@Wavey84
3 months ago I would have brushed off such a statement as hyperbolic .”Ha. How could sound make more than a marginal, at best, impact on the experience? I can’t even tell the difference in games with notoriously poor audio quality” would have been my response. After all, even my Arctis gaming headsets added little to the experience. And they were “good” headphones… Or so I thought.
And yet today, I agree wholeheartedly. I just didn’t know. I didn’t know! How could I when I was listening through cheap TV speakers or Switch speakers? But ever since the Sennheiser Ambeo soundbar it’s like… woah. Audio can actually sound this good? It’s beyond my wildest imagination even. Listening through the Sennheiser 800S headphones is equally impressive. Watched the Metroid Dread trailer on Switch eShop and the DMC5 trailer on PS5… my goodness. And those were just stereo! They weren’t even surround! I never dreamed audio could be “an experience”. And it doesn’t take fancy Dolby Atmos or 3D audio to get that experience either (though having those are a nice bonus for sure).
Just playing games on Switch, little ol’ Switch without any fancy audio codecs, sounds incredibly good in 5.1 surround. Zelda Skyward Sword came alive in a way I didn’t expect. Playing it with 800S headphones makes me never want to play games any other way again. It’s insane.
And ya, expensive headphones with massive soundstage should make a difference. But even my Sennheiser 560S, which is about as vanilla as it gets (which can be a good thing for a neutral reference) with very little soundstage at all, still made games sound so much better. And those were less than $200. So you don’t have to break the bank to ensure you get a proper audio experience when gaming.
People just don’t know what they’re missing. Warioware sounds absolutely incredible through the 800S. Layers upon layers of depth.
@Haruki_NLI
It does. Personally, while I love my surround soundbar for movies and shows, I think games sound best in quality wired headphones (not wireless gaming headsets which sound horrible by comparison- $200 Sennheiser 560S wired headphones vs $200 Arctis 9 Wireless is a night and day difference).
I'd been meaning to take my OLED Vita outdoors to see how the screen performed - previous experience with the Switch is that daytime outdoor play is not great, so if the Vita OLED performed much better then I might use it to justify an OLED Switch purchase.
So I tried it today, but, no, even at max brightness today, in a mix of sunshine and cloud, Metal Gear Solid was unplayable.
So I'm left to conclude that OLED hype is a bit overblown. Sure, it's better, but it's not must-have better for me.
So now the only pull-factors towards an OLED Switch are the white joy-cons and the LAN socket in the dock. A bigger and slightly brighter screen, without a resolution increase, does not do it for me.
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
@gcunit
OLED isnt to play outdoors. Can't get around basic physics. Sunlight outshines anything. You can get devices that crank up the brightness full tilt, but that's not OLED's strength or purpose. Besides which, I don't think many ppl play outdoors to begin with.
The strength of OLED, and the hype of OLED, is with respect to the colors and contrast, not playing outside. Blacks that actually are black and not grey. More vibrant colors without light bleed thanks to individual pixels turning on and off.
Whether that's something you value enough to be excited is up to you. But I assure you the Switch OLED is not even remotely overhyped. If anything it's underhyped as ppl write it off blindly without considering the merits of the improvements.
3DS XL released at a $30 higher price tag and all it offered was like a 1" larger screen. And people loved it, on account of the larger screen alone. Yet many have written off the OLED model despite offering a 1" larger screen (which will be more impactful given the number of console games with smaller text on the system ) and making the jump to OLED and a quality kickstand that can do tabletop at any angle without a 3rd party accessory and better speakers and built in LAN and a smidge more storage.
It doesn't have to be for everyone. If that doesn't excite you enough to upgrade, then you shouldn't upgrade. But overhyped it is not. It's under hyped. After upgrading to an OLED TV recently I've come to fully understand the difference it makes. Going back to LCD afterward really does feel meh, like returning to mono audio after experiencing stereo sound.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@gcunit
I don't think many ppl play outdoors to begin with.
And yet outdoor play has featured in multiple Switch promotional videos. A lot more people would play outdoors if screens could cope with it. And outdoor play is literally the only reason I would upgrade on the basis of same-resolution screen tech.
And I preferred the regular N3DS over the XL
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
@gcunit
I mean sure, their marketing can feature it all they want. It highlights its flexibility. But let's be real. Nobody wants to play video games outside anymore than sports fans want to play football in their living room.
We gamers are a private bunch. And when we do play socially, it's either in the living room with friends and family or online from the reclusive safety of our parents basement 😀
I care about quality of the visual experience, not playing under tree or next to a shrub (not that there's anything wrong with that if that's what you value). I do play on the go, but it's almost never in the great outdoors. I have played a bit at the bus stop when I used to take public transport, and while it may have been a bit harder to see, it was never impossible. Bout the same as seeing your phone.
But even though it may be the same "resolution", resolution isn't the only aspect of the visual experience that contributes to its quality (evidenced by the MASSIVE improvement to visual quality when upgrading from my 4k LCD Hisense to a 4K OLED LG- same res, vastly superior picture quality).
Discovering the difference OLED and wired quality headphones make (improving both the video and audio experience) to the overall experience, even with all other factors being equal, has been eye opening for me.
I can't go back to LCD. I'm doing a full, 100% OLED conversion. OLED phone, OLED TV, OLED Switch, OLED tablet... with a full audio conversion on the side- either surround sound system or headphones. The only exception will be Steam Deck, as I have no other choice.
@Sdelintwouters
I don't go outside. I might be allergic to sun 🌞
In the rare instances I do go outside, it's not to play games. While I'm sure the fresh breeze feels nice, it would feel nice regardless.
Maybe if they ever release a product at 1000 nits brightness specifically designed for the outdoors club gamers, I'll join you and g-unit and we can eat pimento cheese sandwiches with olives on a toothpick on a quilted blanket in the meadow by the babbling brook 😉
@gcunit And I preferred the regular N3DS over the XL
I think there were merits to the smaller screen size with the ultra low 240p resolution. I myself still prefer the New 3DS rather than the New 3DS XL for that very reason. And it's more pocketable.
Personal preferences aside, many people nevertheless bought a 3DS XL, even knowing it would decrease pixel density and increase jaggies for an already low res screen. It was a worthwhile upgrade for many. People just like bigger screens. Easier to see, I suppose. There's pros and cons to larger and smaller screens. They should release an OLED Lite model with slightly larger screen and reduced bezels, with more storage and better speakers. I bet a lot of ppl would appreciate that. I know I would.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH I went from a 3DS, to 3DS XL, to New 3DS XL. I must have gotten super used to the big screens of the XL models, I used a regular New 3DS on a kiosk and I had a slightly hard time adapting to it, lol. Ah well. I do like how the New 3DS has those faceplates you could put on, that's something that I unfortunately missed out on. XD
"Give yourself the gift of being joyfully you."
Favorite game: Super Mario 3D World
AKA MarioVillager92. Ask if you want to be Switch friends with me, but I want to get to know you first. Thanks! ❤️
@MarioLover92
The smaller 3DS got scratches on the top screen from the raised border of the bottom screen digging into it. Had to replace my New 3DS because of it. Made sure to buy a tempered glass screen protector to ensure it didn't happen again.
The old 3DS 3D wasn't very good either. Eye tracking helped alot. I love the faceplates though.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
I've never gone anywhere near OLED because of the high chance of suffering from permanent burn in (for gaming specifically). If you're regularly rotating content/using a device for short bursts, you should be fine. But in likelihood, you're going to be gaming long enough and regularly enough to experience burnin within the lifetime of the device, thanks to fixed things on your screen like HUDs, maps etc. That is why to me, things like the LG CX and the Switch OLED are not currently worth their cost. I'd rather wait until the OLED burn in risk has been better mitigated - or, if possible, eliminated entirely.
@Pizzamorg I've had OLED devices for years and they've all been perfectly fine, except one of them got a permanent black spot due to a manufacturing defect rather than the OLED itself.
@Pizzamorg I've had OLED devices for years and they've all been perfectly fine, except one of them got a permanent black spot due to a manufacturing defect rather than the OLED itself.
Then you are lucky, but your one personal account doesn't override all of the evidence contrary to your experience.
Over 16 million Vitas sold. How many cases of burn in did you hear about? Half the people in this thread still have OLED Vitas to this day. And that had screen tech from 10 years ago. Most peoples' phones are OLED, too. Not some widespread burnin on phones either, and ppl are on those all the time.
Tests have shown its not something normal consumers will need to worry about. Yes its real and can happen, but not not concern for normal use. Hence why people buy and use OLED to this day.
Read the conclusions from actual tests performed. While it is real and can happen after many thousands of hours of use with static logos, it's usually temporary image retention ppl refer to. There's a small risk over long periods of time. Won't deny that. But it's vastly overblown, and frankly, even if the lifespan ends up a bit shorter, it's worth it imo.
Forums
Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread
Posts 57,521 to 57,540 of 69,786
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic