@SLIGEACH_EIRE That's a pretty interesting observation for the box art... Every other version just has a full body portrait of Doom Guy, looking straight at you, all badass and dominant, but the NS version's boxart makes him look like he's getting overwhelmed. (Kind of like what happens to the hardware when the NS is playing DOOM!)
That being said, I do like the NS version's box art a lot more. It's more interesting, since it depicts an intense struggle rather than simply appealing to a power fantasy, and it reminds me of 80's/90's era box art. When I look at the PC/PS4/XB1 box art, it makes me think, "What does this guy need my help for? He looks like he will be just fine without me!" When I look at the NS boxart, though, I think, "...I want to help DOOM Guy defeat his demons!"
@BlueOcean That's a good point on the frame times. Lots of people talk about resolution and frame rates, but accurate recording and analysis of frame times is a relatively new metric to many. Having steady and consistent frame times is just as important as minimum frame rates up to 60FPS, and more important than maximum frame rates when going above 60FPS. (For example, the NS version of DOOM fails to absolutely stay locked at 30 FPS no matter what happens, meaning it's got worse frame time consistency during heavy action. Definitely bad news.)
@BlueOcean @gatorboi352 Let's see how it turns out next year before making such predictions. It's true that 1st year performance is not indicative of long term outlook, but we need to get through the 2nd year before sales trends start becoming apparent.
That said, there is one trend that I predict will happen: Over half of all NS owners will continue to keep their systems at home most of the time instead of primarily using it in public, due to the combo of Nintendo's marketing/labeling strategy and Western culture. And it will continue to be a world wonder how so many people found out the system even exists, mostly through internet word of mouth.
@SKTTR Funny thing about that, RPG's like Lagoon (which was pretty much an Y's clone) that Kemco made back in the SNES days were just as mediocre for their time as this latest outing. (Granted, the SNES version was the poor man's version of it's original X86000 incarnation, which had significantly better presentation and sound, along with the classic Y's style "jousting" combat.)
@shani Well... Thinking back on it, you do have a point to an extent. They can afford not just one failure, but many. It was reported years ago from several outlets that Nintendo can actually afford repeated shortfalls for decades, thanks to the massive windfall from the Wii/DS era:
The difference now is that Nintendo is no longer operating under high stress circumstances (after the Gamecube, if it's successor didn't really take off, their portable line would have been all they had left), and their CEO is a by-the-books businessman instead of a former rank-and-file developer. (Kimishima knows how to run a business, but Iwata actually knew how to make their products.)
The NS is fairly by-the-books by today's standards, but with enough support, it's purpose is to reestablish Nintendo's brand in the public eye, which had diminished greatly during the Wii U/3DS era. It uses a widely recognized format for it's time period (mobile device instead of TV remote), it's more flexible in multiple ways than previous systems (although the expensive motion control tech probably won't get much use), and the current mobile tech neatly allows them to honorably bow out of the dedicated home console arena. (Although they'll have to keep up the ruse that it's the dedicated home console successor for a while to placate dissent.)
They'll have plenty of opportunity to go wild with new and interesting tech in the 9th console generation. They're probably just focused on recouping lost ground for now.
I would say the NS will get a midway SKU upgrade between 2019-2020, possibly featuring a Tegra X2/Parker/Pascal architecture variant of the Tegra series, bumping up overall performance from the current Maxwell architecture. Subsequently, if another SKU upgrade appears before the NS successor, then possibly a Xavier/Volta architecture variant by the end of 2022.
The 8th console generation began either 2011 or 2012, depending on whether one interprets that either the 3DS or Wii U began it. Either way, 2020 is 8-9 years for the 8th console gen to be in effect, and 7 years for the PS4/XB1 to be on the market. With the 7th console gen being elongated, the timeframe between the PS3/X360 and their successors was 7 and 8 years respectively.
Thus, with the 8th console gen also being elongated, the 9th console gen will come into effect either 2020 or 2021, since that's when the PS5 and neXtbox will likely be released. (With the Switch being an odd mid 8th gen entry, although an upgrade SKU could boost it up to 9th gen status.) It's also when game development using multichip module (MDM) CPU's and GPU's, as well as CPU/GPU/HBM combo packages, will begin to become standardized.
In case anyone wasn't aware of it, Intel and AMD are teaming up for their mobile/laptop businesses:
The first products in this partnership will have a Core i5/i7 Kaby Lake-G CPU, combined with a Polaris AMD GPU with performance landing somewhere between GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 levels, supplemented by HBM2 memory being connected to the GPU. (In other words, even at it's worst, a combo that makes mincemeat of the Switch's Tegra X1.) All for around $400 in 2018, without counting retail markups and other parts.
This has the potential to put NVIDIA into a really bad spot in the PC gaming market, and subsequently the gaming market overall. Not in the short term, but almost certainly so in the long term. By 2022, many people will likely have already started mostly only buying these combo products instead of NVIDIA GPU's, except when they're integrated into a system like the Switch. Dedicated discrete products will recede back into the enthusiast sphere. I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch or it's successor eventually ends up being NVIDIA's only remaining vestige of major influence in the gaming market. They're already making their transition to deep learning/AI research (professional instead of consumer aimed products) and driverless automobile GPU's (the true purpose of the Tegra series SoC's.)
Since this will have a huge effect on what types of hardware publishers will generally fund development for, the NS has a strict timetable for how long it will remain relevant. At this rate, Nintendo should release a successor for the NS no later than 4th quarter 2023- either through NVIDIA's continued involvement as the last NVIDIA-powered console standing, or by joining the fray with everyone else in some capacity.
Oh My God, Nintendo Life spoiling things again, why do you do this, I knew I shouldn't have come back to this site which is just getting worse and worse, yada yada etc etc
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I do agree to the extent that what would have been the fully fledged, originally intended incarnation of BotW was basically made into a sacrificial lamb to ensure the NS had a blockbuster launch. (Who knows what was left on the cutting room floor?) The NS launch probably would have turned out a lot more like the 3DS launch without that decision. (Even down to the month of release!)
However. Sony was the company hemorrhaging money and selling off their arms to the highest bidder. They were even forced to sell off their former Tokyo HQ, as well as their former New York HQ, just to go back to being solvent. Not to mention laying off thousands of workers around the planet. (Again. They've laid off over ten thousand workers over the years. Yes. A five digit number of people.) I don't see Nintendo having to resort to mass layoffs, selling their organs, or giving up their HQ...
@shani It's just about the only way Nintendo could have reliably gone at this point. Let's face it, the dedicated home console market is steadily but surely shrinking, and the folks at Nintendo saw the writing on the wall. They got out while the getting was good. Abandoning a sinking ship to keep your crew intact is not cowardly, it's smart. Especially when the sinking ship is being abandoned in favor of a luxury cruise liner.
@NickDwyerDITC I was able to drag the 163k version out of there, absolutely incredible for 1989. The sound quality is a generation ahead of it's time, and perfectly depicts rushing through a foreboding, hostile environment. Too bad the game it was attached to was so bland and boring.
The track you highlighted in particular is amazing because it took years before mainstream consoles could reliably get percussion and choral vocals to sound that good, since their limitations forced them to use compressed instrumentation. (Although a few exceptions, like the tracks recorded into PCM files used in the Lunar series on Sega CD, were also notably ahead of their time.)
@NickDwyerDITC I didn't even know about the existence of Manabu Saito until just yesterday, myself. So it was a very nice personal discovery for me as well. A few searches on Youtube will show you that almost no one knew about this guy outside of Japan, maybe a few thousand people at most. (And only Japanese people, immigrants, or visitors who could afford or knew about the X86000, PC-88, or FM Towns would have been even remotely likely to know about his work. e.g. Fujitsu Ten FM Towns Car Marty was $3000 without adjusting for inflation back in 1994.)
More or less, his work really is like a hidden treasure trove locked away in the sands of time, so I don't think the allegory is inaccurate. Doing some web engine searches, many forum posts highlighting his work only date back to just recently this year. He's one of those guys whose work remained largely unappreciated until a while after they've passed on.
@damo Awesome article. It's not the kind of article that gets the hits/clicks, but it's articles like these that are the most important for recalling history and learning from it.
By the way, for anyone interested, here's a collection of tunes composed by or involving Manabu Saito:
In case you haven't heard, Intel and AMD are teaming up to merge their CPU's and GPU's respectively in the mobile space, particularly focusing on laptops at first. (Which is an earth-shaking development.) And those first ones will have Kaby Lake level CPU performance with between GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 level performance or better for the GPU, combined with HBM memory being connected to the GPU. (In other words, even at it's worst, a combo much more powerful than the Switch.) All for around $400, without counting retail markups and other parts.
I would agree with Jim's predictions here: This signals the beginning of the end for NVIDIA in the discrete gaming-focused GPU market, followed up with NVIDIA's market transition to deep learning+artificial intelligence research and car GPU's. It doesn't seem like it now, since NVIDIA has so much mind share and will have their products be sold in millions of Switches, but it's only a matter of time until a large portion of consumers go for integrated products with increasingly high performance.
Unless NVIDIA and Nintendo come up with a deal to make a successor to the current Tegra architectures 6+ years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if the successor to the Switch ends up using an Intel+AMD combo. For all we know, we're only a console generation away from Nintendo systems likely being the last vestige of NVIDIA's involvement in the gaming market.
Whip it, whip it good! See, this is where the portability comes into play. You can play it without her seeing or hearing it, just use headphones. If she still has a problem with that... Well, who paid for the system?
@JaxonH That's a fair point, portable consoles have a long history of receiving a variety of different types of ports- some watered down to bare bones, some with pitiful recreations of superior home console entries, and some with completely redesigned entries. The latter usually being by far the best of those three, but requiring much more effort. The NS is the first portable console where one can say, "well, with enough effort, the first issue can now be avoided entirely and the second issue can be mitigated to an acceptable level."
Not to mention the Vita being buried even deeper to add insult to injury. It's kind of funny to look back on articles about some people thinking Sony was going to eventually obsolete Nintendo, back when the PSP was new, and here we are today with Nintendo having the superior portable tech simply because they outlasted and outsmarted the competition. There's nowhere to go now except for NVIDIA mobile SoC or AMD's upcoming Vega mobile chips at the moment, but AMD's having a hard time getting Vega chips made at all and will focus on laptops, and Nintendo has a lock on NVIDIA's tech. That's a pretty amazing coup d'etat made by Nintendo, when I think about it.
I wouldn't be surprised if a future NS SKU with Pascal tech closes the gap we see with the Maxwell tech even further. In the desktop space, monolithic dies have reached the end of their rope, and will have to be changed out with multi chip modules on future products. However, NVIDIA and AMD aren't really going to have much in the way of consumer level products for those until 2019, and games probably won't really start being optimized for MCM hardware until 2020. That's a lot of time for Pascal and even Maxwell to remain relevant, and they'll probably stick around for a couple of years afterwards. In other words, a minimum of five years for the NS hardware to remain viable without any major overhauls. One significant mid-gen upgrade will appear by 2020, and by around 2023, Nintendo will have a MCM successor nearing completion and close the parity gap again. Nintendo's pretty much on a course to catch up whenever it matters most. Quite an achievement, coming from their "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology" roots.
I would say wait for the sales numbers to roll in at the end of the month and next month before making that call... For all we know, the potential audience could end up being really niche, resulting in that lofty praise evaporating. Let's see how many people want a portable (but gimped) version of a 1.5+ year old game first. Same goes for Skyrim when that releases (again). Most of what makes Skyrim great is in modding, which is the specialty of PC gaming. Most people who would have wanted Skyrim probably already have it by now, so again, potentially niche audience there for a portable (but gimped) port.
@JimmySpades Not to get too far into that maelstrom, but "SJW" became a pretty meaningful label after Gamergate. Considering the likes of Zoe Quinn has been able to use a celebrity host (Kim Kardashian) to be granted an audience with and give a presentation before the United Nations in the past, basically wasting their time when they could have been doing more important things... There's a certain amount of influence there which can have negative effects elsewhere.
As for "NDF"... I wouldn't take that so seriously, it's mostly hyperbole.
@kobashi100 That's fine, more power to you for supporting a product that took hard work to bring over. Although I do think Grogan kind of has a point that no one commenting until they've played for themselves has any more of an authoritative opinion on a game version few have played, just because they have an NS, than someone who doesn't own the system to begin with.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE You have to take into consideration that this release is appealing to a rather niche audience- one that either doesn't have other consoles or a gaming PC, or they didn't want DOOM earlier for whatever reason, not even during a sale, or they are willing to burn cash to double dip or have a portable version, despite it's weaknesses.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Damn, I can even tell the PC version is the best one just from the video thumbnail... The only benefit to the NS version is that it exists for portability. Price vs portability might be a big factor in choice, though.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Woah, that's some Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights/Elder Scrolls level expectations there. Well, BotW is basically Zelda Scrolls... but still, very lofty expectations! Usually, 150+ hours DLC is for PC gaming, but hey, more power to you.
On a side note, I find it ironic that so many people here are instinctively calling you out as negative, even though in this case, they're the ones getting all pissy just because you enjoyed BotW more than they did and consequently have higher expectations.
So basically, the low budget retro style indie-made Sonic Mania is leaps and bounds better than SEGA's own Sonic Team at making a competent game with 2D Sonic gameplay. Gotcha. At this rate, SEGA should just disband Sonic Team and hand the reins over entirely to people like Christian Whitehead. Because clearly, they have a better understanding of how to design and execute Sonic gameplay than SEGA themselves at this point. SEGA's ability to make a really great 3D Sonic title died with the Dreamcast, so I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that changing. Maybe if SEGA just provided backup to an really competent indie team (hint hint) that could potentially change... But all Sonic Boom game sales sucked because they sucked, so SEGA may be inclined to keep entries with 3D gameplay close to their chests from now on.
@SanderEvers You didn't know? The less clothing you're wearing as a female in an MMORPG, the more well protected you are. Come on, this is like lolwtfbbq Basics 1.0.
@JaxonH The DLC Mii outfits in SSB4 are basically the same thing as what Take Two does. It's just selling reskins. I suppose some things could be interpreted as being different by semantics if you apply such an incredibly narrow definition (which is far from all-encompassing), but those DLC reskins plainly fall under the definition you refer to.
@rjejr JRPG's have frequently gotten complete editions over the years, they just tend not to show up in that way outside Japan. For example, the Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne we got in the USA is actually a localization of the "Maniax" (Complete) rerelease edition in Japan.
Fully fledged expansion packs got their start on PC, to be sure, but the DLC model as we know it today has it's beginnings with consoles. Paying for "games as a service" goes back to the Sega Genesis Sega Channel, and DLC exclusive content as we would recognize it today was available on the Satellaview SNES satellite service, and was originally planned for the N64DD with things like the F-Zero X map creation tools and Ocarina of Time Gaiden dungeon changes.
Honestly... When Nintendo offers things like this, or charges money for individual characters in SSB4... This is really not so different from EA or Take-Two sorts of business practices. Five years ago, I would have said the difference between companies like them and Nintendo is night and day. Now? The differences are certainly there, but the usage of modern gaming business practices is becoming increasingly similar from an objective standpoint. The result is no different in that regard just because it's Nintendo doing it.
@JaxonH Paying for individual pieces or standalone packs of extra content is a micro transaction, by definition. For example, the Streetpass Mii Plaza games that cost money to download are instances of micro transactions. The primary difference between a micro transaction and an expansion is when a conglomerate of many different pieces of content form a cohesive whole, and are organically integrated into the existing product- that's an expansion, rather than being a tertiary addition like a map pack.
@JaxonH Nintendo has been breaking precedents in more ways than one over the past few years. I still remember when people used to say, "Oh, Nintendo wouldn't do this or that style of monetization, this is why I like Nintendo and I dislike x or y company for doing it." And then the "This is how is it now, just accept it" articles came. Nothing is sacred in Nintendoland anymore.
@JaxonH I did, and I would say it's got a fair likelihood. Monolith Soft isn't really known for that sort of thing, but then again, they aren't known for having monetization of additional content for individual titles either. They're not locked into a limited print run situation like with the original XB, nor will they be contending with a nearly stagnant user base pool like with XBX. Not to mention, XB2 seems to be more commercialized than past entries, so Nintendo will likely push this one as an evergreen title. The fact that there are complete editions being approved for third parties to go ahead on proves Nintendo is open to the idea in some capacity, and titles like SSB4 will probably also rerelease as a complete edition ala MK8 Deluxe.
@JaxonH That's a first party example, but there's also things from third parties like Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition and Disgaea 5 Complete, right? Those are complete editions, it's even in their names. Besides Super Mario Oddysey, which is the first system seller for the NS that stands on it's own, NS has been banking on ports, definitive editions, and definitive continuations of titles from previously released consoles. So that trend is likely going to continue. I wouldn't be surprised to see a BotW Complete edition next year to push it further as an evergreen title.
@rjejr "I don't mean to say this is on disc and locked, I'd just rather play a game when it's done, way too many games these days get better - not just w/ DLC but w/ patches and updates - after they've been out awhile. They spread out stuff for this game over an entire year, to me, it makes sense to play it all when it's done, rather than in drips and drops."
That's how you know right there it's actually a "season pass," not an "expansion pass." True expansion packs are big content dumps, season passes are trickled down content. The key is the $30 price point which doesn't match the total content additions, that's how you know something's off.
Hm... No. This is a misuse of the term "expansion pass." If you want to see it be used correctly, see Witcher 3, et al. This is indeed an example of the dreaded "season pass" that is used so often in the console space. By comparison, most of this sort of content would have been free to download with the purchase of the original Witcher 3 release, and the new story content would need to be significant (see Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine) to warrant the term expansion. Don't pay for this XB2 season pass.
Yes!!! I knew you could do it, NintendoLife! You've cast away your puritan shackles and embraced the future by going for the throat! And the future is a long, hard road with millions of potential possibilities wriggling around, just looking to find YOU! This day will live on, for it is the day NintendoLife graduated into adulthood. But for now, let us rejoice in adulation at the long hard road we came from, all behind us...
@Yorumi Bingo. Microsoft isn't seeing the results they want with Xbone, and the writing is on the wall for dedicated home consoles. That's what happened with Nintendo after the Wii U- they took the hint and went the portable route, which was the right choice. Xbox games are already being integrated into PC. Funny how there have been people predicting the end of the stationary PC/PC gaming market since the '90's, and they just keep growing instead.
@10-zx Alex was doing the real heavy milking. The look of "What Am I Doing With My Life?" on his face was palpable. And we will always remember. Oh yes.
@BlackenedHalo Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In most 3D Mario titles, you hone your base skills, maybe learn some new ones along the way, and clear levels and objectives using what you've learned and mastered. For example, star/shine collecting exists for the sake of pacing your objectives and recording your rate of exploration. It's not there just for it's own sake.
In SMO, that doesn't factor in much during the main story- the pacing is very abrupt. (Ooh, you broke a block in the middle of the road by mind controlling a chain chomp and slinging them at it, here's a moon! Oh look, there's a T-Rex, mind control it and break the wall right in front of it to get another moon! Oh, but there's a short time limit on mind controlling big creatures, so say bye-bye to the cool random T-Rex you just found! And so on.) That's at the heart of what people are touching upon when they mention "lack of challenge." This changes a bit after the main story, but the pacing issue with the moons is still there. That doesn't mean SMO isn't a great game overall, just that it's not "the best of the best."
@rjejr CD Projekt Red handles DLC and expansions better than most other companies- all of the original DLC for Witcher 3 came free with the purchase of the base game. At this point, the complete/goty edition can be had for 1/2 price ($25) when it's on sale, which includes the base game with all DLC and expansions. Pretty crazy value if you ask me. However, if someone already bought the base game when it first came out, they do actually have an "expansion pass," as they call it (to differentiate it from "season pass"), which also occasionally goes on sale for 1/2 off. By contrast, Nintendo very rarely runs sales on their DLC. The last really interesting DLC promotion I can remember was back in 2013- buy both FE Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV within first month of release, get $30 worth of eShop credits to spend on DLC between the two games.
Horizon needed the "complete edition" rerelease after being overshadowed by BotW earlier this year- bad move by Sony for tossing Guerilla to the wolves like that. However, it's not really a complete edition, because the Frozen Wilds expansion is on the way, and it will cost $20 normally or $15 for PS Plus members. So the real complete edition for Horizon is still a ways off.
Splatoon was handled well, although patches aren't normally charged for anyways. That's the key difference in many cases- "DLC" is usually the (marketing) term for updates that the customer assumes the cost of, whereas "patch" is the (real) term for updates the developer or publisher assumes the cost of.
Comments 5,813
Re: Digital Foundry Gives Its Full Analysis of DOOM on Nintendo Switch
@SLIGEACH_EIRE That's a pretty interesting observation for the box art... Every other version just has a full body portrait of Doom Guy, looking straight at you, all badass and dominant, but the NS version's boxart makes him look like he's getting overwhelmed. (Kind of like what happens to the hardware when the NS is playing DOOM!)
That being said, I do like the NS version's box art a lot more. It's more interesting, since it depicts an intense struggle rather than simply appealing to a power fantasy, and it reminds me of 80's/90's era box art. When I look at the PC/PS4/XB1 box art, it makes me think, "What does this guy need my help for? He looks like he will be just fine without me!" When I look at the NS boxart, though, I think, "...I want to help DOOM Guy defeat his demons!"
Re: Digital Foundry Gives Its Full Analysis of DOOM on Nintendo Switch
@BlueOcean That's a good point on the frame times. Lots of people talk about resolution and frame rates, but accurate recording and analysis of frame times is a relatively new metric to many. Having steady and consistent frame times is just as important as minimum frame rates up to 60FPS, and more important than maximum frame rates when going above 60FPS. (For example, the NS version of DOOM fails to absolutely stay locked at 30 FPS no matter what happens, meaning it's got worse frame time consistency during heavy action. Definitely bad news.)
Re: Digital Foundry Gives Its Full Analysis of DOOM on Nintendo Switch
@BlueOcean @gatorboi352 Let's see how it turns out next year before making such predictions. It's true that 1st year performance is not indicative of long term outlook, but we need to get through the 2nd year before sales trends start becoming apparent.
That said, there is one trend that I predict will happen: Over half of all NS owners will continue to keep their systems at home most of the time instead of primarily using it in public, due to the combo of Nintendo's marketing/labeling strategy and Western culture. And it will continue to be a world wonder how so many people found out the system even exists, mostly through internet word of mouth.
Re: Review: Revenant Saga (Switch eShop)
@yeayeanaynay While Earth spins towards Nibiru. BEWARE PLANET X!
Re: Review: Revenant Saga (Switch eShop)
@SKTTR Funny thing about that, RPG's like Lagoon (which was pretty much an Y's clone) that Kemco made back in the SNES days were just as mediocre for their time as this latest outing. (Granted, the SNES version was the poor man's version of it's original X86000 incarnation, which had significantly better presentation and sound, along with the classic Y's style "jousting" combat.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B3ne4I25Ug
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Re: Review: Revenant Saga (Switch eShop)
It's games like this that remind us 5/10 is mediocre, not average. "Average" should be held to a higher standard than this.
Re: Wii U's Failure Is Responsible For Switch's Success, Says Reggie
@shani Well... Thinking back on it, you do have a point to an extent. They can afford not just one failure, but many. It was reported years ago from several outlets that Nintendo can actually afford repeated shortfalls for decades, thanks to the massive windfall from the Wii/DS era:
http://www.gamesradar.com/nintendo-doomed-not-likely-just-take-look-how-much-money-its-got-bank/
The difference now is that Nintendo is no longer operating under high stress circumstances (after the Gamecube, if it's successor didn't really take off, their portable line would have been all they had left), and their CEO is a by-the-books businessman instead of a former rank-and-file developer. (Kimishima knows how to run a business, but Iwata actually knew how to make their products.)
The NS is fairly by-the-books by today's standards, but with enough support, it's purpose is to reestablish Nintendo's brand in the public eye, which had diminished greatly during the Wii U/3DS era. It uses a widely recognized format for it's time period (mobile device instead of TV remote), it's more flexible in multiple ways than previous systems (although the expensive motion control tech probably won't get much use), and the current mobile tech neatly allows them to honorably bow out of the dedicated home console arena. (Although they'll have to keep up the ruse that it's the dedicated home console successor for a while to placate dissent.)
They'll have plenty of opportunity to go wild with new and interesting tech in the 9th console generation. They're probably just focused on recouping lost ground for now.
Re: Ubisoft Thinks The Next Console Cycle Isn't Far Away, So Where Does That Leave Switch?
I would say the NS will get a midway SKU upgrade between 2019-2020, possibly featuring a Tegra X2/Parker/Pascal architecture variant of the Tegra series, bumping up overall performance from the current Maxwell architecture. Subsequently, if another SKU upgrade appears before the NS successor, then possibly a Xavier/Volta architecture variant by the end of 2022.
The 8th console generation began either 2011 or 2012, depending on whether one interprets that either the 3DS or Wii U began it. Either way, 2020 is 8-9 years for the 8th console gen to be in effect, and 7 years for the PS4/XB1 to be on the market. With the 7th console gen being elongated, the timeframe between the PS3/X360 and their successors was 7 and 8 years respectively.
Thus, with the 8th console gen also being elongated, the 9th console gen will come into effect either 2020 or 2021, since that's when the PS5 and neXtbox will likely be released. (With the Switch being an odd mid 8th gen entry, although an upgrade SKU could boost it up to 9th gen status.) It's also when game development using multichip module (MDM) CPU's and GPU's, as well as CPU/GPU/HBM combo packages, will begin to become standardized.
In case anyone wasn't aware of it, Intel and AMD are teaming up for their mobile/laptop businesses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=gaHs_guCp2o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNY5e5CFlbc
https://tech4gamers.com/official-habemus-intel-processors-amd-radeon-graphics/
The first products in this partnership will have a Core i5/i7 Kaby Lake-G CPU, combined with a Polaris AMD GPU with performance landing somewhere between GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 levels, supplemented by HBM2 memory being connected to the GPU. (In other words, even at it's worst, a combo that makes mincemeat of the Switch's Tegra X1.) All for around $400 in 2018, without counting retail markups and other parts.
This has the potential to put NVIDIA into a really bad spot in the PC gaming market, and subsequently the gaming market overall. Not in the short term, but almost certainly so in the long term. By 2022, many people will likely have already started mostly only buying these combo products instead of NVIDIA GPU's, except when they're integrated into a system like the Switch. Dedicated discrete products will recede back into the enthusiast sphere. I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch or it's successor eventually ends up being NVIDIA's only remaining vestige of major influence in the gaming market. They're already making their transition to deep learning/AI research (professional instead of consumer aimed products) and driverless automobile GPU's (the true purpose of the Tegra series SoC's.)
Since this will have a huge effect on what types of hardware publishers will generally fund development for, the NS has a strict timetable for how long it will remain relevant. At this rate, Nintendo should release a successor for the NS no later than 4th quarter 2023- either through NVIDIA's continued involvement as the last NVIDIA-powered console standing, or by joining the fray with everyone else in some capacity.
Re: Guide: Super Mario Odyssey: Cascade Kingdom Power Moons Map and Walkthrough
Oh My God, Nintendo Life spoiling things again, why do you do this, I knew I shouldn't have come back to this site which is just getting worse and worse, yada yada etc etc
Re: Wii U's Failure Is Responsible For Switch's Success, Says Reggie
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I do agree to the extent that what would have been the fully fledged, originally intended incarnation of BotW was basically made into a sacrificial lamb to ensure the NS had a blockbuster launch. (Who knows what was left on the cutting room floor?) The NS launch probably would have turned out a lot more like the 3DS launch without that decision. (Even down to the month of release!)
However. Sony was the company hemorrhaging money and selling off their arms to the highest bidder. They were even forced to sell off their former Tokyo HQ, as well as their former New York HQ, just to go back to being solvent. Not to mention laying off thousands of workers around the planet. (Again. They've laid off over ten thousand workers over the years. Yes. A five digit number of people.) I don't see Nintendo having to resort to mass layoffs, selling their organs, or giving up their HQ...
Re: Wii U's Failure Is Responsible For Switch's Success, Says Reggie
@shani It's just about the only way Nintendo could have reliably gone at this point. Let's face it, the dedicated home console market is steadily but surely shrinking, and the folks at Nintendo saw the writing on the wall. They got out while the getting was good. Abandoning a sinking ship to keep your crew intact is not cowardly, it's smart. Especially when the sinking ship is being abandoned in favor of a luxury cruise liner.
Re: Feature: Diggin' In The Carts Host Nick Dwyer On How Video Game Music Has Come Of Age
@NickDwyerDITC I was able to drag the 163k version out of there, absolutely incredible for 1989. The sound quality is a generation ahead of it's time, and perfectly depicts rushing through a foreboding, hostile environment. Too bad the game it was attached to was so bland and boring.
The track you highlighted in particular is amazing because it took years before mainstream consoles could reliably get percussion and choral vocals to sound that good, since their limitations forced them to use compressed instrumentation. (Although a few exceptions, like the tracks recorded into PCM files used in the Lunar series on Sega CD, were also notably ahead of their time.)
Re: Feature: Diggin' In The Carts Host Nick Dwyer On How Video Game Music Has Come Of Age
@NickDwyerDITC I didn't even know about the existence of Manabu Saito until just yesterday, myself. So it was a very nice personal discovery for me as well. A few searches on Youtube will show you that almost no one knew about this guy outside of Japan, maybe a few thousand people at most. (And only Japanese people, immigrants, or visitors who could afford or knew about the X86000, PC-88, or FM Towns would have been even remotely likely to know about his work. e.g. Fujitsu Ten FM Towns Car Marty was $3000 without adjusting for inflation back in 1994.)
More or less, his work really is like a hidden treasure trove locked away in the sands of time, so I don't think the allegory is inaccurate. Doing some web engine searches, many forum posts highlighting his work only date back to just recently this year. He's one of those guys whose work remained largely unappreciated until a while after they've passed on.
Re: Feature: Diggin' In The Carts Host Nick Dwyer On How Video Game Music Has Come Of Age
@damo Awesome article. It's not the kind of article that gets the hits/clicks, but it's articles like these that are the most important for recalling history and learning from it.
By the way, for anyone interested, here's a collection of tunes composed by or involving Manabu Saito:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwfkByezcqE
Re: Soapbox: DOOM is the Most Important Switch Game Yet
@MsgBoardGamer Well, I do have a reason for making that assessment...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNY5e5CFlbc
In case you haven't heard, Intel and AMD are teaming up to merge their CPU's and GPU's respectively in the mobile space, particularly focusing on laptops at first. (Which is an earth-shaking development.) And those first ones will have Kaby Lake level CPU performance with between GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060 level performance or better for the GPU, combined with HBM memory being connected to the GPU. (In other words, even at it's worst, a combo much more powerful than the Switch.) All for around $400, without counting retail markups and other parts.
I would agree with Jim's predictions here: This signals the beginning of the end for NVIDIA in the discrete gaming-focused GPU market, followed up with NVIDIA's market transition to deep learning+artificial intelligence research and car GPU's. It doesn't seem like it now, since NVIDIA has so much mind share and will have their products be sold in millions of Switches, but it's only a matter of time until a large portion of consumers go for integrated products with increasingly high performance.
Unless NVIDIA and Nintendo come up with a deal to make a successor to the current Tegra architectures 6+ years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if the successor to the Switch ends up using an Intel+AMD combo. For all we know, we're only a console generation away from Nintendo systems likely being the last vestige of NVIDIA's involvement in the gaming market.
Re: Review: DOOM (Switch)
@milliag #Whipped
Whip it, whip it good! See, this is where the portability comes into play. You can play it without her seeing or hearing it, just use headphones. If she still has a problem with that... Well, who paid for the system?
Re: Soapbox: DOOM is the Most Important Switch Game Yet
@JaxonH That's a fair point, portable consoles have a long history of receiving a variety of different types of ports- some watered down to bare bones, some with pitiful recreations of superior home console entries, and some with completely redesigned entries. The latter usually being by far the best of those three, but requiring much more effort. The NS is the first portable console where one can say, "well, with enough effort, the first issue can now be avoided entirely and the second issue can be mitigated to an acceptable level."
Not to mention the Vita being buried even deeper to add insult to injury. It's kind of funny to look back on articles about some people thinking Sony was going to eventually obsolete Nintendo, back when the PSP was new, and here we are today with Nintendo having the superior portable tech simply because they outlasted and outsmarted the competition. There's nowhere to go now except for NVIDIA mobile SoC or AMD's upcoming Vega mobile chips at the moment, but AMD's having a hard time getting Vega chips made at all and will focus on laptops, and Nintendo has a lock on NVIDIA's tech. That's a pretty amazing coup d'etat made by Nintendo, when I think about it.
I wouldn't be surprised if a future NS SKU with Pascal tech closes the gap we see with the Maxwell tech even further. In the desktop space, monolithic dies have reached the end of their rope, and will have to be changed out with multi chip modules on future products. However, NVIDIA and AMD aren't really going to have much in the way of consumer level products for those until 2019, and games probably won't really start being optimized for MCM hardware until 2020. That's a lot of time for Pascal and even Maxwell to remain relevant, and they'll probably stick around for a couple of years afterwards. In other words, a minimum of five years for the NS hardware to remain viable without any major overhauls. One significant mid-gen upgrade will appear by 2020, and by around 2023, Nintendo will have a MCM successor nearing completion and close the parity gap again. Nintendo's pretty much on a course to catch up whenever it matters most. Quite an achievement, coming from their "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology" roots.
Re: Soapbox: DOOM is the Most Important Switch Game Yet
I would say wait for the sales numbers to roll in at the end of the month and next month before making that call... For all we know, the potential audience could end up being really niche, resulting in that lofty praise evaporating. Let's see how many people want a portable (but gimped) version of a 1.5+ year old game first. Same goes for Skyrim when that releases (again). Most of what makes Skyrim great is in modding, which is the specialty of PC gaming. Most people who would have wanted Skyrim probably already have it by now, so again, potentially niche audience there for a portable (but gimped) port.
Re: Review: DOOM (Switch)
@JimmySpades Not to get too far into that maelstrom, but "SJW" became a pretty meaningful label after Gamergate. Considering the likes of Zoe Quinn has been able to use a celebrity host (Kim Kardashian) to be granted an audience with and give a presentation before the United Nations in the past, basically wasting their time when they could have been doing more important things... There's a certain amount of influence there which can have negative effects elsewhere.
As for "NDF"... I wouldn't take that so seriously, it's mostly hyperbole.
Re: Review: DOOM (Switch)
@kobashi100 That's fine, more power to you for supporting a product that took hard work to bring over. Although I do think Grogan kind of has a point that no one commenting until they've played for themselves has any more of an authoritative opinion on a game version few have played, just because they have an NS, than someone who doesn't own the system to begin with.
Re: Review: DOOM (Switch)
@SLIGEACH_EIRE You have to take into consideration that this release is appealing to a rather niche audience- one that either doesn't have other consoles or a gaming PC, or they didn't want DOOM earlier for whatever reason, not even during a sale, or they are willing to burn cash to double dip or have a portable version, despite it's weaknesses.
Re: Video: See How Well DOOM Holds Up on Switch Compared to Xbox One
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Damn, I can even tell the PC version is the best one just from the video thumbnail... The only benefit to the NS version is that it exists for portability. Price vs portability might be a big factor in choice, though.
Re: Review: Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS)
Yep, this and EO Untold 2 are class acts! Hopefully Untold 3 at some point, but this one is definitely the better of the main 3DS entries!
Re: Review: Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS)
@Melkac They're probably saying that because either they've only played IV or they think the world map made EO better... Even though it really didn't.
Re: Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Champions' Ballad DLC is Set for a December Release
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Woah, that's some Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights/Elder Scrolls level expectations there. Well, BotW is basically Zelda Scrolls... but still, very lofty expectations! Usually, 150+ hours DLC is for PC gaming, but hey, more power to you.
On a side note, I find it ironic that so many people here are instinctively calling you out as negative, even though in this case, they're the ones getting all pissy just because you enjoyed BotW more than they did and consequently have higher expectations.
Re: Review: Sonic Forces (Switch)
So basically, the low budget retro style indie-made Sonic Mania is leaps and bounds better than SEGA's own Sonic Team at making a competent game with 2D Sonic gameplay. Gotcha. At this rate, SEGA should just disband Sonic Team and hand the reins over entirely to people like Christian Whitehead. Because clearly, they have a better understanding of how to design and execute Sonic gameplay than SEGA themselves at this point. SEGA's ability to make a really great 3D Sonic title died with the Dreamcast, so I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that changing. Maybe if SEGA just provided backup to an really competent indie team (hint hint) that could potentially change... But all Sonic Boom game sales sucked because they sucked, so SEGA may be inclined to keep entries with 3D gameplay close to their chests from now on.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02/12/sonic-boom-is-the-worst-selling-sonic-title-in-history
Re: Video: Digital Foundry's Analysis Points To Switch Sonic Forces Being The Worst Version
Plot twist: When you think about, every version of Sonic Forces is the worst version.
Re: New Fire Emblem Warriors Update Basically Turns The Game Into Ghouls 'n Ghosts
@SanderEvers You didn't know? The less clothing you're wearing as a female in an MMORPG, the more well protected you are. Come on, this is like lolwtfbbq Basics 1.0.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@kotag Naw, Nintendo's saving loot boxes for the next gen of Pokémon!
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH The DLC Mii outfits in SSB4 are basically the same thing as what Take Two does. It's just selling reskins. I suppose some things could be interpreted as being different by semantics if you apply such an incredibly narrow definition (which is far from all-encompassing), but those DLC reskins plainly fall under the definition you refer to.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@rjejr JRPG's have frequently gotten complete editions over the years, they just tend not to show up in that way outside Japan. For example, the Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne we got in the USA is actually a localization of the "Maniax" (Complete) rerelease edition in Japan.
Fully fledged expansion packs got their start on PC, to be sure, but the DLC model as we know it today has it's beginnings with consoles. Paying for "games as a service" goes back to the Sega Genesis Sega Channel, and DLC exclusive content as we would recognize it today was available on the Satellaview SNES satellite service, and was originally planned for the N64DD with things like the F-Zero X map creation tools and Ocarina of Time Gaiden dungeon changes.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH There are many different types and degrees of micro transactions, not just one or a few. Pay to Play mechanics like those seen in Pokémon Shuffle are just among the more insidious ones.
Honestly... When Nintendo offers things like this, or charges money for individual characters in SSB4... This is really not so different from EA or Take-Two sorts of business practices. Five years ago, I would have said the difference between companies like them and Nintendo is night and day. Now? The differences are certainly there, but the usage of modern gaming business practices is becoming increasingly similar from an objective standpoint. The result is no different in that regard just because it's Nintendo doing it.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH Paying for individual pieces or standalone packs of extra content is a micro transaction, by definition. For example, the Streetpass Mii Plaza games that cost money to download are instances of micro transactions. The primary difference between a micro transaction and an expansion is when a conglomerate of many different pieces of content form a cohesive whole, and are organically integrated into the existing product- that's an expansion, rather than being a tertiary addition like a map pack.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@rjejr Nope, the season pass trend started with consoles:
https://www.giantbomb.com/dlc-season-pass/3015-7186/
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH Several of the Pokémon spinoff titles (Candy Crush, meet your sibling Pokémon Shuffle) and Fire Emblem titles (everything from map packs to Summer Scramble fan service DLC) have micro transactions. Fire Emblem Fates had an $80 limited edition, physical only special edition with both Conquest and Birthright paths on one card, and Revelations path download access when it became available, which was never given a reprint run. And of course, Amiibo are limited stock physical incarnations of DLC/micro transaction keys. (But at least the figures are nice.)
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH Nintendo has been breaking precedents in more ways than one over the past few years. I still remember when people used to say, "Oh, Nintendo wouldn't do this or that style of monetization, this is why I like Nintendo and I dislike x or y company for doing it." And then the "This is how is it now, just accept it" articles came. Nothing is sacred in Nintendoland anymore.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH I did, and I would say it's got a fair likelihood. Monolith Soft isn't really known for that sort of thing, but then again, they aren't known for having monetization of additional content for individual titles either. They're not locked into a limited print run situation like with the original XB, nor will they be contending with a nearly stagnant user base pool like with XBX. Not to mention, XB2 seems to be more commercialized than past entries, so Nintendo will likely push this one as an evergreen title. The fact that there are complete editions being approved for third parties to go ahead on proves Nintendo is open to the idea in some capacity, and titles like SSB4 will probably also rerelease as a complete edition ala MK8 Deluxe.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH That's a first party example, but there's also things from third parties like Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition and Disgaea 5 Complete, right? Those are complete editions, it's even in their names. Besides Super Mario Oddysey, which is the first system seller for the NS that stands on it's own, NS has been banking on ports, definitive editions, and definitive continuations of titles from previously released consoles. So that trend is likely going to continue. I wouldn't be surprised to see a BotW Complete edition next year to push it further as an evergreen title.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@rjejr "I don't mean to say this is on disc and locked, I'd just rather play a game when it's done, way too many games these days get better - not just w/ DLC but w/ patches and updates - after they've been out awhile. They spread out stuff for this game over an entire year, to me, it makes sense to play it all when it's done, rather than in drips and drops."
That's how you know right there it's actually a "season pass," not an "expansion pass." True expansion packs are big content dumps, season passes are trickled down content. The key is the $30 price point which doesn't match the total content additions, that's how you know something's off.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
@JaxonH Isn't Mario Kart 8 Deluxe basically the complete edition of MK8?
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Gets Expansion Pass and Surprise Breath of the Wild Crossover
Hm... No. This is a misuse of the term "expansion pass." If you want to see it be used correctly, see Witcher 3, et al. This is indeed an example of the dreaded "season pass" that is used so often in the console space. By comparison, most of this sort of content would have been free to download with the purchase of the original Witcher 3 release, and the new story content would need to be significant (see Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine) to warrant the term expansion. Don't pay for this XB2 season pass.
Re: Random: Shin Megami Tensei Fans Voted For Their Top Demon, We Kinda Wish They Hadn't
@aesc OMFG I'm dying, why doesn't that have more likes
Re: Random: Shin Megami Tensei Fans Voted For Their Top Demon, We Kinda Wish They Hadn't
Yes!!! I knew you could do it, NintendoLife! You've cast away your puritan shackles and embraced the future by going for the throat! And the future is a long, hard road with millions of potential possibilities wriggling around, just looking to find YOU! This day will live on, for it is the day NintendoLife graduated into adulthood. But for now, let us rejoice in adulation at the long hard road we came from, all behind us...
Re: Suda51 Wants Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes To Be Playable With One Joy-Con
Only one JoyCon needed? Now that allows for a very special type of waggle controls...
Re: Microsoft Wants To Reach Gamers On Rival Systems, Says Xbox Chief Phil Spencer
@Yorumi Bingo. Microsoft isn't seeing the results they want with Xbone, and the writing is on the wall for dedicated home consoles. That's what happened with Nintendo after the Wii U- they took the hint and went the portable route, which was the right choice. Xbox games are already being integrated into PC. Funny how there have been people predicting the end of the stationary PC/PC gaming market since the '90's, and they just keep growing instead.
Re: 1-2 Switch Update Adds Video Sharing Functionality
@10-zx Alex was doing the real heavy milking. The look of "What Am I Doing With My Life?" on his face was palpable. And we will always remember. Oh yes.
Re: 1-2 Switch Update Adds Video Sharing Functionality
It can only last for 30 seconds of premium jerking!? Damn... Talk about premature...
This is what people are talking about when they say Nintendo is losing their touch. Nintendo needs to up their stamina for the long game.
Re: Talking Point: The Case for Super Mario Odyssey as the Greatest Mario Game
@Gamer401 Damn dude, that's harsh. It's a hybrid console, which means it can be anything you want it to be.
Re: Talking Point: The Case for Super Mario Odyssey as the Greatest Mario Game
@BlackenedHalo Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In most 3D Mario titles, you hone your base skills, maybe learn some new ones along the way, and clear levels and objectives using what you've learned and mastered. For example, star/shine collecting exists for the sake of pacing your objectives and recording your rate of exploration. It's not there just for it's own sake.
In SMO, that doesn't factor in much during the main story- the pacing is very abrupt. (Ooh, you broke a block in the middle of the road by mind controlling a chain chomp and slinging them at it, here's a moon! Oh look, there's a T-Rex, mind control it and break the wall right in front of it to get another moon! Oh, but there's a short time limit on mind controlling big creatures, so say bye-bye to the cool random T-Rex you just found! And so on.) That's at the heart of what people are touching upon when they mention "lack of challenge." This changes a bit after the main story, but the pacing issue with the moons is still there. That doesn't mean SMO isn't a great game overall, just that it's not "the best of the best."
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Nintendo Direct Coming November 7th
@rjejr CD Projekt Red handles DLC and expansions better than most other companies- all of the original DLC for Witcher 3 came free with the purchase of the base game. At this point, the complete/goty edition can be had for 1/2 price ($25) when it's on sale, which includes the base game with all DLC and expansions. Pretty crazy value if you ask me. However, if someone already bought the base game when it first came out, they do actually have an "expansion pass," as they call it (to differentiate it from "season pass"), which also occasionally goes on sale for 1/2 off. By contrast, Nintendo very rarely runs sales on their DLC. The last really interesting DLC promotion I can remember was back in 2013- buy both FE Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV within first month of release, get $30 worth of eShop credits to spend on DLC between the two games.
Horizon needed the "complete edition" rerelease after being overshadowed by BotW earlier this year- bad move by Sony for tossing Guerilla to the wolves like that. However, it's not really a complete edition, because the Frozen Wilds expansion is on the way, and it will cost $20 normally or $15 for PS Plus members. So the real complete edition for Horizon is still a ways off.
Splatoon was handled well, although patches aren't normally charged for anyways. That's the key difference in many cases- "DLC" is usually the (marketing) term for updates that the customer assumes the cost of, whereas "patch" is the (real) term for updates the developer or publisher assumes the cost of.