shani

I wanted to write "that's good news!" but then I remembered that it's a very limited tool which only encourages some of the more lazy indies to make even more crappy games.
So I kinda wish GMS2 hadn't become compatible to Switch... but I guess that was to be expected with the tons of crapware on the Switch setting the tone.
I just don't get it, why not use Unity or Unreal Engine instead and make proper games?

This has been discussed numerous times on various sites and I know and respect that there are different opinions about it but for me there's gotta be a score in a review.

That's what I'm talking about!
Splatoon is mainstream in Japan.
It should be like that in all countries.

Yes please!
Finally some comic readers are on the way for the Switch. I've been waiting for this (and video streaming apps and a browser) since the Switch's release.

Well it's not a Switch racer, it's a multiplatform racer. And it's been out on other platforms for more than two years (Steam says 2 Sep, 2016).

@Lameborghini They did, you can get Extreme-G 2 on Steam.

😆😆😆

Good one! 😆

Why not to Smash instead?

@HollowGrapeJ Well it has BotW (what difference does it make who the developer is?) and that's a port of a Wii U game.
Besides, there are third party open world games like Skyrim, Minecraft, Lego Worlds, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Fe, Fortnite, Okami. And yeah, L.A. Noire counts too.

Oh just saw that you wrote 'current'. Well GTA V is a 2013 game, Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 are from 2015, so really, they are old, last-gen games.

The Switch's hardware is supposed to be slightly more powerful than the Wii U's, which means it's significantly more powerful than the Xbox 360. And that one ran games like GTA IV, RDR etc.

The lack of open world games probably has more to do with developers fearing its feasability, which leads to a vicious circle.

@retro_player_22 By that logic game series like Half-Life, Portal had to have 100 sequels. Whether or not a game gets sequels doesn't necessarily depend on its popularity.
That said, everyone who prides themself to be a gamer should at the very least have heard about Rage (and more recently, Rage 2). It was released long before Doom was resurrected and imho the more interesting game series.

@kobashi100 But they are wording it as if it had anything to do with Rage 2's having 'a seamless open world'. BotW has a seamless open world too and it's running just fine.
But to go back to your example: of course you could make Shenmue III run on the Dreamcast if you really wanted, you'd just have to downscale the graphics (and draw distance, number of objects, number of polygons) to the point where it gets really ugly.
Which is exactly how more recent games that have been ported (Doom etc.) look on the Switch. So it's not a question of possibility. It is definitely possible. It's just a question of how much resources/work/effort they want to put in.

I can only repeat myself on this.

I understand that the Switch's hardware is significantly weaker than current-gen consoles and PCs. But why are most studios assuming any game is not possible on the Switch?
The Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii U had open world games, so obviously it's possible on the Switch as well.

@retro_player_22 Have you been living under a rock? Rage is certainly not a no-name game...
(and for the record: I'd rather have Rage and Rage 2 than any of the Doom games)

Say what now?! What a stupid design decision.
Well, I wasn't going to purchase MP anyway. The only entry in the series I really enjoyed was MP8.

I would've preferred a new XCX instead, but yeah, I know that's not going to happen any time soon.

Again, NL reporting what we already knew.
I thought this was a news site.

I don't get the criticism regarding the price.
20€ is the absolute minimum what an indie 3D game with decent quality - a criterion which is met with the 7/10 score - should cost.
I'd even say it's a cheap price, 30€ would've made more sense for such an innovative game.

This probably the first Switch accessory that actually makes sense to me.
It at least corrects one design flaw of the Joycons (the buttons are still too small).

I wish they would add mouse support and just sell the regular version...

It looks awful in that image anyway, LoZ doesn't really fit to Diablo. So I'm glad they didn't include it.

Finally! I was waiting for something like this for ages!
Though I would've preferred a simple comic reader where I can put the comics on the microSD instead of a subscription service with a library that might not interest me.
Or just a web browser to read any comics I want...

@xpromisedx The Switch is a tablet so it's a perfect fit.

@dskatter Yeah I know and I agree with you.
It's just that on NL - in articles as well as in the comment section - people regularly mistake cheating and other stuff for hacking and generally don't grasp what hacking actually is or that it's not an evil thing per se.

NL again not understanding the difference between hacking and cheating...

Huh, that came out of nowhere. Why weren't there any updates between the initial announcement and now?
I was looking forward to this from the start and will probably get it soon.

Looks nice!

'Battle Royale Newcomer Crazy Justice Will Support "Splatoon-Style Motion Controls"'

That was already known a long time ago. It's literally the only reason I pledged for the crowdfunding campaign back in November.

@Yhdekskymmenen

Why do you insist on imprecise and clunky stick controls everywhere? Why do you insist gyro aim has anything to do with Mario Party instead of just trying it?
You obviously don't know what you're talking about (because otherwise you wouldn't have thrown that nonsensical Mario Party reference in there). Gyro aim is very similar to mouse aim - and these are the only two acceptable aiming methods for a shooter for me (and many others).
And guess what: consoles don't support mice out of the box.

@Pod
Ah, I didn't know that!
Although Runner2 on Wii U was the first time I encountered this mechanic, I never thought they were actually the ones who popularised that. That's why I initially thought auto-run is too generic to count. ^^
But now it makes sense.

With Runbow on the other hand: yes there is colour-coding, but if I'm not mistaken Runbow didn't invent or popularize that.
More importantly, it's the colour-switching that makes Runbow so special, among other things like the chaotic multiplayer.
I love Runbow!

But yeah, the similarity to FAST stood out immediately to me, way more than any of the other aspects.
I'm not exactly a fan of auto-run but this cocktail of gameplay mechanics (+ the nice artstyle) could form an interesting package.

Wow, I wanna play this!

Could be true or could turn out to be fake.

We'll see eventually.

I don't see the connection to Runbow and Bit.Rip Runner.
The game's core switching mechanic looks more like the one from Fast Racing Neo/Fast RMX.

Well that's a shame!

@MasterJay I don't think it would've really mattered, because most of the people who buy these 'classic' consoles do so despite knowing that they could also play on an emulator on any of the common platforms. Because (I assume) they value the haptics and the look and feel of the device that much.

I see the same danger - ROM sites might not necessarily be dedicated to preserving gaming history, but intentional or not, they're actively achieving exactly that.
So I really hope Nintendo doesn't shut down all those sites, because otherwise some games will be lost forever.
We all know some official Nintendo Virtual Console releases were actually based on ROMs from these sites, which means even Nintendo don't have all those games archived.

I also don't really see how these sites are harming Nintendo's business since they're only offering ROMs for old consoles which aren't sold anymore. So it's not like they're stealing any profits from Nintendo or other companies.

Totally unfair!
Either everyone has to pay or no one has to pay.

(obviously I'd prefer the latter)

Wow, this looks great!

@FoxyGlen I'm sorry if it came across as offensive, that's certainly not what I intended. It was just meant as constructive criticism for your next article, because this one contained several basic flaws and statements that were outright wrong.
But how is it full of hyperbole? I was just sticking to the facts...

And I warn of declining interest in Wall Street Analyst's opinions.

@FoxyGlen Are you crazy?
These changes that you're suggesting would be truly awful!

But first of all, you don't seem to know Splatoon very well, because your article contains several false statements:

a) There are plenty reasons to return each day. They differ for each player. Some want to improve their rank, others want to maintain or improve their skills, some want to level up, some want to exclusively play SR, some want to get new gear and modify it to their wishes, some want to try out new weapons etc.
It already has a smart levelling system with drip-feed rewards.
b) 'Right now, the only real reason to play is purely for fun'
You couldn't be more wrong! I already mentioned the reasons in a).
c) Levelling doesn't take an insane amount of time and each level unlock offers you a snail. Which you would know if you had played the game long enough. But since you only know about the weapon unlocks, it's obvious that you haven't even played it till level30, where the weapons stop and the snails begin.
d) You're focussing way too much on levelling anyway. Ranks are far more important. Going higher up the rank ladder is the ultimate reason to play Splatoon.
e) 'the other two slots are selected randomly' Wrong again! It's not purely random, each brand has its own probable and improbable sub-ability. But how would you know, you haven't even really spent time with the game or researched it.
f) Yes, there's grinding involved with getting the desired sub abilities, but it's far less time-consuming and arbitrary than you or I thought in the beginning. It gets easier the higher your rank goes, because you get more gold, up to the point where you don't even have to think about it anymore. There are also a couple of 'shortcuts' to grinding, but again, you would know that if you actually had spent enough time with it or googled it.
g) The game already makes you feel like you're making meaningful progression. But for that, you'd actually would have to play it.
h) Every rotation - or rather its map/mode combinations - encourages you to use different weapons, gear and strategy.
i) 'Let clothing be purely cosmetic, and let us just pick the perks in each slot'
That is a terrible idea! How lazy can you be? Or is the game too hard for you? If we could pick the subslots, it would eliminate the challenge. That would take away one reason to play the game regularly. Think before you suggest such nonsense.
j) You can literally see the effects of stacking perks on https://splatoonwiki.org

It's nice for you that you enjoy Paladins and Fortnite so much, but there are actually a lot of people who don't enjoy them that much but rather enjoy Splatoon2 in its current form.
Is it perfect? No, of course not. But every aspect of the game exists for a reason, most if not all mechanics were constantly polished and adjusted from the first game till today. Most of the annoying issues of the first game were fixed with the second game.

TL;DR: All the things you want to change or remove from Splatoon2 are actually things people like about the game.

PS: Please refrain from making such uneducated and nonsensical suggestions that would ruin the whole game. Your post rather resembles and unfounded reddit post than a journalistic article with proper research.
If you really want to participate in the general discussion about improving Splatoon, do some proper research first, but most of all, play the game damn game for a sufficient amount of time, until you've seen and understood everything it has to offer.
Your article painfully reveals that you haven't.

This is great news!

@Steven_the_2nd I totally agree. ^^
The only exception apparently being Digital Foundry and anyone who wants to show/document the performance of a game in docked mode. Which can only be gaming journalists, but even then I think it's unnecessary and not worth the investion.

I don't see this being useful for anyone who's not a professional game/hardware tester/analyser.

For the average user, it offers zero value (because the Switch dock already has HDMI-out) for an extremely expensive price (almost as much as the Switch costs).

Even worse, it doesn't comply with standards but instead offers only USB-out instead of HDMI-out and has to be used with proprietary software.

What baffles me the most though:
The DF guys went through all that trouble of buying the mod and and the cut-off dock but they didn't even think of getting one of those DIY mini-docks instead? 🤨

@tekknik I've never experienced any live view lag apart from the moment you connect it or turn on the source (in this case the Switch).
But if that is an issue for certain users - sounds more like an edge case to me - there's always the PCIe version.

I don't think anyone would realy say the Elgato cards are the best, they're just the most popular product on the market and are a solid option at an affordable price.

That said, please do elaborate on other or better models, I'd be interested in knowing the alternatives!

As always, they only do sales for games people already have or nobody cares for.
They should really follow Steam's example and discount (almost) ALL games.

@Andy3004 Wow, rarely have I seen someone write a post that perfectly describes their own behaviour.
Think about what you've written and what you're doing.

You're effectively saying that anyone who has a different opinion than youshould shut up and has no freedom of speech.
It doesn't get more fundamentalist and intolerant than that, so you're the one stuck in your own microcosmos, not seeing the world around yourself.

Your last paragraph doesn't even make sense in this context. And it's not a random forum - it's not even the NL forum but a comment section - it's THE gaming site I visit daily and feel home at.

@BARSAMAN Nope, late 80's would be my little sister.

That said, it's not just (but also) about how * enjoy games but also a more general note.
Aiming with a stick is probably the worst possible method, because the way is longer and therefore the movement potentially slower, the movement area is a lot smaller and the stick always m9ves back to the middle when you release it.

Mouse and gyro aim allow for quicker movement while the movement area is a lot bigger and the cursor atays in position. Generally, these two aiming methods are more precise, faster, more reliable and more comfortable than aiming with the stick.

The problem is that millions of console users got used to this lackluster aiming method because they don't know any better.
And that's why many studios don't even consider implementing gyro aim, despite the fact that anyone who switched to gyro or mouse can confirm that it's the superior method.

So in essence, it's not even really about personal preferences but about technical progress.

@Nix_coppa If you're here to complain about other people, just shut up and leave.

No, but in all seriousness: since when does something being free (even though we all know F2S games aren't completely for free) forbid criticism? That makes no sense.

@BARSAMAN
Well the term 'millenial' is very vague and doesn't have a generally accepted definition.
Aside from that, it just tars a group of people with one brush, therefore it's only meant to create and reinforce stereotypes.
And sadly, people only use the term 'millenials' for stereotypes with a negative connotation, completely disregarding the actual personality of the person they're talking about.
That's why I don't identify with that term and don't approve of stereotypes in general.

Now if your question actually was: 'Were you born in the 80's?' then the answer is 'Yes'.

But what I was trying to say with my previous comment was: what does that have to do with anything? 🤨

@BARSAMAN Hm?

@Andy3004 Wow, you just discredited yourself with your intolerant and narrowminded point of view.
That unnecessary Nazi comparison alone would've been enough to achieve that but the fact that you have no clue what you're talking about makes it even worse.

a) I just stated a technical fact which had nothing to do with artistic preferences. Sprites/pixelated graphics are a standard of the last century, which were outdated by more detailed graphics which often but not always come in 3D.
b) The fact that many indie titles still use these graphics because they're easier to produce and because many retro-loving gamers like them doesn't change anything about that technical fact. Even if all games used that style it would still be outdated.
c) Just because I personally dislike this pixel art style you automatically assume I only like the photorealistic art style and therefore compare me to the Nazis? How narrowminded are you? Are you even aware that there are lots of other art styles - like the cartoonish artstyle that many Nintendo games feature - and that I might prefer those to the photorealistic one?
d) As I love the Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill movies, you couldn't be more wrong. Any game that is related to those characters might be interesting for me.

Comparing me to the Nazis is rich coming from someone who apparently only thinks in black-and-white stereotypes and automatically makes nonsense biased assumptions about people.

So please: don't leave crap comments that remind everyone about one of the darkest periods of European history.

@vitelus Wrong again. I watched and loved the movies as a kid, but the graphics are far from spot on.
If they were spot on they'd be photorealistic. They would actually look like the movies did.
Maybe you haven't seen the movies, but they were not animated and didn't feature a pixel-art style. They were live-action movies.

So turning these beloved movies into ugly pixel-art is a disgrace.

Indepent from this subject, pixelated graphics like these are outdated by definition, no matter the so-called 'artstyle'.

@Shiryu My point was that the graphics are outdated and scare off potential buyers like me, therefore you've missed the point.

Unless they are providing motion controls with this update, I'll stick with the PC version.

I really don't get how so many shooters are missing this crucial part.
This is 2018, not 1998.

If it had proper graphics I'd instantly buy it, but not this pixelated junk.