Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Fight_Teza_Fight Multiple times a year. There aren't established periods when they happen, but there are trends.

Also worth noting that mini directs are usually followed by full directs days to weeks later, so don't be surprised if we get a longer presentation before January is over.

I am up for Dark Souls on Switch, though I am worried about the controller on the Switch since i normally play in handheld mode which can be a bit fiddly (or I might throw it out of the window).

@Rudy_Manchego Accessory sales will go through the roof I tell you! It's genius.

I too am a bit concerned about Dark Souls, for that reason. At the same time, Nintendo Hard is a thing, so maybe the userbase is up to the task?

I can't wait for the DigitalFoundry video saying "It runs at 30fps on Switch" and people start saying that isn't good enough.

I mean, if it was good enough for Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, and an allegedly worse frame rate in the initial release of Dark Souls, it's good enough here.

This is one of those instances where unlike say, DOOM, where it is an FPS and resolution downgrade, here it is an actual upgrade in resolution, and FPS stability. It's just not as big a jump as the other systems.

And as someone who has never played Dark Souls, I now have no reason to keep dodging (Ha) it.

People are already doing that. Now that the Switch is starting to get more third party releases, the trolling goalpost has moved from "lol no third party games" to "lol doesn't perform as well as PS4/Xbone." Which is stupid, because of course the tablet isn't going to perform as well as powerful stationary gaming hardware. The fact that a remastered Dark Souls will be running at 720p/30 in fully portable form is still insanely impressive to me.

Portable Dark Souls for those who want portable Dark Souls, and an upgraded 60fps Dark Souls for those who want to experience that.

@Ralizah 720p30 and 1080p30 are fine by me.

Pretty much what @Octane said. You arent getting an inferior experience on Switch with this one. Just a slightly less smooth one.

Pretty much. Options are good.

@YummyHappyPills Yep, I thought that Nintendo are probably going to stock up on replacements for when Dark Souls hits!

I am fine overall with ports on the switch because, as Jim Sterling said in the video above, being able to play these titles on the move does change the playing experience. As for performance, as long as the core gameplay is unchanged, who cares? I played the Doom demo on the PS4 and I am playing the full game on Switch. Graphically, yes they don't compare but the gameplay does and I play it while my wife is watching TV.

@Rudy_Manchego That Jim Sterling video really hit the nail and I couldn't have put it better myself.

Get these openly accepted great games on a platform where people will see them, instead of restricting them to Wii U. Yes, the developers and the games themselves in a lot of cases do deserve it.

As for the people from Wii U complaining that it's a "Kick in the Face", well, aren't they special among the 13.56 million Wii U owners? That's the thing, did PS3 owners complain about TLOU Remastered? Not to my knowledge. It filled a gap and improved the game. Brought it to a new audience because at that time a lot of Xbox users were buying PS4s.

Then look at something like DOOM or Wolfenstein 2. Yes the parity on visuals and to an extent performance is downgraded, but gone are the days of a Wii or PS2 port of a game being a completely different experience with different stages and such, like Sonic Unleashed.

And your last point is something a lot of people overlook. I see it all the time from the detractors on NL, not the respectful ones, you know the obviously trolling ones who want nothing more than Nintendo games on a PS4 clone (Nintendo France recently explained why they wont do that too).

"Does portability really matter? Who actually takes their games outside?"

That is pure projection. Personally, I know loads of people who have public transport commutes. Time off at work. And that's just outside.

A lot of these people are forgetting that "portability" does not equal "exclusively outside of the house".

Portability means "away from a TV". Not locked to one position at any one time.

For instance I sit at a desk all day, with two big 1080p monitors. To my immediate right is my 40" TV with my PS4 etc. beneath it.

To these people, they would assume I'd just use my TV, and I mean, sure, I do in fact do that sometimes. A lot of the time my Switch is on my desk, with a perfectly good (And expensive) TV next to me.

When I go downstairs to dog-sit, my Switch is away from a TV, in its portable configurations.

A lot of people as I said consider portability to be strictly "Outside the house" as that appears to further their belief that portability isn't useful. To some people, no, it won't be. And that's fine. But the same is true in reverse: A purely stationary console won't be as useful to some either.

Actually, to those strictly "Portability = outside" people, I have to ask. The 3DS and Vita are portable consoles too. Are the only considered that to those people if they are used outside? If so, what are they inside? Home consoles? I'm pretty sure they are portable.

/rant XD

Anyway, regarding something like Skyrim, or DOOM, or Dark Souls, or Ys VIII, or the rumoured South Park, or L.A Noire, the reasoning behind those ports is again, solid. Like I mentioned above with TLOU Remastered HDer Edition, those are games that to the Nintendo ecosystem....are brand new.

Those are experiences Nintendo users have never had before, and to these companies not only is a re-release or remaster or updated version honestly a good way to fund development on the ever increasing in cost games of the future, bringing them to Switch gives these games a new value proposition, a different value proposition.

I won't say more value, because user depending that's not true, as I said, some will want 1080p 60, some will want portability. It is a very nice and simple different value proposition. Pick the one you want.

So bringing games to new audiences, giving them updates, cheap and easy money compared to newer games, a nice library supplement to a console, and the first ever portable editions of a lot of these games.

If I was a third party AAA company, I'd be all over that idea.

And yeah....regarding Dark Souls...I expect Pro Controller sales to spike around May. I wonder if HD Rumble will be utilised?

Oh, and because it caught my eye, can anyone recommend Ys VIII? That looks right up my street after being a little let down by Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

@YummyHappyPills To be fair, I recall people wanting Sony to save TLOU for the PS4 instead. Since it would benefit from being on more powerful hardware. It was released a few months before the PS4 came out. The remaster was also €50, instead of €60, and included all the DLC. When God of War 3 Remastered happened, I think we can all agree that was completely unnecessary.

Now, I don't have an issue with them bringing games over to the Switch. But to me it feels like they're using them to pad out the line-up. Remember the Wii games on Wii U? €20 and they worked more like VC, a bunch of them released at once and they didn't make a big deal about them. One or two is fine, but it's the entire Wii U library if we continue like this. And don't get me wrong, I don't have an issue with that if the rest of their line up looks good. But Kirby and Mario Tennis for the first half of 2018 is a bit disappointing (especially since the former looks like a very safe, bog-standard Kirby platformer). And as a Wii U owner, that's all I have to look forward to. If I even end up buying them at all...

I just wish there was one more game, a little more ambitious, coming in the first half. Pikmin 4? A new IP like ARMS? I'm even okay with a full-blown remake of something like Ocarina of Time. Heck, I'd even be fine if we got a hint of Retro's project if that's coming this year.

That's EXACTLY what they're doing. And, considering how many Switch owners probably never owned a Wii U, and how many Wii U owners would love to play those games on the Switch, it's a smart idea. I honestly hope we see the entire Wii U back catalog move to the Switch.

With that said, the majority of the games I want to play on Switch in 2018 so far are third-party ports and multiplats, and I'm completely okay with that.

@Ralizah That's why I prefer the way they handled the Wii games on Wii U. Release them as digital downloads, make them available to everyone and get it over with. Move on to the new games. I have a PS4 for third party games, it's cheaper and they run a little better. And that's fine by me, cause it's usually the first party stuff that interests me the most anyway. But with all those Wii U ports, there's little room for new games, and the new games that are confirmed so far, don't really interest me. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. Makes me wonder what they have in store for the rest of this year.

I hope the rest of 2018 looks a bit better than this. That's why I'd like a new (big) Direct soon.

Physical cartridge releases are pretty popular for the Switch, and, given the lacking memory in the system, making the games digital downloads would be a mistake.

Anyway, if you only buy a console for exclusives, then you'll always find it wanting early on in its life-cycle, as those take time to develop. It's exactly the reason why the PS4 didn't feel like it was worth owning to me until 2017: because I wasn't interested in the mostly multiplat releases it was getting.

Anyway, I think after this next Direct we'll have a fuller picture of everything that's coming in the first half of 2018.

@Kidfried Maybe! One of the things I always liked is that their consoles get quality content from day one. There's always a few games to buy every year. But this year feels a lot like the port and filler year so far. Of course, the fact that they don't seem to announce fall/holiday titles until E3 means that the rest of the year is uncertain as well. Could be good, could be more of the same. That's why I wish they lifted the curtain a little more. If a new Pikmin or Retro's project is coming this year for example, I'd like to know. Just to have something to look forward to.

@Octane Most console releases launch with a couple of big exclusives games and/or better versions of the previous gen too. PS4 launched with Knack and Killzone as well as PS4 versions of ACiv, CoD:Ghosts, BF4, Fifa14 etc too. I know most of the games in the first year 'could' be played on the older gen but as the year progressed you got more games that were next gen only.

Nintendo looks like they did the same as any other - except only the first game or two was released on older gen but its not as if their line-up couldn't run on a WiiU if they decided to support it for a longer time, a longer cross-over phase. Maybe Arms is the only release that may not of been designed initially with the WiiU (not including that 'demo' disc of small party games to show the potential of the control scheme). I doubt Mario Odyssey wouldn't run on a WiiU because it has to run in Handheld mode and was probably started as a WiiU game - like Zelda. Its different to games like Skyrim, Doom etc as they may require more RAM and maybe take advantage of the GPU's FP16 option which can 'double' the effective power.

In a lot of ways it also makes sense for Nintendo to bring WiiU games forward too. The chances are that a lot of those who bought Switch but didn't own a WiiU seems high so chances are, a large portion of their users never played some of these games. Even the ports of the third party games that were released month's if not years before also make sense as a lot may want to play these games on the go.

I do think it could be a while before you see a big library of first party games that were built specifically for the Switch so it makes sense to fill the releases with ports, WiiU games etc to fill that void. Consoles like the PS4/XB1 benefit a lot from multi-platform releases as these are also built to higher specs for the PC market. Being that much more powerful means that most, if not all, new releases can be delivered inc those that the older gen can't play so you have 'exclusive' to that gen games. It is also perhaps easier to wait until the next gen has a bigger library of 'exclusive to that gen' releases because Sony and MS have tended to support the older gen for longer after the new gen arrives. You didn't need to buy a PS4 if you wanted to play BF4, Fifa14, ACiv, Injustice, MGSv:GZ, Wolfenstein:TNO, Watchdogs etc etc

In general, the big releases from all publishers are available on both generations of Sony/MS hardware. In general, Nintendo don't tend to support their older gen much beyond the release of its 'replacement'. Nintendo have also generally relied more heavily on its own first party games where as Sony and MS are well supported from 3rd Party devs/publishers. The Switch, whilst it has essentially killed the WiiU, at least appears to be more supported from 3rd Party studio's so maybe you won't see the big lulls between releases that the WiiU suffered.

Got my first chance on the Hori gamepad £27 from Argos. It even has a changeable d pad. My son rates it as 'gooooood' I rate it as a bargain!

Also had a blast on Rabbids kingdom battle. The intro video is loads of fun, they should make an extended version as a kids film.

Its obvs not as deep as turn based tactical games like Disgaea or the plethora of titles on PC like ufo. But it is fun. Not in anyones top games ever but a nice introduction into strategy games for my son.

We are now playing some Odyssey. Lets see how this stacks up when we get further in the game.

@themcnoisy Mario + Rabbids does get deeper and deeper as you play and it can be pretty tough too.

@themcnoisy Under no circumstances should you say Mario + Rabbids isnt deep or challenging.

Trust me. Or anyone who has played it. It's deceptive.

Sure it's no XCOM, the creator of such even said so that it does its own thing very well as an entry point, but an entry point only need be accessible, not simple.

And it probably is in someones top games ever. Lots of humans on this rock of ours

@kyleforrester87 cool I look forward to that.

@YummyHappyPills "And it probably is in someones top games ever. Lots of humans on this rock of ours" I dont think so, its okay but not really goty stuff. What gets me is Disgaea 5 is so deep and customisable yet mario v rabbids gets plaudits for basically being a disgaea clone without all of the amazing macro level game design. Thats a proper game. Lol.

I will actually hold off on my final opinion though as its good so far and I am fast to stick the boot in as showcased by....

Mario Odyssey. Now Ive had the chance to grab my first 50 moons uninterrupted from the start Ive had a great gaming session. I do think the moons everywhere philosophy does bring the experience down somewhat, literally buying them in shops and in a mound of mud, they should just be taken off the list. On the hori pad I couldnt get the vibration trophy in the desert shop though and I cant do some of marios move set. Im going back to the joycons tomorrow.

@themcnoisy Oddysey is class too. 50 moons, pah - some way to go yet! Enjoy. It rocks.

Im 60 hours into Zelda and enjoying it more and more now. It's the best open world game I've played, for sure. Just did Eventide Island (sp?).