Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I am looking forward to that but I certainly have plenty to keep me going .....

I wasn't going to get to play AW til April-ish anyways, so I'm fine with the delay. Hope that it's pretty polished when we do get it.

I'm fine with the Advance Wars delay. I just hope that it's new release date isn't more crowded. I'm assuming an April/May date in between Kirby and Splatoon. Toss in Resident Evil and it could be a fairly busy period for Switch, and that's not taking into account the stuff on other platforms.

GTA Trilogy looks pretty good!! Much more than I was expecting from Rockstar for a remaster. I'd complain about the $60 price point but I bought 3D All Stars sooooo yeah. The digital release date is a bit of a bad one personally though, that's the same day as KOTOR and the day before SMT. Might wait for physical in December.

I'll wait to learn the inevitable sacrifices in the Switch build (I'm betting the "physical" version won't be all-on-cart), but so far it's looking pretty good.

Man, I just set up my nephew's new Switch, and there's something intoxicating about one of those devices when they're new. If I'm able to order one before November 12th, I might just cave and grab a Switch OLED to play SMT V on.

Now that Advance Wars has been pushed back I may end up getting the GTA remasters. I was unaffected by the announcement, but I came away from the trailer mildly impressed. I will probably get in on the Playstation though. Gyro aiming is neat but not a selling point for me.

breaking down the cooking mechanic of Animal Crossing New Horizon

@Ralizah
Was your nephew's new Switch an OLED model or the v2? Sounds like you got to see the OLED in person out of the box?

@JaxonH Nah, it was a V2. But even a new V2 is still alluring compared to the old, worn-out thing I currently have.

What really gets me is how much tighter the joycons clamp in when it's new. And how the finish on the outside makes it actually pleasurable to hold.

Tack on all of the acknowledged improvements in the SWOLED? It must be a thing of beauty when you first get it.

@Ralizah
Oh it is. The thin bezels and stunning screen just makes your gamer heart melt.

I make no hesitation in saying it's the best handheld ever created by a fair margin, and unless a game is severely compromised, it'll take preference over SteamDeck any day of the week. It may not make you a videophile in one purchase, but it will at least open your eyes to understand what videophiles understand. Once you see it you can't unsee it. It'll ruin the v2 Switch for you.

As for the joycon being tight, mine were too when I opened my OLED, but I did something that pried the rails to make them a bit more loose. I think it was squeezing it into my flip case for carrying in my back pocket.

But it's an easy fix. Small square piece of black electrical tape on the very bottom of both sides- virtually invisible and makes the joycon nice and snug, super firm, like one solid piece.

Everyone should watch this video and inform themselves of the battery life capabilities of the OLED on max brightness + wifi on

Final Fantasy IX gets TEN HOURS. Bloodstained over SEVEN HOURS. Many games shown are getting 1-2 additional hours over the v2, which already practically doubled the battery life vs the v1.

There are some games that don't seem to benefit much at all. And oddly, there were two games shown that got less battery life- Mario Maker and Smash, but those seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

I can't believe Nintendo isn't advertising this. Maybe it's because some games don't benefit or, in rare cases do less. So it's not a "100% across the board" gain. Still, I'd say it's a notable net gain on average.

@JaxonH
I mean it's not THAT much of a surprise. The screen is always the biggest power draw and OLED by its very nature turns pixels off entirely when not in use. But it also means that power efficiency gains will mostly be seen at max brightness and with games that have more black. Which makes it incredibly hard to sell as a benefit. Some games will get less battery life, most will get more

Also I'm not at all shocked that Mario Maker/Smash Bros are the games that doesn't see any benefit. The brighter the game the more power it's going to draw. I suspect that Mario Maker/Smash would get longer life on the OLED if they picked stages/levels with darker backgrounds. At the same time classic games presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio? They're going to see huge improvements because a fair chunk of the screen is off entirely on OLED

Personally, I'm itching for the Advance Wars release the last time I played was on my Gameboy Advance lol

@JaxonH
That's good, but look at the games you're citing. Final Fantasy IX... I would hope that gets a lot of battery life out of it, it's a decades-old game lol

I'm gonna hold off when it comes to the OLED. I've switched (ha) to primarily playing on my TV lately, and mostly single-player stuff, so I'll give it a year or so and see what the rumor mill is churning out by that point.

@NeonPizza
So, here's my thoughts on that.

I've had no problems with LG C1 game mode. I think it looks excellent. I adjusted colors separately using a trick someone shared in the TVs, Soundbars, Headphones thread, and sharpness can be adjusted for clarity. I've got the picture looking pretty excellent.

Sony OLED tvs, despite being top of the line in terms of picture quality aspects, have other issues that are deal-breakers, such as not being able to get VRR right and only including a single HDMI 2.1 port vs LG C1 which has flawless VRR and all 4 HDMI ports are 2.1. Haven't looked into other brands beyond that, as I've been content with the C1. But if you ever import a Phillips, do share your thoughts.

BTW I've used the BFI and it does work really well. But the lag is undesirable. I eventually just turned it off. But it was able to smooth out uncapped framerates. Low setting is a fair compromise both ways- minimal lag but some improvement in motion smoothing.

As for whether Switch OLED is better than the LG C1? Mmmm... It's probably about the same, I'd say. They're both really nice.

edit
Ori The Collection (includes Ori and the Blind Forest + Ori and the Will of the Wisp on the same cartridge) on sale for $33 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Ori-Collection-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B09B...

Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville is on sale for $11.99 (70% off!) on the US eShop right now

With Rockstar willing to bring the GTA collection to Switch in native form it makes we wonder if perhaps they'd announce GTAV for Switch next year. Unlike other platforms where GTAV announcement is pretty much massive negativity due to the absence of GTA6, for Switch it would truly be a new game given how much Rockstar has avoided Nintendo platforms prior to Switch.

@Grumblevolcano i rather buy that game for 60 euro's then the current. i mean, sure, 45 euro's but knowing that the newest GTA is out there for 16 euros on current gen is something to think about. Even though it is one of the best open world games available. I miss smashing things like in Lego City Undercover.

@Grumblevolcano
Ya, GTAV on Switch makes way too much sense not to do it. We've said that for years though and it still hasn't happened, leading us to ponder whether it was a relationship issue.

Yet, here we are with GTA Trilogy, which are 3 mainline, open world GTA titles remastered to actually be playable in 2021. While I would indeed welcome GTAV, for sure, I think this is just as good. Maybe even better.

It's not just 1 game, but 3 full games, and beloved classics at that. They've been reworked visually and actually look remarkably good for PS2 titles- certainly not as good as GTAV or a modern title would look, but still way better than the originals and definitely good enough to be playable nowadays. They've reworked the controls and aiming and driving to be like GTAV, and even added gyro.

For me, this Trilogy is every bit as hype as GTAV Switch would have been (and still likely will be... eventually). I think I may actually prefer this to GTAV. And, it's such a great fit for Switch. I mean, you already know they're gonna run well, they'll look even better on a smaller handheld screen, and the gyro aiming with reworked controls will make combat genuinely fun and engaging.

But ya, I could see GTAV dropping November 2022, something like that. But this Trilogy makes it a lot easier to not care if it doesn't.

@JaxonH
Frankly bringing GTAV to Nintendo's platforms made sense even on the Wii U. Given how well GTAV has done everywhere it would've easily been a million seller even there. That they're doing GTAV on PS5/XBoxSeries with no sign of a Switch release is baffling to me. Remember this game was originally a late 360/PS3 release, the Switch should be able to run it

I mean if I was a Rockstar exec I'd be looking at <20mill units on PS5/XBOne Series combined and the fact that these platforms can already play GTAV through backwards compatibility. Then I'd be looking at 90mill+ Switch units sold with no GTA and the ability to make this game portable for the first time. And I'd be wondering why we're not pushing for Switch.

............. admittedly the PS5/XBox Series are basically PCs and the game has already been ported to PC. Basically zero effort to put these games out on PS5/XBox Series and they're going to sell well regardless, basically free money. So there's that. But also while these games existed on 360/PS3 those weren't exactly the versions you wanted to get. Especially once it released on PC/PS4/XBOne

@skywake
Agree 100%

It's a legitimate no-brainer. Doesn't matter what the file size is, doesn't matter if it can't fit on a cart, or if they have to pay for 64 GB carts. Seeing GTAV top charts like Mario Kart 8 week after week means the game has limitless demand. A portable version would easily add 10 million + units over the generation. The longer they wait though, the more they limit its potential.

But I think GTA Trilogy will be a perfect litmus test for them to see just how strong demand is for portable GTA. I think this Trilogy is going to crush it on Switch, and will likely stay evergreen the rest of the generation. If they were too blind to see the opportunity before, I think this will open their eyes.