Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Seeing Sony this year essentially repeat what Nintendo did last year (lots of silence with the odd announcement here and there) is a reminder of just how lucky we are that Nintendo went back to their normal approach (general Direct early on in the year, general Direct in June, etc.) this year.

Zelda Skyward Sword is amazing.

It looks fantastic on my Lite. Playing at work today and the buttons work great. Camera control needed to be set to Super Fast- once I did that it was perfect.

Can't believe I'm playing Skyward Sword on a handheld.

@Ninfan

Probably not anywhere. The list would be close to 2,000 games at the moment, if you include all the physical releases exclusive to certain regions of the world, boutique limited prints, etc. To my knowledge, Twitter user JP Switchmania is the most manic Switch collector of us all; he might have a Google doc ongoing or something. Just look at that glorious Wall-O-Red behind the man.

Anywho, are you curious about something in particular?

@CactusMan

A woefully insufficient database. Good in regards to commonly available retail releases, but not good in regards to the several hundred boutique limited prints not present in their database.

I haven't had Linux for like a decade.
There are quite a few limits to what software is available though right? I mean I'm looking at the Dolphin emulator and the Linux version seems to be quite a few years behind the windows version.

@Dezzy
Linux definitely has its downsides, and emulation progress is one of them. I have no idea how well Dolphin on Linux runs but I hope it has a version of 5.0 stable build that offers sufficient emulation.

Most Steam games should work though. Proton compatibility layer let's Windows Steam games run directly on Linux without any porting or emulation in the background. But it has issues with anti-cheat. Valve, however, in their Developer FAQ has stated they're working with several entities to get that ironed out before release.

@Dezzy
True, but for the kind of "non-game" software you might want to run on a device like the Steam Deck there has already been a bit of demand carved out for it from things like the Raspberry Pi. There's already a pretty significant demand for emulators & media players on Linux so it should be fine there. The real space Linux is lacking is in professional software but... you wouldn't be doing video/photo editing on portable gaming device anyways.

Well, it also falls short a bit in games. You have to lean pretty heavily on Proton which can be a bit hit-and-miss and even when it works well performance can be less than it would be on Windows. But again, this thing is a piece of hardware not a locked platform. You could always just install Windows on it, or even dual-boot.

@JaxonH @skywake

So it's actually running the windows version of the games on the Steam OS, through some kind of wrapper program?

How could that be more efficient than simply installing some version of windows instead?

@Dezzy
It's not emulation, it's more of a different set of libraries that looks close enough to windows that it can run. Sometimes it runs better, sometimes it runs worse, sometimes it breaks. And some games have outright native support for Linux (in my Steam Library it's a tad over a 3rd) so it's not an issue.

As for why? Because it doesn't cost them anything and Valve ideally wants to be in full control of their store. It's kinda like what Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have with their consoles but... minus the completely locked down hardware

@skywake

When you say it doesn't cost them anything, I assume you mean in terms of having to pay for a third party OS?

There might not be any performance differences though?

@Dezzy
And I would add, not just their store but the OS itself. Windows isn't exactly designed around portable gaming. But Steam OS is. It makes navigating and general use much easier for the average end user.

Not that Windows doesn't work. I have Windows 10 on my Win 2. With Steam Big Picture mode it's great. But, doing anything outside of that is a little bit less streamlined. It does have a Switch that makes the analog control the mouse and buttons the mouse clicks. But Windows has tiny icons and text for a small screen, especially in context menus and stuff like that.

I think the previous failures of Valve's hardware were due to marketing and not the excellence of the products. If they market this right (frankly, NOT primarily toward PC gamers), it's gonna do well.

@rallydefault

That seems likely true. With the previous Valve hardware, I was never completely sure what it was they were selling, or why I should want it.

The Steamdeck is a lot more self-explanatory, and I'm seriously considering buying it instead of getting a laptop in the next few years.

@Magician I was just looking for a list of switch games physical release, so it I am buying games on eshop that I do not make the mistake of buying a download game, when there is a phyisical. It is a bit stupid to buy the game download and I could have got a physical game. So a list would be really handy. Is there a physical list on switch e shop ? 😕

@Dezzy
Exactly. Most people probably couldn't even tell you off the top of their head what pieces of hardware Valve has made. They need to cast a much broader net, going more heavily toward casual gamers rather than core PC gamers, in my opinion.

Pokémon Unite is gonna be released on Switch in july 21th

@rallydefault

Yep, and that's why the lowest cost version of the Steamdeck is important. It puts it into the same kinda territory as the Switch, so people who want a handheld will start considering it as a competitor.

Honestly I feel like if SteamDeck really takes off it's going to seriously end the whole "this would be perfect for Switch" debate in regards to AAA non-exclusive games

Like why even play third party ports on Switch if they're obviously going to be seriously compromised in some way when this thing shows up being able to play stuff like NiER Automata or FFXV at really good and well optimized settings in addition to the versatility the Switch offers by basically doubling as a flat out PC alternative. In addition to that since it's basically a handheld Steam Machine, literally any game that comes to Steam will be optimized to work on this thing in the future, and on top of that you can install stuff like emulators or RetroArch on this thing and basically have a portable legacy library of older games excluding maybe PS3 ones if they're too CPU intensive

I realize they're aiming for different audiences here but for people who don't readily have access to gaming PCs or laptops and play mostly on Switch this is like a serious option now despite costing as much as any of the next gen consoles

It is basically the world's cheapest gaming laptop, assuming you buy the cheapest version.

Not to mention the Steamdeck will (likely?) have the same sales that Steam has. That means daily, weekly, and seasonal sales that will put most of Nintendo's eShop sales to shame, especially on AAA and first-party stuff. The eShop does get some nice discounts from time to time, and it's an indie lover's dream for smaller games that cost very little, but Steam brings those same prices and usually better pricing to the big games, too.

@TheFrenchiestFry
It’s definitely a serious option. If you are a fan of video games I don’t understand how you don’t like this thing. Know what I mean? Forget all the silly tribalism and sports team bickering. If you like video games, how could this device not at least intrigue you or pique your interest? Maybe you’re not a portable gamer, ok then. That’s fair. But even then one can still appreciate its appeal.

That being said, this isn’t going to sell anywhere close to the Nintendo switch. So the overwhelming majority of portable gamers are not going to own one. Which means third party games on switch are going to remain as important as ever. And even for me, as someone who now has a 512 GB Steam Deck reserved, The fact it’s over twice as heavy as a Switch Lite and nearly 4” wider, means I’m not carrying this thing in my back pocket to work every day like I do with the Lite. Which means having those third party games on switch are still going to be desirable for me. I’ll certainly take this to work also in a case, but maybe just on weekends. A tiny Lite is easy to whip out and play for a bit on the down low. Busting out this massive cinder block… not so much.

So, while your reasoning is sound, I think there’s going to be plenty of reason to play third-party ports on the Switch for the majority of portable gamers, even some of those who own a Steam Deck. And in a few years when Switch 2.0 drops and it can run games with approximate parity (perhaps even better if it utilizes Nvidia’s DLSS, something this AMD-based system will not be able to do), that will be even more true. In fact, I think this thing only really has about three years to catch on, because after that, once the next generation Switch drops and it can run basically any game the Steam Deck can, It’s going to start getting a lot of games ported over, and the utility of the Steam Deck will be severely diminished. We don’t know what the future holds but, right now, this is a perfect time for a device like this, especially coming off the back of Switch Pro rumors and the thirst that has left in gamers’ mouths.