Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH Who did NL fire?

@JaxonH so, Viola is going to Inferno to take Bayonetta and Luka out of this place? it will depend how Hideki Kamiya will write Bayonetta 4 plot.

Is it just me or does black friday feel like it is going to be a bit weak this year? I mean I know ads aren't leaking like they used to but I'm not seeing a lead up to good deals here. (granted it isn't like I need more games but I'm still a bit surprised...)

@Ryu_Niiyama Yeah, it does seem weak so far. Although, I recall the biggest deals on actual black friday, or that weekend.

Brian Altano for IGN want Sony to do a Handheld console to complete with Nintendo Switch

@Giancarlothomaz Does he want them to lose money or something? Suporting 3 environments (Home console, VR and a handheld) is madness. I think the 3 main companies have figured out where their strengths are.

@GrailUK he problaby envy that Nintendo Switch is currently the best selling hardware, aproaching 6 year of it lifecycle and having less power then a PS5, and yes Sony countdt take care of 3 gaming bussines you mentioned.

@GrailUK @Giancarlothomaz
TBH I don't think it's that crazy. It's a pretty different environment than it used to be, portable x86 is a pretty viable option these days. The Steam deck is proof enough of that. And if the architecture is that close it becomes an optimisation task rather than a porting task. Basically it wouldn't be three platforms, it'd be two, or like one and a half. VR and non-VR

I think the main obstacle is that outside of PC gaming there is still a fair bit of push back against digital ownership. Which would mean a portable Playstation would kinda need a media of its own because discs aren't going to work. Which puts it well behind the Steam Deck due to it's existing all-digital only library and Nintendo with their "the portable is also the home console" model

I think it could happen..... but I think we're more likely to see someone like a laptop manufacturer like Dell or possibly even Microsoft take the space a bit more seriously and come out with a Steam Deck clone leaning on XBox GamePass or something

@GrailUK @Giancarlothomaz @skywake Sony are treating Steam Deck as their handheld. 1st party games are being ported to PC in droves and they're all Steam Deck verified.

It's a clever strategy as the PS4 + Vita approach had exactly the same problem as 3DS + Wii U. To support PS4/3DS well, Vita/Wii U's lineup had to suffer in the form of large game droughts. Nintendo resolved this problem by merging home console and handheld to get the Switch which is slightly more powerful than Wii U but that wouldn't work for Sony given technology isn't good enough for a hybrid with PS5 power.

@Grumblevolcano
As I said, the problem was more the architecture differences than the power gaps. 3DS was an ARM11 & ARM9 and a PICA200 GPU while the Wii U was an IBM PC CPU with a Radeon GPU. The PS4 was an 8 core AMD x86 CPU with a GCN based AMD GPU and the Vita was an ARM Cortex A9 with Power VR graphics

The PS5 is a Zen 2 CPU with an AMD RDNA2 graphics. The XBox Series is a Zen 2 CPU with AMD RDNA 2 graphics. The Steam Deck is.... a Zen 2 CPU with and AMD RDNA2 graphics. I mean they could go for something newer which would shift things a tad but even then it'd probably be Zen 3 with RDNA 3. Or heaven forbid Nvidia or Intel graphics with an Intel CPU but still x86

The portable vs home console divide is a bit of a different ballgame than it used to be

@JaxonH Are you confusing Electric Playground and Electric Underground here?

Electric Underground did some shmup reviews for NLife (as MSX Mark or something like that I think) and got a fair bit of criticism - especially for one of the the Pskiyo collections I think, where he scored it really low due to what he thought was an unacceptable amount of lag. Lag seems to be a common theme in his shmup videos as he called out the Radiant Silvergun Switch port recently because it had a single frame of lag more than the old Saturn version.

Coincidentally, Electric Underground did also have a video about Bayo 3, saying he couldn't understand the seeming universal praise it seemed to be getting - criticised the level design, QTEs and the what he considered the 'watered down' gameplay where it was no longer a straight action game like Ninja Gaiden etc and now more an action RPG. I have felt that recently - especially when he does videos on non-shmup games - there does seem to be an element of being deliberately contrarian in his opinions though (Shredder's Revenge being another example).

@dmcc0
Yup yup, that's what was confusing me. I had also already seen he'd put up that video so I figured that's what it was when I saw the name, "Electric ****ground". It just auto-registered as him. I was wondering why a blonde dude was in the thumbnail, but figured he was just milking the cow with a 2nd video and it was a friend on to back his views or something.

I have no issues with Electric PLAYground. I actually enjoy his videos on occasion. Or at least, did a few yrs ago. Actually forgot dude existed. Though I will say, if he's trashing on Bayonetta 3, that's still a hard disagree from me.

@JaxonH I did watch the Electric Underground video, but I'm not sure if his criticism was valid as I've not played the game. Not really sure why I watched it to be honest as I've got no real interest in the Bayonetta series after playing about halfway through the first game and feeling it was all getting a bit too repetitive for me - not really into the action/hack n slash genre. Maybe his criticism that it was turning into more of an action RPG means I'd actually like this one!

check out the review of Pokémon Scarlet e Violet

@dmcc0
As someone who's almost done playing the game, I feel like it's a masterpiece. Most ppl love it, but there have been a few criticisms here and there. And I have yet to hear one I actually agreed with that mattered (like, Humunculi all have similar mint/white color scheme, that's fair, but it's also not really a big deal- the actual designs are insane, and the consistent color scheme is a way to differentiate them from the demons and angel enemies, which also have their own color schemes, such as red for Inferno enemies and white/gold for Paradiso enemies).

Then I hear about the environments this, environments that. And I'm like... environments are fine? What's wrong with the environments? They're levels to explore and find secrets. What more do you want? The fact virtually everything is destructible is impressive. I love running around destroying cars, semi trucks, fence posts, even storefront windows- yes, even the buildings themselves can incur damage, and it's not all just for kicks, this is how you farm mats, similar to Link cutting grass for rupies and hearts.

Its like a giant playground jungle gym where you can swing around like Spiderman, plus there's all sorts of hidden collectibles and challenge rooms, so exploring is a big part of the fun.

There's nothing wrong with doing only action, but ppl are acting like Bayonetta 2 didn't also have exploring and secrets. It absolutely did, it's just the environments we're smaller and more linear, there were fewer secrets, and you didn't have as many fun mechanics at play that made navigating the environments fun in its own right. But Bayo3 takes it to the next level. Anyone who wants to ignore exploring, finding secrets and collectibles, solving puzzles, etc can do so. Just click L3 for the objective marker and head straight for it. But imo, that's missing the point. If I had to attribute one thing as the reason Bayo3 is so much better than 1/2, it's how well balanced it is with exploring and secrets.

The game also bounces back and forth between Bayonetta and Viola (though more time is spent as Bayo) with 2 or 3 little 5 minute stealth stages as Jeanne, which are a nice change of pace.

Idk. The whole thing just works. They nailed the exploration so well. It's been a long time since I felt so utterly addicted running around exploring and destroying everything for orbs, lollipop crafting mats and looking for secrets. It makes the previous 2 games feel so... "basic" by comparison. Don't get me wrong- I think Bayonetta 2 is still the 2nd best action game ever made. But the formula for 3 really took it to the next level.

@Giancarlothomaz
Seems fair.

Now that is a good example of performance actually hindering a game. When I can see massive stutters in every gameplay clip of a 30 fps game, that to me is a problem.

It's still rather surreal that Square Enix ditched Nintendo in the 90s because the N64 used cartridges but now has so many cartridge releases on the Switch.

@Grumblevolcano I chuckle a bit every time I look at the Switch physical copy of FF VII on my shelf. It's the game that made S-E leave Nintendo. And yet twenty years later S-E have come back full circle. Life's funny.

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core - More Than A Remaster

@Magician @Grumblevolcano
Sure, but there's a stark contrast between putting a PS1 sized game on an N64 cart and putting a PS1 sized game on a Nintendo Switch cart.

Technology has come a long ways, and even now carts are still more expensive and more limiting. Obviously they're a necessity when you have a portable system, but ya.

Bruh some people are actually mad about weapon skins in rise, like it’s a skin, and I’m sure there are many other cool weapon styles, and why do people act like it’s new? Mh has done dlc like this since world at least, I’m not sure about the others.

If you want it so bad you can buy it, if you don’t care don’t lmao. I get it, it sucks you have to pay But it’s just for weapons, not like it’s a crossover skin.