SabreLevant

Just download the games - it's 2025, 64GB isn't all that much for the kind of releases people want to see on Switch 2 (e.g. Baldur's Gate 3 as an example, which on Steam clocks in at 144.7GB)

I remember games costing ƒ100, and this was back in 1999 so yeah, not bothered by expensive games. Will just have to be wise with money as always. (that's a florin for you whippersnappers lol)

@ChakraStomps You are blowing this way out of proportion. Pirating isn't as big of a problem as you make it out to be - first and foremost when it comes to games it does not equal 'theft', not only because that implies something material taken away from someone else. Secondly, a pirated copy of a game =/= a missed sale necessarily.

@ChakraStomps I think you're taking this stuff a bit too seriously

@ChakraStomps You are quick to attack someone personally when they simply made a statement about potentially seeing an uptake in piracy.

@TheBigK Pretty sure that was down to the GameCube not selling well at all

@flighty Best comment in this thread, absolutely nailed it!

@HalBailman Xbox One has an AMD64 based APU and is running a cut-down (desktop) version of Windows 10, the architecture is still the same however and would perform woefully on a handheld - a big reason the Steam Deck opted for running Linux is because the greater flexibility over the open source kernel allowed them to optimise it for the hardware, which is not possible with the closed source NT kernel.
In all however the Steam Deck is equally an x86/AMD64 system which is why, despite the custom Linux kernel, it also suffers from battery life drawbacks. This is where the Switch (and presumably the Switch 2) reign supreme with the Nvidia Tegra chipsets, which function on an ARM architecture.

In short though, Windows on ARM is not as mainstream, and unlikely to see adoption on handheld devices, Microsoft failed massively at this before (Windows 8 on ARM as an example)

Edit: you can install Windows on the Steam Deck of course, but that is generally not a great idea : p

@KryptoniteKrunch I don't get this article to be honest, just seems to be fanning non-existent flames, I own a Switch and Steam Deck and am perfectly happy with both

@HalBailman A version of Windows on a handheld, lol. These devices are primarily held back by power considerations, and Windows for the longest time has been developed for x86/AMD64 architectures - part of the reason why the Switch (and Switch 2) are so efficient is that they run a custom OS on a chip & architecture which are much, much more efficient, at the sacrifice of fidelity.

@Smithicus I think it was significantly easier because it allowed for grinding in a way you couldn't in FE7 and previous entries

@Mgalens This game was designed for very different system architectures at the time, so it's not at all surprising to see random behaviour when porting existing logic to new systems that behave very differently

@Spider-Kev Probably because porting to a different architecture is not easy!

@EggSlayer This is the reason I find it so anti-consumer - not only do they charge for a feature that is so cheap for them to implement and various game services have provided for free for over a decade, but they have also taken away the option to back up your saves to try and push people towards NSO, despicable really.

@jfp It's 2025 and Nintendo is making money hand over fist, of course I expect cloud saves for free, don't be obtuse.

@RadioShadow Except depending on how old we're talking most savegames were either stored on the cartridge directly or on a memory card (semantics I know)

With regards to cloud saves I think it's super anti-consumer to have it gated behind NSO anyway, so Nintendo lost me on this out of the gate with the first Switch

@NintendoWife I guess I was mostly talking about Botw - from the perspective that it ran at a higher resolution and frame rate on the Wii U, so we already know the game is capable (in an official capacity) of running more smoothly given more powerful hardware (which we also knew through Switch overclocking experiments)

Edit: I take your point though regarding extra content/capabilities

I'd rather have a new Zelda game to be honest

As for people lamenting physical editions - you knew this was coming, these cartridges are generally limited to 32GB in size if I recall correctly, you can't store modern games on that, the days of physical media have long been going the way of the dinosaur

Also, let's not forget that Breath of the Wild performed better on the WiiU - we already know the game can perform better than it did on the Switch (see emulation also as an example), so selling these upgrade packs is downright ridiculous

@NintendoWife While I don't agree with the person who said this was merely 'upscaled' we should also not pretend that games we already know can function at higher resolutions (which does not generally require extra work) and higher frame rates require any substantial work on Nintendo's part. You could make an argument for reworked textures and lighting work, but it is generally a scam to tie free performance gains into an 'upgrade pack'

That is to say, people who want to play for example Botw at 1080p/60fps shouldn't have to pay another dime

The real scam are the enhanced editions themselves - a more powerful device should implicitly herald better performance (not talking HDR features and such of course)

Does anyone know whether the original versions will have implicit improved performance by virtue of the Switch 2 being more powerful, or are they arbitrarily restricting performance in order to sell these enhanced versions?

@FirstEmperor I have bought games that I was introduced to through emulation. Like I mentioned above, siding with Nintendo on these matters does not earn you any points - emulation levels the playing field in the consumer's favour which is a -good- thing.
We get opportunities to try games we would otherwise never consider buying, we get mods, and it's all accessible with little effort.

Nintendo & Co would milk you for all your money to buy the same games over and over, and do it with a smile through lacklustre services like NSO - I would reconsider who the real thieves are!

Lots of holier than thou in this thread, I'd be willing to bet that those calling for it to be removed by Nintendo have pirated once or twice in their lifetime.
Those advocating for its removal only because it's a 'new' system (it came out in 2017 by the way, -8- years ago) especially have a skewed view - Nintendo is not your friend, and you don't earn any brownie points for siding with a big corporation

You'd think the hall of fame would be for games that moved the industry forward, but Unreal isn't in it, nor is it part of the list above, same for Half-life. A game that spawned the most popular gaming engine for the last couple of decades, and one that pushed storytelling through gameplay for first-person games to new levels.

But no, sodding Angry Birds is up for induction.

@Anti-Matter By your logic, as ConcernedApe wants to continue developing and supporting this game (for -free-, by the way), you would prefer this game never be released?
More content for a game you enjoy is not a bad thing, and conflating it with physical releases will just make you unhappy because they are going the way of the dinosaur.

NSO is the worst kind of value add:

1. Online play - outdated model in 2025, especially if the online service isn't worth paying for (last time I played Super Smash it was a lagfest, might have improved since but still)

2. Save game backups - only because they strong-arm you into this because you can't locally back up your own saves. Very anti-consumer especially given how cheap cloud storage is for these big corporations to maintain.

3. Retro games - many better emulators out there, just get the ROMs and go, stop pretending you're pining for games and just download them if you really want to play bloody Super Soccer

This problem was luckily solved a long time ago

@LadyCharlie You're right, $20/y isn't bad, I've only had it every now and then for savegame backups whenever I travel

Not sure how they are with straight up emulation discussion on this site, but am definitely a big proponent for it - for Game Boy stuff I've been using my Miyoo Mini Plus a lot recently for Tetris DX, Super Mario Land 2 etc, can highly recommend it! (Also very nice for SNES games, it can apparently do PSX games but haven't tried it yet, tend to use the Steam Deck for that)

@LadyCharlie The ability to play games online for an additional fee seems so dated in 2025

They're not mutually exclusive and in fact target different audiences, I own both devices. The Switch definitely gives a more streamlined experience but the Steam Deck allows PC gamers to play their existing library in handheld form factor, while often performing better (Bloodstained anyone?). It's obviously a non-contest as to which one provides better emulation support - NSO vs much wider emulator support, the Steam Deck plays PS2 games beautifully for example

Not just that, but being able to play games long before they come to Switch is nice too (Hades 2 for example)

Oh hell yes, eating good this year with the new ninja gaiden game and this coming up!

£50 for a shoddy port, demo or no demo that's a pass from me!

Uncanny, just started playing the first one again the other day

@PharoneTheGnome Agreed, though that's different from providing a separate install key
There's little sense to Nintendo's decisions sometimes - take for example not being able to back up your saves unless you subscribe to NSO, that's just a vindictive practice

But yeah as for being able to install the game, I suppose equally they don't want people passing around games like install media

@PharoneTheGnome Then why the heck would you think publishers would give you two copies of a game in one package? That's just daft.

@PharoneTheGnome And you'd be willing to pay double price for that then?

Lots of people here simultaneously wishing for Ubisoft's demise yet lamenting layoffs - you can't have it both ways, a company is made up of people, it's not an evil entity in and of itself.

@Spider-Kev You are skewing facts to fit your narrative, I don't know why but it isn't going to change the fact fewer people are buying physical media. VHS, DVDs etc have definitely gone out of style for example, so a 'ton of people' buying them does not hold up.

@Rhum17 Demand informs supply, not the other way around, you can't start with the shops being low on supply to begin with, that happened because the appetite for physical media has been going down

@Spider-Kev Why do you think shops stock less? (There's more desire for digital games)

@PharoneTheGnome You're effectively asking for two copies of a game there

@Spider-Kev Like I said, those efforts weren't nearly as prominent as the Switch. The WiiU is irrelevant as it was a commercial failure, and the 3DS absolutely did not bank as much on online sales

@Mjoen It sounds like you're mixing pre-orders with downloaded games?

@Rhum17 Lack of demand, 100%

@MSaturn That already happened with the PSP Go.

Also, one thing a lot of people seem to be glossing over when it comes to the physical vs digital argument: take as an example the missing Shantae game coming up.

At the time publishers would've probably pushed for a cartridge size compromise, leading to a lesser game as the developer stated - physical media imposes hard & arbitrary size limits. ( see here: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/the-odds-seemed-just-astronomical-reviving-lost-media-with-shantae-advance )

If you want Baldur's Gate 3 on the Switch 2 for example, that is -not- happening on physical media that would work with the console. Either that, or it's an incomplete game where you need to patch it afterwards anyway to download the missing files.

Digital gaming has been on the rise for literally decades at this point, the Switch is simply Nintendo's first proper foray to move their console into the 21st century.
If you've only stuck with their consoles I can see this coming as somewhat of a shock (online capabilities were there for the Wii etc, but let's be real it wasn't as prominent), but if you used a PC for games in the early 2000s you know this was coming for a -long- time, and honestly it's a boon (less waste, no waiting for orders or worrying about stock issues, game patches are trivial now etc.)