Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I bought the yellow joy con because I can't imagine a nicer colour being made available soon...

I can imagine arms multiplayer being a driver for extra selling power, but I'm not sure how well that title sold.

I've purchased the NES one, and it's awesome. You get your money back for the versatility alone.

Lol, I would never pay $80 just to switch colors. I mean, it will be cool to switch colors if I do get it, but not $80 cool.

The trouble is, $80 is a steal for upgrading from a two-player console to a four-player console, but that's with everyone complaining about their controller size. To have a proper 4-player Smash night. I'd have to at least buy either 3 pro controllers, or 3 sets of joy-cons. You'll find a similar problem with most consoles, I guess; I was kinda spoiled for the Wii U, finding all of those white controllers on clearance so early on. But it'd help if the pro controller was just $10 cheaper like other similar controllers, and it'd help if there was more local multiplier to justify it.

Just buying one extra set of joy-cons seems like the sensible thing. Everyone will just have to complain about the controllers. Everyone always does anyway, so it's not like it makes a difference.

@Nicolai The Pro controllers are $10 cheaper than Joycons, and $15 more expensive than PS4 DS4's. which makes sense considering it includes an NFC reader and 2 HD rumble packs rather than one normal rumble pack. (ok, and $25 more expensive than the XBO controller....but that one doesn't actually include the battery...... )

@NaviAndMii If the N64 "M" controller was your prior favorite, I can't quite take your recommendation of joycons too seriously That thing was terrible! I mean the first analog stick controller was wonderful at the time, but compared to everything that game after, even the Gamepad was a cut above

That said, I agree, I love the joycons. Some games really need the pro. But split joycons alone is worth the price to me! The sticks feel really natural once you get used to them.

@JaxonH I know what you mean! The versatility is really quite astonishing when you think about it!

@NEStalgia Admittedly, I do look at the N64 controller through a big, thick pair of 'nostalgia goggles' - so my opinion on it is wholly unreliable! Haha! ..I haven't actually had an opportunity to try out a Switch Pro Controller up to now - it sure looks good & the feedback seems to be overwhelmingly positive - I've just had no pressing need to buy one quite yet (I only have Zelda and Mario Kart at the moment, for which the Joy-Con's are more than fine!) ..but I'll certainly be getting one of those beauties at some point!

That's "I and Me" (out now in PAL eShop), "Super Ping Pong Trick Shot", "De Mambo" (out tomorrow in NA & PAL eShops) and "Unholy Heights".

Speaking of Joy-Con colors, when is NoA gonna confirm the green/pink set? I'd rather not have to import them.

@NEStalgia But on the other hand, it has no analog triggers and touchpad (does the XOne controller have something extra?) either. They all have their own gimmicks. HD Rumble is just very expensive, or Ninty is extra greedy this gen.

I'm glad that Nintendo didn't skimp on the batteries at least...my Joy-Con have never been even remotely in danger of running out of juice - my PS4's controller, by comparison, can rarely survive one play session without needing to be recharged (often midway through) - happens so frequently that I basically have to just treat it as a wired controller with 'occasional wireless capabilities'... :/

I know it makes sense, but it's still expensive. Plus, it's a shame I hardly notice the HD Rubble effects. And after all, all I want is a comfortable controller for my friends to play on. It's a shame there's no middle-ground. If I didn't have such bad prior experience to 3rd party controllers, I'd probably opt for something like that.

@Octane

No analog triggers (a shame)
No touchpad (But...did that gets used in games or is just a button? Ive only seen the latter)
Gyroscope and accelerometer
No need for another peripheral for motion
NFC support
HD Rumble
40 hour battery
USB-C charging

Now, is £60 a bit much? Maybe. Depends on you and what you see as value.

Id argue that £50-£55 for a DS4 is too much for what you get and how little it is used.

I dont think the Xbox controllers have anything special beyond being really wide and removable batteries.

Gimmicks maybe. But said gimmicks like HD Rumble are merely an evolution of something standardised. Who knows. Maybe gyro and NFC will be standard too.

On the plus side, at least those gimmicks are actually used in games. Though I prefer the term unique selling points.

But I think controller prices across the board need to fall. I mean its been said all over, if Sony can charge that much for a DS4, why shouldnt Nintendo charge more for something that is in ways objectively better?

@NaviAndMii Haha, I like to think of the N64 controller as an ergonomic evolution of the CDi remote

Split Joycon, for most games is my favorite control still. Especially with some nicer stick caps. But the Pro controller is certainly the nicest traditional controller I've used aside from XBox controllers. I LOVE the ergonomics of XBox controllers above all others, (360 and One)...unfortuantely their battery compartment jiggle, 300lbs of weight from AA batteries, and cheap-as.....water sticks fall apart in months.

When Microsoft says it's the best place to play AA and AAA games....they're being literal.....you need a case of AA and AAA batteries to keep it running.

@Octane I'm not sure a low-end, low resolution trackpad ripped from a "my first laptop" counts as a "feature" to drive up the price You're right about analog triggers. X1 has "force feedback triggers", which I have not heard mentioned once after the X1 reveal.... OTOH, it has no battery.....and no charging circuitry.

I imagine the NFC reader costs as much or more than the HD Rumble packs. I also don't know what the resolution of the gyros in the DS4 are, but since virtually no game uses them and Nintendo builds whole games dependent on them (and apparently now so does Bethesda), N's probably using a much better gyro/accel as well. Between the handful of differences and the fact that DS4 is just made on a much bigger scale of economy at this point, the $15 cost difference is fairly negligible. X1's controller, lacking a battery and charger, is kind of a whole different price class at $40. It's my favorite of the bunch to hold....but....it's the least technologically impressive.

@NaviAndMii Oh geeze, yes, the 4 hour battery of the DS4. It's grotesque. I have to charge multiple times in a weekend play session just to keep playing. My Switch runs ARMS, playing online, or Minecraft with local multi running as the SERVER, displaying the whole game on the screen, for more runtime than the simple DS4 can transmit button pushes. It's surreal. And it doesn't even weigh much more.

@BLP_Software I simply call the trackpad what it is: The map button.

I don't know that controller prices need to fall much. Durable moving parts cost a lot. Look at fight stick prices...and individual sticks and buttons. Sure those are commercial parts derriving from their industrial equivalents but regular controllers are 1/3 the price or less, so it's easy to see where the pricing comes from. That said, the X1 controller is cheap because there's less to it, and the PS4 controller is overpriced considering it can't even run through a whole play session. $70-80 does seem a bit high for a mere controller at a glance, not taken relative to other controllers. But relative to the others the price seems sensible. Especially the joycon which are technically two controllers at $40 each each with their own battery, charging circuits, direct-connect circuitry and each with their own BT transmitter.

@BLP_Software A gimmick is a selling point. They all have their own ''unique'' feature is what I meant. If you're wondering, yes, Infamous used the touchpad, it actually used the entire DS4 in some clever ways. Tearaway Unfolded and Killzone also used the touchpad. That's all I know, but I don't own Knack and LBP. I've also heard some third party games make use clever use of it. I know that swiping it opens up the map in TW3. Nothing special, but it saves you some time opening the menu and all. Most games don't really use it, a shame I think, because some games have shown that there's potential. It's like the Wii U and games that use the asynchronous gameplay or touch controls. There are a few, but most games can be played without the second screen.

DS4 has a gyro sensor and accelerometer too by the way! Loved it in Gravity Rush, and it's a shame other games don't use it for aiming in game.

Agree on the pricing though. I remember when you could buy two controllers for the price of a single game, now they're the same, or even more. Companies know we need them for MP, so they can charge more for controllers. Demand will be there anyway.

But I think we can all agree that the AR sensor in the Joy-Cons is the most pointless feature so far!

No but seriously, will another game even use that feature?

@NEStalgia Most VR games are compatible with the DS4, so I presume they all use the gyro controls. But I don't own a PSVR system, so don't ask me!

@Octane AFAIK, PSVR relies on the PS4 Camera module to be front and center, and is mostly tracking the light bar on the back of the DS4, as well as the headpiece for it's motion controls in addition to regular button inputs (and perhaps some assistance from the gyro/accel) But since it's camera-based light tracking, the gyros wouldn't need to be terribly high resolution. The camera is...what, $50+ by itself? The camera is a hard requirement for PSVR, you can't run it without it. And that excludes the things that require the $80 PS Move. So just the DS4 + camera is a $105 controller, though that's slightly unfair since you get the DS4 with the console.

Edit: It's more like Wiimote IR meets Kinekt than it's like joycon motion controls.

@NEStalgia Don't know about the camera, but I do know that gyro works fine without the camera. I don't notice any difference between the Wii U GamePad and DS4, so I don't know how the Switch gyro could be any different or better.

@NEStalgia It's like Nintendo saw the CDi controller and said "We've got this" with the Wii, and by inspiration, the Joy-Cons.

I've downloaded that Nico Nico channel from the Japanese Eshop. It's works pretty good for the most part but sometimes videos keep buffering and it makes an annoying sound when it does. It's easy enough to figure out after some trial and error. The subtitles which take up 3/4 of the screen can thankfully be turned off. I'm watching Beatles videos now, the ones that YouTube removed ages ago. Well happy.

Touch pad is the PS4s Gamepad tbh. Underused but in theory very useful. Again, in theory. Everything ive done is a map button.

And I didnt know DS4 had gyro function. Shows how much I use the system or how much the system uses gyro.

I love gyro for aiming though. I cant use sticks for it. Too imprecise and once youve done it you find youself trying to gyro aim when you cant.

I think controllers went up in price because memory cards stopped being a thing. Ironically Sony was the biggest hold out on that and looking at the timing, their controllers shot up in price once they stopped using proprietary memory. That used to be a money maker due to high cost and mark up as well as necessity but now its gone, so they have to settle for a smaller but still prominent profit from an accessory and its the DS4.

I dont really have an opinion on the IR Camera and sensor on the Joy-Con R. It works and works well and I think its neat but I cant see how to use it myself. But thats also a small component and easily removed for future if necessary.

At least everything about Switch is modular in terms of internals.