Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH Applause. Just... applause.
I'd like to add in some things regarding how some Christians use the religion in a "extremist" kind of way, but I do believe this isn't the right place (at least, not at this time) for that discussion. You're pretty spot-on, though. Kudo's for showing that boldness.

Yep, fair enough. I'm a Christian, but I'm also currently in a college biology class that places heavy emphasis on evolution and its mechanisms. I know very well that since I got into that class (I love biology), I'm going to have to set my beliefs aside for a while.

But at the end of the day, religious people (yep, Christians, Muslims, Jade... you name it) can't be told to leave their religion at home or practice it on their respective holy days. It really doesn't work that way.
That's just my two cents. I really didn't expect this thread to go down this route!

I wouldn't expect them to. A religion, like any other sort of worldview, will inevitably inform every facet of a person's life. And so long as that worldview isn't being imposed on school children through religious indoctrination masquerading as science (in public schools, at least) or imposed on me by force of law (blasphemy laws, sodomy laws, laws stripping protections away from LGBT people, etc.), I'm cool with it.

The important thing is to maintain society in as secular a manner as possible, as this creates a space where people with a variety of conflicting worldviews can thrive by living their own lives as authentically as possible.

@DarthNocturnal No! Dough, tomato sauce and mozarella; i.e. pizza!

So about that Nintendo Switch...

....i hope this is a joke?

@WebHead I mean, it's a real thing. However I thought voice chat wasn't a thing until their online shenanigans arrived later this year. Anyway, this also confirms the Switch itself can't do voice chat, but I think we knew that already at this point.

They said a kind of "prototype" of the voice chat app would come at Splatoon 2 launch (i think they will talk about it at E3), before the entire app would come when the paid online service will start

that looks ridiculous regardless. do they really expect people to use that, especially when playing docked?

@WebHead Well, this one is just Splatoon themed. You can use regular headsets, this one lets you customise the sound output from both your phone and the Switch though. Unnecessarily complicated, I know, but whatever, they probably aren't going to change this set-up either.

@Octane looks like i ain't voice chatting on switch. this company is deliberately ignorant, i swear.

@WebHead Yeah, thinking about it, you need a special adapter like this Splatoon thing to listen to both the game audio and voice chat at the same time. Another piece of kit to buy. I remember Reggie saying VC through the phone was done to make things easier, do away with the ''clunky headsets''. They didn't, all they did was add another two devices.

I wonder how it's going to work if your Switch is docked and you're not sitting within a 1 metre radius from the TV...

Brings back memories: http://i.imgur.com/69RFCU2.jpg

Well of course the Switch cant do voice chat. Any audio-input processing chips in there? Any external mics included on hardware?

I like this solution though, its pretty dope.

@BLP_Software Maybe they should've thought about that when they made the Switch... The Dreamcast could do voice chat, and that was almost two decades ago. Heck, even the DS had voice chat.

@Octane please its to protect sensitive kids and do their parents jobs for them.

Putting my 2c into the topics from the last few pages. Because reading it was a bit of a ride. Not a bad thing

Art: Minimalism is awesome IMO. I love it. And yes some minimalist are is a bit odd but as a style? I'm down with it.

And yes, there's something to be said for counter cultures. New movements are always built in response or even retaliation to what came before it. Think 80s cheesy and precise electronic music and the transition into the raw, gritty and distorted music of the 90s.

God v Evolution: I disagree with most posters here it seems. So if anyone is being "brave" then I guess itd be me. I'm not so sure. Anyways, religion is, IMO, a lot of nonsense hand waving. I'd rather measure than trust feelings whether they're mine or those from a dude speaking though an old book. But I'm not so much of a nut that I care too much about what anyone else thinks. Especially on this topic.

........

So that Switch ey?

@Octane @WebHead Honestly I feel in this case it was a weird choice, however, the Xbox One launched with wired only controllers, and PS4 didn't have external storage for 3 very long years.

Every console misses something at launch, and in this case, just like with PC gaming, its the bit that lets you tell people you slept with their parents. (Though some have pretty poor built in mics)

@BLP_Software The Xbox One launched with a wireless controller, I'm pretty sure of that. And yes, no external storage on the PS4 was an awful design choice too, and they deserved to be called out for that. They fixed it with a firmware update, so I hope Nintendo can do the same for the Switch (voice chat I mean, but HDD compatibility would be neat too).

@Octane In theory, but it depends on if the components are included.

But I'm not sure about HDD support, namely since Switch is designed to be removed from the slow mechanical messes of data on PS4 and Xbox One. An external would just be slower by far.

The thread has veered way off topic but to add my thoughts:

Art

• video games are 100% most assuredly art (or at least have the potential to be so). Art critics resist it but I can't help feel this is because they're both snobbishly looking down their noses at something new/something they don't understand and because (following from that) they feel that the requests to treat videogames as art are a request to treat the superficial elements (like the graphics or the cut-scenes) as art.

Video games are designed to give you a guided experience with particular objectives in mind but the exact route taken and the emotions felt varying greatly depending on the experience of the individual. This is no different than "conventional art". That there might be multiple "creators" is a fig leaf to try to push video games outside the circle - many modern artists employ a studio full of people to do their legwork and many pieces of modern art are "mediums" that require input from the public as part of their artistic expression.

They also explore the nature of existence and push at the boundaries of what it means to create and inhabit new worlds with robust and consistent rules but that are not wholly subject to the rules of our own.

Religion

• It's great that everyone is free to believe what they want to believe and no-one should ever feel hate for what they choose to believe.

Personally I don't believe in god. There may well be a creator but if there is then that creator must be so far removed from the creator described in the bible.

I do however find that many of the social objectives of Christianity and Islam (and other religions) are laudable and sensible. The ideas of charity, of love etc. codified in the bible are truly inspiring ideas and concepts that the bible frames in a very universal way.

Religion also has an important role in culture. I'm glad that it has existed and I'm glad it continues to exist - regardless of whether I empirically believe it to be false.

Voice chat

• It's an unpopular opinion but I'm personally quite glad it's limited for a whole host of reasons.

That the Switch doesn't support bluetooth headphones yet is just bizarre to me though. Hopefully that's something that comes in the future.

I don't see the problem about voice chat. Considering i will be playing Splatoon 2 only in docked mode: smartphone with smartphone's headphones for voice chat, TV for game audio. I'll keep my pre-order and i will voice chat from D1 (if they release even the "prototype" of the app). It's a no-problem to me...