Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@BLP_Software He's either lying, or that's one of the most disrespectful jokes ever.

@KirbyTheVampire I heard from people that he was quite disrespectful in regards to the Switch, and tends to dismiss it due to wanting to push hardware. He was also saying he was looking for one, and had some games lined-up to play on it. Call me petty and spiteful, but we all get what we deserve (aka no Switch for Tabanta)

@UmniKnight Doesn't surprise me. Plenty of AAA devs ridicule anything that isn't a PS4, Xbox One, or PC.

FFXV cant run on Switch..hence the joke.
Switch should get World of Final Fantasy... a much better game.

@KirbyTheVampire Heh... that saddens me truly. I may own a good PC, and I do appreciate nice graphics, but they'll always be 2ndary to gameplay for me. A fantastic look won't save boring gameplay.

That said, everyone can appreciate some great graphics. I've been busy playing both XC1 and XCX in preparation for XC2 later this year and both of their really great graphics for the time really help make the experience more pleasing.

@EvilLucario Sure, but they're meaningless if the gameplay is boring/annoying etc

Graphics to enhance great gameplay, not gameplay to enhance great graphics (like really bad combat sections in a very story driven narrative experience, "because gaem!'

Oh definitely yes. A lot of my favorite games aren't considered graphical achievements. Like Super Metroid (2D platformer) and RuneScape (once browser MMO) and just recently Xenoblade Chronicles 1 (RPG, though I guess this was an achievement for the Wii? Not in general though).

Something I pointed out on the article about this on the front page. I think it's worth repeating here. People are going on about how Switch cartridges cost more than optical disks. Something to consider what options are on the table in 2017:

Full Sized BluRay:
Capacity: 25GB (single layer) to 100GB (XL) (PS4/XBOne games have to be on 50GB disks)
Cost: Low
Speed: Low (games require mandatory installs)
Portability: Super Low

"Portable" Blu-Ray Mini-Disk/UMD
Capacity: 5GB (single layer) to 20GB (XL)
Cost: Low
Speed: Low
Portability: Average (smaller than a full sized disk but similar power/noise issues)

ROM Cart
Capacity: 32GB is cheap enough to be possible now, larger capacities as costs drop
Cost: High but not stupidly by the time you get to retail
Speed: Fast enough that there's no technical reason for data packs
Portability: Super portable

Whine about the Switch tax all you want, cartridges win in every other category. And the "Switch tax" isn't even that crazy when push comes to shove. To put it in perspective I brought Overwatch on PC last year for $70AU in a shop, off a shelf. At the time the PS4/XBOne versions were $80AU. Looking now at the same shop the PS4/XBOne versions are $80AU and the PC copy is $90AU. A Switch example? That same shop is selling FIFA on PS4, XBOne, Switch, 360 and PS3. The PS4/XBOne versions are $70AU. The Switch/360/PS3 versions are $80AU. This isn't N64 era 2x the cost sort of stuff. This is the same sort of price gaps between versions we've always had.

Can someone explain the difference in sd cards and does it matter with switch. I know there is an HC sd card. Does switch require an sdxc? What's the difference?

It's mostly just capacity. SDHC officially supports capacities upto 32GB, SDXC supports capacities upto 2TB. There are some other improvements that SDXC brought but as an end user they're not really worth worrying about too much. Yes the Switch will work with both just make sure that if you're getting a card bigger than 32GB it's SDXC

@skywake
I love you, man, but...you still buy boxed PC games? From brick and mortar stores?

I think there are support groups for that...

@rallydefault
It was cheaper and I was at the shops anyways. You just get a code in the box so it's not like it's a different product.

@skywake thank you very much!

I think it's disappointing the way the reporting and conversation about Switch cartridges always implies that they're significantly more expensive than BluRay discs.

They're slightly more expensive but it's a tiny fraction of the cost by the time you get to retail.

The much bigger issues are having to buy them through Nintendo, minimum batch runs and responsiveness of the supply chain.

Those are the factors that introduce risk and drive some publishers to implement the 'Switch tax' but, of course, if a game is successful and sells out most of its production run they make exactly the same/more per unit on Switch (depending on the price they choose for the Switch version).

Final Fantasy XV director Tabata has been talking to Famitsu and he's not currently doing anything on Switch. So now it would appear that we've clarity.

Tabata had mentioned, before we even started chatting, that someone from Nintendo called him up after his Switch teases at Gamescom. Although he kept quiet about what Nintendo actually said—“I can’t say,” he laughed—Tabata did try to walk back his comments that he and his team were looking to bring Final Fantasy XV to “a console that sounds like Twitch.”

“It was just kind of a joke response,” said Tabata. “That said, we aren’t dismissing the hardware in any way. We believe it’s a great platform, and we’re open to looking for opportunities. And if the opportunity presents itself, and there’s something we can do on that given platform, we’d like to do it.”

http://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-xvs-director-wants-you-to-kno...

Cave Story+ will have 2 player co-op mode added on September 15th.

I think part of the problem is that there's this conventional wisdom about cartridges vs discs. As gamers we all know about the N64 vs PS battle and how that went down. And we carry that into the Switch because there's some things that are kinda similar. Specifically that some games are a bit more expensive on Switch.

Of course we're ignoring entirely that in the N64 vs PS battle the biggest N64 games were 1/10th of the size of a CD. We're also ignoring that large N64 games could easily be double the RRP for a PS game. With the Switch we're looking at cartridges that are, early in the console's life, 1/3rd to 2/3rds of the size of a dual-layer BluRay. By EOL it's likely that some cartridges will be bigger than a PS4/XBOne game disc. In terms of cost we're talking about a $10 premium for some smaller run games when the developer has chosen to pass on the cost.

@skywake Part of the problem is also this is another argument PlayStation and Xbox fans can use forever and ever against Nintendo and reason not to buy the hardware or games

@FragRed
Well until their platforms also move away from optical media as they inevitably will. The future of physical game distribution is either cartridges or a code in a box. The advantages optical media used to have are all but gone.