Raffles

Great review, magnifique

The FTC only play games at 4k60 confirmed.

The first one is actually really good, the Bowser one too.

This is what the first trailer should have looked like, this does actually look stunning. Shame about the cringe English voice acting though, should have used Japanese voices for sure.

I'm glad.

Mario Odyssey seems to be extremely underrated. I would have expected it to stay in the charts long term, just like Mario Kart, GTA 5, Animal Crossing etc.

And generally when a Mario Odyssey article appears here on NL, there's loads of comments from people saying they didn't like it.

It really surprises me. I absolutely love the game, it's relentlessly fun from start to finish, and pretty much the spiritual successor / true sequel to Mario 64.

2017 for Mario Odyssey of course

@Pod Although they have the same CPU, by leagues ahead I'm talking about raw GPU power. The SeriesX is a whopping 3 times more powerful than the SeriesS, which has largely boiled down to resolution differences as advertised, but has sometimes manifested in the SeriesS being more gimped - ie lacking raytracing or lacking a 60fps mode of the SeriesX.

So if we're talking GPU, yeah it's absolutely leagues difference, a league being a GPU tier or generation. It's the difference between a GTX 1060 and an RTX 3060, two generations difference.

Regarding the potential mobile chip, yes you might be right, the cutting edge chips available in 2 years will probably be twice as powerful as a Gen 2 if they continue to increase by around 50% a year. I was partly thinking of cost, but the truth is it might be affordable enough - it's easy to forget that the Tegra X1 was actually pretty cutting edge for a mobile chip when released, at least on the GPU side.

@Pod I know it has seemed like Nintendo is in no rush for a successor, and Nintendo continued to dominate even when the PS5/SeriesX were released.

However suddenly things have changed a bit, hardware sales have slowed and there seems to be a consensus that the Switch is showing its age.

We could see one sooner than expected, and if it's released in say, two years, the idea of it being 10 times more powerful than a Switch is a tad unrealistic. That would make it twice as powerful as the current most powerful mobile chip. A fanciful notion, especially considering cost.

Coincidentally, the 10x you're estimating puts it pretty much exactly on par with a SeriesS (0.4 TFLOPS to 4 TFLOPS, with a similar ratio of memory bandwidth etc). And people are already grumbling about the SeriesS holding the generation back etc.

So even 10 times more powerful than the Switch, would still put several leagues below the SeriesX/PS5.

I agree it would be just about good enough though, if it came out soonish, given the SeriesS is part of the same generation and can run all the same games.

@progx I'm certainly intrigued to see what happens, as I said it's the efficiency of ARM cpus that is off the charts, so if that could translate to high power desktop CPUs, with a similarly modest power requirement ratio - they have a real winner.

@Pod How powerful are you expecting exactly? A few times more powerful was used loosely, but tbh I would expect "a few times more" to be more accurate than say, 10 times more.

Given Nintendo's pricing strategy and not going all out with hardware while taking a hit on each unit sold - a la Microsoft and Sony - I expect the hardware to be very good, but not blow all mobile devices out of the water good.

For some perspective the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was recently released and is the overall best mobile chipset available now, and it's in the region of 5 times more powerful than the Switch in real world benchmarks, not just on paper.

If the Switch 2 is released anytime soon, that's pretty much what I would expect, something like the Gen 2, for a 5 times performance upgrade. And that's nothing to scoff at, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has comparable GPU performance to the Steam Deck, with an excellent CPU.

@progx OK that's fair enough, I was responding to your explicit line of the A15 being able to crush the PS5's GPU, so thought you must have the wrong end of the stick and not realise the PS5 GPU was quite a bit more powerful than 1 TFLOP

I agree about ARM processors, I've been consistently amazed by their progress in recent years, bridging the gap to desktop level power, all the while with passive cooling.

It makes me wonder how long it will take for ARM to start becoming more of a player in the desktop/laptop field. The efficiency is amazing.

I'm a developer, my main test device on Android is a Snapdragon 870 due to the lack of thermal throttling and it does consistently amaze me what it's capable of doing at a TDP of around 5 watts with no active cooling. It can run the current game I'm working on, an open world driving game, at 60fps with the CPU temperature somehow staying at around 40 degrees celcius, which is slightly cooler than my Ryzen 5800 at idle

That is incredible.

@progx The A15 SOC in the Apple TV 4k can crush a PS5 GPU?

Though you're right that the GPU is well over 1 TFLOPS, I'm not sure why you think that is good, or rather, anywhere near a PS5. For some perspective, even the Steam Deck is around 1.65 TFLOPS, and while it's a beast for a handheld, it's not really close to the power of a PS5 or Series X.

The A15 in the Apple TV is the exact same SOC as the iPhone 14, and I'd estimate it to to be around 1.33 TFLOPS. Which is excellent for a phone or mobile device, of course, but not even in the same stratosphere as a PS5, which has a 10 TFLOP GPU, the SeriesX being 12 TFLOPS.

So even if Nintendo came up with a beastly custom ARM SOC that was let's say similar to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, it would be a few times more powerful than the Switch and a welcome upgrade, but still not even close to the same league as the PS5 or Series X which have fairly high end desktop level power.

The likeness to the in game character is actually quite good. The eyes are the biggest giveaway.

Classic wallriding. Indeed it's something that seems unrealistic in games, and that you'd likely spinout in real life. Amazing it worked.

@kalosn Good post, I agree. Having been used to the luxury of a SeriesX, and a gaming PC with a 3070, I do find it hard to play stuff at less than a locked 60. Then I have to remind myself Goldeneye is one of my favourite games, and I still love playing it even today.

I love the N64, and also enjoy seeing machines pushed to their limits, even if framerate/resolution can be a little unsteady.

I'm glad they targeted 60 for this too. It was hard to get used to Astral Chain's 30 after Bayonetta 2's 60.

I know most people are fine with 30, but I much prefer even a highly variable 60 target, as long as the game has a fixed timestep and triple buffering.

I'd like a direct sequel. I love Super Mario Odyssey.

It always astonishes me when I read comment sections about Odyssey, and there are so many comments saying they didn't really like it etc.

As a long time Mario fan, this is my joint favourite Mario game alongside Mario 64, and simply one of the best games I've ever played. I love everything about it.

@Royalblues I know it wasn't your main point, but I addressed it because I just find it weird whenever I hear people talk about the Switch's tech being "old and outdated" when it came out, as it simply isn't true, or even close to being true in the realm of mobile hardware.

You're right that the X1 came out in 2015, but then it was mainly used in the Nvidia Shield, which is not a mobile device. Plus the GPU is based on desktop hardware, which is why it was ahead of its time in 2017, and still has a solid featureset even today - supporting modern shaders, Vulkan etc.

@Royalblues Your assessment of the Switch's hardware is not even close to being true. In 2017 when the X1 came out, it was clearly better than any other mobile chipset on the market, particularly the GPU. The CPU side is nothing to shout about to be fair, it's very GPU heavy, but the GPU was ahead of its time for mobile. It wasn't until a year or two later that flagship Apple and Samsung devices could match its GPU performance.

So when the Switch came out, it was excellent hardware, at least judged as a handheld.

This is definitely one of those instances where there is a big discrepancy between critic reviews and player opinion.

Critics are like - "Ackchyually these tracks are not as good as proper MK8 tracks".

Players are like - "Yay more Mario Kart!"

@steventonysmith Yes that's true, as I recall, weren't there supposed to be no new tracks, and it was only retro tracks and MK Tour tracks? In which case yes this brand new one is a surprise.

@CharlieGirl Agreed, it obviously looks more PS1, with the crispy unfiltered textures, with visible pixels etc. It's worlds away from the signature smooth N64 look, with its "vaseline filter"

Good point. I absolutely love the look of the game, might be time to dust off the 3DS.

Surprised Mushroom Gorge isn't getting more love. One of the best Wii tracks for sure, I really like it, and definitely looking forward to that the most in this "wave".

The other Wii track I'd love to see is the river one, the moving stream, Koopa Cape I think.

@LXP8 Sure. I suppose one man's tedium is another man's delight. I find strategy games and turn based battles the most tedious thing in the world, but evidently they have a huge fanbase, a lot of people love them.

The "tedious" combos you describe are kind of what I love about fighting games, particularly Street Fighter. The more dumbed down fighting games get, the more boring they become imo. It's why Mortal Kombat and Tekken have always played second fiddle to Street Fighter, they are too button mashery, without the precision that makes Street Fighter so good and satisfying. And one of the reasons why SF5 is boring is I think it lost a step when they tried to dumb it down a bit. Give me SF4's FADC combos and 1 frame links anyday. SF4 could be frustrating, but ultimately is just so much better and more rewarding than any other fighting game I've played.

I do really like Virtua Fighter and Killer Instinct though. KI is kind of like a less technical Street Fighter on steroids, but it's really, really good. I hope they make a sequel.

@SpaceboyScreams Let me guess, you're unable to do a fireball or SRK from the right side, and you're 0-100 in Street Fighter matches?

@OnlyItsMeReid

Pretty much

I think Street Fighter is the best fighting game series and there is no close second.

As a huge Nintendo fan I wanted to like Smash, I try and like every one of them, but ultimately it's just a casual party game, not really a fighting game at all. It's so random and messy, with none of the precision that makes fighting games so good and compelling.

I really like the look of Spirit Tracks, but for some reason have never played it.

@thiswaynow By the end of the song? I was nodding along by 20 something seconds

@calbeau I couldn't agree more. I'll be honest, I find it genuinely perplexing, the shift towards multiplayer. So much so, that a lot of the biggest games are multiplayer and single player often takes a backseat.

Do I have anything against multiplayer? No, there's been a couple of multiplayer games I've found very fun and addictive, but I much prefer single player for the reasons you stated - being able to pause the game whenever you want, and play at your own pace, I find it hard to play a game where I can't do that tbh, so I inherently enjoy single player games more. I ultimately find a good single player game to be a far more engrossing experience than multiplayer.

The two multiplayer games I really enjoyed, and found addictive, are PSO and SF4.

I'm surprised, didn't expect this to be 1080p60.

I'll have to try Portal out for the first time.

@Gitface What about Perfect Dark do you think is better?

Goldeneye is one of my favourite games ever, and I've tried to get into Perfect Dark a couple of times, but it just didn't grab me the way Goldeneye did. The missions and the setting, didn't find them that appealing or exciting. I found Goldeneye engaging and addictive from the minute I played it, and I'm not even a Bond fan in the slightest.

@Arkay It's running at 30fps with more LOD pops, so probably? If not actual Switch footage, maybe a workstation running on Switch settings.

It does look very good, exceptionally good for a Switch game if this really is representative of the Switch version.

I've never really known what people's problem is with this game, other than being negative just because it's Sonic.

I thought it looked good from the get go, but indeed this trailer looks the best so far.

@the_beaver Not sure it can really be called an indie game tbh. It's a 40 strong studio owned by SEGA

Concerns about a non-Italian actor?

But Charles Martinet, basically Mario as everyone knows him, is French American

The game actually looks really good. Internet gunna internet, plus people just seem to have a major stick up their arse about Sonic.

This looks like it might be the best Sonic since Sonic Adventure.

Best dog games please.

I'm not too fussed about raytracing, especially for anything that isn't going for modern realistic visuals, but how I would love Zelda OOT and Mario 64 running at 60fps. I don't even want any silly texture packs, I like the original textures, I just want 60fps

I knew 100% who the author of the article would be, just from the title.

I couldn't really think of any other writer who would be compelled to write about weird arms

@sketchturner I couldn't agree more. I mean imho, Goldeneye hasn't aged a bit (other than graphically, but that goes without saying).

The gameplay is still the best, most engaging and fun FPS I've ever played.

@MikeDubbz Agreed. We're obviously way beyond the point of these simply being considered "phones".

It's now essentially a tiny laptop that can make phone calls. I mean, the GPU/CPU power of flagship phones is now ahead of cheaper laptops, it's quite astonishing really.

GX is much, much better. I mean, there's no comparison really, GX is the best F-Zero by a country mile. It still looks and plays spectacularly today.

@KateGray - On a scale of 1-10, how disappointed were your parents when they found out you didn't even beat the final boss?

Absolutely fine tbh, just as good as the day I got it.

@Yorumi Exactly. Through the entire PS4 generation I was gaming mainly on PCs and then Switch too.

I had CPUs like an i5 3570k and Ryzen 5 2600, with mid range GPUs too (such as 650ti, 7850, 1060, 1660 Super), and the same story - pretty much everything worked perfectly, just like a console.

You don't need a beast of a PC to have a great experience PC gaming. The flexibility is good. Game not running at 60? Just turn down some settings or the resolution, that's the biggest advantage PC gaming has imo, the sheer level of flexibility and customisation.

@JaxonH Good post I agree, as you said presets are very good these days and many games even auto detect hardware and adjust accordingly.

Have you tried emulation btw? It's great that Retroarch is even on Steam these days, should make things easier than ever.

@JaxonH Hahaha, that is nuts. I had no idea. Seems like a pretty surreal reaction from a hardware manufacturer

@Troll_Decimator You're talking about tinkering with settings, yes that's just part of PC gaming to get the best bang for buck PQ and performance.

What I'm saying is games just work, I click them, they open, they run perfectly - just like a console. Long gone are the days when PC games were more fuss and faf and you had to update drivers etc all the time. These days everything just works. Do consoles have some convenience and accessibility advantage over PCs? Sure, but even consoles these days can be annoyingly slow and cumbersome with forced updates etc. PC gaming and console gaming are closer than ever as far as overall usability etc.

I have a Ryzen 7 5800 and an RTX 3070, so yes my PC is good enough to run almost anything on max settings, but it only takes a few minutes to go into a menu and change the settings to your liking for the "best experience".

Again, I love the experience my SeriesX offers, the immediacy of quick resume and swapping between games within seconds, but it's absolute nonsense to suggest PC gaming is this huge hassle these days. It's easier and simpler than ever, and generally speaking everything just works.

@JaxonH Agreed, I am absolutely astonished at the power of this thing compared to FAR more expensive alternatives like the Aya Neo. I mean, the Steam Deck basically renders all the competitors redundant. Much cheaper, much more powerful, and as you said the kind of slick system level features you'd expect from a good console.

@Neoicelord Cyberpunk says hello. On launch the PC version was much better than its console counterparts, and still is.

What you're saying is largely untrue, I have a gaming PC, Switch, and a Series X and tbh 99% of the time I double click a PC game in Windows 10 and it loads immediately and works perfectly, just like a console. In fact in some cases it seems better, with less forced updates etc if I just wanna play a game right now.

Having said that I do love the convenience of the Switch and the SeriesX in particular. Being able to switch games quickly and easily with the controller, and quick resume in particular is a big deal.

Quick resume is so good, that the PC version of a game would have to be significantly better than the SeriesX version for me to play on the PC instead. Which to be fair, some are, like FH5 and Microsoft Flight Sim, but generally speaking I do love the convenience and pick up and play factor of the SeriesX. Quick resume is great, and something even a very powerful PC can't do. FPS boost is superb too, and definitely takes the SeriesX closer to what a good gaming PC can deliver.