Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake another game that could be ideal to release on Switch sucessor is Metroid Prime 4 or the rumored 2D Donkey Kong game by Nintendo EPD 4.

The review I was waiting for- the only one I trust.

Dragon Quest Treasures: 86% "A Treasure!"

This is DQM in all but name, with a treasure spin thrown in. I remember back in the 3DS era when DQM Joker 3 and Terry's Wonderland were never localized. We are blessed to receive games like this day and date with Japan.

@JaxonH YES!!! I was hoping for it to be good.

@Giancarlothomaz
Maybe, but Mario and Zelda are the games you probably want to launch with. They're titles that both sell the idea of new hardware in a way that I don't think a DKC could and they're also best sellers which Metroid is not

Actually there are only a couple of times when a Metroid or DKC has outsold a non-transitional Mario or Zelda game. Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2 on the SNES outsold A Link to the Past (although both completely smashed Super Metroid). The port of Donkey Kong Country on the GBA outsold Minish Cap. Lastly on the Wii DKCR outsold Skyward Sword

And games beyond Mario and Zelda? I mean, there are certainly big sellers but I'm not sure there's anything that would work right now in that space. Eg Mario Kart is a best seller but it's the sort of game people buy for hardware rather than them buying hardware for. Animal Crossing is certainly a system mover but I'm not sure it's something that energises early adopters. Stuff like Pikmin, F-Zero and so on are show pieces but are all even less popular than Metroid so that's out. I think the closest we get are Splatoon and Smash but... I don't expect to see a Smash on the horizon and I really hope that Splatoon 4 is at least 2025

I mean there's no reason why they couldn't launch with something different. There's no rule that says "hardware must launch with the perfect launch title". But I think if new hardware comes in the next year, and I think that's highly probable, Nintendo would be stupid not to line up a Zelda for it

Also if we're reading the tea leaves here there is something to note. It is entirely possible that the delay to TotK was caused by a delay to new hardware, not the other way around. i.e. maybe new hardware was intended for late last year/early this year with some collection of launch games. And if that was the case having TotK being a late 2022 title to push holiday sales and round off the first year would've made sense. But then the hardware was delayed and all of a sudden late 2022 for TotK was 6 months before they could get hardware out. Solution? Delay TotK. Probably not what has happened here but it's certainly possible

@skywake Counterpoint: Splatoon 3 is getting 2 years of guaranteed support. Would you launch a game like that less than a year before you launch new hardware, especially when Splatoon 2 was a huge boon to the Switch?

@link3710 I used to think that any new system launch would have a new Splatoon game, but as it’s getting 2 years support and my opinion Nintendo will release a Switch successor in 2024, I’m not so sure there’ll be one in the first year. Anyway, I also don’t think TotK is launching alongside new hardware either. I think people are reading way too much into the delay and the fact BOTW released cross platform. I don’t see anything that suggests new hardware is coming out next year (I mean there’s also nothing saying 2024 either).

@link3710
That argument only works if new hardware means dropping compatibility for existing Switch titles. There's no reason to think that will happen. Even though we don't know much about this new hardware and we especially don't know the date there is one thing we can be pretty damn confident on. The SoC it's using. An Ampere based Tegra SoC, which basically means it's more Switch adjacent than Switch rewrite

Might they do odd things when it comes to cross compatibility? I mean it's Nintendo so I wouldn't be shocked. But they definitely could make it almost entirely transparent to users. Doesn't matter that it's almost surely at least 2X the raw power and likely a bit more. If you're just plugging in the same games and they run better it's basically the same platform. They've done it before like this. Gameboy Color, DSi and New 3DS were similarly significant jumps despite the gut feeling about what we felt those consoles were due to marketing & forwards/backards compatibility

I honestly do expect that when this new hardware comes out they'll market it as "Switch 4K" or something but it'll still be Switch. You'll still buy the same games in the same boxes. It's just some of them will perform a bit more consistently or render more detail. And maybe there will be a few "4K Only" titles but I expect those would be reserved for the "impossible port" category. Games like TotK, Pikmin 4, Metroid Prime 4 etc, these will still be playable on Switch. Just on "Switch 4K" maybe you run them at a stable 1080p/60 with DLSS pushing it to 1440p, more detail, better load times, HDR, VRR etc, etc

@skywake considering the historic of Nintendo hardware with Legend of Zelda franchise, is very likely that Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is gonna be a launch game for Switch sucessor or maybe the next 2D/3D Mario game, @Link3710 Splatoon 3 having suport until septembre 2024 , will not impact Switch sucessor launch and i doubt Switch sucessor is gonna be a powerful console(Nintendo don't work like that).

@Giancarlothomaz That really depends on what you call not powerful? In todays market, something between the PS4 & PS4 Pro I’d say isn’t powerful but is powerful enough to hopefully keep enough third party support for a few years.

@FragRed for the leaked Nvidia data, it sugest Switch sucessor is not gonna be a powerful console(barely a base PS4 in power).

@skywake What you said. You, me... same page.

@Giancarlothomaz Yikes I didn’t realise it was gonna be that underpowered, assuming the leaked data is accurate with the chipset Nintendo ends up using.

@FragRed yes sadly Nintendo favor inovation again istead of a more powerful console(let see how the Switch sucessor will perform ounce it release).

@Giancarlothomaz Modern handheld hardware should be able to achieve the results of 10 year old hardware, actually older than that when you think the base PS4 was using old chipsets when it launched. So I’m hoping whatever Nintendo and Nvidea do release uses something customised to achieve that power.

@Giancarlothomaz @FragRed We're talking about the supposed T234 chip that's going to be in the next Switch, yes?

I'm not a tech person, but doing a little bit of research suggests performance will be much closer to something like the Xbox Series S. It'll also apparently be DLSS capable, which will even out the gap between it and the big boys even more.

Obviously it still won't be the ideal TV system, but even downclocked, it should be an absolute monster in handheld mode. Easily more capable than something like the Steam Deck.

Assuming the leaks are true, of course.

@Ralizah I don’t know the name of the chipset, I know that one apparently exists and I’m going on what I have read from others on these forums like yourself and @skywake who have done research. But if it’s that powerful then that’s surprisingly impressive for something Nintendo would use. That’s a massive jump in power.

And finally...

The only review I trust for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

It's a technical performance review only, but it's a game that's been around so we already know how good it is.

Bottom Line? Looks fantastic on Switch, runs incredibly well, transition load times are just 2-3 seconds, and shows Switch is still capable of giving us high quality experiences if the devs are competent.

@Ralizah, @EaglytheKawaiiShika and @Fagred chipset that is rumored for the Switch sucessor to use is NVIDIA Tegra 234(meaning Switch sucessor it gonna have the techinal/graphical power of barely a base PS4 in Handheld Mode and Xbox 360 +++ in TV mode). i know all this techinal details because i did a course on game development.

@JaxonH they ported that and not Kindom Hearts lol

@Giancarlothomaz
Throw your Xbox 360+++ out the window. That's a horrible comparison.

Secondly, it's a Tegra 239, not 234. That alone shows you don't have a clue what you're talking about. You don't even know the name of the chip, how could anyone trust your judgement about what it's capable of?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/nintendo-switch-...

The T239 is around base PS4. That's incredibly powerful for a hybrid device. INCREDIBLY powerful. Look at games on PS4. They look nearly identical to PS5 games. That is going to be what we have on a portable system in the near future.

It's incredibly exciting.

If that doesn't excite you, then you know nothing of technology, have no appreciation for the advancements in mobile tech, don't value the massive leap it will provide for both visuals and performance, and frankly, are just ragging on it because it's not "as powerful" as other current TV only systems. Which is absolutely ludicrous to be "disappointed" a portable system "only" produces games that look 95% as good as dedicated tethered power consoles.