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southrncomfortjm
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The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:50 pm

So, I received my Switch yesterday afternoon and am really glad I made the purchase. I was on the fence for a while but then just decided to go for it since everyone had such great things to say about the console and Breath of the Wild.

Here's my initial take:

-The unit is solid. Holding the unit using the Joy Con really gives a sense of value and sturdiness. Basically the Switch is a really sturdy tablet with detachable controllers that has an easy way to get video out to your TV. I bet the makers of the Wikipad are pissed.
-The screen is really good. Solid 720p IPS screen that gets pretty bright. Yes, 1080p would be better, but I'm satisfied with it, especially since Nintendo games are more about art style rather than realism or stunning detail
-The Joy Con are good for what they are - easy to use controllers. Long gaming sessions on them, especially sideways for multiplayer is not advised, but they get the job done for impromptu sessions of Mario Kart or Splatoon. I'm trying Snipper Clips with the girlfriend (a total non-gamer) so we'll see how that goes.
-The Pro Controller is as good as the Xbox controller for comfort and responsiveness. Verdict is still out on whether HD rumble is a big deal for me. In my time with Zelda, it didn't feel overly amazing, but we'll see.

-Breath of the Wild is probably as good as everyone says. I only say probably since I only got about 2.5 hours with it last night. But in that time I took the general consensus advice and was just curiously explored the game world. Exploring a bit often leads to unexpected fun, like finding a Korok seed, or finding a random big monster encounter. This is the exact opposite of how I felt with Mass Effect Andromeda where the forced/guided exploration got monotonous very quickly and was rarely rewarding.

Overall, the Switch makes a great first impression.

I'll probably come back and drop more info as I go. Happy to answer questions if anyone has some.

EDIT 1:
-Having played in handheld mode for an entire evening, I can say that the handheld experience is top notch, largely due to how nice the screen is. Playing in handheld mode isn't a compromise or step down from playing docked, it may actually be the better way to play.

EDIT 2:

-In handheld mode, since the ABXY buttons are so small and close together that it is hard to execute some moves. For example, I had trouble executing a sprint jump since it was a bit tricky to go from holding X to hitting B on the Joy Con. No real issue with that on the Pro Controller. Other than that, I haven't noticed any real disadvantages in using the Joy Con in handheld mode v. using the Pro Controller, though overall the Pro Controller is better ergonomically and the most idea way to play (not counting the difference between being handheld and being docked itself).

-Breath of the Wild is certainly a top tier game. The systems work well, the game world is immersive and entertaining, and there are few, if any, bugs of note. Whether the game is Game of the Year, much less Best Game Ever, material is a different story.

I really like that BotW doesn't hold your hand, or worse, pull you by the wrist, in any given direction like many/most open world games. It is really entertaining to just wander into an area and look around. Finding Korok Seeds is a fun diversion (though having collected about 30 seeds, I'm starting to notice repeated "puzzles" already) and really encourages going off the beaten path. The "Hero's Path" mode from the DLC is really helpful since I can clearly see where I haven't gone already.

-Few games in memory, maybe none really, provide the sense of exploration that BotW provides. Getting to a high spot on the map and looking around is a great mechanic compared to other implementations since everything you see you can get to without too much trouble. Since nothing is actually marked on your map, you have to personally decide whether something is worth investigating. Is that just a random rock formation? Or does it hold a Korok seed or something else? Where are the game's dungeons? No idea. I'm sure I'll stumble upon them randomly at some point. All this help to keep simply walking around the game world interesting at all times. It may be a bit empty, but you are never really far away from something interesting to do.

Expanding on the above, the game really doesn't give you *any* markers for anything other than specific quests. That means, if you read a book and it mentions that a secret treasure is buried somewhere, all it does it tell you, in words, where it is. No marker is placed on your map. So you actually have to find "Hyrule Field" through exploration rather than just following a quest pointer. Because of this, I would really appreciate a way to put notes on the map other than just pins and stamps. I've started keeping notes on my phone's notepad in order to remind myself what I'm looking for.

-Shrines so far have been fun and feed that puzzle solving urge that many of us have. Figuring out the little trick to each shrine is fun enough. I am hoping they get more challenging in the future though since the 15 or so I've done so far seem to rely on only one mechanic/idea at a time. So far, the shrine that has let me be the most creative with my solution was one where I was required to tilt the controllers (I was in handheld mode) to move a ball through a maze. I completed the maze the "correct" way one time, but messed up at the end, so I had to start over. I decided I wasn't in the mood to do it again, so I quickly (but carefully) turned the Switch in order to throw the ball over a wall to skip basically the entire maze. Figuring that out saved me a bunch of time since I didn't have to complete the maze multiple times.

-Playing the Switch in Handheld mode let me rewatch most of Game of Thrones season 7 in preparation for season 8. I've said it before, but handheld mode is pretty sweet. That said, I've yet to actually take the Switch out of my house and on some kind of public transportation or on a plane. The real test will be next week when I am in a hotel all week, then again in 3 weeks when I travel internationally (with my trust 15000 mAh battery pack).
Last edited by southrncomfortjm on Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:51 am, edited 2 times in total.
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weaktoss
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:58 pm

I received one as a surprise birthday present several weeks ago. I agree with pretty much everything you've said. The console has a solid, well-engineered feel, and the Pro controller is great. The kickstand could have been better, though.

Zelda has blown me away. It's the best open-world game I've played. As you said, exploration feels varied and rewarding. My only complaint is how little time I've had to sink into it so far!
 
sweatshopking
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:01 pm

I thought BOTW, which i beat, was a classic nostalgia pitch held back by underpowered hardware giving you a basically empty world made much larger than it should have been for no other reason than to have a "large world." It's not as good as the witcher 3 in any metric, but is ranked much higher due to the pathetic nostalgia obsession of the thirty something nerds who make up the bulk of the games industry. I really dont get why people like the game. Combat isn't great, world is empty, graphics suck, and besides running repeatedly through totally simply temples idk what the game has to offer. I found it tedious, but i beat it because I've beaten all the other ones made by Nintendo.

whether the build quality is good is irrelevant Imo, since the hardware is SO many years behind. I wouldn't spend $300 on an Xbox 360 today, even if it had a small screen, and that's roughly the same power as a switch.

In the end though, glad you like it. Not everything is for all people.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:59 pm

sweatshopking wrote:
I thought BOTW, which i beat, was a classic nostalgia pitch held back by underpowered hardware giving you a basically empty world made much larger than it should have been for no other reason than to have a "large world." It's not as good as the witcher 3 in any metric, but is ranked much higher due to the pathetic nostalgia obsession of the thirty something nerds who make up the bulk of the games industry. I really dont get why people like the game. Combat isn't great, world is empty, graphics suck, and besides running repeatedly through totally simply temples idk what the game has to offer. I found it tedious, but i beat it because I've beaten all the other ones made by Nintendo.

whether the build quality is good is irrelevant Imo, since the hardware is SO many years behind. I wouldn't spend $300 on an Xbox 360 today, even if it had a small screen, and that's roughly the same power as a switch.

In the end though, glad you like it. Not everything is for all people.


Nintendo did what I'd been asking for for a very long time - a portable console. Not like a DS or a Vita, but a console that really had full sized games on it that you could play anywhere. They delivered on that, so I'm happy. If I want power, I'll play my PC. If I want portability with games I can't get elsewhere, I'll play my Switch.

How is the hardware so many years behind? It's using a new-ish Nvidia mobile processor. No one else has done what Nintendo's done with this console. And, overall, raw graphics power doesn't mean as much to Nintendo as it does to Sony and MS. So why does the power of the console matter? As a portable unit, I'd say build quality is more important than raw power since it doesn't just sit on a shelf.

As for BotW, obviously I can't make a final determination on it yet since I'm only a couple of hours in. It's definitely a different game than Witcher, and I'm happy for that. I got bored with Witcher 2 pretty quickly and therefore didn't try 3.
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LostCat
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:51 pm

I still plan to get one when the prices come back to normal. It doesn't really seem like I need it given the current game selection either, but it sounds great.
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DPete27
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:36 am

Pretty great...unless:
1) the unit won't recognize/load your game chip
2) you have poor reception between the unit and the controllers
3) your controller gets stuck on your unit
4) your dock scratches your screen
5) you get visual artifacts while playing games
6) loud high pitched whine

There's more, but that's all I can remember off the top of my head. Yeah....no thanks.
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steelcity_ballin
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:14 am

I like my switch a lot. I'm really glad I bought it a few months ago, but there is a real lack of games for it - though this is to be expected with A) a new console and B) timid investors and developers after the Wii U failures. The early adopters despite a really non-existent game library are what made this possible, specifically having a killer polished game like BotW. Without BotW I don't think the console makes it for lack of dev support.

It's good to see the store getting a lot of new content. I still haven't finished BotW yet, but it's been fun to play and explore. I tried Arms but didn't care for it. Really excited for Fire Emblem as I love tactics-style isometric turn-based rpgs. I bought a few older NES ports like blaster master. Mario Cart 8 is fun too. I took a trip to Vegas ~ 4 hr flight and the switch did pretty well with any game for most of the flight except BotW which is more demanding. I bought an Anker portable battery charger now and I should get at least 10+ hours on the thing. The pro controller is my favorite controller yet.

It seems like it's full-steam ahead for the console though, with a host of games on the horizon and a constant stream of successful launch titles. New IP is never a bad thing. Happy to see it succeed.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:19 am

DPete27 wrote:
Pretty great...unless:
1) the unit won't recognize/load your game chip
---Haven't had this issue yet
2) you have poor reception between the unit and the controllers
---No issue at all last night playing Snipper clips. The Switch was right next to my AV receiver and next to some turned off laptops. Joy Con worked just fine.
3) your controller gets stuck on your unit
---Not had this issue. I a wrist strap did get stuck for a moment, but that was because I put it on upside down.
4) your dock scratches your screen
---Seems to me this is overblown. Anyways, I got a glass screen protector, so I'm good.
5) you get visual artifacts while playing games
---Haven't seen that yet.
6) loud high pitched whine
---Not so far.

There's more, but that's all I can remember off the top of my head. Yeah....no thanks.


See responses above. Maybe that was only an issue with the first run of consoles. Hopefully they've worked out some of the manufacturing kinks for mine since I haven't had any issues yet.
Gaming: i5-3570k/Z77/212 Evo/Corsair 500R/16GB 1600 CL8/RX 480 8GB/840 250gb, EVO 500gb, SG 3tb/Tachyon 650w/Win10
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:21 am

steelcity_ballin wrote:
I like my switch a lot. I'm really glad I bought it a few months ago, but there is a real lack of games for it - though this is to be expected with A) a new console and B) timid investors and developers after the Wii U failures. The early adopters despite a really non-existent game library are what made this possible, specifically having a killer polished game like BotW. Without BotW I don't think the console makes it for lack of dev support.

It's good to see the store getting a lot of new content. I still haven't finished BotW yet, but it's been fun to play and explore. I tried Arms but didn't care for it. Really excited for Fire Emblem as I love tactics-style isometric turn-based rpgs. I bought a few older NES ports like blaster master. Mario Cart 8 is fun too. I took a trip to Vegas ~ 4 hr flight and the switch did pretty well with any game for most of the flight except BotW which is more demanding. I bought an Anker portable battery charger now and I should get at least 10+ hours on the thing. The pro controller is my favorite controller yet.

It seems like it's full-steam ahead for the console though, with a host of games on the horizon and a constant stream of successful launch titles. New IP is never a bad thing. Happy to see it succeed.


I think there are enough good games for right now, especially when so many of them are of a pretty high quality. Basically at least 1-2 solid releases a month. BotW, Snipper Clips, Splatoon 2 and Mario will hold me through the rest of the year easily.
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EndlessWaves
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:02 am

sweatshopking wrote:
whether the build quality is good is irrelevant Imo, since the hardware is SO many years behind. I wouldn't spend $300 on an Xbox 360 today, even if it had a small screen, and that's roughly the same power as a switch.


The Xbox 360 is a 170W console, not a 9W tablet. Compared with cutting edge hardware in the same form factor the switch is a powerful machine. Maybe not the very latest chip, but certainly near the top of the leaderboards in power.

The Switch is a rival to a Surface, iPad or Galaxy Tab, not an Xbox One or PS4.
 
bwoodring
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:17 am

sweatshopking wrote:
I thought BOTW, which i beat, was a classic nostalgia pitch held back by underpowered hardware giving you a basically empty world made much larger than it should have been for no other reason than to have a "large world." It's not as good as the witcher 3 in any metric, but is ranked much higher due to the pathetic nostalgia obsession of the thirty something nerds who make up the bulk of the games industry. I really dont get why people like the game. Combat isn't great, world is empty, graphics suck, and besides running repeatedly through totally simply temples idk what the game has to offer. I found it tedious, but i beat it because I've beaten all the other ones made by Nintendo.

whether the build quality is good is irrelevant Imo, since the hardware is SO many years behind. I wouldn't spend $300 on an Xbox 360 today, even if it had a small screen, and that's roughly the same power as a switch.

In the end though, glad you like it. Not everything is for all people.


"Not everything is for all people", but anyone who likes Breath of the Wild is a thirty-something nerd with a pathetic nostalgia obsession. That's really weird, because my 13 year old son who has never played another Zelda game has been playing it constantly for weeks.

What a passive-aggressive dick comment.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:44 am

southrncomfortjm wrote:
-Breath of the Wild is probably as good as everyone says. I only say probably since I only got about 2.5 hours with it last night. But in that time I took the general consensus advice and was just curiously explored the game world. Exploring a bit often leads to unexpected fun, like finding a Korok seed, or finding a random big monster encounter. This is the exact opposite of how I felt with Mass Effect Andromeda where the forced/guided exploration got monotonous very quickly and was rarely rewarding.

My daughter is getting BotW Wii U version for her birthday soon. Everything I've read is that the game is pretty masterful. But at launch, the Switch got dinged because the game played better on the Wii U (though at a lower resolution) and Eurogamer found the downscaled version on the Switch in tablet mode was better. How is performance now a few months later?

Speaking of the Zelda nostalgia trip, the first Zelda game my daughter played was Wind Waker HD. She's been hooked ever since, but really doesn't like the original two games on NES. Link to the Past and later are her thing. I means he's really old. Gonna turn 9 next month.

I don't, frankly, care too much about the hardware if the games are good. I started caring more about the hardware as consoles progressed because there were fewer and fewer games that really captured my attention. I'm kind of trapped in a pre-2000s gaming world with just a handful of very notable exceptions. That said, we have to consider the source of these comments. SSK isn't paid by Microsoft but he might as well be. I don't trust any of his opinions on tech, because I can't.

Are there any games that are even remotely interesting coming soon? The only other Switch title that's grabbed my eye so far as Ultra Street Fighter II, which is SSF2Turbo HD Remix with a couple extra characters (and a $40 price tag).
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weaktoss
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:15 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
How is performance now a few months later?


Mostly fine, in my experience playing with the console docked. You'll see occasional FPS drops and some texture pop-in. It's noticeable when it happens, but it hasn't been frequent or severe enough to disgruntle me.

derFunkenstein wrote:
Are there any games that are even remotely interesting coming soon?


The only things on my radar this year are Mario Odyssey and the Yooka-Laylee port. Maybe Xenoblade Chronicles 2 if it's as well received as the first one (which I didn't have a chance to play). Then there's Pokemon and Metroid Prime, but who knows how long it'll take for those to release.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:41 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
How is performance now a few months later?

I don't, frankly, care too much about the hardware if the games are good. I started caring more about the hardware as consoles progressed because there were fewer and fewer games that really captured my attention. I'm kind of trapped in a pre-2000s gaming world with just a handful of very notable exceptions. That said, we have to consider the source of these comments. SSK isn't paid by Microsoft but he might as well be. I don't trust any of his opinions on tech, because I can't.

Are there any games that are even remotely interesting coming soon? The only other Switch title that's grabbed my eye so far as Ultra Street Fighter II, which is SSF2Turbo HD Remix with a couple extra characters (and a $40 price tag).


Zelda seems to work just fine for me. I've been playing almost exclusively docked. Again though, I'm not very far in. Nintendo has patched it a few times and I think that's gone over well. What I'd really like to see is Nintendo unleash the (albeit limited) power of the Switch in docked mode on Zelda. They keep the Nvidia chip set at the same settings whether its docked or handheld, which means its only using about 40% of its power. If they went even to 80%, I could see them pulling off a pretty stunning 900 or 1080p at 60fps.

The Switch hardware is a big deal because its portable, and I think they did a solid job with it. That said, I am very much looking forward to the inevitable hardware revision in 2019 that makes it even better.

Most interesting game coming soon is Splatoon 2 in late July. Its a competitive shooter that I think I could do reasonably well in (since I'd be playing against a lot of 10 year olds :)). Other than that, it's Mario Odyssey later this year. Also, check out Snipper Clips. Its a really fun coop puzzle game.

Definitely read some reviews on Street Fighter. It's really underwhelming, especially at $40. Same for Bomberman R - if it were $10 I'd get it in a second.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:18 pm

What I meant by caring less about hardware is spec-for-spec comparisons with an Xbox or PlayStation. I can't be bothered with that crap. The Wii had some fun titles. The Xbox 360 had some fun titles. The PS3 had some fun titles. I own all three. If the fun is there I'll buy it, and the cost of a platform is just the cost of entry.

Looks like the Wii U version of BotW got some attention after release, too, which is nice. I'm not planning on buying a Switch until they're widely available and the games are there. It's evident from both posts that there's not much on the horizon. It's unfortunate, but expected. Pokemon will be the big seller in my house. She's a Pokemon fanatic and has played through Pokemon Moon once with each starter option.
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:44 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
What I meant by caring less about hardware is spec-for-spec comparisons with an Xbox or PlayStation. I can't be bothered with that crap. The Wii had some fun titles. The Xbox 360 had some fun titles. The PS3 had some fun titles. I own all three. If the fun is there I'll buy it, and the cost of a platform is just the cost of entry.

Looks like the Wii U version of BotW got some attention after release, too, which is nice. I'm not planning on buying a Switch until they're widely available and the games are there. It's evident from both posts that there's not much on the horizon. It's unfortunate, but expected. Pokemon will be the big seller in my house. She's a Pokemon fanatic and has played through Pokemon Moon once with each starter option.


Gotcha on the hardware. Yeah, as I've said, Nintendo is less about the pure hardware spec compared to MS and Sony. Where they keep trying to one up each other on pure power, Nintendo just wants to be sure their games are capable of being played using bright colors and relatively simple textures.

Holding off on a Switch is a good idea. They are easy enough to find if you know where to look and exercise a bit of effort. I got mine ordered the same day I wanted one and got it about a week later. The NES classic was far harder to find.

I have a hard time agreeing with there not being "much on the horizon." Mario+Rabbids actually looks like a lot of fun (its basically an XCOM game), Splatoon 2 will be a ton of fun, and Mario will probably be the best platformer of the year, if not the best since Mario 64. That's just what I find interesting (probably only going to get Splatoon and Mario though).

Otherwise, there's Pokken Tournament (a pokemon game), Battlechaser: Nightwar (interesting looking RPG), and portable Skyrim (for those who have finished Zelda - doubt I will by the end of the year).

Only unfortunate thing is that Nintendo 1st party games don't tend to get cheaper with time.
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Pizzapotamus
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:00 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
I'm not planning on buying a Switch until they're widely available and the games are there. It's evident from both posts that there's not much on the horizon. It's unfortunate, but expected. Pokemon will be the big seller in my house. She's a Pokemon fanatic and has played through Pokemon Moon once with each starter option.


I wouldn't really agree with "not much on the horizon", in terms of exclusives Nintendo has a really solid schedule with what seems like something every month. As Wii U owner double dipping on Mario Kart got a pass from me but then we just got ARMS, which fair enough has rather specific audience due to single player shallowness. Next month though is Splatoon 2 which I'm expecting to be fantastic just like the first, it seems to get overlooked in the lover for the multiplayer but Splatoon does have a solid single player game so there's something there even without online. Then it's Mario+Rabbids, I'm as surprised as anyone by this but it's apparently looking good. Pokken DX, it is another re-release but I skipped the Wii-U one and extra characters seems a bigger upgrade for a fighter than Kart DX got. Then Fire Emblem Warriors, Mario!, Xenoblade!.

Non-exclusive there's Sonic Mania, a whole bunch of indies. For games that are already out Puyo Puyo Tetris and Disgaea 5 are both good portable titles.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:04 pm

"something every month" just means there will be months (potentially several consecutive) where I don't see anything I want. I'm sort of OK with that, because I have a larger personal library of games to play, but it doesn't bode well for a system's long-term viability. Wii backwards-compatibility was why I got a Wii U - our Wii had bitten the big one and I saw four or five Wii U games I wanted. Unfortunately we haven't bought anything for it since until BotW.
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Pizzapotamus
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:35 pm

Well major first party releases on a monthly basis is a lot more than they've done for any console in a long while and is more than "not much"
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:37 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
"something every month" just means there will be months (potentially several consecutive) where I don't see anything I want. I'm sort of OK with that, because I have a larger personal library of games to play, but it doesn't bode well for a system's long-term viability. Wii backwards-compatibility was why I got a Wii U - our Wii had bitten the big one and I saw four or five Wii U games I wanted. Unfortunately we haven't bought anything for it since until BotW.


I don't think Nintendo has done anything to solve its third-party problem - even Mario+Rabbids still relies on Mario. If it were purely a Rabbids game, I doubt it would be on the radar. I don't think the Switch will bomb as badly as the Wii U after the initial rush dies down. The Wii U just didn't make any sense while the Switch not only makes sense, it also executes pretty well.

Since I'm not relying on the Switch as my go-to single gaming/entertainment source, I'm fine with it having only a few really good, first party, games per year. That'll be enough to keep me satisfied since PC will always be my main platform. I really bought the Switch for travel since it's not really all that feasible to bust out a gaming laptop on a plane if you aren't in first class.
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:41 pm

Pizzapotamus wrote:
Well major first party releases on a monthly basis is a lot more than they've done for any console in a long while and is more than "not much"


How long can they keep it up though? We don't know what's coming past December (or at least I don't know), but they've hit basically every main franchise by that point except for Metroid (and that will take a few years), Kirby, mainline Pokémon (also a few years), and Super Smash Brothers. Even best case scenario, but mid next year, every main franchise will have been tapped with either a new game or a Wii U port. What then? It won't matter much to me since I don't need a ton of Nintendo games to keep my happy, but we'll see what the masses have to say.
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sweatshopking
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:43 pm

southrncomfortjm wrote:
How is the hardware so many years behind? It's using a new-ish Nvidia mobile processor. No one else has done what Nintendo's done with this console. And, overall, raw graphics power doesn't mean as much to Nintendo as it does to Sony and MS. So why does the power of the console matter? As a portable unit, I'd say build quality is more important than raw power since it doesn't just sit on a shelf.

As for BotW, obviously I can't make a final determination on it yet since I'm only a couple of hours in. It's definitely a different game than Witcher, and I'm happy for that. I got bored with Witcher 2 pretty quickly and therefore didn't try 3.


it's a maxwell chip, not pascal. it's not newish, it's last gen. the reason hardware matters is because if your system is weak you end up with an empty world. Graphics aside, the chips ability to handle multiple AI and objects is limited. It matters enormously.
 
sweatshopking
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:45 pm

bwoodring wrote:

"Not everything is for all people", but anyone who likes Breath of the Wild is a thirty-something nerd with a pathetic nostalgia obsession. That's really weird, because my 13 year old son who has never played another Zelda game has been playing it constantly for weeks.

What a passive-aggressive dick comment.


Nothing passive aggressive at all. Dickish? maybe. I didn't say anyone, i said the bulk of the reviewing industry who simply is filled with nerdy ass 30 somethings who love nostalgia. the game is objectively not as good as witcher 3 yet ranks higher. Explain it.

derFunkenstein wrote:
That said, we have to consider the source of these comments. SSK isn't paid by Microsoft but he might as well be. I don't trust any of his opinions on tech, because I can't.

My youth was spent on a nes, snes, n64, and gamecube. I also don't play games on any console anymore. My microsoft bias has nothing to do with the fact that BOTW isn't worthy of its review score. I'm happy to hear why it's ranked higher than the witcher 3. Seriously, explain it guize. IF you can't, maybe the issue isn't my (irrelevant, but granted real) bias, maybe it's just that i'm right, and it's ranked as it is because the reviewers are obsessed with nostalgia. Maybe you might point to the constant remakes in them movie industry to prove me wrong.
 
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:09 pm

southrncomfortjm wrote:
Pizzapotamus wrote:
Well major first party releases on a monthly basis is a lot more than they've done for any console in a long while and is more than "not much"


How long can they keep it up though? We don't know what's coming past December (or at least I don't know), but they've hit basically every main franchise by that point except for Metroid (and that will take a few years), Kirby, mainline Pokémon (also a few years), and Super Smash Brothers. Even best case scenario, but mid next year, every main franchise will have been tapped with either a new game or a Wii U port. What then? It won't matter much to me since I don't need a ton of Nintendo games to keep my happy, but we'll see what the masses have to say.

They probably can't keep it up long term but front loading it and building a base by giving people a reason to actually own the system is certainly better than relying on people to buy it solely on future hope. Kirby, Yoshi, and a normal Fire Emblem game should all be coming in 2018. As Pikmin 4 supposedly had a good deal of Wii U development I'd think Nintendo could get that out next year and who knows what Retro Studios is working on. I also suspect we've seen the last big wave of 3ds announcements and Nintendo won't be splitting resources between multiple systems. 3rd parties, especially the Japanese, are going be testing the waters their portable development as well(Disgaea 5 switch western preorders alone surpassed ps4 sales). Indies are not generally system sellers but with an actual install base they can probably keep the momentum going there as well providing additional titles to fill out the lineup.

I'm not predicting a Nintendo golden era of unstoppable dominance and it's not going to be getting a lot of AAA western cross platform titles but combining the markets for portable, Nintendo, Japanese, and weird in one system seems like it could be sustainable even without sales to the CoD and Madden sets.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:21 am

sweatshopking wrote:

Nothing passive aggressive at all. Dickish? maybe. I didn't say anyone, i said the bulk of the reviewing industry who simply is filled with nerdy ass 30 somethings who love nostalgia. the game is objectively not as good as witcher 3 yet ranks higher. Explain it.


Nothing nostalgic about my impressions. I played the original Zelda, but never beat it, tried the second Zelda a few times, I may have beaten A Link to the Past... maybe, tried Ocarina of time and Majoras, but never beat them, and haven't even tried the rest. So I'm coming to this with some background, but nostalgia definitely isn't it. Whether it s a10/10 or an all time top game, I don't know. At this point all I know is that the game is beautiful to look at and is very engaging. That's a pretty good start.
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:38 am

So here's my day 3 update, and it's a fun one since this is one of the things that makes the Switch pretty great.

Last night was supposed to be a pretty chill night by myself. Instead, girlfriend decided to come by and wanted to watch some Game of Thrones on my big TV (first time she's seeing it, I've seen all episodes and read most of the books). I was like, oh, but I wanted to play Zelda, and then of course remembered I could just play in handheld mode. So I reattached the joy con and played Zelda while she watched a few episodes of GoT next to me.

Playing in handheld mode too a few minutes to get used to since the buttons are all in slightly different places and are different sizes, but after that it was smooth sailing.

Biggest take away from my handheld time is just how nice the screen is. It's bright, vibrant and sharp. I don't know that its obvious it's only 720p either. I may be playing in handheld mode more often going forward just because the experience was so great.
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:44 am

Saw my first Switch coming home from Chicago last week when the guy in the seat next to me whipped one out and started playing. I was nice enough not to ask a single question, nor to ask him to turn if off. It was a night flight, he had the window seat, and the reflected glare from the window was keeping me awake.
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steelcity_ballin
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:11 am

southrncomfortjm wrote:
steelcity_ballin wrote:
I like my switch a lot. I'm really glad I bought it a few months ago, but there is a real lack of games for it - though this is to be expected with A) a new console and B) timid investors and developers after the Wii U failures. The early adopters despite a really non-existent game library are what made this possible, specifically having a killer polished game like BotW. Without BotW I don't think the console makes it for lack of dev support.

It's good to see the store getting a lot of new content. I still haven't finished BotW yet, but it's been fun to play and explore. I tried Arms but didn't care for it. Really excited for Fire Emblem as I love tactics-style isometric turn-based rpgs. I bought a few older NES ports like blaster master. Mario Cart 8 is fun too. I took a trip to Vegas ~ 4 hr flight and the switch did pretty well with any game for most of the flight except BotW which is more demanding. I bought an Anker portable battery charger now and I should get at least 10+ hours on the thing. The pro controller is my favorite controller yet.

It seems like it's full-steam ahead for the console though, with a host of games on the horizon and a constant stream of successful launch titles. New IP is never a bad thing. Happy to see it succeed.


I think there are enough good games for right now, especially when so many of them are of a pretty high quality. Basically at least 1-2 solid releases a month. BotW, Snipper Clips, Splatoon 2 and Mario will hold me through the rest of the year easily.


2 of those games you mentioned aren't out yet. Splatoon 2 is supposed to be next month IIRC, and Odyssey slated for October. I would disagree highly on the number of AAA-style titles. There's BotW, Mario Cart 8, Arms, and a lot of crappy neo-geo ports and some so-so indie games they are overcharging for. This is a dev issue, not Nintendo's fault entirely, but come on - $30 for some of these titles is ridiculous - hell sometime Nintendo is to blame, look at the SSFII port they wanted $40 for. It is trending towards the better lately with a lot of devs getting involved, but until those games materialize they don't count.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:34 am

steelcity_ballin wrote:
2 of those games you mentioned aren't out yet. Splatoon 2 is supposed to be next month IIRC, and Odyssey slated for October. I would disagree highly on the number of AAA-style titles. There's BotW, Mario Cart 8, Arms, and a lot of crappy neo-geo ports and some so-so indie games they are overcharging for. This is a dev issue, not Nintendo's fault entirely, but come on - $30 for some of these titles is ridiculous - hell sometime Nintendo is to blame, look at the SSFII port they wanted $40 for. It is trending towards the better lately with a lot of devs getting involved, but until those games materialize they don't count.


For a new console, this is pretty damn good only 3 months after launch.

My point was that with Breath of the Wild already out, and Splatoon and Mario coming before the end of the year, I, personally, am all set on my switch. Splatoon and Mario count for me - they are basically done and aren't getting delayed. Fire Emblem may also come out before the end of the year.

There are a lot of good/decent games out - don't discount Disgaea 5, Binding of Isaac, I am Setsuna, and Shovel Knight.

I don't like the high prices either, but its capitalism. People with Switches are itching for new games, so they'll be willing to pay higher prices for them. I am not in a rush, so I'll wait for Shovel Knight to get to $5 along with Binding of Isaac before I jump in.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: The Nintendo Switch is pretty great

Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:18 am

southrncomfortjm wrote:
There are a lot of good/decent games out - don't discount Disgaea 5, Binding of Isaac, I am Setsuna, and Shovel Knight.

Lots of games right there that many folks have played on other platforms. Disgaea 5 came out on PS4 two years ago. Binding of Isaac and Shovel Knight are practically ancient grandfathers of the current indie scene.
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