Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Finally

Mainline Persona on Switch

Switch downfall? Yeah sure. How many companies have succeeded by emulating Nintendo devices? Will you write here? Also I hope it runs on 12 AA batteries like the Game Gear, too. Because its looks like Game Gear.

It's a cool idea, but the button and stick layout is hideous.

There's no reason to squish all of the buttons and sticks together. Just ditch those awful touch-sensitive pads and spread the buttons out a bit.

Clearly they've not learned much from the Steam controller.

Lol Giancarlo you kill me sometimes 🤣

It seems pretty cool, I just don't know why people would be that invested in another Valve thing. Every few years they announce some new hardware of some type, it gets a niche audience, its largely forgotten about.

Does anyone even remember Steam machines?

@Ralizah
I think they have. They've included 2 analogs this time, and while the buttons seem squished they're also all in close proximity to each other and the shoulder buttons, which is precisely the opposite of the Steam controller. The analogs aren't nearly as far inward as the buttons on the SC which had one dang near the center.

The close proximity to the edge ensures the analogs aren't too far in. That seems directly as a result of learning from the SC mistakes. I just tested holding my keyboard since it's long, fat and wide and it seems this layout will be better than it looks. Time will tell of course. Can't be any worse than the SC and while that wasn't perfect I really liked it. Some compromise is appropriate for handheld, such as Switch right analog directly under buttons.

@kkslider5552000
True, but even if it gets forgotten about it doesn't change the fact the system will work. Unlike SM, games work natively on this. No porting required.

Ok I'm sorry, that thing looks ugly, like to the max, why the hell are the buttons so high? It just look's like they sat in a meeting room and said "How can we make this not look like a nintendo switch? put the buttons higher" It looks pretty bad, but I to have to ask as I have yet to see the video, How in the world is it going to be able to play online games when this thing clearly has a disadvantage, Unless the joysticks have god Accuracy I don't see it doing well in online FPS games.

@JaxonH

They're too close together. The buttons are literally spilling over onto the side of the device. And you won't be able to use the D-Pad without constantly bumping the left stick.

And WAY too much room is given to the touch pads.

I actually have a Steam controller. The poor thing hasn't been used in years, since the design is so bad, but it's an oddity that I have a soft spot for, so it has earned a permanent spot on my desk.

Actually, this all reminds me: you own MHS2 on Steam, right? Have you tried it on that $1000 PC handheld thing you own?

@Ralizah
Mmm... doesn't seem that crowded. Close to the edge, sure, but testing holding this keyboard has convinced me it'll be fine. Obviously you're not gonna get the full luxury of a Dualsense on a handheld. I'm OK with the design.

I didn't bother on Win 2 because honestly the battery life makes it unusable for basically everything except GameCube and Wii emulation. Unless it's not not demanding game, but even then it's like 3 hrs max. Idk. I could give it a whirl. I bet it would run great.

@Snatcher
The trackpads have to have room. Buttons being high works well for your fingers on the shoulder buttons. Plus there's FOUR rear paddle buttons you can map do. Literally don't even need a single face button if you don't want. Or can map the two innermost buttons to back paddles. Sky is the limit.

It has wifi, so it can play online games the same as Switch. But Idk why anyone would focus on online. Basically every Steam game known to man is playable offline, unless it's an MMO or something. Obviously online only games don't work well for handheld. Same applies to Switch though.

The analog sticks seem as good as any controller so I don't see any disadvantage vs using a normal controller. It also has Gyro which, combined with those trackpads, hooh boy. Watch out! The accuracy is mind boggling.

Gyro aiming Rivals Mouse

Yeah, it'll be better than the previous handhelds for Steam games, @JaxonH .... I'm sure you'll be telling us all about it when you have it & can test games on it

Got my Switch OLED! Store pickup for white model at BestBuy, and shipping for Neon from Walmart.

Always keep a backup til a week before release in case of cancelations.

@BruceCM
Oh for sure! Tell ya what. I'ma treat y'all to a Jaxon special. When I get the system, I'll do a quick impressions vid and upload it to YT or some other vid hosting site and post it here, and share my honest thoughts. If it's not comfy, I'll say so. I'll tell it how it is, and rate it on a scale compared to Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED and GPD Win 2, as well as compare it to the Steam Controller.

That can't be right, cos whenever I've said the market is not going to let Nintendo continue to waltz along owning the handheld domain when it's selling this well, I kept getting told no-one else was interested, streaming will kill handheld...

Cool, it'll be interesting to see just how it does perform, @JaxonH ....

@gcunit
PC handheld have been around many years. There's so many I can't even keep track anymore. They're not that popular. This is just getting more attention because it's Valve (and frankly it looks better designed than precious options). The original GPD Win saw the most success due to its $299 price point. More recent handhelds have pushed the $650 (Win 2) and $850+ (Win 3) price points. Aya Neo, OneXPlayer, etc all cost too much. At $400, better design and brand recognition, Steamdeck should at least do better than any precious attempt, but it'll remain single digit millions imo.

This is in no way playing in the same league as Switch.

@JaxonH That'd be helpful. I'd be curious to know how 'problem games' like Ys IX run on the device, too.

Yeah, those casual gamers that just want the easiest option will carry on with Switch, along with those who want to play Nintendo games
Hopefully, it'll do well but it's really aimed at a limited market

@Ralizah
For sure.

I suspect it'll run fine. I can even run Persona 4 Golden at 720p on my Win 2, and this thing smokes the Win 2. It's twice as powerful as a handheld as Switch is docked.

All Falcom games on PC have a low spec gamer mode for handheld gaming systems like Win 2. I was able to run Trails of Cold Steel just fine on Win 2.

The real question is, what's the battery life going to be like. Everyone wants MO POWER until they get a device like this and realize MO POWER comes at the cost of NO BATTERY LIFE.

We'll run a test at 720p 30 fps, max brightness, Low Settings and see how long it lasts.

I actually hope it succeeds. Nintendo getting fat and complacent off the Switch's success benefits nobody, and it'd probably motivate other companies to try their hand at a modern hybrid system.