Live data from Hacker News

Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

nintendo.com

111–120 of 551 posts

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#111

Battery life on tegra devices is abysmal I'm really wondering if the guy can get from the gate to the plane without it running out if you run full 3D graphics games like those.

Yeah that's an excellent point. The Nvidia Shield (Tegra K1) can pull 15-20 watts while gaming. I can play hearthstone for like 3 hours when plugged in.

5V usb port at 2.1A = 10.5W = battery gets drained even when plugged in.

It has a 20Whr battery, if I'm at 90%, and I'm wary of draining it below 10%, that leaves me with 16Whr = an hour at most of gaming on battery alone, on a brand new full capacity battery.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#112
post #73

Hopefully the docking station provides additional CPU/GPU power, otherwise this would be no different to a PS Vita.

Since at multiple times the video shows you can walk away with the console with the game still running, I don't think the dock will do anything more than charging/HDMI

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#113
post #27

It is so reassuring to see Nintendo create a modern gaming machine that doesn't try to be a living room hub or an iPad competitor. Going entirely by the video alone, every single design decision has been made with a clear focus on gaming. The simple docking action for transitioning it to the TV, the versatility and portability of the controllers, the reasonable size, etc all combine to make this (again, judging entir…

The Nintendo Shop on the Wii U is reasonable, actually. It's fairly easy to use, discoverability is decent. It's pretty basic but it's (in my opinion) their best attempt yet. Assuming they build on what they've learn from that, I'd hope the store for this system will be even better. My most-wanted feature for the shop is for them to stop forcing me to buy the 'classics' on every bloody Nintendo system I buy! I must o…

I think that's a big part of why Nintendo still has purchases tied to devices. As a way to push people to buy the same content over again. They don't push out new digital content fast enough to keep the income flow up if they aren't getting you to repurchase things.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#114

So this is a good usage model, but I'm not sure people want to carry yet another tablet just for gaming. The only way I can see this thing taking off is if it can fall back into an Android tablet mode for web browsing, e-mail, etc. But as a portable gaming console, it seems pretty boss. I'm curious what the hardware specs are and how they differ from other tablets on the market. Because if it can't do everything else…

I'm in the opposite camp as you are. I'm thrilled that this appears to be a gaming only device. I have devices that do what my tablets do. My 3DS has hundreds of hours into it. I love having a portable device that is for gaming only. I don't want notifications popping while looking for Rupees or a phone call when trying to hunt for legendary birds.

I also have no issues carrying a separate device for that. IMO, touch gaming for anything beyond the basics is terrible. Even Minecraft is way better with a mouse and keyboard or controller.

Having an all encompassing device from a company that has continually nailed portable gaming is something I will continue to buy. The big screen of this, for me, is an added bonus.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#115
This actually looks amazing. I haven't bought a game console in a while and have in fact been actively avoiding them in favor of PC gaming and Steam, especially now that we've got the Steam Link and Steam Controller. However, this has enough value add that I could totally see myself buying this. This might just be the best thing I've seen from Nintendo in a long time.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#117
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've yet to see an iPad game at the level of Skyrim. Yes, you could get the same graphics, but I doubt you could get one with such scale onto an iPad. I understand that the trailer is not meant to reflect the exact console. But remember that Bethesda is behind this, and so we have their seal of approval, so to speak.

I'm not saying the games exist on the iPad platform. I'm saying that the hardware is certainly competitive with this and so it's not some super-impressive thing that this is coming out with Skyrim. Like, we have this hardware already.

How do you know? Do you have some kind of inside information? All we know is that it's running on a Nvidia SoC.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skyrim came out in 2011. I understand this is the "special edition" but that usually just means better textures, not a new engine. The recommended hardware requirements are not exactly cutting edge for the PC version of the remaster (i5 2400, 8 gigs ram, GTX 780).

It's actually a new engine, the same one used in Fallout 4: https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/12/skyrim-hd-special-editio...

The larger point is those recommended (not minimum) hardware requirements are still for the special edition and aren't blowing anyone out of the water.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#119
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh yeah. Dropping LMP isn't just dumb from a "fun" perspective, it's also a stupid business decision: LMP is the one place where Consoles are inarguably superior to PCs. By tossing it out, you're tossing away a major selling point for your system.

> Dropping LMP isn't just dumb from a "fun" perspective, it's also a stupid business decision [...] By tossing it out, you're tossing away a major selling point for your system. It seems to have worked out pretty well for Sony and Microsoft—and the manufacturer that does still focus on LMP (Nintendo) is struggling. So I don't think it's actually a major selling point. I mean, I wish it were; that's one of the things…

At least several Xbox one titles seem to have local multiplayer. Skylanders is a good example.

Re: Nintendo Switch – New Video Game System [video]

#120
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the fact they got Skyrim in the trailer is a great promise of its graphical prowess Skyrim is a five-year-old game at this point. It's not exactly an indication of graphical horsepower.

It's likely the Special Edition Skyrim release which uses Fallout 4's engine.

All of the TES and FO3/4 games have been using the same engine since Oblivion. Bethesda now calls their internal build of GameBryo "Creation Engine" but it's very much the same thing. I think you can actually still pull "GameBryo" out of the EXE using the Unix `strings` util, and you can definitely see it from the game data.

So "ported to the FO4 engine" doesn't really mean much. It's like saying that Half-Life 2 has been ported to CS:GO's engine. Yeah, it's a more modern build of the engine but it's still the same engine and it's not going to look or run drastically different unless the assets are also revamped at the same time.

Also, my personal opinion (from the outside) is that Bethesda doesn't seem to have done a good job maintaining their codebase. Fallout 4 still doesn't really look any better than Skyrim (the facial animations are especially terrible), it's quirky/buggy as hell (framerate-locked physics in 2016?) and it runs like shit even on high-end machines. An engine from a game released in 2006 shouldn't struggle to hold 50 fps at 1440p on a 780 Ti. TF2 gets slagged on a lot for its shitty codebase but it's nowhere near that bad.

Post reply on HN