Krazzar

@xpromisedx But the standard digital gives you more weapons, ships, and pilots. The digital deluxe is only a few bucks more than the standard physical and gives you everything, which if you add it all up is the best value. If you get the physical or digital standard you will pay way more for all the ships, weapons, and pilots. Compare the content, not just the price tag.

This article got me to cancel my $75 standard edition physical copy and get the $79 digital deluxe version with everything included. Even the standard digital version gives you more pilots, ships, and weapons. If you have too much money or kids that are dying for the physical toys the physical might appeal to you (still doesn't make sense), but this required update just adds insult to injury.

@JAPBOO From what I can tell the minigames are all available from the start, they're just not listed at the start. When you play some minigames are marked "??????" and only appear as named after you play them once. The more difficult versions of minigames in the singleplayer portion are locked until you complete the minigame once, but for multiplayer everything seems to be there from the start, aside from some characters.

I have only played a couple rounds so far, but it seems like the "random" rolls for anything heavily favor Mario. In both cases Mario had a far luckier time than any other character, leading us to wonder if the most popular characters have better hidden stats. I'm in it for the fun, so I'm not going to plot hundreds of rolls for each character, but the chart is rather meaningless if it doesn't include the actual probability of any given dice block. In addition, it appears the base character may impact the dice block of an ally block. When Mario used Bowser's block there were three consecutive rolls of 10 followed by a 9. The next round when Hammer Bro used Bowser's block the rolls were nowhere near as good. This is an observation from very limited data and Mario Party has proven to be very random with players jumping all over the scoreboard. I would point new players to Mario, though, even if it is just in my head.

@stevenw45 Does "licensed controllers" mean Nintendo controllers, or just third-party licenced products? I'll have to test since a couple days ago one joycon was disconnecting constantly in Mario Party. I had to move the Switch closer by running an extension cord and HDMI coupler with another HDMI cable across the floor. Such an arrangement isn't really feasible long term in my home theater as I don't want people to trip on cables in the dark. The Switch Pro controller, my Xbox One S controllers with PC and even no-name controllers with PC work fine at the same distance. The one Joycon is a joke in comparison with a three foot effective range. I may try replacing that one too.

@tomwinsagain There is a simple science to it and it also depends on the image processing on the display. 720p is on the lower end, and I wouldn't suggest it on larger displays at normal distance, it's fine after 10 feet, but in 1080p with all the image enhancement options on Switch games look pretty great on my 150 inch screen at THX recommended viewing distance for 1080p. Turn all the image enhancement off and the clarity and depth disappears, it's a night and day difference. On a 55" screen at 6-10 feet the viewable space is about the same as the Switch at handheld distance, so the quality from a pixel-per-inch standpoint at 1080p is better on a TV. Even on a screen that fills your entire view 1080p performs perfectly fine. As for 4K, even current PC hardware can't render 4K with all the processing effects on. 4K comes with serious compromises in framerate and image enhancement effects that actually creates a messier image overall. Rendering more pixels doesn't make for a better quality picture, even professional cinema projectors display at 2K on 300" screens. The Switch will not be rendering at 4K ever, but that doesn't really matter. Art style and effects are more important for games, and display image processing makes a huge difference that costs no processing power from the Switch. 4K in gaming at this point is largely a gimmick, even super-expensive PC rigs have to make compromises.

This is an error based in bias. I see this sort of thing all the time in research. Essentially, a correlation is at the core of the research and it can indicate multiple things. The correlation can show violent games cause violent tendencies or that people with violent tendencies are more attracted to violent games. The logic set used to frame the correlation is as important as the actual data. The conclusion in research always depends on the desired results, unless the researchers don't want to get paid or have a future in the industry. Most people aren't educated enough on statistics and methodology to question the results of "science", but most studies have a glimmer of truth and a ton of manipulation.

Go Vacation enthralled my two young nieces for hours. Then their parents picked up a joycon and they all were glued to it. They ended up staying three hours longer than expected. Some of that might have been because it was on my 150" home theater screen, but most of it was due to the game.

@nessisonett I've been playing Civs IV and V on a $90 Windows tablet for years. Civs VI requires a 64 bit OS, so it wouldn't install on my tablet. Portable Civs makes travel much quicker and tap controls are easy to use.

@construx Civs 5 and 6 also have an option that takes you to the next unit or city that needs orders automatically, including combat. Besides scoping out the map slightly quicker there isn't a big use for a keyboard/mouse input system in Civs. The mouse is more convenient for some rare cases, but that's about it.

Odd that pass-and-play wasn't mentioned, since the Switch is a handheld marketed around being social. Maybe they only want to ruin one life at a time.
I've played every Civs game, but I also played Civs 4 and 5 on a windows tablet (6 won't install because it requires 64 bit windows) and it makes travel much easier. This is a no-brainer buy.
Civs 6 isn't the most difficult or deep Civs, but it isn't finished compared to Civs 4 and 5, they had multiple expansions, but it does have interesting mechanics and is rewarding.

@Balta666 That doesn't change the optimization process. You should probably get better acquainted with how it works. A game running is not dependent on the hardware, as this article is all about. Look at the work done by Low Spec Gamer. It might not look identical to other versions, but the core of the experience is still there, which is the crux of this article.

I wouldn't worry about next gen consoles being too much for the Switch to handle in terms of ports. Next gen consoles will focus on 4k with minimal effects improvements. "True 4k" is all the rage with the "serious" consoles. Top end PC hardware can't even max out games in 4k, and next gen consoles typically use mid-tier PC hardware at the time of the announcement. That means next gen for Sony and Microsoft will have a cut-down 1060-1070 with 6-8gb of RAM with any luck. The same process used today for the Switch will still work for next gen.