Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Slowdive Funny that for a company that was the one to get Nintendo to up the RAM in the Switch to run their engine, it’s only now we may get something new from them for the console.

Apparently they had issues when docking games in the RE engine, transitioning between tv and handheld and vise versa. So they had to adapt and modify the engine to work properly on Switch, and then use the engine to make games ground up. So ya, it took a while. But now that they have a working variant of the RE engine, I imagine they’ll use it for future games.

Dusk Golem says he knows of one other Switch game being developed on this modified Switch-compatible version of the RE engine, though he hasn’t divulged specifics. I wager it’s Resident Evil Revelations 3.

We also know DMC4 is coming, and Mega Man X9. Seems like we’ll finally be getting some solid Capcom support.

Good thing Nintendo did increase their RAM though, for the sake of all other games developed on the system. It’s hard enough as is with 3gb usable. Imagine if it had been just 1gb usable.

Release a real sequel to Monster Hunter Stories and all past and future sins are forgiven Capcom

@Haruki_NLI Maybe Sony blocked Capcom from making certain games for Switch, you may think that's impossible but Microsoft did something similar in the early XB1 era. Remember the Rayman Legends Wii U mess, well the reason it was delayed to launch with the other versions instead of being a timed Wii U exclusive was because Microsoft had a rule at the time in which a game couldn't come to XB1 if the game released first on another platform.

@Grumblevolcano
Maybe Sony blocked Capcom from making certain games for Switch

Of course they do. Been sayin that for years. It’s one of the reasons I prefer to not buy games on PS anymore, because I don’t support those kind of tactics out of principle, because those tactics are aimed at depriving people like me from playing games on other systems I have more preference toward. This is why Final Fantasy VII and it’s “one year exclusivity” is a “wait for Steam” purchase. I refuse to reward them for intentionally depriving me from playing games where I want to play them. Same for Little Devil Inside- despite a commitment to Kickstarter backers, Sony said we don’t care about them, screw them, we want to ensure these suckers have to play on our console, whether they want to or not. They’re the Epic Game Store equivalent of the console industry.

Giving in to that would be like taking a punch to the face and then saying thank you sir, may I have another? And this is why I don’t buy games on either EGS or PS. I can wait, and if I must, I can do without.

In the case of MS, there’s some specific examples of them taking a similar approach but honestly, ever since RotTR, I can’t think of any particular instance in which they did so. Either they’ve changed their policy because they know gamers don’t appreciate it, or they’re biding their time so that when they strike, it has maximum effect. Time will tell whether it’s the former or the latter.

@Grumblevolcano
Not hard to imagine at all. I can't remember exactly what, but I'm pretty sure there have been quite factual cases of Sony and/or Microsoft blocking games from going to other systems.

True, but subjectively it hasn't exactly had many huge hitters. I mean on the numbers alone 2020 is better than 2017. But 2017 had entirely new entries for Zelda and Mario as well as games like Arms and Mario & Rabbids which were both great and entirely new.

2020 has Animal Crossing which is great and has probably overtaken the play time of Breath of the Wild on many Switches. Lets say it's "on par" with Breath of the Wild which is probably being a tad generous to Animal Crossing. But after Animal Crossing I'd, subjectively, probably list Mario 3D All Stars, Paper Mario and the AR Mario Kart next. None of these really compare to Odyssey.... or even Mario & Rabbids IMO.

Even the smaller games, as great as Good Job is.... does it really beat Snipperclips?

By all accounts, Sony is gearing up the aggressive exclusivity arrangements big time. Don't think this won't extend to Switch games, either. Especially considering Nintendo's phoenix-like rebirth in the home console space with the success of the Switch. They're going to be worse than 360-era Microsoft.

@Ralizah I feel like that aggressiveness has largely come down to the fact that they're no longer on the losing end like they nearly were throughout the majority of the 7th console generation, where the 360 was pretty much cleaning up house for almost the entire duration of both consoles' lifecycles. Now that they've gotten back a large amount of their consumer base and a massive install base behind them again, they're definitely taking things in more drastic directions probably to be even more assertive of their place in the console market. It definitely helps that as of right now, PlayStation to me at least, has significantly more compelling exclusives from both first and third parties compared to Xbox, and as accessible in theory as the Play Anywhere initiative is, it's definitely going to hurt their console sales. I'm honestly surprised they haven't met a fate as bad as SEGA yet.

The best way I’ve heard it framed, is that Sony doesn’t like to add value to their platforms so much as they like to devalue other platforms. Rather than invest that money into new exclusives, they’d rather pay to keep certain multiplats from releasing on other targeted platforms. But, until enough people take a stand against it and refuse to buy any game which has been bought and paid for, it will never end, and to Ralizah’s point, will only continue to increase.

Thank goodness for the PC platform. Sure, there’s EGS, but that’s only ever timed. And I’m a patient person when I want to be.

@JaxonH They also took a page out of Microsoft's handbook with securing exclusivity deals for content in multiplats as well as evidenced by stuff like their CoD content deals and Spider-Man being exclusive to their versions of Marvel's Avengers.

PC is a relatively neutral platform which is why they kind of bridge that gap, and why a lot of PlayStation console exclusives actually end up there to begin with like Nioh, Yakuza 0/Kiwami (prior to the Xbox ports) and more recently with Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 4 Golden.

Issho ni Asobo Koupen-chan for Nintendo Switch.

Another cute game for Nintendo Switch. 😄
This is what i called Holiday 2020 game.

@Anti-Matter My cute gauge approves of that one. Might have to keep an eye out for it, thanks.

@JaxonH I find it hard to blame Sony alone. The publishers and developers can easily refuse exclusivity deals. There's a fair few games that are exclusive to Xbox, and Switch has exclusive third parties as well. It happens all the time.

@Octane
There’s a difference between exclusives and multiplats which were purchased to prevent or delay release on other intended platforms. I have no issue with exclusives (I think it would be best if all games were multiplat but if a company wants to make a game exclusive that’s their right, even if I disagree with the practice, although in some cases I think it makes sense such as with MH, if Switch is to be excluded from the multiplat release to ensure high graphical fidelity, it makes sense to develop a separate game for the system).

Point being, exclusives aren’t what I take issue with. It’s games that would have released on multiple platforms that are prevented or delayed from doing so thanks to a bribe made by the platform manufacturer, and thus become exclusives due to a payment, not by original intent, or release on less platforms due to payment rather than original intent, or release later on other platforms due to payment, not original intent. Of course, that’s not to say the publisher isn’t also at fault, and I do attribute some responsibility toward them, but ultimately they’re in the business of making money, and if Sony comes along with a 10 million dollar check to ensure a game doesn’t release on console X or Y or both X and Y, or has a delayed release on X or Y or both X and Y, or strips out content for the versions releasing on X or Y or both X and Y... it’s not incomprehensible that they would comply.

And what makes it particularly aggravating is the fact they strategically target the games people want on other systems the most, almost as if they’re doing it out of spite to punish everyone who isn’t a PS gamer. Preventing Final Fantasy VII Remake from releasing on Xbox and PC for a year is our punishment for not being loyal Sony fans. MH World not releasing on Xbox and PC in Asia is punishment for those who haven’t pledged allegiance. Little Devil Inside not releasing on Switch, Xbox or PC until after Sony is done brandishing it as an exclusive and milking it for all it’s worth is punishment for not owning the “correct” console. They’re in the business of punishing those who don’t bend the knee. And there’s many other examples. Spider-Man in Avengers, Deathloop, etc etc.

As for Nintendo, they’re not in the business of such practices. Their exclusives are not multiplats paid off to not release elsewhere. Microsoft isn’t so clear cut. 10 years ago they were how Sony was today. In fact, one could say they started this whole trend. But I haven’t seen any evidence they’ve pursued such a policy moving forward after Rise of the Tomb Raider. As I mentioned before, they very well could end up just like Sony this generation, although they’ve got quite the shoes to fill if that’s the case. Time will tell whether they respond in kind. In a way I hope they do. Because right now the largest gamer ship is the Sony fan base and none of them are speaking out against this because they are the beneficiaries. Until they get a taste of their own medicine they’re not going to stand up and say anything. And so ironically, it may take Microsoft fighting fire with fire before everyone finally realizes just how damaging this practice is and people decide to speak up about it.

Is there a thread about adapters for using an Xbox controller on Switch? It doesn't need to be wireless. Actually, I would prefer to connect the controller directly to the USB port. Do you need to modify the Switch or it's just plug the adapter in the dock or Switch?

@BlueOcean
Magic Adapter

Just keep in mind, no HD rumble, no gyro (since Xbox doesn’t have gyro), no NFC and no analog trigger support since Switch doesn’t support it. Most of those aren’t a big issue, aside from the gyro.

@JaxonH Well, on the positive side, timed exclusives will be available on other platforms at some point, where full exclusives won't.

How about that Baldo RPG? That one is timed exclusive on Switch. Sable, The Last Night and Tunic are timed exclusives on Xbox when they come out. I find it hard to worry about that stuff anymore. I'll buy them on whatever console it comes out. If they want to waste their money on timed exclusivity that's up to them.

Little Devil Inside is definitely weird. But that's really on the devs, they apparently thought it was a good idea. On the other hand, if they had budgeting problems maybe it was good some publisher came in to make sure it even comes out. But yeah, I won't lose my sleep over it.

@THENAMESNORM I tagged you here, in a more relevant thread. Don't buy any unknown brand micro sd cards. On Amazon, stick to brand's you know, and make sure they have a crazy amount of high reviews, like 50,000 or 100,000+ reviews. Amazon has zero quality control, and it's full of bogus cards. There are only a few micro sd card pages on Amazon I'd trust. This page looks ok - Sandisk, 270,000 reviews 4.5 star rating.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-microSDXC-Memory-Adapter-Per...

When I searched 1TB cards, I think I saw ₤266?. Yeah, not cheap. The 512 GB & 400 GB cards have more sane prices, if that's what you're after. edit: the best price I've seen for 1TB was the holiday/black friday sale here in the US, it was $186 USD - about ₤140.

@Octane
Yes, that’s a silver lining for sure. Timed exclusives suck, but they’re not nearly as bad as the alternative.

That being said, I’m not losing sleep over any of this. But I’d be remiss to not mention it being the aggravation it is. I refuse to just “buy them on whatever console they come out” because that’s not my desired platform to enjoy the games on. It’s settling for 2nd best due to arm twisting. I would prefer to play all my games on Switch and/or PC. I’d rather have a hybrid version than a TV only version, and if I must have a TV only version, I’d rather have a TV only version with gyro, free online and better performance. Twisting my arm to buy it on some other platform... I don’t respond well to that. And I don’t see settling for less than what I truly want as being a viable solution. Because not only do I then have to play the game on a less desirable platform, I also reinforce that behavior by rewarding them for twisting my arm, Which then encourages them to twist my arm again, and again, and again.

There’s certainly been single instances of small indie games being timed exclusive on switch, but I’ve seen no evidence that it was a result of Nintendo going out of their way to pay them to not release elsewhere, and more importantly, even if they did, there’s a huge difference between a one off occurrence and a systemic repeat issue that results from a policy of bribery (also why I don’t typically talk about MS despite RotTR, because it was a one-off occurrence and not a systemic trend). And it bears mentioning, paying for exclusive content such as Nintendo IP content (Star Fox in Starlink) is different than paying to prevent 3rd party content that should be in the game from releasing anywhere else (Spider-Man in Avengers) because the former is adding value to their version, while the latter is simply devaluing all other versions.

As for Little Devil Inside, in that case I blame the devs more than Sony, because in that particular case they had already made a commitment to Kickstarter backers, and that commitment was on them to honor. That doesn’t mean Sony isn’t to blame, it just means the developers shoulder more blame. They very well may have had budgeting problems but, if that’s the case, they should have been upfront with their backers and told them they needed to seek funding from an outside publisher to complete the game, rather than blindside everybody with PS5 exclusivity out of the blue, before even communicating what’s going on to backers.