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Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

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Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#341

Post by voltagex_ »

STRML wrote: post #165
bryanlarsen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yah, you're right. Quoting from the review: "we’ve yet to find a battery / cable that can charge the console faster than it drains." So it's possible and likely that someone will make a capable pack at some point.

Looks like it won't take much. A lot of USB-C power banks on Amazon max out at 3A/5V; at 15W, that's just about the top power consumption measured on the Switch (16W), so it ought to be enough to at least keep the battery constant as power use fluctuates during regular gameplay. I expect we'll see 5A+ power packs in the future which will handle it easily.

I can highly recommend http://www.banggood.com/ZMI-QB820-20000mAh-Quick-Charge-2_0-..., although I'm hoping someone with a thermal camera can do a proper teardown and review at some point - it gets a little warm at ~40W output.

It charges my XPS 9350 just fine, so it should do the Switch no worries.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#342

Post by Karunamon »

voltagex_ wrote: post #338
cloakandswagger wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what made me hold off on preordering. It seems so ill-conceived, and I can't imagine how it will work. Does in-game audio get piped to your phone? If not, what are you supposed to do? Have two sets of earbuds, one from your phone and one from the device? Also, what's with the console's lack of an ethernet port? Everything I've seen suggests that Nintendo did not prioritize online play when designing the Switc…

Have Nintendo ever prioritised online play?

Splatoon is an online-first title and one of the best on the Wii U.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#343

Post by bschwindHN »

taneq wrote: post #318
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 web browser, no Virtual Console nor movie services like Netflix at launch. I'm not a console gamer, but why would you want those things in a game console? My TV does all that already. What my TV can't do is play new Nintendo games. If anything, I find it annoying when I buy a new device and the developers have clearly spent more than half their budget trying to (poorly) replicate functionality that's already bui…

> Virtual Console

> why would you want those things in a game console?

The virtual console was huge on the Wii and Wii U

> Do one thing. Do it well.

This is a game console, not some Unix tool. The rest of the competition has demonstrated that not only can they play games, they can handle other features just as well. Unix philosophy doesn't apply to everything in life.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#344

Post by roflchoppa »

monocasa wrote: post #83
roflchoppa wrote: post #76

Can't wait to see the home brew being made for this. Especially how the exploit will be fed into the system.

It'll probably be a WebKit vulnerability like most initial console exploits these days.

Dude I was mind blown when I saw that the exploit for a 3DDS was vectored via a sound file?

But my personal favorite was the GTA exploit on the PSP, good times :D

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#345

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

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…

I still can't for the life of me understand why they didn't slap a gps chip on it. I was so hoping that Nintendo would develop the gameplay that will become the standard for AR games.

Instead, it's a glorified 3DS. =P

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#346

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

agumonkey wrote: post #140
GuiA wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mostly credited to Gunpei Yokoi's philosophy: "Yokoi articulated his philosophy of "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology". [...] "Withered technology" in this context refers to a mature technology which is cheap and well understood. "Lateral thinking" refers to finding radical new ways of using such technology. Yokoi held that toys and games do not necessarily require cutting edge technology; novel and fun g…

The SNES CPU was underpowered compared to the Genesis. But the overall system yielded better gaming experience. It's similar to Apple lesser RAM numbers compared to the market, yet iPhone are still smoother globally.

It had a slower clock speed. You fell for Sega's "blast processing" hype machine

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#347

Post by onmobiletemp »

Why dont they make a console with really good hardware, yet still affordable, and simply _make good original content for that console_? Look at breath of the wild. People arent excited for the switch, a _tablet_, they are excited for breath of the wild. Look at resident evil 7. Success in games is really simple: make a good game. Its not that hard. Look at battlefield one. But no, everyone decides to rely on gimicks and whats already popular.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#348

Post by flukus »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #333
flukus wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but it starts out with the assumption that the devices have the same function, which they don't. In a similar vain, a laptop will not replace either.

It's a bit surreal. You can now bring all this information and entertainment with you and it takes up less space and weight than any 2 textbooks I used at uni and people are concerned about an extra half kilo in-case they can't make up their mind if they want to play console games or watch TV that day on the train. Of course their phone can do all these things as well but they need the bigger screen or something.

Reminds me of the people who think we'll be able to plug our phones into a dock and have a portable pc everywhere, there will always be trade offs.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#349

Post by Narishma »

kibwen wrote: post #290
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…

It's not just a costs thing. I have never, ever, ever, ever noticed a loading screen in any Nintendo game in my entire life, which is astounding. Lower-fidelity assets must be partly attributable to this, along with clever design to effectively hide whatever loading screens they do need. I have plenty of time to ponder this curiosity while waiting for Bloodborne and FFXV to load...

There are loading screens in the new Zelda.

Re: Nintendo Switch review: pure potential

#350

Post by nihonde »

VLM wrote: post #124
danso wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly...two things that are ubiquitous on modern devices, but aren't on the Switch because of what seems like rushed online infrastructure. Why should we have faith that Nintendo has successfully executed social matchmaking and account services, which are much more bespoke?

Something only 60s/70s kids will remember is the bubble in digital LCD clocks in the early 80s meant the average 80s kitchen had over 15 digital clocks in it, and keeping them set or covering the screen with electricians tape was an annoyance. I'm happy to be down to 4 digital clocks to maintain in my kitchen and I could achieve a mere 1 with some effort. I'm happy I don't have to install and maintain a netflix accou…

Also, every time Netflix releases an app on a new platform, their UI gets collectively slightly worse on all platforms. It's probably the sheer burden of building and supporting and synchronizing so many client apps.
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