Dead Cells On Switch Is Outselling The PlayStation 4 Version

I succumbed to the hype and bought this last week, very glad I did. It's equally good in handheld and TV modes.

This is why the Indies won't stop coming any time soon and I'm ok with that. I just want quality games. Each week there's at least one game I could see myself buying if not more.

Inb4 the usual "it's because Switch has no games" / "Switch owners are starved" comments.

My next purchase after I finish Hollow Knight and Shenmue. I want to plow through it before Dark Souls lands.

Didn't more dev time go into the other versions with the switch version being less optimized? How is the framerate now?

Loved it, played it today. I do believe it has a little to do with the fact that other consoles have more big budget games to choose from.

In my opinion the switch’s bread and butter to this point is indies, whereas ps4 that’s not the case.

And that’s not to say anything negative about the switch. I’d prefer it on the switch.

Great game and it deserves all the success it gets.

It's disappointing however that The Messenger isn't placing higher up the charts. Last time I looked it was 8th on the US chart and 12th on the UK.It should be up there in the top 2 or 3 places..For me it's better than Shovel Knight,a game which I absolutely love.

I really like this game. Can’t seen to get passed the second level though lol

@Spoony_Tech Yep,these last few weeks especially.Dead Cells,Hollow Knight,The Messenger,Hyper Light Drifter,Dust An Elsyian Tale and Bastion.Top quality games.Looking forward to Surgeon Simulator as well,looks like a great laugh.

These indies are great but we need some new ip's or maybe just older games reinvented. Can we get a dope built from the ground up excitebike? Or maybe a new super mario sunshine? Nintendo has so many games they can bring back or remake that I dont understand why they would want to continue to give us games that been out on other platforms for 5 to 10 years plus. Maybe a new star fox that isnt a dumb racing game. I can go on with names of games. If they want to bring all these titles from the old school days then bring the games people actually want from the past like older gamecube games or super nintendo games? Btw I bought dead cells and haven't played it yet it's still sitting in its brand new packaging. My back log of games is ridiculous

@OorWullie i love the messenger is so old school gaiden like.

@JoyconGang You are reacting on rumors. We don't know a lot about what Nintendo is developing at the moment. It could be a potential Star Fox (Racing) game, but that has never been confirmed by Nintendo. Could also be a new IP, although last year, they brought out ARMS and before ARMS, it was Splatoon, so I don't really see that happening.

Plus, what people want is a weird thing to say. I don't want Nintendo to reivent old games like Excitebike. What your idea is of people wanting something, is very different of mine.

@Mgene15

It’s really hard for some to play a game like Celeste on 65” OLED TV’s with those insane pixels. Now, Celeste portable on Switch’s display it’s a joy and the reason I only buy indies on the console.

@Denoloco I guess it's those extra 5 inches you have, because I have no issue with games like Celeste on my 60'. Heck, I bought an HDMI adapter for my Gamecube and can play GBA games on it now.

@Heavyarms55

Comes down to preference I guess. I just can’t stand looking at indies on TV when I can play something like Spiderman or God Of War on it.

Nice game but i stopped double dipping, deff a recommended game if you don't own it yet though.

loving the game BUT my son has encountered a bug and now his game won't load at all even after uninstalling. I have contacted the developer and they say hopefully with next patch but then I read somewhere that it's not coming until November.....that's not great.

Well people will buy games like this if there’s nothing else to play.

...yada, yada, no games to play...

Simple fact is that the Switch is hands down the best platform to play these type of games on, imho

@electrolite77 I'm a grown-up gamer and I certainly can't play both! I can barely play one game at a time at the moment but picking up Spider-Man for PS4 and Hollow Knight on my Switch so there is bound to be at least a little truth in this.

Still playing Hollow Knight, but got the physical of dead cells a week ago. I wasn't playing it so let my friend borrow it. The greatness of physicals. Once I've finished Hollow Knight it will be next on the list.

This is one reason I hate being one of the people that are vocally irritated about indie games, because indie doesn't mean bad. There truly are gems among them that could embarrass well-funded studios. It's just not uncommon to see games that lack polish to the point of laziness.

But I know when the devs truly love the work they've done. It shows, and it shows here, very much.

Also, as a general preference, I've grown through my life with Nintendo. There have always been other games on other systems that looked as interesting, or maybe more so, in some cases, but I've never owned other consoles outside of a PSP. Normally it might not hurt devs so much to not do a Nintendo release because the install base was different, along with other factors, such as Nintendo's attitude.

The Switch is an awesome friggin' device, and if a game looks good, I'm getting it. To have the option between a handheld or home console experience with all of the games, is GOAT level value, so why a dev wouldn't be trying to get their games on the system is beyond me.

It's, "do you wanna play our video game," vs., "do you wanna play our video game a n y w h e r e ?"

I dunno.

I wish this translated to getting physical copies on shelves in the uk.

This week I saw it at £25 in Game for PS4, but no Switch copy. And it was listed for Switch at £38 on Amazon when I checked.

I’ll probably pick up a digital copy later in the month rather than paying almost double for physical (once I know there are no surprise Direct announcements), but I didn’t have the opportunity to impulse buy.

@N8tiveT3ch Idk about the dev time distribution, but the Switch version runs just fine.

A rough estimate would be:
50-60 fps 40% of the time
40-50 fps 50% of the time
35-40 fps 10% of the time

No effect on combat whatsoever, most drops are outside combat as well.

There's a stutter issue that happens when you move right-left-right at certain points, also only out of combat. It's a 1 second frame freeze that freezes a few frames in the middle of the screen that then causes the entire screen to update after ~0.5-1 seconds. REALLY rare. Noticeable when it does happen though. I'm on 12 of these out of 70+ hours of gameplay (I note it down every time it happens and where it happens so I can submit it to Motion Twin).

All in all it runs great and feels great to play. What little issues there are aren't worth mentioning as they don't affect the core gameplay (that being combat).

@JoeDiddley I saw one physical copy in GAME last week. Near as damn it picked it up too, despite already owning in on Steam and the Switch eShop.

@nonprophetmusic Personally I have no reason to distinguish between AAA titles and indies, because at this point in time they might as well be the same thing. We see just as much AAA/AA shovelware as we see indie shovelware nowadays (across all platforms of course, Switch is a bit skewed because it's THE indie savior atm), and in return we see just as many quality AAA/AA games as we see quality indie games.

One thing that always perplexes me, though, is when I buy an indie title with online gameplay... And their netcode is leagues ahead of major AAA titles' netcode. Now THAT shows effort.

A great example would be Blade Strangers which released like a week ago. Bloody hell that netcode puts many bigger companies like Bamco to shame. And it's an indie fighter. Sure, it's easier to contain within a fighter than most other genres, but we're talking indie vs AAA here.
Meanwhile bamco's online games are murdering themselves with spaghetti code drilling holes in their foundation.

That's probably the biggest difference I've noted between AAA and indie titles. The sheer effort just shines through when it comes to indie devs, while AAA titles are often shown to rely on old tried-and-not-so-true methods, especially within select companies making several big AAA games with online functionality.

@Blizzia If I were wearin' a hat I'd tip it, because you're right, and there shouldn't be such a differentiation between them.

Bad games are bad.

And, like I said, I'd never really played games outside of Nintendo systems, and their focus hasn't ever been wholly focused on online play, (even now in September amirite-ZING) so I can't complain on issues regarding that.

That's really interesting to know, though.

By the way, I'm fully aware given Japan's recent natural disasters, that Zing was unearned, and in light of that, I feel bad, but... ho hum, I suppose.

@nonprophetmusic Eh, natural disaster or not, the blame rests fully on big N's shoulders. That "online play focus" should've, you know, been clarified in August instead of that completely unnecessary secondary Smash Direct.

Got this on Switch instead of PS4. The slowdown is very strange, it seems to skip frames and jump you across the screen. Seems to happen 2 or 3 times per play but does not ruin a brilliant game. Was very hard to find physical release on Switch but Argos sometimes has it in stock.

Wonder if GTA V on Switch can outsell the other versions?

@icebear80 See, if I'd already bought it, I'd buy it again. For sure.

@KryptoniteKrunch The truth of the matter is that PS4 owners have no taste.

It’s good news in terms of likely continued support from the indie development scene. V true that PS4 owners have other AAA games to buy. But as a PS4/Vita owner, it was really important that indie releases in the Vita’s heyday were cross-buy, so you felt you got 2 for the price of one, given the utility of a portable and a big screen experience. Switch has made that the default for all their games, so with the Vita seeing far fewer titles, there is no reason as a dual system owner to buy the PS4 version.

I hope all that $ motivates them to fix the frame rate on the Switch version.

PS4 for exclusives, Switch for Exclusives and Indies, PC for Multiplatform.

Works very well for me.

@Blizzia Jesus, you have 70 hours in Dead Cells already?? Regarding the stutter issue, I get it wa-a-a-ay more often, probably every 10-20 minutes, and sometimes in combat. But it's not stopping me from absolutely loving this game with all my heart.

@GraveLordXD
Yup. Multi system owner here.

Games I will have bought on PS4 this year will be MH World, God of War and Spiderman. 3 really great games.

Games I will have bought on Xbox One X this year will be Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption. 2 really great games.

The other 50+ games will all be Switch. From Bayonetta 2, DKC, Mario Tennis, Octopath, YS VIII, Monster Hunter, Captain Toad, Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4, DB Fighter Z, Dark Souls, TWEWY, Sonic Racing, Smash, Pokemon, Diablo 3, Wolfenstein 2, Mega Man 11, etc etc

And that's not even counting indies like Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, The Messenger, Hyper Light Drifter, Undertale, Bastion, Inside, Limbo, etc etc.

I prefer all games on Switch, or in rare cases like Wolfenstein 2 where there's a substantial scale down, I get on Switch but also on X1X. But those instances are rare.

glad to be part of that statistic. roguevania is a first for me n ths gameplay is rock solid!

@nonprophetmusic have to agree with you. not sure why "indie" games are called "indie" in all honesty... i always think of native indians sitting around in spirit form coding over a fire for some reason when i hear this word! but then i am unhinged.. I'm a very old school gamer having grown up with game boy and the first Atari and to be honest the switch is by far my fave console to date. ... well maybe the ps2 also... i just find big budget games these day are all glitz and sparkle but utterly boring to play or just hand held walk through in a pretty universe. And then dont get me started on the cash grab cash ins... lets sell a game for 50 quid and THEN make people pay another 30 ad-infinitum for more content.. i mean REALLY? Indie games for me capture some of the old school gaming - its not about graphics, its about game play and the games don't hold your hand either - they make you go figure it out. Also there is the couch co-op aspect of the switch. i can happily boot up a dungeon crawler (crawl is the fave at the moment) and Myself and my 8yo daughter can bash the heck out of monsters for hours on end. to me that is gaming. so long live the so called "indies" and keep em coming i say.

Yep, Budget indie games on my Switch for my commute. AAA games on my PS4. Online Multiplayer and FPS on my PC.

Right now I have, Dragon Quest XI at home and Flipping Death on the GO.

Booting up my PS4 or 120W 1070Ti to play a simple Indie game seems crazy to me now 🙃

@Agramonte you say budget... i have already sunk 20 hours into prison architect for switch!!!!!! is this a budget title?
dunno!

@b0nes they sub $15/29 games, so yes - most Indie games fall under "gudget games".

I bought prison architect for $15 on iPad. So I guess it is "premium price" on Mobile 😏

I know I have it. Playing Octopath Traveler still and Walking Dead season 1 (AGAIN)!

@b0nes Heck yeah. I dunno, though, I understand the indie term. They're independent developers. They're guys like you or me, that do this because, a, they love it, and b, they want to make something and share it with you. They kinda need it to be known that they won't make it without your support. I do get it. I'm an indie musician. I love what I do, and it would be cool to support my family and myself with it, and make it into a bigger, better thing. Big studios aren't necessarily in too much trouble if they spend a lot of money and time on something that doesn't work out for them. It's not, "good," and they all still got people attached.

@chronicles Yeah, I kinda ended up with 10 days of nothing to do because my girlfriend got sick during a vacation trip to France. Being unable to really do anything, we watched series and I played a lot of Dead Cells.

If you get it very often, I'm guessing you've got the game on your SD card? I popped it in internal memory and I barely ever get stutters.

@nonprophetmusic yep i here what your saying. You are an indie musician? ooh do tell... i am also into music having a small home studio set up . mostly electronic music with an album and some other bits on bandcamp. mainly do for the love but i would love to see a couple of tunes one day!

@blizzia I'm playing off a physical cart. But I'll try swapping the download data to internal memory and see if that helps. Thanks for the suggestion!

I absolutely love this game I’ve had it since launch and I can’t stop playing I usually don’t like these type of games but this one is so fun to play,addictive and you feel like you accomplish something every play through even when you die.I give it 2 thumbs up I’d like to give it more yet I currently only have 2 thumbs so that’s not in the cards.

Yeah sure, but I'm more interested in the Steam sales compared to the Switch sales. Both are pretty known to have a lot of indies.

@b0nes Oooh, a home studio? <3 Haha. I've worked inside of FL Studio for 10 years now, and I actually just graduated past recording with a busted microphone sometime last year. I had around 40 songs on SoundCloud, but they wanted to act goofy and not review some legal documentation so I actually just pulled it all down this week. I've still got tracks on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services.

I'd say send me a message on fb, twitter, or instagram.
Links in my profile here. We can't be derailin' the comment section.

@Saego trust me I know what u mean I want brand new ideas made into games as well but shoving 10 to 20 year old games down our throats then charging 63 usd for it isnt how the switch should be handled

@KryptoniteKrunch this is more or less true but there’s no need to be that dramatic. NS system is a year and months all and couldn’t bank on its predecessor as PS can. What’s happening is a good thing. Story like this will bring us more and more games. Some will be of excellent quality, this is also a common thing for all systems gaming libraries (don’t you think only Switch has crappy games)

This argument that there’s nothing else is to play is a false argument.. Most of us own multiple consoles. Smartphones. Tablets. I own everything including PSVR. I still bought this game, waiting for the hard copy, as it looks like a great game. I could play a billion other games or systems, but I chose the Switch and many of its games, even indies, because THEY ARE GOOD GAMES. Perhaps indies don’t appeal to you , and that’s fine, but to suggest we’re all a bunch of idiots who just have nothing else to play, and just brainlessly fork over cash for mediocrity, is the argument you put forth when you have no argument left.

The Switch and indies are a match made in heaven. And that’s why we buy them, as we enjoy our time with them.

@gaby_gabito
get gud

@Syntaxkita
I would imagine that many Switch owners have a PC too, so unless it's double dipping just for portability I doubt that would be a big factor in Switch/PS4 indie sales.

The biggest reason for me not to buy Indies on PS4/Xbox is because of the subscription Plus/Gold services. Why buy a game when it'll probably be 'free' in a couple of months. The Switch doesn't have that, so I'm more likely to buy an indie game for it (unless its already been a 'free') and not feel like I'm wasting my money.

I wonder how well the Sony/Microsoft Plus/Gold fees pay Indies. There's lots of games that I would have bought but didn't because they were 'free', so it would be interesting to know how much money they actually gain or lose by putting their games on there. An example is Prison Architect, I was interested in it but they gave it out for 'free' on Gold this month so they lost my sale.

@nonprophetmusic yeah, games like hollow knight and shovel knight show that it does not have to be AAA game for it to be good. It also shows the love those devs put into the game.

@ekwcll Man, I bought Hollow Knight and still haven't had a chance to play it. It looks like a really great time.

@CaPPa yep, same here with RIME. Ended up being free on Plus.

I spent august playing Mafia 3, the free Plus game anyway. 4X PS4 probably not a big number, why they not releasing them like hollow knight did.

@Denoloco I prefer 2D games in handheld also. Games like Zelda and Bayonetta are better on tje big screen.

Considering it is amnoyingly around £5 more expensive on e-Shop than it is on PSN this is an achievement. It is the only reason I have not bought it.

@Spoony_Tech
i agree.