Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH I'm totally fine with longer console life cycles. As long as the software is there I don't see a problem. And we still may get updates like the OLED.

@JaxonH The comment doesn't really say anything. Look at PS5 for example, it exists though the vast majority of current and upcoming 1st party games for it are also PS4 games (same day crossgen releases) and you can still easily buy a new PS4 Slim. This will continue until at least 2023, maybe longer.

Switch could do a similar thing and the comment still be true.

Is it that motion control one? I just finished that one and that has been my BOTW low point so far.

Oh yeah, I appreciate they can’t change the past and adding new difficulty settings to a game that hasn’t been designed for them isn’t always a good thing, but in todays world, there is really no excuse for games that only lean in one direction. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but I stand by it.

@Pizzamorg

😂 Yeah, it is. It sucks. Did you figure out the trick that cuts, like, 90% of the difficulty from it, though? Or did you do it the hard way?

There's actually a quest in this game I hate even more than that shrine. That was my BotW low point. I won't spoil it, but I won't be surprised if it ticks you off as well once you get to it.

Everything else is good-to-decent besides combat shrines, though.

@Grumblevolcano
That could be what they do, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence suggesting that's what they're going to do. Best to not read statements through the lens of your own presuppositions. Let the statement speak for itself and take it at face value.

The statement very clearly does say things. Just read it. "Mid point of life cycle". That's saying this is the mid point, at 5 years in, not the end point. "Foundation of growth has been laid that exceeds what we previously considered to be a conventional hardware lifecycle". That's saying the growth rate is conducive to a longer lifespan than the historical norm.

It's saying a lot. Certainly not, "isn't really saying anything".

I'm not sure it is unpopular, @Pizzamorg ... Perhaps if you count people who want the options to turn off navigation aids & so on as opposite? I don't think they'd keep putting the options in games if there weren't people wanting them

Is the trick flipping the table so you can basically skip the entire maze and just go straight to trying to flick the ball over to the other side? Because I did figure that out, but couldn’t seem to get it to consistently happen. Mostly because the board became more and more misaligned with the controller the longer you went at the puzzle. Not an inherently terrible idea, but the execution was just balls. And you say there is an actual quest like this? Oh no.

Also, I have only had one combat shrine so far and it just taught me a bunch of combat techniques I feel they could have just told me normally? Like I guess I could have figured out I could sidestep/backflip/parry etc on my own, but I had no reason to attempt it. I only even tried to do the charge attack, because I gave Link to the Past a quick go and that is one of the first mechanics they introduce you to.

@JaxonH If Nintendo gave any signs of a successor or more powerful revision existing soon, Switch sales would tank this holiday. So they'd want to bend the reality without lying if there is in fact one coming soon.

Yeah but they might simply be telling the truth, too, @Grumblevolcano .... Perhaps it makes a pro more likely? We'll see

@Grumblevolcano
Sure, but if that were the case they wouldn't say anything. Or only say something when asked, and even then it would be the typical, "we have no plans to release new hardware this year".

No.

They're going out of their way to specifically tell everyone, "Switch is gonna be around a while, we've been saying it for years that we're extending the lifespan, and we're saying it again now"

@Pizzamorg Yeah, that's the trick.

And no, the quest has nothing to do with motion controls. It's uniquely awful in its own way.

The problem is that there are too many shrines in the game, so they have to pad them out with combat shrines and lazy shrines where they immediately reward you for just finding them.

I understand why it's designed to have a surplus of shrines and korok seeds, but it makes the game a bit of a repetitive nightmare from a completionist perspective, which is why I pretty much quit after doing the major content and then beating the final boss. I'd probably advise the same approach: quit the game while you still love it. A lot of people just keep playing it until they get sick of it, and it ruins their memories of the game. I'd much rather have my memories of the magical 70 hours or so I spent with the game at launch.

Similar thing happened to me with Biomutant over the summer - which credits BOTW heavily as inspiration. I did a 90% completion run over 45 hours and really ruined the experience for myself in some ways by doing this. When I stopped being in love with just being in that world, I should have just finished the main quest but I wanted to try and do everything in one play through and burnt myself in the process. The longer you spend in one space, the more the cracks become obvious. Had I just taken the 25 or so hours to work around the map the first time, then just focused on the main quest only, I'd probably be telling you all it is my GOTY.

Switch is having its second-best sales year of five. Aside from the animaly last year, it is in its best sales year. What else can the dude say? Nintendo likely don't know when Switch will end, they will be guided by the figures. And while it's selling 20 million+ per year, it ain't gonna be ending.

@Ralizah To be fair, any shrine that rewards you 'just for finding it' is simply one that has it's puzzle in the overworld, rather than in the shrine itself. But yeah, there was some definite padding with the combat shrinesp

@Pizzamorg Interesting. Biomutant hasn't been on my radar at all, but maybe I'll check it out in a sale sometime.

I've never had an issue ending games before I get sick of them, tbh. I like when games give me control over the pacing.

@link3710 Theoretically. But there's nothing satisfying about entering a shrine and immediately 'beating' it. Solving overworld puzzles is part of the general gameplay loop anyway, so it shouldn't count unless it's especially time-consuming.

Oh, I gave up on shrines in BotW after awhile ..... Not sure exactly how many I did, somewhere between 80-90, I think! One of the few I remember was that tilting my Switch to roll a big ball in a maze, which I quite liked due to it being like a toy I had a long time ago & I found it easy enough

Switch being at the mid point doesn't mean that the successor isn't a few years out (I'm still guesstimating 2023 announcement/2024 release) because if they make the successor BC then the Switch becomes a very premium budget console with likely the Lite and possibly the OLED depending on costs being the offerings. I do hope that for the successor if it is a Switch type system that they release the Lite version same day as well. MS and Sony have proven that consumers can handle a premium and budget entry to a new console as simultaneous skus with no issues. However the supply chain constraints and the chip shortage means a lot of systems will likely get longer lifecycles as a result. Including the SeriesX/PS5, I feel like the shift to cloud gaming is going to mean that there is less need for new hardware as often (not full lifetime but time between new hardware launches) because next up is likely finding some way to pull mobile gaming into the mix more concretely.

Just realized there's been a pretty big shift in Square Enix's attitude toward Switch. Up until now it's been mainly all JRPGs.

And I know a number of these are cloud versions, but it still illustrates the desire to put their more western focused games on the system. I think we'll continue to see more announced over the next two years.

• Hitman 3
• Dying Light
• Dying Light 2
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Kingdom Hearts Collection
• Life Is Strange Collection Remastered
• Life Is Strange True Colors
• Lara Croft Guardian of Light
• Lara Croft Temple of Osiris

I think the choices for cloud versions have all made sense except KH. Nonetheless, it's good to see them finally correct course. Guess when a system breaks 100m sold in less than 5 yrs (which it will by year's end) you can't treat it like a red headed stepchild forever.

Yeah Squeenix was playing it safe for a bit (still a lot of support and I love the tailor made games like Octopath). I feel like the work on retooling DQ XI might have helped them get a better grasp on the system and know what they can port or stream. That and seeing the sales dominance of the system. However ball is in the consumer’s court now; if we don’t buy the Squeenix is gonna assume that the only audience is for JRPGs. Kinda wish they would port the deus ex games.

And the FF XIII trilogy. Ima be ticked if we never get that.

@JaxonH Since when was Dying Light and Hitman 3 to do with Square Enix?