Topic: Nintendo Switch 2

same as the dictionary definition; of only average quality; not very good. Just something without all that extra care and polish that Nintendo usually include with all their major first party releases.

@FishyS

I too don't believe hyper realistic graphics are the be all and end all, I'm a sucker for a good sidescroller and some of the most fun I've ever had with some astounding visuals have all been found in good old indie games here's a few to whet your appetite..

Simply beautiful with no Ray-Tracing to be seen.

I simply can't wait to see what Nintendo will come up with for a new Mario or Zelda, hope it will be something more Artsy style with less hyper realism.

Looks like major game outlets will not have a Switch 2 in hand until launch day, effectively making day 1 reviews difficult for most outlets. Publishers are a bit miffed because it gives them less visibility when everyone else will be playing Mario Kart by default.

We will see if this turns out true, hard to believe Nintendo wouldn't at least have got one in the hands of IGN...

https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/major-media-outlets-will-no...

"Some media have even been warned they will not have their machine until launch day. Nintendo has told journalists that this is due to the requirement of a significant day one patch.

"It's really frustrating," said one editor. "We will need to cover Switch 2 while also working across Summer Game Fest. How are we supposed to do that?"

Another added: "Anyone who can get hold of a console early from a dodgy retailer will have a head start in terms of coverage. I know the console will be sold out at launch, but what about all the other games?"

• Game Business Article

"Nintendo is holding some press preview events for Mario Kart World, which will give journalists and critics an extended play of the upcoming video game. But the reality is that there will be very few, if any, reviews of Switch 2 or its games until after the machine has come out.

The situation has stunned some of the third-party publishers planning Switch 2 launch titles. Key third-party launch games include Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Projekt Red, Split Fiction from EA, Civilisation VII from 2K Games, Hitman World of Assassination from IO Interactive, Street Fighter 6 from Capcom and Sonic X Shadows Generations from Sega.

One PR boss told me they feel they have "something special" for the launch of Switch 2 for those that "want something else in addition to Mario Kart".

"But the lack of independent critical validation is going to make it very hard for us. Maybe we would have been better off waiting a few weeks."

• Game Business Article

It is unfortunate this is happening around Summer Games Fest, Game publications are already dwindling and overworked for little pay. Not gonna help them or visibility for publishers, especially for any game that isn't Cyberpunk or Mario Kart.

It's not a huge deal since everybody who wants a Switch 2 and pre-ordered are likely already locked in mentally, but it'd be nice to know we'll get an overview from some publications. Still lots of thing we don't know about Switch 2, like did Nintendo improve the crappy range of the joycons? Is backward compatible games naturally enhanced by the system in some way, or is it stuck within whatever issues the original versions had without a patch?

Hope we get answers ^_^

I think part of the situation is because Nintendo won’t have enough stock to give to journalists and sell to customers. It’s one or the other. Also I imagine big gaming sites will get something, maybe just one unit.

Reviewing hardware strikes me as.....odd, especially on launch day.

@Haruki_NLI To be honest, if you are going to buy a Nintendo console at launch, you are going to buy a Nintendo console as soon as you are able to. Same with PlayStation or even Xbox. Casuals probably don’t even look this stuff up so it’s really not aimed at them.

@FragRed @Haruki_NLI I think hardware reviews would be very useful in Switch 2's case especially because of backwards compatibility. Nintendo's handling it more like how PS5 handled PS4 games and that came with unfortunate consequences. As part of the review process for PS5, there was coverage of how backwards compatibility was handled which revealed some problems like the infamous ones about Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Here's Push Square's article on it:

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/11/hands_on_ps5_backward...

There's other hardware things too like whether Nintendo fixed Joy-Con drift.

@Grumblevolcano How would you know if they fixed drift in a review period?

@Quantumz00 My question is where Digital Foundry got data for a console's specs that isn't even out yet. They don't have a unit. That one guy who made a video did, but even then- I'm pretty sure he didn't show all of the internals of the console?

@Haruki_NLI If it worked fine for the review period, you wouldn't but if it started drifting during the review period you'd be able to tell the situation is worse than it was with Switch 1.

Hardware reviews being ready for launch is nice on paper, but in reality... how many people are really gonna get one at launch without having already preordered? Some, but probably a laughably low percentage of the overall pie. So... who is really looking to a review to inform their buying purchase of... a thing they can't buy? At that point, it's not a big deal if the review comes out a few days later.

I think journalists (although I highly doubt the biggest outlets won't have a Switch 2) having to play it alongside the public and experience it at the same time isn't the end of the world. And in this era of online play, it'll be nice to not have reviews of Mario Kart World with the disclaimer that they were either not able to play online or were only able to play against other journalists, and so the "online component" review will be coming at some point in the future. I hate that. It's like when they break movies into three parts just to make more money.

@rallydefault reviews are fun, but at launch it doesn’t matter at all to me. Console reviews are really just a snapshot in time, we know that the console is going to constantly change through updates. I kind of like that everyone will be getting the console at the same time.

@NeonPizza Yeah, someone's gonna be disappointed no matter what happens. Personally the system seems to be everything I could've wanted out of a Switch successor - the few things I'm not quite sold on actually are the more "gimmicky" things - the mouse functionality and GameChat, but I don't mind them being there. I do think overall Nintendo has gone with the best direction for this system, both in terms of my personal tastes, and what will please the most people.

Speaking of GameChat - I find the whole response to this and the memory useage to be quite funny, really. For years people were going on about Nintendo needing a proper integrated game chat, and when we finally get it...people either don't want it or don't care. Maybe it's too little too late (better alternatives exist, e.g. Discord), or maybe the Nintendo community generally just doesn't care too much about voice chat...but yeah, it's funny how things work out.

I mean i want it, I just don't want it in such a way it requires reserving 3gb out of only 12gb of ram. If it started with 16gb it'd be less of an issue. I also really don't care for it with the current tech where everyone's screens at the bottom runs at like 10fps. It's just not very attractive to watch and for me just ends up being distracting instead of compelling.

So for me it's more I just want the technology to improve before putting so many resources for a non-gaming function.

@Quantumz00 You aren't impressed by their amazing discovery of discord but worse 10 years late? 😝 Surely that's worth 25% of the ram.

@Grumblevolcano
They're not gonna magically be able to determine if drift is fixed by getting a hardware review unit. That's something that won't be known for several years when reports start coming in. When I say this I mean no disrespect, but I think that's a ridiculous reason given as to why we need a review.

@NeonPizza
Honestly I think it's just fanboys that are annoyed knowing Nintendo is gonna spank that a$$ all up and down the city block again. Literally everyone for the past 5 years has been screaming about how they want a more powerful Switch. Entire forum threads ranting about how Nintendo better not abandon the hybrid concept. They give us exactly what everyone has been demanding and then some. And now, suddenly, there's this subgroup of people complaining, like they wanted another Wii U? I'm sure they did. Because Nintendo wasn't a threat when they made consoles like the Wii U... so I'm sure they would have loved to see them repeat that mistake again. And the fact they're not irks them, because they know Switch has sold 152 million units in 8 years without a single price drop. And regardless of whether the successor is able to match its success, one thing is certain- it's going to outsell the PS5, and it's going to outsell the PS6, and it's going to outsell whatever console Xbox comes out with. And at 128 million active users the Nintendo fan base is now actually rivaling Steam active users. They're not there yet- Steam's user count of 132m is monthly vs annual, but I suspect their annual numbers aren't that much higher, otherwise they'd be reporting them.

So ya. It's good old fashioned haterade. It's even more idiotic when you consider the fact that there is still no other device on the market that does what Switch 2 does, asides from the original Switch but people are ready to move on from that. Acting as if the hybrid advantage is somehow not every bit a gamechanger today as it was in 2017 is just ignorance, willful or otherwise.

And let's not ignore the innovations we are receiving. When you create the perfect idealization of a console, you don't just throw it in the garbage in pursuit of change just for the sake of change. You only make drastic changes when drastic changes are required. And with the Switch about to break the all time record for consoles sold, only an idiot would argue a drastic change was required.

So if a drastic change isn't required, then what do you change? You change the things people complained about- seamless eShop without lag, new analog stick design, more sturdy unit that feels like "one solid device", fan on the dock to prevent warping, etc. You change things you think you can make better- magnetic joycon that will be way easier to remove and attach, larger side buttons and larger joycon so sideways joycon are more viable, improved HD rumble, a 1080p 120hz HDR screen with VRR, ssd-like speeds drastically reducing load times, rear grip buttons, frictionless analog sticks that people are genuinely impressed with, a freaking INTEGRATED MOUSE for the standard controller the system comes with... two of them in fact. PS4 added a touchpad on their controller and everyone raved about their "innovation". PS5 added trigger rumble and it was the best thing since sliced bread. And an SSD- props for that. And I don't mean to knock these innovations because I really do appreciate them, but my point is they'll add like one new feature, maybe 2 if you're really lucky, for the entire generation and the crowd goes wild. Nintendo adds a dozen and people complain they're not doing enough.

BTW
I just got this in the mail from Amazon. Mouse mode here I come.

No reviews at Switch 2 release will mean I won’t be able to judge what second game to get with the machine.

Sure, I’ll get Mario Kart. But I will want another. That’s where the reviews come in

@JaxonH nice. I couldn’t imagine liking mouse mode that much but this is the route to go. I will probably try it once but prefer standard controls.

@Dringo
That's a reasonable reason but that's a game review. People will be getting systems as early as 9 PM on the West Coast. And believe me when I say youtubers are going to have reviews up on launch day. Not full fledge reviews where they play the entire game. But they'll have played enough to make a good judgment call as to the quality of the product and whether or not it's worth your time and money. So I wouldn't worry about it.

NeonPizza, you brought up something that really is under discussed. Nintendo platforms were frequently home to fun discoveries or programs or fun music or Easter eggs, and you never knew what you'd get with your Nintendo platforms. Sure some of it was gimmicks, but I often think people criticize novelty too freely. There is value in a new experience, even if you don't want a thousand games designed in that fashion.

FlipNotes, the augmented reality cards, the 3d stuff with the puzzle pieces you could hunt down by encountering other people with 3ds... I loved that dumb stuff. I wish Nintendo would keep swinging for the fences with their systems like that. Switch 2 does seem rad, but is missing some of that unique Nintendo flavor no doubt. Hopefully they add it in over time.