Topic: Nintendo Switch 2

@NeonPizza I wouldn't even get near normal resident evil, much less VR resident evil. I've never owned a PSVR because I don't own a PlayStation, but I played a few games at a friend's house.

I'm reading the history now after commenting on it. I forgot actual VR devices were made in the 1960s.

@FishyS
The last time a flat horror game actually scared me(Putting aside jump scares which can still funk anybody up when the volume is loud enough) was Ju-On/The Grudge Back on Wii when I was about 28. But at nearly 42, RE7 even on a 65" feels like peanuts compared to experiencing it in VR. It's one thing to play it on a TV, but to be in that world. ya.

I'm not hardcore into VR just yet, but I bought PSVR1 back in 2019, PSVR2 at launch in 2023, than Quest 3 also at launch. Haven't messed wtih anything else, or PCVR just yet. But i plan on to. I need my stereoscopic 3D, best in class motion controls etc.

I gaurantee you if you experienced RE Village VR's 'VR' cutscenes on PSVR2 you'd be absolutely blown away. Even the great white shark encounter from PSVR World's 'Ocean Descent holds up really well minus the lower resolution, and screen door effect. Astro Bot RM has some wonderful moments in VR that are simply magical. I could go on and on.

I still get scared by rpgmaker horror games 😝

@FishyS
haha. Wish Flat horror could still scare me.
If anything Resident Evil 2 Remake(PS5 version, running on High frame rate mode, which runs at an inconsistent 80 - 120fps, or locked 120fps for PS5 Pro.) was a survival horror masterpiece. I couldn't shake the opressive haunting gloomy vibe of the tight corridored' police station and the nightmare-gauntlet that was the sewers...Good lordy I couldn't wait to get out of that place. lol Overall, RE2R Is so incredibly well done and perfectly encapsulates in modern form what classic RE should be. I even enjoyed RE2Remake even more than the original back in 98. The 1996 OG is still my favourite though, at least for it's time.

The only downside ultimately was that i pretty much knew were the story was heading since it's technically a remake. Plus the story itself is nowhear near as engaging, compelling, twisted or interesting compared to what we got in RE7, RE8, and probably RE9 which i still haven't touched yet, which in my eyes looks to be the most inetersting yet!

But ya, i rarely play flat games on my PS5...I only use it for PSVR2. My NS1 gets 95% of my gaming time. I'm a sucker for faux retro stuff. Bomb Chicken, Freddy Farmer, Shovel Knight, Donut Dodo, Super Cyborg, just to name a few. Mario Odyssey is pure magic, DOOM + DOOM II is fanfrikkintastic, DKC Tropical Freeze is ridicuously charming, and more.

@FishyS VR honestly just feels like the natural conclusion to gaming to the point. What distinguishes gaming as a medium is its interactivity and VR is the height of interactivity, it lets you interact with the game world exactly the same as you interact with anything IRL. So I can't see it ever going away for good, there's just too much inherent appeal to it that there's going to continue to be someone willing to take a stab at it until one of them succeeds. VR feels inevitable, it's just a matter of when.

When is probably when it's cheap enough, and doesn't demand a whole room/area for it. When you truly can just plop it on your face and play instead of having to do all the doodads that's also expensive I'm pretty sure.

Like, compared to every other thing, VR tend to be pretty expensive and demands space. Need at least a decent living room, and if you are in an apartment, probably has to kick out the table to play there methinks :v

Well, unless the VR is the one where you use controllers instead of moving around? But that's just... Okay tbh.

In the end i think VR is best as a very limited experience where you kinda go on an adventure stuff and the seller can truly customize the room. Did it once in Malaysia and it was awesome.

(Also the issue of some people wearing glasses, which makes wearing the headset way harder)

@Bolt_Strike

I predict some time in the earlier to mid 2030's. PSVR3 + PS6 - (With 3x the power of a base PS5 + PSSR3). That's an awesome plug in play VR Console solution using Valves 6ghz dongle for wireless connectivity. If PS6 launches in Nov 2027, we very well could get a PSVR3 some time before 2030 if the same 7 year gap applies like it did from PSVR1 to PSVR2. And I'm sure Sony will finally get it right this time, if they decide to go through with it. Steam Frame will be really nice, which i place on getting at launch for pcvr, but i doubt it's going to move the VR needle all that much, and the same goes for the incredible Pimax Dream Air which is 3 grand(Cad) and specifically designed for PCVR, which won't get VR into the main stream either no matter how amazing the experience is. Friction city! Quest 4 is the only headset on the horizon slated for maybe 2027 that has a shot.

If PSVR3 & Q4 adopt the meta Pheonex's tethered Puck solution, which wipes out the current major barrier > weight & headset/form factor, tricking down to just 110g light in the form of thick wrap around glasses. Maybe 2560x2560 per eye + SuperSampling, Advanced Pancake lenses that no longer require a sweet spot, Micro-OLED reserved for a secondary/higher end model etc. It's only going up from here. They'll have the form factor in the bag, and greater specs to match. I just hope we actually get some AAA hybrid titles instead of the rare scarce anomolie that rears it's head every now and then on occasion.

Nintendo most likely will not jump into VR any time soon, even if it's just an optional side accessory for NS3 until NS3 comes out by 2032/33. it's so out of the ways, I shouldn't even be thinking about it. Nintendo is chasing trends, if VR/MR is popular by that point what's stopping them frop adopting the tech and utlizing it for their arsenal of beloved franchises? Pokemon Snap VR, a 3rd person Mario Kart VR, Metroid Prime 5 VR, etc. It's the next proper evolution in gaming. VR makes everything better.

Switch 3 should be a super hybrid > TV, Handheld, Tabletop, VR and MR

Anyways, Pimax's Dream Air is now shipping, the Dream Air SE will be out soon, and Valves Steam Frame + Steam Machine should be arriving by Q2 this year. And next month Little Nightmare VR: Echoes, Microsoft Flight Simulator VR, and WRATH: Aeon of Ruin VR(Quake styled VR boomer shooter)are dropping for PSVR2. 😉

I don't think that really has anything to do with Platinum games not selling, since outside of one exception, they don't sell better on any other platforms to any other audiences. Instead, I think its because Platinum has a rep for making games that are:

1. Fairly short and small in scope
2. Quite hard

There just isn't a huge audience for games whose main sales pitch is "Its a small game, but you'll have to play through it a ton of times to make any headway with it, so that's all right". Instead, most people want their game to be either more substantial/longer, more accessible, or cheaper.

( And this remains a problem even when its not strictly true, as long as people still believe it to be the case. That a lot of long time Platinum fans talk up the company legacy as if high difficulty is a good thing, doesn't help with changing the market attitude. )

Space is a big one. I've bloodied myself multiple times playing VR and bumped into things many more.

@FishyS
Not true at all, unless you are playing room scale MR games on Quest 3 that actually demands that you walk around in your living space. I play most VR games sitting on my couch(perked at the middle-edge so I get that needed wiggle room to move my arms in any direction in my living room. As long as the coffee table isn't in the way

Also this shark from 2016's Ocean Descent VR is still too much for me to handle. I've only ever managed to complete it once.

Start it at 12:00 😉 The guy experiencing OD loves to scuba dive but even the great white in VR managed to rattle him up.lol

@NeonPizza I actually prefer the VR where you stand or move because they seem more interactive and also are significantly less likely to make me motion sick since it aligns movement and what you see better.

That said... I also managed to totally bloody myself just sitting on a couch by moving my arms quickly to the wrong spot 😆 One thing my occasional VR experiences have taught me is that I would be very bad at being blind.

I'm afraid we are very off topic for this thread. The only Switch 2 VR is virtual boy which... is not a great experience in most ways. If they add anything else it will likely be another very niche thing like they did with Switch 1.

@metaphysician
Perhaps, but Platinum titles aren't that short. They're longer than Resident Evil Requiem, and no more difficult.

Nier Automata was much longer with multiple playthroughs and admittedly was the one Platinum title that broke out. But I'm not convinced that was why.

I really do think it's because most gamers don't branch out beyond their comfort zones, even for highly acclaimed games (unless it's a massive hit and gets tons of media coverage, which Nier Automata did). Not saying that's just Nintendo fans- that's all gamers in general.

I actually think games like Bayonetta and Astral Chain are extremely accessible with multiple difficulty options. Though I suspect you are right about the belief of excessive difficulty, irrespective of whether that's actually the case.

Astral Chain and Wonderful 101 I can at least understand being more niche given their very unique combat approaches but, in the case of Bayonetta, it's pretty straight forward and difficulty options aside, can actually be beaten just button mashing and dodging at the right times, even if you end up with bronze or stone trophies instead of gold, platinum or pure platinum.

I encourage everyone with a Switch 2 to play Bayonetta 3. That game is freaking incredible, and the one issue it really had- poor handheld resolution and not holding a locked 60 at all times, is remedied on Switch 2. It's never been a better time to play.

@FishyS
Wario Land VB is classic. THE reason to go VB. Teleroboxer, Jack Bros and Mario Clash are pretty neat too. Still need to try out Mansion of Inssmouth and Space Squash whenever it eventually makes its way on to NSO VB.

Well, to be fair, there are a lot of games in just the categories of Nintendo 1st party, indie darlings, and well-recognized multiplats. You can be plenty comfortable going outside your comfort zone---trying genres and series you're not quite familiar with---and still easily be relatively confined to those three groups. Not everyone has the time or money to play all the great games available to play (sometimes I even get overwhelmed by thinking of the long list of games I still need to get to, and I barely even touch AAA multi-plats). You just can't expect everyone to be able to play everything, regardless of how good you think a niche IP is.

@UpsideDownRowlet
I don't expect everyone to play everything. Otherwise every single game would have 100m sales.

But there are clear trends that can be observed from objective sales data. Across all platforms. But since we're on a Nintendo site I'm referring to the trends seen among Nintendo consumers more broadly.

I think there's a pretty big difference between noting certain very highly acclaimed games struggling to break 1-2m sold, even among 1st party, and saying I think every single gamer should be buying every single game.

So Mochizuki is back on Bloomberg, Nintendo's favourite hit piece writer at this point.he claims Nintendo will produce 2m less Switch 2 systems this quarter due to slowing US demand. Down from 6m to 4m.

1: The quarter is over.
2: This assumes they intended to sell 23m units in 9 months which is...insane.
3: He states Nintendo is usually conservative with forecasts and haven't revised their targets upwards after Q3, which means sales must be slow. This ignores Nintendo has raised their forecasts 4 times after Q3 and lowered them 4 times after Q3, all since the Switch launched, and this was always to hit their target.

If they weren't going to hit it, they would have done it.

Then again, this guy has categorically been proven wrong on numerous points about this stuff, and given he works (somehow) for Bloomberg, his word is gospel to already fickle investors.

Wouldn't be shocked if we see the Nintendo IR account come out and refute it, like they've had to before, several times per story in fact.

I think we can take some of this slightly salted but we've had other reports of slow sales so there's likely something to it.

Software isn't driving hardware, for myriad reasons. A Nintendo Direct feels almost essential right now to get away from the narrative that Switch 2 doesn't have compelling reasons for ownership.

@Rahmus The reports of slow sales are interesting.

On one hand, didn't do well on Black Friday relative to PS5, but sold consistently well in line with other weeks around it. It's ahead of Switch like for like in the same time, and is on track to be the fastest selling system year 1.

People are conflating "this quarter" with "overall". It happened on Black Friday, people cried doom, then it topped the charts. Same thing here.

@Haruki_NLI Obviously the overall fiscal year will be selling more than their original 17 million target and even more than their updated 19 million target. It would be interesting to see that broken down by tegion. Did NA have fewer sales overall than the original target for that region or merely less than predicted that one quarter?

I feel like in the US at least there were some early sales which were partially because of fear of tariffs increasing prices. So those would have translated directly into those same people not buying them during the holidays when they 'usually' would have.

@Haruki_NLI it seems to me like the analysts have their eye out for sales info like hawks, and some like to latch onto any bit of information outside of the narrative that Switch 2 is selling well, either for personal reasons, or to spark engagement.

Just look at that comment about European sales being below expectations for the holiday period. People like to amplify that little detail while ignoring the bigger picture.