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Nintendo Switch

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171–180 of 431 posts

Re: Nintendo Switch

#171

Post by rhizome »

Splines wrote: post #147
hackerews wrote: post #14

What are some of the reasons why Nintendo Switch isn't just phone + app + chromecast-like device + bluetooth controllers?

$300 for a tablet, chromecast device + bluetooth controllers that all integrate nicely is a pretty good deal. Gaming on mobile phones with controllers is a pretty janky affair right now. Poor quality controllers and iffy compatibility are the norm. Getting your display remoted to the TV is also well in the "doesn't always work" territory.

Gaming on mobile phones with controllers is a pretty janky affair right now

That people are using controllers with phone games tells me that there are still lessons to be learned from the Wii.

Re: Nintendo Switch

#172

Post by eb0la »

darrennix wrote: post #21

Watching the graphics quality of the Zelda demo, I can't help but think: If only this weren't on Nintendo. The graphics look equivalent to Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (2002). As with so many Nintendo demos; I find myself wishing they were a cross-platform game studio rather than a lagging hardware company.

Sometimes looks like they were a game studio that develops their own copy protection hardware.

At least you can reuse their "hardware dongle" for more than a game ;-)

Re: Nintendo Switch

#173

Post by pmuk »

Just pre-ordered on Amazon UK for £279.99. Interestingly Tesco, a large retailer, are running an Adwords campaign advertising it at £499.99

Re: Nintendo Switch

#174

Post by __david__ »

zackthehuman wrote: post #54
kibwen wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Art direction makes up for it. By now, photorealism in games is becoming bland. Given a screenshot of most any random modern AAA game, without the HUD, I don't know if I could distinguish them. I won't argue that more graphical fidelity isn't better, but we've reached a saturation point where graphical fidelity alone won't sell your game.

I couldn't agree more. Over the years I have become less and less interested in games as they have become more and more realistic graphically. The games I still enjoy playing have poor low resolution graphics, but they're challenging and fun. This is one of the things I respect so much about Nintendo; they haven't given in to pressure to make everything realistic. They keep their focus on the game play and allow play…

There's still plenty of room for artistic style in graphically "realistic" games. Dishonored and the recent Deus Ex games (particularly the Human Revolution) are pretty good examples of both good graphical definition and a very strong sense of style. Going back a little further there were the Bioshock games, which also just ooze style (as well as being top tier in the realistic graphics dept for their time).

Re: Nintendo Switch

#175

Post by riffraff »

aikinai wrote: post #118
thinkloop wrote: post #102

How come Nintendo keeps having to completely reinvent itself every couple of years? They go from being on the verge of bankruptcy to a hit then back again. It seems like one tiny misstep and they're done. Microsoft is still spending accrued value from the 90's after tons of mistakes, why doesn't Nintendo have an easier life?

Nintendo's never been on the verge of bankruptcy. That's a ridiculous myth that's always tossed around by news sites to get more clicks. Nintendo is a surprisingly tiny company with billions in cash in the bank. As others have mentioned, they don't have backup cash cows like the other conglomerates so their short-term profits do vary wildly depending on the success of each platform, but the premise of one generation…

> Nintendo is a surprisingly tiny company with billions in cash in the bank.

I never realised this, so I went and checked. Nintendo has (per wikipedia) only 5k employees, compared to MS and SONY which both have more than 100k (across all divisions clearly).

Re: Nintendo Switch

#176

Post by [deleted] »

johnhenry wrote: post #78

First off, I'm super excited by this. However, is it just me or is it a little disturbing to see Mario and his crew greatly out of proportion with the other "humans" in the world of Mario Odyssey ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti9rFafwTw&t=65m49s )?

[deleted]

Re: Nintendo Switch

#177

Post by codesushi42 »

objclxt wrote: post #24
minimaxir wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The GameCube was the first device to use a second-screen experience, with the GBA Link! (yeah, yeah)

The Dreamcast had second screen gaming and that was released three years before the GameCube. There may well have been other devices doing it before then as well. But Nintendo weren't the first.

The Dreamcast was so very far ahead of its time. I have not seen a console as innovative since, both hardware and software wise.

And here we are, in a console wasteland far in the future. The Switch is the only home system I am mildly excited about. For innovative games, I will stick with PC.

BTW, Sony actually had their own clone of the VMU dubbed the "Pocketstation" that they were planning, but ultimately scrapped the peripheral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PocketStation

Re: Nintendo Switch

#178

Post by izacus »

shmerl wrote: post #91
Scuds wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All due to Nvidia's influence. Hopefully this will make the hardware more compelling to 3rd party studios.

Yes, I also think Nvidia played a key role in it. They saved time on reinventing the wheel with their Tegra chip and used existing Vulkan driver for it. At the same time, why can't AMD do the same with others? They should convince Sony to use Vulkan in the new PS#.

Do they really have to? The console APIs on both PS3 and PS4 (and Xbox 360 / Xbox One) were very similar to Vulcan already.

Re: Nintendo Switch

#179

Post by grblovrflowerrr »

Kiro wrote: post #165
johnhenry wrote: post #78

First off, I'm super excited by this. However, is it just me or is it a little disturbing to see Mario and his crew greatly out of proportion with the other "humans" in the world of Mario Odyssey ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti9rFafwTw&t=65m49s )?

I found the whole "Mario in the real world" disturbing overall. A bit nightmarish.

Then definitely do not watch the 1993 Hollywood Super Mario Bros. movie, which is Mario in the real world complimented with really weird and distributing makeup/prosthetics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtMZKYnLg5c

Re: Nintendo Switch

#180

Post by tarpherder »

fsloth wrote: post #137
threeseed wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo and arguably Microsoft simply can't compete with Sony right now. Sony is dominating the high end, exclusive game market. The Last of Us, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid and coming up in 2017: Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding etc. All of these push the console to the limits and show just how superior the PS4 hardware is over its competitors. Nintendo isn't really suited anyway. Their games are arguably better c…

As years go by the less I'm convinced that the platform with the fastest hardware is the best. With consoles, on the technical front, I want constant fluid framerates and predictability. For instance, I fail to see how PS4 Witcher 3 could be better than Witcher 3 on XBox one by any standard I care about when gaming (and I'm a professional graphics programmer). That said, yes, it seems Sony is winning this generation…

The PS4 has more powerful hardware than the XBox One. If they are running the same game (The Witcher 3), logic tells us that it will be easier to get fluid framerates with the more powerful console. And that is what you care about, no?

Now I don't know about The Witcher per-se but there have been a good number of multi-platform releases where performance and fluidity were compromised on XBox One.

And it doesn't just seem to be Sony, the numbers say it's Sony (especially in Europe). General consensus is that Microsoft severely botched the launch of the One and has been left to play catch-up since.

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