Oceanhorn Devs See "Bright Future" For Switch, Despite Smartphones Already Overtaking It In Raw Power

Looking forward to it finished the Switch version, so ready for a new challenge

I liked the original, the new one looks far more advanced and less cartoonie, maybe they will have more that 5 enemies in this one

They will over take it in power but it'll be years before we see a mobile game looking as good as Splatoon 2 or ARMS.

@MegaTen Atari has answered the call. Crash confirmed lol.

Looks slow paced and not finished. I hope this is a footage from VERY early stages of development.

@MegaTen
I think you're right in terms of the need for care and potential pitfalls with regards to the ever-evolving game industry... however for me, switch proves that consumers aren't purely interested in power. Instead, many people (admittedly not all) prioritise the overall experience over raw processing power, and this is why switch is succeeding IMO... I'd much rather play oceanhorn (or any game for that matter) on a dedicated system like switch rather than on my smartphone... but maybe I'm just old-fashioned!

@MegaTen yeah I mean a good hundred million plus have bought the PS4/XBOX and with upgraded the power so that everyone can keep there libraries and just continue to buy games for a system they love, that's just madness.

How ever will games companies ever make money with massive install bases and the security of knowing that they aren't about to release on an obsolete system.

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Smartphones have also long overtaken Switch and any other console in the sheer lack/absence of buttons, so I don't care how much more powerful they are. Until/unless touch screens themselves evolve to have something like adjustable responsive textures (I have no idea even how to envision it, but maybe one day some genius engineer will), full dependence on them will continue to limit the number of genres fit for mobile gaming. Besides, there's the same quirk as with PCs - modern smartphones are portable multipurpose computers with lots of stuff to do and share the resources/battery between, with common and popular enough OSs that people give a damn about writing malware for them (which means more money, RAM and battery to spend on an antivirus), with a chance of calls to butt in at any moment (and a good number of big apps still remain lucky not to crash when it happens)... the tech is all nice in a way and I've been playing my share of Android games myself, but there's NOTHING like a dedicated video game platform.

This is a bit speculative don't you think? Logic would also dictate that a Switch 2 will also be in the works.

Besides, good games don't work terribly well on phones.

@PAHTK
I reported you for sarcasm.

He compares Switch to the "latest iOS devices".

How much do the latest iOS devices cost, and still lack decent controllers?

@MegaTen Eh, sounds hypocritical. I see no difference between the beefier iterations of the XBOX ONE and Playstation 4 when compared to the idea of things like the n2DSXL and n3DSXL.

I'd even argue that Nintendo pulls more bs, because if you buy the standard versions of the XBOX ONE or PS4, you're currently guaranteed access to the same general content and controls as their tech boosted counterparts. With the n3DSXL line, you get new features and exclusives that alienate adopters of the previous models in the 3DS family.

@MegaTen
Yeah agreed, although Nintendo definitely are guilty of iterative updates as well... as long as they can diversify in ways that are meaningful and fun to gamers then they will continue to see success... I definitely see a switch successor being inevitable but would be happy with that so long as the games are good quality and plentiful (probably the most important aspect of the switch's launch I'd say)

Overtaking in raw power isn't the same as overtaking Nintendo Switch in gaming performance itself because of the resources available for pure gaming. It's more than just raw power. Basically Raw power wise the Apple A10x chip is head and shoulder above the Nvidia Tegra X SoC in every department but the Switch would still be able to pump better graphics, higher textures, better physics etc. except maybe loading times purely because switch is designed to be a gaming device first and other mobile device share so much of those resources doing multitasks and other stuffs in the background eating so much of that power leaves less for gaming. On the other hand Switch's hardware is designed to do gaming first and that's where the custom Tegra X SoC comes in play with majority of its resources dedicated to gaming with specific spec partitioned for the Operating System. So for now mobile can't outdo the Switch in gaming. But in few years time it will even rival PS4. So it's not just the Switch, but will it get the AAA titles the Switch will get? I'm not sure. But as far as Indies, Apple's iOS platform is already a great place, I love it and even with it's current hardware it should have no problem with any Indies.

@Damo Yeah, mobiles seem to be a yearly thing now. I didn't realise they were costing as much as £600 though? Waw. The Switch is a bargain then.

I see mobiles as vanity projects, with their gaming aspect as a sort of gimmick. I've never played a mobile game I actually liked and remember. Let's hope people come to dedicated gaming platforms for games.

I find the fact mobile hardware is progressing much faster than console hardware very interesting here. If Nintendo plans to keep releasing new versions of the Switch like they did with the 3DS, they could get more powerful pretty easily and without increasing the cost much at all. For example the newest Nvidia chips right now are prohibitively expensive but in 2-3 years on a Switch Pro? Not at all. Combine this with Unreal Engine 4 and the growing amount of devs making ambitious products on phones, and I think the Switch will be attractive to smaller games like this for a very long time, even as they continue to get more advanced.

Nice to hear a dev give constructive criticism to the Switch rather than some washed up dev blasting it because it's simply underpowered.

@MegaTen you're right but that's why Nintendo seem to be focusing on attractive hardware for other reasons than power, and to me it's working

@MegaTen It is an issue if video game consoles shoot for computational power as their primary goal. Nintendo, however, went for versatility with the Switch, an area that no one is close to competing with them in in terms of gaming.

@MegaTen You mean like the DSi or the new 3DS? Now that's what I call alienation. At least the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X won't have exclusive games and are completely optional.

@MegaTen Depends on your idea of "remaining true", because in my eyes they most certainly haven't with the Switch. It won't play ANY of my back catalogue of Nintendo games in any shape or form - necessitating the re-purchasing of remasters or keeping the previous gen system. Microsoft's system lets you play most last generation games on the current one for free and will soon offer the generation before that too. Sony don't fare quite so well but at least they offer PS Now which gives you access to a lot of PS3 games. Nintendo offer nothing and even when they launch their online they are only going to be offering ancient NES/SNES games that we've already bought countless times in the past in different formats.

Smartphones are irrelevant for gaming regardless of their power, the only successful games on the platform are free and most involve tower defence matching colours. Nintendo themselves have already proved that people don't want to buy games on mobile with Super Mario Run, with the incredibly shallow but "free" Fire Emblem generating more money. I'm fairly certain nobody has gone to buy a PS4/XBOX/SWITCH and thought "I don't need one of these after all because my phone plays games"

Switch has already launched against direct competition which is much more powerful (and far more powerful then any smartphone) and has been sold out since launch, so it doesn't have much to worry about. The reality is these days that all this power is wasted on drawing more grass and leaves and never used to advance gameplay. I have a PS4 Pro yet I'm still amazed when I play Mario Kart 8 or Splatoon 2 because they are so bright and colourful and silky smooth in comparison to most games on that console. Ive never understood for games to look realistic, if i want to look at a realistic city I'll go outside, give me the mushroom kingdom any day 😃😃😃

No matter how powerful mobile phones are and become, people will still only play match 3 and slot machine style games on them. (With ads and microtransactions up the ying yang)

@MegaTen Yeah, but what's the issue with PS4 Pro and Xbox One X? They don't have exclusive games or content. You're not forced to buy them, and you can still buy the vanilla consoles and expect full support. So I don't see your point. Meanwhile, it was Nintendo who introduced the new 3DS and its exclusive games. That's what I would call alienation. You're criticising Sony and Microsoft of something Nintendo is doing, while giving Nintendo a free pass... I don't understand it anymore...

Typical crap jounalism. Of course mobile chipsets will surpass Switch - but we are 5 years away from seeing mobile games even on iPad that will MATCH the visual fidelity, technical demands or the types of games that Switch can do. There are still no games on these devices that come close to matching Wii U, PS3 or 360 visually or technically.

For the next 5 years Apple and Android devices will continue to see faked effects, faked physics, limited AI in order to keep power consumption low in order to match even the Wii U unless they put fans in like Switch.

@PorllM But it isn't really. Mobiles are just yearly updates, overrated - they can't compete, they'll never reach their lofty proclaimed 'targets'.

We're still 5 years away from seeing a mobile android or apple run a game as demanding as what the 360 or PS3 handled - that's just fact.

Of course Switch can but this is because it has a fan and incredible cooling solution to keep all ticking over.

Now if Apple or high end android tablets start putting in cooling solutions like Switch that may change - but it's highly unlikely.

What? My smart phone is more powerful than the Nintendo switch? That's disappointing. I guess I should dock my iPhone and buy a controller for it. Nintendo if you don't start making your consuls more powerful, then we don't need you!

Sorry but the man doesn't even know his mother. He wants us to believe that the latest iphone can render an open world game like BOTW easily? Seriously? Look the video of Oceanhorn and tell me what is the most impresive aspect of the game that Switch is incapable to re-produce

@Octane Nintendo fans always there to protect Nintendo. This is why Nintendo never gets honest feedback. True Nintendo fans will criticize Nintendo's mistakes not complement them.

@MegaTen ''PlayStation and Xbox gamers usually are so because they want the best possible fidelity in graphics.''

Only 20% of the PS4 sales are PS4 Pro. If people cared that much about graphics, it would be closer to 100%, actually, people would all buy a gaming PC instead. I think you're overstating it. On top of that, I wouldn't surprise me that even some of the Pro buyers aren't necessarily interested in graphics, because the Pro can also boost the frame rate and performance in some games, and it's only €50 more than the Slim.

But anyway, like I said, you're criticising Sony and Microsoft of something Nintendo is doing, while giving Nintendo a free pass. It doesn't work that way. If you dislike mid-gen upgrades that alienate the userbase, start complaining about the 3DS, because the PS4 Pro (and soon Xbox One X) don't have any exclusive content.

A bright future for indie and mobile developers maybe. But 3rd party developers aren't exactly falling over themselves to make Switch games. And the reason why these lesser games don't look or play as well as Nintendo games is because they don't have the money or development staff that Nintendo have. Of course it'll be easily surpassed in terms of raw power, sure the Switch is no more than a souped up Wii U. The biggest problem mobile games have is a truly rubbish control interface.

@electrolite77
100% agree... in fairness I think Sony and MS are sensible to appeal to the gamers who are interested in raw power as well... I've personally never been interested in PC gaming as keeping an old console for nostalgia purposes and the memories formed playing those games is the priority for me

It kind of looks like it should be "Breath of the Splathorn Chronicles 2."

I'm still somewhat interested.

Hmmm, this game really just looks like a generic Zelda rip-off with different assets...

As things currently stand with smart phone gaming, I think the controls (i.e. Touch screen) and quality of games released are the main issues facing its progression... I accept that there's a lot of gamers who utilise smart phones for gaming but IMO you wouldn't find them on forums like this... they are people who dip in and out, and for me most games available on iOS and android are lacking in depth that's seen on dedicated console games... or they're ports. Having said that, I'd imagine that smart phone gaming is a gateway to people moving to dedicated systems and PC gaming

@liveswired Well yeah but we're talking about the switch and the fan and the cooling situation prove my point (aswell as the fact it's often plugged in while playing). Phones are a long way from achieving PS3 quality you're right, but that's not due to their chips, so it's irrelevant when talking about the switch.

Remember he said phones are progressing faster, not that they are now just as powerful (I doubt anybody thinks that anywhere).

@electrolite77 I think an upgrade to the Switch will come a bit sooner than 2020 with an upgrade to the dock. They already put out the supplementary computing patent. Also, one smart thing Nintendo did was go with the the out of the box X1 which I think means they can fairly easily swap in the X2 after it comes out and gets cheap enough.

Sure. Place BoTW on a phone and see it burn to death in 10 minutes.

Phones and tablets may have a lot of raw graphical power nowadays, but they are not meant for playing long game sessions, they barely have cooling capabilities. Even less if we are speaking about games of this magnitude.

No need to worry about this. Most HD games on phones supports touch screen only, and not gamepad.

Also. I have Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone which is around the most powerful phone on earth.
Well. Its still not on par with my NVIDIA Shield TV which Switch is based on.
Note that Switch is weaker than a Shield TV with same GPU, because they had to disable some for Switch because of battery usage.

And btw. There is no AAA games on phones even in 2017. Phones is far behind on big games and controls.

Sure. NVIDIA Shield TV have Tomb Raider 2013, Borderlands etc, but thats old games.

Raw power isn't everything. The Switch can play Breath of the Wild, smartphones can't.

That is kind of lie, graphically the X1 is still superior to all the smart phone proccessors out there, and now that there is going to be pascal X1 chips only going forward in the next year or so the performance of the X1 will be even better. Don't be surprised if the first revision of the Switch is more capable.

@MegaTen
I'm a PS4 owner. I had the PS3 before that and the PS2 before that. I'm not a graphics are king guy. PS2 had the biggest variety of games, as did the PS3 and the PS4. I like good games.

I know some here will argue, but Sony has a wonderful collection of first party games, as well as RPGs. I also have a Switch that I bought on launch. I play the Switch a lot live Mario Kart answer BOTW. I intend to try Splatoon 2. Why? Because they seem to be great games.

I think most gamers love good games, not great graphics. As the Switch gets more good games, people's interest will grow. The only reason I think about power at all is because developers use it as a reason why they aren't porting games to the Switch.

I would love to get the option to buy games for the Switch instead of my PS4, because most games I would prefer to play on the go. I wish Nintendo could make a compromise to put a bit more power into the console, so we could get more games.

@MegaTen This is why I think gameplay is more important than raw power. A game can look gorgeous but play terrible and have really horrible controls. But a game that looks good but has amazing depth, gameplay, and control mechanics can outlast the shiniest graphics. Nintendo has a history of great gameplay. I don't care about the PS4 Pro or Scorpio, especially since games will be developed for the launch versions and these new ones. I don't need to spend thousands of dollars on the latest home entertainment devices. Switch already offers great gameplay and more keeps coming. I agree with you, gamers and developers are being left out of this "arms race." All it does is drive costs up for the developer, which gets pushed to the consumer, who then doesn't buy the games because other life responsibilities take priority (especially as wages remain stagnant but other costs of living rise). Video games are a luxury and if hardware manufactures don't recognize this soon, they'll soon learn that many simply cannot engage in this pastime any longer because it's just too expensive.

@Yorumi Not to mention that Apple has been positioning their Apple TV as a home video game machine as well. Sure it's still just mobile games, but they designed the new remote with touch, voice, and motion control capabilities to lure developers to port their games over to that device. And of course, the iPhone and iPad can stream to the TV through it as well. So you're right, it can become an issue to traditional hardware manufacturers. I do think that Switch hits that demographic though that Sony and MS cannot. The Switch is a hybrid, it's "relatively" inexpensive, and has that "fun" appeal. But your right, every kid has an iPad or iPod Touch.....they're definitely a disruptive force.

Blue tunic, mini ponytail, piece of technology on the hip bearing ancient looking markings...

Feels a bit... on the nose.

Mobile platforms already overtaking Nintendo's latest console specs!?

Lol but seriously, the mobile marketplace is not conducive to making high quality games in general. Every once in a blue moon you get something like Infinity Blade or Chaos Rings, most of the time it's just copy paste reiterations. Angry Birds is the poster child of this, it's a stylized rip off of Castle Crashers.

@Yorumi I don't see Sony doing that (maybe with Android but not with Apple). But perhaps Nintendo would, given that they partnered with Apple to put Super Mario Run on iOS first. It would be interesting. It would depend on Apple though, as the Nintendo iPad or whatever you wanna call it, would have to be made of cheaper materials and cheaper build-quality than Apple is used to.

@MegaTen Don't forget New 2/3DS having exclusive access to SNES VC on the 2/3DS platform, and actually decent gameplay performance for games like Pokémon Sun/Moon (and soon Ultra) that benefit greatly from the improved specs. Also better loading times in general for many games, especially with CPU overclock when applicable after being modded.

But yeah, Pokémon 7th gen is the perfect example of really being impacted by a mid gen upgrade. The only game I can think of off the top of my head that truly significantly benefits from a mid gen upgrade on XB1/PS4 is Witcher 3. But even then, it's not as much as a performance boost as Pokémon Sun & Moon going from 3DS to New 3DS. (Also, we now know through modding that O3DS with SNES9x can handle titles that were released on the 3DS SNES VC.)

@Yorumi Except Sony and Nintendo are both VERY internal looking. Partnering with what they see as a dangerous competitor on a core product takes control away from them, and they're averse to that (and rightfully so.) Microsoft is the only one of the big 3 (with their Nokia division...for whatever its worth) that would be in a position to do that. And they don't really seem interested for now. For that matter, I don't see Apple willing to partner with anyone on hardware. They're as inward looking as N and Sony and like to control their world.

@GrailUK @MegaTen From the moment we heard there's a new Atari console coming, that should have been kind of an omen of where we are right now

I really like Oceanhorn and I'm glad Oceanhorn 2 is coming to Switch. Now, I hope Nintendo in about 4 years or so releases Switch PRO or New Nintendo Switch with the new NVidia mobile chipset. I think Ninty shouldn't abandon the Switch concept at least not in 5 years. Just keep improving the hardware every 4 years or so much like Apple does except they do so every year.

@GrailUK not even joke about that. I have been watching the industry as a whole and yes a crash seems likely which is why analyst are saying Switch revitalize the market. We are witnessing the same symptoms, lots of SKU's, shovelware software, no innovation. I hope I'm wrong but it doesn't look promising.

I would care a lot less about Switch being underpowered if I was confident that all the digital games I bought were linked to my account so I could bring them with me onto future systems. At the moment, it is buy all the stuff, then...start again.

Oceanhorn 2 looks great. Anything Zeldary I will happy have a go on. I've been meaning to buy the first one after I really enjoyed the demo. But I already have a backlog of games :/. I hate playing games on mobile/tablet unless they use the touchscreen well. Platformers and games that require joystick style controls are a no no for me on a touchscreen. I will probably have a go when it comes to switch though!

@Yorumi It definitely makes sense on some levels, but I think Nintendo of all companies would be the most gun-shy about it considering they tried it once before with the Nintendo Play Station and it blew up badly in their faces. Apple and Android both seek to control and consume the software ecosystems around them, which matters a lot more to Nintendo than the hardware. And lets face it, Apple doesn't make hardware any more than Nintendo does. Hon-Hai/Foxconn makes pretty much all the hardware. The only point to an Apple/Android joint venture would be merging console games to app stores, not the hardware itself. If they were going to partner with anyone to enter the mobile fray, it would make more sense to circumvent the big two and create a third path rather than just being absorbed into the duopoly. Problem is, who would create the 3rd path? nVidia is really the only viable one to do it that has the tech, and that's where Switch already is. Samsung would make sense (they're egotistical enough to want to ditch Android and make their own ecosystem, they try it even WITHIN android), but no Japanese company would pair up with the Korean giants....the government would likely block it even if they wanted to. And there's no real Japanese company in a position to do it. MS owns Nokia now. Sony is Sony (and their phones are a joke), Toshiba's on its last legs. Fujitsu abandoned mobile long ago, Panasonic never entered.

Apple, I think is a no-go all the way around. They play the same game as Nintendo in terms of being the master of their own world. And an Android device....would actually be worse than Switch (but more likely given the Google/Niantic connection.)

There's always Microsoft/Nokia that's been playing sooooo nice with Nintendo these days. And XBox is the unwanted stepchild of 1 Microsoft Way. Maybe a Nintendo XBox powered by Nokia? Windows 10 Phone has no love in the mobile world, and is the only REAL competitor to Apple/Google.

Is there a way I can burn these images from my mind?

@JJ286 Certainly some separating of wheat and chaff is in order.

@Yorumi Definitely. I see Sony as the one being the outlier in that at this point. Nintendo getting into mobile architecture with the Nintendo OS as a specific long term strategy seems like they intend to go that way, Iwata more or less said so specifically (though what WILL Nintendo do without releasing ports of old games?) I see MS going that way easily, since that's the method MOST aligned with their core PC business and is what they really seemd to want to do from the start. X1X seems like an obvious step (it's waaaay overkill for a mid-gen bump, but perhaps it becomes the base model when X2 comes out.) Sony's the question mark. They've commented on wanting to do the continuous upgrade model as well....but they also have a habit of throwing their weight around to keep their customers captive. If Sony goes along with the program, I think all 3 at this point are on board for that model. For better or worse.... the 2 year upgrade cycle on consoles isn't all that appealing.

I will definitely be looking forward to Oceanhorn 2

@PorllM journalists do. Lol.

There are a lot here that don't think...

As for the guy saying about Xbox one and PS4. They constantly add reiterations. Which isn't bad. If the GBA hadn't been redesigned we would never have been able to play in sunlight. Without revisions of the 360 RRoD would have been even worse and Fable 2 would've crashed due to read write. But just because they haven't made any "Pro" or "X" only games yet doesn't meantime there won't be. I guess a few here are still very young or haven't been gaming that young. Before I could ride a bike I could set up an Amiga 500. And I remember my Dad trying to explain that some games were for those with the upgrade kit only. The 1MB. So it existed back in the early 90s. And it happens now... Sony have released many VR games for their incredibly expensive VR that in the UK isn't much cheaper than Rift, which is considered miles better. But we shall see. Nintendo revising handhelds isn't bad. Especially if you know what TDP is.

Now onto the power. The ram isn't the same. The ram size isn't all. It is also about thermals which affect the speed. In a switch the RAM is well protected. On a phone it really isn't. On a phone there is also a problem that the SoC and GPU (Mali or Adreno or whatever) can share similar specs but in real word test perform worse. Then there is the system itself. The OS for switch is geared towards games and not multitasking. Modern IOS and Android has many background processes.

But let us leave all that aside and mention this. How many people in the world have the latest iPhone or Galaxy? Is that the only choice? Or are there a whole heap of different specs using different chipsets? And even custom OS such as Oneplus and OxygenOS? This is where dedicated consoles are better. Sure, mobile games look good on the top 5% but on everything else it is poor. The same as some games on PC.

This developer isn't a developer. O wouldn't call Supercell or King game Devs. I'd call them Charlatans and say they are ruining games.

But erase all that and there is one huge problem with mobile phone gaming. That its on a phone. Touchscreen with poor sound, no first party support, a lack of genuinely good games, a lack of IO for input devices... That is why people make PiGirls and RetroBoys... Because the phone isn't good enough though it can emulate easy.

@OorWullie exactly, b cause they have to code for the lowest common denominator for mobile devices, not the latest.

Huh? What phone has more actual usable power than Switch, especially from a gaming/graphics perspective? The CPU is just one of several components that factor into this equation.

Oceanhorn is essentially a top-down Zelda clone, playing very similarly to Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks in terms of orientation.
Oceanhorn 2 looks to be a modern Zelda clone, playing very similarly to Breath of the Wild.

The first one also referenced all the tropes of Zelda, down to frozen-in-ice fish-elf people race.

I'm not bothered by this, by the way.

I find it hard to imagine anything resembling Splatoon 2's stable frame rate and presentation running on a phone without tremendous issues. Mobile devices lack dedicated power, they're constantly running background tasks. Not trying to console-war it, but I'm simply not looking at my phone and my Switch as equal gaming contenders.