's played it says it's really fun, and the battle system is more appealing to me now that it's more action-oriented. Maybe I'll just get a used copy of Arceus instead haha

Random thought: I don't have a Switch 2 yet, I don't like some of Nintendo's pricing choices (this year and in past years tbh). I watch the Direct and have no idea why people are so down on Nintendo. I haven't seen the response to the Direct, but this is just the vibe as of late.

Maybe the rest of the AAA game industry lowered my standards, but their games are obviously, mostly, as great as ever. If you like Nintendo games the past 30 years, they are still generally making quality Nintendo games. I don't see reason to believe otherwise.

It's so frustrating when Nintendo deserves critique but a lot of it is just so...lacking in credibility. Most people still like the majority of Nintendo games, outside of weird issues last gen with sports games and Pokemon (the former of which they might be fixing finally?), nothing is new. I watch this Direct and Nintendo is exactly the same they've been since 2017, which is only moderately different than the era before it or the era before that.

@kkslider5552000 It is genuinely so stupid. Like, I have my complaints with Nintendo. I think their pricing for a lot of stuff is pretty dumb. But the excessive amounts of hate from some people is just wild. I have seen people say with 100% seriousness that Nintendo is "The most evil/greedy game studio", which might be the most horrifically stupid and uninformed take I've seen in some time.

It's so obviously dishonest or stupid or both. Like if only Nintendo's price increases were the worst thing to come out of the game industry, that'd be great. I'd be happier about major game companies if that were true.

@kkslider5552000
I'm sure some people on these forums see me as almost some kind of Nintendo plant or something at this point given how I always seem to end up "defending" them. But I can honestly say that there are certainly things they do I'm not at all happy with. They a business, they primarily exist to extract money from me

But the criticisms people have been leveling around the Switch 2 are just crazy town. People with a straight face saying that that Direct we just saw was the worst Direct they'd ever seen. Or that the existence of a competent third party ports is somehow a negative for the platform. Or that there's nothing on Switch 2 worth it. Or that Switch 2 being not immediately compatible with third party docks out of the gate is the worst thing in the world even though it includes a compatible dock in the box

I mean, if these are the takes people are delivering? It's kinda hard NOT to to seem like a Nintendo defender. These are just bad takes. And it's not even Switch 2 either, remember the freakout last year over Nintendo using emulators in their museum? What was that? I would be far more on-board with the critical comments of Nintendo if they made a bit more sense. Like when they DMCA fan projects or, you know, the continued poor quality of Pokemon releases

@skywake
Yea, this has been a wild ride since June lol

There’s nothing you can do for people who are saying stuff like that.

What I find myself wondering more is: where did this all spring from? Was it really “just” the price of the console and MK World? If the console was 350 and MK World was 60, would the internet be saying the Switch 2 is the best console ever? Would a Fall lineup of new Kirby, Metroid, Zelda, Pokémon magically become awesome if MK World hadn’t launched at 80 bucks?

Methinks the answer is (hilariously) YES.

@Azileron
At risk of summoning the Kracken by saying these words I would say that it's fair to tell people when the experience on one platform is compromised. But also, this is going to be far less common on Switch 2 than it was on Switch. Personally I was never interested in the "impossible ports", I play games to play games not to run a benchmark or to be impressed by some technical feat. So a port being impressive alone isn't enough

...... but I think to this point the ports on Switch 2 have been pretty solid. And I think it's much harder to go wrong picking them up on Switch 2 than it was on Switch