Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Grumblevolcano
There's enough new content to at least feel like half a new game. Plus there's just so much content already it makes for one heck of a deluxe package, not to mention it feels like getting 2 versions with home console and handheld. Something we'd usually have to buy on Wii U and again on 3DS.. The smaller changes they made really add to the game though. Even the HD Rumble is so appreciated. It all combines to make one of the best GotY editions I've seen.

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Well technically the Switch is a dual-band device and can connect to either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. Mine pretty much always seems to want to connect to the 5Ghz band. It's usually connecting with "two bars" at ~120Mbps on 802.11ac or "three bars" at ~170Mbps. It'll also hold onto 5Ghz to the point where the signal strength drops a bit which is probably a good thing because if it swapped over to 2.4Ghz its speed would drop.

So I'm not entirely sure what's happening with @Grumblevolcano's XBOne and Wii U here but I have three theories. Each less likely than the one before. The first one is simple. Maybe the signal is being physically blocked when you place it closer to the Wii U. I'm not sure it's the Wii U itself given how much less there is in it. But it could be something else that just happens to be in the way when you place it closer to the Wii U. This is probably the cause of the issue.

The second theory is that perhaps your Wii U is downloading something in the background and your XBOne is not. It's unlikely because there's not a lot of new stuff on Wii U right now but it's possible. Maybe some indie game released a patch and the Wii U is downloading it in the background. It might even be some other device that just happened to be running an update while your Switch was near the Wii U and not the XBOne.

But there's another theory I kinda like more. The Wii U doesn't just connect to the internet over WiFi. The Wii U also connects to the GamePad. The GamePad link is over 5Ghz and the Wii U hammers it more than probably any other device in your house would. So if the Wii U happens to be using the same channel as your WiFi for the GamePad and for some reason is sending a signal to the GamePad? Good luck getting a reliable connection on 5Ghz. Though this shouldn't be happening.

@Frosty_09 It's fine, and thanks for providing links as well. Good to see they're working closely together.

This Polygon article serves as a good reminder about how some journalism is driven by what they think we want to read, rather than good ol' objectivity. Scroll down to comment by 'LockTease' for lols.

So many people seemed to blindly say a hybrid couldn't work - "too much compromise!" and that Nintendo were resorting to desperation. Too many short-sighted people have access to keyboards if you ask me.

That was a great read.Loved this bit at the end

"Usually consoles sell because of games, not because they offer such an enjoyable, unique experience that using the system itself becomes a selling point. Nintendo has moved in the other direction; the games are going to sell because of the hardware."

@gcunit My favourite Polygon article - the one that really rams home just how much you need to be sceptical about the state of journalism - is the one:
Mario Kart 8 will be the worst selling game in the series.

As it stands today there's an outside chance that between the two versions Mario Kart 8 could become the biggest selling version of Mario Kart.

Aside from the fact that that the article was statistically illiterate (not appreciating that Mario Kart 8 might have a much higher attached rate than some previous entries for a start) it was completely blind to the underlying logic that drives the industry. I think we still expect journalists to find and present facts and then to create a narrative around them but the poor standards of modern journalism mean that we see the opposite - they create a narrative and selectively pick the "facts" to fit.

@StuTwo I knew that Mario Kart 8 article would appear at some point in this thread. Not only did the Wii U version alone beat Super Circuit and Double Dash (nearly beat Super Mario Kart too) but MK8 Deluxe really punishes that article even further.

@StuTwo Too bad they removed the pie chart. But it's the internet, so you can still find it.

So NBA 2K18 is coming September 19th like all other versions, and with both limited editions. That's awesome news. Now we just need for the game to have same content and things will start to go very well on a third party basis. I think i'll grab it since my brother is interested too, and we can play together, but it will be standard edition

I'm fairly sure that I was one of those people. I argued black and blue that a "hybrid NX" was either going to be too bulky and expensive for a portable or too under-powered for a home console. Possibly both. Though I usually followed it up with an equally long rant about how I wanted the NX to be basically what the Switch is minus the dock

It's a good thing Nintendo are smarter than journalists, fanboys and comment sections.

@skywake I'm hoping to be similarly wrong in my negative assessment of ARMS. I managed to be right about Splatoon being the best thing since sliced octopus, so I thought I'd have a go at being a prophet of doom about Stretchman: The Game (mainly based on how I got demolished in it at the test event). Not too long until we find out.

@FGPackers As long as it leads to Madden and the Packers getting crushed by my Lions I'm ok with that. Of course that's the only way the Lions could crush the Pack.....

About consoles breaking themselves, that's sadly not new. DMG GameBoys can withstand bombs, but sadly the screen decays over time. GameGear screens were prone to failure. My NES has a very dodgy toaster slot, a common problem. Early X360's are guaranteed failures, and good luck finding a PlayStation of any generation that saw regular use that still has its original disc drive. Those things are notorious. Wii drives were failure prone too.

Replacements/repairs are still available (not always at friendly price points) for any of these though. One thing modern consoles have unlike NES/SNES/Genesis-Mega Drive, etc. is FANS. The NES can run for 30 years (if the toaster doesn't fail) because it has no moving parts. A PlayStation 2 (and beyond), Dreamcast, Wii, WiiU, Xbox (any gen), Switch all have DC fans. The fans can and will break/throw bearings and the heat sinks WILL cake with dust on any of these units in time. You can keep the machines forever, but they will not be service-free like those old machines. As long as retro/collector gaming remains a thing, there will always be someone, somewhere in the world, willing the repair them, though, so long as a compatible part can be found.

For the battery, getting into the battery to replace is simple, take a loot at iFixit's breakdown. You literally unscrew the back plate and disconnect the card reader and you're in. The battery plugs in just like a Gamepad's. It's "not user serviceable" only because of the delicate SD reader cable to unplug and because it doesn't save you from yourself (i.e. it exposes the PCB. If you work on PCs there's nothing out of the ordinary here. If not, Joe Consumer could break things too easily. Adding another shield to prevent that would mean making the box thicker. So it's "not user serviceable" if you're inexperienced with working with electronic components, but otherwise its fine. The only limitation in the future will be if someone is making compatible battery packs with compatible connectors, otherwise it might not fit the case, or might require some soldering. If Switch is popular, that won't be a problem, some Chinese company will make them for a long time. The fan will be the bigger concern as a very very tiny fan like that is either proprietary or at least not guaranteed to remain in production forever.

@Grumblevolcano Lots of things can interfere. When my Switch is downloading while I have my wireless headphones on (not BT, it's a proprietary Sennheiser radio headphone), my downloads run at like .05MB/s, and my audio cuts out constantly. Various wireless devices can and do interfere. Some people have problems when microwaves are running though I've never had that trouble. I haven't experienced my WiiU causing the trouble, and it's sitting right next to my WiiU....and both are on the same router. BUT I have them on the 2.4GHz network not the 5.

@StuTwo Great summary of "journalism", and not just in gaming. I remember in the 90's when one of the big US networks started running commercials/promo pieces for their news programs, might have been NBC, and they kept talking about how their coverage is all about "delivering the narrative" and "telling the story that needs to be told." Those commercials sent shivers down my spine. It was positively Orwellian, and it was an ugly portent of the future of "journalism" across the board. Gaming news is just an extension of formal news at this point. It's about "telling the story that needs to be told (according to the viewpoint and opinion of the storyteller)"

You said it!! Don't make me re-call some Hail Mary

Picked up a 64 gig card today. I'll never fill it up, but who knows? It's good to be future-proof, I guess.

If you stick to lower end e shop titles yes but good luck with that. Games are getting bigger not smaller.

Just take NBA Playgrounds for an example, eshop only and about 15gigs. That's only 4 dl's on a 64gb card. That doesn't even include updates, patches, and potential dlc adding to that. Now sure that might be on the extreme side but there will be bigger games then that.

@Spoony_Tech actually NBA Playground is 7,5gb

@FGPackers I thought I read or heard it was bigger then Zelda? Well my point still stands as someone will make bigger games. I'm actually glad to hear that though as I haven't got a sd card yet.

Edit: must have been Kart 8 I read and not Zelda.

@Murph I don't imagine I'll fill up mine either, at least not very fast. I don't really plan on buying many downloadable games, if at all, but I figured I might as well grab one just in case.

I'm actually surprised Playgrounds is eShop only. It seems like a very retail kind of title to me.