Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@old-dad
While I recognize there are great games on tv-only consoles, for me it's become an issue of features to enjoy the games with, or lack of features, rather, to the point I can't really enjoy them no matter how good the games themselves may be. Well, I could, but I'd always rather be playing something else, anything else, if I'm not restricted in how I can enjoy it.

Besides which, all those games are on Steamdeck anyways (including Hifi Rush), and the few that aren't usually make their way to Steam eventually, even including 1st party Xbox and PS games (not that I'm particularly fond of either, though there are a few I really, really like- notably Gears 5 and Halo Infinite).

So ya, any lingering appeal those consoles may have retained is quickly sapped up by Steamdeck. It may not be fully hybrid like Switch, but even just being portable is a huge advantage over tv-only, as it means still being able to play at home, just like with any other console, but also anywhere else. It may lack the docking ability for taking full advantage at home, and the tabletop ability for taking full advantage on the go, but nonetheless it still offers that freedom of playing anywhere, anytime. Not in any way but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

In a pre-Switch, pre-Deck world, it would be different. It was different. But now? These consoles just sit here. I can't even remember the last time I booted one of them up. I never use Xbox, even with Gamepass. I never use PS5. I never use my gaming PC. I only ever use my Switch nowadays, with brief intermittent stints on Steamdeck. I have access to 99% of games with these two platforms alone, all of them with the freedom to play anywhere, and nearly all with gyro aiming. What value does also having these other 3 systems offer me? 1 or 2 games a year that don't come to either Switch or Steam day and date, that I'd have to sacrifice hybrid and portable freedom along with gyro aiming for?

Pareto principle. Focus on the vital few vs the trivial many. 2 platforms that offers 99% of games available, with portable freedom, with gyro aiming... vs 5 platforms that offers 100%, with no portable freedom or gyro aiming for that extra 1%. The marginal utility just isn't there.

I never anticipated this being how things would pan out. I invested a lot of money into my gaming PC, I bought my PS5 day one on preorder and even ordered a Series X stacking multiple years of GamePass because I genuinely expected I'd use them. It just... hasn't turned out that way. And I think I've been in denial of that long enough, unwilling to admit I wasted a lot of money on gaming platforms I never use in the slightest. It's time for me to just admit these tv-only platforms have nothing to offer me anymore. Times have changed, the way we play games has changed (at least for me it has), and I've changed. The era of buying every console to "miss nothing"... is over for me.

Well, I personally still like both consoles and handhelds so it will never felt archaic for me to play tv only games.
I can play whichever machines I have anytime depend on my mood.
Sometimes I want to play my old consoles.
Sometimes I want to play my handhelds.
Sometimes I want to play newer machines.
It's flexible.

@Colonel_Mustache is the age of adaptabity, where you can choose if you want to play your game in your TV or in your own hands

@JaxonH
Well, maybe your highest hype currently on Switch.
I can't blame you for liking Switch so much.
But I have different hype and sometimes my hype with something changed depend on my mood.
Sometimes my hype is on Switch games.
Sometimes my hype is on PS4 / PS3 games.
Sometimes my hype is on 3DS / NDS.
Sometime my hype is on older games like PS2 / Gamecube / Wii.
It depends on my mood and depend on what games I get currently but I still take care with every video game machines I bought.

@JaxonH
I personally think there's still plenty of room for a tethered PC in this ecosystem. For me the ideal setup now would be Switch + High end PC + Portable PC. I kinda feel like the Steam Deck while it is the way forward it's still a gen 1 product. I think there's still room for pushing the pixels on my TV, mobile hardware isn't quite there yet. And on the other side I'd like a portable PC that's closer to the size of a Switch Lite

Certainly the way forward and if it works for you that's nice. Like I kinda felt about playing through stuff like Assassin's Creed entirely on the Wii U Gamepad 10 years ago. Clunky or not sometimes you get a sneak peek into the future like that and wonder why nobody else can see it. But regardless of how exciting it is to be pushing those boundaries, first gen stuff is first gen. I'm not sure we're entirely there yet

Edit: On a different tangent. Downloaded the Bayonetta Origins and Mario & Rabbids demos. Mario & Rabbids I think I was right to skip, didn't really get into it. Bayonetta but? Not sure anyone will be surprised to hear me say, I'm very much into it

Add me to the "Switch (plus PC)" crowd.

It feels like Sony's doing its hardest this gen to make me lose interest. Between the vast number of Japanese exclusives and PS first party titles, I got decent mileage out of the PS4. But now pretty much all the Japanese games are on Switch (and if not, are almost certainly on PC), and the only PS franchise I really care about that is still console exclusive is Ratchet and Clank. Hell, I'd say Rift Apart is the only game to have justified my PS5, and the PS3 R&C titles are the main reason I hold onto that old system as well.

Xbox has been pretty much redundant with PC for the longest time now. I do have a Series S, but that's mostly too make use of its multimedia functions in conjunction with quick resume, backwards compatibility (for games that never got a PC release, like Sonic Unleashed and OG Xbox titles), and the occasional dip into Gamepass.

I'd say my split at this point is probably 50:20:5:5:20 to Switch:PC:PS:XB:Other (the latter being predominantly Pokemon on retro handhelds).

I won't say I'll never buy a TV-tethered console again, but at this point, it's a matter of needing to be extremely convinced to do so. I'd need 5 - 10 games I was really excited about that I couldn't play on something I already own. The problem with that is everything non-Nintendo goes to PC now. Assuming Microsoft ever releases a game I actually want to play, that'll go to PC. Sony's stuff is going to PC after a period of console exclusivity. Pretty much all Japanese third party stuff goes to PC.

Assuming you own a decent gaming PC, PS5 is only really worth buying if you love Sony's first-party output and want day one access to it. And... I just don't feel that way about their games. Especially after they shut down my favorite first-party developer, and have gone all in on cinematic third-person action-adventure stuff.

But, you know, if it just so happens that games such as Silent Hill 2 Remake, FF7 Rebirth, etc. run particularly terribly on PC, or would require a GPU upgrade to run well that's more expensive than just purchasing a PS5, then maybe I'd have cause to buy one.

As it stands, though, I'm not planning on buying any more Playstation or Xbox consoles.

Lawd that is me to a T lol.

Rarely use the switch in handheld mode except for when I had my bypass last year so it made the trip to hospital with me for 3 days and 4 nights of handheld play. Was just great finishing up LTTP while laying in bed lol

I have been playing Paper Mario Origami King. I have to say I was a bit too harsh when it was first released, but playing it now. It's a great game. I love the pleasant world and atmosphere. At times it feels like a horror game.

A whole bunch better than Super Paper Mario. That game was a snooze fest from beginning to end. The gameplay didn't help either.

2 months left until Tears of the Kingdom. We still know very little about it. Hopefully we hear something really soon.

@MsJubilee I liked Super Paper Mario. It’s Origami King that put me to sleep.

will Ganondorf be able to destroy Hyrule in Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?

@IceClimbers I think that’s the point. A game trailer or something soon would be nice, but I think Nintendo wants you to go into the game as blind as possible so you can have that experience just like last time. Also who is saying that’s ganondorf in the trailer?

Shew think I've seen enough lol. Positive they will have another trailer and maybe go more in depth.

Yes maybe destroy Hyrule and maybe that voice we hear isn't Ganandorf ?

I'm sure Nintendo's big wave of stuff close to or on March 9th (MK8 Deluxe wave 4, FE Engage wave 3, Bayonetta Origins demo, Metroid Fusion NSO, Mario Movie Direct) was them preparing for a big TotK info blowout because they know that TotK will dominate the spotlight like BotW did when that game received its big info blowouts (e.g. E3 2016). Leaning towards the week beginning March 13th but definitely no later than March 22nd.

I do kind of want to be wrong though as it would be interesting to see how Nintendo would approach things in an outcome where the next TotK info appeared in April.

Eh, I don't really care.

Most ppl are gonna buy the game anyways just because of the first one, and regardless of what's shown beforehand, the game experience will be whatever it will be.

I guess getting ppl hyped helps spread awareness and thus sales. But that's a Nintendo problem. Not a me problem.

As far as I'm concerned, they could just shadow drop it and it wouldn't make a difference. I'd almost rather be surprised by experiencing the game blind than be "sold" on it through marketing, when I already know for a fact it's going to be fire.

What?!!

Since when did Nintendo update Switch to no longer pester you about changed control schemes? I just swapped ZL and Select for Super Metroid so I could more easily switch between beam, missiles, Super missiles, etc. And... no aggravating pop up when I went back into the game while suspended? It didn't even show the pop up when I switched over to GBA to play more Metroid Fusion...

Do you realize what this means???

It means the control remapping feature is ACTUALLY VIABLE now! The whole reason I never used it is because it would pester me into submission by showing a warning pop up not just any time I'd start a new game with changed controls (which I'm actually ok with), but any time I'd enter a suspended game. That was a bridge too far.

Apparently that's no longer the case? Well shucks... looks like I may actually play Super Metroid now. After I finish Fusion and wrap up Metroid Prime Remastered, of course, both of which I'm at the end. And, maybe after replaying Metroid Prime 2 Echoes on Deck (cause I just can't resist any longer- I need to re-experience my all time fave... the game that got me into gaming as a hobby).

@TheBigBlue
It may actually work to their benefit to not hype it much.

Look no further than Metroid Prime Remastered. When you purposely don't hype a game, expectations are exceeded, which makes gamers happy. On the other hand, had Metroid Prime Remastered been hyped up as this big, grand return of a masterpiece, built up with trailers over 6 months, and then released, people may have been disappointed and the scores may have been lower.

How well a game is received is often a function of how much it exceeds (or falls short of) expectations. It's like the stock market in that respect. A stock could be undervalued, but if earnings come up short, the stock sells off and price drops. Likewise, a stock could be over valued, but if earnings exceed projections, everyone buys and the stock rises. It's never about what it's actually worth, but rather how it's current performance compares to expected performance.

Games are the same way. You could take the exact same game and run two scenarios. Suppose its a really, really good game. In one scenario, they hype it up to no end, and then release it. It's a good game and people like it, but because expectations were set so high, it doesn't score quite as well, as it's hard to meet everyone's lofty expectations. It averages an 87/100.

In scenario two, they don't tell anyone about it and they just shadow drop it. Because nobody was expecting it, everyone's elated, and their expectations are surpassed. Reviewers are absolutely glowing with giddy as they hand out 9s and 10s. The game averages a 95/100.

Same game. Two different outcomes based on how they play their hand with expectations. Following up one of the most beloved, most highly praised video game of all time has to be tough. And I suspect they're intentionally downplaying it in an attempt to lower expectations as much as possible before release, so they have a better chance of exceeding expectations when reviews come around.

@MsJubilee it still bugs me how much people crapped on TOK. Its such a fine game and one of my favorite games on the system. The boss battles are great, writing is great, and it's such a colorful world.

@TheBigBlue @JaxonH I don't think silence would have that effect, rather all it would do is fuel leakers to spoil the game for everyone. The leaks would then spread like wildfire because Nintendo news sites and Youtubers will be desperate for clicks, you saw how quick the artbook leaks spread.