@PinderSchloss It's a bit frustrating seeing so many major 1st party releases not getting any support at first, but I am pretty confident that Nintendo is well aware of the opportunity (they updated ARMS, right?) and will want to spread these "releases" out over the coming months to basically bolster their schedule and feed the news cycle.
From their point of view, it does make sense: they can't sell more console for now than they're currently selling. It would just be a goodwill and PR waste for them to update everything right away.
I will say this though: not having played XBCX on Switch yet, it WOULD be nice to at least have confirmation that updates are forthcoming. I have plenty of other stuff to occupy me with, but not knowing for sure if there is any point in having patience seems pointless. Then again, it's Ninty so ... yeah.
@ThisisJosh Yeah, you right of course! I just meant, it is a bit of an odd priority. Like Strikers feels like a game already superseded. Sunshine is literally already available on the Switch in a superior version most would argue. I don't mind there being two options/versions to play any such game, but it's an ... interesting place to start the drip-feed.
If they were dropping like 10 games a month it would be one thing, but we all know that is not going to happen.
Looking at that graph ... that's exactly what logarithmic scaling is for Using median for incomes distribution is generally the way to go.
As for the income gap itself, obviously it is ridiculous by any measure of common sense and economic reasoning one might dare to apply. At the same time, it is by no means an issue related to EA specifically or the gaming industry in general. It's a tiny wheel in a giant machine that particular the U.S. has been happily fueling for about half a century.
Interestingly enough, Nintendo itself is actually a "weird" outlier in that respect. Having pay gaps by a ratio of 1000x is increasingly common for instance. And no, I am not kidding.
Would be nice if they added Luigi's Mansion 1. I picked up LM 2 HD in the sale and noticed there is no way to replay the first game on Switch so far, which is kinda weird.
Same goes for Metroid Prime. I'm sure there is a number of folks who picked up the series with the Series with Remastered and ... would like to see the series through before Beyond arrives.
Not sure Strikers was a priority release really given Nintendo's drip-feed approach to anything virtual console.
Played the game on Steam since release. Experimental Capcom it's best! Highly recommended and the free little DLC is much appreciated, esp. given the price point of the game.
Seems like another misuse of technology to me. Not a problem with the technology as such. More generally, this reminds me of something I once read about DA:Origins: high-end 2D artistic renditions will always beat middle-of-the-road 3D renderings.
@Ultimapunch To be fair, partially replacing human workers with automation is largely how we have increased productivity for at least the last four decades. AI is just the latest in hyper capital-intensive labor-replacement technology. Back in the 1860s two bearded guys had some rather in-depth thoughts about the inevitable nature of this process
That does not look half bad and I do really like vehicular combat games. Really wish we could get a new Vigilante 8, but that is probably not going to happen. Friggin loved that game growing up!
Maybe Mario Kart Would could take a clue here and add some ... y'know varied gameplay content. That could be something with boss fights and all. If this game I've never heard of before can do it, maybe that $80 game could as well?
If the reviews for this are decent, I'll check it out.
Castlevania Dominus Collection is one of the three physical SW games I own. I left it sealed though and been playing the digital release since I got my SW2 All three games are certified bangers in my book, but Dawn of Sorrow is just a game I also have the fondest of memories for from the NDS days. I don't mind having multiple copies (incl. Steam) for these. I'll replay them until I no longer can.
The Advance Collection titles are also neat Metroidvanias of course, but I feel they fall short of the DS ones, plus I never owned them back in the GBA days, so I have no nostalgia for them.
The pre-SotN games do nothing for me personally, so I skipped the anniversary collection. I would love to see a SotN re-release for SW though, as convenient portable version outside of my Playsi would be neat.
Anyways, very worthwhile games - no matter what release you pick!
I dunno, I mean, personally I expected at least $ 30, hence this is not bad news at all. Then again, that particular expectation was based on the absolute nickel'n'dimming of zero pack-in games and instead giving us a $10 interactive manual, so ... yeah ...
The thing I find kind of fascinating is that so far, there is no 1st party game really showing off mouse mode. That is rather unusual for Nintendo. Is this supposed to be it then? Or still MP4? I'm not in any way critical about mouse mode, I think it makes 100% sense and was the next logical step to bridge gap to THE main benefit of PC as far as certain genres go (I for one cannot enjoy playing FPS with a controller for instance, it never feels even remotely right). Still, would have been nice to have something at hand to really make use of it. I know, there is Cyberpunk but as impressive as that port is, that is a PC game if I ever saw one
Anyways, curious to see what the reviews will say about Drag x Drive. I have no idea what to make of it.
I don't love how these reveals happen in the most anticlimactic way imaginable: in yet another pointless app.
Either they still have a ton of other stuff to reveal during their next Direct or they are going to just repeat this process for like MP4 release date as well, which would be about as appropriate and exciting as burying Silk Song for like 6,4 seconds in a sizzle-reel ... what else is the alternative? A Direct Lite? That would definitely be the worst option, so I can't see that.
Not sure this is really the best way to market stuff like this in general and build the most hype possible. But Nintendo has all the data to make these decisions, so they must obviously know best. Maybe it is just them experimenting ... or maybe they just feel it is worth the trade-off to get people to install the app?
As for the game itself, I have yet to see anything about it, I find enticing. It looks incredibly dull and more like a tech demo wiped up on the go to test a concept. Looking at Welcome Tour I also expect highly questionable pricing to be honest. 99% a pass for me to be honest.
Really an odd way to drive the conversation about 3 weeks into the generation.
Not a big fighting game guy, and I still expect a proper Nintendo Direct before the Pokemon one next month, which will be more interesting to me (as well as the Capcom Spotlight actually, since they're really cooking lately), but even I have been pretty darn flashed by Marvel Tokon during the last Sony state of play. That game looked like an absolute blast.
I just hope to learn about whether it is going to be something worthwhile for a filthy fighting game casual like myself or even have meaningful single player content. Other than that, I am personally not interested in their offerings, just not my thing even if visually, all their efforts are very much appealing.
@Pipulitoch "Tech geeks" is just a framing device here though. Plenty of people will just not be experienced enough to realize that they are indeed looking at a subpar reproduction of their favorite content.
That is just the old ignorace-is-bliss argument in action. Yeah, if you never seen an OLED or good Mini-LED/FALD whatever, the SW2 screen will look "fine". It is not a point in favor of the screen though, as that argument holds true for flat-out everything. I'll save myself exploring bud light and beer jokes here, but that is kinda the same story.
@DylanMcGrann Totally agree on your point about it being a boon that the system established these standards at the start of the generation (1st and foremost HDR and 120 hz, but also VRR).
Yeah, portable mode will not see much if any benefit from it now (except potentially VRR of course), but these are forward looking technologies for both, future iterations of the portable (a SWOLED2 or even a SW3) as well as TV-output in general.
@MTMike87 Just to be fair, this is not about "smoothness", but motion resolution. In fact, I would argue less motion resolution can actually add to a subjective sense of "smoothness" as it is basically a sort of hardware motion blur. So in that sense you might have a point, but that is not the issue brought up here.
I figured the perceived smeariness was mostly due to the necessary upscaling to 1080p. Seems I have been wrong.
Still, I feel the lack of any meaningful contrast is much more bothersome to me as it also sucks out the vividness of slow paced or even mostly static games like FE and Baten Kaitos as well. For a Nintendo platform this is hardly a great fit in my book. I mean, Nintendo is not into the whole grey-meets-brown school of thought of "proper" color grading for videogames, right?
I've seen many comments along the lines of not being bothered by the lack of "deep blacks". I find that frankly irritating, as this screen obviously does not display anything that could be mistaken for even black-adjacent ... like, just what is even the thinking here?
Having a measured static contrast ratio of about 1300:1 (according to the link) sounds about right to my eyes and would not have been something anyone would have been impressed by when the Switch 1 launched. The last Non-OLED-TV I used was a Plasma TV and it had about twice the static contrast ratio. That TV was purchased almost 15 years ago. I think that is pretty insane Oo
I grant you that this was pretty much the high end of what was possible in the consumer market back then, but again, that was 1.5 decades ago.
Ah well, I mostly played docked anyways, but it does take away some of the value of the device for me as the downgrade once undocked is pretty staggering. There is after all an entire plane of existence between that contrast ratio and ...to infinity and beyond!
Kinda reflects what John said on the DF review, no? Despite Nintendo by all accounts having prepared for this launch for quite some time, there is not exactly an abundance of dev kits going around. Whether this is Nintendo being cautious or something else ... who knows, but it does mean we might not see the floodgates open for some time post launch - once again.
@Solid_Python To my knowledge RE Requiem is slated as a current-gen game only, that is for PC, PS5 and Series X/S. That does not mean an eventual port to Switch 2 is out of the question, but it's certainly not a given right now.
@Dman10 Definitely! That is just the name of game - not much any company could do about that. Just like people will complain after any given Direct, even the most content rich imaginable, someone will complain about the absence of X, Y and Z!
Wow ... TMNT and TLA!? That is two of my favourite franchise ever. Gotta say, slightly tempted now - anything that let's me play as Michelangelo kinda has my number
I wish they had just come out and said: look these cartridges are $15 a pop. We'll eat $5 and pass on $10 to you: that is $80 physical and $70 digital.
The ball would have been with the other publishers then ...
I'm kinda glad I only a physical game every couple of years, so this really does not bother me that much, but it is kinda disheartening how all this discourse turned toxic in the typical expedited fashion
Silly me has been excited for Pragmata for half a decade now. With the recent re-reveal, it went up pretty much straight to my top anticipated list for 2026. Plus, Capcom has really been cooking lately with both experimental designs like Kunitsu-Gami or classic remakes like RE4R. Onimusha also looks absolutely fire and we still need a remaster for part 3 at least.
The pro controller 2 is nice, but I did return mine after realizing that my Mayflash Magic-NS adapter from way back then still works fine with both the Switch 2 and a DualSense Edge (with TMR sticks). Couldn't really comfortably reach the GR and GL buttons on the Pro 2 anyways and the ergonomics seem better than before, but still not really competitive with the Edge.
On the other hand: you can turn on the Switch 2 with the Pro 2 and the sticks are really way smmooootthhh Good controller then, but not essential with better options available.
@Kingy Good points. I can only add, that I feel this design must have been intentional. I did notice that a) Smart Steering was on for default for instance (as for a previews from what I read), b) they literally added a major feature that basically forces you to go drive on rails and c) (as you said:) 200 cc is missing in action.
Maybe it is one big coincidence, but taking your points about the tracks - and I won't argue there is a overabundance of driving a lot of straight lines on wide roads - it seems they wanted to de-emphasize racing in favor of chaotic item battles.
I mean, the goal was obviously do not just to a reskin of MK8 Deluxe, which I think most of us would agree had the Kart Racing formula pretty much nailed down and perfect. That is supported by the shoehorned in open-world, that just exists as a separate mode with nothing justifying the tons of resources it must have eaten up.
I think there is hope in terms of updates: not necessarily in way of fixing the shortcomings you laid out, but rather given the whole design shift - assuming I am not wrong about this - a purpose. As I said, I can see appeal in a more "action"-centric Kart racer, I really do, but it needs to be a holistic approach then.
PS: To point out something positive, I do really like the water physics though. To the point I hope some future tracks will lean into that and give us a game-with-the-game waver race experience (or they re-use the tech for wave race, but that seems unlikely with all the racing content already present and Kirby in the pipeline). Also, it is really nice to FINALLY get a Mario Kart game in HDR
@Kingy To be fair, the actual tracks are totally fine even by the high MK standards and most people or some people - well certainly myself - always thought of MK more like a chaos-driven party game than a serious racer. My favorite mode growing up on the N64 was battle mode all day long anyways. From that point of view, yeah, I really kinda like Knock-Out-Tour as it absolutely leans into that perception of Mario Kart and kinda brings the battling and racing together in a more intense and balanced manner.
I totally agree on your points about the open-world though and I can also see how folks who were actually in MK for the, well, racing primarily might not gel super well with the changes made.
In an odd way, I think that is not too much of a bother as MK8 Deluxe is still very much there on the Switch 2 with it nigh boundless supply of tracks. Also, I think MK World will likely evolve quite a bit over the next couple of years. Curious to see where they will take it given the feedback and telemetry they are no doubt collecting.
I was bored to tears after about 5 minutes and 2 P-Switches. Honestly though, that is not a big deal as I generally do not cope well with 95% of open-world designs and thus this was completely expected.
What I found pretty interesting is the fact, that I couldn't see any design-inherent reason to "bother" (from my PoV) with it at all. It's almost like the designers did not trust their own creation enough to make it in any sense "mandatory" or fomo-adjacent. It is a really odd thing to behold and experience then.
It's there, it's technically fine, it must have been TONS of work, but there is really very little to do in it and no extrinsic motivation attached to do anything at all with it for the player. I don't seen I've ever quite seen this particular combination before.
What bothers we personally, is the wasted potential. Like why are there no battles in the open-world? That could have been exciting using the terrain and all. Why are there no boss fights of sorts? I think Mario Kart - as a goofy KART racer - had oh so many opportunities here to give purpose to it's world. Albeit, the world has - afaik - absolutely zero inherent purpose. It is just there ... kinda, well, accessible from a menu no less.
It all seems like an afterthought to say the least, which is odd given it is part of the title. I never dreamed of saying this before, but ... I do hope they take a live-service'esque shot on this. Imagine you could do like Coop-PvE missions in the world, with carts getting all sorts of abilities to fight, to heal or to tank. I think that could be something truly unique and utterly fun.
I hope the Direct is designed to really sell the game to Non-DK fans. I'm not much of a platformer-player myself, but ever since the SNES days, I had a particular weak spot for DK games. I also always really liked physics-based or even driven gameplay, something woefully absent over the last decade, and thus feel this game should appeal to me.
At the same time my general sense is that outside of these particular circumstances to to speak, most folks seem pretty, well, un-hyped about the game. If they are doing this instead of a normal June Direct, it better be worth it! (Which is not to say, that there could not be a normal direct close by, which I think is 100% necessary given that we still do not have a Release Date for MP4 for instance).
1. No, they don't. HDR is not "one" thing. It's not just about metadata, nor is it just about contrast. But there is no point on me writing a Wikipedia article here. Forcing an output into an HDR container and using a specifically trained ML-model to sophisticatedly extrapolating additional video information are not the same. Just as doing an integer upscale of an image is not the same as DLSS. The very statement is inane without end to be frank.
2. You don't need to. They are all basically on PC.
I mean ... I appreciate the flex, but you would be unhappy if there was nothing but 30fps-locked games, using a 4090 and all that.
3. No, you don't. We are talking - as you well know and I have stated above nevertheless- about a 7,9" channel, Nintendo would have bought by the millions. $1000+ is about as reasonable a number as 20 good HDR games.
6. It IS easier. Most things that are wrong, tend to be easier for the replace complexity with simplicity. Not sure what to add here other than, two things sound similarly but are fundamentally different.
And yes, they are very much different in process AND result. Conflating process and result does not help either to be rather blunt Oo
I don't care if it is an OLED or a miniLED. Both can provide very good contrasts. That is just a distinction between maximizing either contrast or brightness. I would have been totally okay with a miniLED.
One could argue that my main gripe might be that Nintendo is clearly nickle'n'diming us. They could have easily gone with SKU's at launch: a premium model, that offers a proper HDR experience in portable mode, for those who value it, and a base model, for those ... well who don't care or can't tell either way. I know I know ... Nintendo always does this, but normally they don't do it at $450 price point! We can cope all day long here, it is not exactly a move I can applaud.
1. No, I pointed out that Switch 2 currently does neither. AutoHDR and RTX HDR are indeed similar ML-based approaches to each other, but neither Switch nor PS5 use any of them. AutoHDR is a Xbox/Win-11+ System-Level feature and RTX HDR is proprietary Nvidia-Solution, that - like I said - could conceivably be used by Switch 2. You are conflating forcing a systems video-output into a HDR container with ML-based HDR post processing. They are not the same at all.
2. We all have been burned ever since the PS4 Pro launched. So what? Pretty much every Sony 1st party game has been excellent in HDR, with some still being absolute reference level titles to this day. I don't see your point. You might as well argue that any game should be 30-fps locked, since we all have been burned so much before with woobly 60fps performance modes on games. I'm not gonna bother with such defeatist mindset. To each their own though.
4. I respect you arguing with numbers only to then argue that one should not argue with numbers. That does take guts. Fine: I'm not hung up on THE number. Your argument is wrong by orders of magnitude. Orders of magnitude matter.
5. I'm not gonna jump on that $800 figure, as you just argued we should not get hung up on numbers. It is wrong though. For that price you can get a pretty high end 30" OLED monitor. We are talking about a simple 7,9" panel, not to mention that Nintendo does not pay end-consumer prices and has economies of scale on their side with the numbers of Switch 2 systems expected to be sold (15-20 Million by the end of this fiscal year alone).
6. Okay? I believe you, but I am not a telepath. You brought it up out of nowhere and since you were constantly conflating "Auto HDR" with force output, I was honestly not convinced you were not also conflating VRR stutter, a very specific issue with PS5 until shortly, and VRR flicker, which is all about certain display technologies and has nothing at all do with the console.
As for moving away from LCD, you are making it sound like "LCD = LCD". If Nintendo had used a Minileds, or a good FALD display, they could have achieved much much better results as well, without ever going OLED. Just saying, OLED was not the only way to go to make HDR pop. It would have been the best in my book, obviously, but not the only one. An edgelit LCD though ... that was never going to make HDR work for anyone. But now we are back to the beginning: it is serviceable, but given that it is 2025 and we are coming from an OLED-based Swtich refresh, it is a huge step back and thus a disappoint.
The only way not to see it that way is from my point of view to ignore the last 8'ish years entirely and compare it purely to the launch Switch. Then yes, it is better looking and has an enhanced feature set. Other than, I cannot in good conscience sing it's praises in any respect whatsoever.
6. VRR stutter is not the same as VRR flicker. Flicker is about .... luminescence, which I already argued at length is very obvious to the human eye indeed. If you think people are even remotely uniformly aware or affected by VRR stutter on PS5, which was fixed btw in the last system update, I would simply point you to the comments section on the respective videos on this for Digital Foundry or other channels.
7. We agree that the PS5 VRR support is severly lacking compared to Xbox. How is that relevant here? The PS5 does not support LFC, but it does support VRR via HDMI. The Switch 2 does not.
8. I have zero idea why you would stop noticing rich colors and contrast after 10 minutes. I mean, if that were true, how would any TV or display manufacturer even survive? Oo You get USED to it, certainly, but that only means you will notice it once its gone. I actually made that very point initially, as someone who was fortunate enough to have moved beyond LCD screens a couple of years ago. Anything that cannot display a true black reference points then quickly starts to stick out like a sore thumb. If you are not used to it ... well, we call that blissful ignorance for a reason.
I mean, I bought a Switch 2, I do enjoy it, I think the screen is a big improvement over the OG screen (which was horrific to be fair), but given the fact that we have a) a Switch OLED and b) that is 2025 and OLED prices have come down significantly since the launch of the OG Switch, the resulting image is a disappointment and a step back. It is not in any sense of the word true HDR, as far as the end user experiences go.
I will end on a positive note though: HDR support was the number one thing I wanted from Nintendo, as in my experience, it is the biggest improvement to visual entertainment in over a decade. It just brings things much much closer to the sensory experience of real life (which does not end with 500 nits but rather 10.000 nits by the way) and thus just tickles our primate brain, which once upon the time used to worship that bright glowing ball in the sky and used to dream about the sparkly dots in the pitch black night sky, in all the right ways.
I never DREAMED they would actually do it, even though a game like Splatoon begs and screams and cries out for HDR support every day of its existence, but they did. The only did it half way for now, but we all know the OLED model will come and it works fine on my TV or any modern OLED/QDOLED/MINILED/FALD or future MICROLED.
It is future proofing in away, and the full potential will come with the next generation. It is what it is. I'm disappointed, sure, but also optimistic. There is no going back for Nintendo now in that respect.
I appreciate the discussion and your point of view. Cheers.
1. I don't want to be rude, but you have no understand of what you are talking about. The Switch is definitely not using RTX HDR (which incurs about a 10% performance penalty). What it does, is the same thing the PS5 does: it wraps the SDR output into an SDR container. Think of it as a static mapping from a small dnamic space into a small part of a much bigger dynamic space. RTX HDR is fundamentally different and can produce very good results, often times outclassing middling native HDR implementations. For RTX HDR you can set contrast, saturation, middle gray and max luminance on the fly and gauge the results in real time. For most games it is extremely effective.
2. There is a patch on the way for Fast Fusion, but the resolution is besides the point. Native HDR is not incurring any relevant performance overhead so these two things are simply connected at all on a technical level.
3. You make it sound like a foregone conclusion: that in 2025 most HDR implementations simply HAVE to be bad. That is nonsensical. Why would that be the case? And why would that be any more okay than games running a wobbly 20 fps!? It is up to the platform holder to provide the software and hardware environments to enable devs to make competent products and it is on the devs to make dilligent use of it. If Nintendo sets a never before seen standard, that is ALL our system can technically process HDR ... then that is good thing, because we never had this before ever. To argue that this means nothing beggars the mind.
4. "20 games with actual good HDR" ... dude what are you saying? The Switch had like 16.000 games. That would be something like 0.001% of games. That is just ... what!? The Switch already has games with good and very good HDR implementations right now, as we speak. Judging by Nintendo's first party quality since basically ever and the PS5/XSX library of quality HDR games (neither of which can boast a guarantee that any piece of software running on it will ever be connected to a HDR capable display device) that number seems like sheer trolling. Sorry to say.
5. Nobody said you have to remove the VRR. OLED and QDOLED have been running VRR for years ... the fact remains that developers cannot rely on VRR as their docked profile will not use it - period.
I take your point about developers doing a poor job of good HDR implementations. Ironically, the Switch is running an Ampere-based architecture with plenty of OS overhead from what I understand. It should be able to just run a kind of system level RTX HDR mode (esp. when the resources for Gamechat are not in use ...) to address this issue entirely.
You are missing the point though: even if there is a good HDR implementation, and those definitely exist even on Switch, as seen in Fast Fusion straight at launch, you will not reap its' rewards in portable mode. That's just how it is for now - sadly.
As for your second point: I strongly disagree. There is a reason most users never even noticed that VRR stutter on PS5. Joe Average does not take note of this stuff. Some do, some look for it specifically, but most are just oblivious. Everyone and their nana though can distinguish between a high contrast image with proper blacks and a "washed out" image aka low contrast image with improper black levels. Social media regularly throws whole tantrums about, let's say, challenging lighting in popular TV shows (an infamous House of Dragon episode comes to mind).
As for my point about luminescence: I was just pointing out how human eyes work, what they are sensitive to and what not. Chroma information like using RGB 4:4:4 costs tons of bandwidth, but provides extremely negligible benefits to the perceived image. The same is absolutely not true for brightness and contrast. People are instantly able to describe any such image as "punchier", "deeper", "more natural" (even if it is overexposed or whatever) etc. Again, I would point to the simple fact of economics: what do you see on any electronics store showroom floor? TV's with brightness and contrast bumped to 100 in "store mode". It quite literally draws in the eye and opens wallets.
I think the issue is that the screen simply can't produce a meaningful HDR presentation. The black-levels are not there, the peak brightness is not there, hence the contrast is not there. Simple as that. Everything looks muted in HDR, as it has to given the technical limitations. This will make many devs think twice about even implementing HDR.
That in turn is a shame, because stuff like Fast Fusion really looks stunning on an OLED TV. It's also frustrating, since I've been done with any kind of LCD for the better part of five years now. Feels like going back to my first own Sony LCD TV 20 years ago. It had reference black levels for a consumer TV ... well, for the time that is.
The Switch 2 screen does not even favorably compare to my ancient Panasonic VT40 Plasma TV from around 2012, certainly not in perceived black levels or motion clarity.
Getting VR and 120 hz, stuff barely any game will take advantage off, because VR is not available in Docked (and even then, not everyone can be expected to have a VRR TV yet) and because, well, CPU limitations. Yeah, sure 40 FPS is much nicer than 30 FPS, but that is a niche consideration.
Contrast is what YOU always see when you use the Switch 2 in portable. It should have been the higher priority by far. Contrast and changes in luminescence is just what our eyes perceive most intensely ...
Ah well, there will be a Switch 2 OLED eventually, but it's still frustrating that by then, millions of people will think that HDR Is a pointless tech gimmick that makes everything look worse. Which it certainly does on the internal screen
Kinda excited about this. My interest in the multiplayer waned pretty quickly, but I did very much enjoy the "campaigns". So much so, that I wished there was ... just way more of it, not just terms of missions count and such, but also sheer depth. The mechanics and the overall design as well as atmosphere of Splatoon were always expertly crafted, so ... why not capitalize on this for a proper extended meaty single-player experience?
If Raiders is that and if it comes with the mouse controls (the main reason I fell off the MP, playing competitively with a controller is just not for me any more, sadly), I'm 100% here for it. Virtually a guaranteed win. Given this is basically Nintendo's only "third person shooter" thingy, and mouse being this gens "gimmick" (I think it has way more potential than any of their prior "gimmicks" though ...), mouse support should be an absolute no-brainer. This and Metroid seem tailor made for it after all.
I wonder what this means for the chances of the WiiU version being ported over. I still kinda feel it is going to happen, as Nintendo will most likely want to continue to bolster their release schedule with new content, remaster content and updated content (Switch 2 version and free patches).
Given that the WiiU remaster well is about to bottom out on them, I'd say Wii/GC are next anyways, so redoing WW and also TP would make all the sense in the world.
Frankly though, I am more worried about FE:PoR. I spend the entire Switch gen holding out for a HD Collection, was sure it was going to happen when Baten Kaitos was announced, and then ... nothing. Given there is no Wii Emulator yet (sure to come next) and thus no FE:RD in sight, teasing people with PoR and the ever popular Ike might not actually be a bad idea.
@Magenof From what I've seen, it's 40'ish. I kinda needed to run it at DLSS performance to get it to 4k60 on 3080M on PC, so ... great game though and I'd say very playable at 30 or 40 VRR.
Maybe Switch can help Capcom out with this one. They really made a unique and innovative little gem here, but barely any one took notice so far.
I have on preordered and currently en route. Disappointed to hear about the flimsy feel of it, as it definitely was not cheap. I am not too concerned about protection though. First, this is mainly about making it comfortable to hold during occasional portable play, which it currently is 100% not and secondly to protect the screen: to that end I ordered the version WITH the travel cover.
Not sure why anyone would expect protection otherwise from what is clearly just a grip case. I'm curios to see if I'll ever use the magsafe, but who knows, seems like a nice-to-have thing honestly.
First thing I did after System Transfer: grab Fast Fusion from the e-shop!
Not gonna lie, it made my heart truly sing to see this looking AND playing all gloriously in HDR on my LG OLED right there on the day of the launch of a new Nintendo system. Feels like a small event, about 15 years in the making, ever since the days of Fast Racing League on the Wii back in 2011.
I hope that this will finally be the Generation where Nintendo decides to throw money at Shin'en to have them make a new F-Zero. The only thing that Fusion is missing is the sense of character and personality that F-Zero undeniably has. If they can scale up their budget for more tracks and bring an IP and characters like F-Zero in, add that special little something that make Nintendo games tick with the help of Nintendo ... that would be their final 90->100 level up. Fingers crossed on my end that BigN sees reason after one and half decades
@Axecon I definitely also prefer the ergonomics of the Dual Sense. Couple months ago, I even splurged on an Edge controller, upgraded it with TMR sticks (+140% tension for the right stick) and I now consider it a 95% perfect controller.
The only downside is the limited battery life, which for me means I have to charge it after every use really and that the face buttons could be just a tiny bit less mushy.
I bought a SW2 Pro controller, but I'm kinda thinking I should get an adapter and use the Edge instead. A bit of a hassle switching between the SW2 and PS5P constantly though ...
"And in motion? Woof! I need to play around with more launch titles and really get the 60-120fps experience (and HDR hasn't hit me over the head yet - more experimentation needed), but 20 minutes of Cyberpunk was enough to put my doubts to rest with regards to screen quality. It's lovely."
Until the inevitable OLED refresh, the HDR is not going to do anything for anyone anywhere ever in portable mode. The screen is just so bad in respect to peak brightness and contrast, that I can rarely believe it. ANOTHER instance where millions of people will have a horrible time first experiencing HDR. I really thought that in 2025 we'd be beyond that ...
I feel, that given the marketing and price point, the screen is unacceptable and borderline offensive. Even my almost nine year old niece, used to IPhone and IPad screens exclusively, was like ... "this looks funny". I actually bought a unit for her, but seeing the screen I decided to sell it on. She does not have access to an OLED TV (or any TV for that matter), so ... just no, unacceptable, her luminance sensitive young eyes deserve a worlds better.
Wow, I did not see this level of HDR-support coming at all. Actually, I only dreamed of this and did not foresee any actual support. That is pretty darn cool. I love this new direction for Nintendo. Basically all their first-party games have been screaming for HDR support for a decade now.
I am now very hopeful and optimistic, that Nintendo will continue with this and also free other games from their SDR-prison. Hoping for Metroid Prime and Dread, Astral Chain, Fire Emblem games, Bayonetta 1-3, Xenoblade X (!!!), Splatoon obviously and also Luigi's Mansion.
All 1st-party games would benefit immensely from HDR-support though and given that HDR is performance agnostic, there is no good technically reason not to have it!
Sidenote: Nintendo apparently updated the wording already for 3D Worle to ... "Frame rate: improved for smoother movement on Nintendo Switch 2 (including Bowser's Fury). HDR support**"
Here is to hoping that this will mean the entire games will be output in HDR, as it would be weird - even by Nintendo standards - to limit this to the addon only.
I'm actually much more excited for the launch now that I was before, since I have not even played all these games listed here yet (certainly not to completion).
Not gonna lie, if they bring these kind of backported updates to most of their backcatalogue, then this alone is worth the price of admissions alone. Since until now we had to use PC-based means to get HDR (and increased FPS and internal Resolution).
Just finished Stellar Blade this weekend, so naturally this seems right up my alley for obvious reasons Game looks fire, reminds of classic like Equilibrium and John Wick. Looking forward to it.
Great to see it coming to Switch 2 as well. Not sure it'd be the version I'll pick, probably going with the PS5P version when the time comes tbh, but still great to have options. Here is to hoping the 3rd party support for SW2 will continue on this strongly!
I'd love to know whether this will have mouse support or not. I'd love to have analogue control of the character and mouse speed and precision for skill aiming. That would make it my preferred version, assuming visuals and performance hold up, which I expect them to.
@Ulysses Nintendo was clearly humoring Sakurai. The man obviously loves to direct ... trailers. And he is pretty good at it, too. He got the about 100% of their CGi trailer budget from what I can tell. He got to cut his teeth at Smash character trails only to now finally graduate to the big league of Kirby
Is it possible that most of the Switch 2 userbase was just that? Switch 2 users?
Because I've been exposed to $60-$70 games with $20-$50 DLCs - not counting "Deluxe", "Super Deluxe" and "Hyper Deluxe Versions" or any microtransactions - for at least a decade now.
And yes, a significant chunk of that DLC is just part of the game repackaged.
Not saying this is great and all, obviously not, but if you want Nintendo to get into this particulary game of selling your 5 different version of a release + DLCs (plural) + microtransactions ... then ... carry on, I guess. I hope you find bliss there.
Such a weird thing to do. Even just from an aesthetic standpoint this is one of the weakest, non-Nintendo-feely things they put out there in a good long while. Well, this and Drag x Drive, but at least that looks like it is mechanically sound and somewhat interesting.
Thankfully, they more than made up for this with the other first party stuff (even though there is actually shockingly little announced right). I'm just gonna ignore this release and not gonna let it spoil what looks to be like a console launch worlds apart from pretty much anything I ever saw for a Nintendo console.
Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Metroid Prime and Fast Fusion are no brainers for me.
Kirby Forgotten Land and Air Riders ... maybe. Never managed to get into a Kirby game, but who knows. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is another maybe. Dynasty Warriors Origins is really impressive, even though I would really prefer the Zelda or Fire Emblem setting.
The rest is just way inferior ports of game, I've already had. Might pick up Elden Ring on sale one day, just because it is Elden Ring on a Nintendo Portable
I'm not sure what happened to ARMs. I actually kinda loved that game and I usually never play fighting games. I figured some of the characters like Min Min were also popular, no? I'm definitely going to boot it up again on the Switch 2 one day. Hopefully Nintendo will do something with the IP on the Switch 2.
This looks just to drab for my taste. Not hating on it, but only Nintendo could look at something like "mouse" - what do to with it!? and come up with this game. Personally, I would have preferred something a bit less ... creative like a proper Nintendo RTS game. Make it Zelda'themed Command & Conquer or something like that. No need to reinvent the wheel here, seeing as you are already quite far afield with launching a portable gaming console with native mouse support ... Still love their quirkness though! ^^
Comments 2,316
Re: Bandai Namco's Summer Showcase Promises Plenty Of Switch News Later This Week
All I for one want to see is a new Scarlet Nexus! 😬
Re: Dave The Diver Is Getting A Free Switch 2 Upgrade "Soon", Says Mintrocket
@PinderSchloss It's a bit frustrating seeing so many major 1st party releases not getting any support at first, but I am pretty confident that Nintendo is well aware of the opportunity (they updated ARMS, right?) and will want to spread these "releases" out over the coming months to basically bolster their schedule and feed the news cycle.
From their point of view, it does make sense: they can't sell more console for now than they're currently selling. It would just be a goodwill and PR waste for them to update everything right away.
I will say this though: not having played XBCX on Switch yet, it WOULD be nice to at least have confirmation that updates are forthcoming. I have plenty of other stuff to occupy me with, but not knowing for sure if there is any point in having patience seems pointless. Then again, it's Ninty so ... yeah.
Re: Beat 'Em Up Classic Double Dragon Gets A Modern Revival On Switch This October
Looks fun, but not loving the visuals on this at all. Kinda the opposite the reaction to Tókon then: I dig the genre, but hate the look!
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch 2's GameCube Library Next Week
@ThisisJosh Yeah, you right of course! I just meant, it is a bit of an odd priority. Like Strikers feels like a game already superseded. Sunshine is literally already available on the Switch in a superior version most would argue. I don't mind there being two options/versions to play any such game, but it's an ... interesting place to start the drip-feed.
If they were dropping like 10 games a month it would be one thing, but we all know that is not going to happen.
Re: EA Worker Pay Continues To Dwindle As CEO Picks Up $5 Million Bonus, Thus Creating Amusingly Tall Financial Graph
Looking at that graph ... that's exactly what logarithmic scaling is for Using median for incomes distribution is generally the way to go.
As for the income gap itself, obviously it is ridiculous by any measure of common sense and economic reasoning one might dare to apply. At the same time, it is by no means an issue related to EA specifically or the gaming industry in general. It's a tiny wheel in a giant machine that particular the U.S. has been happily fueling for about half a century.
Interestingly enough, Nintendo itself is actually a "weird" outlier in that respect. Having pay gaps by a ratio of 1000x is increasingly common for instance. And no, I am not kidding.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch 2's GameCube Library Next Week
Would be nice if they added Luigi's Mansion 1. I picked up LM 2 HD in the sale and noticed there is no way to replay the first game on Switch so far, which is kinda weird.
Same goes for Metroid Prime. I'm sure there is a number of folks who picked up the series with the Series with Remastered and ... would like to see the series through before Beyond arrives.
Not sure Strikers was a priority release really given Nintendo's drip-feed approach to anything virtual console.
Re: Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess Celebrates 1st Anniversary With Free DLC
Played the game on Steam since release. Experimental Capcom it's best! Highly recommended and the free little DLC is much appreciated, esp. given the price point of the game.
Re: Front Mission 3: Remake Appears To Replace 2D Art Assets With Generative AI
Seems like another misuse of technology to me. Not a problem with the technology as such. More generally, this reminds me of something I once read about DA:Origins: high-end 2D artistic renditions will always beat middle-of-the-road 3D renderings.
@Ultimapunch To be fair, partially replacing human workers with automation is largely how we have increased productivity for at least the last four decades. AI is just the latest in hyper capital-intensive labor-replacement technology. Back in the 1860s two bearded guys had some rather in-depth thoughts about the inevitable nature of this process
Re: Atari's Badass 'Fatal Run' Revival Nails A Fall 2025 Release Window
That does not look half bad and I do really like vehicular combat games. Really wish we could get a new Vigilante 8, but that is probably not going to happen. Friggin loved that game growing up!
Maybe Mario Kart Would could take a clue here and add some ... y'know varied gameplay content. That could be something with boss fights and all. If this game I've never heard of before can do it, maybe that $80 game could as well?
If the reviews for this are decent, I'll check it out.
Re: Missed Out On Castlevania Anniversary, Advance & Dominus Collection Physical Editions? Fear Not, As Pre-Orders Have Gone Live On Play-Asia
Castlevania Dominus Collection is one of the three physical SW games I own. I left it sealed though and been playing the digital release since I got my SW2 All three games are certified bangers in my book, but Dawn of Sorrow is just a game I also have the fondest of memories for from the NDS days. I don't mind having multiple copies (incl. Steam) for these. I'll replay them until I no longer can.
The Advance Collection titles are also neat Metroidvanias of course, but I feel they fall short of the DS ones, plus I never owned them back in the GBA days, so I have no nostalgia for them.
The pre-SotN games do nothing for me personally, so I skipped the anniversary collection. I would love to see a SotN re-release for SW though, as convenient portable version outside of my Playsi would be neat.
Anyways, very worthwhile games - no matter what release you pick!
Re: Drag X Drive Switch 2 eShop Price Revealed
I dunno, I mean, personally I expected at least $ 30, hence this is not bad news at all. Then again, that particular expectation was based on the absolute nickel'n'dimming of zero pack-in games and instead giving us a $10 interactive manual, so ... yeah ...
The thing I find kind of fascinating is that so far, there is no 1st party game really showing off mouse mode. That is rather unusual for Nintendo. Is this supposed to be it then? Or still MP4? I'm not in any way critical about mouse mode, I think it makes 100% sense and was the next logical step to bridge gap to THE main benefit of PC as far as certain genres go (I for one cannot enjoy playing FPS with a controller for instance, it never feels even remotely right). Still, would have been nice to have something at hand to really make use of it. I know, there is Cyberpunk but as impressive as that port is, that is a PC game if I ever saw one
Anyways, curious to see what the reviews will say about Drag x Drive. I have no idea what to make of it.
Re: Nintendo Confirms The Release Date For Drag X Drive On Switch 2
I don't love how these reveals happen in the most anticlimactic way imaginable: in yet another pointless app.
Either they still have a ton of other stuff to reveal during their next Direct or they are going to just repeat this process for like MP4 release date as well, which would be about as appropriate and exciting as burying Silk Song for like 6,4 seconds in a sizzle-reel ... what else is the alternative? A Direct Lite? That would definitely be the worst option, so I can't see that.
Not sure this is really the best way to market stuff like this in general and build the most hype possible. But Nintendo has all the data to make these decisions, so they must obviously know best. Maybe it is just them experimenting ... or maybe they just feel it is worth the trade-off to get people to install the app?
As for the game itself, I have yet to see anything about it, I find enticing. It looks incredibly dull and more like a tech demo wiped up on the go to test a concept. Looking at Welcome Tour I also expect highly questionable pricing to be honest. 99% a pass for me to be honest.
Really an odd way to drive the conversation about 3 weeks into the generation.
Re: Legendary Fighting Dev Is Hosting Its Own 'Direct' Later This Week
Not a big fighting game guy, and I still expect a proper Nintendo Direct before the Pokemon one next month, which will be more interesting to me (as well as the Capcom Spotlight actually, since they're really cooking lately), but even I have been pretty darn flashed by Marvel Tokon during the last Sony state of play. That game looked like an absolute blast.
I just hope to learn about whether it is going to be something worthwhile for a filthy fighting game casual like myself or even have meaningful single player content. Other than that, I am personally not interested in their offerings, just not my thing even if visually, all their efforts are very much appealing.
Re: "One Of The Slowest Modern LCDs I've Ever Seen" - Digital Foundry's John Linneman On Switch 2's Display
@Pipulitoch
"Tech geeks" is just a framing device here though. Plenty of people will just not be experienced enough to realize that they are indeed looking at a subpar reproduction of their favorite content.
That is just the old ignorace-is-bliss argument in action. Yeah, if you never seen an OLED or good Mini-LED/FALD whatever, the SW2 screen will look "fine". It is not a point in favor of the screen though, as that argument holds true for flat-out everything. I'll save myself exploring bud light and beer jokes here, but that is kinda the same story.
Re: "One Of The Slowest Modern LCDs I've Ever Seen" - Digital Foundry's John Linneman On Switch 2's Display
@DylanMcGrann Totally agree on your point about it being a boon that the system established these standards at the start of the generation (1st and foremost HDR and 120 hz, but also VRR).
Yeah, portable mode will not see much if any benefit from it now (except potentially VRR of course), but these are forward looking technologies for both, future iterations of the portable (a SWOLED2 or even a SW3) as well as TV-output in general.
Re: "One Of The Slowest Modern LCDs I've Ever Seen" - Digital Foundry's John Linneman On Switch 2's Display
@MTMike87 Just to be fair, this is not about "smoothness", but motion resolution. In fact, I would argue less motion resolution can actually add to a subjective sense of "smoothness" as it is basically a sort of hardware motion blur. So in that sense you might have a point, but that is not the issue brought up here.
Re: "One Of The Slowest Modern LCDs I've Ever Seen" - Digital Foundry's John Linneman On Switch 2's Display
I figured the perceived smeariness was mostly due to the necessary upscaling to 1080p. Seems I have been wrong.
Still, I feel the lack of any meaningful contrast is much more bothersome to me as it also sucks out the vividness of slow paced or even mostly static games like FE and Baten Kaitos as well. For a Nintendo platform this is hardly a great fit in my book. I mean, Nintendo is not into the whole grey-meets-brown school of thought of "proper" color grading for videogames, right?
I've seen many comments along the lines of not being bothered by the lack of "deep blacks". I find that frankly irritating, as this screen obviously does not display anything that could be mistaken for even black-adjacent ... like, just what is even the thinking here?
Having a measured static contrast ratio of about 1300:1 (according to the link) sounds about right to my eyes and would not have been something anyone would have been impressed by when the Switch 1 launched. The last Non-OLED-TV I used was a Plasma TV and it had about twice the static contrast ratio. That TV was purchased almost 15 years ago. I think that is pretty insane Oo
I grant you that this was pretty much the high end of what was possible in the consumer market back then, but again, that was 1.5 decades ago.
Ah well, I mostly played docked anyways, but it does take away some of the value of the device for me as the downgrade once undocked is pretty staggering. There is after all an entire plane of existence between that contrast ratio and ...to infinity and beyond!
Re: Nintendo Prioritising Switch 2 Dev Kits For Indies Needing "Extra Oomph", Say Devs
Kinda reflects what John said on the DF review, no?
Despite Nintendo by all accounts having prepared for this launch for quite some time, there is not exactly an abundance of dev kits going around. Whether this is Nintendo being cautious or something else ... who knows, but it does mean we might not see the floodgates open for some time post launch - once again.
@Solid_Python To my knowledge RE Requiem is slated as a current-gen game only, that is for PC, PS5 and Series X/S. That does not mean an eventual port to Switch 2 is out of the question, but it's certainly not a given right now.
Re: Forget Switch 2 Game Key-Cards - "Full On-The-Cart Physical Releases" Are What People Want, Says Publisher Lost In Cult
@Dman10 Definitely! That is just the name of game - not much any company could do about that. Just like people will complain after any given Direct, even the most content rich imaginable, someone will complain about the absence of X, Y and Z!
Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Officially Reveals Nickelodeon Collaboration
Wow ... TMNT and TLA!? That is two of my favourite franchise ever. Gotta say, slightly tempted now - anything that let's me play as Michelangelo kinda has my number
Re: Forget Switch 2 Game Key-Cards - "Full On-The-Cart Physical Releases" Are What People Want, Says Publisher Lost In Cult
I wish they had just come out and said: look these cartridges are $15 a pop. We'll eat $5 and pass on $10 to you: that is $80 physical and $70 digital.
The ball would have been with the other publishers then ...
I'm kinda glad I only a physical game every couple of years, so this really does not bother me that much, but it is kinda disheartening how all this discourse turned toxic in the typical expedited fashion
Re: Capcom Spotlight Announced For Next Week, Here's A Teaser Trailer
Silly me has been excited for Pragmata for half a decade now. With the recent re-reveal, it went up pretty much straight to my top anticipated list for 2026. Plus, Capcom has really been cooking lately with both experimental designs like Kunitsu-Gami or classic remakes like RE4R. Onimusha also looks absolutely fire and we still need a remaster for part 3 at least.
I expect good things here actually
Re: Switch 2's HDR Looking Washed Out On Your TV? Here's The Fix
@Polvasti Yet, they did fail in copy&paste either Xbox's or Playstation's calibration process.
Re: Switch 2's HDR Looking Washed Out On Your TV? Here's The Fix
For anyone without an HGiG-compliant Display, there is btw a helpful table on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/1lcvszw/i_measured_nintendo_switch_2s_hdr_settings_no/
Re: Best Nintendo Switch 2 Controllers
The pro controller 2 is nice, but I did return mine after realizing that my Mayflash Magic-NS adapter from way back then still works fine with both the Switch 2 and a DualSense Edge (with TMR sticks). Couldn't really comfortably reach the GR and GL buttons on the Pro 2 anyways and the ergonomics seem better than before, but still not really competitive with the Edge.
On the other hand: you can turn on the Switch 2 with the Pro 2 and the sticks are really way smmooootthhh Good controller then, but not essential with better options available.
Re: Talking Point: How Are You Finding Mario Kart's Open World?
@Kingy Good points. I can only add, that I feel this design must have been intentional. I did notice that a) Smart Steering was on for default for instance (as for a previews from what I read), b) they literally added a major feature that basically forces you to go drive on rails and c) (as you said:) 200 cc is missing in action.
Maybe it is one big coincidence, but taking your points about the tracks - and I won't argue there is a overabundance of driving a lot of straight lines on wide roads - it seems they wanted to de-emphasize racing in favor of chaotic item battles.
I mean, the goal was obviously do not just to a reskin of MK8 Deluxe, which I think most of us would agree had the Kart Racing formula pretty much nailed down and perfect. That is supported by the shoehorned in open-world, that just exists as a separate mode with nothing justifying the tons of resources it must have eaten up.
I think there is hope in terms of updates: not necessarily in way of fixing the shortcomings you laid out, but rather given the whole design shift - assuming I am not wrong about this - a purpose. As I said, I can see appeal in a more "action"-centric Kart racer, I really do, but it needs to be a holistic approach then.
PS: To point out something positive, I do really like the water physics though. To the point I hope some future tracks will lean into that and give us a game-with-the-game waver race experience (or they re-use the tech for wave race, but that seems unlikely with all the racing content already present and Kirby in the pipeline). Also, it is really nice to FINALLY get a Mario Kart game in HDR
Re: Talking Point: How Are You Finding Mario Kart's Open World?
@Kingy To be fair, the actual tracks are totally fine even by the high MK standards and most people or some people - well certainly myself - always thought of MK more like a chaos-driven party game than a serious racer. My favorite mode growing up on the N64 was battle mode all day long anyways. From that point of view, yeah, I really kinda like Knock-Out-Tour as it absolutely leans into that perception of Mario Kart and kinda brings the battling and racing together in a more intense and balanced manner.
I totally agree on your points about the open-world though and I can also see how folks who were actually in MK for the, well, racing primarily might not gel super well with the changes made.
In an odd way, I think that is not too much of a bother as MK8 Deluxe is still very much there on the Switch 2 with it nigh boundless supply of tracks. Also, I think MK World will likely evolve quite a bit over the next couple of years. Curious to see where they will take it given the feedback and telemetry they are no doubt collecting.
Re: Talking Point: How Are You Finding Mario Kart's Open World?
I was bored to tears after about 5 minutes and 2 P-Switches. Honestly though, that is not a big deal as I generally do not cope well with 95% of open-world designs and thus this was completely expected.
What I found pretty interesting is the fact, that I couldn't see any design-inherent reason to "bother" (from my PoV) with it at all. It's almost like the designers did not trust their own creation enough to make it in any sense "mandatory" or fomo-adjacent. It is a really odd thing to behold and experience then.
It's there, it's technically fine, it must have been TONS of work, but there is really very little to do in it and no extrinsic motivation attached to do anything at all with it for the player. I don't seen I've ever quite seen this particular combination before.
What bothers we personally, is the wasted potential. Like why are there no battles in the open-world? That could have been exciting using the terrain and all. Why are there no boss fights of sorts? I think Mario Kart - as a goofy KART racer - had oh so many opportunities here to give purpose to it's world. Albeit, the world has - afaik - absolutely zero inherent purpose. It is just there ... kinda, well, accessible from a menu no less.
It all seems like an afterthought to say the least, which is odd given it is part of the title. I never dreamed of saying this before, but ... I do hope they take a live-service'esque shot on this. Imagine you could do like Coop-PvE missions in the world, with carts getting all sorts of abilities to fight, to heal or to tank. I think that could be something truly unique and utterly fun.
Re: Donkey Kong Bananza Direct Revealed For Wednesday, 18th June 2025
I hope the Direct is designed to really sell the game to Non-DK fans. I'm not much of a platformer-player myself, but ever since the SNES days, I had a particular weak spot for DK games. I also always really liked physics-based or even driven gameplay, something woefully absent over the last decade, and thus feel this game should appeal to me.
At the same time my general sense is that outside of these particular circumstances to to speak, most folks seem pretty, well, un-hyped about the game. If they are doing this instead of a normal June Direct, it better be worth it! (Which is not to say, that there could not be a normal direct close by, which I think is 100% necessary given that we still do not have a Release Date for MP4 for instance).
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
@AverageGamer
1. No, they don't. HDR is not "one" thing. It's not just about metadata, nor is it just about contrast. But there is no point on me writing a Wikipedia article here. Forcing an output into an HDR container and using a specifically trained ML-model to sophisticatedly extrapolating additional video information are not the same. Just as doing an integer upscale of an image is not the same as DLSS. The very statement is inane without end to be frank.
2. You don't need to. They are all basically on PC.
I mean ... I appreciate the flex, but you would be unhappy if there was nothing but 30fps-locked games, using a 4090 and all that.
3. No, you don't. We are talking - as you well know and I have stated above nevertheless- about a 7,9" channel, Nintendo would have bought by the millions. $1000+ is about as reasonable a number as 20 good HDR games.
6. It IS easier. Most things that are wrong, tend to be easier for the replace complexity with simplicity. Not sure what to add here other than, two things sound similarly but are fundamentally different.
And yes, they are very much different in process AND result. Conflating process and result does not help either to be rather blunt Oo
I don't care if it is an OLED or a miniLED. Both can provide very good contrasts. That is just a distinction between maximizing either contrast or brightness. I would have been totally okay with a miniLED.
One could argue that my main gripe might be that Nintendo is clearly nickle'n'diming us. They could have easily gone with SKU's at launch: a premium model, that offers a proper HDR experience in portable mode, for those who value it, and a base model, for those ... well who don't care or can't tell either way. I know I know ... Nintendo always does this, but normally they don't do it at $450 price point! We can cope all day long here, it is not exactly a move I can applaud.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
@AverageGamer
1. No, I pointed out that Switch 2 currently does neither. AutoHDR and RTX HDR are indeed similar ML-based approaches to each other, but neither Switch nor PS5 use any of them. AutoHDR is a Xbox/Win-11+ System-Level feature and RTX HDR is proprietary Nvidia-Solution, that - like I said - could conceivably be used by Switch 2. You are conflating forcing a systems video-output into a HDR container with ML-based HDR post processing. They are not the same at all.
2. We all have been burned ever since the PS4 Pro launched. So what? Pretty much every Sony 1st party game has been excellent in HDR, with some still being absolute reference level titles to this day. I don't see your point. You might as well argue that any game should be 30-fps locked, since we all have been burned so much before with woobly 60fps performance modes on games. I'm not gonna bother with such defeatist mindset. To each their own though.
4. I respect you arguing with numbers only to then argue that one should not argue with numbers. That does take guts. Fine: I'm not hung up on THE number. Your argument is wrong by orders of magnitude. Orders of magnitude matter.
5. I'm not gonna jump on that $800 figure, as you just argued we should not get hung up on numbers. It is wrong though. For that price you can get a pretty high end 30" OLED monitor. We are talking about a simple 7,9" panel, not to mention that Nintendo does not pay end-consumer prices and has economies of scale on their side with the numbers of Switch 2 systems expected to be sold (15-20 Million by the end of this fiscal year alone).
6. Okay? I believe you, but I am not a telepath. You brought it up out of nowhere and since you were constantly conflating "Auto HDR" with force output, I was honestly not convinced you were not also conflating VRR stutter, a very specific issue with PS5 until shortly, and VRR flicker, which is all about certain display technologies and has nothing at all do with the console.
As for moving away from LCD, you are making it sound like "LCD = LCD". If Nintendo had used a Minileds, or a good FALD display, they could have achieved much much better results as well, without ever going OLED. Just saying, OLED was not the only way to go to make HDR pop. It would have been the best in my book, obviously, but not the only one. An edgelit LCD though ... that was never going to make HDR work for anyone. But now we are back to the beginning: it is serviceable, but given that it is 2025 and we are coming from an OLED-based Swtich refresh, it is a huge step back and thus a disappoint.
The only way not to see it that way is from my point of view to ignore the last 8'ish years entirely and compare it purely to the launch Switch. Then yes, it is better looking and has an enhanced feature set. Other than, I cannot in good conscience sing it's praises in any respect whatsoever.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
@AverageGamer'
6. VRR stutter is not the same as VRR flicker. Flicker is about .... luminescence, which I already argued at length is very obvious to the human eye indeed. If you think people are even remotely uniformly aware or affected by VRR stutter on PS5, which was fixed btw in the last system update, I would simply point you to the comments section on the respective videos on this for Digital Foundry or other channels.
7. We agree that the PS5 VRR support is severly lacking compared to Xbox. How is that relevant here? The PS5 does not support LFC, but it does support VRR via HDMI. The Switch 2 does not.
8. I have zero idea why you would stop noticing rich colors and contrast after 10 minutes. I mean, if that were true, how would any TV or display manufacturer even survive? Oo You get USED to it, certainly, but that only means you will notice it once its gone. I actually made that very point initially, as someone who was fortunate enough to have moved beyond LCD screens a couple of years ago. Anything that cannot display a true black reference points then quickly starts to stick out like a sore thumb. If you are not used to it ... well, we call that blissful ignorance for a reason.
I mean, I bought a Switch 2, I do enjoy it, I think the screen is a big improvement over the OG screen (which was horrific to be fair), but given the fact that we have a) a Switch OLED and b) that is 2025 and OLED prices have come down significantly since the launch of the OG Switch, the resulting image is a disappointment and a step back. It is not in any sense of the word true HDR, as far as the end user experiences go.
I will end on a positive note though: HDR support was the number one thing I wanted from Nintendo, as in my experience, it is the biggest improvement to visual entertainment in over a decade. It just brings things much much closer to the sensory experience of real life (which does not end with 500 nits but rather 10.000 nits by the way) and thus just tickles our primate brain, which once upon the time used to worship that bright glowing ball in the sky and used to dream about the sparkly dots in the pitch black night sky, in all the right ways.
I never DREAMED they would actually do it, even though a game like Splatoon begs and screams and cries out for HDR support every day of its existence, but they did. The only did it half way for now, but we all know the OLED model will come and it works fine on my TV or any modern OLED/QDOLED/MINILED/FALD or future MICROLED.
It is future proofing in away, and the full potential will come with the next generation. It is what it is. I'm disappointed, sure, but also optimistic. There is no going back for Nintendo now in that respect.
I appreciate the discussion and your point of view. Cheers.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
@AverageGamer
1. I don't want to be rude, but you have no understand of what you are talking about. The Switch is definitely not using RTX HDR (which incurs about a 10% performance penalty). What it does, is the same thing the PS5 does: it wraps the SDR output into an SDR container. Think of it as a static mapping from a small dnamic space into a small part of a much bigger dynamic space. RTX HDR is fundamentally different and can produce very good results, often times outclassing middling native HDR implementations. For RTX HDR you can set contrast, saturation, middle gray and max luminance on the fly and gauge the results in real time. For most games it is extremely effective.
2. There is a patch on the way for Fast Fusion, but the resolution is besides the point. Native HDR is not incurring any relevant performance overhead so these two things are simply connected at all on a technical level.
3. You make it sound like a foregone conclusion: that in 2025 most HDR implementations simply HAVE to be bad. That is nonsensical. Why would that be the case? And why would that be any more okay than games running a wobbly 20 fps!? It is up to the platform holder to provide the software and hardware environments to enable devs to make competent products and it is on the devs to make dilligent use of it. If Nintendo sets a never before seen standard, that is ALL our system can technically process HDR ... then that is good thing, because we never had this before ever. To argue that this means nothing beggars the mind.
4. "20 games with actual good HDR" ... dude what are you saying? The Switch had like 16.000 games. That would be something like 0.001% of games. That is just ... what!? The Switch already has games with good and very good HDR implementations right now, as we speak. Judging by Nintendo's first party quality since basically ever and the PS5/XSX library of quality HDR games (neither of which can boast a guarantee that any piece of software running on it will ever be connected to a HDR capable display device) that number seems like sheer trolling. Sorry to say.
5. Nobody said you have to remove the VRR. OLED and QDOLED have been running VRR for years ... the fact remains that developers cannot rely on VRR as their docked profile will not use it - period.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
@AverageGamer
I take your point about developers doing a poor job of good HDR implementations. Ironically, the Switch is running an Ampere-based architecture with plenty of OS overhead from what I understand. It should be able to just run a kind of system level RTX HDR mode (esp. when the resources for Gamechat are not in use ...) to address this issue entirely.
You are missing the point though: even if there is a good HDR implementation, and those definitely exist even on Switch, as seen in Fast Fusion straight at launch, you will not reap its' rewards in portable mode. That's just how it is for now - sadly.
As for your second point: I strongly disagree. There is a reason most users never even noticed that VRR stutter on PS5. Joe Average does not take note of this stuff. Some do, some look for it specifically, but most are just oblivious. Everyone and their nana though can distinguish between a high contrast image with proper blacks and a "washed out" image aka low contrast image with improper black levels. Social media regularly throws whole tantrums about, let's say, challenging lighting in popular TV shows (an infamous House of Dragon episode comes to mind).
As for my point about luminescence: I was just pointing out how human eyes work, what they are sensitive to and what not. Chroma information like using RGB 4:4:4 costs tons of bandwidth, but provides extremely negligible benefits to the perceived image. The same is absolutely not true for brightness and contrast. People are instantly able to describe any such image as "punchier", "deeper", "more natural" (even if it is overexposed or whatever) etc. Again, I would point to the simple fact of economics: what do you see on any electronics store showroom floor? TV's with brightness and contrast bumped to 100 in "store mode". It quite literally draws in the eye and opens wallets.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Switch 2's Screen? Because Some People Certainly Aren't
I think the issue is that the screen simply can't produce a meaningful HDR presentation. The black-levels are not there, the peak brightness is not there, hence the contrast is not there. Simple as that. Everything looks muted in HDR, as it has to given the technical limitations. This will make many devs think twice about even implementing HDR.
That in turn is a shame, because stuff like Fast Fusion really looks stunning on an OLED TV. It's also frustrating, since I've been done with any kind of LCD for the better part of five years now. Feels like going back to my first own Sony LCD TV 20 years ago. It had reference black levels for a consumer TV ... well, for the time that is.
The Switch 2 screen does not even favorably compare to my ancient Panasonic VT40 Plasma TV from around 2012, certainly not in perceived black levels or motion clarity.
Getting VR and 120 hz, stuff barely any game will take advantage off, because VR is not available in Docked (and even then, not everyone can be expected to have a VRR TV yet) and because, well, CPU limitations. Yeah, sure 40 FPS is much nicer than 30 FPS, but that is a niche consideration.
Contrast is what YOU always see when you use the Switch 2 in portable. It should have been the higher priority by far. Contrast and changes in luminescence is just what our eyes perceive most intensely ...
Ah well, there will be a Switch 2 OLED eventually, but it's still frustrating that by then, millions of people will think that HDR Is a pointless tech gimmick that makes everything look worse. Which it certainly does on the internal screen
Re: Splatoon Raiders, A New Splatoon Spin-Off, Is Confirmed For Switch 2
Kinda excited about this. My interest in the multiplayer waned pretty quickly, but I did very much enjoy the "campaigns". So much so, that I wished there was ... just way more of it, not just terms of missions count and such, but also sheer depth. The mechanics and the overall design as well as atmosphere of Splatoon were always expertly crafted, so ... why not capitalize on this for a proper extended meaty single-player experience?
If Raiders is that and if it comes with the mouse controls (the main reason I fell off the MP, playing competitively with a controller is just not for me any more, sadly), I'm 100% here for it. Virtually a guaranteed win. Given this is basically Nintendo's only "third person shooter" thingy, and mouse being this gens "gimmick" (I think it has way more potential than any of their prior "gimmicks" though ...), mouse support should be an absolute no-brainer. This and Metroid seem tailor made for it after all.
Re: Review: The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube) - A Timeless Treasure
I wonder what this means for the chances of the WiiU version being ported over. I still kinda feel it is going to happen, as Nintendo will most likely want to continue to bolster their release schedule with new content, remaster content and updated content (Switch 2 version and free patches).
Given that the WiiU remaster well is about to bottom out on them, I'd say Wii/GC are next anyways, so redoing WW and also TP would make all the sense in the world.
Frankly though, I am more worried about FE:PoR. I spend the entire Switch gen holding out for a HD Collection, was sure it was going to happen when Baten Kaitos was announced, and then ... nothing. Given there is no Wii Emulator yet (sure to come next) and thus no FE:RD in sight, teasing people with PoR and the ever popular Ike might not actually be a bad idea.
We shall see ...
Re: Review: Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess (Switch 2) - Tower Defence With A Twist In Capcom's Gorgeous, Yokai-Slaying Hybrid
@Magenof From what I've seen, it's 40'ish. I kinda needed to run it at DLSS performance to get it to 4k60 on 3080M on PC, so ... great game though and I'd say very playable at 30 or 40 VRR.
Maybe Switch can help Capcom out with this one. They really made a unique and innovative little gem here, but barely any one took notice so far.
Re: Review: Genki Attack Vector - A Modular Switch 2 Case Which Opts For Comfort Over Protection
I have on preordered and currently en route. Disappointed to hear about the flimsy feel of it, as it definitely was not cheap. I am not too concerned about protection though. First, this is mainly about making it comfortable to hold during occasional portable play, which it currently is 100% not and secondly to protect the screen: to that end I ordered the version WITH the travel cover.
Not sure why anyone would expect protection otherwise from what is clearly just a grip case. I'm curios to see if I'll ever use the magsafe, but who knows, seems like a nice-to-have thing honestly.
Re: Review: Fast Fusion (Switch 2) - The Most Accomplished Entry Yet, And A Visual Showcase
First thing I did after System Transfer: grab Fast Fusion from the e-shop!
Not gonna lie, it made my heart truly sing to see this looking AND playing all gloriously in HDR on my LG OLED right there on the day of the launch of a new Nintendo system. Feels like a small event, about 15 years in the making, ever since the days of Fast Racing League on the Wii back in 2011.
I hope that this will finally be the Generation where Nintendo decides to throw money at Shin'en to have them make a new F-Zero. The only thing that Fusion is missing is the sense of character and personality that F-Zero undeniably has. If they can scale up their budget for more tracks and bring an IP and characters like F-Zero in, add that special little something that make Nintendo games tick with the help of Nintendo ... that would be their final 90->100 level up. Fingers crossed on my end that BigN sees reason after one and half decades
Re: Review: Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller - A New Benchmark In Comfort And Design
@Axecon I definitely also prefer the ergonomics of the Dual Sense. Couple months ago, I even splurged on an Edge controller, upgraded it with TMR sticks (+140% tension for the right stick) and I now consider it a 95% perfect controller.
The only downside is the limited battery life, which for me means I have to charge it after every use really and that the face buttons could be just a tiny bit less mushy.
I bought a SW2 Pro controller, but I'm kinda thinking I should get an adapter and use the Edge instead. A bit of a hassle switching between the SW2 and PS5P constantly though ...
Re: Hardware Review (In Progress): Nintendo Switch 2 - A Faster, Slicker, Sexier Switch
"And in motion? Woof! I need to play around with more launch titles and really get the 60-120fps experience (and HDR hasn't hit me over the head yet - more experimentation needed), but 20 minutes of Cyberpunk was enough to put my doubts to rest with regards to screen quality. It's lovely."
Until the inevitable OLED refresh, the HDR is not going to do anything for anyone anywhere ever in portable mode. The screen is just so bad in respect to peak brightness and contrast, that I can rarely believe it. ANOTHER instance where millions of people will have a horrible time first experiencing HDR. I really thought that in 2025 we'd be beyond that ...
I feel, that given the marketing and price point, the screen is unacceptable and borderline offensive. Even my almost nine year old niece, used to IPhone and IPad screens exclusively, was like ... "this looks funny". I actually bought a unit for her, but seeing the screen I decided to sell it on. She does not have access to an OLED TV (or any TV for that matter), so ... just no, unacceptable, her luminance sensitive young eyes deserve a worlds better.
Re: 12 Switch Games Are Getting Free Switch 2 Upgrades, Here's What You Can Expect
Wow, I did not see this level of HDR-support coming at all. Actually, I only dreamed of this and did not foresee any actual support. That is pretty darn cool. I love this new direction for Nintendo. Basically all their first-party games have been screaming for HDR support for a decade now.
I am now very hopeful and optimistic, that Nintendo will continue with this and also free other games from their SDR-prison. Hoping for Metroid Prime and Dread, Astral Chain, Fire Emblem games, Bayonetta 1-3, Xenoblade X (!!!), Splatoon obviously and also Luigi's Mansion.
All 1st-party games would benefit immensely from HDR-support though and given that HDR is performance agnostic, there is no good technically reason not to have it!
Sidenote: Nintendo apparently updated the wording already for 3D Worle to ...
"Frame rate: improved for smoother movement on Nintendo Switch 2 (including Bowser's Fury).
HDR support**"
Here is to hoping that this will mean the entire games will be output in HDR, as it would be weird - even by Nintendo standards - to limit this to the addon only.
I'm actually much more excited for the launch now that I was before, since I have not even played all these games listed here yet (certainly not to completion).
Not gonna lie, if they bring these kind of backported updates to most of their backcatalogue, then this alone is worth the price of admissions alone. Since until now we had to use PC-based means to get HDR (and increased FPS and internal Resolution).
Re: 'Spine' Brings Gun-Fu To Switch 2
Just finished Stellar Blade this weekend, so naturally this seems right up my alley for obvious reasons Game looks fire, reminds of classic like Equilibrium and John Wick. Looking forward to it.
Great to see it coming to Switch 2 as well. Not sure it'd be the version I'll pick, probably going with the PS5P version when the time comes tbh, but still great to have options. Here is to hoping the 3rd party support for SW2 will continue on this strongly!
Re: Hades II Will Officially Launch On Switch 2 & Switch Ahead Of Other Consoles
I'd love to know whether this will have mouse support or not. I'd love to have analogue control of the character and mouse speed and precision for skill aiming. That would make it my preferred version, assuming visuals and performance hold up, which I expect them to.
Re: Masahiro Sakurai Provides Brief Development Update On His New Switch 2 Game
@Ulysses Nintendo was clearly humoring Sakurai. The man obviously loves to direct ... trailers. And he is pretty good at it, too. He got the about 100% of their CGi trailer budget from what I can tell. He got to cut his teeth at Smash character trails only to now finally graduate to the big league of Kirby
Re: "Don't Let Nintendo Ruin The Entire Industry" - Is $80 For Mario Kart World A Bridge Too Far?
Is it possible that most of the Switch 2 userbase was just that? Switch 2 users?
Because I've been exposed to $60-$70 games with $20-$50 DLCs - not counting "Deluxe", "Super Deluxe" and "Hyper Deluxe Versions" or any microtransactions - for at least a decade now.
And yes, a significant chunk of that DLC is just part of the game repackaged.
Not saying this is great and all, obviously not, but if you want Nintendo to get into this particulary game of selling your 5 different version of a release + DLCs (plural) + microtransactions ... then ... carry on, I guess. I hope you find bliss there.
Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Price Has Been Confirmed
Such a weird thing to do. Even just from an aesthetic standpoint this is one of the weakest, non-Nintendo-feely things they put out there in a good long while. Well, this and Drag x Drive, but at least that looks like it is mechanically sound and somewhat interesting.
Thankfully, they more than made up for this with the other first party stuff (even though there is actually shockingly little announced right). I'm just gonna ignore this release and not gonna let it spoil what looks to be like a console launch worlds apart from pretty much anything I ever saw for a Nintendo console.
Re: Community: Which Switch 2 Games Are You Wishlisting?
Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Metroid Prime and Fast Fusion are no brainers for me.
Kirby Forgotten Land and Air Riders ... maybe. Never managed to get into a Kirby game, but who knows. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is another maybe. Dynasty Warriors Origins is really impressive, even though I would really prefer the Zelda or Fire Emblem setting.
The rest is just way inferior ports of game, I've already had. Might pick up Elden Ring on sale one day, just because it is Elden Ring on a Nintendo Portable
Re: Hands On: 'Drag x Drive' Is Fantastic, But Is It Destined To Be Switch 2's ARMS?
I'm not sure what happened to ARMs. I actually kinda loved that game and I usually never play fighting games. I figured some of the characters like Min Min were also popular, no? I'm definitely going to boot it up again on the Switch 2 one day. Hopefully Nintendo will do something with the IP on the Switch 2.
This looks just to drab for my taste. Not hating on it, but only Nintendo could look at something like "mouse" - what do to with it!? and come up with this game. Personally, I would have preferred something a bit less ... creative like a proper Nintendo RTS game. Make it Zelda'themed Command & Conquer or something like that. No need to reinvent the wheel here, seeing as you are already quite far afield with launching a portable gaming console with native mouse support ... Still love their quirkness though! ^^