Switch Physical Collection - 1,251 games (as of April 24th, 2024)
Favorite Quote: "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies." -Edna St. Vincent Millay
Yea the "Nintendo has never chased power" argument makes me feel old because that really wasn't a thing until like... the Wii, really. And for me, the Wii happened when I was already grown and too cool for Nintendo consoles anymore lol The NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube were all firmly powerful consoles in comparison to their rivals at the time, and the earlier consoles were 100% locked in the Bit Wars with Sega and then Sony. So yea, it's weird when I hear people say that because for me, Nintendo has only lacked on power for the Wii and Wii U, and I guess now the Switch, though I give it a bit of slack because it's a hybrid console.
You could argue that things were different on the handheld side, though, as the GameBoy and DS were never as powerful as the GameGear or PS Vita/PSP. I would argue that Nintendo's handheld history is more indicative of its ability (or perhaps want) to just "do their own thing" regardless of power. I mean, how many crazy variants and accessories did the GameBoy line have that kept people engaged over its technically more powerful competition? And when the DS came out with those two screens it was really something nobody had seen before (aside from the Game and Watch one-offs, of course).
The N64 and GameCube certainly had competitive graphical capabilities for their time. It's just that Nintendo had to go shopping around to get it, and by the time the PS360 generation rolled around they'd run out of options and had comparatively little purchasing power.
I'd hardly see the NES and SNES as raw power machines though. Indeed they've got among the slowest CPUs of their respective generations and major architectural bottlenecks that further limit what you can do with that. Still, in a predominantly 2D era of sprite/scrolling games they were certainly adequate.
They weren't exactly chasing power in the handheld space either. The GameBoy was far and away the least powerful of the popular handhelds; it just won out on ergonomics, battery life and the quality of its games library. You could say much the same of the machines that followed right up until we get to the Switch.
Maybe it's wrong to say that they never chased power. It's just that whenever they did, it didn't really get them anywhere, and their biggest successes have tended to be with the machines where they put offering unique features first.
Nintendo don't chase power. They build consoles around gameplay. The N64 isn't a counter argument. It had a specific design for specific gameplay (even the controller was built around it) Sheesh. Some folk really sound like PC gamers lol.
I never drive faster than I can see. Besides, it's all in the reflexes.
On the topic of Nintendo and tech, I always remember the story of Game & Watch. They literally took the tech of calculator and turned into a gaming machine. Brilliant mad scientist stuff.
I’m beginning to think a simple tv version of the switch is next with dlss support. It gives Nintendo one more skew, which is cheap and can give some slight upgrades in resolution. That’s it. And then a switch 2 in 2023 which is soon enough.
Gaming has always been around gimmicks. Ever since the arcades. Sit down cabinets were gimmicks (not to mention the hydraulic ones!) Sprite scaling was a gimmick. It's only how cleverly those gimmicks can be used that makes or breaks them. Mode 7 on SNES is a graphical gimmick. It let Nintendo make fluid 3D sprite based racers. It also let folk make a massive Bowser sprite zoom out of the screen. Clever.
NES - The thing itself was a gimmick (taken for granted these days of cours, and kids probably don't see it as one!) But look at all the peripherals. Rob the Robot, Powerglove etc etc.
SNES - Mode 7. Shoulder Buttons
N64 - The thing was designed to make open 'worlds' (ok, today world is taken more literally!)
Gamecube - Being able to replicate the same model. See Rogue Squadron and Pikmin.
Wii - Motion control
Wii U - Touch screen and off TV play
Switch - Hybrid
None of the above went out of their way to chase raw power. They had a philosophy for gameplay and Nintendo uses tech that can be made to appeal to the public. Sony and Microsoft are turning consoles into PCs for babies which is all impressive...but doesn't capture my imagination. Nintendo make toys.
So I just don't see a successor to Switch not having it's own gimmick. Sure, it will integrate Switch somehow but they are having so much creative fun at Nintendo HQ, what with labo, ring fit, Mario Home Circuit, I can't help think thy will steer towards this. Toys to life is a brill concept (and I'm the first to say Amiibo,Skylanders etc didn't nail it) but the other stuff does. And while Sony, Xbox and PC try the damnedest to be first to standarise gaming, there is tons of opportunity in what Nintendo are doing (especially as they aren't in that race). And if an opportunity comes along that can close the gap in the meantime (like DLSS is the buzz these days) if it suits, I dare say they will use it.
@Grumblevolcano yes and no, because any third party title that you can stream on the smartphone that isn't on switch, is practically an exclusive to gamepass from the switch perspective.
If you want to play mass effect andromeda on the go for some reason, today that's practically an exclusive to gamepass.
No the library is getting very interesting, especially if you've never been on xbox.
And in 2021 Xcloud is coming to PC (non gaming pcs anyone?) and reportedly to IOS/mac via browser.
Granted microsoft doesn't have mario kart, zelda, animal crossing, pokemon...but they have minecraft.
In some more tech related forums on the web, where tech and gaming industry insiders and professionals interact ( resetera/discord) there seems to be an indication that the tegra mariko chip used in the switch is not more in production since a couple of months, or more, and that nintendo is now assembling the console from chips available from their inventory.
How big is this inventory is the question !
The consensus in these forums is also that the new switch will be using DLLS and therefore the new switch will be a considerable jump in comparison to the original switch and not just a mere revision, and this will be necessary just because to be used, the DLLS itself, needs a chip that will reach a certain computational power (1.3/1.5 Teraflops it seems) and therefore a new chip will be needed.
Respecting Nintendo´s own indication about a “family” of systems this new switch will be fully compatible with the original switch and the future 1st party games will run on both.
As for the timeframe: it seems Nintendo was planning for this September but the numerous global problems and shortages in the production of the CPUs in general could push the new Switch into the first third or even the first half of 2022!
There is a pandemic, and the release of a new model will have to deal with this reality and it also shows the difficulty companies are facing with supply issues.
@Baobab very interesting! I was taking for granted that a switch revision would replace the OG switch but would leave the switch lite market intact, but this rumor about the stock of Mariko chips ending puts this on a whole new perspective.
Also the fact that they've used existing SOCs to make the console, and not spend a ton engineering it, makes me question what they could use as a successor that already exists and incorporates the tensor cores needed for DLSS. 🤔
Pokemon Let's Go Diamond & Let's Go Pearl with new animations surely would require the additional horsepower, so it's a given we're getting the NEW Switch 4K this year.
@Mr-Fuggles777 Where are you getting that at? In NA there is no such thing as cheap Internet. Even with 20EU to ~40usd will not get you internet. So one has to be realistic when talking about cheap internet. ISP broadband in NA starts out closer to ~100 or more to get basic internet package. You don't just get internet by itself those companies force you to get packages that benefit them not you.
it could be that by the time 5G is actually broadly adopted, the switch might be near the end of its cycle. 🤷♂️
What a delusional dream that is. 5G hasn't formalized yet as a standard and Infrastructure too support is in place 5G isn't the standard yet. Why should they wait for some else current AC wifi works just as good. You don't see xbox/psx having 5G but then people just nitpick because they have nothing better. 5G is still draft mode and I wouldn't buy a Router that says 5G draft because that isn't true 5G and even then my stuff works fine on my AC router.
@SwitchForce i'm not sure i understand the answer, but it appears you might agree with me when i hypothesize that my worries about xcloud on gamepass could mean nothing, because for streaming services to realistically compete with an handled console we need 5G, and for 5G to be broadly used it will take years. so it might not be a problem!
have i misinterpreted?
@SwitchForce I'm UK, I pay about £30 a month for Unlimited Internet (not sure the exact amount as its in with my TV and Streaming package). This month I've downloaded over 1tb of games and it's still running at 35-40mbs.
Weirdly I thought it would be more accessible in America being a bigger country
@teo_o
it seems it will be some variation of the, not yet out, Orin SOC which was already in developement by Nvidia.
Orin will be heavily adapted for nintendo though.....sincerely i can´T believe this is happening, nintendo was not so "cutting edge technology" since Gamecube if we not consider their blue ocean strategy.
I believe thier success with the Switch + the effetcts of the DLSS convinced them to go for this move at this point.
Well on resetera, one respected poster says the contract is already signed between Nintendo and Nvida but he could not have the exact specifics(clockspeed etc...)
One big problem seems though the CPU production and the demand for new Tech in general( the presumable electrical car industry demand seem to be a big factor here--> big produceres are expecting a huge bump thanks to the biden administration and there is a tech race there) , so nintendo might be forced to a 2022 realease
@Mr-Fuggles777
I live on the east coast in America and I can't find an internet plan for under 80 bucks, and at that price point you're talking basement speeds. For my internet and TV (and I don't have a crazy amount of channels and I have zero premium channels) I pay 150 a month to Comcast, AND they're gonna start charging me for internet overages.
That gives you some idea of why people like me are extremely skeptical of stuff like full game streaming.
In general the internet infrastructure in the U.S. is ridiculous. We're a huge country and certain areas are what you expect (I-95 corridor), but take the whole middle of the country and I would wager there are plenty of areas that still don't even have access to cable speeds in the year 2022.
@Baobab Thank you for the insights! i looked into it and it appears that TSMC has told every costumer in 2020 that prices were going to spike with longer and longer waiting lists due to thw pandemic, so it seems resonable to assume that with an incoming shortage of 16nm mariko SOCs (still selling like hot cakes), and possibly new plans for an hardware revision, Nintedo could have decided to change direction with Nvidia, possibly even with a custom engeneered SOC, fabricated by samsung or god knows who else. Very interesting also to discover that Tegra (K1, codenamed Logan) was presented to nintendo in 2014, it gives their venture a whole new perspective. I also discovered that in the marvel universe, which tegra processors are inspired by, Mariko was the japanese fiancee of Logan. LOL!
Forget 4k, all I'm hoping for is TV control like the wii u gamepad had. I wish I was kidding but that's honestly an awesome feature I wish the switch had.
@Mr-Fuggles777
I live on the east coast in America and I can't find an internet plan for under 80 bucks, and at that price point you're talking basement speeds. For my internet and TV (and I don't have a crazy amount of channels and I have zero premium channels) I pay 150 a month to Comcast, AND they're gonna start charging me for internet overages.
That gives you some idea of why people like me are extremely skeptical of stuff like full game streaming.
In general the internet infrastructure in the U.S. is ridiculous. We're a huge country and certain areas are what you expect (I-95 corridor), but take the whole middle of the country and I would wager there are plenty of areas that still don't even have access to cable speeds in the year 2022.
Couldn't have said it better myself and I live in the Midwest one of or the worst places to have your choice of Fiber/BroadBand internet options.
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Topic: For the last time, Nintendo will not release a 4k console this year, and not anytime soon.
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