667 replies to this topic

[The Satellite]

Unless they redesigned the tablet, I think they're "game cards," judging by the label that says "GAME CARD" on top of the Switch in the October trailer. I haven't looked too closely at newer images, though.

[TheLegend_njf]

And.. C'mon Nintendo, I'd hardly call that tiny thing a 'cartridge'.

 

I wonder how Reggie is even going to be able to even pick these things up with his ginormous hands. 

[Cukeman]

Cartridge, card, basically semantics at this point. I'll gladly take anything that's not a disc.

Disc load times, scratches and fragility always sucked.

Edited by Cukeman, 18 January 2017 - 09:44 PM.

[thepsynergist]

I'm glad Nintendo went back to their roots and let us blow our cartridges to get them to work again.  That authentic 80's experience.

[The Satellite]

When Nintendo were considering making an upgrade of the Wii U that used cartridges this is probably what the prototype looked like:
 

Spoiler

[TheLegend_njf]

So I'd like to get into what was revealed about the power of the Switch. I am too lazy to provide sources so please don't call me out, google is only a keystroke away.

 

Either way, it's my belief from what has been revealed is that the Switch isn't significantly more powerful than the Wii U. You could say it isn't really that much of an upgrade after all. 

 

Take Breath of the Wild for instance, on the Switch, the game is capped at 30fps at 900p, which isn't really a big jump from Wii U's 30fps at 720p. I'm sure we all already know it's not as powerful as the PS4, but I'm afraid it's still not really much of a leap from the Wii U.

 

Same goes for Mario Kart Deluxe. This game will run at 60fps at 1080p when playing 1 or 2 players. However, the game is capped at 30fps when playing 3 to 4 players.

 

Like it or not, it's clear that this upgrade's potential at least from it's specs was greatly exaggerated, even by people who knows Nintendo isn't the powerhouse in the business. It's just a very modest upgrade from the Wii U. I'm not entirely sure what I think about this, but I just know this continues to be one of those things that will make long lasting 3rd party support very difficult for the Switch as the games become much too difficult for this hardware to be able to manage.

 

To put things in perspective. The Switch is weaker than the PS4 and Xbox One, and those consoles are already considered underpowered at launch, which is why the PS4 Pro and the concept of the Xbox Scropio exists. 

[Cukeman]

Y'know, with the Red and Blue joycons, Nintendo could do a vertical split-screen on the Switch so that you can play Pokemon Red & Blue head to head on one system 'cause portable gaming attached to another person is so in right now 

[LinktheMaster]

So I'd like to get into what was revealed about the power of the Switch. I am too lazy to provide sources so please don't call me out, google is only a keystroke away.

 

Either way, it's my belief from what has been revealed is that the Switch isn't significantly more powerful than the Wii U. You could say it isn't really that much of an upgrade after all. 

 

Take Breath of the Wild for instance, on the Switch, the game is capped at 30fps at 900p, which isn't really a big jump from Wii U's 30fps at 720p. I'm sure we all already know it's not as powerful as the PS4, but I'm afraid it's still not really much of a leap from the Wii U.

 

Same goes for Mario Kart Deluxe. This game will run at 60fps at 1080p when playing 1 or 2 players. However, the game is capped at 30fps when playing 3 to 4 players.

 

Like it or not, it's clear that this upgrade's potential at least from it's specs was greatly exaggerated, even by people who knows Nintendo isn't the powerhouse in the business. It's just a very modest upgrade from the Wii U. I'm not entirely sure what I think about this, but I just know this continues to be one of those things that will make long lasting 3rd party support very difficult for the Switch as the games become much too difficult for this hardware to be able to manage.

 

To put things in perspective. The Switch is weaker than the PS4 and Xbox One, and those consoles are already considered underpowered at launch, which is why the PS4 Pro and the concept of the Xbox Scropio exists. 

While all that you say is true (outside of I haven't seen anything 100% official on MKD running at 30fps at 3-4 players even though I'll admit that seems to be what it looks like), some of what you say is a bit misleading because you act like what you say is definitive proof on the power of the system.

 

First of all, you're referring to ports from older systems, so it's hard to say whether they're fully optimized for the Switch. I think Splatoon 2 and Mario Odyssey will be greater determinations of the power of the system. There's also the fact that 900p 30fps is a not uncommon on the XBO and PS4. There are many games that run like that on them, and almost no console open world game runs at 60fps. I will admit though there are of course some games that run remarkably well (especially on the PS4), such as the Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us Remastered, and I can almost guarantee that the Switch won't be able to go that high.

 

My basic point is that I think it's hard to gauge exactly how powerful the Switch is at this point in time. I think it's less powerful than the XBO, but I don't think it's that significantly less powerful than the XBO. At least not to the point that it won't be able to get ports fairly easily.

[TheLegend_njf]

[Avaro]

For a handheld, the switch is really powerful and a big improvement over the 3DS. And yeah, I think it should be more seen like a handheld that you can dock to the TV, because that's what it is. :o

Edited by Avataro, 20 January 2017 - 01:05 PM.

[TheLegend_njf]

For a handheld, the switch is really powerful and a big improvement over the 3DS. And yeah, I think it should be more seen like a handheld that you can dock to the TV, because that's what it is. :o

 

I completely agree with you Avataro. Unfortunately that's not what Nintendo is marketing this thing, and Nintendo states that they'll be marketing this with the 3ds side by side. I feel they don't want this to cannibalize the 3ds sales which is why they are trying to separate this from the 3ds, but it's likely only one or the other will survive in the future. 

 

I'm just using history as my reference here as the ds was supposed to be a 3rd platform to the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance but the DS ending up destroying and replacing the Gameboy brand entirely.

[LinktheMaster]

This guy needs to chill out. He's not wrong for the most part, but man. He's getting far too angry and is making way more personal attacks than is for his own good.

[Anthus]

I'm just using history as my reference here as the ds was supposed to be a 3rd platform to the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance but the DS ending up destroying and replacing the Gameboy brand entirely.

It didn't help that the DS also had a gba game slot. The Switch carts look totally different than DS games so they might have a better shot at keeping the 3DS around.

[Saffith]

I'm just using history as my reference here as the ds was supposed to be a 3rd platform to the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance but the DS ending up destroying and replacing the Gameboy brand entirely.

I don't think that was ever true. I think they just said that because they weren't confident in its success. It's less embarrassing and easier to move on when a weird new thing fails than when a flagship product does.

[TheLegend_njf]

This guy needs to chill out. He's not wrong for the most part, but man. He's getting far too angry and is making way more personal attacks than is for his own good.

Well, RTU does have a reputation of being an emotional douchbag, but he is right though. There was once a time where specs was all Nintendo ever boasted about. Not saying that they still need to get involved with the spec race though anymore, but some people do believe that Nintendo was never about the specs, but they certainly were.