Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

GTA is a pretty good get. Anything that diversifies the library and also keeps Nintendo in talks with more devs is a good thing. While I’m not in the “bleeding graphics” camp, I do feel that input from big devs can influence HW R&D especially since the days of Nintendo commanding most games on their system are dead. However, if they make a system that isn’t a nightmare to port to, devs may be willing to make the investment to put more native but downgraded games on the system. Since I doubt the successor will be anything close to base ps5/series x specs. This is where good partnerships are key.

Also most people that played these games on the first go round are likely in their 30s and have disposable income and nostalgia to burn.

I'll be waiting to see how modernised they make the GTA Trilogy before making my mind up. I'd kinda had my fill of the GTA formula after GTA4, so much so that it put me off playing Red Dead Redemption because it seemed exactly like GTA but with a western skin. They were great fun when they came out, but I'm not sure I want to pay much to revisit them unless they're smoothed out somewhat and refined.

Happy Metroid Day. The quicker everyone in my house goes to bed, the better, as I'm dreading a late night.

@Ryu_Niiyama I recall hearing that we have Capcom to thank for convincing Nintendo to increase the amount of RAM in the system.

The more important third party support becomes to Nintendo, the more they'll design their systems to help facilitate that. And while it's primarily the first-party games that still sell insanely well on the system, third party support is better for Nintendo than it has been since the days of the SNES. That can only be a good thing, IMO.

@JaxonH yeah full 3D GTA game (and no, i dont count the 3DS game as full 3D or 360 degrees) @Sdelintwouters Oled the sun shine! @GamingBread yep, crash bandicoot (ps games) and now GTA. @Ralizah yeah we had the PSP versions and mobile. But this is the first time that a Nintendo version of the games come out. @gcunit For me its already special, and I repeat it, that its finally opened the door for full 3D games on a Nintendo console. Hopefully, when Nintendo gets a stronger console, it opens the door to the other games in the future.

@Ralizah
Nintendo is catering to 3rd parties' needs more than ever before.

When they changed RAM for Capcom's Monster Hunter Rise, that was before the system launched, so 2016. That was half a decade ago. They pursued Bethesda. They convinced Ubisoft to make an exclusive despite the failure of Zombi U and Rayman Legends. They clearly recognized the importance of catering to 3rd parties if they want more than just Nintendo games on store shelves.

I think in this post-Iwata era, that's even more true with each passing year. There's been a culture shift within Nintendo, who has made some radical changes in the past 5 years.

I suspect next gen will be largely designed around the needs of 3rd parties. Wii U had little to no support. The front and center issue at that time was install base. But Switch has seen an entire generation of 3rd parties hammering Nintendo with feedback, and you already know what they're saying- exactly what the Divinity Original Sin 2 devs told Nintendo- they need more power if more games are to come. Nintendo knows. Believe that- they know good and well.

And I suspect that's why Nintendo wanted to release a more powerful Switch in the first place. But due to Covid, the supply pipeline being altered, chip shortage and insane momentum that has continued for 5 years straight, they opted to hold off.

But next gen... you better believe they're gonna be on it. That Orin chip info we got from the notoriously reliable Nvidia leaker likely points to what the future has in store for us. A Switch 2 based on 7-8 nm architecture with an approximate power profile of a Steam Deck / PS4 / Xbox One, with 1080p output with 4k output options using DLSS. If they're smart they'll go for VRR also (still can't comprehend why Valve didn't include a VRR-capable screen) to eradicate framerate issues even when games have frame drops.

But for now, it's livin' la Vida Loca for everyone with a seat at the table- Nintendo, 3rd parties and Switch gamers alike. We'll cross that future bridge when the time comes.

Got metroid dread tonight, but my switch oled dosent arrive before monday evening. Oh well, its work weekend for me anyway 😊

@Thrallherd That text would lead me to believe that both the base game and the expansion DLC will both be included on the cartridge, but I'd be careful preordering until I saw the item description in my language marketed towards my region/country.

Got my Monster Hunter Rise Tetris theme! Just waiting on my OLED before diving back into Metroid. I want the full OLED handheld experience.

@Link-Hero
Assuming just because I lived there I have a bias for the area is no different than me concluding that because you haven’t lived there, you have a bias against the area. I am not biased for or against anyone. I don’t have any vested interest in representing it to be better or worse than it actually is, I’m just sharing my personal experience, which was more than just an anecdotal weekend vacation. It’s very possible I just happened to meet a few nice individuals, but it’s also true the other way for you. Unless you’ve met everyone down there you can’t really make any sweeping statements about the area either. And btw, I didn’t assume you were pointing out whites over any other group, but I appreciate the clarification nonetheless. Anyways, I’m sure you’ll find both good and bad people just about everywhere. My point was more that having lived down there myself for many years, I can dispel a lot of the misinformation and exaggerations that gets passed around, sometimes by those who haven’t even lived there. In my experience, most people are just normal people, no matter where you go.

P.S. And I’ll also say, living in Wisconsin now, people are incredibly cold and hostile here. For real. I took a trip to Indiana this past week and it was like stepping into a time bubble from 20 years ago. Complete strangers smiling and saying good morning, just a very friendly community in general. Not used to that. Kind of made me want to move there.

As for Dread, the controls are perfection. They really are amazing. Smooth as butter, to the point just moving around in the game feels fun. It feels very similar to Samus returns, but with refinement cranked up to 11. I think the 60 FPS does play a part in that though.

Random observation/realisation. Excluding PC (which is a whole other can of worms) after downloading Metroid Dread last night the Switch is now the platform I have brought the most games for. Even if you count the Wii VC and exclude NSO. It's still well short on the number of games I've actually beaten where somehow the Wii U wins but still.

I guess that probably explains my extremely vocal desire for Nintendo to NOT release a new platform that isn't tightly linked with the Switch ecosystem

The most games I've owned on one system is definitely the GCN, but 1. Most of that was bought by my parents back in the day 2. A good chunk of those were technically my brother's games and 3. Switch will definitely surpass that for me at some point

I usually buy more games for the current handheld, compared to the current home console.

The switch is definitely my “home” console with the most games… Probably because it is the current handheld console too.

Oh my gosh. Stupid FedEx said Delivery of OLED would be today, all day, until 7pm when it changed and said "sorry, it'll be there Thursday, Oct. 14th"

Come on...

Guess I'm playing Metroid on my OLED TV in the meantime. Which is just as well, given the incredible 5.1 surround I want to experience anyways.

@Ralizah
Tried Tetris Effect. I have a wild flurry of emotions right now.

Wow? Holy crap? Aghhh my eyes! My eyes! But it's so pretty! Still, my eyes!

The game floored me. I wasn't ready. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that. Every move of the tetrimino causes percussion that somehow manages to make a beat by using a variety of different pitches...

But seriously. My eyes. Idk what it is, but its like sensory overload to the point my eyes feel like they want to look away. They don't "hurt" they just... well. I think it's sensory overload.

But the rumble, the background effects, the music, the audio... this is Tetris like I've never experienced before. If not for my Fire Emblem and Monster Hunter themes in 99, I might never play another Tetris again. But those FE and MH themes are so good, so epic, nothing can really ever top that.

Some other stats, again excluding PC and this time excluding VC. The Wii U is the platform where I have the highest rate of game completion (89%). On the other end of the scale the Wii is the platform where I have the lowest rate of completion (49%). The Switch is well and truly on the Wii side of that scale

@skywake
I think there may be correlation between quantity of quality games released and percentage of game completion. The more games you buy, the lower the percentage completion becomes. 5 games out of 10 is 50%. Whereas 5 games out of 50 is only 10%

Not only that, but the higher the quantity of games you buy on a system, the more likely you are to become distracted with other games before you play to completion. I’ve found this to definitely be the case for me on Switch. I complete only a tiny fraction of games purchased. But I play a lot of games. On Wii U there really wasn’t much else competing for my time, so I beat a higher proportion of games.

That said, I’ve still beaten a fair few Switch games. Zelda BotW, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, Mario 3D World (2nd time), DKC Tropical Freeze (2nd time), Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Monster Hunter Rise, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Xenoblade, Xenoblade 2, Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Bayonetta 2 (2nd time), Wonderful 101 (2nd time), Pikmin 3 (2nd time), Final Fantasy X (2nd time), Final Fantasy XII, Paper Mario Origami King, Cruis’n Blast, Ikaruga, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2nd time), The Witcher 3, Unravel two…

But compared to how many games I own, it’s like, Idk… 5-10% completion rate. Soooo many games I’m halfways into and just never got back around to playing. Too many to list.

I've completed nearly every Switch game I've played. And technically one of them I haven't is Megaman 9, a game that was on Wiiware in 2008.

For much of the rest its just a matter to getting to play them at all. But if a game can be reasonably completed and I like it, I almost certainly will.

@JaxonH
True. On Wii U the only "completeable" games I didn't beat were Splatoon, The Wonderful 101 and Child of Light. And it's not like I didn't put time into those games.

I think it's also a bit to do with how I play games on portable consoles v on TV. Somewhat paradoxically, I played the Wii U as a "portable" more than I do the Switch. All the portable consoles except Switch I had a completion rate in the high 80s. Home consoles I'm in the 50s... except Wii U

@JaxonH Oh yeah, Tetris Effect is an experience. Totally exceeded my expectations when I played it on PS4. There are settings that'll dial down the flashiness of the visuals, btw. I had to turn down the flashing when a line was cleared, as it was distracting me from the game, but even then, it's still gorgeous.

The musical, hypnotic nature of it borrows a lot from Tetsuya Mizuguchi's experience with other modern classics like Lumines and Rez. The ultra-stylized presentation adds a lot more to the game than I initially expected (I was prepared for it to be pretty but shallow, like so many other highly vaunted premium PS indies). Although, as with anything else, it only fully works because Tetris Effect is also just a really damn solid, fully-featured version of Tetris. Something we haven't had in a while, tbh (at least one that's all about Tetris; Puyo Puyo Tetris is an excellent game, but the Puyo Puyo stuff ruins it for me).

I like Tetris 99 for what it is (just got the MH Rise theme earlier), but it's not enough to fully satisfy my Tetris needs. Tetris 99 + Tetris Effect is, since you get the one with the cool crossover themes and probably the best version of Tetris ever made, but, until now, I didn't spend as much time with it as I wanted because I don't like playing Tetris on the TV. It's always been a handheld series for me. There are a few series like that where I love them, but can't force myself to play on the TV, like Monster Hunter (have owned MH3U and World for years, and still never played either, lol) and Smash Bros (I figured out why I could never get into the first few entries in that series after I played the 3DS version; Smash just feels RIGHT on a handheld).

I need to download Tetris Effect on my big Switch. I play so much on my Lite that I've started forgetting a lot of games have HD Rumble.

The Switch port of Corpse Party is finally being localized.

lol this game has been around in some form since the 90s and they're still adding stuff into it. I love it.

Now they just need to port Book of Shadows and Sweet Sachiko’s Hysteric Birthday Bash.

@JaxonH @Ralizah Agreed. Dev relationships guiding HW and building business relationships is wonderful right now.

I do feel there is less risk taking by devs in general and as much as I like indies, there is a dearth of Japanese indies (and of lot of the western inspired by JRPGs indies miss the mark) to fill the B-AA lister role. However that is understandable with both the cost and logistics of game dev and distribution.

However we are at the same time with switch in some sort of genre renaissance. You may not play the latest game but there is something for everybody and the increased relationships with third parties, especially the big players is a boon. I do wish some of the western devs didn’t drag their heels so much, for all the jokes about Japanese devs hating the west if the Switch were region locked Japanese region owning Switch gamers would be screwed. I want to see EA actually double down (this is likely the Nintendo shareholder in me talking) because it is nuts that Switch only has (legacy) FIFA when they should have, even if only in legacy versions, put the rest of their sports catalog on Switch. For better or worse they are the only game in town for some sports. It’s not like they haven’t done it before as the wii got a surprising amount of support from EA. From tailor made games (mysims) to retooled sports games. Since the Switch kept a lot of the wii/ds DNA (motion and touch controls even if they are barely used now) even if EA wanted to be lazy they could port 360 games and revive their Wii specific catalog. Granted Switch is slowly gaining the trust of Sony only JRPG devs which is fantastic.

If the Switch successor can pull those final hold outs in some form and the system is BC then Nintendo is poised to have one of the most versatile systems on the planet. Affordable, console exclusives, hybrid functionality and respectable graphics (Nintendo may not have all the power but only fanboys think the switch doesn’t have some gorgeous games on it). Iwata-denka’s push for a single ecosystem is paying dividends. And if you consider this is the first real trial run of the one ecosystem concept (3ds/wiiu were laying the OS groundwork) it’s pretty amazing. Nintendo only has to not drop this ball and keep improving.

As a multi-system gamer getting close to 40, I welcome the potential to have a onestop genre shop that, combined with PC gives me the majority of the games on market. (Sony keeps losing their console exclusives so I am inching closer to dropping them. And xbox doesn’t care where their games go so long as you buy. ) I look at my nearly 500 Switch game library and I can’t help but think this is an amazing time to be a gamer.

I do wish MS would use the Switch as a cheap dumping ground for their old bethesda and arkane games though. As they have easy pickings with Nintendo only gamers and hybrid gamers that would double dip.

Switch is still 2nd for me in terms of total number of purchases, Wii U is by far in 1st because of VC though maybe Switch will overtake Wii U around 2023/2024 if Nintendo hasn't moved on to the Switch's successor by then.

It all comes down to the fact that Switch's retro offerings are still very poor in comparison to the Wii U and the NSO expansion pack likely won't change that much. For example, it's crazy how Switch just got a new 2D Metroid game but you can't play the game it's a sequel to.