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Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

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Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#191

Post by ehsankia »

jfernandez wrote: post #85
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…

From what I've gathered through the years, I think there's this undertone to Nintendo's strategy around not directly competing with the likes of Sony and Microsoft: companies that tout and create powerful beefy specs that become a one if not the main driver to market their devices effectively. Nintendo seems to continue, whether they're always successful or not (Wii vs Wii U), to push the company strategy towards mak…

Exactly, they have their niche and their own unique games. The scene for the most powerful gaming device is already pretty saturated with the Xbox and Playstation, and let's not forget, the PC.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#192

Post by vegabook »

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…

No browser?? No netflix? If you want these there are umpteen devices in your life giving you instant access already. This is about pureplay gaming. Nobody buys a console to browse anymore. I can literally do browsing and netflix with 3 devices right now within my immediate reach in the living room, and I'd be really unlikely to want to replace my smartphone with the switch when I am travelling even if it had a browser.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#193

Post by jdcarter »

slantyyz wrote: post #157
jdcarter wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's precisely why I'll be buying one: my daughter wants a 3DS, but I said let's wait for the Switch instead. Then we'll get to use it on our main TV (replacing our Wii U, which we rarely use) and have games that work in both settings. Win-win.

If your daughter wants a 3DS to play portable games (with nothing specific in mind) then waiting for a Switch instead of getting a 3DS is probably worthwhile. If, however, your daughter wants a 3DS for specific titles, you're still better off getting her the 3DS. For example, if all of her friends are currently playing and trading on Pokemon Sun/Moon, getting a Switch will basically have her feeling left out.

In her case it's not for a specific title, so she was excited to learn about the Switch and is waiting for it. For whatever reason I don't see many kids around here playing on 3DS, so peers aren't a factor. (Most gaming with friends happens on PC/Mac Minecraft; I run a private server for them.)

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#194

Post by eric_the_read »

nsxwolf wrote: post #120
skdotdan wrote: post #118

I reckon it will be a big success. But, honestly, I believe video-game only hardware should no longer be a thing in 2017. Almost all features of the Nintendo Switch could have been built on the top of iOS or Android. Nintendo should pivot to a software only company.

Why? They sell massive amounts of hardware. Clearly their customers do not want to play their games on a smartphone.

Based on the response to Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Pokemon Go, I'd say their customers clearly do want to play their games on a smartphone; they just haven't had the opportunity.

Now, if you'd said, "their customers don't mind buying Nintendo hardware to play their games on," that's much harder to deny.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#195

Post by Fej »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #27
bryanlarsen wrote: post #4

The wired review is much more negative, if you want a contrasting view: https://www.wired.com/2017/03/review-nintendo-switch/

>"At this point, with Nintendo not having commented on or fixeds the issue, I can only go forward assuming the Switch consoles going on sale this Friday will all potentially have this problem, and that Nintendo is about to sell you a $300 game system requiring some kind of fix before it performs its basic functions." Yikes, that sounds disastrous.

From what I've gathered - the antennae in the Joy-Cons do not get enough power. GameXplain did a video showcasing the issue. The right Joy-Con also has the issue, to a lesser extent.

Nintendo might be able to adjust the gain on the Joy-Con radios, at the expense of battery life. They might have to re-certify with the FCC to do so.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#196

Post by frederickf »

MAGZine wrote: post #131
M_Grey wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's a bit of a darker side as well. The Wii was so unbelievably successful, and profitable that it seems to have created a kind of corporate-level of addiction, and subsequent profit-seeking behavior. The Wii was underpowered, quirky, but just happened to hit all of the notes that a ton of people who hadn't played games before (and would later move on to playing on phones and tablets) were looking for. Mo…

Nintendo has a history of doing quirky things, in an effort to differentiate themselves. They've always been innovative. - Directional Pad (NES) - Shoulder buttons on controller (SNES) - third handle on a controller and controllers with expansion slots (N64) - portable gaming systems (starting with gameboy, which didn't even have a backlit screen) - subsequent iterations that included: folding designs (SP), Touch scr…

To add to your point, several of those ideas were released before even the NES, by Nintendo!

Their portable Game and Watch series included buttons in the direction pad format and even a few folding duel screen models as early as 1982.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_%26_Watch_games

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#197

Post by elouataoui »

Spivak wrote: post #159
SimeVidas wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all of us can delay playing Zelda in 900p@30fps for that long. I mean, if I don’t get it on Friday, I will be pissed. Also, note that there’s the Pro controller, which is better for playing on the TV anyway, so at least in that case, this is a non-issue.

Honest question, why not buy it on the Wii U then?

Not everyone has a Wii U either

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#198

Post by slantyyz »

swasheck wrote: post #179
slantyyz wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your daughter wants a 3DS to play portable games (with nothing specific in mind) then waiting for a Switch instead of getting a 3DS is probably worthwhile. If, however, your daughter wants a 3DS for specific titles, you're still better off getting her the 3DS. For example, if all of her friends are currently playing and trading on Pokemon Sun/Moon, getting a Switch will basically have her feeling left out.

delayed gratification is not always a bad thing.

>> delayed gratification is not always a bad thing.

It's not so much about delayed gratification -- when you're talking about a specific game (especially one that is online) on a specific platform, it's more like no gratification at all.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#199

Post by 83457 »

PopsiclePete wrote: post #162
83457 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weren't N64 games over all higher resolution than PS1? I remember PS1 being just a jagged mess compared to N64

Maybe I'm super confused here, but I thought there was no such thing as "higher resolution" when it came to analog TV signals. This was before HDMI/HDTV. Your resolution was whatever NTSC/PAL dictated. Or am I wrong?

The screen resolution is the same but the resolution of the image can change. If a system's output renders to the entire screen then just imagine a 1 pixel output would make the entire screen the same color. 4 pixels could have 4 quadrants of colors. 16x8 pixels would have 128.... etc. The max resolution would be the max resolution of the display. Though a topic of interest may be sub-pixel rendering where a system/font/game can take into account the RGB color pixel layouts in an LCD screen into account in order to improve the visual quality of the max resolution.

So a system can have double the resolution of another and games can even choose to render at different resolutions depending on how intensive it is. Some games will choose lower resolution but more polygons and some might choose higher resolution with fewer polygons, among other choices. There are even modern cases where console games will change the resolution they run at to keep framerates solid https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/6e35355aecdf4fd0ac...

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#200

Post by atomicUpdate »

brightball wrote: post #53

Personally, I am a fan of the setup. I like the idea of having multiple TV bases so that the switch can be moved between rooms easily. My kids are at the age where they do a lot of family RV trips and we'd be able to get a base for there too. I'm much more interested in the Switch as a family console than a personal. I grew up an only child and played A LOT of online games by myself. Ever since college I've had a sta…

It feels like Nintendo is really gouging people on the peripherals though. Each docking station is $90, which seems pretty expensive for what's essentially an HDMI port and USB charger, especially just for the convenience of being able to play it in any room at any time. It doesn't take very many of those before you've basically paid for a whole new Switch.
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