Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NeonPizza
Can relate to that 😊👍

@Ralizah @JaxonH
I think you're not being fair to people who just like to buy their games physical. Not everything is rooted in an emotional problem, and not everyone has something to "get past."

There are very real examples of digital goods going away. That's just a fact. And yea, some people take it over the top and seem to critique those who prefer digital, but there are tons of us who just collect in the way we like to collect and go about our lives.

@rallydefault Sure. Which is why I said a preference for physical is fine. Also: "I think there's a place for physical gaming. Especially with how sketchy consumer rights are in this area, and how some people still struggle with not having access to high-speed internet where they live (not at all uncommon out here in the country, for example)."

I said much of the discourse online is reflective of anxiety. Not that everyone who buys physical games has problems.

Both Jax and I also have extensive physical gaming collections.

My only issue with digital gaming is size of games. My xbox and ps5 are always running out of space and sadly 1TB isn't really that great for variety. I have less than 10 ps5 games and still without a second hard drive I'd be out of space. I've finally gotten to the point that I have steady highspeed internet (in other words I moved) so that isn't an issue anymore but yeah, the spacing thing is horrible. Nintendo games are smaller so even with the switch's internal spacing I got more bang for my buck so it doesn't bother me as much plus having a 1TB micros sd holds way more for switch than the twins. As such even though I'd like to go pure digital....it isn't quite worth it. so I am still about 60 percent digital 40 percent physical. But after having a mostly physical collection for 3 decades...yeah I really want to go digital. Moving (and furniture buying) is a nightmare.

@Ralizah
<thumbs up>

I do think much of the conversation online, as usual, is at either end of the extremes.

In reality, I would think most people just buy in their preferred way or whatever is most convenient for them (I have a GameStop down the street). Or, of course, in whatever way must happen - I have tons of eShop games that launched exclusively digital, and I generally don't go back to re-buy the physical copies if/when they come out.

And when Nintendo inevitably introduces a machine that is only digital, I'll just have to go that direction for the stuff I want to play on it.

Retro gaming is a whole other thing, in my opinion. So many games that have never been made available (officially) again, so it does become a sort of preservation.

@rallydefault As much as I've embraced digital, I probably won't go FULL digital until I'm forced to. If only because of costs on consoles. Because you can generally find enough cheap physical games if you don't buy day one that it justifies the expense of getting the more expensive model that can run discs/cartridges.

On PS4, barring some insane deals (HZD Complete Edition for $10, for example), I typically go physical with all of my purchases, since the immediacy of digital isn't as important to me with home consoles.

Some games I go back and forth on which I'd prefer (World of Horror, for example, is significantly cheaper digitally, but the physical version has cool extras).

I think it's best when both formats exist, tbh, but it won't be the end of the world for me when games go primary digital on console like they have on PC.

It's also a fact that physical games can be lost or damaged and you can't just redownload them. Personally I can still play all my digital Wii games but because of a combination of theft and damage, most of my old physical games are gone. I also have plenty of ebooks that are almost 20 years old I can still read. There is an argument both ways, but I currently trust my electronic games more than my physical.

I feel like the other concerns people have brought up are much bigger. People not having Internet access, people wanting to share games (which is technically possible now with the eshop but very inconvenient) or sell games. People just liking the physical games to display or whatever is also very valid even though it's not really in the same category of losing an ability.

One thing that worries me is that even if physical stays around, a combination of day-1 updates and potential future DMCA/antipiracy rules might end up requiring internet even if you buy physical.

@FishyS
I think you're splitting hairs a little there lol I mean, yea, literally anything physical can get lost or damaged. Your actual console can get lost or damaged.

You need your console to play either way, but you can't 'lose' digital games because you can just redownload them. You were implying that it is a risk having digital games which could be 'taken away'. All I was saying is that I personally think digital is more reliable to still have a game in e.g. 20 years than physical so I think of that as a positive of digital rather than the negative you stated it as.

But, yeah, whether digital or physical, having the old console break or not having the right type of cord or controller anymore or just not bothering to ever plug it in is the way most old games stop being played so I do mostly think physical versus digital is a moot point in most cases in terms of longevity.

@FishyS
Yea, I'm just saying it's a redundant argument to point out that physical things can be lost or stolen. It's a given.

And technically, digital games can be lost, too. Account theft does happen. It can normally be reversed, but in some cases can take a lot of time and energy to get that restoration, and I would think the number of people who have well and truly lost access to a digital account is significant.

@JaxonH How is silent hope? Saw the CE on your shelf pic. Also Happy New Year!

@rallydefault I wasn't trying to point it out because it's surprising, just as an example of why I trust digital more than physical. I am strongly biased by my personal experience, but your point about accounts is valid, so let's just say physical versus digital is a bit of a wash in terms of ownership longevity of a game. At least on Nintendo and PC... I wouldn't count on ownership of a mobile game farther than I could throw it. 😛

@FishyS
Yea, and this whole thing got me to thinking... like, I have maybe 30ish games in my Steam library, but I hardly play anything other than WoW on my PC. I think the last time I actually played one of my Steam games was in the summer with Baldur's Gate 3. If my Steam account would ever get stolen, I honestly don't know if I would put much of an effort into recovering it.

Adjusted for inflation, if they spend as much on storage as they did on the Wii when it launched it'll come with a 1TB NVMe SSD. If they land somewhere closer to what they spent on the 32GB Wii U SKU it'll be the same but 512GB. If they're as cheap as they were for the Switch at launch we can expect 256GB of eMMC. If they're as cheap as they were with the OLED, 3DS or 8GB Wii U SKU it'll be 128GB of eMMC. I think 128GB of eMMC is the absolute floor but... I guess we'll see

My view is that the current Switch is going to remain as the cheaper option even after this new hardware launches. Maybe as the Lite, maybe as a new SKU. And if that happens the new hardware would be a premium device. A 1TB SSD is, frankly, not impossible if that's what it ends up being. But if I was to guess I'd say 512GB SSD is very probable, a 256GB SSD is likely, less would be unnecessarily cheap

Just noticed something looking at my launch Switch. The screen at the front right has had the adhesive peeling a bit for a while but picking it up just now I can see that there's now also around a 2mm gap forming underneath the top vent. That battery be dying, not going to plug that guy in anymore

I guess I'm either ordering a replacement battery, going to the shops and picking up a new Switch or hoping that Nintendo announce something new fairly soon. I guess whatever I do I'll want to transfer stuff from this so..... probably want to get a replacement battery either way....

I'm kinda tempted to get a Lite and then just wait it out until Switch 2 launches

Besides the usual actual good games Mega Man Battle Network Collection, Star Ocean 2 Remake, Super Mario Legend of the Seven Stars remake, Persona 4 re-release and some of the Final Fantasy PIxel remaster games,

there any other actual good games to buy for the Nintendo Switch/Lite or wait til the next batch of "good" stuff in the next month?

@XandertheWise I mean... you just mentioned only remakes/remasters and mostly RPGs. What are you looking for? There have been zillions of great games lately, but if you want only RPG remakes, Another Code comes out in 2 weeks.

Went to the shops, asked what they had and there were no Lites, lots of Switch Sports bundles and only one OLED in stock. The OLED they had had some slight cosmetic damage on the box. Got the price down to $480AU

Between the new JoyCon set and second dock.... welcome to the OLED gang I guess. So now that I've brought an OLED brace yourselves for Nintendo to immediately announce Switch 2

@skywake Hopefully you have most of the year to enjoy the OLED. I really thought the same thing would happen to my Switch because it was getting worn out but then I grabbed a lite so my original Switch mostly stays docked and doesn't get as beat up anymore.

So with the flash cart releasing, I preordered one, and I ordered a lot of x200 8GB micro SD cards, x100 32GB micro SD cards, and x20 128GB micro SD cards.

Reason being, you have to eject and re-insert to toggle games. That's not gonna cut it for me wanting hundreds of games backed up. I own everything digitally and physically but this is my chance to preserve on my own terms.

So I'm putting each game on its own microSD, or each franchise set of games at least. So one 128GB might have all 7 Assassin's Creed games, a 32GB might have both Batman Arkham Asylum and City (don't care about Knight or other bad ports), a 32GB might have all Mario games, another may have all Pikmin games, etc

I bought a case that stores 90 microSD, and another that stores 58. But I think I'm just gonna get another two cases that store 90, so 270 in total, and with each storing MULTIPLE games of each franchise, and not backing up the games I don't care much about, I should be able to get the top 400-500 games backed up.

Only issue is, how to dump digital games that didn't get a physical release. Or the updates and DLC for my physical dumps. I may end up having to just download games from the internet, but use my personal dumps for the certs so they can be played online without risking ban.

Life finds a way, as the good Doctor Malcom said. Just wait, and a door will open to preserve your games.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Honestly haven't played it. Just so many games to keep up with its been crazy.