Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

@Bolt_Strike
I'd rather a Metroid Prime Remastered effort than a Pikmin 1/2 effort. But each to their own I guess. If I wanted to play the original version as it was I'd play the original version, I wouldn't buy it again

If it's NSO where it's part of a service? Straight ports are fine. But let's be honest, that's not what we're likely talking about here. That's not what we've seen for Wii/GC tier releases to date. They'll be charging at least $20 for these

Not technically a Switch rumour, but more rumours of an xbox handheld which seems relevant:

https://www.ign.com/articles/as-official-xbox-handheld-rumors...

I think it's time Phil Spencer steps down if that is his idea of having vision for a brand. "Oh, that's good...would be better if it's XBox" is very rich kid thinking at best, souless at worst.

I can see an Xbox handheld being a relatively cheap PlayStation Portal type device that can stream games from your Xbox, BUT also comes with the ability to play cloud streamed Gamepass games, it'd probably come with a years free subscription to Gampass Ultimate. But probably not be able to play games under it's own power.

Not for me personally but might be somewhat popular.

@Coversnail
Nah, I think they go for a full on XBox style OS on a portable x86 machine. Basically a Steam Deck but with access to the XBox library in combination with GamePass and cross-buy over PC/XB/XB-Portable

Can see it happening from a mile away. And frankly I think it'll both do well and, also, be a serious threat to Switch 2. At least in the US

I was a mod back then. I ran a tight ship when it came to duplicate threads. Didn't get much of my actual work done, but dayum was I on it when it came to duplicate nx threads.

I am getting tired of Switch 2 rumors... (I say this knowing full well that I feed the clickbait by clicking every article about it)

@CaleBoi25 It's gotten to a weird point where I'm both tired of the rumors and also want more of them because it's so fun turning new claims around in my head. (It's going to be so surreal when this thing actually launches)

Also, I really wish I had any incentive to care about Xbox. I would love to have excitement for other platforms but it kind of feels like a failure on the company's part when I cannot see the appeal of their products despite actively trying to be interested. It definitely could just be a preference thing but even then it's at least a little bit of a variety problem.

An XBOX handheld is interesting - wondering if it would be able to hold COD (at 200 GB) out of the box or require additional storage? That being said, would COD on Switch 2 be equally massive? @chiiizu I feel the same way - through the years of speculation - I'm ready to know what is actually coming.
If the XBOX rumors are true, I think it is good for gaming, but I doubt that I would consider picking it up...I'd be more likely to grab the Steamdeck...

@FishyS wasn’t an Xbox hybrid for 2028 leaked in the activation blizzard thing? (although that was also with their plans to buy Nintendo 💀)

@chiiizu Same here, I can't find any real reason to pick up a PS or XBox.

@chiiizu I would be interested intellectually if xBox more directly tries to compete with Nintendo, but I would have zero interest in actually buying such a device. I have no interest in services like Game Pass and the few Microsoft franchises I like have consistently been shared with Nintendo anyways. There are a few PS5 exclusives I would like but the big weird looking tower has always kind of turned me off. 😆 Plus, fundamentally, I don't have time to play every game in existence and Switch already has nigh-infinite games so the pull to PS is very weak.

@FishyS
I'm kinda in the same boat. A portable XBox is an interesting idea and I'd like to see them do it because it'll surely push the industry harder in that direction. But XBox isn't for me. If I am to buy a locked down platform like a console it has to offer something super compelling, Nintendo has their IP to get me over the line. Microsoft doesn't

But if Microsoft competing against Valve here means portable gaming PCs get cheaper? I'm here for it. And at the very least a portable XBox, at the right price, would be far more tempting than any tied down console that could easily be replaced by a PC paired with a quality controller

@FishyS
PS5s look MASSIVE in person. Seriously. Saw one in a Best Buy a couple months ago and was honestly shocked. Thing's a beast.

@FishyS I only use Xbox nowadays because of decisions I made back in the 360 era, even more so with the new multiplatform strategy. That initial 4 games lineup made me come to the conclusion I can just wait for Xbox 1st party games I'm interested in to come to Nintendo hardware.

PS5 is a difficult situation. I have been tempted by the sales that occurred last year because of exclusives like FFXVI, FFVII Remake trilogy, some PS Studios stuff, etc. but came to 4 conclusions:
1. Don't even have enough time to make the most out of Switch, let alone adding on PS5 to the mix
2. Will any exclusives become multiplatform such as would we see something like FFXVI as a Switch 2 launch title?
3. Jim Ryan's live service push concerns me about the future
4. The PS5 Pro rumours, would I be better off waiting for it instead of getting the current model and then there's the talk about PS6. An endless cycle of hardware making it complicated when to jump in.

So in the end, I held off on PS5.

@Grumblevolcano
I was trying so hard to get a PS5 for a couple years after it launched, but honestly I'm glad it never happened.

I had a PS2 and loved the heck out of it - really was a magical console with so many unique games and cool ideas. One of those gaming eras I'll never forget.

But I skipped the PS3 and only got a PS4 later in its life. I do like Sony's first-party games, but for the last decade or so they're all pretty darn similar. Over-the-shoulder action/adventure, heavy on story and cutscenes, open world-ish, tons of tasks to do, usually pretty mature... kind of gets exhausting after awhile. And their design philosophy isn't really showing any signs of changing in the future, maybe even for the worse with the talk of more live service stuff. Ugh.

I am holding out hope that Switch 2 will get the Final Fantasy VII remasters, though. I played the first one's demo on my PS4 and it was pretty cool.

@rallydefault There’s some more recent PS Studios stuff I’m interested in like Rift Apart, Sackboy and GoW. With the latter, it’s about how Nintendo’s handling Zelda. Lots of people are saying GoW (the 2 Norse games, not the Greek ones) is like linear Zelda so it would be kind of like how Metroid’s absence after Prime 3 partially led me to getting a 360 because I felt that Halo looked like a good alternative to Metroid. Music games were the primary reason I got a 360 but Halo was a major 2nd factor.

That TotK interview back in December pretty much confirms linear Zelda is dead. I still have hope that WWHD and TPHD gets ported over from Wii U but apart from that, I don’t have any hope for the future of traditional 3D Zelda.

So I've been playing around with NVidia's RTX HDR on emulated Wii U/Wii/GC games. A bit hit and miss, sometimes it lands and sometimes it doesn't. But I didn't think tooo much about it in the context of the Switch 2. Then I watch this LTT video on it and I had a sudden realisation....

..... Nintendo could use this on Switch 2. I don't know why this didn't occur to me earlier. Obviously for games designed for Switch 2 or games with patches to run on Switch 2? You'd do a proper HDR master. But what about Switch backwards compatibility? Maybe Wii and GC games on a new NSO? They're not going to be putting the effort into mastering all those games for HDR. "RTX HDR" could be a big deal

@Grumblevolcano
I also felt a bit down after that Zelda interview, but I can see them doing both going forward. I think their "big" Zelda games will be more open-world nonsense, but I do think they'll still make linear experiences either through remasters and/or new 2D ideas. As soon as I finish Unicorn Overlord today I'm actually going back to finish my millionth playthrough of Link's Awakening lol

The God of War reboot was solid. I really enjoyed it, but I was getting a bit fatigued by the end of the game. I haven't played the second one yet, though. I certainly wouldn't call it open world, but it's not exactly linear, either. It's very much like an Ocarina of Time "open world," is the way I'd describe it.

If anything at least we get real Nintendo talk of Switch 2 or Demos showcasing Switch 2 graphics. That's what I hope for at least?