Hitman 3 Is Coming To Switch, Just Don't Try To Play This One Offline

Yay! The cloud kinda sucks as it's, you know, portable without mobile data, but most of us have hotspots, so whatever...

wait could the switch get lte?

Edit: nvm that's an awful idea, thanks @ivory_soul.

Why not just have an article for all the games coming out?

I'll be sticking with Stadia to play it

I have a feeling these cloud versions of more graphically intensive third party titles are about to become a common fixture for the sake of making sure Switch continually gets AAA third party support going into next gen. I doubt the rumored new Switch revision will do much to actually bring the console up to the level where it can handle PS5/Series X titles

Pretty sure my internet couldn't handle this, and you'd have to be pretty brave to test a theory at that price.

@TheFrenchiestFry I am getting that feeling too which is concerning. If I wanted cloud gaming, I would of joined Stadia by now. This is starting to remind me of the Wii U.

I will definitely give this a spin. I agree with some sentiments. I believe this will be the future for more graphically demanding games on the Switch. The so called "pro" won't be a huge leap at all.

@ImagineerNik It'd be cool if Stadia would come to the Switch. And xCloud.

@ImagineerNik lol stadia nice joke bro. Have a fun with your garbage stream machine.

Nobody was asking for a freaking cloud version of this game or this game in general. If porting Hitman 3 is so difficult then just make an original Hitman game for Switch instead. Do what Capcom does, instead of trying to limit yourself by stripping everything out of the game, just do what you can and make an original version for the Switch instead.

@Kalmaro nintendolife try optimise clicks these days

Don't see why people are concerned about this being a cloud game. The thing is that if it wasn't a cloud game, we certainly wouldn't get it at all on Switch, so let's be happy that we at least have a choice

@Kalmaro because they have to cash in those adblock sponsored clicks!

@Kalmaro I prefer separate articles as I like seeing people's comments and thoughts on each game.

@danemord Cloud games in concept are cool but in execution they kinda defeat the point of having a game on Switch. It's not really a portable system anymore because now you have to factor in that you require an internet connection to play the games at all, which means you basically have to be tethered to wherever you get a signal, whether it be at home or at a local hotspot. It kinda defeats the point of having it on a console you can take on the go, because now you really can't anymore. It's why people were also wary about Resident Evil 7 on Switch being a streamed version

The Switch is already an underpowered console, so the only benefit people on Switch have over PlayStation, PC or Xbox is portability and convenience of the platform's versatility. Take that factor away and it's basically just the same game, but considerably worse next to the other platforms.

I will ve giving It a shot, as a huge fan of the Hitman series, I'm happy it's finally coming to Switch. And it's good that the cloud gaming thing Is no longer locked for Japan. We'll ser how It works.

@TheFrenchiestFry

Here's the thing, most people take their mobile phones with them, so the portability is not an issue. I'm sitting in the country right now, playing the demo on my Switch with my mobile as a router, and let me tell you this: it runs like a dream. If you're not out in nowhere "being one with the nature", it should be no problem.

If you excuse me, I'll get back on my seat and pretend that I got a Switch Pro

@MS7000 If this was the Wii U, we would be watching games just skip the console entirely. At least there is a large enough install base that they are attempting to bring titles to the system, even if it is in a cloud gaming form.

Heck, I am currently playing The Outer Worlds on Switch now because the alternative is to not play The Outer Worlds. Is it perfect and matches beefier consoles? No, but it is a little stupid to expect that. Is it still enjoyable as a game? Yes, and since I never seen the alternative options I really don't miss extra foliage.

So I am not going to bemoan a great game I want coming to my console of choice (only console of choice) in a cloud form. At least it is an option. I remember the Wii U days, and I would have jumped for joy at the opportunity to purchase cloud versions of beloved franchises for what was at the only time my only console.

Interesting to see how this will work. It’s cloudgaming; something a lot of gamers are afraid of.

Has anyone in the comment section actually tried streaming a game on the cloud? I feel like you should actually test it first before making a judgment and lamenting the situation.

@ianl579 This is a no go for me. I play on the 1 hour commuter train ride. Wifi or hotspot is not an option.

@Damo Yes, there was just 3 right? Maybe I misunderstood how many they just said were coming to us.

@danemord Well not everyone has that convenience either. I don't have an unlimited data plan, so it's not like I'm 100% confident I can stream games with my Switch tethered to my phone without using a good chunk of it up, especially for the more graphically demanding stuff like Hitman and Control. It's nice to have the option if Switch is your preferred platform, sure, but it's stuff like this which just further solidifies my mentality that the Switch can never be viable as a primary console platform if you just want to buy one console and nothing else. Games running on their native hardware without stuff like compression and lag will always be better, but that's my opinion.

@HotGoomba Mobile data failed with the Vita. It's expensive and usually exclusive to one company. There's no way a kid would get it either. $40 a month plus whatever hidden fees and contracts? It would be a dumb move for them to do that.

@iulis84 Not necessarily lazy. Hitman isn't as big as The Witcher 3 and they may not want to put as many resources into the game. It's untested grounds on a Nintendo port as well. I wouldn't chaulk every cloud game as lazy.

@ivory_soul Hitman’s absolutely as big as the Witcher 3. Hitman 2 with the missions from 1 take up 160GB on my laptop and have cutting edge graphics. Witcher 3 isn’t exactly that taxing unless you crank up the settings and you can employ pop-in easier.

@TheFrenchiestFry you complained about the portability, I said that it works fine portable. That you don't have the economy to do it is a whole other issue (and a personal one). What I'm saying is that even if the console had access to the 4-5g network, you would still have to pay up.... But you can still play it basically anywhere

Can't wait. We've had fibre optic broadband for a year now. Good to see some western classic port over.

@nessisonett
I think he meant to say that Hitman isn't as big as The Witcher in terms of sales and popularity, not storage size.

Not cool. Not cool at all. I will not support this.

@Dman10 I wasn't referring to your situation. I think optimally, the game also should be available as a digital download if possible to maximise access and ease of play. My statement was directed at those who assume a streamed version of a game is worse than a disc/download version without trying both, or so bad that the game shouldn't be available in a cloud form at all.

Nintendo told investors a few months ago that they were looking more into cloud technology after toying around with it to get REVII and Assassin's Creed Odyssey playable on Switch in Japan.

Looks like they are now seriously expanding their efforts to the western markets. I expect more of this in the future.

@westman98 Ahh, of course. My mistake.

@Darknyht The difference between Outer Worlds and this however is that Outer Worlds is not on the Cloud. Yes, it may not look as good as it's counterparts, but this and other games such as Witcher 3 have proven that games can come to the Switch with a bit of effort. Hitman 3 and other games going forward might not be as possible, in which case, Cloud may be better than no choice at all (especially, if the Switch is your only console, heck, it sucked having only the Wii and not PS3/360 at times), but I don't want developers to think "Slap it on the cloud!" rather than doing dedicated versions. I think we all ultimately lose out anyway if that happens.

For starters, the Switch is a portable console. Cloud gaming, at least with the Switch as is, is not practical in handheld mode. There is also the fact that the game will not be on the servers forever, in which case, what happens to the game we just brought? Heck, even with digital, you at least keep the game provided you download it prior to its removal from the shop. Also, how does DLC get handled? Do we pay for that too still, or do we get it for free due to the game not technically being owned by us as a result?

Cloud gaming has way too many problems for me to be happy about it. Ultimately, Nintendo is to blame here due to using weaker hardware. But nothing to be done about it until the Switch successor, whether that be in a year from now with a "Pro" variant, or in 5 years from now with something completely new.

Wow, it might be cloud but whatever, it's not Hitman on Switch and my jaw was on the floor!

Seriously, if any of you has a passing interest in stealth, immersive sims, and/or sandboxes, this trilogy (well, the two that are out at the moment) are absolutely amazing games with basically endless replay value.

Funny to see people here claim that cloud gaming from Xbox/Google/Amazon will hurt the Switch's appeal, but then immediately turn around and claim that cloud gaming is unacceptable and undesirable when Nintendo themselves begin to introduce cloud games on Switch.

@HotGoomba Honestly, that'd be a cool idea, but it'd cost too much to integrate and it would be too niche; bc imagine paying for 2 data plans or something; bc online gaming is still best with a wired connection anyway, and it seems like that would be it's primary use.

@TheFrenchiestFry it's still more portable and accessible, than lugging around a ps4/xbo. Hotels have wifi access, some restaurants(if you're that kind of person), airports, etc.

I would rather see a streaming service like game pass on switch than paying to stream on a per game basis like this.

@JokerCK "How dare you have a machine that serves your needs"

This is amazing! And you're essentially getting the entire trilogy as they always include the levels from previous games.

Don't understand the hate for Game Streaming. You want to play a game on your switch while constantly moving around? Then fine, don't play this, but plenty of people use the Switch purely as a Home Console. This is for them, or anyone with unlimited data on their phone plan so they can just leave a hotspot constantly running on their phone.

@MS7000 I understand your points, to a point. I tend towards the adage that just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Playing a game like Hitman 3 on a 5.5" or 6.2" screen just doesn't scream "Great Experience!" to me to begin with, but to each their own. Add to it that this potentially means we will get a better visual experience than playing it native also seems more of a plus than a negative. My Switch console generally stays in the dock or my house more often than not, and situations where I am without internet is very rare (including using a cell phone hotspot).

At the end of the day, I doubt developers are going to choose a Cloud experience for Switch if it is possible to run the game native. At the same time, very few games built for the new MS/Sony consoles can bridge that gap to the Switch while remaining the same fundamental game. The technological divide is just too wide now, and only getting wider. But the Switch can continue to get more of the new releases with this option, including a lot of games it wouldn't receive without this option.

At the end of the day, this is a glass half-empty/half-full issue. I see the potential benefits and choose to be optimistic. I am not sold on the concept of 'cloud' gaming, but as I said before it is better than the option of no game when you really want to experience something and have no other options.

I love that they are trying to bring full phat games over. I may try this.

@Darknyht That's fair. I use my Switch mainly docked as well, but I do use it im handheld mode enough that it matters to me. You said it best with glass half-full/empty. I guess I am more half empty as I don't like the move towards digital as a whole, let alone cloud.

we need that switch pro rumour to be more true at this point

Booooooooooooooooo!!!

I played the trial today and Im very impressed by how well it works. Framerate is consistently good, graphics are top notch. Not mad about paying for a cloud version of a game but it's a pretty solid way to play it imo.

Hitman 3 only as a cloud game makes sense, this looks to be the most demanding entry and it's even a cross-gen game!
But I should tell you, the first Hitman at least should be able to run on Switch with scalable graphics settings, just like the other versions, it would be a benchmark for Switch.

@TheFrenchiestFry I mean it makes sense. As the Switch has the lowest hardware specs out of all of the consoles, streaming games would help alleviate that issue. Game streaming is the future so I'm glad Nintendo is starting to catch on

@Retro_Player_77 the solution for your problem is.... Dont play it!
Its nice to have options, dont want a cloud game, ignore it.

I'm a big fan of the recent Hitman games, but not keen on cloud gaming. I'll just play Hitman 3 elsewhere.

@HotGoomba I wouldn't say it's a bad idea. What a lot of people are remembering was how the Vita handled it. However, more recent devices have proven that device specific data plans are possible and can be implemented in a reasonable fashion. Many carriers now have add-on discounts available where if you pay full price for one device, you can add a second at a dramatically reduced price. Say $30 for the phone and $10 for an iPad, Samsung Gear or hotspot. It's extremely convenient to have the LTE built into the device, but the real issue would be power consumption and chip licensing. To my knowledge, Nvidia does not have an LTE chip that could be bundled with their Tegra X1, so Nintendo would need to go to another vendor like QCOM, Broadcom, or Intel for connectivity. A bit of a pipedream, but I'd love that.

You lost me at cloud version.

everyone talking mad ***** on cloud gaming but I bet that wouldn't be the case if cyberpunk was getting a cloud version. IM interested in what cloud gaming could do but it'll never be my first choice.

You'd be better off just using Geforce Now on your phone/hacked Switch, where you can buy the games on Steam, if you want to go the streaming route.

@codyf i suppose you are right. Cyberpunk is other story, although i certainly wouldn't pay full price, like in the case of Control, for a game that doesn't belong to me, whether physically or digitally. Not being rich myself and having to work hard for everything i own, makes this "cloud" version of games an instant cross on my list of things to espend my hard earned money.

@thiz the Switch costs more or the same as a PS4 or XBOX one, so why would anyone, and i mean anyone, be grateful for paying full price for something that they will never own and in case of a server shutdown, will be money thrown into the wind? No. Dont be grateful, because in my point of view, it means that this will be cutting corners all the way, making the Switch a cloud based system instead of what I've bought it for, portability.
Doesn't run the game? Leave it aside then and move on. Witcher 3, Crysis, Zelda, Outlast, Resident Evil, etc, proved that the Switch is a capable system if you put effort into into porting the games. And if in any case, a game doesn't run, a person should consider other systems to play it, then, since the Switch isn't by any means, cheap.

Count me in on the side of cloud gaming on Switch. Opens a ton of opportunities to play games that I wouldn’t otherwise have access to. And the more the technology improves, the better the experience will be. I’m excited about this!

to all people here basically saying "cloud version good": you ain't gonna sing the same tune the day the servers shut down and lose access to the game for good.

@AJ_Lethal You are right. Physical is always superior, but not always practical. I cannot go rent a game for a weekend from a store anymore, but I might “rent” a cloud game for a week. Not every game out there is worth me owning, but it might be worth playing through.

@thiz absolutely right. I paid 300 for something worth 80, so call me dumb. And you're right again, now they are trying to make me forget i bought an inferior system by shoving down my throat that i won't be able to run these games natively so i have to pay full price to rely on some shady server in the middle of god knows where and hope it doesn't shut down after a week of having money in their pockets, because Nintendo is keen to make you loose all your consumers rights with more shady policies that either you agree or not. So, yes, you are absolutely correct, either you were being ironic or not.

@Darknyht Control is not on a "rent" basis. You pay 34.99£ to access it. This is not a rent based system here but one were you have to pay full price for something that doesn't and will never belong to you. Are you okay with that? Are you okay with the idea that the servers can be shutdown at any point and they don't have to give your money back?
We can see and excuse as much as we want but this is not Stadia or PSNow, or XBOX cloud. This is one game, stored by a company most people never heard about.

@CarlosM87 By the definition you gave for the terms of usage, it is a rental or lease no matter what they choose to call it. To answer your question, I am not interested in a rental of a game for an undetermined period of time for $35. But just like I rent movies all the time, I might be interested in renting a cloud game if the price and terms are clearly defined. EDIT: and more agreeable.

@thiz xCloud? Microsoft? The company is called Ubitus, a Chinese company. I'm chilled. XD I'm not paying for this aberration, but you and everyone else are free to do as they please as long has it's not asking Nintendo for refunds. XD

@Darknyht but this is exactly what is. You don't rent. You're buying and hoping the server remains on line. but as i said to other user in here, everyone is free to spend their money whenever they please. I, for myself, will use my PS4 for these ones, since i have to stay home anyway to play them.

@nessisonett I must have misunderstood you. I thought you meant big as in sales wise. Not actual size. With that said. Still wrong. The Witcher 3 is only about 50GB. And it is still taxing even on modern systems at 1440p or 4K.

@CarlosM87 This "purchase" is just like a purchase on Amazon Prime. The Access Pass grants limited access to the content, which premission to access can be removed at any time. That is a lease/rental no matter what they decide to call it.

As I said, gambling $30+ dollars for that is silly. I might want to spend $2-5 for a week of access much like I used to pay $2-5 to rent a physical game for a week.

@Darknyht exactly. I'm not against cloud, what I'm against is charging the same price for a game that in this case feels like rented, that you would expend in something that belongs to you. As i said I'm happy that some people don't mind expending 34.99£ for a 50/50 chance of being able to play the game until the end, because let's be honest, who ever heard about Ubitus? It means that are still people with a lot of money around even with all the problems we've been living with this virus, and I'm happy for them. I, for myself, will hard pass this kind of thing, and i would rather give my money to someone than pay this price for a game stored in Tawain, which is exactly where this company is from, despite some user in here stating that this game was being provided by xCloud.

They could get this game running on Nintendo Switch just like they did Witcher 3. Although I think it’s great that they’re giving folks the opportunity to play the fantastic Hitman trilogy I also feel this defeats the purpose of having a mobile gaming device to play on the go. Plus it’s not guaranteed to be online forever. It can potentially be here today and gone the next day. How much are they expecting people to pay for a game that’ll never be theirs? Cloud seems neat on paper but the practice seems a bit shady and unstable.