Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@WebHead Just a quick Google to see what the patent was. Is it too late for the patent to be of any use for the NX or does the grant not effect whether they could use it?

@FragRed the latter I would think. they might not use it at all but they could.

@BiasedSonyFan
It goes deeper than that though. With only a few exceptions the point we've reached now is the most stable console architectures have ever been. We've got to x86 for the high spec machines and ARM for the more mobile ones. That's the end of the line, it's going to be like that for quite a few years. We're at the start of the end of rapid changes to console hardware between generations.

Here's the history:
Nintendo home consoles: 8bit MOS -> 16 bit MOS -> MIPS -> PPC -> PPC -> PPC
Nintendo Portables: Z80 -> Z80 -> ARM -> ARM -> ARM
Sony home consoles: MIPS -> MIPS -> PPC -> x86
Sony Portables: MIPS -> ARM
Microsoft: x86 -> PPC -> x86

The way things are looking currently? We're going to have Sony and Microsoft push x86 for a while. And it's going to be like one continuous console generation. Not only that but we've got no change in architecture and they're all basically the same. This is the first time this has happened.

@BiasedSonyFan If you're to complain about Scorpio you must also complain about the NX. As far as we know, the Wii U's lifespan basically ends when Color Splash is released so that will be a shorter lifespan than XB1 even if Scorpio was to provide exclusive games at launch.

@BiasedSonyFan Here's the catch, you don't need to buy new consoles every year. Heck, you don't even need to buy the revisions; all games will work on both as far as we know; at least for another three years I'd imagine. So you can still buy new hardware every six years, but for those who want to upgrade a little more often, that option now exists.

I don't see how this is a step backwards though. You say that you buy a console expecting "half a decade of use" out of it. But really, that's only true if you buy it at launch. Under the traditional console model if you buy into the console mid-cycle you get only have the time.

At any time if you walked into a PC shop and brought a mid-range GPU? You're probably going to get around 5 years out of it. At any time. Same deal with a tablet or a laptop. Under the traditional console model that's not the case. Sure if you brought a 360 back in 2006 you were laughing (unless you got the RRoD). But if you got one in 2012? Not so much.

@BiasedSonyFan Still if you believe a console should last 5 years then you should also believe that the Wii U should've been supported until holiday 2017 at the earliest rather than there being 1 game between June 25th 2016 and the NX launch.

"I don't like it because it's not like it used to be!"

@BiasedSonyFan You don't. If you want the best graphics, buy a NEO. If it's the ''feeling'' of knowing that there are consoles out there that play games at a higher resolution than your vanilla console, then that's your issue. Without the NEO or Scorpio, the games still look the way they would've looked without them. There's just another option; the concept isn't that complicated; you aren't forced to upgrade either. I'll repeat it again; updating to NEO/Scorpio is OPTIONAL.

Pay more, get better graphics. Pay less and you'll still be able to enjoy the same games. Anyone with a working brain can figure that out, I don't think it'll create the controversy some want it to become.

If consoles are still going to be supported for 6 years then there's no problem with this. It just gives an option to consumers who want to upgrade more often or come to the market mid-gen a possibility of two options. There is no controversy to what xbox/ps are doing if the current consoles will be supported until 2019

@dtjive Still, it kinda feels like I will be driving a Ford while others are in a Ferrari. That is something that didn't really apply to consoles. Seriously, I think whoever at Microsoft came up with putting Xbox games on PC can see the long term.

@dtjive Also, if the XBoxS can improve performance by 2 frames then how is this upgradable future going to impact multiplayer online? "Ohhh, you only won because you have the latest console" etc etc.

yeah like really this isn't a big deal. ps4 and xbone will still get solid support for at least 2 years.

@BiasedSonyFan tiers of devices. thats juat how it is now.

@BiasedSonyFan I'm pretty sure the point of Scorpio and NEO are for gimmick reasons (i.e. AR/VR) so a better question would be what was the big question of 2014 "Should Nintendo have ditched the Gamepad as Microsoft ditched Kinect?"

CoughNew3DSCough

@IceClimbers dont forget game boy color.

@IceClimbers Dude! Chew your New3DS!

@Grumblevolcano I think they would have been better served dumping the gamepad, but allowing their handheld (3DS) to be able to hook up to the Wii U and do what the gamepad does (i.e controller, off screen play, second (and third lol) screens etc. So they could innovate whilst maintaining convention and their innovation would be a link sale deal (exactly like light guns were).

Edit* I am hoping a closer unity like this with their hardware will be doable once the scaffolding is taken down and Nintendo are operating as they mean to go.

What in the world is the argument even about?