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Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

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Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#181

Post by chadgeidel »

bedhead wrote: post #82
VeejayRampay wrote: post #70

If someone can answer that question for me: Why has Nintendo shifted towards producing underpowered consoles? I used to play the Super Nes when I was a kid, and it was the most powerful console of its generation. The N64, the GameCube, the Wii and subsequent offerings were all underpowered in terms of graphical abilities and raw power after that. I hear people say "But the gameplay is what matters", which I agree wit…

They know they can't win a spec arms race.

Anyone can win a spec arms race. Whoever wants to spend the most money will win. Nintendo doesn't want to participate in a spec arms race.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#182

Post by n-gauge »

mintplant wrote: post #113
danso wrote: post #101

As a late Wii U owner, I'm willing to wait until the Switch proves to be a success. The horror stories of the Wii U's launch, combined with lackluster support and signs that Nintendo didn't know how to adapt to the Internet age haven't exactly been mitigated by what we know of the Switch so far: no web browser, no Virtual Console nor movie services like Netflix at launch. Everything smells rushed...in the meantime, I…

The lack of a web browser is I suspect a reaction to WebKit vulnerabilities having been one of the primary entry points for people hacking the (New) 3DS. Omitting this functionality reduces the OS's attack surface.

..and maybe to stop users playing HTML games (Nintendo ripoffs for example). This is a shame as I felt the Wii U was crippled in this respect (i.e. video tag supported but not audio!)

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#183

Post by chadgeidel »

notadoc wrote: post #177

Let people play all the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube classics on the thing and I'm sure it will be fairly popular.

This is one of the main reasons I'm interested. Not THE main reason but here's hoping Nintendo continues to build their Virtual Console library. crosses fingers

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#184

Post by Chardok »

danso wrote: post #101

As a late Wii U owner, I'm willing to wait until the Switch proves to be a success. The horror stories of the Wii U's launch, combined with lackluster support and signs that Nintendo didn't know how to adapt to the Internet age haven't exactly been mitigated by what we know of the Switch so far: no web browser, no Virtual Console nor movie services like Netflix at launch. Everything smells rushed...in the meantime, I…

I agree with your points and wanted to add some more as to why I am wary in looking in a new Nintendo console.

1. Wii and the Wii U especially never truly lived up to their potentials. They release small minigames (Nintendo Wolrd is a good example) that were amazingly fun and utilized the dual screens, but then developers almost completely forgot about what differentiated the consoles and it became merely inconvenient to have motion controls or the dual screens.

2. They absolutely do not listen to their fans, at least Americans. I can't tell you how badly a lot of people wanted a true console Animal Crossing, and they throw a shitty board game at us. Mario Party 10 could have easily been an amazing multiplayer game with dual screens and motion controls but they watered it down to a very mediocre experience. Pokemon 3d? Heres a tekken style game. Hell, the Wii U is finally getting a Zelda game.. at the release of their new console.

3. Amiibos. Sorry I don't want DLC in the form of hard to obtain collectibles.

Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite games were brought to me by Nintendo but it is hard clutching on to these memories when they are just pumping out years worth of "almost there" titles and experiences. I would love to be proved wrong but Nintendo is certainly more focused on bottom line profits than providing a fun gaming experience.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#186

Post by __david__ »

Nadya wrote: post #67
k__ wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, for todays standards. N64 was a weird trident with a thumb-stick, PSX added these sticks later with the DualShock controller. GC had this freaky button-layout.

The GC controller is the best gaming controller, IMHO. Followed by the SNES controller. My hands have never cramped playing my Gamecube or SNES. They cramp constantly trying to play FF15 on my PS4 and playing Xbox isn't much better.

I love the PS4 controller. I would get hand fatigue with the PS1/2/3 controller but the PS4 is just the right shape for my hands and I never notice anything even after extended play times. I like it a lot.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#187

Post by [deleted] »

VLM wrote: post #111
VeejayRampay wrote: post #70

If someone can answer that question for me: Why has Nintendo shifted towards producing underpowered consoles? I used to play the Super Nes when I was a kid, and it was the most powerful console of its generation. The N64, the GameCube, the Wii and subsequent offerings were all underpowered in terms of graphical abilities and raw power after that. I hear people say "But the gameplay is what matters", which I agree wit…

The SNES was extremely underpowered compared to my desktop at that time. A 3 MHz 16 bit CPU in the early mid 90s like I had in my 80s home computer, except it was 1994 not 1984 and I had a 40 mhz 32 bit 386 and was playing with this new "linux" thing I downloaded as a series of floppy disks from a local BBS. Nintendo hasn't changed, but the console market has, such that their competitors gave up on the console ideal…

[deleted]

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#188

Post by __david__ »

everling wrote: post #57
coldpie wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, N64 and Gamecube were pretty standard. Buttons and joysticks.

The Gamecube, yes. But the N64 analogue stick was the first of its kind, no?

And don't forget the rumble pack on the N64. It cracks me up that Sony still calls their controller the "DualShock", since that was a direct "2 is better than 1!" response to the N64 rumble pack.

On the other hand, Sony's one-upmanship also added the 2nd analog joystick to controllers and that turned out to be incredibly important.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#189

Post by TulliusCicero »

VeejayRampay wrote: post #70

If someone can answer that question for me: Why has Nintendo shifted towards producing underpowered consoles? I used to play the Super Nes when I was a kid, and it was the most powerful console of its generation. The N64, the GameCube, the Wii and subsequent offerings were all underpowered in terms of graphical abilities and raw power after that. I hear people say "But the gameplay is what matters", which I agree wit…

This isn't true. The N64 had more graphical power than the PSX, and the Gamecube had more power than the PS2.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#190

Post by cwyers »

elsonrodriguez wrote: post #180
VeejayRampay wrote: post #70

If someone can answer that question for me: Why has Nintendo shifted towards producing underpowered consoles? I used to play the Super Nes when I was a kid, and it was the most powerful console of its generation. The N64, the GameCube, the Wii and subsequent offerings were all underpowered in terms of graphical abilities and raw power after that. I hear people say "But the gameplay is what matters", which I agree wit…

The Gamecube was actually more powerful than the PS2. An easy comparison here is to look at Resident Evil 4 on both consoles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkKX-nU9fX4 If anything, the fact that the Gamecube's graphical superiority didn't help it much in the market is what made Nintendo make their shift towards innovations instead of clock cycles. You can't have both because the market has told Nintendo specificall…

Well, then Nintendo really learned the wrong lesson from the Gamecube versus the PS2, because the lesson should have been "people want to be able to play DVDs on something that costs that much and hooks up to your TV, and they don't like switching discs to play a game."
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