Topic: Are Nintendo slacking on the graphics front?

You know gamers can't be taken seriously when they complan about lack of graphics work (which is just a matter of money anyway) but never about lack of game design work. A big budget blockbuster game can have the blandest and most uncreative game design ever and it still can be considered as a masterpiece. That's why videogame can't be considered as an art. It's just a market. Quality is directly correlated to budget development and marketing and nothing else.

@Zuljaras I was hoping switch 2 pro but God knows if my digital library will be back compatible or will I have to wait for drip release ports.

@glaemay I don't think that's fair. I absolutely love Nintendo's gameplay for the most part. But coming from an Xbox games on this system are so far behind. I absolutely hated red dead redemption even though it was stunning. Why can't I have both a good game and great graphics. People like to compare Nintendo to Disney. Could you imagine Pixar just releasing their movies with 10 year old CGI graphics and then saying well the story is so epic it makes up for it. That's insane. Rather Pixar gives us the best of both worlds. I really wish Nintendo would do a little of that. I don't want photo realistic worlds, I want my Nintendo worlds which are supposed to be colourful and cheery to run as well as they should.

I'm not sure if Pixar is an apt comparison. Pixar is particularly known for using cutting edge CG, so yes it would be odd for them to stop. Nintendo is not known for graphics. I think a better comparison would be Studio Ghibli.

I dunno, I get it. Nintendo consoles do not perform as well graphically as others but it's just not their market. I wish I only needed one device to play all the games I wanted but alas.

They've been slacking on the graphics front but they make up for it by having games with unique art styles and visual presentation in general that mask most of if not all the graphical oddities in their games, which has been especially true for the large majority of their first party Switch lineup like Odyssey and Xenoblade 2 (kind of it still looks like a muddy mess in handheld mode)

If you were a casual gamer, and you upgraded from a 3DS to a Switch, I'd say Nintendo has done an excellent job of producing graphically pleasing games for their little platform.

They're certainly slacking on the game announcements front.

@Magician if you came from a Wii or a 3DS background the switch is a massive jump. That said for those of us who came from a WII U the switch is a lateral step. It's great if you play portable but for people like myself who basically only play docked it is a bit lacking. I'm sure a dedicated docked only pro model could get these 900p games to 1080p which is basically all I am asking for.

This is the right answer. Great art design that fits the gameplay will always age better than games that are nothing more than a technological showcase.

I had the Wii at the end of its lifecycle and I was pretty blown away with the WiiU.

As far as the Switch, I think a lot of it is just how fast technology is moving. It was still behind the Xbox & PS4. And now they are upping their game again. So in that sense the Switch feels dated, especially with load times.

But as far as graphics, especially since I am a casual gamer.... and have a preference for handhelds dating back to the Gameboy, I am still quite impressed with the Switch. There’s several ports that are very high quality and Nintendo just knows how to work it’s magic on its own hardware. So, I am generally content with the graphics and performance of the system

I think people have a strange way of defining casual gamer. If I am correct Nintendo sells more games per system than either PlayStation and or Microsoft. Combine that with the fact Nintendo rarely discounts their games and you end up with casual fans spending the most amount of money. Therefore I wouldn't call them casual fans. Perhaps they are less focused on graphics but many Nintendo fans are super hardcore in their support of Nintendo. That's the complete opposite of casual.

I don't really care with graphics as long not too choppy, have stable fps, cartoonish graphics oriented then i will be satisfied.
I definitely adore cute cartoonish graphics over than OMG HD realistic graphics.
I will barf and felt disgust over the graphics like FF XV / FF VII Remake / 3rd party AAA Western games.

Count me in as one of the gamers who doesn't place graphics as the top priority. Gameplay means the most

I think part of it is just weird timing in terms of...how things have gone with Nintendo games. Mario Kart 8, on Wii U, was almost designed to be the most impressive looking Nintendo game ever. And while it is also 60 FPS, it was still comparatively easy to pull off when you're only making race tracks (including not originally having battle maps). Those tracks are pretty much the entirety of Mario Kart 8's environment assets as of its original release, thus there's not much they need to work with compared to big adventures, so they could polish and perfect each model, each environment to a ridiculous degree. This Switch port came out in 2017, along with the 3D Mario also trying to impress in that regard, and the giant open world games where the limitations of the system can be hidden to some extent by art styles not often seen in big budget open world games like this.

But arguably the 2 biggest Nintendo games of last year, Pokemon and Three Houses, did not have the people you get for super impressive graphics. The FE team does not normally make the environments you see in that game, so they brought in the team that could, the Warriors guys. I mean...you've seen Hyrule Warriors. Those environments aren't the most impressive, even for Wii U. Whereas, the Pokemon team is indeed the Pokemon team and that specific Pokemon team had the same problem that most devs have where they can't master this HD stuff on their first try (which Nintendo SHOULD HAVE LEARNED FROM THE TRANSITION FROM WII TO WII U, BUT NO ONE TOLD GAME FREAK AHEAD OF TIME?!). So that's that game. Oh and Mario Maker is of course mostly old assets or stuff made to look like 3D World at the latest.

LOL they've been slacking in the graphics department since the Wii. When switch 2 comes out they'll at least be on par with PS4 but don't expect PS5 levels of graphics until at least the next two Nintendo systems. Oh well If you're looking for bleeding edge graphics why aren't you part of the PC master race?

Nintendo has done just fine with their first party software with every main system they've released. Every game made by them looks amazing on whatever console it comes to.

I would argue it probably is still the best-looking Nintendo game so far. I only didn't mention it because it's a Wii U port.

I don't think it's ever the top priority. In action and platformer type games, gameplay is primary. In RPGs, story and characters are primary.
But graphics is a consistent 2nd or 3rd priority across all genres.

@sixrings Nintendo is not lke Pixar at all. Pixar always reuse the same formula of story telling. A character getting out his safe space to go on an initiatory journey and maturing. It's like their movies have been written by an algorithm. Nintendo don't do that in the game design field. Their games are directed by game designers. And their work is to find new game mechanics to implement in their games. They always take the risk to ruin Mario or Zelda with new formula or new game mechanics. Nintendo is one of the last big studio who treats videogame with respect as a creative art. But these days the most praised games are big money graphics with no creative work in game design and bland gameplay made by business suits and algorithm made to be liked by everyone. Nintendo games are always hit or miss since the nes, they don't want to be like those AAA companies who make safe games because they cost too much to make and they can't take the risk to have creative game design.

@glaemay It's been said if you break down all stories ever told they amount to 7 different variations, in any case good writing and story telling is far more than just a simplification of the plot.

@glaemay because your basically describing the format of a heros journey?

Nintendo is a different kind of company,
No they aren’t slacking in graphics they do it there way, they know for most Nintendo gamers gameplay is far more important then graphics are.
At example look how good paper Mario or yoshi woolly world look.
No don’t compare them with other companies the way Nintendo does it is fine!