Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I know we keep saying this, but you really can't overestimate the impact of the pandemic. I would wager a lot of this stuff was originally planned to be released months earlier than what we're seeing, if not approaching a year earlier. Not a doubt in my mind they wanted 3D World as a holiday title along with Age of Calamity, and Splatoon 3 to be a 2021 game especially if BotW2 was probably gonna be 2022 all along.

I'd bet Mario Golf was supposed to launch in February, Skyward Sword HD was probably originally gonna be in March, and Splatoon 3 was gonna be late Summer/Fall.

To me it makes more sense for them to be aiming for a 2021 release for BOTW 2, hot game + anniversary hype = mega sales. I reckon they are doing the same thing with the next Mario game and waiting for the horrible Minion people to make the Mario film so they can both release in 2022 with extra hype for each, synergy and all that.

@rallydefault I hate the pandemic it ruind our whole fricken year.

@Snatcher Year? It's not over yet, it could be going on for another year or two ;p

We're going to be dealing with covid for a long time. Vaccine distribution in poor countries is likely going to take a while, and we have about a dozen variants that the vaccine is less effective against already.

@rallydefault I agree about 3D World and Skyward Sword HD but not Mario Golf and Splatoon 3. Mario Sports is a spring/summer thing (e.g. Mario Tennis Aces in June, Mario Golf World Tour in May, Mario Tennis Open in May) so I think Mario Golf was always planned for around June 2021. As for Splatoon 3, it always planned for 2022 to bolster the lineup following new hardware.

As for new hardware I think the original plan was a new Switch launching alongside BotW 2 in holiday 2021 but BotW 2 being delayed to March 2022 and unlike Microsoft, Nintendo actually understands the importance of strong software surrounding new hardware so hardware got delayed too.

Some folks need to remember that it took Nintendo five years to develop BotW 1, from announcement to launch. Those folks like to assume that BotW 2 development shouldn't take as long because Nintendo might be using the same assets from BotW 1, a la OoC to MM on N64. That's a nice assumption, but I don't believe that's the case with BotW 2.

@Grumblevolcano
Hrm, perhaps. It just seems to me that they maybe wanted Mario Golf in March because it would be right at the end of the Mario anniversary and it'd be practically Spring. If that was the case, maybe they wanted to launch the Pro (again, I still think it's just an upgraded dock) right around E3 time (Summer), and Splatoon 3 could have been ready to rock along with it. And then BotW2 could have been waiting in the wings for Fall/Holiday 2021 to really cement the Switch Pro's initial months.

Just my guess. Basically I'm thinking they had to push most stuff back by 4-6 months.

Coivd must have really affected them hard as Metroid Prime 4 is no where to be seen now ;p

I know it’s off topic and unfashionable to say but... Fire & Ice is a great game on NSO. It’s much better (and friendlier) than the vast majority of games on the NES.

I'm really hyped for Mario Golf and Zelda Skyward Sword HD.

Mario Golf World Tour was so good. I've been wanting a Mario Golf on Switch for years. And they added motion. I do wish the motion also affected the twisting rotation for veering off left or right, but Mario Golf games only let you control power. The Wii Sports approach only works when motion is forced. Buttons can't translate that well.

Nonetheless, it'll be a blast. Especially the single player story mode with leveling up and stat allocation.

And I've been wanting to play Skyward Sword for years. I started playing on Wii U, but the sub-HD res and no portable mode and required Wiimote + Nunchuk ultimately led to my disinterest in continuing with it. I'm so glad it's coming to Switch.

I hope they fix the annoying parts like repeatedly telling you about items you pick up as if it's the first time you collected it every play session, and I hear Fi could get aggravating at times. But even if they don't, just having the game in HD with better controllers to use and button controls and hybrid portability... that alone will be enough to ensure I play it through.

But we've also got Monster Hunter Stories 2 releasing this summer, which we'll be getting more info on soon since Capcom just announced 3 new livestreams for Monster Hunter Rise, one of which will have MH Stories 2 info. Hope it doesn't release too close to Zelda.

Diablo II Resurrected is coming later this year with cross progression. I can play it on my pc at home, then continue it on the go on Switch? That's huge for a game like Diablo.

@IceClimbers

Diablo II Resurrected was handled by the same team that made Warcraft III Reforged. The worst reviewed game in Blizzard's history. I'm worried they've butchered another classic. But then Blizzard pulled that team off the project after how poorly Warcraft III Reforged reviewed and moved Vicarious Visions onto the project.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/01/23/a-diablo-2-...

check out the anouncement trailer of Diablo 2 Resurrected that is gonna release in all plataform incluiding Switch in 2021.

Ok. A leak from a seemingly reputable source has hit the interwebs, and lines up with what DuskGolem said about a new Switch for sure coming.

I’ve specifically refrained from buying into the revision being a serious jump, because Nintendo just hasn’t typically done that sort of thing and I didn’t want to get excited for nothing. But it does make sense given their statements about an extended lifespan- if they did five years with the base model and another five years with this pro model they could squeeze 10 years and will shatter the all time record by tens of millions.

IF TRUE, it sounds as if they no longer want to keep starting over from scratch and building their base up from scratch, which has really hurt them in generations past. IF TRUE, it seems as if they want to make generational leaps as iterative refreshes, which, there’s no if’s and buts about it, would result in exclusive games. Not all of them. In fact, I imagine 75% would run on both systems, but there would be that 25% they just can’t run on the base models. But this is a better approach because at least it allows people who don’t buy the next system to still have access to 3/4 of the games releasing as opposed to a hard cut off with the new generation where you don’t have access to any of the new games releasing.

• Switch revision is 100% DLSS and 4K Capable. Approx. 4x more powerful than the base Switch, raw power is equivalent to a PS4, but also has a superior CPU. Handheld upgrades should also be very substantial.
• Breath of the Wild 2 may or may not be tied to the launch of the revision (insiders are a tad conflicted on this). Either way, the game appears to be targeting a Q1 2022 release at the latest, but Nintendo is trying their damndest to make a Holiday 2021 launch. The Switch revision is more likely to launch this year than BotW 2, but Nintendo still might push back the Pro if BotW 2 isn't ready.
• Splatoon 3 was originally a non-holiday 2021 title, got delayed bc of COVID
• Mario Kart 9 was originally the holiday 2021 title, may or may not have been delayed to 2022 but it's not far off.
• Nintendo is likely going to transition more and more heavily to Switch revision only for software maybe 2-3 years after the revision's launch as they prep for the Switch 2 equivalent

@JaxonH A 4K Switch as powerful as a PS4, launching close to BotW2 and MK9? Sounds like someone's wish list.

I just have a hard time believing they're going to make THAT big of a jump after having sold so many base unit Switches.

@Ralizah
That was exactly my thoughts.

But Nate the Hate is standing behind it, and he’s been reliable in the past (last leak being DMC Collection, which he insisted was happening over and over... and then it came). There’s also a few others vouching for it but I don’t trust their reliability- they could be reliable but I just don’t trust them. But Nate the Hate I feel confident doesn’t put BS out.

And it’s the fact that DuskGolem said it was coming too, and he’s been right about virtually everything. Granted, he said nothing of power, but it does line up with something coming.

And then there’s the Bloomberg report, or whatever media outlet that was, that said Nintendo was telling devs to get games 4k ready. And then there was multiple reports about them switching to a better screen technology that draws less power.

It all seems to be pointing to the same thing, even as unbelievable as it is. If they switch to 8nm Ampere chip, that would line up perfectly. Mariko dropped from 20 nm to 16 nm, a 20% drop, and saw 50% power efficiency gains. They put it toward battery life but it could’ve been used for double the power. If they dropped to 12 nm we’d see another 50% increase, and a drop to 8 nm would see another 50% increase. So that’s double and double again, which is 4x power, which is exactly what they’re estimating. Plus DLSS would ensure it’s able to really close the gap, at least for big games that use it.

We’ll see. I’m still reserving my hype because I’m too afraid to have it shattered. But I am starting to believe... let’s put it that way. There is no spoon.

@JaxonH Welp - there goes a reason to cancel my Monster Hunter edition of the current Switch then. I've already bought the red Switch last week, taking me up to 3; if the revision is that much more powerful and coming this year then it'll be expensive and I'm going to feel a bit daft with 5 Switches but only wanting to play on one of them. Are you still getting the MH edition?

@gcunit
I’m still getting it, HOWEVER, I’m cancelling my second one. If a new revision is coming then I don’t need two of them. I was going to display one and then use one as a replacement for my current dragon quest model, but if a new revision is coming I’m just going to buy one to display and ride it out until the revision.

That said, you know how the rumor game works. It’s never a guarantee, even when they are rock solid sources. Personally- and I’m not telling you or anyone else what to think here- I’m just sharing my own views of what I think... personally I’m about 50/50.

On the one hand, there’s Nate, who’s been rock solid for quite some time, insisting it’s got DLSS upscaling up as high as 4k. There’s DuskGolem, a ROCK solid leaker who, as his parting gift retiring from the leaking game, said the Pro was real and was definitely coming. We’ve got media reports saying Nintendo is telling devs to get their games 4K ready, and we have multiple media reports of Nintendo looking for better screen technology that draws less power.

That’s the rock solid info we have.

Then, on the other hand, we have more shaky sources. We have someone with a history of overestimating the power of consoles for several generations running now, who also was duped into believing a fake data mine, saying it will be about as powerful as a base level PS4, and that’s without accounting for DLSS. But just because they overestimated in the past and have been gullible on occasions, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wrong this time- they are a verified insider after all. Then again, I don’t feel comfortable putting stock into anything they say given their history. It may turn out that they are right in this case, but they’ve proven themselves overly ambitious with estimating power on more than one occasion, and that’s not something I can just turn a blind eye to.

Whether you decide to wait or not is really your call. I can’t tell you what to do because I don’t know- I wish I did! It very well may be that we get a revision next year and despite the credible sources, it’s a marginal bump that only shores up framerates and dynamic res drops. Or, maybe it doesn’t come at all due to production issues and unprecedented sales success, and Nintendo waits a few more years for next gen to implement it. That said, we now have multiple credible sources all pointing toward the same thing. They could be dead on, and we could see exactly what they’re saying is coming by year’s end. Or maybe it comes, but it’s delayed to launch with BotW2 in 2022.

You’ve got to evaluate the risk and make the best decision accordingly.

Which of these two scenarios is more tolerable in your opinion? Go with the one that you feel better about.

1 You buy the MH Switch, then one year later a Switch Pro is released on par with PS4 + DLSS
2 You don’t buy the MH Switch, hoping for a Pro, but it never comes. Now you have neither.

This is what they need all they need honestly. With that being said there is a oh my GOD it’s POWERFUL rumor for every new Nintendo console. In reality we get something not as powerful. Architecture is the name of the game. If they have base ps4 power, better architecture, better CPU, and ram.... they are set for another 3-5 years minimum.