Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake This sounds like typical Nintendo. Whenever possible they have always tried to avoid licenses, be it mini DVDs on GameCube or their own DVD format on Wii and Wii U just off the top of my head. It is really annoying but this just sounds like Nintendo cheaping out. It's why they have never allowed officially the ability to play films from their consoles without modding.

@FragRed
Yeah, but it's also a bit of a comedy of circumstance. The PS4 and XBOne HAVE to support this and pay for the associated licencing because they have DVD and BluRay playback. The Switch doesn't because there's no reason for them to support it given DVD/BluRay playback is out of the question on a cartridge based console. So yes, Nintendo are cheaping out here and that fact is the straw that breaks the camels back with my setup. But the only reason the others aren't is because they can't avoid paying for the licence.

There's also my bad timing with my specific setup. As I understand it HDMI ARC on HDMI 2.1 is a much higher bandwidth and so should work with the Switch in surround. My TV isn't new enough to support this, it's only a thing with some specific 2017 models of TV and most of the new 2018 models. Also the Sonos Beam doesn't support this newer version of HDMI ARC either. It's also one of the few non entry level soundbars that doesn't have any extra HDMI inputs on the back for devices like the Switch where you want/need PCM.

Also what I'm doing here is, I assume, not that common. I would guess most people with surround sound setups are plugging all of their HDMI devices into a receiver which is then in turn connected to their TV. For these people HDMI ARC is just for content that's playing on the TV itself. These people would get surround sound on the Switch. And people with soundbars would almost universally just have the soundbar. For these people stereo is fine. I'm just the weirdo who wants surround sound from a soundbar.

Still doesn't change the fact that I'm being left out in the cold in terms of surround sound gaming.

@skywake Did the Wii and Wii U support it? Or were they able to get around that by using proprietary discs?

Nintendo have always been a bit wonky when it comes to supporting standards.

@Octane
The Wii U did not. The Wii didn't have any digital audio outputs and therefore only supported stereo sound. All consoles that had dvd playback pre HDMI used toslink/spdif for surround which would be equally useless for my setup. But the 360, PS3, XBone and PS4 would all work on my setup.

I just set my TV to surround sound. Annoy the neighbours

@skywake Makes me wonder why they even went through the trouble of developing their own disc format...

@Octane I assume someone at Nintendo did the accounts on costs and came to the conclusion that even if initial investment in R&D was to be high, the long term benefits from not having to pay for license fees etc would more than cover it. At least, I hope that’s what happened otherwise I scratch my head.

Same reason Sony kept using dumb proprietary formats.

So people had to pay them.

@Knuckles-Fajita If only Sony hadn't tried doing that with the Vita, they may have had a chance...

This interview by Eurogamer with ID Software Marty Stratton (executive producer) and Hugo Martin (creative director) is really interesting. They say they now consider the Switch a 'first class citizen'. That is actually encouraging to hear.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-08-12-the-big-doom-et...

The one genre I figured Switch wouldn't really get was FPS. Glad to see Bethesda will have put 3 solid FPS on the system, and at a time when Call of Duty is going full online multiplayer (and had the first Wolfenstein game come, it would've had the four best FPS).

Just needs a few more open world games, and that'll be that.

@JaxonH I would honestly be happy with fallout 3, New Vegas, or 4 and Bioshock trilogy and I'm a happy camper. I wouldn't need anymore backlog stuff.

I hope every high quality 360 era game gets ported to Switch basically.

Mass Effect and Bioshock Trilogies especially.

Looking back at the January and March Directs, the only games from those Directs without a precise release date at this point are:

3DS

• Luigi's Mansion
• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Switch

• Dark Souls Remastered
• Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

I don't see it being simultaneous. Surely they need to finish the game, then hand it over to be ported. Can't see them delaying release just to wait for the Switch port to be ready.

@gcunit I pretty sure they have some Panic Button employees working side by side with the team creating the game. They won't give a release date till all versions are most likely ready.

@Spoony_Tech I won't be getting my hopes up, but that would set a great precedent if it were so.

@FragRed Cool interview. 60fps is a total unrealistic expectation for a game like this on Switch. If it runs at a solid 30 and doesn't experience big resolution dips, it'll be an absolute triumph of a conversion. And they'll most definitely be getting my money if the Switch version launches alongside, or in the same approximate release window as the other versions.

Pretty much. It does make me wonder what will happen with Netflix but. My understanding is that some titles on Netflix have a DD soundtrack. Will these still come through as PCM?

Not that it matters given I'll never use a Switch Netflix for that. But still. I'm curious how they handled that on Wii U.