Cakefish

People were saying that UK isn’t a very friendly market for Switch, but I think these numbers are very impressive for a console that’s only been out for 2.5 weeks! I love to see it.

I also love to see Split Fiction up there in the charts. Great game!

@SirLink it’s number number 33 😉

I blame the scummy original owners knowingly scamming poor unsuspecting people by selling a bricked console. No moral integrity whatsoever.

I definitely notice the display downgrades from Switch OLED (RIP inky blacks), but when taking the whole package into account it’s definitely an overall upgrade. A 60fps game running on a blurrier display looks much better than a 15-25fps game running on a crisper display. Nintendo also deserves much credit for successfully avoiding the greatest sin of modern LCDs: backlight bleed. Switch 2 performs admirably in this regard compared to other LCD products I’ve encountered in the past.

Hopefully as the platform matures developers will start to implement VRR correctly. That’s the flagship feature of this display so it really should be utilised properly. Fingers crossed third party developers get their act together ASAP.

@mattitudemf don’t get me wrong, Metroid Prime 4 and Splatoon Raiders are plenty enough for me personally. These are my favourite Nintendo franchises! But we know that the general public sadly doesn’t really care about Metroid and Splatoon Raiders has yet to be confirmed for 2025 and not sure if a spin-off is high profile enough to be a ‘holiday’ game. Personally I’m very hyped for both of those titles though. I absolutely agree about the third party thing, there’s currently a notable drought of third party releases on the eShop - it’s 99% just Switch 1 games.

@Cathalm It would be plenty enough for me personally, I absolutely love Splatoon ❤️, but I have to be realistic it’s not nearly as high profile release as either Animal Crossing or 3D Mario would be. I feel they want to end the year with a bang, 2017 Mario Odyssey style!

@Grumblevolcano maybe I suppose they could just leave it empty, but I just have to assume they would want to fill November up seeing as they got something for every other month (assuming Metroid Prime 4 is September). I get the feeling they have a surprise ace up their sleeve that they’re waiting to unleash in the next Direct, whenever that will be!

This only leaves Animal Crossing to fill the big ‘holiday’ game slot. Possibly Super Smash Bros I guess, but I figure they will need more time for that with Sakurai stepping away from the franchise.

My Switch 2 is ready!

I’ll probably get Sonic x Shadow Generations soon, I just have a backlog of games that I need to clear first, mostly on other platforms. I’m travelling a bit in July so that’ll be the ideal time to get it!

Other than that though there’s really not much else on offer for me personally. I’ve already bought and played Split Fiction on Xbox (fantastic game by the way). Nothing else interests me.

Nintendo withholding development kits from developers has become very apparent. The eShop is like a desert at the moment as far as Switch 2 releases go.

I wasn't really interested before, but I'm pretty darn interested now. Looks like a fun game!

I ordered the Max Carry one after I realised the Venom one I had previously bought wouldn’t fit the ergonomic grip that I also got - d’oh! It’s imported from USA as that was the only option I had when I ordered last week, so is taking a while to get here. I can see from your link that there’s now local stock from Amazon available for next day delivery while mine takes the snail mail journey across the Atlantic - darn!

@Kaiffe123 I bought 9, yes you read that right, nine! I was very paranoid. Two packs of 4 from Amazon and one that came with a case that I’d ordered. Then I felt a bit silly (but relieved) when my first attempt actually went on dust-free! Though now I have plenty of spares in case I ever need to replace it, so that’s reassuring. I’ve had many bad experiences with botched protector install attempts in past - always anxiety inducing! I have come to the conclusion that dust particles are in fact actually tiny ninjas.

There’s no option for “I installed a glass screen protector almost immediately after setting it up because I’m completely paranoid about scratching the screen” 😅

For my LG CX (800 nits max luminance) I needed 8 clicks to set a paper white value of 200 as Vincent recommended in this video. 6000/800=7.5 (round up to 8).

Metroid Prime 4 release date

Just kidding!

Or am I? 👀

I don’t know, nothing specific really, I just want to see more of the game. So far I don’t plan on buying it, but that might change after this showcase.

I got the email. I submitted feedback.

My main criticisms are battery life and lack of VRR in docked mode. I also miss having OLED, but that’s more of an understandable omission at this price point.

The positive is the enhanced speed and responsiveness of the system UI, eShop, and of course game performance and load times. Also the magnetic joycons.

@Otoemetry UK is currently going through rough economic times, more so than other regions, so that’s got to be a contributing factor. Cost of living for basic necessities is climbing ever higher.

It’s beautiful! I love that the entire game is now consistently 60fps, no more jarring transition between stages and hub world anymore. Fantastic.

The lack of OLED is definitely noticeable (particularly so at night), but the LCD is decent enough that I’m not losing sleep over the downgrade in display tech. My gaming PC monitor is also LCD so it’s not like I’m allergic to them. I absolutely would’ve preferred OLED, but VRR and 120Hz are sublime features to have and pairing these with OLED would’ve driven costs up too high for the mass market. I understand compromises had to be made to reach this price point.

Ashen is 60fps now, which is kinda crazy as it’s capped to 30fps on Xbox Series X!

Panzer Dragoon Remake runs significantly better too. You no longer need to engage performance mode to reach 60fps.

Tinykin and A Hat In Time are still locked to 30fps but perform significantly better and load much faster.

It’s surreal how smooth the hub areas are now, I’m so used to seeing them at 30fps. It’s great though! Consistent 60fps now throughout the entire game, love it!

You can find ways to hurt yourself with literally any device out there, just ask parents of a toddler! Much ado about nothing.

It’s the advancement in architecture with DLSS, mesh shaders, variable rate shading, texture compression and all those other bells and whistles that will allow the Switch 2 to exceed PS4 in typical gaming. Raw compute isn’t the be all and end all, it’s how efficiently resources are used that also plays a key role in final results.

It was very sad saying goodbye to my Switch OLED as the display and battery life were just so damn nice. Switch 2 has impressed me though with the sheer snappiness and sharpness of the UI and significant performance/loading time improvements in backwards compatible games. Battery life and OLED are obvious areas for improvement that the mid gen refresh will undoubtedly address in a few year’s time, but until then I’ll be enjoying my Switch 2 very much!

Happy owner of a Switch 2 myself! I contributed to these numbers, I’ve played my part 😁

Very impressive! Considering PS5/XSX launched during the pandemic when gaming was exploding in popularity, these are great results.

And I think the notion that UK is anti-Nintendo is way overblown. Sure it’s not matching Japan or USA, but these are hardly bad results, no?

Attachment to Nintendo is more generational dependant here in UK I think. I’m a millennial and Pokémon was everywhere, literally everywhere, in my childhood. So GBA and GameCube were my childhood too, then later the DS in my teenage years.

I know plenty of people who own Switches, though they’re all of a similar age to me in their 30s. I preordered a Switch 2 and I know two other people who did the same.

I have the Venom one. It's a perfectly good case, but I quickly realised that I completely overlooked that the Switch isn't gonna fit in there with an ergonomic grip applied, which I have also purchased... oops. So I've ordered Savage Raven Max Carry Case so I can carry it around without needing to take the grip off every time. ETA for delivery is end of June, they must be in short supply right now.

Colour me very interested! I love Splatoon single player.

Nice! Proper Switch 2 support woohoo 🥳

The biggest cons are the obvious significant regression in battery life coming from the Switch OLED/2019 refresh and the display being LCD (so being more of a sidegrade coming from Switch OLED).

The biggest pros are the significantly snappier UI and much improved performance/loading times in games, as well as the superior ergonomics and much improved attachment method of the new joycons.

I’m really liking the new hardware a lot, but the allure of a hypothetical Switch 2 OLED with 4nm power efficient SOC is very real.

I’ve just downloaded my Switch back catalogue. Well, as much of it as I could fit on the internal memory until my new micro SD card order arrives next week.

I’ll get the BOTW upgrade pack. Might even get Shadow x Sonic Generations. That’ll probably see me through until Kirby & the Forgotten Land and Metroid Prime 4. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the eShop to see if anything new pops up in the meantime though! Shame they killed off Gold points…

Panzer Dragoon Remake is vastly improved. It runs at 60fps even in non-performance mode. It still very much looks like a Switch game of course, but it’s maxing out the dynamic resolution and topping out the 60fps cap. Also loads much faster.

Splatoon 3 also loads noticeably faster!

Yep. It’s working hard downloading all the games, poor thing!

Anyway, this new device smell discussion was all the rage on Reddit during Steam Deck launch too.

After a (very) brief testing Ashen seems to perform a lot smoother. I could instantly tell frame times were better. Loads much faster too.

Promising first signs!

Well Amazon must’ve read my comment yesterday because they finally dispatched the 512GB Lexar card. It’s due on the 13th now. That’s fine by me seeing as it doesn’t seem like UK retailers will get stock until August.

Amazon US lied to me and the 512GB card I ordered never arrived in the end. It’s still not despatched so no chance it gets here by Wednesday, which somehow is still the ETA they’re claiming. If it doesn’t dispatch by Wednesday I’ll cancel and just wait for Smyths to get stock this side of Atlantic.

My order from Amazon USA for 512GB SD card still hasn’t despatched yet but the ETA for 4th June hasn’t changed. It’s not gonna make it is it? No way it can cross the Atlantic and get through customs in under a week.

Nier Automata is incompatible. Sad days.

When Metroid Prime 4?!

@DDStuff @burndive @PlayingWithPower the tech exists. Lenovo Legion Go 2 has been officially announced and due for release later this year. It has an 8.8” 144Hz OLED panel with VRR. It’s not a matter of the tech not existing, it’s simply a matter of cost. Nintendo wants decent profit margins on Switch 2. The OLED model will arrive once costs of manufacturing have come down to Nintendo’s satisfaction.

Ah can’t even enjoy Switch 2 for 5 minutes without the Switch 2 OLED rumours. Sigh. I say this as someone who’s been critical of the lack of OLED in vanilla Switch 2. I just want a bit of time to enjoy this expensive investment without obsessing over the inevitable future revisions.

Super disappointing. I’m not going to cancel my preorder or anything, but still very disappointing.

I haven’t been deliberately ignoring it, but I’ve just been busy playing some games on Steam so there’s just been no time for my Switch backlog in the past month.

I was one of those asking them to tone the innovation down and focus instead on refining the core experience more. So I’m happy that Switch 2 is just a better performing Switch. Focusing on VRR, 120Hz, DLSS, HDR, fast load times etc. was the right call over weird gimmicks. Just a shame about the lack of OLED and the relatively power inefficient 8nm SOC, but that’s less about innovation and more about business economics.

Oh I thought the Kirby Forgotten Land upgrade was launch day. Hmmm now I’ll have to figure something else out to play in June.

I love this game so much, I played it three times!

You’re free to give us Metroid Prime 4 release date now Nintendo. Do it! Please…

No Splatoon 3 or Pikmin 4 makes me sad.

Splatoon could’ve just simply updated the hub to run at 60fps if there were competitive concerns about boosting framerate elsewhere. Pikmin 4 could’ve just unlocked to 60fps. Boom. That’s all that’s needed. Let’s add Luigi’s Mansion 3 to the list now that I think about it, could also just run at 60fps.

@Serpenterror Xbox consoles are also manufactured outside USA.

The crazy thing is even before this price rise the £70 standard for Xbox/PlayStation games was already above the new £67 eShop pricing for Switch 2 games. So £80 AAA games will probably be the new standard now on Xbox/Playstation. Joy. At least Nintendo is giving a better currency conversion to UK. Only positive thing I can really say about all this.