Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Can't wait to play Resi again on Switch. Two great games in Zero and 4 and the original for those interested. It would be nice to see the whole mainline series up to 6 (6 is my favourite in the series) but I'm still happy with the news.

I have a pretty decent PC could probably play a lot of great indies and the best looking AAA games but the reality is I just can't be bothered I use it mostly for writing the occasional document and playing Victoria 1 and 2.

I was looking through the Switch news channel and noticed that the E3 coverage is going to leave the news channel soon (I'd guess about a week from now). The oldest content that's showing up is the Sushi Striker launch trailer on 8th June.

If there's one port I'd really like to see, it's Sonic Generations. I'd buy it in a heartbeat

Yea, sadly I'm finding this to be the case for me too, especially since my daughter was born (almost a month now!).

Switch has been my go-to gaming because of the ease. Sitting down at the PC to do anything more than some quick browsing just isn't in the cards for the foreseeable future.

Btw, i found from e-shop, the game size of World of Final Fantasy Maxima was JUST 10.1 GB. That's fit enough on 16 GB cart, so i don't want to hear any excuses from SquareEnix to NOT release that game in Physical since SquareEnix CAN release Dragon Quest Builders 1 & 2 in Physical.
And today is 27 October 2018 but still NO Confirmation yet from SquareEnix about Physical release of Nintendo Switch version.

we now know who being working on These cloud games. Ubitus.
https://nintendoeverything.com/meet-ubitus-the-company-behind...

So, how does the game run?

Midoro: To explain it simply, the actual game is running on our company’s servers. All of that picture and sound data is sent to the user’s Nintendo Switch, and then the input on the controller from the user is sent back the same way, and that’s how the game runs.

How did this project originally start off?

Ozan: In April 2018 we released the cloud versions of Phantasy Star Online (SEGA Games) and then in May 2018 we released the cloud version of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom), and on the merits of those two games it was decided we would co-develop titles with Ubisoft as well. We also talked with Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, about developing other games, but Assassin’s Creed Odyssey seemed liked the perfect opportunity, and the series is already a favorite with fans. So, we started there.

With the Switch being so different to other platforms, were there any issues with response times or lag?

Midoro: No that wasn’t a problem. We changed the user interface to better suit the Switch, but the game runs on the same basic spec and with the same data exchange as the PC version. On our side too we are working now on optimizing the networks to ensure users have a lag-free experience. The recommended network is 802.11ac 5GHz for Wi-Fi and if possible we would recommend using a LAN adaptor for a wired connection. But we’ve also conducted tests in-house with a 4G wireless connection, and as long as the network is strong there should be no problems playing that way.

Ozan: We’ve set up a robust infrastructure in order to create an environment where players can enjoy the game and we’re committed to preventing any sort of issues.

Midoro: Even for gamers wanting to play at high spec, the servers are equipped to adapt to each network and adjust speed automatically, so as long as you have the appropriate connection speeds, the game can be played at top spec.

The amount of games playable on the cloud is increasing, but what do you think are the merits of cloud-based games?

Ozan: First off, porting a game with such a huge and rich world would obviously take a lot of time and money. Also, getting a port that recreates the same experience as the PC version can be very difficult. In order to deliver that high-end experience, the best option is cloud gaming. Also, with big games the necessary storage data can really build up and updating can take a really long time. With cloud gaming, though, because the updating occurs on the actual server, it takes far less time and effort. For this game, it’s necessary to download the free 44MB launcher, but aside from that nothing more is required to play the most up-to-date version of the game.

Midoro: From a developer’s point of view too, being able to offer the PC build of the game on various platforms is definitely a huge selling point. I think it’s also great that we can shorten that time of porting and get the game to players much faster.

I get the feeling that the amount cloud games might start increasing rapidly.

Midoro: The time might be coming when people can play games in the same way they watch YouTube. Cloud gaming definitely has that potential.

Ozan: Ours is a company that provides technology solutions, but we are all also of a mind-set to improve entertainment value and ensure players enjoy their games as much as possible. Also, there’s the fact that all of our members are gamers… (Laughs)

So you can see things from a gamer’s point of view.

Midoro: Ozan and I, and also the developer and the publisher all have that experience, so we take the gamer’s standpoint very seriously. Also, because every game has distinctive differences, we try our best in the optimization process to put across the unique appeal of each game. On this game too, we are working alongside the Ubisoft development team to ensure we really transmit everything they want.

Ozan: First off, in order to test the network capabilities, the player completes a free twenty-minute network play test. If that goes well, they can proceed to the Nintendo eShop and buy a 730 day usage ticket. The play test can be done as many times as needed, so it’s possible to use it to test the suitability of any network, wherever you are.

Midoro: The save data is also handled by the cloud, so even if the player’s Nintendo Switch breaks they can use their account on another console and continue their game. We’ll also be handling the release of future downloadable content so that players will be able to enjoy the same experience as on other platforms, so please don’t worry about that.

But the fixedness of a console can also be a problem. If you find a part in a game that is choppy, you are at the mercy of the game maker to fix it on the console. On the PC you can downgrade the res or details to gain more frames.

Personally I think PC is the superior platform for a lot of reasons. Except for exclusives, consoles don't have any real advantage.

Yup, sign me up for console gaming too because of first party exclusives. You can see the platform holders investing a lot of money in first party development and its becoming more important to them the last couple of years.

Nintendo has been cultivating their series and mostly been pretty careful with them for thirty years. While several years ago this was seen as a weakness (We can’t compete with Nintendo games! is the easy way out) and Sony/MS really pushed their third party partners. For the past few years though, they seem to be pushing their first party content far more, to great succes. Its only logical: third parties release on multiple systems and they’re not interested in platform specific deals apart from those silly “play DLC maps/story content etc. thirty days earlier” deals.

Ever since the PS3 Sony has been building a steady stream of games and I think it finally paid off on PS4. Uncharted 4, God of War, Horizon, Spider-Man are roaring success stories. Hope they can keep it up.

MS finally saw the light as well, seeing all their studio purchases as of late. They really need the diversity and steady stream of exclusives to actually make a dent on a world wide level. I know the system performs well in North America, but in Europe shelfspace for the system is dwindeling and its losing it to Switch.

@subpopz
That's not blowing anything out of proportion. These are problems that I run into all the time on PC.

Play Wolfenstein 2 on GPD Win 2, doesn't display properly. Have to Alt-Tab and click the taskbar icon again and suddenly it fixes itself and it does this every single time it goes into a cut scene.

Play Final Fantasy on PC (can't remember which one) and fullscreen won't work. Just displays black screen. Have to run windowed mode and it won't do borderless.

Play MH World on PC, it crashes constantly.

Play one of Valve's games (I think, maybe it was a Bethesda game), and it won't run because the .dll file was missing- had to spend three hours searching the Internet and reading help forums to try to find the right DLL file to download to fix the issue.

Move Dragon Age to the D drive from Steam's move install location feature. Game won't run, despite every other game running fine from that drive. Some file it has to look for in the C drive isn't there, so I had to move the entire game back.

Play Dragon Age Origins, or Assassins Creed 2, and only partial controller support. Assassins creed the controller works but all the commands are still in keyboard letters, and DA it doesn't work at all if it weren't for Steam automapping. Which I was able to come up with a control scheme that worked but it was just a pain in the butt and it's still not as good.

I've never seen people try to downplay these very real issues more than on this forum. I could list an entire 3 pages full of crap I've had to deal with on PC as a platform.

When it's working, it's working. But I guarantee you if I tallied up all the time I've spent having to fix problems that don't exist on consoles, I would probably hit over 50 hours.

That's not even getting into all the resolution incompatibilities from hooking it up to a 4K TV. Which, if you are truly going to argue it's a good substitute for consoles then you have to include hooking it up to a 4K TV and not some monitor. And if you want proper resolution, everything is super tiny where you have to get up out of your chair and get within 3 feet of the screen to be able to read the context menu because it's still displaying the same size it would display on a 24 inch monitor. Having to run certain games in compatibility mode for XP or 7, having to check that DPI scaling box for certain games to display right... it's fine if you like PC, but let's not pretend these issues are being over exaggerated because, they are not. They're all issues I have personally dealt with multiple times for multiple games. And I'm quite sure that if you got a certain type of set up on a desk with a monitor and a mouse and keyboard, you might not have nearly as many problems. But when you start talking about using a controller, you're introducing more problems because not every game has controller support. When you talk about hooking it up to a 4K TV you're introducing even more problems because most games have issues displaying properly without some kind of workaround or fix or setting applied. And then depending on what kind of drivers you have and what kind of graphics card you have, you're going to have display issues and crashes and God knows what else.

No, it's not being over-exaggerated. I was excited when I got my gaming PC. But there's a reason I stopped using it in favor of the Xbox One X. I still use it, and it's fantastic for certain games that don't have issues, but you don't find out which games do and don't until you actually run into the issue.

A lot of the time PC does work and I'm not saying this stuff happens every single time you turn it on. But it does happen. And everything I've talked about has personally happened to me on more than one occasion. And even one single issue can cost you a ton of headache if you can't get it fixed, or takes hours of research and trial and error to fix. I think I have most of my games in my Steam library fixed up now to where they run properly (Aside from Final Fantasy in windowed mode and Wolfenstein with the Alt-Tab display fix every time a cut scene loads, which can happen multiple times through one long series of cut scenes, and Wolf New Order running 10fps on my 4K desktop hooked up to my PC despite running flawlessly on the GPD Win 2 handheld). But I spent dozens of hours getting those fixes in place and doing the research needed to implement them.

So yeah, once you get it all fixed up it works pretty nicely. But for every dozen games I add to my library, I usually have issues with one or two of them, in some way, shape or form. It will always be superior in terms of user control, range of capabilities, etc. and for the people who value that it's probably an incredible platform. But it comes at a very steep cost (a cost that some don't mind much, like tinkerers, but that some mind very much, like those who want plug and play) that a lot of people like to brush under the rug and pretend doesn't exist, or that the issues are just over exaggerated

The advantage comes in the form factor and the way you must play. Honestly, I'd 1,000% rather kick back on my couch to game for a few hours rather than sit upright at my PC (or hunch, more accurately, especially after an hour or so). Gaming at my PC keeps my body tense, which I guess is nice if I'm putting in 30 minutes of a twitch shooter or something, but not nice if I just want to wander around an adventure game for a couple hours.

Also it depends on people's homes. Some people have their PC set up in a "man cave" or otherwise nice spot - my PC is in the corner of my living room and forces me to have my back to family while I'm using it. Most people have consoles/TV set up in more central, inviting locations in their houses (hence "couch co-op" term, I guess) where everyone can watch/participate.

For some reason I thought it was Portal 2 or Half Life 2, but now that I think about it it wasn't a valve game that was missing the DLL, to be perfectly honest I don't think it was a Bethesda game either now that I think about it.

The Valve game I was having issues with was a black screen. Every time I would launch the game it will go into a black screen. Goodness knows I've had enough problems with Bethesda games, what with the display errors for Wolfenstein and running 10fps on a PC 5x more powerful than a handheld PC that runs it fine, but I don't think missing a DLL was one of the issues.

I can't remember what game that was for but I do remember searching all over the Internet for it. Everybody seemed to have a fix that they claimed would work, and then I would try it and it wouldn't work. Turned out there was some .dll file that someone uploaded via torrent, and once I downloaded it and placed it in the correct directory, suddenly the game started working! That's always a good feeling though, when you get a game working. Not a good feeling trying to get to that point though.

I swear it is always weird hearing people having issues with gaming on PC. I can understand arguments about cost but .dll issues and 90 percent of the stuff I've seen Jaxon and NES describe I'm like...what kind of cursed rig are you using? For me I would say the barrier is cost if I wasn't already a PC gamer, after all I have the most flexibility with controllers, mods and graphics. However like now where I make WAY less money than I used to (took a job offer that I really, really should not have) I can't update my rig on a whim, but even then I was never a GPU a year gal.

Also GOG is a wonder of wonders.

On the switch side I am looking out for the Bushiden kick starter. Looks like what I had hoped Shinobi 3ds would look like...

What happened to the Melton soapbox? I was just about to read it.

@rallydefault comgratulations pal take it from me in a few years your going to have the immense enjoyment of introducing them to Nintendo gaming and sharing some good times. Enjoy.

@ReaderRagfish I guess I got lucky then... or something. I'm not PC master race but I did put about 2500 into my original rig (built it for school and not gaming actually and I later delegated it to the gaming rig...the original parts are in my "work only" computer now actually) but yeah the only issues I've ever had were optimization issues/bugs that are baked into the release. Like FO3 CTD on occasion (I've not found a 100 percent fix for that) but I will admit that I usually wait a bit when pc games come out and look for the bug fix communities and then load that. I'd say about 5 GB of my Skyrim install in bug fixes (the rest is texture updates because bethesda makes mud for textures. Skyrim should not look as horrible as it does.) I wasn't ragging on anybody but it is litteraly sureal to me when I hear the horror stories...except NES...that dude is cursed for real. I think he cut Bill Gates off in traffic at some point in his life.

Honestly I have way more issues with console...which is funny because if you pressed me I'd say I consider myself a console gamer but at this point I do play most multiplats on PC to avoid the headache. If AC:Sparta crashes on me one more time I'm gonna throw the xbox out a window. I think I spend 35 percent of my play time cussing at the xbox...and I detest vulgar language so I don't drop it every other word like it is socially acceptable to do now.

Thank goodness for Nintendo. They build tanks. I can literally count on two hands the number of issues I have had with Nintendo hardware over the past 30 years of gaming.

OG XB1 has been a headache for awhile now. I know the solution is to upgrade to the XB1S or XB1X but I'm not falling for that trap because Scarlett in 2019 is possible, 2020 at the latest.

I hated gaming on Xbox to the point I just gave up on it, because everything was so laggy in the OS. Tabbing down to the next row would always have a half second delay, and panning through your game list, it would never have more than 20 or 30 game images loaded at a time, so as you panned through them you had to wait 5-8 seconds for the images to populate... it was a ridiculously long wait sometimes, that you had to repeat over and over again every time you panned down or up.

And this was on Xbox One X.

So I just quit using it altogether. Update after update they revised the OS and sometimes they made it a little better, but it always had that issue. Finally, turned my X1X on this morning to check out Red Dead 2, and there was a 3.6gb system update waiting for me (and a 90gb 2 disc game install after that, yay).

And wow... to my surprise, the OS is finally fixed! It's instantly responsive like Switch is. All the game icons are loaded no matter how fast I pan down the list. It finally feels great to use. Or at least, doesn't frustrate you with delay and lag (something PS4 now has, and it didn't when the system originally launched). Bloated OS that lags is what made the Wii U such a chore to play. Yet these companies just never seemed to learn- they try to cram as much crap on the menus and into the OS as possible to the point you get that delay. But it seems they are finally learning that having a lightning fast OS is of paramount importance, and has a high correlation with whether or not I'm going to turn that system on again next week, or not touch it again for another year.

@JaxonH Wii U's OS would outright crash lol

I've had more games on PS4 and Switch crash on me lately than on PC. In fact, crashes have rarely happened these last few years, even as I've taken to play more games on my rig. PC gaming is finally at the point where it's user-friendly enough to be fairly accessible for non-techies. Heck, driver updates are practically an automated process at this point.