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Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

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Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#841

Post by magpi3 »

ecliptik wrote: post #524
adamc wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That last sentence is worth an essay of its own. Everyone else keeps pumping resources into being photo-realistic blah-blah-blah without nearly enough attention to "is this fun"?

One of my favorite video essay's on this is "Nintendo - Putting Play First" by Game Makers Toolkit [1]. It goes into when making a game, Nintendo first determines the mechanic they want to focus on; jumping, throwing a hat, shooting paint, etc and finding out how to make it fun, then building and iterating on the idea. It's how they can keep putting out essentially the same games but are completely different. 1. http…

This always made sense to me. Think of Super Mario Bros. No way you come up with something like that from a top-down design document. Probably slapped Mario on a screen, played with the physics a bunch, and threw a lot of different stuff at the wall to see what stuck before they came up with the final product.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#842

Post by bigstrat2003 »

duxup wrote: post #8

I was pretty skeptical about the original Switch but bought it on a whim after being laid off. It quickly became one of my favorite gaming consoles. The ability to play anywhere didn’t seem like a big deal until I could do it. I have zero interest in being tied to a single spot like the traditional console experience now.

I would say that after being a happy Switch owner for 6 years I still think the portability aspect is useless. It's too big to take with me when I leave the house, and if I'm at home I get a way better experience while docked. I thought it was a stupid gimmick on launch and I still think that. I recognize I'm apparently in the minority, though.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#843

Post by mrandish »

basfo wrote: post #597
danudey wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw an interesting analysis years ago about whether or not the most powerful console 'won' in each generation (i.e. whether or not being the most powerful console of your generation leads to success). Generally speaking, no, it doesn't actually affect things, and in several cases (e.g. the Game Boy, the Wii, and the Switch come to mind) the objectively 'worse' console (from a tech perspective) was more successful b…

It's interesting how many people see the Switch as being in its own category rather than acknowledging it as the winner of this console generation (which I completely agree it is). Most people think the “console” battle is between PlayStation and Xbox, and that PlayStation is the winner. This is probably a big win for PlayStation’s marketing team.

> This is probably a big win for PlayStation’s marketing team.

I don't have any current Gen console (nor have I played one) but as a long-time tech market "interested observer" my understanding is that XBox had a bit less raw power last Gen and tried correcting this Gen and succeeded in having a bit more raw power than PS5. However, it apparently didn't matter to the market. So it seems to be another example like Betamax vs VHS, where the product with somewhat better technology didn't win because consumers found other factors more important. In modern game consoles, I assume those factors would be some mix of exclusive titles, compatibility with existing previous gen game libraries, marketing+brand perception and, more recently, the console's subscription game service.

It's interesting that Microsoft apparently didn't internalize this lesson, since Nintendo has been remained competitive for ~20 years by combining significantly weaker hardware with high-quality franchise games plus a clever differentiating factor (novel interaction (Wii) or portability (Switch). Of course, it would be wrong to conclude "CPU/GPU power doesn't matter" because it's more complex than comparing mips, flops, rops, etc. It also depends on how much, and how well, developers and game engines optimize for a platform's hardware.

Microsoft definitely learned their lesson about high-quality franchise games with their recent (and very costly) acquisition spree including Call of Duty. Although, to get anti-trust approval it can't be platform exclusive for at least a decade. I'm wondering if MSFT's claims that they're happy to be a games software company selling on all platforms may actually be true. If so, it may not bode well for the future of the XBox hardware business - which would be sad because more competition is generally better for consumers.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#844

Post by bigstrat2003 »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #737
tshaddox wrote: post #664

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fascinating how the Switch can be such a different device for different people. I bought my Switch in 2022 and it has remained exclusively docked under my TV since then. I have yet to even conceive of a scenario in which I would want to play it on the go. Perhaps if I went on long flights more than a couple of times a year? But who am I kidding, I would still read or listen to podcasts on the plane.

Play it in bed.

I have no desire to do that though. It's uncomfortable to sit up in bed, and uncomfortable to play games lying down.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#845

Post by Izkata »

chungy wrote: post #687
lotsoweiners wrote: post #648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably know this but most of those aren’t really generations. Game boy color, DSi, new 3ds are just upgrades of the same generation kinda like PS5 vs PS5 Pro.

"Generations" is a fairly subjective term all things considered, and I basically acknowledged it by saying these things are fuzzy. As the sibling post mentions, they all have exclusives, however, which is something Sony has refused to allow for PS4 Pro and PS5 Pro updates. And even though Nintendo considers the GBC to be the same console as the original GB when it comes to tallying sales figures, it's a rather signif…

Back when they were first coming out, a lot of us also considered GameBoy Pocket to be a new "generation". I think it might have supported a few more shades of grey from the original? And better battery life. And lots of case colors.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#846

Post by lostmsu »

mh- wrote: post #421
lostmsu wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shameless self-PR: we are building p2p cloud gaming at https://borg.games You should get low latency as long as anyone in your city joins as a provider.

Did clicking on the Rent my PC tab really try to benchmark my GPU through my browser, or did I accidentally click another button on that page inadvertently that triggered that? If the former, that's a terrible idea. If the latter, that button really needs a confirmation and explanation of what's about to happen. I'm viewing on an Intel Mac and it hung my entire computer for like 15 seconds. I didn't even connect that…

It does. Sorry about the experience, we will try to improve it.

Having user confirm it is not a good option, because every click is a hassle.

What we could do is first run a very short version of a smaller benchmark, and if that takes too long, don't run the main one. Then the worst case you will have a 100ms lag at this point, which is way better than 5 seconds of reading.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#847

Post by bigstrat2003 »

bombcar wrote: post #465
jjice wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My words definitely could've been better. I was referring to "portability" as the gimmick here since it's not the norm in the industry for primary console. Nintendo did handhelds for years, but that was also a secondary thing to their primary consoles. Having their only console also be handheld was what I was referring to as the gimmick here, but I understand the argument that that's not a gimmick. As for naming, I t…

The portability was amusing but then turned out to be absolutely phenomenal (and likely resulted in multiple sales to individual households). It both saved them from having to work out what to do with the handhelds, and introduced parents to "the kids can just bring it with them". I have an Xbox Series X and I'm still not sure I got "the right one" but since I got it as a glorified blurry player that can also play ga…

> It both saved them from having to work out what to do with the handhelds

Well, more accurate to say they just gave up. The Switch is very much not a viable replacement for a 3DS because of how damn big it is. You can't just slip it into your pocket and go.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#848

Post by bigstrat2003 »

VyseofArcadia wrote: post #504
foodevl wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were screwed from the start... The Xbox came out when the PS2 did. When it came time for the next generation, Sony went with the obvious PS3. Microsoft of course couldn't compete with an "Xbox 2" vs a "PS3", and they couldn't skip right to "Xbox 3", so they called it the "Xbox 360", which was frankly genius because it had the 3 there anyway and put it on the same level in consumers' eyes. But after that it all f…

> Microsoft of course couldn't compete with an "Xbox 2" vs a "PS3" Part of me wants to think that consumers can't possibly that uninformed, but I know in my heart I am wrong. They should have done what Nintendo (usually) does and left the numbers out of it. Call the next iteration of the Xbox the box.

I don't think you are wrong. There's absolutely no way people are that stupid.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#849

Post by krapp »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #848
VyseofArcadia wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft of course couldn't compete with an "Xbox 2" vs a "PS3" Part of me wants to think that consumers can't possibly that uninformed, but I know in my heart I am wrong. They should have done what Nintendo (usually) does and left the numbers out of it. Call the next iteration of the Xbox the box.

I don't think you are wrong. There's absolutely no way people are that stupid.

People are absolutely, unequivocally that stupid, in droves.

Re: Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]

#850

Post by bigstrat2003 »

bhouston wrote: post #143

Arg, they make the screen look absolutely huge with that large front glass panel during most of the video and I was thinking to myself, nice! But then at the end they actually show how large the bezels are underneath the glass and it is quite disappointing. Someday we'll have modern smartphone like mini-bezels (a few mm at most) in our handheld gaming consoles, but I guess not yet.

The switch isn't a handheld though. It's way too big to be a viable replacement for a 3DS in that regard, Nintendo just gave up on that market segment for whatever reason.
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