Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Magician Are you talking about a Switch Pro revision? I meant for the next gen Nintendo console, later down the road. I edited my comment above to make it more clear, since it was a bit ambiguous with all the Pro talk lately.

Disgaea 6 dated! June 29th!

@Grumblevolcano

I think it's a fair assumption that a majority of the people who are asking for a Switch Pro, already consider the Switch as a secondary platform to their Playstation, Xbox, or PC. (Or if you're a maniac like me, the Switch is your third or fourth alternative, lol.) A high price point isn't a concern for the audience a Switch Pro would be targeting. Just sit back and watch as Nintendo embraces Apple's "incremental upgrade for a premium" mentality of presenting their products to consumers.

@Magician
Exactly.

Nobody's gonna say dang, I want a Switch with OLED and 4k, but Series X is cheaper so I guess I'm buying that instead!

We heard the same arguments when Switch launched. "It's $300! But you can get an Xbox One S for $200! Nobody's gonna buy a Switch for $300 when they can get an Xbox One S for $200!"

Yaaaa.... how did that work out? Nobody cared. People buying a Switch want a Switch. You could hand Xbox's out on the streetcorner for free, and it still wouldn't stop people from buying what they want. Until Xbox has Nintendo games and offers hybrid play, Series S is completely irrelevant to Switch.

The days of "only sold because it's the cheapest system" are over (and while price does affect demand, it's never been the only reason Nintendo platforms sell). As is crystal clear from the 80 million Switches sold in 4 years vs less expensive alternatives. People want hybrid gaming. The flaw in logic is assuming people only care about a system playing games, and nothing else, and automatically default to the lowest price. Which has never been how things work. That logic only makes sense when all other factors are held equal, and other factors are most definitely not equal.

Going by experience, a Switch v3 will replace the V2 on the manufacturing lines, so going forward only the v3 will be available (expect to see v2s getting discounted by retailers leading up to the v3 announcement to shift stock). As such, v3 would probably retail for the same/similar price as V2 and v1 did. Just because v3 offers upgraded hardware, Nintendo are still going to target their same broad market, so a significant price rise seems unlikely.

I would expect(hope) v3 to be compatible with a v2/v1 dock, and vice versa, and so wouldn't expect the v3 to be significantly different in thickness to v2.

When you say 'older Disgaea games', are 2 and 3 coming to Switch?

Yea, the Switch is complimentary for the vast majority of gamers, not their only console. And plus, if they keep games playable on either model, nobody "needs" to upgrade to a Pro. It would be an option for people like us and those who want their games to look a bit better and load a bit faster, which I would wager isn't even the majority of the Switch userbase. I think Nintendo will probably sell way more base and Lite models than Pro models.

I disagree with the v3 thing, @gcunit. I don't think they're gonna go that way. If this thing has any kind of noticeable power over a regular Switch, they're gonna need to up the price. The better handheld screen alone is gonna affect the price. And that's ignoring the question of the dock completely. They may even put a different dock with it, we'll have to see. I could maybe see the price not moving much if it can use the same dock... but is more power like the latest rumor claims even possible with zero changes to the dock? I think it's gonna be a separate model and price from the regular v2 Switch.

@Magician @JaxonH I think it depends on the extent that 1st party games are improved. While I do see some maybe having significant improvements (e.g. XC2 handheld, Age of Calamity docked, Bowser's Fury docked), I think most 1st party game improvements will be insignificant given Nintendo's approach to gaming is games being able to run very well on weak hardware.

Meanwhile on the 3rd party side between Game Pass and xCloud (both are included in the Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $61 for a year, $121 for 2 years or $181 for 3 years) some may find Series S + Game Pass Ultimate a better deal than a more powerful Switch if the more powerful Switch was priced at $400.

Who's been getting the current Switch or even the Lite for 3rd party games primarily, @Grumblevolcano....?
I think they'd keep selling the current ones & distinguish the more expensive one, anyway, so not sure why you all seem to think they won't do that

@gcunit Really hoping we hear about Disgaea D2. As far as I know, that's the only Disgaea game that's still exclusive to its original host platform at this point (PS3).

@Grumblevolcano

Everything depends on DLSS and its implementation in the Switch V3. I don't pretend to know the intricacies, only what a I gleam from Nvidia's FAQ page and outside sources like Digital Trends. I assume all games available on the Switch will get a slight resolution and framerate bump. But even with DLSS, I imagine some games won't run at 720p 30fps. I'm looking at you, XC2 handheld.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/nvidia-dlss-your-qu...

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-t...

You do realise that the Xbox does portable gameplay don't you.
Since I grabbed a Series S I've not turned my switch on at all. I can play full console games in bed using remote play - why would I want to put up with the downgrades needed to get games running on switch when I can play them fully optimised on my phone.

@Mr-Fuggles777 If it's anything like remote play between PS4 and Vita, then it's laggy and a pain if the console isn't wired. And, in general, I think the biggest benefit of portability is being able to take a game with you without having the headache of worrying about connection speed or location.

Streaming games is fine for some people, but it doesn't replace hybrid console design.

I expect a $400 Switch Pro (of course they won’t call it that) with 720p OLED screen, 8gb RAM, new 8nm or 12nm chip and improved CPU, with DLSS (though it’s possible it doesn’t use DLSS, which would be a missed opportunity).

I’m going to temper my expectations though, for the sake of having my hopes and dreams crushed, and assume it’s only more powerful by a factor of 2X, rather than the supposed 4X increase which would land it in the PS4 range. But that would still be enough to natively run pretty much every game at 720p handheld, even without DLSS, and as long as it has DLSS, it could probably do 720p 60fps. Docked would likely render at 720p - 1080p native, and upscale to 1440p or 4k. Even if it just does 1080p 60fps though, I’d be happy with that.

DLSS would ensure that, even if it’s only 2X more powerful on paper, the results are comparable to something far beyond that. Results would at least equal games run natively on base PS4. At a minimum. And I know some have leaked that it will match that power natively, and DLSS on top of that will give results somewhere around an Xbox One X, but I’d just be happy seeing a system half as powerful as PS4 but which produces results comparable to PS4. That’s still a massive leap, because PS4 is where diminishing returns really started rearing it’s head. And I think 90% of games would be able to run on hardware of that power level. All they’d have to do is hit 540p native to get 1080p results. And with a more powerful switch I think most games should be able to render at 540p. The majority, anyways. There will still be the select massive AAA games that are just too taxing, but it would drastically reduce the number of games that are on the current cannot run list.

@Mr-Fuggles777
Nobody cares about remote play on a phone.

Don’t mean to hurt your feelings by saying that, and I’m very happy that you have enjoyed doing so. But the fact is, the market at large simply does not care about that feature. Streaming is niche. Maybe the day comes that changes, but that day is not today.

And even if the masses did somehow care, it’s nowhere near as seamless as a hybrid system, still requires internet, injects lag into the experience, and forces you to use a tiny phone propped up with a separate controller or some awkward 3rd party grip solution. Not saying people can’t enjoy it. But it’s not the same as playing games natively on a hybrid console with seamless switching capabilities.

So yes, I do realize that. The question is, do you realize nobody cares about that feature and it is in no way threatening the Switch (again, don’t mean to offend, but those are just the facts)? It’s a neat feature and more power to the people who utilize it. But that’s all it is.

So Girl Laharl from Disgaea D2 and the protags from Disgaea 2 are being added to D6 at launch in the West, instead of being DLC.

I wonder if that points to remasters/ports of those games on Switch at all...

Disgaea 2 was my first game in the series, and it's still one of my favorites. I'd totally be down for a remastered version of it.

This year looks absolutely amazing for any murder mystery and visual novel fans. I mean we got Gnosia, World's End Club, Famicom Detective Club, Great Ace Attorney, Tantei Bokumetsu, The Silver Case, Root Film, and maybe even more Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, and Your Turn To Die content coming later down the line. I love it!!!

@JaxonH my phone screen is larger than and higher quality than my switch Lite, along with the Razer Kishi control it effectively turns my phone into a more powerful switch.
I admit that you need to have WiFi which could be a drawback but I only ever game in work or at home and I'm lucky enough to get decent connection in both. I've played Destiny 2 and Monster Hunter World with no issues on my phone yet on switch I couldn't even get lag free games of Smash.

I dont see why people are hoping for a switch Pro that is still chasing last gen hardware if its only going to be comparable to ps4. Maybe Nintendo should focus on game development rather than hardware as its been over a year since we have had any new first party games.

@Ralizah apart from the odd disconnect I've not noticed any lag really, even when playing online via Remote Play.

The big news of the day is blaster master zero 33333333 folks!! The first 2 were rock solid. Beyond excited for the 3rd entry.

@Mr-Fuggles777
If you don’t understand why, then I would suggest you educate yourself a little more thoroughly until you do.

If people love Switch to death now, they’re only going to love it even more if it is more capable with better screen technology. “Chasing last gen hardware” is an irrelevant statement. Because Switch isn’t a box top console. It’s a hybrid device. So “last gen hardware” in a hybrid device is 10X more exciting and impressive than current gen hardware in a stationary PC box. And that’s not just my opinion. People are thirsty for more Switch. People are thirsty for an improved model. Getting a hybrid device that’s on par with a PS4 would be a grand slam, and a massive forward stride for portable gaming.

I think Nintendo should focus on both hardware and software. After all, their hardware team isn’t not developing games when they’re designing hardware. Different teams do different things and a hardware team will never make software, so the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. They can and should do both because people want both.

As for games, I’ve got no complaints. I’m up to my ears in games, amazing exclusives left and right, faster than I can keep up with. No I don’t think Nintendo “should” do anything except keep doing what they’re doing. Obviously it’s working since you’ve got 80 million happy customers who love the device so much and craving the next step up.

@JaxonH I don't understand because we still wouldn't be getting new releases on a switch Pro - most cross platform developers would be targeting the new consoles moving forward, so we would be in the same position as we are now with old ports.
Why would I pay £400 to play PS4 era ports when I can play them on the PS5 (as soon as I'm able to get hold of one) with enhanced performance.

Nintendo exclusives don't particularly need more power because they dont go for photo realistic environments or flashy graphics and they don't need to - look at BotW, that was a launch title and games always get bigger and better throughout a consoles life span (compare Gears 1 and Gears 3 as a good example, both of which dropped on the same console)

There's then memory to take into account if you are pushing for ps4 games. Without the ability to connect external hard drives you are going to run out of space quickly - my 4TB is pretty much full on the PS4, it doesn't last long when games average 50gb+.