Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH That's a glorious collection! Anyone saying Switch is lacking in games lives in an alternative reality.

@Heavyarms55
We'll be adding Club House and Outer Worlds to that in 72 hrs. And Shantae is getting a physical release via LRG. I'm sure Bug Fables will too at some point.

Well, I've been putting it off, but my first playthrough of Shantae is going to be done soon. I'm not sure if I should play Xenoblade DE or continue on with The Switcher 3. Or maybe dig back into Gunvolt: Striker Pack.

I have too many games, lol.

@JaxonH At this point, I think any dedicated physical collector is better off waiting if an indie game isn't immediately announced for a physical release, because it's gonna happen eventually.

I have a surprisingly large number of physical Switch games, even though 90% of my library is digital.

@Ralizah
So true. With Limited Run, virtually anything and everything even remotely worth playing gets a physical release now. Provided it's an indie. Although there have been some notable others like Divinity Original Sin 2 and Panzer Dragoon.

@JaxonH @Ralizah

Limited Run isn't the only limited print company. There are roughly twenty or so boutique publishers currently in the business of releasing digital Switch games physically. So the chances of a digital-only release being made available physically down the road is really high. It makes collectors like me weary of purchasing anything digitally. And I've been burned more than once, using my gold coins on something I thought would remain digital-only, only to have the physical release pop up shortly after.

Of the four-thousand (or so) games available on the eShop, I believe roughly a quarter of them are available physically. With some of them exclusive to one region or another. Europe, Japan, etc. JP Swichmania might be the best individual to ask, to know for sure. He arguably has the largest, publicly announced collection of Switch games.

@Magician
I'm aware of a few others like Super Rare Games and Special Reserve Games. iam8bit as well.

But by and large, LRG accounts for most of the ones notable enough for me to want to buy. I buy a ton of Switch games but I do maintain a bare minimum threshold of quality where, anything below I just pass on. Lots of indies that fall into that category are published by the others. Like I Am Pedro. Seemed ok, but not good enough to buy. Same for Downwell, Toki Tori 2, etc.

I've got 20-30 LRG titles and maybe 3 from all the rest combined. The one I'm really waiting for, is the Samurai Showdown collector edition with Samurai Showdown 2 Pocket as it's own separate release from Pix 'n Love. And their upcoming Samurai Showdown Collection, whenever that goes live.

I hold off on all digital only games now, unless it's a game good enough to qualify as an additional digital purchase alongside physical.

I've said it before, but it's worth re-iterating: I'm glad the Wii U and 3DS didn't have a lot of limited physical run releases. Collecting for the Switch HAS to be a nightmare if you're not really well off.

@Magician I bet a much larger percentage of the really notable Nintendo Switch games on the eshop are available physically. The majority of top-shelf indies seem to get snatched up for physical distribution eventually.

Collecting on Switch can be a nightmare even when you are!

At 300 physical games, not counting the literal dozens and dozens of collector editions, I may not have as many as Magician but I would lose my sanity if I bought more than I did. Plus, it's not as appealing once you start scraping bottom of the barrel releases.

But even maintaining a reasonably high quality level for physical purchases, it's still crazy trying to keep up with all the limited runs from half a dozen LRG-like sites, physical releases exclusive to EU, Asia or JP, making sure English is included and not just subs if a dub is included for a Western digital release, ordering official looking cover art in English for all the imported games with Japanese on the spine and cover, ensuring there isn't slits or wrinkles on the spine of the case, which is present in 50% of the Switch games I buy and need to be returned for a new copy...

And I've practically come to a grinding halt as far as buying games on other systems. No more 3DS, PS4, Vita or X1 games. I'm ONLY buying games for Switch and it's a struggle to keep up sometimes. Which is crazy because before I could keep pace with Wii U, 3DS, PS4, Vita and X1 all at once. I'm fairly confident I have more Switch games than my entire DS/3DS/GC/Wii/WiiU/PS4/Vita/360/X1 collections combined (though admittedly it would be a close call)

@JaxonH - Mmm, quite right. If I were a Youtuber, I could probably throw together a top-50 list of Switch physical releases to avoid. Full of shovelware, rough ports, and "physical" releases with massive mandatory downloads...

...alright maybe a top-100 list, lol. The number of Switch physical releases with everything on the cartridge, absolutely zero updates, is very few.

If I skipped bioshock 2 would I be missing anything story wise?

@AndyD - No, each BioShock game is its own contained story.

Yea, physical on Switch has been fun, but that's with mostly sticking to the main-stream stuff. I did import I Am Setsuna from Japan, probably the most out the way I've gone for a physical release so far. When it comes to eShop titles, most I want to play are well-known and do end up getting a physical release through one of those companies, but I can't be bothered to wait and research that stuff all the time.

It was fun to do, and I'll probably finish the Switch trying to go physical whenever possible, but for PS5/Xbox (whichever one I eventually get) I'll definitely go all digital, and the next Nintendo console I'll go all digital as well.

This will possibly be my last 'generation' of participating in the market during its active period i.e. Next gen I may well wait until it's nearly over before getting involved. I've spent thousands this gen, but I won't be spending anything like that for digital licenses. Full physical releases are almost extinct already; nearly everything is patched after release. That heavily reduces my incentive for buying early to secure my own copy of a game.

As much as I'm not a huge fan of the amount of old games releasing on Switch, at least some of them (looking at you Metro Redux with a large wink of respect) release in a complete state with no patches required. Maybe I'll just skip a generation and wait for all the next gen games to get re-released on the hardware generation after that (e.g. PS6).

Anyone try out Skelattack yet? Action platformer published by konami. Looks promising but I've only heard of it today..

I'm truly spoiled with the Switch. Never before have I had so many games that I want to play at one time and so much of a backlog waiting to play, with more games and DLC yet coming out that I want to play too.

Even playing games literally every day at borderline unhealthy amounts I couldn't possibly keep up.

Right now I'm "trying" to play Xenoblade, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Disgaea 4, and Animal Crossing. I'm getting the Bioshock and Borderlands collections and The Outer Worlds once my new SD card comes in the mail, and the Pokemon SW/SH DLC is coming out later this month too.

Then I've got a backlog with Luigi's Mansion, Link's Awakening, Astral Chain and several others all waiting to be played! Someday!

And I'm working and need to get ready to move. Plus I need to eat, sleep, and I like to watch some anime and YouTube too. Oh and books I want to read.

Need more hours in the day man!

And these games are so important to me. There's so much nastiness in the world right now that it makes me sick. It gives me insomnia and nightmares. Not to mention some personal life changes I have to make soon that I honestly don't want to. I don't want to move, but I have to. Getting lost in fiction is the main thing keeping me from falling into depression right now.

@gcunit I forget who but some Microsoft executive was just saying he expects physical to largely fade out in only another 2-3 years. Which is quite sad. But with so many games releasing "physical" but needing significant downloads regardless, the main reason I prefer physical anyway has already largely been put to pasture. I find it hard to prefer physical releases of half a game.

I’ve come to terms with physical nowadays. It’s just not what it used to be and I’ve accepted that. I’m much more excited for the benefits of digital now. Having a digital collection carefully pruned to be only the best of the best with legitimate intentions of playing at some point, is now far more thrilling than chasing the endangered species of cartridge titles, which, at this point I’m just happy having a cartridge in a case at all. Download makes no difference. I’m only ever gonna play the digital version anyways.

@Heavyarms55
I'm truly spoiled with the Switch. Never before have I had so many games that I want to play at one time

Exactly how I feel.

I prefer ports over new games because new games are good maybe 50 or 60% of the time, but ports are good 90% of the time, because they cherry pick all the best ones to bring over. I actually own many of them elsewhere but just never played them (or played very little) because, as it turns out, I don’t play nearly as many games when they’re not hybrid. New exclusive games combined with a dash of new 3rd party games combined with two very giant truckloads of Creme de la creme of both 7th and 8th gen, means I’m drowning in a sea of amazing games, all hybrid and most with gyro.

For me, every single 7th gen title brought over gives me the same excitement I imagine everyone else had last generation when they released for the first time and were brand new. Partly because as I mentioned before, I haven’t played most of them or haven’t played enough of them, but also because the hybrid advantage makes it feel just as exciting, even if I have played it. So when it’s a game I haven’t played and it’s hybrid it makes me doubly excited.

I imagine there will come a point in time in some future generations where I’ve played most of the games from previous gens, and also already own them on a hybrid system, so the ports and remasters no longer excite me like they do now. But that is not this day.

I do think though we’re experiencing a very special, brief golden era following the perfect storm of the advent of hybrid gaming, and Nintendo catching up on all the best games of the last 15 years in hybrid handheld format on top of some of Nintendo’s best 1st party output in recent memory. That’s probably not going to last forever. It will likely extend throughout next generation if they do make a Switch 2, but eventually the day will come where this giant treasure trove of classics have all been ported to a hybrid system and there’s nothing really left to bring that we don’t already own hybrid. And when that day comes it’ll feel like the releases are slowing down a lot. But that could be 10 years down the line so I’m not going to worry about it just yet. For now, sit back and enjoy.

@JaxonH I don't really have a preference of port or brand new. From my point of view it's just a matter of whether I like the game or not. If it happens to be one or the other that doesn't really sway my opinion much. I'm in the uncommon camp of not minding paying full price for an updated port and that doesn't bother me unless it's not updated. If they port something and call it "deluxe" or "definitive" or whatever and it's the exact same game as before with nothing new or changed... then I will be a little annoyed. But even then, if it's a game I really like, I'll probably still buy it.

And you're right, I definitely think we're seeing a sort of golden age for Nintendo, both ports of older titles and amazing first party offerings. I also agree that it can't last forever. But what does?

I adore my Switch and beyond that have honestly been very annoyed at how much importance people are giving resolution numbers and specs under the hood as though we're talking about the horse power of a muscle car. With regards to cars - that line of thinking has led to the highest tier of sports cars being very "samey" looking as a result. But I digress, despite that opinion, I do very much hope we get a Switch 2 that is more powerful someday, but fully backward compatible with all current Switch titles. Ideally, a Switch Pro with games running on both machines, but designed to be able to take advantage of the new model if you have it.

The way I see it, is that PC games are designed to operate on a wide range of machines, so I don't understand why console games cannot be made in a similar fashion. But, I'm not a programmer. Perhaps there is some fundamental difference between the two that I do not understand.

For now though, I'm enjoying this golden age of Nintendo gaming and I don't expect it to end for at least several more years.

I am actually feeling overwhelmed with pokemon sword/shield and animal crossing - the constant updates and additions is killing my time in other games.

@Heavyarms55 Well, that's what's happening with the XBox line now, true BC. But even on PC, older games slowly become incompatible with future OS changes.

But the main reason we haven't seen that happen with consoles to this point is two-fold. Older consoles often had highly specialized hardware to allow them to pull off things that would otherwise have been impossible. If a later gen dropped that, then you'd need to emulate it to continue using the same instruction set. PC on the other hand can't make any assumptions about hardware, so while it isn't as efficient games there are far more flexible.

The other is changes in CPU architecture. Any full change in architecture is going to definitely break things, since the instructions can no longer be read at all.

Now, the good news is, as systems become more powerful, there's significantly less reliance on system quirks and everyone seems to have settled on X86/ARM , so long term BC should be on the cards for systems hopefully.

@link3710 That's certainly a better explanation than I have seen before. But surely hardware developers could plan for this kind of thing. Perhaps developing more power, more expensive versions of hardware and releasing it as the technology because cheaper but still built along the same general idea?

I'm probably naive in thinking that though.