Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

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There are a number of reasons Sony won’t make another handheld, many of which have already been touched on.

But one of the key reasons is, they do not have the capability to support both a home console and a handheld, much less a home console, VR and handheld.

This is partly why Nintendo failed with their consoles for so long. Yes, they made other mistakes. But the game droughts were also a big part of it. They just didn’t have the means to support two completely independent systems with their best games at a pace fast enough to keep momentum going. They would have to favor one at the expense of the other, and then when momentum started on one, they switched back over to the other... there’s a reason they finally decided to make a hybrid, where they can release a handheld only version of it and sell it as a $200 handheld to the people who were previously buying their handhelds, but also sell it as a console to the people who were previously buying their consoles, while also drawing in megatons of new consumer interest due to the fact it’s a 3-in-1 hybrid device.

Sony ran into the same problem. They couldn’t support Vita and PS3/PS4 at the same time. You could point to the PSP, but that was a rare era in gaming when even Nintendo had both a successful handheld and console. That was the exception, not the rule. Sony does not have the resources to make top-shelf, A-tier games for two platforms simultaneously. They manage VR because it requires far fewer development resources due to lack of competition and a lower standard from consumers due to the fact not that many great games are made in VR compared to traditional style gaming.

The only way Sony will ever break back into the handheld market is if they themselves decide to go with a hybrid system. And that’s not something they’re going to do in the next 15 years. However. The day will come in a few generations time, where the generational leap is so hard to discern, they could practically make a hybrid system with comparable graphics to their current system but which offers gaming on the go also. It would be a lateral move in terms of power, like Switch was a lateral move from Wii U in terms of power, but nobody would care at that point because a forward jump wouldn’t really produce anything that discernible anyways. That’s where the market will ultimately head. But that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Not until they can get away with a lateral generational move while still offering visual fidelity comparable to Xbox.

@urrutiap
Basically everything.

I own a PC (2080 ti) and a PS5, Switch and Switch Lite. I buy every single good game that comes to Switch... on the Switch. Unless it’s a very compromised version due to being too much for the system to handle (think Outer Worlds), or something I think just won’t ever release on Switch, I play it on the Switch.

Everything from 1st party titles (Mario 3D World, Odyssey and 3D All Stars, Pikmin 3, Zelda BotW 1, 2 and Skyward Sword, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2, Splatoon 2 and 3, Luigi’s Mansion 3, DKC Tropical Freeze, Pokémon Let’s Go, Sword/Shield, Diamond/Pearl and Legends, Mario Golf, etc) to 3rd party exclusives (Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Shin Megami Tensei V, Rune Factory 5, Astral Chain, Bayonetta 2 and 3, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default 2, Triangle Strategy, Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Ultra Street Fighter II, Daemon X Machina, Marvel vs Capcom Ultimate 3, etc) to 3rd party Multiplats (Sniper Elite 4, Persona 5 Strikers, Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4, Ys VIII and Ys IX, Romance of Three Kingdoms XIV, Bioshock Collection, Borderlands Collection, Burnout Paradise, Okami HD, Catherine Full Body, Crash 4, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Tony Hawk 1/2, Diablo 2 and 3, Doom Eternal, Witcher 3, DQ Builders 2, Dragon Quest XI S, Ni No Kuni, Divinity OS2, AI Somnium Files, Dragon’s Dogma, Resident Evil 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, Revelations 1/2 and RE Outrage, Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4, Assassins Creed Rebel Collection, Metro Redux, XCOM 2, Civilization VI, Saints Row 4, Tales of Vesperia, Trials Rising, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Final Fantasy XII, etc, to Indie titles (Cuphead, Ori Blind Forest and Ori Will of the Wisps, Hades, Bloodstained RotN, Bastion, Gnosia, Hollow Knight, Undertale, Stardew Valley, Shantae Seven Sirens, Steamworld Dig 2, Hyper Light Drifter, Unravel Two, Streets of Rage 4, Super Meat Boy, Thomas Was Alone, Braid, Transistor, Limbo and Inside, to Retro and Throwback Classics (Shiren the Wanderer, Romancing SaGa 2, 3, Scarlet Grace and Frontier, Panzer Dragoon Remake, PacMan Championship demake, Mega Man Legacy Collections 1/2, Mega Man X Collections 1/2, Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection and Mega Man 11, Doom 1, 2 and 64, Lumines Remastered, Grandia HD Collection, Dragon Quest 1, 2 and 3, Castlevania Collection, Samurai Showdown Collection, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9, Duke Nukem 3D, DMC 1, 2 and 3, Ghosts and Goblins Resurrection, Collection of Mana, etc).

The only games I felt weren’t best played on Switch were Witcher 3, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Doom and Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein 2 (we don’t talk about Outer Worlds, it’s just not good on Switch). And for these select games, I did buy them on Steam (except Immortals, still waiting on the Steam release there). But, I still bought them on Switch too because they’re absolutely amazing to have as handheld titles (and admittedly, I’ve put more time into the Switch version of all these titles, barring Wolfenstein 2). Especially Witcher 3 and Doom Eternal. And with Witcher 3 and Immortals Fenyx Rising having cross save with PC, it’s best of both worlds. So even the ones that are really pared back for the system, even they are so fun to play when you’re not at home that I still wanted to have them on the Switch. And Doom Eternal on a Switch Lite, playing at my desk at work? Hoo boy, lemme tell ya. No other game have I ever played on a handheld device that has given me the adrenaline rush that Doom Eternal provides on a Switch Lite with gyro.

But ya. Switch is preferable for 95% of the games which release on the system. Games of all kinds. The graphical downgrades for most of them are minimal, while the entertainment value gained from the hybrid advantage is immeasurable. The only type of game I feel doesn’t work well for Switch, is FPS when it doesn’t offer gyro. Thankfully, most of them do. But RPGs and strategy titles are a special kind of game for Switch. As is Monster Hunter. MH Rise is going to be one for the history books.