I find 30fps hard to deal with these days, a game has to be exceptional for me to play it at 30 (BOTW, Animal Crossing).
Goldeneye and Mario 64 are two of my favourite games ever, and I still enjoy them to this day. But again, they are exceptional, plus nostalgia factor.
Overall though, 60 is a big pull for me. It's not just about response times or sense of speed, 30 literally hurts my eyes. Put it this way, I'd take 480p60 over 1080p30 without thinking twice, for any game.
Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 are probably my 2 favourite Switch games, no doubt helped by their silky smooth 60fps visuals/gameplay.
BTW @Kate Gray - LODs are actually model swaps, to decrease model complexity the further the object is in the distance, and save on polycount and potentially draw calls. It would typically use the same texture, just a simplified model.
In this case I suppose what's happening is they are giving the tree LODs a huge boost to prevent them ever turning into billboards, or being culled.
I love Mario Kart, one of my favourite series ever, but could never get into MK 7 for some reason. Its course design and gameplay seemed quite a bit worse than MK64, Mario Kart DS, Double Dash, and MK Wii. The classic Mario Kart fun factor seemed strangely absent.
Mario Kart 8 is amazing though, I can see why it's still in the charts to this day.
For anyone interested, the info is right here. As someone who has been mainly a Switch and PC gamer for a few years, I am astonished by how good the Series X is.
As you can see, it really is slightly better than a 2080 Super by every metric, apart from ray tracing, which seems to be a somewhat waning buzzword now.
And here is an analysis of a recent high end game, showing it living up to its specs. You can see even the 9 TFLOP 2070 Super can't hit 60 at all, running at 4k XSX settings. And even the mighty 2080ti is only hovering around 66fps. Which again, supports the specs exactly, as on paper the 2080ti is 10% faster than the Series X.
It really is a beast of a console. As someone whose favourite recent console is the Switch by far, I do wholeheartedly recommend a Series X for anyone who wants something a bit different, a home console with a lot of power. I enjoy it more than my gaming PC too.
@Meteoroid Correct, he has no idea what he's talking about.
To compound that, he even mentions they are CPU bound, when in fact the power of the CPU's in these next gen consoles is one of the shockingly good things about them. Certainly far better than I expected.
They are rocking a Ryzen 7 3700x, which is an unbelievably good CPU for a console, and costs around $300.
@GoshJosh Of course not, but the point is it compares very favourably to a recentish gaming PC, ie something built just a few months before the release of the new consoles, for over twice the price of a XSX. Point being it certainly is not a "mid range budget PC".
A Series X doesn't get completely embarrassed even by a 3090, and that is 3 times the price, for the GPU alone.
@Specter_of-the_OLED you have a severely warped view of the success of the PS3 and PSP
The PS3 is in the top 10 best selling consoles ever, next to the Switch and actually outselling the 360. The PSP is just outside the top 10, above the 3DS.
@Vexx234 You have a pretty odd view of the new consoles. Midgrade budget PC's? These aren't the PS4/Xbox One we're talking about.
The Series X in particular is more powerful than a 2080 super, which fairly recently, was around 50% more expensive than a Series X or PS5. Not to mention that it contains a CPU similar to the Ryzen 3700x, so a 300 dollar CPU. So with a case, motherboard, controller etc you're looking at over a grand just to match it, let alone exceed it.
The Series X is good value even a year later, and has functionality the PC can't match, like quick resume. I have a gaming PC too, and enjoy the Series X far more.
Played on a good Plasma with a good scaler, the visuals are astonishingly good for a 20 year old game. Still looks absolutely spectacular, and runs at a flawless 60fps.
@Arawn93 Exactly. Tbh it's kind of bizarre that it even needs explaining/justifying. If you spend $7.5 billion on a studio, of course the games are going to exclusive.
Not entirely sure what you mean by that. An engine doesn't make a game, it just facilitates the building and running of any game.
RenderWare is an amazing engine to be sure, Burnout3 looked completely next gen when it came out. But ultimately, it's just an engine, and it's up to each game to supply assets/code/logic/shaders to said engine to really get the most out of it, and make a standout game. Some RenderWare games perform terribly, and some Unity games perform brilliantly. Ultimately it's up to the developer to really get the most out of any given engine or platform.
Check out the list of RenderWare games, it's a pretty random list, just like Unreal/Unity
@HotGoomba I think the days of Unity having a bad rep for crappy games and games "looking like a Unity game" should be a thing of the past at this point.
At this point it's just ignorant to still be conveying that idea. It just so happens to be the most accessible and mobile friendly game engine in the world, so of course a lot of the content created with it is going to be terrible, made by people who don't know what they're doing.
On the other hand, some of the most beloved and highly rated Indie games in recent years have been created with Unity - Inside and the Ori games being some of the first that spring to mind. Most people would agree both those games have excellent visuals.
To my surprise, even Nintendo uses Unity for their mobile Mario Kart.
Anyway, Unity is actually extremely powerful in the right hands, and current day Unity has come on leaps and bounds, so much that I think it could stand toe to toe with Unreal in almost every scenario, even console standard games.
It has multithreaded asynchronous loading now, multithreaded physics, a very fast entity component system to power huge hordes of moving objects, an excellent level editor and general tools, plus an asset store full of some very impressive tools if stock Unity doesn't have quite what you're looking for.
Even the recent "Dusk" was made in Unity, and praised for being an incredible port and flawless performance.
Anyway I hope this deal works out well for Unity, it's a lot of money to be investing in film effects, when you're primarily a game engine.
I think this is the best Mario game ever made, by some margin.
Quite shocked to see how mixed the opinions are on this comment section.
My previous favourite was Mario 64, didn't think any other Mario would be able to match that and the magic it had at the time, but this does. The feeling of pure fun you have just running around the beautifully crafted levels, and the incredibly tight and responsive controls at a solid 60fps, make it a joy to play, it never gets old.
The number of levels, and the sheer variety of worlds certainly help its case too, and the great soundtrack - especially the forest and lake worlds.
A 10/10 game, simply one of the best games I've ever played, and the main reason I bought a Switch.
I am a Sonic fan, I love the first game and Sonic Adventure, but I haven't particularly enjoyed a Sonic game since SA 1 and 2.
The reality is Nintendo's most recent proper Mario game - Mario Odyssey - is better than every Sonic ever made, put together. So no, Nintendo don't need a Sonic Mania moment
Comments 123
Re: Video: Our Thoughts On Animal Crossing: New Horizons, One Month Into The 2.0 Update
@KateGray shoutout to your Hori Pad, the only real way to play portable
Re: Talking Point: Great Game, Poor Performance - When Does A Bad Frame Rate Not Really Matter?
I find 30fps hard to deal with these days, a game has to be exceptional for me to play it at 30 (BOTW, Animal Crossing).
Goldeneye and Mario 64 are two of my favourite games ever, and I still enjoy them to this day. But again, they are exceptional, plus nostalgia factor.
Overall though, 60 is a big pull for me. It's not just about response times or sense of speed, 30 literally hurts my eyes. Put it this way, I'd take 480p60 over 1080p30 without thinking twice, for any game.
Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 are probably my 2 favourite Switch games, no doubt helped by their silky smooth 60fps visuals/gameplay.
Re: Gallery: Here's What Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Looks Like With Raytracing
Stock BOTW looks much better than Skyrim
BTW @Kate Gray - LODs are actually model swaps, to decrease model complexity the further the object is in the distance, and save on polycount and potentially draw calls. It would typically use the same texture, just a simplified model.
In this case I suppose what's happening is they are giving the tree LODs a huge boost to prevent them ever turning into billboards, or being culled.
Re: Talking Point: Mario Kart 7 And Its Infamous Course Skip Are Now 10 Years Old
I love Mario Kart, one of my favourite series ever, but could never get into MK 7 for some reason. Its course design and gameplay seemed quite a bit worse than MK64, Mario Kart DS, Double Dash, and MK Wii. The classic Mario Kart fun factor seemed strangely absent.
Mario Kart 8 is amazing though, I can see why it's still in the charts to this day.
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
Removed
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
For anyone interested, the info is right here. As someone who has been mainly a Switch and PC gamer for a few years, I am astonished by how good the Series X is.
The information is right here.
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/xbox-series-x-gpu.c3482
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-2080-super.c3439
As you can see, it really is slightly better than a 2080 Super by every metric, apart from ray tracing, which seems to be a somewhat waning buzzword now.
And here is an analysis of a recent high end game, showing it living up to its specs. You can see even the 9 TFLOP 2070 Super can't hit 60 at all, running at 4k XSX settings. And even the mighty 2080ti is only hovering around 66fps. Which again, supports the specs exactly, as on paper the 2080ti is 10% faster than the Series X.
https://youtu.be/y51csslcGgk?t=846
It really is a beast of a console. As someone whose favourite recent console is the Switch by far, I do wholeheartedly recommend a Series X for anyone who wants something a bit different, a home console with a lot of power. I enjoy it more than my gaming PC too.
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
@Meteoroid Correct, he has no idea what he's talking about.
To compound that, he even mentions they are CPU bound, when in fact the power of the CPU's in these next gen consoles is one of the shockingly good things about them. Certainly far better than I expected.
They are rocking a Ryzen 7 3700x, which is an unbelievably good CPU for a console, and costs around $300.
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
@Sculptor Your acute and vocal ignorance is cringe inducing. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Even the PS4 pro is the equivalent of of a 1060, around 4 TFLOPS.
The Series X is a whopping 3 times faster, 12 TFLOPS, which indeed puts it ahead of the 2080 Super.
You suggesting it's the equivalent of a 1650 is too absurd for words.
The Series X runs Forza Horizon 4 and 5 at a rock solid 4k60.
Digital Foundry's tests support the specs exactly, showing that to beat a Series X, you need a 2080ti.
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
@GoshJosh Of course not, but the point is it compares very favourably to a recentish gaming PC, ie something built just a few months before the release of the new consoles, for over twice the price of a XSX. Point being it certainly is not a "mid range budget PC".
A Series X doesn't get completely embarrassed even by a 3090, and that is 3 times the price, for the GPU alone.
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
@Specter_of-the_OLED you have a severely warped view of the success of the PS3 and PSP
The PS3 is in the top 10 best selling consoles ever, next to the Switch and actually outselling the 360. The PSP is just outside the top 10, above the 3DS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles
Re: Former Metroid Prime Engineer Admits He Was "Disappointed" With The Wii's Specs
@Vexx234 You have a pretty odd view of the new consoles. Midgrade budget PC's? These aren't the PS4/Xbox One we're talking about.
The Series X in particular is more powerful than a 2080 super, which fairly recently, was around 50% more expensive than a Series X or PS5. Not to mention that it contains a CPU similar to the Ryzen 3700x, so a 300 dollar CPU. So with a case, motherboard, controller etc you're looking at over a grand just to match it, let alone exceed it.
The Series X is good value even a year later, and has functionality the PC can't match, like quick resume. I have a gaming PC too, and enjoy the Series X far more.
Re: Random: Want To Smell Like Sonic? Then Check Out These Official Sega Colognes
Smelling like Sonic is OK I guess, but let's be honest, who wouldn't want to smell like Ryo or Kiryu?
Re: Talking Point: Is There A Better-Looking 20-Year-Old Game Than Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II?
Yes, F-Zero GX, by far.
Played on a good Plasma with a good scaler, the visuals are astonishingly good for a 20 year old game. Still looks absolutely spectacular, and runs at a flawless 60fps.
Re: Review: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl - A Middling Pair Of Remakes
Author name checks out
Re: Phil Spencer: Elder Scrolls 6's Xbox Exclusivity Isn't About "Punishing" Other Platforms
@Arawn93 Exactly. Tbh it's kind of bizarre that it even needs explaining/justifying. If you spend $7.5 billion on a studio, of course the games are going to exclusive.
Re: Video: Check Out This Side-By-Side Comparison Of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City On Switch And PS Vita
@Slowdive
Not entirely sure what you mean by that. An engine doesn't make a game, it just facilitates the building and running of any game.
RenderWare is an amazing engine to be sure, Burnout3 looked completely next gen when it came out. But ultimately, it's just an engine, and it's up to each game to supply assets/code/logic/shaders to said engine to really get the most out of it, and make a standout game. Some RenderWare games perform terribly, and some Unity games perform brilliantly. Ultimately it's up to the developer to really get the most out of any given engine or platform.
Check out the list of RenderWare games, it's a pretty random list, just like Unreal/Unity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RenderWare_games
Re: The Best Switch Joy-Con Finally Get A Grip For TV Play
Wired is a weird decision right? I mean, if 8bitdo can make wireless controllers that work excellently, why not Hori?
If it was wireless I'd buy it for sure. The Split pad pro is superb, and basically essential for handheld play.
Re: Unity Is Buying The Tech Assets Of Oscar-Winning 'Lord of the Rings' VFX House Weta For $1.625 billion
@thiz is exactly right.
@HotGoomba
I think the days of Unity having a bad rep for crappy games and games "looking like a Unity game" should be a thing of the past at this point.
At this point it's just ignorant to still be conveying that idea. It just so happens to be the most accessible and mobile friendly game engine in the world, so of course a lot of the content created with it is going to be terrible, made by people who don't know what they're doing.
On the other hand, some of the most beloved and highly rated Indie games in recent years have been created with Unity - Inside and the Ori games being some of the first that spring to mind. Most people would agree both those games have excellent visuals.
To my surprise, even Nintendo uses Unity for their mobile Mario Kart.
Anyway, Unity is actually extremely powerful in the right hands, and current day Unity has come on leaps and bounds, so much that I think it could stand toe to toe with Unreal in almost every scenario, even console standard games.
It has multithreaded asynchronous loading now, multithreaded physics, a very fast entity component system to power huge hordes of moving objects, an excellent level editor and general tools, plus an asset store full of some very impressive tools if stock Unity doesn't have quite what you're looking for.
Even the recent "Dusk" was made in Unity, and praised for being an incredible port and flawless performance.
Anyway I hope this deal works out well for Unity, it's a lot of money to be investing in film effects, when you're primarily a game engine.
Re: Anniversary: Can You Believe It? Super Mario Odyssey Is Now Four Years Old
I think this is the best Mario game ever made, by some margin.
Quite shocked to see how mixed the opinions are on this comment section.
My previous favourite was Mario 64, didn't think any other Mario would be able to match that and the magic it had at the time, but this does. The feeling of pure fun you have just running around the beautifully crafted levels, and the incredibly tight and responsive controls at a solid 60fps, make it a joy to play, it never gets old.
The number of levels, and the sheer variety of worlds certainly help its case too, and the great soundtrack - especially the forest and lake worlds.
A 10/10 game, simply one of the best games I've ever played, and the main reason I bought a Switch.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best Start-Up Sound?
PS1 for nostalgia and sheer awesomeness - that startup sound and logo definitely represented a new era in gaming.
GameCube for cuteness and sheer Nintendoness.
I kind of wish the Switch had a more "Nintendo" startup sound tbh.
Re: Review: Sonic Colors Ultimate - The Best 3D Sonic Game Gets A Respectable Remaster
@Sjmaster
I'm talking about the games that are fast and fun with actual 3D Sonic gameplay
Re: Review: Sonic Colors Ultimate - The Best 3D Sonic Game Gets A Respectable Remaster
The best 3D Sonic game?
It's a pretty good game, but Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are much better and tbh it's not even close.
Re: Soapbox: It's Time For Nintendo's Sonic Mania Moment
@Silly_G
Agreed. Pretty bizarre article tbh.
I am a Sonic fan, I love the first game and Sonic Adventure, but I haven't particularly enjoyed a Sonic game since SA 1 and 2.
The reality is Nintendo's most recent proper Mario game - Mario Odyssey - is better than every Sonic ever made, put together. So no, Nintendo don't need a Sonic Mania moment