abe_hikura

I wouldn't be suprised if Xbox is just waiting for the Switch 2 install base to build up a little. The whole point of this initiative is to earn them more money and at launch Switch 2 users aren't going to be enough to cover porting. Once the Switch 2 gets established I expect we'll see lots of X1 ports.

It's going to depend very much on the game, based on the current listings Game-Keys will be the same price as their digital versions.

Whilst I prefer them to Code in a Box, I will be trying to avoid them generally. However, there are three types of games I can see myself getting Game-Keys for.

1. Games that are constantly updated, like Street Fighter 6, a "proper card" is going to be out of date anyway.
2. Games I know my kids are going to want to steal when they have their own Switch 2 (probably Lites), the new virtual card system is good, but this does the same without requiring me or my device to do it.
3. Games I'm not confident I'm going to enjoy, being able to resell it if I don't like it is a nice advantage vs digital (I can always sell it when the digital version is cheap).

And of course, the universal 0 rule, if I see a bargain!

@Maxz It was the neighbourly thing to do right Xbox?.

So the Switch 2 prices got contextually better.

I'll be getting the camera, my daughters are going to love that local Mario Kart implementation.

I will be looking out for some "armour" for it, I'm sure my youngest will get her hands on it and she will drop it.

@JakeNorthcote you get so e with the console, so this is either spares or they aren't included in the extra joycons.

My day 1 Switch might in better condition when it launched. I had to send it off for a case repair and the basically replaced everything but the battery.

I set up the little widget and I use it more. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves post S2 release.

I preordered grand bazar last night and spotted it won't be keycard.

I am way more likely to spend £16 on DLC & Performance Upgrade than spend £10 on just the performance upgrade

I think third parties are going to be the big test for Switch 2 updates. Like I can't imagine this is going to be doing much more than just running better, and I could see some hefty push back at the idea that this is a paid upgrade vs something like Pokemon doing the same thing for "free" Like I don't like the idea that CIV7 is basically charging for mouse support (beyond the usual improvements) but it is something

*I understand the packaged Switch 2 edition comes with the DLC so that makes some sense.

I have been finding the parallel's between the Switch 1 and 2 launches "fun".

The consoles too expensive, the physical copies are too expensive, multiformat games are more expensive on it, not enough storage, it's not powerful enough so third parties will avoid it, no killer app (the argument was BOTW was also on Wii U).

As with the original Switch I won't be picking up an Express card until I actually need to. Letting those prices get lower

I plan on using my Switch 1 in basically the same way I use my external HDD on my Series X, for games that aren't getting anything out of running on Switch 2.

My only "!" with this so far is the resolution in handheld mode.

But that also exactly what DLSS is for, which isn't being used anywhere yet. Kinda weird*.

*I'm a little worried the AI from the DLSS is doing the AI cropping being done with game chat.

@Truegamer79 I have seen some comments along those lines, a "I get them setting a higher price for next gen but for Mario Kart are they insane?" sort of thing

@Ade117 I could have sworn it was already confirmed that if you play the Grand Prix in the classic style, it's 3 laps unless it's a sprint track. I'm sure I read somewhere that it's only the "race to the next race" Grand Prix that has 1 lap.

@Rhaoulos He's looked consistently worse since this "third party that just so happens to also make hardware" push started. There's a lot of chatter that's basically not in charge anymore. He spent 69 billion of MS's money on Activision, they want that back ASAP.

As a multi-platform gamer I already tend to buy Switch versions* of games I like on Xbox Game Pass to support the dev (beyond whatever payment they get from the arcane metrics that MS uses)

I don't mind expanding that to first-party Xbox studios.

*assuming they Switch version A)exists and B) works.

@SillyG Surely though being emulation would make "Switch 1 titles stay "docked" when in handheld mode on Switch 2" easier, I'm told the Switch emulators have a toggle to run the game in handheld mode, so it's certainly "doable" that the Switch 2's Switch 1 emulation could do the same.

Will Switch 1 games on Switch 2 be forced to run in their native handheld modes, or will they maintain their S1 docked performance?

@Mabelissimo Same here, I feel like "open-world Mario Kart" is probably all I actually need to know to decide if I'm going to buy it or not. Everything else should be a nice surprise.

... but every website is going to report every little detail anyway, and social media is going to be filled with it and weird misinformation so I might as well watch the Direct

As many have said before, there is potential for something interesting here, but the presentation is just so boring.

I think the most important detail about Cyberpunk on Switch 2 and last-gen consoles. They stopped getting updates because they couldn't handle it, and by extension,n didn't get the Expansion pack. Switch 2 did

Let me throw up this from a old Medium article on "the Switch Tax"

The most recent glaring example of this is Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.

The game is $29.99 on all digital platforms, and the physical disc versions on Xbox and PS4 are also $29.99.

But the Switch Game Card is $39.99.

Gee that's familiar.

I won't be surprised that the "small" games on this list are just avoiding a Switch Tax 2.0, and when the manufacturing costs of the new cards come down, we won't see as many "small" games using it.

It is funny to me that there's all this talk about "resisting" these when the practice of physical games needing a download to be played has been alive and well for some time.

Everyone's talking about Game-keys and no ones talking about AC Shadows needing an online check for the physical copy to work and apparently forgot Hogwarts basically only have a demo on the disc.

Good! I really didn't like AoC and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes taking the alt reality route. Don't get me wrong that can be fun (I loved the original HW and FEW games) but these stories have perfect places to tell stories suited to the Warriors gameplay and story style and just didn't need "reinventing the narrative".

@SwitchplayerJohn I think its because you already paid, you may have to contact them about getting a refund but who knows how long that'll take to sort.

@Rentaro I believe the idea was to prevent scalpers just making a Nintendo account and getting an invite, if you have your data shared with them, they can see your play time on your console.

Update: Just got the invite.

Shame I already paid for it at Argos.

Nope, I was relying on it, but then Argos randomly got more stock, so I jumped on that.

This is something I have always intended on buying and never get round to it.

With GC games coming to NSO I might have to rectify that.

Will Switch 1 games keep to their handheld performance modes on Switch 2's handheld mode?

Switch runs slower in handheld mode (for the sake of battery) and games make adjustments accordingly and infamously games with dynamic resolutions cant get very low in handheld mode.

That just doesn't need to happen on Switch 2 as whatever it's handheld mode limits are going to be higher than the Switch 1 docked.

I think if your only using it for video chat, the plant is 0robably okay as you're friends are likely only seeing you in the little party box, but if your wanting to use it for Mario party that might be an issue

Smyths has local stock but how local that is to folk is another matter. The closest to me is 260 miles away.

The pre-ordering has been... chaotic.

The date was set as the 8th, then argos broke the street date and then every other retailer would randomly start offering preorders and by the time you found out about it the stock would be gone.

Amazon went from "we're doing invites" to "BTW it's going randomly drop"

I don't mind missing out because people were faster but missing out because everyone decided to sell it without saying anything is... "frustrating"

@GravyThief not only traded but resold.

I'm with you on that third-party thing. Yeah, at the moment, only 3 games use it, but the code in the box thing got pretty popular with publishers. Sure, some were working around the storage limits, but most were just larger profit margins. Like Ubisoft released real physical versions of their AC rereleases, but also code in a code-in-a-box version.

I find some of the arguments against these wild. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of legitment arguments lie the preservation one, they are just as bad as digital-only games, code-in-a-box, and "download required" like Skyrim Switch, as you're are dependent on eStore access, and the storage argument.

But some of them don't make sense to me.

"You still need the card to play the game installed, you need to take the card with you" Yeah, and 'if not carrying a gamecard around' is important to you, you'd be buying the digital version over the physical version anyway.

"it adds a manufacturing cost which harms smaller devs who rely on digital release to survive" Digital games aren't going anywhere the zero manufacturing cost option still exists. Also, I wager these are cheap to make, if they aren't just repurposed Switch 1 (1GB ) cards, they certainly are not the expensive 32GB or 62GB cards Switch 2 cards. it just has to hold the licence. It's a tiny file and doesn't need fast read speeds. Note: big third-party publishers used "code in a box as much as smaller devs did*

It's also not some new thing that Nintendo cooked up. Hogwarts Legacy on other consoles only had the tutorial on the disk rest of the game needs to be installed. Jedi Survivor and Shadows require downloads before the physical copy works, and this is exactly how OG/360 games work via backwards compatibility on X1/Series X

This is a much better solution than code in a box because trading and resale are possible You know the thing that made everyone dogpile on Microsoft and led to Sony's epic E3 response.

Should have tasted like a different terrible thing

The second I saw the video chat, I knew friend codes were sticking around.

@abe_hikura Well just got an email from them, they aren't doing the invites anymore and the "good news" is at some point "soon" it'll be available to buy, for the 18 seconds before it goes out of stock.

Their advice is to keep checking their site and throwing in the cart and buying it the second you can.

@PushMyGran86 Amazon is doing "invites" though I suspect that's simply hiding if they are out of stock or not

I do hope that if more developers use the feature, we get some sort of "fat" Joy-Con that works better as a mouse whilst still being usable as a controller.

I wonder how those 3D-printed mouse mounts end up working.

@PushMyGran86 @GrailUK Same, I'm annoyed the offical preorder date was set, then one by one the retailers started doing them early and by the time I found out they'd be out of stock.

I'm prepared to give them a shot, I've been lucky with my Joycons and only had two drift (across the three OG switches, and two extra pairs in the house).

That being said, the comically large pile of X1,X1s, Series, and PS4/5 pads in my cupboard does mean I won't be touching that Pro pad and stick with 8bitdo's ones.

I want to know will Switch 1 games on Switch 2 still run in their "handheld" performance mode when the Switch 2 is in handheld.

Mario Kart with DK in a close second.

@ChromaticDracula Thanks to 8Bitdo my Wii U Pro controller still get used today.

HD rumble is a lot like the Xbox feedback Triggers, when games ACTUALLY use it properly, it's amazing but the vast majority of devs just ignore it.

Maybe it's because I still remember having to spend pocket money on the N64 rumble pack, but I've never disabled rumble on a controller.

I don't suppose anyone has found out if Switch 1 games on Switch 2 will always run in docked mode? A bunch of games are slower/blurrier with less on screen when in handheld mode, will that still be true for this games on Switch 2?

Mechanically, I find this very interesting, it's just a shame that visually it... isn't.

I don't think Spaltoon would have taken off like it did if it looked like this, despite how good the gameplay was. It needs some sort of identity and a low price to stand a chance. This could easily be Nintendo's Rocket League with the right look and support.