Many of us love the Nintendo Switch, and on a technical level the hardware is capable of producing some handsome, impressive gaming experiences. Yet, even with that in mind, there are examples of game ports that are passable at best, as the relevant engine / codebase / game style simply isn't a good fit for the hybrid system and its capabilities. For many these iffy ports are the only way to play certain games, so it's worth the downgrade to experience them in some form as opposed to not at all.
Apex Legends definitely falls into this category. If you don't have a capable PC or console to play it, then the Switch version is a means to jump in - ideally with crossplay turned off. If you end up in a lobby with gamers on other systems you're in for a hard time due to blurry visuals and choppy performance, but when battling other Switch players it's a fair fight. We're not sure it's a good version of the game, but it's nice that it gives Nintendo gamers access to what is an excellent multiplayer shooter.
So, let's get to the point, we were rather surprised by an Apex Legends: Legacy overview trailer shared by Nintendo UK today, mainly because it's not actually using Switch footage. It uses a couple of very simple tricks to try and give that impression, but the assets don't lie.
The trailer in question is a re-upload / share of an official overview trailer from a week ago, promoting the new Legacy update content. First, below is the original, which you can watch at 60fps from 1080p up to 4k.
Now, below is the Nintendo UK upload, but there are two key changes. Resolution is capped at 1080p in the upload and it is 30fps only, so it halves the framerate. There is a disclaimer in tiny text at the end of the original upload, and there is another Switch-specific message that appears for 4 seconds, see if you can spot it.
The title for the Nintendo upload is 'Apex Legends: Legacy – Gameplay Trailer (Nintendo Switch)', but even with the brief and easily missed disclaimer in mind, that's a title that is best described as 'cheeky'; it also took us quite a few views before we even noticed the disclaimer, initially we simply thought it was outright false messaging.
As an indicator of what Switch gameplay actually looks like, below is a video from TrueAsianGamer of the arena mode, which seems very much like our impressions of the game on the system.
Also of note, the official reveal trailer for Apex Legends on Switch, back in early March, showed actual footage from the hardware. Carefully captured, edited and stylised with maybe a few sneaky higher-resolution shots, yes, but it is footage from the game we all got to play.
Which brings us to the big question, is it wrong of Nintendo to re-upload generic trailers to promote Switch content? On the one hand, the mode is fully featured in the Switch version, and this is also a free-to-play title, though there are options to buy the game in a bundle or through microtransactions. Yet footage like that overview trailer also give a false impression, despite a brief and easily missed disclaimer, leading you to expect a certain visual sheen at a solid 30fps in the game when the reality is different.
The wider issue is that this can be quite common when games come to Switch following PC / other console releases. New gameplay footage isn't always used, which can lead Switch gamers to watch a video and then expect a certain level of performance. It is, in the worst cases, false advertising.
Does it matter that much? We think it shouldn't happen, as it could lead to sales based on incorrect footage, but let us know what you think in the comments.
Comments 40
Yes, if I am playing Rocket League on the switch, don't show 120 FPS trailers from next gen, show me my switch game!
Any trailer for a game on a console that uses footage not recorded on that console is false advertising. Plain and simple.
Trailers should show what the game looks like on the console they're advertising for. Anything else is false advertising. Of course, nearly all advertising is built on lies, exaggerations and dubious claims, and people need to understand this. But we should hold companies accountable for their claims.
No it shouldn't happen, but it's gone on since the dawn of gaming. I remember OutRun on the Spectrum advertising with mocked-up screenshots, Sinclair User reviewing a version of Nemesis that only existed as a single-level demo if at all, and the less said about Zzap 64 and Operation Thunderbolt.......
@SpringDivorce Indeed, Damien mentioned to me how Spectrum games had dodgy adverts all the time!
Bloodstained tried to pull this crаp back when it released, the Switch eshop page literally used PS4 screenshots with its prompts and every “Switch” trailer was obviously not taken from the actual buggy, broken mess that they released in the end.
Anybody care to tell me what that switch specific message and the disclaimer say? I don't wanna watch through them to be honest.
Same garbage happened with Xenon Racer or whatever it was called... the promo videos had no relation to the finished product- especially on Switch- and the game deservedly tanked. If they were more forthright with its performance, people may have given it a chance (albeit at a lower introductory price). Honesty is the best policy, especially now that the internet doesn't let sh¡t slide.
Anyone who watches that trailer and thinks it's Switch gameplay is either an idiot or doesn't own a Switch - apex is sub HD handheld and only just hits 720p docked.
Its like the pre rendered trailers that "doesn't show actual gameplay" and people are shocked when they play the final product.
Its no different than food ads using fake food for their adverts and promo shots - when does a bigmac ever look like the pictures?
@aznable Yes, internet police will be taking care of matters like this
I'm not gonna touch Apex on Switch till they enable Cross-save.
It may be questionable but at least it's not a full price game but free to play. And while there are microtransactions you can at least try the game before you spent money on it
@EriXz woop-woop
Sounds like a similar thing to the way they show video cut scenes rather than actual gameplay. Hell playstation wouldn't be where it is now if it wasn't for that!
@SpringDivorce @ThomasBW84 not just the adverts, but the actual game packaging too. There was always a small disclaimer on there, but it still struck me as misleading even as a little kid.
As someone whos poured in more than a thousand hours on this game since season 2, I would argue that the gameplay trailer is very much relevant that it introduces the new 3v3 game mode, new legends and weapons as well as other changes to the game. I don't think its meant to highlight switch performance and graphics at all or any console for that matter.
Still very happy that this is on the Switch. Not an impressive port but handheld + split pad pro is my fave way to play now. I admit going back to the ps4 slim from time to time feels like I am playing on a high end pc though
Isn't it free to play? If so, I don't really GAF. But yes, it's still very scummy practice.
@SpringDivorce back in the day when magazines were paid highly by publishers for positive reviews, also under the threat of withdrawing their full page adverts
@StefanN Five to ten seconds in, the switch trailer it says "not actual gameplay footage" across the bottom of the screen. It didn't say that in the top trailer.
If you compare the gameplay trailer to the actual gameplay of every single game in existence, you are going to find a lot of so-called "false advertising" across the board lol
There’s a disclaimer right at the start too. ‘Not actual gameplay footage’.
I really don’t know what the fuzz is about. This happens on every pc game (spec of most pc’s is lower than that of the developer) and most console games.
Is this really worth an article?
This is nothing new they do this all the time, fall guys, Destroy all humans, Rocket league, fighter Z, and much much more, Its a thing they like doing and maybe its bc they just don't have footage to show off, and its more of just telling you, this is what you will do in the game, then how it will look. (Plus they told you LOL)
@Friendly I know this is really nothing new at all. But I mean the article is called talking point so idk????
@Friendly Indeed, a full 4 seconds of easily missed text.
In any case it's just a Talking Point, I think it's bad practice to do this in trailers, whether it's Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft or whoever. That's the good thing about a TP though, not everyone has to agree
@ThomasBW84 so you’re asking the developer / publisher to make a trailer for each version of their game? Each videocard, pc-setup, ps4, ps4 pro, ps5, xbox one, xbox one x, xbox series S, xbox series X, all ios on iphone, all versions of android on all phones, switch on tv, switch on handheld, switch lite, future switch pro?
Come on.
I've played extensively on Switch. It's playable but not optimal. I've had good games in cross play. It's a far cry for the Series S version I also play, but not really that far off from the PS4 version as I recall. The biggest issue I have with it is the crashing and bugs and the fact that cross play voice chat doesn't work at all with seemingly no fix in sight.
@Friendly That's up to each publisher (many do make Switch specific trailers, even Respawn did for the launch trailer). Nintendo should be picky in what it re-posts, in my opinion. Likewise with the eShop, if a video on a game page isn't representative of the Switch version it should be there.
Just because this happens all the time, doesn't make it right, and showing footage with roots in a 4K PC build as 'Switch Gameplay' is inaccurate.
@ThomasBW84 that’s the point.
They’re not showing it as ‘Switch Gameplay’. It’s just a trailer. A commercial. Nothing more.
It’s not an in-depth hands-on gameplay trailer. Not a tree-house demo.
And besides all this: it’s a free-to-play game. That should make every trailer, even hands-on trailers, ok in my book. You can see for yourself what the game looks like without spending anything.
I don’t care. I won’t attempt to play this until a pro version of switch is released. Hopefully it gets a patch for better performance/visuals.
@Friendly Sure, let's just agree to disagree
@Friendly Not sure what you watched but it sure looked like there was plenty of gameplay in the trailer to me? It's hardly a cinematic cutscene showcase, is it? It's all done in-engine, and lots of people who skip past the easily-missed disclaimer (I have young kids, they do this) is going to assume that it will look like that when they download it on their Switch (again, I have young kids, they do this!)
Given the huge performance difference between the Switch and the Series X and PS5 (and even the Xbox One and PS4), I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to ask a multi-million dollar company to get someone to take actual capture of the console in question for a trailer that's intended to rake in lots and lots of money. But maybe that's me being unrealistic.
@Damo so you would like a specific trailer for every version of the game? Every pc-build, console version, etc. And does it matter that it’s a free to play game to you?
Also, since they do actually say it’s not actual gameplay footage, who’s at fault here? them, or your kids for skipping the part that says it’s not actual gameplay footage?
This reminds me a little bit of the story of an American who put a wet cat in a microwave oven to dry. The cat sadly died and the owner sued the manufacturer for not stating in the manual that animals should not be put in the microwave. And the owner actually won the law suit.
But was it really the manufacturers fault?
Bit of a left field comparison perhaps. But to me this is not a gameplay trailer. And one is most often probably able to tell. But this is: https://youtu.be/QL19wvWwbq4
and for free-to-play games it doesn’t matter at all to me since you can try out the game for free and see for yourself.
Just my opinion. It is a talking point after all. Indeed we can agree to disagree.
@Friendly I'd certainly say that there's a big enough performance gap between Switch and the other systems to justify a trailer that shows what the Switch version actually looks like (I've played Apex Legends on Xbox One and Series X and they look so similar to me I couldn't really tell any difference).
And it seems EA / Nintendo think this, too, as the Nintendo version of that trailer runs at 30fps, not 60fps, while the resolution is 1080p (the other version goes all the way up to 4K). They've just done a lazy recode on the original footage in an attempt to get closer to what it would look like on Switch, but it's still false advertising.
And what difference does it make being free to play? The game is still designed to make money via IAPs, so a misleading trailer is only going to rope more people in and potentially earn more cash.
@Damo true. Maybe rope more people in but maybe more easily throw them off too if they see that it really looks that bland on switch.
@Itachi2099 so true. Bloodstained marketing was criminal.
I honestly don't really care. I look for solid game play. My first two matches of Apex resulted in disconnections so I haven't picked it up again since.
Thank you Nintendolife for drawing attention to this issue. It is quite common but it is not ok. Switch is capable of good graphics and frame rates with effort and skill from developers. It is easy to believe a ps4 game can run on switch and we shouldn't be tricked with false advertising. Nintendo needs a fair refund policy as a simple solution to this fakery.
@WoomyNNYes Ah, thank you!
@Damo
Being free to play matters because everyone has a chance to try the game on Switch and see how bad it looks before making any payment. It would require a very advanced level in idiocy to download a free to play game and start spending on it before even trying a single match...or in the case of kids all too desperate to skip 4 seconds of disclaimers, surely they would be also all too desperate to start playing asap instead of traversing multiple menus of payment options and features.
At any rate, it is a despicable practice, particularly with regular sold games lacking demos, reminds me of a case in which EA promoted a Tiger Woods game was promoted in a mutant nonexistent version with the HD version on screen and the payer using a Wii controller.
What surprises me in this particular case is that it was Nintendo UK themselves the people who did the whole fallacy, not the publishers themselves. Sorta like when fanboys share specific shots or half true factoids to promote their versions of a certain game.
A dishonest and misleading trailer for a major AAA game in 2021?
I am about as surprised as I was that the sun came up this morning.
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