[HN Gopher] Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]
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Nintendo announces the Switch 2 [video]
Author : HelloUsername
Score : 615 points
Date : 2025-01-16 13:08 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
| flippyhead wrote:
| So not radically different, but hey, why risk ruining a good
| thing? I'm sure my kid will die if he doesn't get one.
| alienreborn wrote:
| Relevant: https://www.nintendo.com/successor/en-us/index.html
|
| Nintendo Direct focused on Switch 2: Apr 2nd.
|
| Looks like joy-cons will have 'mouse-like' functionality and
| there's a 'C' on right joy-con but its functionality is not
| reveled. New Mario Kart showcased would probably be one of the
| first exclusives.
| basfo wrote:
| That was a new mario kart? it looked like mario kart 8 to me.
| arnaudsm wrote:
| A few details are quite different from 8, notably the boost
| and character animations, it's definitely a new game.
|
| Marketing will be difficult, MK8 already peaked graphically
| and has 96 tracks, and will still work on Switch 2. I hope
| they'll find real selling points for MK9.
| dev0p wrote:
| Would have not surprised me if it's actually Mario Kart 8
| 2. (Technically that's already what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is,
| so, actually, it would be Mario Kart 8 3).
|
| I mean, at this point it makes little sense for them to
| start from scratch, releasing a newer game but with much
| less than the enormous amount of content provided by MK8D +
| DLC would seem like a very noticeable downgrade, so just
| revamping the old one would be a practical move, though I
| don't think fans would be happy with that.
|
| MK8 was mostly flawless gameplay wise, how can it be
| improved? But at this point one has no choice but to trust
| Nintendo's ability to come up with surprises.
|
| There are certainly some ways they can, I'd love to see a
| 100 man race or something crazy like that.
| basfo wrote:
| yeah, i agree on that, makes more sense to update 8.
|
| BUT, i don't know if i would use that as the first look
| at the new console, basically looks like really similar
| to a game that was released 10 years ago, i wouldn't buy
| a new system to play again mario kart 8.
|
| I thought they were showing the retro compatibility
| feature, since the gameplay comes after the message that
| switch 1 games would be playable on 2 (maybe upscaled or
| something)
| jamesgeck0 wrote:
| MK8 was also an iteration on MK7, with refinements to the
| handling, the addition of anti-gravity, and tweaks to
| items. It's certain there's going to be _some_ sort of
| mechanical shakeup.
|
| Mario Kart sells like hotcakes; I doubt they'll have to
| do much to convince people to buy a new one, particularly
| folks who've played the old one for hundreds of hours.
| chomp wrote:
| Karts look different from 8
| ErneX wrote:
| Donkey Kong has a new design, it's definitely the new game.
| mcphage wrote:
| That's not one of the gazillion Mario Kart 8 tracks.
| jader201 wrote:
| To be fair, if we're going by track alone, there's nothing
| to say it's not just a new track for the Switch 2 release
| (or even just released at the same time, but available on
| both).
| elaus wrote:
| There are 24 starting positions visible while MK8 only
| supported 12-player races.
| wodenokoto wrote:
| I was honestly a bit disappointed this wasn't revealed in a
| Nintendo Direct.
|
| "Nintendo Direct: New games in 2025" would have been the
| perfect setup for a "and one more thing"-moment.
| bogwog wrote:
| > "and one more thing"-moment
|
| That's so cliche and cringe nowadays, but the reason they
| didn't wait to do that is probably because of all the leaks.
| The specs, the name, photos of the console and internal
| components all leaked. Even the fan renders people were
| making turned out to be pretty damn accurate (https://www.red
| dit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/1i008os/nin...)
| mingus88 wrote:
| Calling anything "cringe" is pretty self-referential. This
| slang just makes me imagine a bunch of genZ folk wincing
| nonstop with the heads in their phones. Must be exhausting.
|
| As long as the internet has existed, we have been
| lampooning corporate keynotes. The gaming industry does
| this every cycle, trying to hype up incremental updates as
| if it's the best thing to ever get released. See you again
| in a few years!
| manojlds wrote:
| Leaks say C is Campus, equal to the PS share button.
| seanvelasco wrote:
| can't help but smile watching the video
|
| i expected a radical redesign, but this switch 2 is great too
|
| can't wait to play old switch games on it, as well as new ones!
| rmrfchik wrote:
| No sepcs. No games. We need it, Nintendo, WE NEED IT.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Well, MK9 was in there.
| rmrfchik wrote:
| Yeah, all zeldas, marios and pokemons will be there by
| default. Still no new info ;)
| basfo wrote:
| It was mario kart 9? it looks way too similar to 8 then.
| SJMG wrote:
| That was fun!
|
| I'm a little disappointed they didn't fix the terribly
| unergonomic joy cons though.
| vFunct wrote:
| The console appears to be a little bit bigger, which would help
| the ergonomics of the joy-cons if they're bigger.
| canuckintime wrote:
| It's bigger; that might be the fix in and of itself
| hn8726 wrote:
| A big problem is not length but width. I've 3d printed a
| _pad_ for solo joycon and the difference is day and night
| xnx wrote:
| Don't the attachable rails help the width (or did you mean
| thickness)?
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Attaching the grips helps a lot with that.
| ysavir wrote:
| I got some 3rd party ergonomic handles and it was so worth it.
| Strongly recommended.
| napolux wrote:
| That's what I wanted. An improved Switch. Waiting for the specs
| ksec wrote:
| Same here. Really hope it is more than what was rumoured, which
| was using some 6 years old tech.
| ryoshu wrote:
| Nintendo never really uses brand new tech. It's their design
| philosophy. https://medium.com/@adamagb/nintendo-s-little-
| known-product-...
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| It's a philosophy that worked for them incredibly well with
| the Switch, so unlikely they'll totally reverse it for the
| Switch 2.
| ksec wrote:
| Previous Nintendo were on 4-5 years tech. The rumoured tech
| is 5-6 years. A difference between two cycles or three
| cycles.
| SecretDreams wrote:
| > It's their design philosophy
|
| I would say it's more about minimizing cost of the console
| and their first party games just so happen to be not
| intensive enough to need it... But some games would have
| absolutely benefitted from a bit better hardware.
| doubled112 wrote:
| What was missing from games 6 years ago that current tech has
| made possible?
|
| Besides more leaves on trees, of course.
| xnx wrote:
| Solid 60 fps in Tears of the Kingdom would be great.
| bearjaws wrote:
| BoTW definitely struggles in many situations FPS wise...
| And thats running the same resolution I ran on my PC in
| 2008, but now on my 4k tv...
|
| It's kind of hard to look past it at this point.
| astrange wrote:
| HDR, other dynamic lighting things like raytracing, and
| ability to have lots of characters on screen.
|
| Compare any Mario game to Astrobot and you can see the
| difference.
| duxup wrote:
| 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.
| markgreene wrote:
| cloud gaming has given me this same revelation. It's as
| portable as a Switch but the gaming experience isn't limited by
| the hardware in hand. Connectivity is important for the
| experience, though.
| machinekob wrote:
| cloud gaming is good if you live close to the servers and
| don't care about graphics, but playing with +60-100ms for
| every action feels very bad. It almost feels like playing on
| 15-20 fps PC and quality of streaming video is always a
| problem compared to native quality maybe AV1 will fix it.
| joseda-hg wrote:
| I have gigabit, but no servers that are close, it's...
| rough
| TingPing wrote:
| Streaming in the same house still isn't very good. Games
| are very latency sensitive.
| op00to wrote:
| My kid plays fortnite using home streaming to an xbox,
| and says he doesn't notice the latency. I do the same on
| an Asus ROG Ally, and it's "good enough". I am not a
| competitive FPV player, but suffer from OCD and notice
| latency and it tweaks me hard.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| Depends on the game. I think I'm more sensitive to
| latency (less able to compensate) than most people. I
| couldn't enjoy playing _Titanfall_ until I put my Samsung
| TV in game mode; I would just get hit and couldn 't do
| anything about it playing _League of Legends_ on my
| gaming laptop with a 4K monitor, but when I hooked up an
| external monitor, mirrored the screen, and ran a clock, I
| took photos showing my laptops ' screen was behind by 30
| ms. I started playing on an external monitor and started
| to win. I even found I had a hard time with some 1 player
| games such as _Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet_ if I didn
| 't run in game mode.
|
| On the other hand, I went through a phase where I did a
| lot of streaming from my PC to a NVIDIA Shield and an
| XBOX. Sometimes through wired Ethernet, something through
| an airMAX microwave link to my other house. Games like
| _Persona 5_ and _Orcs Must Die 3_ were just fine, but I
| could not play any Rhythm games, which I have a knack
| for, _High-Fi Rush_ was no fun at all.
| wincy wrote:
| I'm playing single player games via Parsec and the
| latency feels fine. Moonlight is tolerable but Steam
| streaming feels terrible for some strange reason. This is
| running two Wifi 6 devices so nothing is even wired. I
| often use a controller connected to my laptop, or even
| better use the wireless controller, connect that to the
| physical device then you bypass the controller latency
| and only the video has a lag, which is kind of a neat
| trick if you're close enough to the computer you're
| streaming from.
|
| The only sorts of games I can't play are things like
| Binding of Isaac that are super dependent on reaction
| speeds, but even games like Elden Ring feel fine.
| TingPing wrote:
| Steam Streaming was what I used which was noticeably
| delayed, so I should try some alternatives.
| hiatus wrote:
| Sunshine on the server and moonlight on the client blows
| steam link out of the water in terms of latency. Even on
| my home network with everything on ethernet, steam link
| would stutter. I sometimes forget I am not directly
| connected to a computer while on the couch.
| jeffhuys wrote:
| Do you expect less than 7ms? Because that's my latency
| with Geforce Now. Almost unnoticable.
| joseda-hg wrote:
| 7ms is intra national ping, I have about half a continent
| to the closest GeForce Now and a bit more to the closest
| XCloud
|
| 200+ ms
| lostmsu wrote:
| 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.
| mh- wrote:
| 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 was related to viewing your site until I got the error
| at the end and everything unfroze.
| hiatus wrote:
| What does utilization look like? I would be interested in
| running this on a spare machine but it's not clear how
| large the potential audience of renters may be in my
| area.
| lostmsu wrote:
| Right now the utilization is low (< 10%), but in the
| effort to prop the providers side the company is footing
| the bill and paying for availability approximately 50% of
| what the benchmark on the page tells you. This is a
| rather common strategy for bootstrapping any two-sided
| market.
| koromak wrote:
| Yeah my experience has been thats its basically unplayable.
| I'm the kind of person who refunds when a game is <60fps
| though.
| jeffhuys wrote:
| 7ms latency, 4k120fps with geforce now. 10ms on wifi. I'm
| not kidding.
|
| It's ALMOST perfect. I play BF1 through it. Try it once (I
| believe they still have the "free for 1hr per session,
| infinite sessions"? That's what sold it to me).
|
| I can play very intensive games (graphically) on my macbook
| on the couch. It's amazing, and I couldn't believe the 10ms
| on wifi. It's mind-blowing.
|
| BUT I live near Amsterdam, where a server cluster is.
|
| Also, about the graphics: I'm borrowing a 4080 every time.
| Everything is on max. If you're in a very (very) hard scene
| for compression, then yeah, you'll see (very little)
| artifacts. But I run it on 75mbit, and that's a LOT.
| duxup wrote:
| Yeah I gave GeForceNow a run and I really liked it. There are
| limits but I like just firing up a game regardless of
| platform.
| brink wrote:
| Streaming videos, leasing cars, cloud gaming, spotify, are
| all great until the distributor takes it away.
|
| I prefer to own my things. The sense that something is mine
| increases the pleasure of using something for me.
|
| It probably stems from my acquired lack of trust in people.
| The idea that there's a suit in a high-rise building that
| spends their days thinking about how to exploit my continued
| enjoyment of a title by raising the fee, or not addressing
| congestion hours, or retracting the title when the contract
| is up and renewing would cost too much, or putting a clause
| in the service agreement that strips me of my right to sue
| them if I lose an arm in their amusement park, simply by
| blurring the lines of ownership.. it bothers me.
| ToucanLoucan wrote:
| The Switch is genuinely one of the last pieces of hardware I
| was _really_ excited about, and I can 't say that about much
| anymore. It's extremely well put together, I've repaired mine a
| number of times with no issues (honestly opening anything made
| in Japan is a joy, the engineering is so good) and the specs
| leave a lot to be desired, which is unfortunate, but at the
| same time, you wouldn't know it while using it. The XBox is
| such a curmudgeonly slow experience to use, everything in the
| menus takes forever to load, the dash jerks and lags, and it's
| just like... this machine can run Halo Infinite, why does it
| struggle so damn hard with just... boxes and jpegs?
|
| The Switch has a similar issue occasionally in the store
| application, but outside of that, settings are snappy, updates
| are practically instant, it turns on and off so quickly. It's
| what consoles are _supposed_ to be.
|
| And honestly in this same vein, the PS5 is also bloody
| impressive, but that impressiveness came with an impressive
| price too. The Switch costing as little as it did and still
| holding it's own is so cool.
| erwincoumans wrote:
| Except for the drifting joycons problems. We had to replace
| many. Hope Switch2 fixes that drift.
| bombcar wrote:
| I kind of like the joy con issue, as it means I can send
| the controllers back to Nintendo and get them fixed for
| free, even when the problem isn't the joycon - it's the
| kids destroying the controller.
|
| https://en-americas-
| support.nintendo.com/app/region/d/joycon...
|
| (Nintendo has always had excellent support - I remember
| getting a Gamecube refurbished long after the Wii was
| everywhere).
| ToucanLoucan wrote:
| Honestly I swapped them myself both in the Joycons and in
| the Pro controller a couple times each over the years. The
| modules cost like $15 through Amazon or Ebay, and unlike
| the XBox controller, they're separate modules with a ribbon
| connector instead of soldered in, which makes replacing
| them a breeze.
| dasKrokodil wrote:
| The new one is rumored to feature hall-effect sticks on the
| Joycons which would hopefully solve that issue.
| Brendinooo wrote:
| New Switch user, believe it or not. I just purchased my
| second 8BitDo controller with Hall effect joysticks this
| week. Hoping I can avoid the drift problem by avoiding Joy-
| Cons! (We usually play on the TV.)
| WickyNilliams wrote:
| You can get free replacements btw. My original switch from
| release finally got drift in the latter part of last year.
| Nintendo had replacements to me within a few days at no
| cost. Rare to have such a pleasant experience with customer
| support, it was a flawless process
| ben7799 wrote:
| We have a switch and an XBox and after liking the 360 back in
| the day the newer XBoxes just make me want to tear my hair
| out. They sold us all on bigger and bigger hardware to get
| rid of load times and they ended up with the system with the
| worst load times going all the way back to the 70s. Sometimes
| it seems like it takes 10 minutes to start up and actually
| play a game, and then there the updates.
|
| My son got a Forza Horizon game for Xmas and it immediately
| said it needed to download 128GB from the internet before he
| could play it. With the way it worked out he didn't get to
| play it on Christmas day as it never finished downloading
| before we had to go leave to visit relatives.
|
| Just a horrific experience compared to Switch.
| jamesgeck0 wrote:
| Unfortunately the situation with needing to download huge
| updates is also occasionally present on the Switch. Several
| third party AAA games (EA sports titles come to mind) ship
| small cartridges and a require big downloads to the SD card
| to be playable. Switch game downloads (usually) aren't as
| large as Xbox/PlayStation downloads, but the wifi chip in
| the OG model was so slow, they might as well be.
| _fat_santa wrote:
| The Switch was the first device where i saw how well the mobile
| + docked system worked and it was my favorite device until I
| got a Steam Deck. The Deck is killer IMO because it takes the
| same form factor of the Switch, gives you more power and no
| restrictions on games.
| irrational wrote:
| No restrictions, except you can't play the Zelda, Mario, etc.
| games.
| OtomotO wrote:
| Of course you can.
| philistine wrote:
| We all know about piracy buddy, but between having to
| deal with a Switch emulator and the major pain points of
| extracting keys to get Tears of the Kingdom to run and
| putting in a credit card, I'll take the credit card
| route.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| You don't need to extract keys. Other people have already
| done that. The "pain point" is just positioning a file in
| a directory.
| OtomotO wrote:
| You talk about piracy, I talk about just having to bring
| a single device of the devices I own with me and using a
| paid product on another paid device.
| NicuCalcea wrote:
| That's not a restriction, nobody's preventing Nintendo from
| bringing those games to the platform. I don't currently
| have pasta at my place, but that's because neither me nor
| my partner have bought any, not because it's banned from
| the house.
| xyzzy_plugh wrote:
| From a usability perspective, the Steam Deck is pretty good
| but the Switch blows it out of the water. Fast boot times,
| you don't need to restart it all the time, games don't crash
| frequently, controllers just work, it just slots into its
| dock, a much simpler UI, and no need to futz around with
| Proton.
|
| The Steam Deck is cool but I waste infinitely more time
| dicking around with it than the Switch, where it just works.
| The Switch is the best console I've ever owned.
| 3vidence wrote:
| Was just saying the same thing on another comment!
|
| Feels like the Steam Deck is like a Hot Rod / Muscle car
| and the Switch is a Toyota Corolla.
|
| Might not be as cool or have as much HP and you aren't
| going to tinker without it but you can always turn it on
| and get to your destination.
| jerf wrote:
| I like my Steam Deck and would generally personally prefer
| it over a Switch if I had to choose one. I even use it in
| the "docked" way where it is both driving the family TV but
| can also be taken out and used directly.
|
| And they've clearly put so, so much quality work into the
| Steam Deck. It's absolutely amazing considering the source
| material.
|
| But it's also hobbled by so much of its library assuming it
| was built for a desktop PC or a notebook that could pretend
| to be a desktop. Some of my games react to being docked
| properly, some do not. Some can handle switching from the
| integrated controls to an external controller live, some do
| not. Some can handle switching resolutions, some do not.
| Some respond well to using the integrated controls to
| manipulate how much computing power you allocate to the
| games in real time, some do not. Some games work perfectly
| with multiple controllers, a couple freak out unless the
| stars align.
|
| The Switch just works.
|
| But I will say that even as someone who is generally not a
| graphics snob, the Switch is definitely not just aging, but
| aged. If all the Switch 2 is is basically "Switch 1 but
| with 2021-level power instead of 2013-level power" I'd be
| pretty happy.
| egypturnash wrote:
| YMMV, but I'm not finding any of those to be problems with
| my Deck.
|
| Reboots take a noticeable length of time and could
| certainly be faster but they're almost entirely "oh there's
| a new version of the OS" for me.
|
| I haven't had any problem with games crashing either.
|
| Its native controllers largely Just Work, and it's easy to
| turn on turbofire or rearrange buttons to work better with
| Steam Input. When I connect it to the projector and pick up
| the PS4 controller I have attached to the dock that works
| fine too, someday I should really try to properly pair it
| so I can use it wirelessly, but I mostly just play it
| handheld.
|
| I basically spend zero time futzing around with Proton
| unless I am trying to get some old PC game to run.
|
| I spent a while fooling around with installing emulators
| when I first got it, but I never actually touch them in
| practice, that's the only time I've ever been outside of
| the Steam UI.
| woodrowbarlow wrote:
| the switch software feels so freaking good too. it feels
| rock-solid and fast. what really blew me away is how quick
| system updates are, from start to finish.
| WickyNilliams wrote:
| Interesting I have had close to zero issues with my deck.
| Occassionally the audio is crackly when waking from sleep.
| But it's rare and goes away after a sleep/wake cycle. But
| then I never really fiddle with settings, at most I cap the
| FPS for more intensive games. I never dock it either
|
| It's very usable for me. And wakes from sleep almost as
| quick as switch. That immediacy made switch my favourite
| console of all time until I got the deck.
| kemayo wrote:
| Did you turn on beta OS updates? Because in my experience I
| have to restart it about every three months when Valve
| releases an OS update -- but when I had betas turned on,
| that was every few days instead. (Might also explain some
| stability issues for you.)
|
| Also: I've seen one crash in the whole time I've owned one,
| the controllers work perfectly, and I don't think I've ever
| had to meddle with Proton in any way.
|
| Dock cable going in on the top is a bit fiddly, though,
| I'll grant you.
| prmoustache wrote:
| Isn't the Steam Deck too bulky to be used comfortably on your
| sofa for more than a few minutes? I already think that switch
| 2 seems too big. I'd wish the regular switch was the size of
| the lite already.
| WickyNilliams wrote:
| I found it quite bulky at first, especially after owning a
| switch. But I adjusted quickly. I don't have large hands
| either
| kemayo wrote:
| Personally I find it fine. It's a lot bigger than the
| Switch, but the grips make it more comfortable to hold
| overall.
| izacus wrote:
| I found the (non-lite) Switch to be rougher on my hands due
| to less ergonomic design. Deck is larger and heavier, but
| it sits nicer in hands.
| tshaddox wrote:
| 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.
| 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
| Play it in bed.
| dcrazy wrote:
| Airplane is the only time ours comes undocked from the TV.
| muglug wrote:
| No support for AI? The Switch 2 is DOA /s
| napolux wrote:
| I've heard rumors about MarioGPT.
| vpol wrote:
| I actually don't mind modern version of Nintendo Tip Line
| jsheard wrote:
| I know you're joking but technically it does have AI, the SOC
| is built on Nvidia's Ampere architecture with tensor cores. If
| nothing else they'll probably be used for DLSS upscaling.
| 3836293648 wrote:
| It's an NVIDIA chip. They're 100% gonna use DLSS for literally
| every game in the library (ok, maybe not 2D games)
| idiotsecant wrote:
| What a well produced video. I don't think I've ever watched a 2
| minute advertisement all the way through before.
| 0-bad-sectors wrote:
| It's a nice video but even if it was extremely bad I would have
| still watched the whole thing lol.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Pretty much all the rumours confirmed, and a Direct on 2nd April
| for more. It _was_ nice to see the Joy-Con being all mouse-like,
| though.
| jeffbee wrote:
| I like the image halfway down the announcement page that shows
| not only will your Switch 2 have larger controllers, but your
| hands will also be larger. Cool benefit, at the right price.
| napolux wrote:
| Can I get 10 inches taller too?
| jeffbee wrote:
| If you're 12 years old, probably yes.
| layer8 wrote:
| I think that's an optical illusion, the hands are just higher
| up.
| werdnapk wrote:
| Wasn't expecting it to actually be called "Switch 2", but I'm
| glad they stuck to a name that makes sense.
| kwanbix wrote:
| Agree. PlayStation 1...5 has worked well for Sony. XBOX is a
| mess (I am an XBOX guy myself).
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| The problem with Xbox naming is that names are both
| inconsistent and too similar to each other. Aside from the
| Wii/Wii U debacle, Nintendo console names haven't been
| consistent, but they have been distinct. It's easy to
| remember that the GameCube and the Wii aren't the same thing.
|
| Xbox, though, it's just the word Xbox followed by arbitrary
| numbers, maybe with the letter S or X thrown in for fun. I
| have no idea why they thought Xbox Series X wouldn't confuse
| people right after the Xbox One X.
| azalemeth wrote:
| (I am still trying to work out if the 360 was named after
| the 360o ring of red on the power light that it so often
| would produce...)
| vel0city wrote:
| RRoD only had 3 of the 4 quadrants lit so that'd be the
| Xbox 270.
| jowday wrote:
| As someone that experienced it several times, the red
| ring of death was a 270 degree circular segment - a full
| red ring indicates cable failure.
| foodevl wrote:
| 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 fell apart -- they had no good
| options. They still couldn't jump to "Xbox 4". Maybe "720"
| would have worked. Someone decided to have a clean break
| and restart at "One" but of course that fell apart
| immediately at "Two". So another clean break to "Series..".
| And by that point it's so screwy they've lost any chance of
| fixing it...
| TMWNN wrote:
| >Microsoft of course couldn't compete with an "Xbox 2" vs
| a "PS3", and they couldn't skip right to "Xbox 3"
|
| Nope, it all goes back to Microsoft not naming the 360
| "Xbox 3" with some lame excuse for why it did so. Yes,
| everyone would have laughed, but no one would remember or
| care today that the "Xbox 5" isn't actually the fifth
| Xbox.
|
| An alternative that Microsoft missed, from Reddit:
|
| >They could have named the Xbox Series X the Xbox 5 and
| said it was because they counted the One X as the 4th gen
| Xbox.
| bombcar wrote:
| Exactly - or they could have released a rare, ignored
| souped up Xbox as the "Xbox 2" and done the "Xbox 3".
|
| The 360 was a good "fix" for the problem but not going to
| something like Xbox13 or Xbox2013 (though year based
| names were on the out by then) - anything other than
| "Xbox One" (Xbone would have been better).
|
| I still don't know how the various versions work and
| apply to the Series SeX.
| kwanbix wrote:
| Microsoft should have gone for XBOX 3. To give the idea
| that it was on the same technology level than the PS3.
|
| We all remember dBase II. ;)
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| > 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 <something else>box.
| reshlo wrote:
| A&W tried to make a 1/3 pound burger to compete with the
| McDonald's Quarter Pounder but it failed because people
| thought it was smaller, because 3 is smaller than 4.
|
| https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/17/third-pound-
| burger-fr...
| astrange wrote:
| The last time I was in Canada they were selling something
| inexplicably named the "Teen Burger".
| staticman2 wrote:
| They can't call it the <something else> Box because they
| don't want people to think of it as a Microsoft Device.
|
| Nintendo can go from Nintendo 3DS to Nintendo Switch
| because the brand is Nintendo.
|
| Microsoft clearly considers the brand "Microsoft" to be
| poison ivy to gamers, and always brands their gaming
| hardware as "Xbox" as if that were the company name.
| Going to Ybox would kill their brand and put them back at
| square one.
| extraduder_ire wrote:
| Calling it the xbox 720 would not have worked in that
| era. Sounds too much like 720p when they're targeting
| 1080p gaming.
| tshaddox wrote:
| I think "Xbox 4" coming after "Xbox 360" would have been
| the cleanest break. It would have been fine. Or heck,
| jump straight to "Xbox 5" if they really think the number
| in the name is the main point of comparison with the
| PlayStation.
| drcongo wrote:
| This is from the people who brought you "Microsoft Windows
| 10 Home Single Language 32-bit" though.
| antifa wrote:
| They could have gone by release year (Xbox 01, Xbox 05, Xbox
| 10, etc.)
| kwanbix wrote:
| Not bad yes, better xbox 2021, xbox 2025, etc?
| Jach wrote:
| It's possibly the most normal successor name they've ever
| chosen. I like it. I'm picturing someone suggesting "Switch U"
| and getting thrown out the window like in that meme comic, even
| though he's often used as the voice of reason...
| xethos wrote:
| I still like Famicom > Super Famicom as the best successor
| name, but having to go back that far to find some competition
| for naming probably says something.
| marpstar wrote:
| "Super Switch" would've been pretty bad-ass.
| Insanity wrote:
| They can go the DBZ route and continue of of there.
| "Super switch 3, 4", "Legendary super switch" etc etc.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| With the habit they've developed of releasing upgraded
| versions inside a generation, especially already having
| Switch OLED, I think Super Switch would be too ambiguous.
| tshaddox wrote:
| Or "Switch Advance."
| boomboomsubban wrote:
| I think the acronym made that a sketchy choice. Even if
| Nintendo never used the acronym, the gaming community
| seems to use them extensively.
| ginko wrote:
| They could have at least gone with "Super Switch" or something
| like that.
| ErneX wrote:
| I wanted Super Nintendo Switch :) but Switch 2 is fine.
| nzach wrote:
| They tried something similar with the New Nintendo 3DS but a
| lot of people got confused.
|
| Sure, "new" is probably one the worst words you could use.
| But I don't think "super" would be better. And even if they
| did use "super" how do you name the next console ?
| ginko wrote:
| Switch64 :)
| antifa wrote:
| The Switch is already the first 64bit Nintendo console
| since the N64, so calling the second one Switch 64 would
| be a wonderful farce.
| xnx wrote:
| Ultra
| yajjackson wrote:
| "Switcheroo"
| nzach wrote:
| I was also expecting they would fumble marketing again and call
| the new console something like 'Switch U', but it seems they
| really learned their lesson there.
| antifa wrote:
| Or worse, "New Switch".
| reshlo wrote:
| Nintendo Switch Bigger OLED
| 0-bad-sectors wrote:
| I think this is because it is kinda an iteration instead of a
| totally new wild gimmick.
| ziml77 wrote:
| I'm glad they finally learned to use sensible names. I guess it
| took the failure of the Wii U for them to realize they should
| just keep it simple if they want to be sure it's easy for
| consumers to understand what the product is.
| wirthjason wrote:
| I wonder if they have a new control technique up their sleeve.
| Innovative gameplay and pushing new control ideas is one of
| Nintendo's signatures. That said, being the switch 2, not a new
| console, maybe they kept it the same and just upgraded the
| processing and graphics hardware.
|
| Looking forward to more!
| 0xdada wrote:
| Looks like the sliding controllers bit means that they will
| work like a computer mouse.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Innovation is their way, but they're still burned a LOT by the
| Wii U. Now they've managed to find something that works, I
| think they'll stick with it for at least the Switch 2, maybe
| the 3 as well.
| xnx wrote:
| Wii U seems like it was a useful stepping stone to the
| Switch.
| Trasmatta wrote:
| The Switch wouldn't exist if they hadn't first experimented
| with that form factor with the Wii U. The innovation and risk
| of the Wii U paid off for them in the long run.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| True, but I think they still wanted the U to actually sell
| better than it did. It was a case of too much innovation
| too soon, IMO -- having an alternating
| "evolution/revolution" cycle makes a lot of sense.
| bombcar wrote:
| Every company wants a product to sell better than it did,
| but it's pretty obvious that the WiiU didn't meet
| expectations.
|
| It sold 13m units, but the clearest sign of it not doing
| "as well as expected" is that they discontinued it as
| soon as possible as they could once the Switch was out.
|
| From my experience both with "gamers" and "non-gamers" -
| it was too similar in name for the latter and not
| exciting enough for the former.
| Izkata wrote:
| ...there was also the GBA long before the Wii U. Less
| buttons but same form factor.
| Trasmatta wrote:
| The innovation was a handheld console that works on both
| the TV and the tablet, the GBA is a much different thing.
| mcphage wrote:
| It's probably too much to hope for to get more Labo sets, but a
| guy can dream, can't he?
| xnx wrote:
| Forgot all about Labo. The amount of wild experiments
| Nintendo has shipped is admirable.
| mcphage wrote:
| Yeah, definitely--it's my favorite thing about the company.
| Well, maybe second to their consistent level of quality.
| But seriously--the Labo piano used the IR camera to scan in
| waveforms to create new instruments. The VR kit had an
| elephant trunk mask to let you move around parts in a
| marble run game. Nintendo has a lot of wild experiments,
| and Labo takes that all to the next level.
|
| And that's not getting into the quality of software for
| building the kits--way beyond any instructions that Lego
| has ever put out.
| gyomu wrote:
| Both controllers have optical sensors (visible in the trailer),
| confirming the rumors that they'll have mouse like
| functionality. Remains to be seen if games will actually bother
| to implement it or if it'll remain a curiosity that only a
| handful of titles support.
| darkwizard42 wrote:
| I remember how fun it was to use that in Wii based Metroid
| Prime games. Hoping they return this feature in creative
| ways!
| delecti wrote:
| All it does it confirm that they have _something_ there. The
| Wii used a sensor to detect where it was pointing, the Switch
| had an IR camera for a variety of weird gimmicks, the NES and
| SNES had light-detecting "guns". Hell, it could even be an
| IR blaster like the Wii U Gamepad had, and not a sensor at
| all. We just don't know yet.
| vel0city wrote:
| The trailer shows the joycons sliding on that side with an
| additional attachment (see: 1:10). It seemed pretty obvious
| they were trying to hint at some kind of mouse-like optical
| tracking on a flat surface.
|
| https://youtu.be/itpcsQQvgAQ?t=70
| delecti wrote:
| That could well be what those are, but to me they just
| looked like the wrist-straps, like the original Switch
| has. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/joy-con-
| strap-gra...
| klausa wrote:
| They're both.
| basfo wrote:
| For action games doesn't look like a good option. But i think
| it will be used if it works well on any surface.
|
| Probably there will be a resurgence of point and click
| adventure games pushed by the new mouse functionality (or
| even republish some old sierra/lucas arts stuff with mouse
| support).
|
| Also may be useful for pc ports like simcity clones and
| strategy games (i could use that in civ).
|
| Some propietary nintendo stuff will use it like mario maker
| or wario ware, some zelda dungeon probably will have a
| gimmick around it. And also some small indy third party
| stuff, like i don't know, mini motorways, things like that,
| will be built arround it.
| Izkata wrote:
| I'm hoping for an RTS comeback.
| basfo wrote:
| that would be cool.
|
| I would like the command & conquer/red alert remaster on
| switch.
|
| Maybe Microsoft releases aoe2 since they are open to
| release games on other platforms now?
| makeitdouble wrote:
| It could be nice for FPS.
|
| The current motion controls for the pro controller work
| well, but a mouse + single hand controller setting could
| work as well.
| extraduder_ire wrote:
| It would be great if games implemented it for aiming, but
| I am not sure that they will for sure. Given how few
| third party developers add a gyro-aiming option when they
| release a game on the console when most first party games
| have it in some way.
|
| It will make for an interesting dynamic for games with
| cross-play with other consoles where implemented though.
| kuon wrote:
| RTS and 4x could be way better with the use of a mouse.
| Levitz wrote:
| > confirming the rumors that they'll have mouse like
| functionality.
|
| The idea of controlling a game with _two_ mice is suddenly
| interesting to me.
| ClassyJacket wrote:
| The Steam Deck has two trackpads, tho obviously games don't
| support them _specifically_ , they get mapped to existing
| controls
| xnx wrote:
| Bravo on them making the video 2:22 for Switch 2.
|
| Edit: the mobile web version of the same video shows as 2:21.
| Interesting YouTube bug!
| Procat wrote:
| 3 2's? Are you saying Half-Life 3 will be a launch title?
| ChocolateGod wrote:
| Switch 2
|
| Switch is 6 characters long, 6 divided by 2 is 3
|
| Half Life 3 confirmed.
| jjice wrote:
| I'm glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that's kind of
| gimmicky that actually worked. The Wii and Wii U were too
| gimmicky, but portability was a great choice. I'm also glad to
| see backwards compatibility.
|
| I'm excited to see what kind of hardware improvements have been
| made. The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago.
| Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm,
| they're able to make their games look excellent on that hardware
| still. That said, I'd love to see how good a Zelda game looks on
| some new hardware.
| xnx wrote:
| The Wii was a huge success and the Wii U was a step toward the
| Switch, which combines the best of both of those consoles.
| bogwog wrote:
| > which combines the best of both of those consoles.
|
| Minus the dual screen of the Wii U, which was awesome. It'd
| be cool if the Switch 2's dock could work independently of
| the console, so that you could have a reverse Wii U-
| experience with it. The dual screen setup can be a neat
| gimmick for gameplay, but it's biggest strength is the
| convenience that comes from having a second screen closer to
| your face. You can have less visual clutter on the main
| screen, and reduce the amount of menus players need to click
| through.
| xnx wrote:
| A feature they could still possibly have snuck in would be
| the ability to cast a feed from the handheld to a TV.
| ARandumGuy wrote:
| TBH other then a few neat local multiplayer stuff in
| NintendoLand, there really wasn't much that actually
| utilized the dual screen in a way that actually enhanced
| the game. You couldn't quickly swap between the screens
| like you could on the DS, because the screens were
| different distances away and required re-focusing your
| eyes. This meant that most gamepad usages played the same
| as if you just pressed a button to bring up your inventory
| or switch views or whatever.
|
| And that's before you take into account the fact that the
| biggest titles on the Wii U (Mario Kart and Smash Bros)
| didn't use the second screen _at all_. The second screen
| was a gimmick, and a gimmick that was exhausted pretty
| quickly.
| runevault wrote:
| Been forever since I played it, but I recall appreciating
| having 2 screens for Xenoblade X (which I'm curious to
| see how it feels on the Switch remaster coming out in
| March). But yeah as someone who bought a WiiU there
| weren't a ton of games that did a good job with the
| second screen.
| frosted-flakes wrote:
| Zelda Wind Waker made excellent use of the second screen.
| You could swap tools and scroll the map on the fly
| without pausing, while continuing to otherwise play
| normally.
| endemic wrote:
| I really loved some of the multiplayer games on Wii U that
| took advantage of the gamepad. Completely brilliant to have
| one "special" player with the gamepad + second screen vs.
| the rest of the plebs with Wiimotes.
| jncfhnb wrote:
| I'm fairly certain I remember them suggesting that the
| original switch was capable of doing this but then they
| either never granted access to it in the dev kit or they
| just never had it end up getting used in any noteworthy
| games.
|
| Nintendoland for the Wii U was _very_ fun in my memory. It
| was the only title that I remember leveraging the asymmetry
| of information that different players can have for local
| multiplayer.
| WillAdams wrote:
| That would be an interesting use of the USB connector at
| the top --- plug into the Dock and use the Switch as a
| gamepad a la the Wii U while playing on the TV.
| darkwizard42 wrote:
| The Wii was on the of the best selling consoles of all time? I
| believe only surpassed by the PS2.
|
| Is the gimmicky a personal opinion or something you believe
| didn't resonate with customers?
| ChoGGi wrote:
| Looks like the DS and switch both sold about 50m more units.
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-
| selling_game_co...
| darkwizard42 wrote:
| Yes, great source. filter that by Home vs the mobile
| category to see it is only beat by PlayStation.
|
| You could argue the Switch is a home console as well.
| extraduder_ire wrote:
| The switch may be kind of hard to count for home console
| sales, since the switch lite is a portable console (lacks
| hardware to use the dock) and may be included in some
| sales numbers.
| jjice wrote:
| "Gimmicky" in the sense that they used movement controls and
| that's non-standard in the industry and went away mostly
| afterwards. I'm considering anything that isn't a traditional
| stationary control (keyboard + mouse or controller) as
| "gimmicky" or out of the ordinary.
|
| In terms of sales, you're absolutely right - the Wii crushed
| it. I'd be curious to know about usage and software sales
| though. Maybe I'm wrong (very possible), but almost everyone
| I knew had a Wii at some point, but they didn't use it
| outside of a family toy with a few games when they first got
| it. I'd still consider that a win for Nintendo compared to
| less sales, but I'd imagine the average Xbox 360 or PS3 had a
| lot more software sales per console.
| bsimpson wrote:
| The Wiimotes were a clear influence on the Joy-Cons.
|
| Nintendo still uses motion controls; they just made them
| portable and more resilient with gyros instead of IR.
| jjice wrote:
| Right, but it's not the main focus in the majority of
| games. In many games that do offer gyro support, it's
| usually able to be toggled off. It's not like the Wii
| where the core of the controllers was pointing them and
| swinging them around.
| bsimpson wrote:
| I don't remember motion controls being a majority of Wii
| games either.
|
| A lot of them were played with a Nunchuk to emulate a
| classic controller (or attached to the actual Classic
| Controller or Rock Band instruments to play cross
| platform games).
|
| The motion control that comes to mind beyond Wii Sports
| were circling the Wiimote to collect things in Mario.
| staticman2 wrote:
| The Wii exclusive Zelda, Skyward Sword, was motion
| control only.
|
| Even games that didn't require motion controls for basic
| gameplay still required you to do things like turn the
| controller around and use the pointer to select options
| from a menu rather than using the D pad. (I'm thinking
| Punch Out). I think Donkey Kong country occasionally made
| you shake the controller.
| stonemetal12 wrote:
| Yep, Skyward sword vs Skyward sword HD on the switch.
| Gimmick is still there but not forced on those who don't
| like it.
| bombcar wrote:
| The Wii was pretty clearly sold as a Wii sports console,
| which got people who would never have touched a
| "standard" console into the market.
|
| The attachment rate was likely lower because of that.
| dmicah wrote:
| The Wii Remote Plus had gyroscopes built-in, the
| attachable 'Nunchuk' also had an accelerometers.
| threetonesun wrote:
| I believe the Wii had the best or second best attach rate
| for a Nintendo console (how many games sold per console
| sold). It lived a long time and had a ton of good releases.
| setgree wrote:
| Fifth best selling of all time and most successful of its
| generation, per Wikipedia.
| jsheard wrote:
| > That said, I'd love to see how good a Zelda game looks on
| some new hardware.
|
| Hopefully they'll go back and update their major Switch titles
| to leverage the new hardware. BOTW and TOTK look fantastic in
| an emulator with the resolution and framerate cranked much
| higher than the original Switch hardware could handle, even
| without updating any of the assets.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2iIvuc78k
| jjice wrote:
| I personally don't have much faith that Nintendo will do
| that, _but_ I hope I'm wrong. That would be wonderful. Also
| just removing some of the lag from those games (and the
| Link's Awakening remake was pretty bad) would be a big win.
| Terretta wrote:
| > _I'm glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that's kind of
| gimmicky that actually worked._
|
| I don't quite understand this comment. Parents will be unable
| to tell the difference (like parents buying their kids Xbox One
| S when Xbox Series S came out, really bad naming increment with
| form factor so similar), and other comments here note this
| Switch 2 is a regression to less quirk.
|
| What's the gimmicky part of this that caught your eye you feel
| like they found in Switch 2?
| jjice wrote:
| 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 think it'll be fine since they're using
| numbers. I'm not in the position of a middle aged parent
| who's getting a gift for a child, but the fact that Sony has
| successfully done it for this long makes me feel that it'll
| work.
|
| Add a letter to the end is awful though. It took me a bit to
| nail down the Series X vs Series S Xboxs (granted, I haven't
| owned an Xbox in over a decade). The Wii U definitely
| confused people as well.
| bombcar wrote:
| 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 games maybe, it's fine as is.
| enragedcacti wrote:
| I think parents will have no problem with the concept of a
| _Thingie N+1_ and most of those stories came from either XBOX
| 's insane naming or from Wii->Wii U.
| hbn wrote:
| The gaming industry is much more mature and settled than the
| past when Nintendo could mess around with a crazy new gimmick
| every new console release.
|
| People expect backwards compatibility now, and the Switch has
| such a mature software library, it would be a waste to throw it
| out. And it'll be harder than ever to re-sell people a port of
| a game from a few years ago that looks basically identical to
| how it did before (though Sony's been trying)
|
| I'm looking forward to this, and I hope Nintendo patches OG
| Switch games to take advantage of the new hardware. It's a
| shame the only (official) method of playing the new Zeldas gets
| you frequently chugging along at like 15fps.
|
| > The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago.
| Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm,
| they're able to make their games look excellent on that
| hardware still.
|
| Even more impressive, the SoC in the Switch is from about 2013
| I believe.
| sylens wrote:
| Relieved that they are just iterating instead of trying to go for
| something radically different like they did. Everybody is pretty
| happy with the current feature set, just add some stuff and get a
| nice power upgrade in there and you're all set for another 6
| years.
| k__ wrote:
| I'm a bit sad. They could at least make the controls a bit
| funny.
| NotYourLawyer wrote:
| The hand placement when using the controllers attached to the
| screen somehow looks even more uncomfortable than on the
| original.
| basfo wrote:
| Honestly i was expecting a little more info. I get this is on
| purpose, to create hype, but not having a graphical demo, a
| release date... anything really more than the design, input
| ports, and joycons, seems too little.
|
| And the direct in april seems too far away honestly.
|
| All they showed is the things that leaked, i mean, to me (besides
| the confirmation of something that was obvious) is like nothing
| happened really. I know the same as yesterday + the plastic
| texture maybe and i have to wait almost 3 months for the next
| official info.
| ErneX wrote:
| I think it comes out in June.
| yapyap wrote:
| Sad they're keeping at the same thing, I was personally hoping
| for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre just
| keeping steady at the same pace.
|
| Of course looking back at the past this shouldn't have been a
| huge surprise with their ds to 3ds to new3ds shenanigans
| ginko wrote:
| Yeah, it feels like a very iterative update compared to
| previous Nintendo consoles.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > Sad they're keeping at the same thing, I was personally
| hoping for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre
| just keeping steady at the same pace.
|
| Why risk it though? The original Switch is a money printer but
| it became obvious that it's ... lacking brawns and brains after
| eight years of service. Fix that by upgrading the SoC to
| something with more power and remove a few other annoyances
| (the flimsy stand, primarily), and that will be enough to make
| it sell like lemonade on a hot summer day.
| Macha wrote:
| Though the OLED Switch had a much better stand than the
| launch switch and the stand on this one actually kind of
| looks like a regression.
| seanalltogether wrote:
| I'll be really curious to see what the gpu specs are like since
| it'll likely be nvidia again. The original Switch was 720p but
| lets you bump up to 1080p when in docked mode, so developers had
| to restrict design to accommodate both modes, but nvidia could
| possibly do a dlss trick when plugged in so devs just need to
| worry about 1 render target that will get upscaled automagically.
| TingPing wrote:
| DLSS is disappointing compared to actual resolution increases.
| It adds plenty of artifacts like shimmer, ghosting, occlusion
| issues. I'm expecting Nintendo to use it unfortunately.
| neuroelectron wrote:
| They will likely leave it up to the developer and not us it
| too much in their own games.
| esperent wrote:
| Have you watched any of the recent videos about dlss 4?
|
| It's using a different neural network for upscaling, and
| these issues seem to be massively reduced. It should be
| compatible back to at least the 20xx GPUs as well, not just
| the new 50xx GPUs. Maybe it'll be on the switch 2 as well.
|
| I've only seen a few clips of Cyberpunk but they surprised me
| a lot. If that level of quality can work on other games too
| then it'll be a huge upgrade.
| TingPing wrote:
| I'll try it when out. Marketing videos are not a useful way
| to test something like DLSS which is easy to mask the
| issues with things like low bitrate, slow pans, avoiding
| problematic situations, etc.
| starky wrote:
| They have to be using upscaling. No matter your feelings on
| it, it is the way everything is moving and will become a
| requirement to run any "AAA" game going forward soon enough.
| _imnothere wrote:
| Absolute friendly reminder: this is a device from the company
| which they do C&D and abuse DMCA to community devs
| LorenDB wrote:
| Indeed. Unfortunately, even if all of HN boycotts the Switch 2
| it won't have an effect on Nintendo, but their behavior is
| entirely unacceptable and is boycott-worthy.
| drooopy wrote:
| I'm so glad that they named this the "Switch 2" instead of going
| with something really stupid like "Switch U". It's simple and it
| immediately explains to the consumer what the product is.
| 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
| Switch 2? Switch to what?
| layer8 wrote:
| To the Switch 2, obviously.
| ClassyJacket wrote:
| I know. My mind is blown. I was convinced they wouldn't be able
| to resist the temptation to name it something stupid.
| JohnDeHope wrote:
| Everyone is going to buy one of these as soon as they can ship
| them to them, so if the thumb sticks could not be intentionally
| engineered to fail this time, that would be great, thanks.
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| I don't like the aesthetic as much as the Switch 1. Looks a
| little too sleek, too monochrome, not Nintendo-y enough. Other
| than the splash of color around the thumbsticks it looks like any
| number of those handheld Steam Deck-alikes that have been coming
| out.
|
| That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of
| Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to
| complain.
| soco wrote:
| I only know a few users but they all (three, one being my kid)
| have covered their console in stickers, so that monochrome is
| completely hidden.
| bayindirh wrote:
| I personally like the new color scheme. It says "I'm mature
| now, but still playful". Also, all black is less distracting
| when you're trying to concentrate on a bigger screen which
| needs you to move your eyeballs.
|
| Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if you
| pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're more
| useful when they are detached.
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| I prefer just "playful" to "mature but still playful".
| Something about the straightforwardness of "this is a toy for
| people of all ages, but it is still a toy" speaks to me.
| bayindirh wrote:
| Your taste/view is as valid and correct as mine.
|
| If these things could be standardized, we would have only
| one design for every category of item, possibly from
| different brands.
|
| Since it can't, we have this thing called design and art,
| which is a good thing :)
| Insanity wrote:
| De gustibus et coloribus... :)
|
| I am personally not a fan of the toy-like aesthetic of
| the colourful switch. But having a choice between both
| styles is ideal.
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| Absolutely! I was just elaborating on my tastes, didn't
| mean to come across as disparaging yours.
| kxrm wrote:
| > Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if
| you pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're
| more useful when they are detached.
|
| I am a little concerned about that connector for the
| controls. I hope they have designed it to be sturdy. After
| working on broken Switch 1s a lot of USB C ports were abused
| by users.
| talles wrote:
| Nintendo is not Nintendo-y enough for a while now. The switch
| system UI is bland and on launch the gray switch was the one
| being presented.
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| Yeah, I am not a big fan of the Switch UI. They really took
| out the "surprise and delight" compared to the Wii U and 3DS.
| Very bland and straightforward, and yet somehow awfully slow
| and laggy.
| jncfhnb wrote:
| I disagree. I find it delightful. The sounds are awesome.
| joshuakcockrell wrote:
| Have you scrolled through the Switch store? The UI
| freezes for seconds at a time while network requests lock
| up the main thread.
| glhaynes wrote:
| That's the only part I don't like about the Switch OS,
| and, yes, it's very bad. And it always baffles me why
| they wouldn't improve _the app that generates revenue_ of
| all things.
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| The sound design is in fact delightful. Nintendo is great
| at sound design.
| dcrazy wrote:
| Didn't a third party company design the Switch UI?
| gjsman-1000 wrote:
| There's a very good reason for this: The whole OS is under
| 400MB. Every Nintendo Switch game cartridge comes with a
| full copy of the necessary OS on it.
|
| Every game card is playable, no matter how out of date the
| Switch is, without any internet connection.
|
| I'll take that kind of functionality before "surprise and
| delight." We might get "surprise and delight" this
| generation though, if in part because the change to a
| modified Samsung NAND over Macronix might be cheaper at
| larger capacities if rumors are correct.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| 400MB is huge, and cute touches can be very small.
| gjsman-1000 wrote:
| It's not that large considering the size of NVIDIA
| drivers + WebKit alone.
|
| By comparison, the Wii U with it's "nice touches" was
| over 5 GB.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| The necessary OS for running the game doesn't need
| webkit, and I doubt the important part of the nvidia
| drivers is super big.
| Shared404 wrote:
| > Every game card is playable, no matter how out of date
| the Switch is, without any internet connection.
|
| This is mostly accurate, but not entirely afaict. I had
| to connect my switch to wifi in order to update the OS to
| play Xenoblade 3 (or Tears of the Kingdom? It's been a
| while).
| gjsman-1000 wrote:
| Might be TOTK; I personally updated an offline Switch to
| use Sonic X Shadow Generations from the cartridge alone
| yesterday.
| kergonath wrote:
| I hated the 3DS UI. It was not exciting, it was bad and
| inconsistent. At least with the Switch it is unobstrusive.
| RajT88 wrote:
| Speaking of - does anyone know of an HTPC frontend which
| duplicates the look and feel of the Wii menu?
| KeplerBoy wrote:
| Who even runs HTPCs these days?
| RajT88 wrote:
| I was interested in disconnecting my smart TV from the
| internet and using a replacement which I am in complete
| control of.
|
| As to "who", some part of the demographic who runs
| JellyFin/Plex/Etc.
| red-iron-pine wrote:
| people who appreciate that Roku is a marketing company
| and not a gadget company
| Johanx64 wrote:
| It's so odd to see Nintendo who hasn't competed on hardware
| specs for decades to release new console without atleast some
| gimmick(s) to sell their severely underpowered hardware.
|
| Absolute zero gimmicks and zero excitement.
|
| I personally dont care for gimmicks, but I expect them from
| Nintendo.
| CitrusFruits wrote:
| People are speculating that you can use the controllers
| like a computer mouse. You can see an allusion to that
| towards the end of the video.
| koolala wrote:
| That's a really old-school gimmick if so.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Retro things have a habit of coming back. See: polaroids
| dasKrokodil wrote:
| Yeah, and this might make first-person shooters and some
| strategy games play a lot nicer if (big if) it works
| well. Perhaps the next iteration of Mario Maker might
| also make use of it.
| 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
| They had it right with motion controls on the Wii. I
| could headshot on the Wii edition of Resident Evil 4 so
| effectively it was cheating.
|
| The Switch also has motion control for fine aiming in
| some games (Zelda, Borderlands 2). Joysticks for gross
| movement then motion controls for smaller adjustments.
| Much better scheme than Xbox or PS.
|
| Strategy games might benefit.
| WickyNilliams wrote:
| Resi 4 on the Wii was _so_ good. It was a good game
| anyway, but the aiming was precise and a hell of a lot of
| fun. I think about it a lot. I 'm hesitant to play the
| remaster on my steam deck because I doubt it's possible
| to be as good
| numpad0 wrote:
| That sounds like such an obvious oversight with benefit
| of hindsight. They could have instantly plugged
| Valorant/Apex gateway into PC established by YT
| Live/Twitch through that if only they had it on the right
| joycon.
| cma wrote:
| The Lenovo Legion Go I think has this for FPS games.
| Joycon like thing goes into a little slider adapter and
| becomes a vertical mouse.
| dblohm7 wrote:
| ** N64 has entered the chat
| makeitdouble wrote:
| The current Switch had an alternative monochrome (grey) version
| from the start, so I guess there's a chance the alternative
| version of the new one would be colorful.
| hbn wrote:
| Were the Wii and Wii U not sleek and monochrome?
|
| This has more color than either of those.
| azeirah wrote:
| I think this is aimed at a slightly older audience than the
| "regular" switch.
|
| This is more like a switch "pro", and I assume a switch 2 lite
| and such will follow.
|
| This is like the 3ds XL, which in terms of hardware was a
| HUUUUGGE upgrade to the 3ds, but they didn't really mention it
| anywhere.
| kergonath wrote:
| > That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of
| Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to
| complain.
|
| Yeah, I am sure there will be plenty of playful and colourful
| joycons for the Switch 2 as well.
| xnx wrote:
| A mouse with an analog controller will make for a very powerful
| 3D manipulator, like a 3DConnexion SpaceMouse. Combine with the
| improved kickstand, it will be interesting to see what devs come
| up with.
| guigui wrote:
| The design changes showcased in the video are definitely a
| welcome improvement. As someone who owns both a Steam Deck and an
| OLED Switch, I find the Switch to be a bit too small for my
| hands, while the Steam Deck feels slightly large and bulky. Could
| the Switch 2 strike the perfect balance between the two?
| akaike wrote:
| It looks very pretty but the display bezels look kinda thick.
| excalibur wrote:
| Unsure about the magnets, it kind of looks like it will have
| trouble with the joycons falling off while you're playing.
| vel0city wrote:
| Looking at the rest of the page, it seems like there's a button
| to press to start removing the joycons. I wonder if it latches
| at the final bit.
| nalekberov wrote:
| Nice, it comes with BC
| officeplant wrote:
| It looks so much like the Retroid Pocket 5 and other chinese
| android consoles that are all over the emulator space.
|
| At least they've finally moved on.
| donatj wrote:
| A little sad about the lack of a rail compatible with charging
| existing controllers. Hopefully it's compatible with current gen
| controllers anyway given how expensive they are.
|
| One of my favorite parts about the Xbox Series generation of
| consoles is that it's fully compatible with the previous Xbox One
| controllers.
|
| It would be amazing if they could get their multi-gen multi-
| console save-sync to work nearly as well as Microsoft's so I
| could switch back and forth between my existing Switch and Switch
| 2 seamlessly but I doubt that's in the cards, this is Nintendo
| were talking about.
| ChocolateGod wrote:
| The rumour has it the older joycons can still be used
| wirelessly, just not physically connected.
| jabl wrote:
| So how are you going to charge them then? Have the old Switch
| 1 lying around as a charging station?
| ChocolateGod wrote:
| You can buy chargers for joycons
| flutas wrote:
| You can get standalone charging docks for them, but I agree
| it kinda sucks.
|
| I wouldn't be surprised to see new functionality that would
| pin games to the switch 2 controllers though, gotta sell
| new accessories.
| op00to wrote:
| I have multiple charging "controller docks" that you can
| plug the joycons into and then use them like a two-stick-
| controller and charge via usb-c.
| vel0city wrote:
| https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/joy-con-
| charging-...
| fredoralive wrote:
| The version of the grip that you buy as an accessory
| (HAC-012) can charge the joycons. However the pack in one
| (HAC-011) can't.
|
| Looking around, it appears that Nintendo have also released
| an official "Joy-con charging stand (2-way)", suspiciously
| it seems they only launched it in October 2024, when
| various 3rd party chargers have been around for years.
|
| There's also the official AA battery packs. Yes, really.
| toast0 wrote:
| Hmmm, I wonder if the Nintendo charging stand will charge
| the NES Joy-Cons, cause the BestBuy stand I have won't
| (no big deal currently, the switch is usually on the dock
| and I charge the NES controllers on it)
| xyzzy_plugh wrote:
| > This charging stand can also charge the wireless full-
| size NES Nintendo Entertainment System Controllers
| controllers for Nintendo Switch
| isk517 wrote:
| This would be extremely welcome news. Local multiplayer has
| always been Nintendo's bread and butter, so being able to
| keep using controllers from the previous system is a huge
| boon. Also means not having to invest in a new 'Pro'
| controller hopefully.
| mobiledev2014 wrote:
| I might throw a party to smash my joy cons. Some of the worst
| quality control in my long history of owning hardware, and from
| a company previously famous for that trait. Good riddance.
| _fat_santa wrote:
| It always shocked me that for how bad the joycons were, the
| "Pro Controller" was one of the best controllers I've ever
| used. I don't know how they managed to nail one and get the
| other so wrong.
| mobiledev2014 wrote:
| That's their actual standard and hopefully it has returned
| to the "default" controller(s). I think they just flew too
| close to the sun in terms of trade-offs with the Switch 1
| joy cons. Not possible to make them good enough at that
| price at that size at the time of release
| xnx wrote:
| Surprisingly big day for launches: New Glenn, Switch 2, Starship.
| Narishma wrote:
| It's not a launch, just a (official) reveal.
| loudmax wrote:
| How do Switch users feel about the joycons?
|
| I'm not a gamer, but the original Switch joycons always struck me
| as overly complicated and expensive. It should be cheaper to
| manufacture and sell Switches with the controllers attached.
| Indeed, this is what they did with the Switch Lite. For games
| that take advantage of joycon functionality, Nintendo could have
| sold something like an updated Switch version of the Wiimote as
| an optional accessory.
|
| Do users who are happy with their Nintendo Switch have a
| favorable opinion of the joycons, or would you be happy without
| them?
| jjice wrote:
| I think they're fine when mounted, but I use a the pro
| controller. Using them individually when you have people over
| sucks, but it's a neat way to turn one controller into two, so
| I can't throw too much hate.
|
| That's if we're ignoring the absurd drift their sticks have
| that Nintendo has seemingly never fixed. I hope to god they
| fixed them in this next gen console.
| junek wrote:
| I'm generally in favour of the joycons as a concept. They make
| multiplayer party games a breeze.
|
| But the execution in the Switch 1 is flawed. They're on the
| small side, and generally fiddly. If the joycons for the Switch
| 2 are larger and just more ergonomic then I think it'll be a
| win.
|
| EDIT: the joycons also being little motion wands was also quite
| good. You don't need a separate accessory like on the other
| consoles. Overall the joycon is a neat little package of
| functionality, if imperfect.
| tantalor wrote:
| I love the Lite but it was kneecapped by not having video
| output.
| Macha wrote:
| They have quality issues with stick drift, and the "single
| joycon as controller" setup is clearly designed for child-sized
| hands, but it's definitely an advantage to be able to play the
| system handheld but also have minimal extra to pack (just the
| rails widget) if I want to put it on a train table on the
| kickstand and the use the controllers more ergonomically.
|
| And I mean, if you have kids, being able to double your
| controllers when they have friends around is also helpful to
| avoid arguments.
| bsimpson wrote:
| I was traveling through Asia with the original Switch and got
| a cute girl who didn't speak English to play Mario Kart with
| me on the ferry.
|
| The detachable controllers were pretty magical, modulo the
| reliability problems.
| donatj wrote:
| They're nicer for a quick game of Mario Party or other casual
| game because you can just tear them off the system and have two
| players, but I wouldn't want to play anything serious with
| them.
| karel-3d wrote:
| They are fine but they break very easily; after a while they
| start to "drift" and the games become unplayable.
|
| I needed to repair one pair last year because the drift was
| unbearable; the repair costs almost as much as a new one. (And
| one started drifting again.)
|
| I am not a heavy player at all and I got the drift.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| I _wish_ you could just turn off the sticks in the system
| software -- it 's a trivial fix that would make the problem a
| whole lot more bearable.
| nerdjon wrote:
| The joy cons are fine, but I think them always being attached
| also removes the key benefit of the Switch. That was something
| that a lot of people talked about when the Switch Lite came
| out.
|
| They could be better and given the limitations, I think they do
| the job. If you don't like them they offer the pro controller.
| But there have been times (especially when flying) that I have
| used them detached when not docked.
|
| I honestly don't think the Switch would have succeeded the way
| it did if the controllers were always attached, forcing you to
| buy another controller for when you wanted to dock.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| I agree that they are/were far too expensive, especially given
| the drift problems. Other than that, they're a neat bit of tech
| and, with the included 'grip' controller, I found them totally
| suitable for the first 6 months or so. After that, I got the
| Pro controller and never looked back. Last year, I picked up a
| CRKD Nitro and that is a massive upgrade on the Joy-Con.
| surgical_fire wrote:
| I barely use the joycons.
|
| I mostly play with either a Switch Pro Controller or an 8BitDo
| (that is actually my favorite).
|
| I have large hands and the joycons are a little uncomfortable
| for me. But it makes sense, they should feel great in the hands
| of a child.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Everyone I know with a Switch uses it primarily attached to
| their TV in the dock and only secondarily as a portable. A
| separate controller seems necessary for that.
| xnx wrote:
| I love that the controls are split between two hands. It makes
| certain types of lounging gameplay (e.g. one hand behind head)
| possible that aren't with single controllers.
| dangus wrote:
| There are plenty of alternative controller options for the
| Switch, it's not that much of an issue.
|
| For portable play, yes, the stick drift issues suck, but
| Nintendo will fix it for you. And yeah, most portable systems
| today overall just have better analog sticks.
|
| But if I'm at home I'm going to be using a Pro controller or an
| 8bitdo or something like that.
| Zyst wrote:
| They're my favorite controller out of the ones in the market
| right now. I really enjoy being able to have one controller in
| each hand.
|
| As others have said, their primary issue is with quality
| control around stick drift.
| nerdjon wrote:
| Happy to see that Nintendo is treating the switch more like how
| they traditionally handled their mobile platforms instead of
| their consoles.
|
| Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new
| version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do
| weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some
| really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to
| continue putting out great games has its advantages.
|
| I am curious about the specs, but honestly don't care much. The
| only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up with
| some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had beautiful
| games (like Tears of the Kingdom). So as long as it is actually a
| decent spec bump I am happy and have zero care to compare it to
| the other consoles (but I am sure people are going too and scream
| that it is "underpowered").
|
| The biggest thing I am curious about, will it be OLED since that
| will be disappointing to go back to non OLED from the OLED
| Switch. And Price.
| koromak wrote:
| I just hope its powerful enough that Indies can target it along
| with the Steam Deck, rather than just hope an pray like they
| did for Switch 1's late lifecycle. The amount of <30fps indie
| titles on there was sad.
| MetaWhirledPeas wrote:
| Man that's 100% on the indie dev. Most people don't buy indie
| games for cutting-edge graphics. You start pushing the
| envelope, you get what you get.
| BobaFloutist wrote:
| What a bizarre thing to say. People buy indie games for all
| sorts of different reasons, and sometimes it's the
| beautiful art style.
| filleduchaos wrote:
| "Beautiful art style" and "cutting-edge graphics" are
| nowhere near synonymous. They are orthogonally related at
| best (and many people would even argue that they are
| opposing goals).
| kbolino wrote:
| The Switch was weak when it came out. Decent PCs from that
| same year can handle most of these games just fine. It's
| not really the developer's fault when the Switch is the
| only platform with issues, and they're usually not "pushing
| the envelope" in any way. The fault here is Nintendo's,
| they didn't prioritize support for ported games, though
| admittedly they couldn't really foresee the indie game
| boom, since it wasn't nearly as big of a deal at the time,
| especially in Japan.
|
| First-party Nintendo titles are more or less the only games
| that actually manage to "push the envelope" on the Switch,
| and that's because they have the resources and experience
| to do it. Even then, some games end up constrained compared
| to the original vision, because the hardware can't handle
| it no matter how much insider knowledge you have about how
| it works and how to use it right.
| drawkward wrote:
| Witcher 3 was an amazing port.
| koromak wrote:
| Most indie devs don't have time and money to optimize. They
| will make the game primarily for the biggest audience, and
| then make it somewhat playable for everyone else.
|
| The closer Switch is to the Steam Deck, the more likely
| both will be targeted.
| nottorp wrote:
| Unity's fault?
|
| Unity also kinda killed playing indie games on a laptop (at
| least on battery) on x86...
| Rohansi wrote:
| I wouldn't blame Unity for this. It's perfectly capable of
| running games efficiently on mobile. Problem is people
| either don't know how to or don't care to optimize their
| games performance.
| rpdillon wrote:
| > The only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up
| with some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had
| beautiful games (like Tears of the Kingdom)
|
| A bit of an aside, but... Tears of the Kingdom looks just awful
| to me. My kids played Breath of the Wild and when they got
| Tears of the Kingdom I walked in and was astonished at the
| graphic quality. I think I had just finished Doom 2016 at the
| time and I felt like I was rewinding the clock 15 years in
| graphical quality. I've heard literally zero other people have
| this complaint, so I suspect it's just my take on the
| aesthetics of the game.
|
| I think the state-of-the-art on Switch is really Panic Button's
| work on the Doom and Doom Eternal ports, but those are frame
| locked at 30 FPS, so I think getting a spec bump in Switch 2
| would certainly help the demographic that plays games like
| that. My family has left the Switch ecosystem for Steam Deck,
| and that does a lot better. Would be interesting to compare
| with the Switch 2 in terms of specs.
| manojlds wrote:
| State of the art imo is Metroid Prime
| rikthevik wrote:
| Beautiful art direction to be sure.
|
| But let's be real, it's Super Metroid. :)
| PaulHoule wrote:
| It's a beautiful game, one of the first to use programmable
| shaders, and one of the earliest that doesn't look dated at
| all. The shaders make everything look smooth without
| looking blurry.
|
| Loading screens are hidden, it's not like the
| contemporaneous PS2 game _Mafia_ where you wait a few
| minutes to load, spend a few minutes driving across town on
| a mission to shoot up some people at a restaurant, get
| yourself shot up, then have to wait for it to load all over
| again.
| scop wrote:
| As soon as you said _Mafia_ I felt that loading in my
| bones...
| buster wrote:
| To me, Nintendo is more about gameplay then graphics and i
| hope it stays that way.
| mingus88 wrote:
| Exactly. If you want to be dazzled with AAA titles running
| at 120Hz/60fps/4k then there are plenty of ways to spend
| your money. Frankly that segment of the industry feels like
| a treadmill of never ending upgrades for the same basic
| game.
|
| My whole family shares and island in animal crossing,
| firing up some arcade brawlers on the couch. We've been
| playing the hell out of our switch for years and never once
| have we complained that it's not flashy enough.
| dylanz wrote:
| Agree completely. I loved Tears and didn't once think it
| looked bad in any way. It was a very clever game and made
| me feel like a kid again. That's what I'm looking for in a
| Nintendo game. I'll jump on my PS5 if I want to be wowed
| graphically.
| nerdjon wrote:
| I would say gameplay and art style instead of what the rest
| of the industry calls graphics (polygon count basically).
|
| Nearly all Nintendo (game freak is not technically
| Nintendo) games look beautiful thanks to having a great art
| style instead of just focusing on higher polygon count.
| tshaddox wrote:
| > what the rest of the industry calls graphics (polygon
| count basically)
|
| IMO the focus of cutting edge triple-A graphics is
| physically based rendering.
| dcrazy wrote:
| "Physically based rendering" does not mean
| "photorealistic rendering." After all, PBR was pioneered
| by Disney for use in their animated films. I would be
| surprised if Mario Odyssey doesn't use PBR.
| sefke wrote:
| I agree with you, but in some newer games it just doesn't
| make sense to me.
|
| They want good graphics but the Switch can't handle them,
| but they still try to make them.
|
| For example, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
|
| Gameplay and the game design for me personally is really
| great, but I can't stand the graphics. I would rather play
| on worse graphics just to not have constant frame drops and
| in some parts of the game N64 graphics and in some 4K ones.
| jamesgeck0 wrote:
| Scarlet/Violet look atrocious even next to other Switch
| Pokemon games. The art direction wasn't great, and it was
| a really poor game technically.
|
| https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-pokemon-
| scarle...
|
| Can't find it right now, but someone did some side by
| side comparisons of Scarlet/Violet next to similar Breath
| of the Wild scenes, and it's night and day.
| Phrodo_00 wrote:
| Neither generation of Switch Pokemon games looked or
| performed decent, but I guess bad performance is a
| gamefreak constant since at least the 3DS
| xnx wrote:
| > My kids played Breath of the Wild and when they got Tears
| of the Kingdom I walked in and was astonished at the graphic
| quality.
|
| You must have good eyes! I've played through both and would
| be hard-pressed to tell a scene from BotW from TotK at a
| glance.
| 3836293648 wrote:
| Tears of the Kingdom's only graphical issue is framerate and
| resolution. Maybe some ground textures.
|
| If you have issues with it it's entirely with the style, the
| graphics are fine.
| nothercastle wrote:
| Lack of ram meant it could only handle a couple trees at a
| time
| raydev wrote:
| The style is entirely informed by hardware limitations.
| They did their best with what they could.
| UltraSane wrote:
| The world is noticeably empty due to hardware limitations.
| steve_adams_86 wrote:
| I can see the lower quality of the rendering, but the
| graphical content is stunning in my opinion. The art in the
| game inspires me a lot more than more photorealistic games
| tend to. I think they did a stellar job given the resource
| constraints and the scale of the game.
| chungy wrote:
| Nintendo has tended to maintain at most 1 generation of
| backwards compatibility, though you can get some fuzzy ideas of
| "generations" in a few cases. Game Boy Color:
| plays original Game Boy games Game Boy Advance: plays
| Game Boy and Game Boy Color games Nintendo DS: plays Game
| Boy Advance games Nintendo DSi: plays Nintendo DS games
| Nintendo 3DS: plays Nintendo DS and DSi games Nintendo
| New 3DS: plays Nintendo DS, DSi, and (old) 3DS games
| Nintendo Wii: plays GameCube games Nintendo Wii U: plays
| Wii games
|
| The Switch is a notable break in both of these lines, playing
| neither 3DS nor Wii U games.
| TuxSH wrote:
| 3DS has hardware support for GBA games too, actually, though
| these only got distributed via the Ambassador program.
|
| Also had VC for most of Nintendo's platform.
| chungy wrote:
| I know, and you can basically restore full GameCube
| compatibility on the Wii U via Nintendont. Neither of them
| let you use the actual physical games from the old system,
| and needing to perform jailbreak hacks to use them and load
| ROMs on anyway doesn't count as much as out-of-the-box
| compatibility.
| TuxSH wrote:
| Fair. A shame, still, especially for GC compat on WiiU.
| Wowfunhappy wrote:
| The problem in both cases is that the consoles were
| actually missing a key piece of hardware: the ability to
| read the disc or cartridge.
|
| If you're a hacker-type person who has already digitized
| your gamecube collection (or, let's be honest, downloaded
| the games illegally) then this doesn't matter. But for
| regular consumers, there needs to be a way to verify
| ownership.
|
| Nintendo _could_ have made some titles available
| digitally (which is what I wish they 'd done), but that
| requires getting content rights sorted out for games that
| have never been sold digitally before, so the full
| catalog would not have been available. Also, there would
| have been a ton of hemming and hawing about "Nintendo is
| making me buy my Gamecube games _again_?!? " No comment
| on whether such complaints would have been reasonable.
| bdhcuidbebe wrote:
| Downloading roms is all it takes to be regarded a hacker-
| type these days? I feel words keep losing their meaning
| ...
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| Downloading roms? Probably not
|
| Modding your Wii-U to run those roms?
|
| I feel that probably qualifies someone to be regarded as
| a hacker -type
| bdhcuidbebe wrote:
| I guess I shoild have quoted what I was referring to,
| since it seems to high ask to expect others to read the
| rest of the discourse.
|
| > If you're a hacker-type person who has already
| digitized your gamecube collection (or, let's be honest,
| downloaded the games illegally)
|
| Either way, I disagree with your definition too.
|
| The "hacker-type" is the one figuring out how to mod the
| wii-u. The one following some instructions to perform it
| using provided tools is simply a end user.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| I think they are both hacker like behavior, just varying
| skill levels
|
| Using a tool someone else built is definitely the gateway
| to hacker mindset and culture
| cgriswald wrote:
| Gatekeeping the term hacker is... paradoxical.
| chungy wrote:
| The problem is deliberate hardware choices. They may be
| reasonable choices, but if Nintendo wanted to prioritize
| forever backwards compatibility, we could still have a
| GameCube-compatible disc drive and GBA and DS compatible
| catridge slots.
| Wowfunhappy wrote:
| This is fair, although I _do_ think the choice was
| reasonable. Disc drives are an expensive part, and
| consider how much space a cartridge slot would have used
| on the 3DS...
|
| ----
|
| I have long had a total fantasy in this vein... what
| Nintendo _could_ have done is release add-on hardware to
| read old media. Imagine a hybrid mini-disc and cartridge
| reader which connects to the Wii U via USB, and a Gameboy
| cartridge reader which connects to the 3DS via... uh,
| possibly NFC, Gameboy games are small and the games could
| be read once and cached to internal storage.
|
| You could use this to add backwards compatibility _all
| the way back_ to the NES and Gameboy! Games from consoles
| two generations back could have been run natively,
| everything older could have been trivially software
| emulated.
|
| I don't think such a product would have substantially
| interfered with Virtual Console sales, it would have been
| too niche. Probably _too_ niche to make sense in real
| life... but in my fantasy, the goal would have been PR.
| It would cement the idea that buying a Nintendo game is
| an investment which Nintendo will support long-term;
| whether a large number of people make use of that ability
| is irrelevant.
| chungy wrote:
| That's basically the niche that companies like Analogue
| are exploiting. I'm sure it'll forever be a niche market,
| but it's nice that someone caters to it. :)
| TylerE wrote:
| You could probably do effectively that by just shipping a
| usb drive. After game from the NES-N64 are just a few GB.
| 10729287 wrote:
| >Nintendo New 3DS: plays Nintendo DS, DSi, and (old) 3DS
| games
|
| I know HN doesn't have any room for sarcasm but I couldn't
| not laugh trying to remember what were the NEW 3ds games.
| Sure the second pad made the 3DS way more comfortable to
| play, and 3D was a bit better, but we all got scammed here
| regarding games supporting this new hardware.
| jamesgeck0 wrote:
| IIRC Xenoblade Chronicles and Fire Emblem Warriors were the
| only ones I really cared about. Lots of people held onto
| their old hardware; probably wasn't worth excluding them.
|
| The biggest advantage of owning a New 3DS turned out to be
| the huge performance uplift. A fair number of games ran at
| double the framerate or only supported 3D mode on the newer
| hardware. Code Name STEAM had substantially less downtime
| on the New models because the AI could process turns
| faster. Several reviews for Hyrule Warriors Legends flat
| out said not to buy the game unless you had a "New" model
| due to performance issues.
| daveoc64 wrote:
| The New 3DS consoles did have double the RAM and an
| improved CPU and GPU, so there were quite a few games like
| Minecraft and the SNES Virtual Console that could only run
| on the New models.
| chungy wrote:
| There are a handful of more New 3DS exclusives than there
| were DSi exclusives. Both revisions failed to garner enough
| market for developers to try to target them.
| freddi333 wrote:
| Super Smash Brothers worked very well with the second pad.
| nerdjon wrote:
| Based on that list, they have tended really only to do that
| on mobile platforms. It was one of my favorite things about
| the platform, but it always felt like this was partially
| thanks to the older hardware still getting games well into
| the new hardware's life in many cases. Major games, I believe
| Pokemon has done this a few times?
|
| Most of their home consoles were complete departures from
| previous hardware.
|
| NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube all did not work with prior games
| were fairly different (ok admittedly the outward difference
| between the NES and the SNES were minimal but still no
| compatability).
|
| So honestly I think it was more notable that the Wii could
| play Gamecube games than the other way around as far as
| Nintendo's track record goes.
| la6776 wrote:
| for what it's worth Nintendo had planned to make the SNES
| backward compatible and that intention influenced design
| choices, particularly the very similar CPU.
| chungy wrote:
| Yeah, the SNES uses a 65816, which is pretty much a
| backwards-compatible and 16-bit extension of the 6502,
| used in the NES. The SPC is likewise capable of nearly
| perfectly reproducing the NES's audio capabilities, and
| the PPU has the same background and sprite layering as
| the NES as a foundation.
| Lio wrote:
| I heard that it was a forced response to Sega
| aggressively cutting the price of the Megadrive/Genesis
| to the point that it made it very difficult for Nintendo
| to sensibly price the SNES bill of materials.
|
| Something had to go and it was backwards compatibility.
| larusso wrote:
| First Wii was able to play Game Cube Games. WiiU was
| backwards compatible to Wii. All theses consoles used
| nearly the same chipset anyways.
| lotsoweiners wrote:
| I was always amazed the Wii with its full size discs
| could play the GameCube mini discs.
| jzwinck wrote:
| Ability to play smaller discs was normal in most CD-ROM
| and DVD players for many years before the Wii. A few
| people (probably half of whom have HN accounts) used to
| give out mini-CD business cards...sometimes even with
| truncated edges so the disc was not entirely round:
| https://www.duplication.com/cd-business-card-
| duplication.htm
| hnlmorg wrote:
| Yeah but most of the optical drives that support this
| have trays or are top loading. It's a little more
| counterintuitive to have a postbox-style drive (I don't
| know what they're actually called) that supports
| different sized discs.
| jedberg wrote:
| The Switch is interesting, because while you can't play the
| old games you already own, the Switch _can_ play those games
| with an emulator, if you 're willing to pay them more money
| to get a digital copy.
| danudey wrote:
| > playing neither 3DS nor Wii U games.
|
| Except the ones they remaster for us for $70.
| johnwalkr wrote:
| I almost forgot the switch doesn't play Wii U games, given
| that almost all Wii U games worth playing were also released
| for the Switch.
| 8note wrote:
| im pretty sure all the later versions of gameboys could play
| the old games, so long as the cartridges have the same
| package and connector.
|
| the GBC games just didnt fit well in the DS
| chungy wrote:
| The DS can't play GBC games at all, it doesn't have the Z80
| CPU from that console to even provide backwards
| compatibility. Nintendo also removed it from the Game Boy
| Micro, making it a GBA-only console.
| lotsoweiners wrote:
| 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.
| klausa wrote:
| All of those have games exclusive to them.
|
| 3DS has like ~15, though some heavy hitters (Xenoblade and
| Fire Emblem), DSi has like 6 no-names (and, technically, a
| whole lot on DSiWare); but there are many GBC-exclusive
| games.
| chungy wrote:
| "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
| significant upgrade. Slightly better than NES full color
| games, double the processor speed. It made a compelling
| upgrade and target for developers.
| wslh wrote:
| > I am curious about the specs, but honestly don't care much.
|
| The specs seems to be leaked here
| <https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-
| appears...>
|
| TL;DR
|
| - CPU: Arm Cortex-A78C 8 cores Unknown L1/L2/L3 cache sizes
|
| - GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere 1 Graphics Processing Cluster (GPC)
| 12 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) 1534 CUDA cores 6 Texture
| Processing Clusters (TPC) 48 Gen 3 Tensor cores 2 RTX ray-
| tracing cores
|
| - RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5
| whynotminot wrote:
| Only 2 ray-tracing cores makes you wonder why they'd even
| bother.
|
| Any actual game devs wanna chime in on whether that's enough
| to actually do any ray tracing?
| gjsman-1000 wrote:
| The leaks are a little inconsistent on this one.
|
| On one hand, the base architecture is Ampere, but it's been
| repeatedly rumored that there are various backports from
| Lovelace. It's a weird mixture of the two, alone with some
| unique parts never seen elsewhere (a file decompression
| engine that accelerates LZMA, according to kernel commits).
|
| It's hard to say then how powerful these raytracing cores
| are, or how many are even necessary for simple but
| beautiful effects. It's also worth remembering that the
| Switch bakes the graphics drivers into the game itself,
| uses data structures and shaders more native to the GPU
| without compilation, and has a custom low level graphics
| API called NVN (and NVN2), so performance is not
| necessarily linear compared to a PC.
| enragedcacti wrote:
| That spec seems fishy given both Ampere and Ada both have 1
| RT core in each SM. 12 RT cores would make much more sense.
| The 1534 Cuda cores is also weird since 128x12 would be
| 1536. ALSO the leak says "Nvidia T239 Ampere (RTX 20
| Series)" but Ampere debuted in the RTX 30 Series.
| bargainbin wrote:
| They've got the weird shit covered still, apparently the joy
| cons in this gen can be used as mice.
|
| Was heavily rumoured/leaked and this teaser video literally
| shows them gliding along a surface.
|
| How Nintendo will leverage that functionality, who could
| honestly say, but that's the genius of keeping a toy company
| mindset in an industry full of sports car company mindsets.
| adamc wrote:
| 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"?
| ecliptik wrote:
| 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. https://youtu.be/2u6HTG8LuXQ
| dmonitor wrote:
| GMTK is popular, but he's mostly talking out of his ass.
| He's got zero industry experience and most gamedevs I
| know personally clown on his takes constantly. Unless he
| references specific Nintendo interviews where they talk
| about their design process, I have doubts about this
| video containing an accurate description of how Nintendo
| does things.
| gusgus01 wrote:
| At least in this video, all the interviews and documents
| that they base their claims/opinions on are listed in the
| description, so you can easily also peruse them if you
| doubt the interpretation.
| acomjean wrote:
| I've seem some of his videos, but I'm not that familiar
| with GMTK. But they did release a game, and it was by all
| accounts "Very positive" /pretty good.
|
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/2685900/Mind_Over_Magn
| et/
| m_fayer wrote:
| Strongly agreed. When I think of the best Nintendo products
| the words "fun" and "play" spring to mind.
|
| AAA gaming on the other hand, either resembles sports,
| shallow short-form media, or Oscar-bait melodrama. Very
| little fun to be had.
|
| What ever happened to fun and play?
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| Fun doesn't map 1:1 into a trailer or a screenshot.
| Graphics do, voice acting, cutscenes, and big set pieces
| do.
| piva00 wrote:
| Singleplayer AAA gaming on top of all that feels like
| work, the older I got the less those games kept me
| playing because I don't want to spend 3 hours running
| errands to be rewarded with an item/spell/skill.
|
| The melodramatic storylines are also pretty grating,
| there are a few games with good storytelling but most are
| some rehash of "this world has been destroyed/is in the
| process of being destroyed, in the aftermath a hero is
| about to rise and save it" so if the mechanics don't feel
| fun right from the get-go I lose interest completely.
|
| The most fun I have with games are the ones with a very
| iterative game loop (roguelikes for example), or
| social/multiplayer games, anything with a lot of
| replayability, and the constant feeling of improvement is
| like crack to me.
|
| A surprising example I re-discovered last year after only
| playing it for a while some 15 years ago is Trackmania,
| got even some friends hooked on it to play hot seating
| trying to beat each others time. The game loop is short
| and intense (about 1-2 minutes max), has a high skill
| ceiling, and you feel yourself getting better at a track
| each time you play it, nailing some very tricky part that
| felt impossible 30 min before is absurdly satisfying.
| spokaneplumb wrote:
| My biggest problem is I'll finally get a chance to sink
| enough hours in to start something AAA, do maybe 4-10
| hours over two or three days, and then have life get in
| the way and not touch it for a month or more... and
| completely forget how to play and WTF I was doing.
|
| Some of my favorite UX features in newer games are
| automatically and contextually reminding you how the
| controls work when you pick it back up after a while, and
| quick story recaps or quest reminders on loading screens.
| I like to label those games "parent-friendly".
| pests wrote:
| I have this issue with TV and movies too. I have so many
| shows I want to finish but when I try I have no clue who
| anyone is or what's going on. I either watch a recap or
| just give up instead of restarting.
|
| Got any examples of a game doing recaps / control
| reminders? Curious to check them out
| CobrastanJorji wrote:
| Money happened. The gaming industry produces more revenue
| than the movie industry and the music industry combined.
| Making a AAA is a $50-$100 million endeavor. At that
| scale, doing weird stuff because maybe it'll pay off is
| almost unconscionably risky. It's the same problem movies
| have, and it's the reason why indy films and indy games
| are so much more interesting.
| danudey wrote:
| 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 by a country mile.
| basfo wrote:
| 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.
| spokaneplumb wrote:
| I kinda think that way when buying. The Nintendo console
| is the Nintendo console. If you want what they do, you're
| buying it. The other two are where the competition is and
| where there's a decision of _which one_ , not _buy this
| single product or don 't_. They're much closer to being
| interchangeable than the Switch is with either of them.
| red-iron-pine wrote:
| This is probably a big, major effort by PlayStation's
| marketing team to get people to think that
| runevault wrote:
| Personally I'd say both are true. They won the
| generation, but they did so by not bothering to fight
| directly with Playstation and Xbox. By basically ignoring
| them and having a distinct identity they won.
| dmonitor wrote:
| This framing only highlights either
|
| A. Sony has an amazing marketing strategy where they can
| paint their #1 competitor as not even a competitor.
|
| B. Xbox has a terrible product direction, where they are
| trying (failing) to beat Sony at being Sony instead of
| looking at the gaming industry and trying to create a
| product people want.
| kridsdale1 wrote:
| Regarding B, the Xbox has always primarily been a
| strategy to put the Windows kernel in to every living
| room.
|
| From there, it's made sense that they would use pc-tier
| components rather than phone-tier as Nintendo is on.
| runevault wrote:
| I wouldn't say A because Nintendo hasn't bothered trying
| to compete with them. If they bothered and Sony still
| managed to be considered a separate category I would
| agree, but Nintendo appears to not care about them.
|
| However I do think B is true. The only time they were
| able to go toe to toe with Sony was most of the 360 era
| when Sony got cocky and built a machine that was too
| complicated to work with relative to the value developers
| got out of that effort. Once Sony stopped doing that
| they've dominated Xbox (mind you the whiff on being too
| early proclaiming the digital era made it far far worse).
| dkkergoog wrote:
| Software, it can't be compared because of a unique
| catalogue. How would switch sales be impacted if Zelda
| was on the ps or Xbox?
| adriand wrote:
| I can't remember where I read this, but I came across
| someone talking about the fact that these AAA photo
| realistic games are hugely expensive to make, but if you
| look at what young people are spending their time playing,
| they're games like Fornite, Minecraft and Roblox. As soon
| as I read this, it clicked for me.
|
| I have two teenagers (15 & 17) and this is exactly right.
| My son plays games all the time and although he's played
| Elden Ring and GTA and other games of that sort, over the
| years I would say 80% of his time has been Minecraft and
| this other 2D game with a platformer vibe whose name I
| forget that has procedurally generated maps. He's
| frequently calling me over to his computer to check out his
| latest architectural creation in Minecraft. I know it's not
| just him, because he plays multiplayer with his buddies as
| well, and again, a lot of it is these games with quite
| frankly primitive graphics. But they're fun!
| skissane wrote:
| > and this other 2D game with a platformer vibe whose
| name I forget that has procedurally generated maps.
|
| Terraria?
| adriand wrote:
| > Terraria?
|
| Yes!
| j2bax wrote:
| I'm a huge Nintendo/Mario fan but I've recently been
| playing through Astro Bot on my PS5 and I must say, when
| you combine super fun mechanics with amazing graphics and
| performance, it's quite an experience! But there isn't
| nearly enough content like this on the non-Nintendo
| consoles, so point is definitely not lost on me.
| georgeecollins wrote:
| Focusing on tech or unoriginal production values (that's
| photo real! You don't need a great art director, you need a
| photo..) is appealing to companies because it's predictable
| vs the creative uncertainty and subjectivity of "fun".
| lnauta wrote:
| I play one game at a time for about a month and then move
| to the next. When I first played Mario Odyssey on my switch
| I was over the moon with how much pure fun it was compared
| to all the good looking and serious RPGs I played in the
| decade before. I had forgotten games can be this enjoyable.
| Nowadays I try to do these super fun games in between my
| souls-like sessions.
| nobleach wrote:
| Never forget, they had Rob the robot. And to my recollection,
| he only worked with Gyromite.
| p_j_w wrote:
| When you try weird shit you're bound to have failures.
| Nintendo has a remarkable success rate with their weird
| shit, though.
| wvenable wrote:
| A lot of that was necessary for Nintendo get away from the
| "it's a video game console" comparison after the video game
| market crash. That's why the NES looks like a VCR too.
| coro_1 wrote:
| Also NES appeared before the US as a VCR design because
| well, American's loved VCRs
| bloomingkales wrote:
| As a mice or a air mouse. The smart tv stuff is limited by a
| remote control from 1980 (more or less, what changed?). I'd
| make lifestyle apps for the switch if they enable it.
| danudey wrote:
| As a mouse mouse. It seems to have an optical sensor on the
| inside edge (the side that attaches to the console) and the
| video shows the joy cons zooming around on that edge.
| enragedcacti wrote:
| the teaser also has a clear shot of the side and there's a
| sensor that looks identical to an optical mouse sensor. It
| seems really rough from an ergonomics perspective but maybe
| there are accessories for that. It could also go the way of
| the IR camera where it sees niche uses in a couple of random
| games but isn't really a staple of the console.
|
| https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/509821/nintendo-
| sw...
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| Ha. Since when does Nintendo care about ensuring
| functionality they add to their devices are leveraged? Other
| than first party games, and even that can be limited, almost
| no one ever implements the weird little functionality they
| add to their devices.
| dmonitor wrote:
| I think someone at Nintendo has a brother-in-law that owns
| an IR sensor manufacturer. Only explanation for that
| feature being in every right joycon.
| ad_hockey wrote:
| Not just Nintendo. The PlayStation 4 controller had that
| touchpad in the middle that also clicked in to act as a
| button. I played a lot of games that used it as a button
| (usually to open a map, or something) and don't remember a
| single game that used it as a touchpad.
| kipchak wrote:
| Likewise for the PS Vita's features such as the rear
| touchpad.
| jsheard wrote:
| Microsoft is somewhat to blame for new controller
| features being underutilized because they're extremely
| reluctant to add anything to the Xbox controller. Motion
| control in particular stands out, the hardware isn't
| expensive and it's proven to be very useful in some types
| of game, but the lowest common denominator Xbox
| controller still doesn't have it so multi-platform games
| can't be designed around it. Especially multiplayer games
| with crossplay since you can't let some players have more
| precise inputs than others.
| Gigachad wrote:
| Would be amusing if they just allowed it anyway and if
| you use an Xbox controller, you just suck at the game.
| Pressuring MS to add gyro.
| karlgkk wrote:
| It's used very heavily for system functionality, such as
| with the onscreen keyboard. Not so often with the games.
|
| It's an expensive component and they brought it back for
| free he second gen so they must think it's worth it
| petters wrote:
| A mouse wood be very nice for Super Mario Maker!
| drawkward wrote:
| or the upcoming civ 7, or any number of games!
| piyuv wrote:
| Early leaks said screen was LCD, hoping for them to be wrong
| hbn wrote:
| They're optimizing for cost so I'd expect LCD. Then they can
| release an OLED model later down the line and the extra $50
| won't seem as big of a deal on top of what we can probably
| already expect in the price bump from Switch 1.
| hadlock wrote:
| OLED seems like a no brainer for a lifecycle refresh at the
| ~3-3.5 year mark. Particularly because they've done it
| before, and Valve very recently proved it's still a viable
| way to boost sales. Nintendo has had 7 years to prepare for
| this launch they likely have every mario, zelda, metroid
| release date pinned to a particular month and year through
| at least year 5. A display upgrade mid cycle is almost a
| given.
| FractalHQ wrote:
| The games are crippled by how archaic and underpowered the
| hardware is. TOTK is beautiful _despite_ the hardware limiting
| its true potential, robbing world class studios, and forcing
| them to cut corners.
|
| It's indefensible considering how much legendary IP that potato
| is holding hostage.
| EA-3167 wrote:
| The good news is that the best Nintendo platform is also the
| best mobile platform: The Steam Deck. It plays Nintendo games
| better than Nintendo consoles do, and as a bonus, it plays
| everything else.
| gjsman-1000 wrote:
| Have you ever tried to dock a Steam deck to a TV?
|
| Have you ever tried to use physical media with a Steam
| deck?
|
| Have you ever tried to get 5 hours of battery life with a
| Steam deck?
|
| Have you ever put a Steam deck in your pocket? (I do have
| big pockets, but at least with the Switch Lite, it's
| possible.)
|
| Nintendo will be just fine. I personally will never use a
| platform that can kick me out on a whim, or could screw me
| the moment Gabe Newell gets hit by a bus.
| EA-3167 wrote:
| I didn't mean that Nintendo was in trouble, I just meant
| what I said: the best way to play Nintendo's games isn't
| on Nintendo platforms. For me, I'm not going to be
| playing games away from the ability to plug in or dock
| for 5 hours. I don't put expensive electronics in my
| pocket, and yeah I've docked my Deck to a TV... it's
| great. As for physical media, why would I want to use
| that?
|
| But sure, if you hate Steam on principle then obviously
| it isn't for you. In my 19 years of using steam I've
| never had any problems though, and I suspect that's true
| for most people.
| filleduchaos wrote:
| I don't know, it doesn't make much sense to call the
| Steam Deck the _best mobile_ platform by dismissing
| things that a _mobile_ platform should be good at just
| because you personally don 't care about them.
| klausa wrote:
| I haven't tried in the last couple of months, but last
| time I tried connecting Deck to a TV it was _painfully_
| obvious it was Linux with a thin veneer of Steam over the
| top.
|
| Some of that is Valves' to fix, but some other things are
| just "that's how PC games are" -- I genuinely can't
| believe "render the UI at native screen resolution, but
| the game at arbitrary different one" is not a standard
| feature in 2024.
|
| I don't mind my game running at 720p, if I still can view
| the text and UI at native 4K; but apparently this is just
| not possible to get on PC.
| Rohansi wrote:
| What you are looking for is a render scale option. It is
| usually specified as a percentage of your display
| resolution but could also be combined with upscaling
| (DLSS, FSR, XeSS, etc.) options.
|
| It's something that is up to the game developer to
| implement but it is becoming more and more common to see
| in games now.
| klausa wrote:
| The bizarre thing about this is that virtually all multi-
| platform games implement this anyway -- it just works
| this way out of the box on consoles.
|
| But glad to hear it's becoming more common - I might
| check it out on Deck again soon.
| robertlagrant wrote:
| > I do have big pockets, but at least with the Switch
| Lite, it's possible.
|
| Can you dock a Switch Lite with a TV?
| Rohansi wrote:
| The Steam Deck is just a PC - nothing is locked down. You
| could install whatever OS you'd want to replace SteamOS,
| or you could buy your games somewhere other than Steam
| and just use SteamOS as a launcher.
| cbm-vic-20 wrote:
| I have docked my Steam Deck to a TV. I have also used
| physical media with a Steam Deck. The USB port lets you
| do both of these things. I also just plug it into my
| laptop dock to play more desktop-oriented games.
|
| The Deck works for me since I rarely play for more than a
| couple of hours in a stretch (so I don't need 5 hours of
| battery life), and I don't need to stick it in a pocket.
| It's "just a PC", so you can still play non-Steam games
| on it if you need to avoid the Steam ecosystem for some
| reason. Its direct competitors (Asus/ROG Ally and the
| Lenovo Legion and others) show there's a market for this
| type of device.
|
| The Switch satisfies the needs for a lot of people
| people; great! Good ideas will cross-feed with those in
| the handheld PC gaming device realm.
| epicide wrote:
| > Have you ever tried to dock a Steam deck to a TV?
|
| Yep, works great with non-proprietary docks vs even using
| a 3rd party dock on Switch has led to bricked units.
|
| > Have you ever tried to use physical media with a Steam
| deck?
|
| I haven't tried, but I'd be surprised if plugging in a
| USB optical drive _wouldn 't_ work. That'd be pretty
| silly though, but so are some of the Switch physical
| releases when the bulk of some games isn't actually on
| the cartridge.
|
| I think the better thing to look at is DRM instead of
| specific transmission format. Steam itself is a grey area
| for DRM (some games are DRM-free IIRC), but you can also
| use things like Lutris... or generally whatever you'd
| like. Takes a bit of tinkering, sure, but a whole lot
| less tinkering than getting anything unofficial to run on
| a Switch.
|
| > Have you ever tried to get 5 hours of battery life with
| a Steam deck?
|
| Yep, works great. I'll still give the point to Nintendo
| because they prioritize battery life so much more, but if
| you aren't running the SD at full tilt with a large 3D
| game, it can get decent battery life.
|
| > Have you ever put a Steam deck in your pocket? (I do
| have big pockets, but at least with the Switch Lite, it's
| possible.)
|
| I would love a Steam Deck Lite or something. That's
| probably the biggest reason I keep my Switch Lite: it's
| easy to just toss in a bag on a whim while the SD (and
| other Switches) require planning to actually use them.
|
| > Nintendo will be just fine.
|
| Yup. They're probably still sitting on piles of cash from
| the DS and now Switch. People were saying Nintendo was
| doomed when the Wii U did poorly, but others at the time
| rightly pointed out that they've probably got enough
| runway to have a few more total flops of consoles.
|
| > I personally will never use a platform that can kick me
| out on a whim, or could screw me the moment Gabe Newell
| gets hit by a bus.
|
| Losing Newell is a valid concern (again, for Steam as a
| platform), but Nintendo is certainly an interesting
| choice to say they won't kick you out on a whim, given
| their track record of bans, lawsuits, and just being
| particularly litigious.
| Johanx64 wrote:
| >I personally will never use a platform that can kick me
| out on a whim, or could screw me the moment Gabe Newell
| gets hit by a bus.
|
| Dude, you have to rebuy all the games you've already
| bought and already own every odd generation. Imagine
| paying for NES and SNES games, Wii and Wii U games and
| other old garbage you already own? That's Nintendo.
|
| On steam you have absolutely massive library dating back
| almost 20 years by this point, and it comes with you
| every time you buy a new device, whatever it might be a
| PC, laptop or SteamDeck.
|
| Yes, steamdeck is pretty large and bulky, but you can get
| 5 hours battery life on non-demanding indie titles (ie.
| Hades on the updated deck OLED models)
|
| Yes, you can dock a Steamdeck to a TV easily.
|
| It's all around better, completely open device, minus the
| size (and battery life in demanding AAA titles switch
| can't dream of running anyway)
| dcrazy wrote:
| This is a statement that could only be made by an HN
| commenter. My wife has to drop into Arch to recover her
| audio every time she connects her Steam Deck to the TV.
| This is not a product ready for mass consumption.
| vehemenz wrote:
| Honestly, it's a milquetoast take. The only advantages of
| the Switch at this point are Nintendo exclusives and
| better support.
|
| There are some rough edges with the Steam Deck, but it's
| a bit odd to frame the Switch as "ready for mass
| consumption" when it lacks access to Steam, something
| every other handheld has, and consumers expect in 2025.
| dcrazy wrote:
| The majority of the population doesn't hang on Gabe
| Newell's every word and buy 75 early access Factorio
| clones at each biannual sale.
| whynotminot wrote:
| > The only advantages of the Switch at this point are
| Nintendo exclusives and better support
|
| Err what? This has _always_ been the point of a Nintendo
| console.
|
| It's like saying "the only reason people buy
| Windows/macOS is because they want an easy to use OS."
| Like, yes. That is indeed the point.
| theLiminator wrote:
| > Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new
| version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do
| weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some
| really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to
| continue putting out great games has its advantages.
|
| Yeah, I've always felt that Nintendo being willing to try out
| cool stuff is something that will be very sad to lose. The Wii,
| DS, and the Switch have all been very cool consoles. I
| personally only buy Nintendo consoles, as I feel like
| everything else eventually gets ported to PC anyways.
| leonewton253 wrote:
| I hope it has at LEAST 12 GB of RAM. Hopefully 16 or 24 GB.
| UltraSane wrote:
| The Switch 2 is supposed to be a bit faster than a PS4. It has
| more RAM and a much more modern GPU. It is using a LCD screen
| to reduce cost. I bet they will release a more expensive OLED
| version later.
| hadlock wrote:
| > I bet they will release a more expensive OLED version
| later.
|
| I would imagine the only reason they didn't launch with the
| OLED is to drive sales in the second half of the product
| lifecycle. If the PS4 equivalent claim is true that will be
| great, the Switch 1 was anemic at launch and borderline
| painful graphics in 2025.
| Natsu wrote:
| > Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new
| version.
|
| I sort of feel like they were trying to fight emulation with a
| lot of their moves, doing things that were challenging to
| emulate, like the 3D stuff, or unusual hardware, etc.
| BrawnyBadger53 wrote:
| Unfortunately for them, they are subject to the most interest
| from emulation devs by far.
| 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
| Hopefully the Switch as a platform represents the end of the
| line. SD cards can be up to 2Tb, and that should be enough for
| anybody ;) So I don't see why they would need to change up
| formats again.
| wat10000 wrote:
| It seems like the days of revolutionary consumer electronics are
| over.
|
| This looks nice, for sure. But it's really more of the same. Not
| surprising. It does surprise me that there's such emphasis on it,
| though. There's the name, of course, and then the entire video is
| based around "it's the same thing but a little better."
|
| Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a
| revolution. PS2 was huge. Now... PS5? What's different from PS4,
| again? Is there a 6? What's different about that?
|
| I don't blame Nintendo or the others. I have no idea what they
| could do here they would be revolutionary. I think the design
| space has just been thoroughly explored by now and that's where
| we are.
|
| This pattern repeats all over the place. TVs are maxed out, with
| better visual quality than people care about, and size limited by
| wall space. Computers get a little faster every year. This year's
| phones are last year's phones with a minor performance bump and
| slightly better cameras. And again, I don't see what they can do
| better, and that's probably how it has to be at this point.
|
| But it's still a little shocking to see a company lean so far
| into the theme of "we made incremental improvements to this thing
| we released 8 years ago."
| 3pt14159 wrote:
| I've found more incredible improvements in AI than in consumer
| electronics these days. I'm still daily surprised at just how
| good ChatGPT is at understanding my pretty complex queries.
| wat10000 wrote:
| Maybe that will be the next big thing in games. Finally
| deliver on the promise of living, breathing worlds, instead
| of breaking the illusion when the character scripts start to
| repeat and you realize "your choices matter" means you can
| pick from one of three different endings.
| mingus88 wrote:
| I think this is it. Once a console can run an LLM you will
| see open world games with immersion that we've never seen
| before
|
| Procedurally generated worlds are one thing but imagine
| exploring an endless world where you can talk to every NPC
| and never have the same conversation twice
| camtarn wrote:
| It sounds like a good idea at first, but would people
| really care after the first few conversations? After all,
| the conversations are unlikely to be related to any of
| the gameplay, and even though you could drip feed
| worldbuilding to the player, you only have so much source
| material. After a while I suspect it would become obvious
| which things are part of the official world source
| material, and which things are being made up on the fly
| without any consistency from conversation to
| conversation.
|
| That said, though, I can definitely see a use for making
| the world feel more alive. Watch_Dogs: Legion put a lot
| of effort into having tons of voiced NPCs with
| interesting conversations and phone calls, but you could
| go even further by having an LLM generate text to be read
| by an AI TTS system.
| hedora wrote:
| I'd expect some combination of large models,
| reinforcement learning and NPUs to substantially improve
| non player characters.
|
| These days, AMD has low power SoCs that include an NPU,
| and Nvidia seems to have just remembered that the
| consumer market exists. I'm sure next gen (after this
| one) consoles will do something with that hardware.
| wat10000 wrote:
| Imagine that classic Star Trek scene where a crisis
| erupts, you're in the captain's chair, and you ask your
| bridge crew, "options?"
|
| In a modern game, the crisis was scripted, and then
| you'll get a scripted followup, or you'll get a few
| scripted answers you can choose from, and half the
| challenge is figuring out which ones the game designers
| think are the good ones and which ones are supposed to
| kill you.
|
| Now let's imagine the crisis arose organically because
| you got yourself into a bad situation, and the options
| from your crew make sense in context, and maybe none of
| them will save you or maybe some will and you can't just
| figure out which ones the game designers thought were
| good.
|
| Basically, tabletop roleplaying with a good group and a
| good DM, but as a solo game with fancy graphics and all
| that.
|
| I'd pay good money for that sort of thing, and it's not
| something that can be built yet but which sufficiently
| good AI tech can enable (or maybe it's now possible but
| only very recently).
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| > But it's still a little shocking to see a company lean so far
| into the theme of "we made incremental improvements to this
| thing we released 8 years ago."
|
| It's certainly more 'shocking' to see Nintendo do it than, say,
| Microsoft or Sony. But Nintendo hasn't _always_ introduced huge
| new changes with a console bump -- NES- >SNES wasn't
| particularly revolutionary, and there were certainly no
| gimmicks there. I think it's a very understandable reaction to
| a) the Wii U b) the enormous success of the Switch
| bsimpson wrote:
| The Super Nintendo had totally new controllers and was top-
| loading. The UX was substantially different than the original
| Nintendo's VCR-style design.
| surgical_fire wrote:
| The Famicom was top loading, too.
|
| NES was only side loading because in the US Nintendo was
| trying to distance itself from the consoles that came
| before.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Those are very minor 'gimmicks' compared to handheld, touch
| control, motion control, or hybrid.
| mcphage wrote:
| They did release a top-loading NES as well, although it
| came out after the SNES.
| wat10000 wrote:
| NES->SNES didn't do much with the form factor or the
| controls, but technologically it was an enormous leap. That's
| the sort of thing that just can't happen anymore, since video
| game technology is pretty much maxed out. You can always make
| things a little bit prettier, or have a little better
| framerate, but nothing too interesting.
|
| I suppose VR/AR is the one area where something big could
| still happen. The current state of the art there is far from
| the "mostly limited by the size of your wall" stage.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| VR and, at some point, 3D.
| xnx wrote:
| Elaborate. Isn't all VR 3D by virtue of delivering
| different images to each eye?
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| I guess I was thinking non-glasses 3D, so 'holographic'
| or that kind that some people briefly had in their TVs
| during the last decade.
| corytheboyd wrote:
| I feel like VR would have "happened with the masses" by now
| given that the quest is wireless, excellent quality, and
| cheap. Personally I think it did, and it's a success, it's
| just that it has a lower ceiling because it's an awkward
| rectangle that you strap to your face.
|
| There is also, IMO, a huge software quality problem with
| VR.
|
| I am baffled as to why all the first person games don't
| copy Alyx's control scheme, it's the only one that feels
| correct to use. The rest of the first person games feel
| awful to play, once you get past the gimmick of "wow cool".
|
| Music/rhythm games work really well for VR, but that's
| always going to be a niche market. I play beat saber all
| the time, it's fantastic.
|
| Everything else seems to be sandbox games. Fucking sandbox
| games. They're funny the first time, but you can only throw
| objects so many times before the magic is lost, you just
| wish there was an actual game there to play.
|
| I love VR, and I hope developers continue to innovate with
| it, but it's never going to overtake console gaming, it's
| just too different.
|
| I don't get why we think AR is going to be any different
| for games. Why would I want to see my living room while
| playing a game? VR puts you in whole other worlds. It's...
| that simple, I think.
| wat10000 wrote:
| Those limitations provide room for something
| revolutionary. Figure out how to do VR without a giant
| rectangle strapped to your face, figure out better
| controls, figure out motion sickness, and you'll have a
| revolutionary device.
|
| For AR, I'm not thinking games, but computing in general.
| Glasses (or better yet, contacts) that can overlay things
| on your field of view could be huge. That could be the
| thing to displace smartphones once this becomes possible
| and actually good.
| surgical_fire wrote:
| > PS2 was huge
|
| PS2 was literally just an iteration on the PS1. More powerful
| console, DVD instead of CD, and that was it. Nothing really new
| there.
|
| Hell, the Switch 2 is more innovative than the PS2 was in terms
| of iteration on a previous console.
| wat10000 wrote:
| "More powerful" was enough to be a step change at the time.
| You'd get huge improvements in image quality, realism, and
| immersion.
|
| Now, compare a new game with one from ten years ago. The new
| one looks a little better. Not much.
| kypro wrote:
| The graphics bump you'd see from next gen systems prior
| 2010 was massive. So big in fact that it would unlock new
| genres of games which weren't previously possible.
|
| ps1 > ps2 was pretty huge too because I'd argue the ps2
| marked the first generation of consoles where games could
| move away from pixelated cartoony characters and into
| photo-realistic graphics and just about pull it off.
|
| Today you get better lighting and shadows, or slightly
| higher FPS which is nice, but it doesn't really change the
| types of games you can make in the way the ps2 did.
| staticman2 wrote:
| PS1 launched without analog controls. This was later
| available as a newer controller for PS1, but if we count that
| as a PS2 base feature it's a nice innovation on PS1 at
| launch.
| MetaWhirledPeas wrote:
| > Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a
| revolution. PS2 was huge.
|
| There are two categories of "big deal". The SNES and PS2 were
| big deals simply because game graphics had so much headroom for
| improvement. Now that the low-hanging fruits of color palette,
| resolution, frame rate, texture quality, animation quality, and
| geometric complexity have all been squeezed, the improvements
| are more asymptotic.
|
| The other "big deal" category is gimmicks. I would argue that
| while it is a hallmark of Nintendo, the gimmicks have flopped
| as often as not. Most of Nintendo's big sellers were fairly
| conventional. (The most glaring exceptions being the original
| Game Boy, the Wii, and the Switch.) I'm glad they do the
| gimmicks, but I'm also glad they don't _only_ do the gimmicks.
| Al-Khwarizmi wrote:
| But those are three hells of exceptions (can you actually do
| that in English? I was trying to pluralize "a hell of an
| exception").
|
| They are the 3rd, 4th and 7th best selling consoles of all
| time. And you forgot the dual screen in the DS (2nd best
| selling of all time).
|
| Maybe many of the gimmicks flopped, but others wildly
| succeeded and Nintendo wouldn't be what it is without them.
| In fact, it probably wouldn't even make consoles by now,
| following the fate of Sega.
| wat10000 wrote:
| Exactly. For a while you could have huge improvements from
| better hardware. Then there were some cool new gimmicks. Now
| both of those seem to be played out.
|
| And that's happening across the board. All the stuff I'd go
| ogle in Best Buy as a teenager is now basically maxed out
| both in terms of hardware and gimmicks.
| hibikir wrote:
| This all comes down to what the hardware improvements can mean
| in practice. It's not as if hardware isn't moving up, but that
| the new kinds of things double the hardware unlocks are much
| smaller than they used to be.
|
| This is best seen on the PC market. What a gaming desktop today
| has running on it is, compute wise, unimaginably stronger than
| the best available 10-20 years ago. The increases in hardware
| just keep coming. But there's limits on how much more you can
| get out of being able to push more polygons, or to put more
| pixels on screen. We can do all kinds of extra photorealistic
| things in real time that before would have to be done only in
| movies, and rendered in server farms for weeks at a time. But
| the increased difficulty doesn't quite match how impressive the
| extra effects are.
|
| You can also notice this by just playing old games, and seeing
| how they hold up. We can make 2d pixel art games that are much
| better than what a SNES could do, but many of those games still
| hold up just fine. Meanwhile most 3d games of the Playstation
| and even the PS2 era are downright painful, because the
| increases in power between generations back then lead to big
| practical differences in capability. A ps5 is much stronger
| than a ps4, hardware wise, but it didn't unlock much at all.
| All the extra power can get you cooler reflections on
| cyberpunk, and you can go even further with a PC that has over
| $1000 in video cards in it. But those reflections and
| atmospheric effects are eating up as much hardware as the rest
| of the game.
| wat10000 wrote:
| It's some of each. Hardware is improving substantially slower
| than it used to. And at the same time, what you get out of
| better hardware has hit steeply diminishing returns.
| isk517 wrote:
| >The SNES was a revolution
|
| Nintendo has actually stated they view the SNES as a evolution
| of the NES. They have directly stated their hardware
| development cycle goes Revolution>Evolution>Revolution.
| Considering that the Switch was considered one of their
| revolutionary leap (their first hybrid console) it is no
| surprise the Switch 2 is a simple evolution of that concept. If
| their next console is another iteration of the Switch THEN it
| is safe to say they are no longer aiming to revolutionize their
| hardware.
|
| Edit: After tons of searching I am starting to think that I am
| misremembering thing. I think this idea came about from the
| Wii's 'Revolution' code name and I Mandela Effected myself into
| think there was a interview we're either Miyamoto or Iwata
| talked about this being there philosophy when designing system.
| isk517 wrote:
| I apologize, I tried to find the interview were this was
| stated but unfortunately search engines are terrible now and
| no matter how hard I try I only get news about the Switch 2
| or old stories about when the Wii has code named Revolution.
| Feel free to not take my word that this was actually stated.
| hedora wrote:
| I'd be curious to know when they said that. It sounds like
| revisionist history to me.
|
| Based on the switch launch video, the delta between the NES
| and SNES was much higher than Switch -> Switch 2.
|
| Here's an analogous snes ad, which spends most of its time
| showing off 3d and increased sprite counts:
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eSBFw93V3Rg
| isk517 wrote:
| Sorry, tried to find the interview and failed. It would
| most like have come out around the Wii's
| release/development since it used the code name Revolution.
| int_19h wrote:
| At the time, at least, I don't recall seeing SNES as a
| "revolution". It had better graphics etc, but the form
| factor was the same, and games were broadly similar, so it
| was more of a luxury option.
| wat10000 wrote:
| It was the first taste of (sorta) 3D, at least in
| Nintendo's lineup. Games like Pilotwings and Mario Kart
| were a big change.
| staticman2 wrote:
| That really sounds like something someone made up in
| marketing.
|
| The Wii came about because an independent company pitched
| motion control technology to Nintendo and they liked it and
| licensed it. Not because of the 3d chess game of going from
| "evolutions" to "revolutions".
|
| The Switch came about because it's less expensive to make
| software for a single hardware unit than a separate handheld
| and console and this became an issue as games got more
| expensive to make.
| LZ_Khan wrote:
| Hold up, what's the "revolution" between the PS1 and PS2? More
| processing power?
|
| You could argue that no consoles in the Xbox or Playstation
| line are revolutionary, as they're the same format as the
| original SNES just with more buttons and processing power.
|
| I would say the major shifts in controller type is simply a
| much rarer change than simple spec upgrades.
| wat10000 wrote:
| A lot more processing power, at a time where that made a huge
| difference in the graphics.
| sigmoid10 wrote:
| Huh. I guess updated ergonomics / QoL stuff and confirmation of
| backwards compatibility counts as enough of an update over the
| last hardware refresh. But zero info on anything that could
| actually make this worth a buy. Granted, this _feels_ like
| Nintendo who will do anything to not get dragged into PS /XBOX
| flops discussions. But without any real upgrade or even games
| announcements, I suppose most people will keep holding off their
| purchase decisions for now.
| nkjoep wrote:
| on the other side, it could be a big plus for new comers into
| the Nintendo Switch platform
| sigmoid10 wrote:
| I really wonder how big that market can be. I mean, for
| people who _still_ haven 't gotten a switch or steam deck or
| anything similar until now, how likely is this going to
| change their mind?
| eloisant wrote:
| People who started to look when the Switch was already 3-4
| years old, and passed because it's underpowered.
| sigmoid10 wrote:
| People who believe this thing will not be underpowered
| compared to current gen hardware have obviously not
| followed Nintendo over the past 25 years.
| Cymen wrote:
| That is me right here... Plus I have some younger kids
| who have had fun playing with old Nintendo DSes for now.
| But their friends often have the Switch and I want the
| updated graphics plus group play (Mario Kart) so we'll
| buy at least one of these when it comes out. I've been
| holding off because the original hardware just seemed a
| bit wimpy when reading the experiences of people playing
| Breath of the Wild on it. I'm hoping the new model will
| have enough power to do full justice to BotW.
| mingus88 wrote:
| This has always been such a weird take for me. I know PC
| gamers get caught up in hardware arms races but Nintendo
| handheld consoles have always been about having fun
| playing cartoony games. Animal crossing doesn't need much
| horsepower to trap my kids into putting a thousand hours
| into their islands.
|
| Nintendo has never needed to compete on frame rate or
| vRAM to be successful
| teamonkey wrote:
| Developers are asking for it. It shares a market with
| bigger consoles but in terms of capabilities it's closer
| to a tablet.
|
| It's hard to cross-port from PC/PS/Xbox to Switch because
| it is so far behind. Not impossible, of course, but if
| you're choosing to target Switch from the start you're
| often committing to building your game on all platforms
| without using some modern technologies or new engine
| features. If you're backporting from a more powerful
| platform then you might need to make significant
| (expensive) changes to get it running.
|
| It's mostly a developer cost calculation, but one that
| can keep new titles away from the Switch.
|
| (Could GTA VI run on Switch 2? I'm pretty sure Nintendo
| would want that even if it's not their traditional user
| base.)
| pjmlp wrote:
| Those developers should spend less time with Unreal and
| Unity, and dust off some Michael Abrash books.
| philistine wrote:
| People always have this argument that it's hard to port
| for it because it's so underpowered. But ultimately,
| games like _Balatro_ or _Neon White_ absolutely shine on
| Switch, while extremely graphic intensive games like
| _Indiana Jones and his Big Circle_ cannot run
|
| Nintendo has correctly decided that if it can attract all
| the low requirements indie titles plus offer its own
| games, then it has an extremely compelling product. Which
| it does, it outsold Sony and Microsoft combined.
| pjmlp wrote:
| Those folks would never played any GB generation device,
| the whole line of devices.
|
| Nor are old enough to have lived through 8 and 16 bit
| home computers days.
| cbeach wrote:
| My kids are just getting to the age where they can use a
| gaming device like this. Obviously I'll get the Switch 2
| rather than the Switch.
| senorrib wrote:
| There's always someone turning 12.
| riskable wrote:
| I don't care _what_ hardware is inside the new Switch 2. It
| cannot compete with the Steam Deck because the Switch 2 is
| still _made by Nintendo_.
|
| Made by Nintendo means that it'll be a super locked down
| device that only plays games made by Nintendo or a rather
| small list of 3rd party game makers. Developing for the
| platform is expensive and requires an _extremely_ lengthy
| certification process. This means that all the games are
| reasonably high quality, sure but it also means that small
| developers or games with _some_ adult content will never
| make it.
|
| The Steam Deck, on the other hand runs an enormous library
| of Steam games and new games crop up every day. It also
| runs Switch 1 games! The barrier to entry is tiny and it's
| actually possible to mod games which is probably _the_
| single most important feature in modern gaming if you want
| your game to last and be popular for a very long time.
|
| The Steam Deck also runs Linux which means hackers all over
| the world can make it better. Even simple shell scripts
| that automate common tasks provide an enormous benefit! You
| can automate synchronizing your save games between your PC
| and your Steam Deck wirelessly, for example without much
| effort because _it 's just (mostly) normal Linux_.
|
| The Steam Deck is general purpose hardware in a portable
| form factor running a general purpose operating system
| that's been optimized for (portable) gaming. If you want a
| feature you can make it happen _yourself_ or ask the
| monstrously huge (and obsessed) Linux community for
| assistance.
|
| The Switch is locked-down, application-specific hardware in
| a portable form factor running an application-specific
| operating system that's severely locked down and can't be
| modified or improved in any way by end users. If you want a
| feature you have to ask Nintendo and pray.
| Clamchop wrote:
| Illegal emulation is not a fair play here.
|
| Nintendo's "moat" is their exclusive IP and single-screen
| multi-player party games, which other platforms have
| largely forsaken. Their competition is still mostly
| PlayStation and Xbox, too. (Steam Deck sales are a
| rounding error.) So portability is still an edge for now.
|
| I do hope Steam Decks become more mainstream, though.
| pjmlp wrote:
| Yet its sales leave the SteamDeck miles behind, and its
| future is kind of uncertain with a dependency on Windows
| games translation, that currently Microsoft happens to
| tolerate.
| Q6T46nT668w6i3m wrote:
| New Mario Kart
| ErneX wrote:
| They supposedly had this console ready to ship a year or even
| two ago. Rumor is the reason they are releasing it this year is
| to have a decent catalogue of games lined up for launch and
| launch window.
| sigmoid10 wrote:
| That makes it even weirder why they would only show a few
| short hints of one possible new Mario Kart game. The original
| switch reveal had glimpses of new Zelda, Mario and even the
| first portable version of Skyrim.
| ErneX wrote:
| I think they revealed the current Switch this way. 1st a
| small tease then a Direct with plenty of details.
|
| That is happening on April.
| gwervc wrote:
| It's only the first reveal. I'm sure they'll be raising the
| hype with game trailers until the release date.
| jerojero wrote:
| It says in the trailer that they're going to be having a
| direct for it... on April 2nd.
| Dansvidania wrote:
| which makes complete sense, no?
| ErneX wrote:
| of course
| isodev wrote:
| The original Switch was released 7 years ago. I don't think
| Nintendo needs to justify the upgraded model. It simply is the
| Nintendo Switch, and we now know they can make it last for a
| VERY long time. I think that's enough.
| pjmlp wrote:
| The great thing about how Nintendo approaches games is that it
| is about game design, not triangles per second.
| lexicality wrote:
| Great in theory, but only really works for first party games
| and does mean you occasionally end up with unfortunate
| situations like Tears of the Kingdom where it runs better on
| an emulator than the actual hardware.
| pjmlp wrote:
| It works for everyone, provided they have the skills.
|
| I have stop buying most AAA games, because they are GB of
| useless gameplay, or remakes from remakes of remasters,
| that is better invested into sponsoring indies.
| peatmoss wrote:
| Ooh, thank you for the reminder to see where the state of
| emulation is. I played Breath of the Wild on both Switch
| and on PC under emulation, and the difference was night and
| day. The stuttering on the Switch distracted quite a bit.
| My PC played in beautiful 4k.
| tedivm wrote:
| I've been playing TOTK over the last month and have had
| zero issues running it on my switch (OLED edition).
| Freedom2 wrote:
| Of course, but that doesn't negate OP's comment that it
| runs better emulated still.
| bitwize wrote:
| But Mr. Anderson, how can Tears of the Kingdom run better
| on an emulator... if no emulators for the system can
| legally exist?
| pebble wrote:
| Coming from a modern console, the first hour of Tears of the
| Kingdom felt painfully sluggish.
| pjmlp wrote:
| One complaint from a catalog of how many games?
| Hasu wrote:
| Tears of the Kingdom is far from the only Switch game
| with performance issues. Off the top of my head, the
| newest Pokemon games (and the next newest, to a lesser
| extent) run like shit on the Switch. I've heard
| complaints about other games too.
|
| It was underpowered when it was released in 2016, so it
| really shouldn't be that surprising.
| pjmlp wrote:
| Again, from how many?
|
| And if we are going to start counting frame drops as
| argument against focusing on gameplay instead of
| triangles per second, there is no safe platform then.
| Hasu wrote:
| I don't think the number of games in the catalogue
| matters in this discussion? There are hundreds of Switch
| games that perform great, and I don't care because I will
| never play them.
|
| When I play a game and there are frame drops, stuttering,
| lag, dropped inputs, etc., it reduces my fun just as much
| as if the game were poorly designed. Maybe that's not the
| case for you, maybe you don't care, but I do, so do
| others.
|
| I don't think Nintendo should make a console that rivals
| the best machine money can buy. I do think they took too
| long to refresh the hardware in the Switch lineup and
| their customers are worse off for it.
| pjmlp wrote:
| So better not buy any computing device.
|
| Having been through the demoscene and home computing days
| since their birth, I can only laugh when calling Switch
| underpowered.
| Hasu wrote:
| > So better not buy any computing device.
|
| I don't have this issue on other computing devices. My PC
| runs all the games I want to play on it very well. I can
| also upgrade the hardware whenever I want, unlike in my
| Switch.
|
| > Having been through the demoscene and home computing
| days since their birth, I can only laugh when calling
| Switch underpowered.
|
| What does this have to do with the fact that the Switch
| has performance issues with first party Nintendo games?
| Hardware power only makes sense when talking about the
| software you want to run on it. The Switch is
| underpowered for software released exclusively for it, by
| the company that makes it. It's not underpowered for NES
| games, sure, but neither is an NES.
| stnmtn wrote:
| The Switch 1 is certainly underpowered compared to what
| it's competing with in the market with right now. That's
| why Nintendo is making a switch 2.
| smugma wrote:
| Why do people by a Switch? Mario (Kart), Zelda, and
| Pokemon.
|
| Those three franchises represent a huge percent of sales.
| 70%?
| pjmlp wrote:
| People that hardly know Nintendo yes.
|
| People that know Nintendo, buy those and plenty of
| others.
| mingus88 wrote:
| This is a just first look trailer so yes I think most people
| have no choice but to hold off on a purchase decision
|
| I saw a larger screen and exclusive titles for the switch 2. As
| with everything else in gaming I am expecting modest bumps in
| performance and since this is Nintendo it will sell very well
| and have Mario and Zelda releases that get 9/10 reviews on all
| the usual sites.
|
| The gaming industry has been going through these cycles for
| decades. If you had a previous Nintendo system and still like
| to play video games, odds are good you'll end up with one of
| these sooner or later too.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| > most people have no choice but to hold off on a purchase
| decision
|
| Probably all people, right? Who decides to buy the thing
| based on this sneak peek and then when it comes out and has
| some deal-breaking flaw says "oh no siree, I already made my
| decision when I saw the trailer months ago and I'm sticking
| to it no matter what"?
| JohnBooty wrote:
| I'm quite certain that lot of people have already decided
| to buy it!
|
| Nintendo's stuff isn't for everybody, but if you do like
| it... they truly do have a strong 40 year history of doing
| their thing and getting it mostly right nearly all of the
| time.
|
| So for many people their default action is "buy the next
| Nintendo console every 5-10 years, because I would like the
| play the next 5-10 years of Mario/Zelda/etc games."
|
| It's not unconditional love (Nintendo was in a tough place
| after the Wii U flop) but realistically, I think a lot of
| people have decided they're going to get one of these
| _unless_ there 's some big fiasco.
| kreco wrote:
| > But zero info on anything that could actually make this worth
| a buy.
|
| Obvious answer: no more game released on Switch 1 so you want a
| Switch 2 if you want to play new games.
|
| That's work well enough for Playstation/Xbox.
|
| The difference with the other consoles mentioned is that it's
| portable, and the time already made clear (with Switch 1 and
| Steam Deck) there is a massive need.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| Obviously, new games are still being regularly released for
| PS4 4+ years after PS5's release. For this reason, I haven't
| bought a PS5.
| nonethewiser wrote:
| Practically, yes, this is the main differentiator. But still
| it would be interesting to see some specs. Is the GPU 15%
| better, 50%, what? The switch came out 7 years ago... there
| is opportunity for some fairly serious performance
| improvements even in the mobile form factor.
|
| Clearly it's the same basic platform. And I think that's fine
| - they've really cornered a pretty big niche of mobile (ish),
| motion controls, family.
|
| I suspect the larger screen size is because more people are
| using the mobile aspect in their home, not out on the subway
| or something.
| jader201 wrote:
| > _But still it would be interesting to see some specs. Is
| the GPU 15% better, 50%, what?_
|
| This is obviously more of a teaser than an actual full
| trailer.
|
| They announced a Nintendo Direct on Feb 2, so I'm sure
| full/most details will be covered then.
| nonethewiser wrote:
| I don't doubt it will be released.
|
| Im sure there are more details in this video for someone
| more discerning, too. My point is that I didn't find
| there to be much information in the trailer because it's
| clearly mostly a refresh. And I'm not complaining about
| that. Nor am I complaining about the nature of teasers.
| KwanEsq wrote:
| They announced a direct on 2nd April.
| tempoponet wrote:
| wrt portability - this console will be competing with a
| healthy market of PC handhelds, which Xbox is preparing to
| enter soon.
|
| In a couple years we'll have a new console war between Switch
| 2, Steamdeck 2, and Xbox portable.
|
| This is where your first point is critical. People who want
| to play Mario/Zelda/Pokemon etc will buy the console,
| regardless of form factor.
| oharapj wrote:
| I mean, it's almost certainly got updated hardware too right?
| The Tegra in the OG switch is getting pretty long in the tooth.
| This isn't just a hardware refresh, it's a whole new console
| nazgulsenpai wrote:
| I'm no Nintendo fan but I still find this criticism unfair as
| it's simply the design reveal and a date of when more
| information will be provided (April 2, 2025).
| jonkratz wrote:
| Interesting, as an American, I read the date in the video
| (02.04.2025) as February 4th, 2025 (I agree that the
| DD/MM/YYYY format makes more sense, but dates are commonly
| listed MM/DD/YYYY everywhere here). It makes me realize when
| doing a worldwide release, it's important to be as explicit
| on the date as possible.
| mejthemage wrote:
| ISO 8601 is the only correct date format.
|
| I don't care if people laugh at me when I sign documents
| and date them with "2025-01-16"
| nazgulsenpai wrote:
| Same here until I saw the date below that spelled out April
| 2nd :)
| peterleiser wrote:
| "This year we put a 12 on the box"
| JohnBooty wrote:
| I was about to say...
|
| I'll geek out on the specs once they're leaked or announced or
| reverse engineered, but also I sorta don't care. It's going to
| be a solid upgrade over the Switch 1, which is already a lot of
| fun as long as you're not looking to play contemporary AAA
| titles from other systems.
|
| But then I thought...
|
| Hmmm. If it's powerful enough to essentially be "portable PS4
| era level hardware" then that really increases the number of
| quality third-party titles we'll see ported over. Sure, they
| won't be latest and greatest PS5 era level AAA stuff. But they
| might be last generation's AAA stuff and that could be a very
| very very solid addition to this thing.
|
| We _know_ the first party Nintendo games will be good, so, the
| ability (or not) to actually get good ports from other systems
| (even if not the latest) is pretty compelling.
| mcphage wrote:
| > But without any real upgrade or even games announcements, I
| suppose most people will keep holding off their purchase
| decisions for now.
|
| It's not for sale yet--they haven't even announced when it will
| be for sale. So what purchasing decision are you talking about?
| lotrjohn wrote:
| Man, this video is giving me some serious Neverhood vibes.
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverhood
| ranger_danger wrote:
| Why?
| systems wrote:
| So I can only guess the reason why they didn't mention how much
| more powerful NS2 is compared to NS1, is because it is not that
| much more powerful?
|
| I would guess only 30 to 50% more powerful
| bhouston wrote:
| The leaks specs are [1]:
|
| - ARM 8 Arm Cortex-A78C
|
| - GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere, 12 SM/1534 Cores
|
| - 12 GB of ram.
|
| Compared to Switch 1 [2]:
|
| - ARM 4 Cortex-A57 cores @ 1.02 GHz
|
| - GPU: NVIDIA Maxwell 256 cores
|
| - 4 GB of ram.
|
| It should like it should be a major boost in performance from
| those specs, like maybe 4x improvement overall?
|
| Of course there are more pixels on this screen, so the amount
| of GPU per pixel may stay roughly the same.
|
| [1] https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-
| appears... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch
| richrichardsson wrote:
| If you believe the leakers [1]: Full specs:
| CPU: Arm Cortex-A78C 8 cores Unknown L1/L2/L3
| cache sizes GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere 1 Graphics
| Processing Cluster (GPC) 12 Streaming Multiprocessors
| (SM) 1534 CUDA cores 6 Texture Processing
| Clusters (TPC) 48 Gen 3 Tensor cores 2 RTX ray-
| tracing cores RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5 Handheld
| Mode: CPU: 998.4 MHz GPU: 561 MHz
| (~1.72 TFLOPS) Memory Frequency: 4266 MHz
| Memory Bandwidth: 68.256 GB/s Docked Mode:
| CPU: 1100.8 MHz GPU: 1007.25 MHz (~3.09 TFLOPS)
| Memory Frequency: 6400 MHz Memory Bandwidth: 102.4 GB/s
|
| Switch 2 in comparison with the original Nintendo Switch:
| Category Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Switch CUDA
| Cores 1536 256 Bus Width 128-bit
| 64-bit Memory Size 12 GB 4 GB
| Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR4 SM Count 12
| 2 Bandwidth 120 GB/s 25.6GB/s
| Dimensions 206 x 115 x 14 173 x 102 x 13.9 (LWD
| mm)
|
| [1] https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-
| appears...
| eloisant wrote:
| How would that compare to other consoles, like the PS4/PS4
| Pro?
| Dansvidania wrote:
| I would guess much weaker, but IMO the switch's point is
| not raw performance but rather innovative gameplay and
| style
| jitl wrote:
| pc vs cell phone
| mirsadm wrote:
| The iPhone is faster than most PCs
| jitl wrote:
| but quite different architectures
| ac29 wrote:
| Maybe on short duration single threaded CPU benchmarks.
|
| But its not true if you are talking about sustained
| gaming performance compared to an equally priced new PC.
| Even for $800 (entry level iPhone) a PC will be a much
| better performer for gaming.
| evujumenuk wrote:
| GPU performance should be somewhere between PS4 and PS4
| Pro. More memory is a good sign that Nintendo's machine
| will allow a larger software catalogue than that of the
| Xbox Series S, where 10 GB has been a severe impediment to
| porting.
| ErneX wrote:
| Just based on teraflops it sits between a PS4 and a PS4
| Pro.
|
| But teraflops isn't the whole picture though, it has other
| modern features like AI upscaling (DLSS) plus others.
|
| For a portable it's pretty nice.
| rekoil wrote:
| Have they mentioned anything? All they have done so far is show
| the hardware off and one new game, which for the record does
| look more detailed than its predecessor.
| gbear605 wrote:
| This was just a hype video, they didn't mention anything other
| than "2025" and the date of the Nintendo Direct with more
| information.
|
| That said, I'm not expecting it to be a giant step up in
| performance.
| dcow wrote:
| I've heard different leaks to the tune that it is actually
| significantly more powerful. Rationale being because Nintendo
| presumably finally needs to take 4k and higher frame rates
| seriously, and the hardware situation has improved enough for
| that to be possible under Nintendo's philosophy (shit hardware
| with innovative and engaging gameplay). I mean their beloved
| launch title for the Switch had performance problems
| maintaining even 20fps at 720p. Pretty embarrassing.
| The_Colonel wrote:
| No, it's because Nintendo prides itself to be about games, not
| about performance.
| jerojero wrote:
| I think they've done something smart here by partnering with
| NVIDIA and given the success of the switch 1 they've probably
| built a good relationship.
|
| So, although you're right, NVIDIA might be giving them a good
| performance/efficiency bespoke chip.
| xattt wrote:
| Missing 4K is notable in the current Switch.
| ta988 wrote:
| Did they finally fix the early dying joysticks? Because that's
| the main issue of the switch.
| bsimpson wrote:
| The last time I tried to use my Switch, I realized that the joy
| cons are no longer usable separately. Seems the connection to
| the internal shoulder buttons is broken, and you can't reorient
| the controllers unless you can hold them both down.
| phatfish wrote:
| I dropped my Switch from knee height, and now the left hand
| joycon is slightly loose and disconnects from too much upward
| pressure. Maybe the damage is on the joycon, but it seems
| more likely the mechanism (don't have a spare to test).
|
| The new joycon connector looks more robust.
| bitwize wrote:
| Rumor has it the Switch 2 has Hall-effect sticks. Here's
| hoping.
| bhouston wrote:
| 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.
| rekoil wrote:
| Gotta leave something for the Nintendo Switch 2 OLED
| xattt wrote:
| And upsell a magnifying lens to make the screen bigger.
|
| /s
|
| (1) https://www.thevintagegamers.com/2013/11/game-boy-screen-
| mag...
| actionfromafar wrote:
| Screen estate all to the edge of the device can be annoying
| too, just a wrinkle on your clothes will then cover a bit of
| the screen.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Play with no clothes on, problem solved.
| encomiast wrote:
| You clearly have not seen the wrinkles on my body.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| And I thank the gods for that ;)
| dcow wrote:
| Yes, because our chiseled bellies don't get in the way.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Tuck it in bro!
| riskable wrote:
| Commando gaming is a time-honored tradition!
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| It's not a tablet. It has physical controllers. You don't use
| a switch by grabbing the screen.
| JohnBooty wrote:
| well, first, the Switch _does_ have a touch screen.... =)
|
| but I think parent poster is referring to the somewhat
| common situation with portable devices where you're
| watching/playing in bed and the device is propped up on a
| pillow or blanket or something
| ranger_danger wrote:
| There are many people who do though, and there are many
| games that heavily utilize the touchscreen.
| Ecco wrote:
| Oh, sneaky! I fell into the trap without even realizing. Thanks
| for pointing it out!
| Dalewyn wrote:
| Microbezels are aesthetically great but practically horrible.
|
| Having some practical space to grab onto wins at the end of the
| day, we presumably _use_ these things instead of having one sit
| looking happy on a bookshelf.
| bhouston wrote:
| > Having some practical space to grab onto wins at the end of
| the day,
|
| I guess I hold onto the controller parts on the sides, not
| the center component. It isn't a tablet.
| Dalewyn wrote:
| It's a portable device, at some point or another I'm going
| to handle it without the side controllers. Having some
| place to grab the thing is basic ergonomics, much less
| something designed with kids in mind.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Where you touch it when not in use doesn't matter. You're
| not going to _use_ it that way, because nothing uses the
| touchscreen for gameplay.
|
| [edit] originally I said it didn't have a touchscreen,
| but I've been reminded that the original does actually
| have one and it's just never used by anything because
| ever requiring it in a game would be really dumb when the
| entire premise of the switch is that it's dockable.
| evujumenuk wrote:
| Huh? It totally has a touch screen -- it has to, for
| backward compatibility.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Sorry, you're right. I forgot because literally nothing
| supports it other than maybe wifi password entry and
| navigating some menus.
| Izkata wrote:
| And the eshop. And at least one of the games I play
| regularly uses it in several places for text input.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| > _at least one of the games I play regularly uses it in
| several places for text input_
|
| Hehe. Ok, but, question:
|
| Do the other interactions in the game use the
| controllers?
|
| Because if so then you're still necessarily holding the
| controllers and not the screen.
| Dalewyn wrote:
| >Where you touch it when not in use doesn't matter.
|
| Being able to easily grab something is _always_
| important, especially anything portable. I 'm going to
| pull it out of a bag, move it across a table, etc. and
| having microbezels gets in the way of that by reducing
| the useful grabbing space.
|
| Smartphones are the epitome of horrible here. With silky
| smooth glass and/or sheer aluminum/plastic on all sides
| with nanobezels (or no bezels at all...) and razor thin
| thickness, they are a fucking pain to grab and handle
| without dropping them. Most of us put them into a case to
| give them the necessary girth and friction for practical
| handling.
|
| Mobile device design and design in general nowadays focus
| on aesthetics way too much to the detriment of
| practicality. People handle and use them at the end of
| the day, they aren't for oogling.
| Salgat wrote:
| At the same time, a larger handheld to fit those big bezels
| is unfortunate because we don't have a proper replacement for
| the gameboy/ds line.
| hn92726819 wrote:
| Do we know if the aspect ratio is the same? Maybe they're
| demonstrating Switch 1 games that have a slightly different
| aspect ratio, but can be updated to fit the new screen in the
| future?
| lewispollard wrote:
| That's a new Mario Kart game they're showing on the screen,
| not the Switch 1 version.
| hn92726819 wrote:
| I didn't realize. That's disappointing
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Maybe they wanted more battery life without making it thicker?
| I want to see what the teardown looks like.
| everdrive wrote:
| I'll never understand why people hate bezels so much. They have
| no bearing on the screen size, but merely offer a basis for
| comparison when you're looking at the screen.
| pimanrules wrote:
| What's not to understand? If the bezels were smaller, either
| the screen would be larger or the system would be smaller.
| Both are desirable.
| JohnBooty wrote:
| Personal opinion, but I didn't really have that reaction. That
| screen is still significantly bigger than the Switch 1.
|
| Honestly it looks like a great size and if the bezels were
| smaller, it might be a problem to grip the device (with joycons
| detached) without hitting the touch screen.
| bsimpson wrote:
| Looks like a new controller attachment system, maybe magnetic,
| except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
|
| I wonder what that means for spare controllers. It's a waste to
| make people go buy new extra controllers for multiplayer games.
| Maybe you can use your old Switch as a charger and pair via BT?
| Not nearly as nice as just sliding it on to pair, but hopefully
| reduces e-waste.
| eloisant wrote:
| I would be surprised if older joycons can't be paired via BT.
|
| There are already alternative ways to charge them, either
| charging stations or charging grip.
| CivBase wrote:
| > except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
|
| Yeah. First thing I thought when they showed the controllers
| snapping in place was "I would definitely yank one of those out
| on accident while playing."
| lugao wrote:
| There seem to be a latch mechanism to keep it attatched. I
| would be surprised if it was designed to rely solely on
| magnets.
| atemerev wrote:
| Bright-colored controllers were so much better. Also the way they
| were attached before is much better.
|
| Switch 1 was the work of art. This one looks like the work of A/B
| testing and "we are losing customers as they choose Steam Deck
| over us, so let's make it look like Steam Deck"
| Dansvidania wrote:
| it definitely does look a bit like a steam deck
|
| From the trailer the way the new controller attach to the
| console seems fragile, but they might have done some apple-like
| magnet magic..
| galleywest200 wrote:
| I think the updated "click" sound present in the trailer
| indicates that yes they will snap on pretty forcefully with
| magnets.
| jitl wrote:
| Nintendo sold an all-gray Switch 1, that's the one I got.
|
| Yes this console does feel like a more "grown up" Switch but I
| don't think it's a sign of chasing after Steam Deck; switch has
| sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than Valve ever will.
|
| If anything it's following the same pattern as Wii (white) WiiU
| (dark) for the successor to be a bit more serious and grown up
| looking.
|
| Kids who got their Switch 1 when they were 10 are now 17, ready
| for a more grown up console.
| yellowapple wrote:
| > If anything it's following the same pattern as Wii (white)
| WiiU (dark) for the successor to be a bit more serious and
| grown up looking.
|
| The Wii U also comes in white. My grandparents own one.
|
| Likewise, I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch 2 came in
| more colors than what's shown, just like the Switch did.
| Izkata wrote:
| Here's hoping for see-through purple.
| riskable wrote:
| > switch has sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than
| Valve ever will.
|
| In the first year Nintendo sold 13.2 million Switches. In the
| ~2 years since the introduction of the Steam Deck Valve has
| sold somewhere between 5 and 6 million units.
|
| Nintendo had a enormous, loyal, and obsessive user base and
| decades of history selling portable consoles. The Steam Deck
| is Valve's first portable console and it's running a new OS
| that no one is used to. It also cost $100 more than the
| Switch.
|
| Furthermore--now that the platform itself has proven itself--
| Valve is going to allow 3rd parties to use SteamOS on their
| own portable consoles. If those 3rd parties have similar
| successes I think Nintendo will become a minor player in the
| portable console market in comparison.
| pjmlp wrote:
| Until Microsoft says Windows translations is enough.
| amluto wrote:
| I really don't like the old attachment mechanism. It was robust
| when connected, but it's annoying to connect and especially
| disconnect, and it's especially awkward that are two different
| retention mechanisms that need to be released depending on
| what's connected.
|
| I imagine the new connection will have a mechanical match of
| some sort and generally work better.
| rkangel wrote:
| The old mechanism had one serious usability flaw. This is a
| common sequence:
|
| 1) Put console into dock when you get home. 2) Some time later,
| remove controllers to use them
|
| To remove them you need to pull them up, while the console is
| in the dock. That's a bit fiddly. Just being able to pop them
| off sideways sounds much better.
| iammiles wrote:
| My number one wish for this iteration is more reliability out of
| the joycons.
| netcraft wrote:
| Have there been any leaks of the price yet?
|
| We have gotten so much use out of our original switch I can't
| really imagine not picking it up, even if only to keep playing
| the games we already have.
| Dansvidania wrote:
| I am sucker for Nintendo stuff. I can't imagine not getting it,
| but this trailer did not necessarily make me look forward to it
| more: It got a bit more generic in design, and I don't trust
| that controller attachment system.
| jerojero wrote:
| I'll probably wait for the OLED version, which they will
| _obviously_ release maybe 2-3 years down the line.
|
| I have a steam deck right now which has more than enough games
| to keep me busy for a few more years.
| prmoustache wrote:
| On the other hand, I haven't finished Zelda BOTW yet nor even
| started TOTK.
|
| A bigger one seems too bulky to me, I was thinking I'd rather
| have a tiny progress on performance and a smaller footprint.
| anal_reactor wrote:
| 1. Looks boring. I want my washing machine to look boring, not my
| fun entertainment device.
|
| 2. It's literally the same thing they released 8 years ago,
| except the electronics are new. In 8 years they did zero creative
| progress. "People don't want cars, they want faster horses".
|
| 3. Switch was already huge, this thing will be giant, so it will
| be portable as in "portable fridge".
|
| This will probably sell well because Switch sold well and the
| brand is strong, but honestly, I don't see any reason to buy this
| thing. They're basically reinventing a gaming laptop, except with
| Nintendo first-party games.
| Ecco wrote:
| There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon
| that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the equation?
| This would have been awesome!
| hibikir wrote:
| Didn't you see the section where joycons appear to slide over a
| table? If anything, the video confirms the rumor
| excalibur wrote:
| Yeah the sensors are there, you can see them if you look
| closely
| jansan wrote:
| It would be awesome to have new Labo sets that make use of that
| sensor. But I suspect that Labo will not get a second chance,
| given that the first sets were seen as a failure (despite being
| really cool).
| nonethewiser wrote:
| > There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a
| joycon that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the
| equation? This would have been awesome!
|
| They literally depict them as mice at 1:12. Like the animal, or
| at least that's how I interpreted it before I even knew about
| this rumor from your comment.
|
| Im not sure what the point is. Sure you can point and click but
| no keyboard? That's way lower input than simply using the
| joycon and all the buttons. Seems like a gimmick.
| grumbel wrote:
| At 1:02 it shows the optical mouse sensor pretty clearly.
| cloudking wrote:
| Switch 1 was released on March 3, 2017 - what a great run!
| xattt wrote:
| NES - 1983; SNES - 1991
|
| Seems about right.
| pupppet wrote:
| For those of us with zero interest in playing a console on the go
| I wish they would release a non-mobile version and put the money
| saved into beefier specs.
| falnatsheh wrote:
| That's my case as well, especially now that Switch has
| established itself and you can get Switch Mini for $200 if
| interested in on-the-go experience.
| dontlaugh wrote:
| Same. They already made the Lite, I wish they'd make the
| opposite.
| layer8 wrote:
| It's more for playing in your room where you don't have a TV,
| than necessarily on-the-go. Just how smartphones are nowadays
| used for gaming at home by the younger generation. You still
| don't want to be tethered to a power outlet.
| ac29 wrote:
| Nintendo's best selling consoles are all handhelds, its not
| surprising for them to stick with the hybrid form factor.
| int_19h wrote:
| The beefier specs would be wasted though since game developers
| would still be primarily targeting the handheld (since that is
| still their main offering, so that's what most people have).
| pupppet wrote:
| Not necessarily, there are pro versions of both PlayStation
| and Xbox
| sotix wrote:
| I wish we could return to a Wii U like functionality where the
| switch could be used as a second screen when undocked. That was a
| really nice feature in games like Zelda where the controller in
| your hands displayed the inventory or a map.
| xnx wrote:
| Might be possible if the Switch 2 contains a "cast" feature,
| but the cast landscape may be too incomplete and fractured
| (AirPlay, Chromecast, Miracast, etc.) for Nintendo to bother
| with that.
| jghn wrote:
| Couldn't the handheld pair with the dock with whatever
| protocol they want, and the dock is wired into the TV?
| xnx wrote:
| Absolutely. I was stuck thinking about the simple plastic
| Switch 1 dock. Switch 2 dock could definitely be more of a
| dongle.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| Much like with the failed Macbook Touch Bar, I don't think it
| works having to look away and focus on another screen while
| playing a game.
|
| Also like the Macbook Touch Bar, now you have a whole other
| thing developers have to target and test for an end result that
| should just be possible yet more efficient in the main app.
|
| Take inventory for example. Instead you could just make it
| frictionless to open inventory in the main game and create
| quick-swap slots. Tears of the Kingdom is a good example.
| Swapping out arrows mid combat by looking at your controller
| would not be an improvement.
| jghn wrote:
| Yeah I played BOTW on the Wii U and remember at some point I
| just stopped bothering with the handheld screen.
|
| I can't remember what game it was but I do remember having
| one game where the handheld add-on provided some
| functionality that seemed useful/fun. So it is possible, but
| much like the original wii's motion sensors - it is much more
| likely that developers will stumble across a bad application
| of the tech than a good one
| whalesalad wrote:
| I don't think I can see myself ever buying a Nintendo console
| again. My switch collects dust. They are always substantially
| under powered and likewise their games are simple - aka quite
| easy to emulate. I would much prefer a mobile device that can "do
| it all" like a steamdeck which is able to run native games, run
| emulators, and also remote to a beefy desktop gaming rig for
| games with higher demands.
|
| That being said I realize I am not the target market. Nintendo
| has always been a pretty safe bet for the "just works"
| department. They are great for kids or casual gamers.
| volleygman180 wrote:
| So can we finally expect to see first-party Switch 1 games get
| discounts?
| nonethewiser wrote:
| Ooh that would be nice. Although I wonder if they'll simply
| stop producing as many (IDK what even goes into that though...
| I imagine its pretty cheap to produce). Sadly I feel like the
| opposite happens with many things, not sure about video games
| though.
| kyriakos wrote:
| should we expect re-release of all the usual games?
| vachina wrote:
| Cool, a new steam deck, but it can only run some games at a lower
| FPS.
| freedomben wrote:
| and incorporates cutting-edge "security" controls to keep the
| system secured ( _against the user_ of course, because the
| owners of the device nowadays are the primary security threat,
| regardless how technical they are). Otherwise, what if grandma
| gets tricked into installing a Steam game or *gasp* an open
| source operating system onto her switch?
| bbx wrote:
| The joycons seem to attach as easily as a MagSafe connector...
| but I hope they don't detach as easily! I wonder if the handheld
| ergonomics were battle-tested to prevent accidental joycon
| detachment while gaming.
| andy_ppp wrote:
| I doubt they attach like that I think it's just for the
| video... looking again there are holes at the top and bottom of
| the joycons presumably for some kind of locking mechanism to
| fit into.
| riskable wrote:
| They probably _are_ magnetically attached but also feature a
| latch somewhere to make sure they don 't accidentally pop
| out.
|
| Alternatively they could just be using _really_ strong
| magnets and tight tolerances for the fit inside the Switch 2.
| That 's a tough thing to get right though because if they
| make it too tight it'll be annoying to get them lined up
| juuuuust straight enough to snap in but if they make it too
| loose they can pop out too easily.
| meandmycode wrote:
| The connector on the main body is just exceptionally
| questionable, I see it being a big issue of getting broken or
| worn and then non trivial repairs.
| accrual wrote:
| Yeah, I was concerned about that too. It looks like it has a
| small thin edge connector on the body of the Switch 2, sort
| of like a USB-C port but without the protective shield around
| it. If it's not designed well, we could see it snapping off
| in kid's hands and requiring expensive repairs.
| ampplify wrote:
| Came here to say exactly this. It looks like with a small push
| they could pop out. Or snap the connector.
|
| Nintendo has a clear focus on a younger audience so I have to
| assume they've got this figured out.
| Karawebnetwork wrote:
| There is a button you must press to detach it. You can see it
| here: https://www.nintendo.com/successor/assets/img/bg-
| movie.mp4 at 0:23
|
| If this hotlink doesn't work, it's visible on this page:
| https://www.nintendo.com/successor/en-ca/index.html
| bg0 wrote:
| Has anyone played any games besides Zelda / Mario Kart that
| actually felt complete and worth the money. I love love love the
| switch but getting really demoralized by the lack of titles I can
| play with friends; especially online.
| mgaunard wrote:
| Most Japanese video games are designed for solo play.
| bg0 wrote:
| Maybe that is the case. But when the switch came out the
| marketing was heavily skewed towards "party" games to play
| with your friends in the same room.
| davio wrote:
| Baba is You is great if you want additional demoralization
| bg0 wrote:
| Bought it for 70% cheaper on my phone
| themikesanto wrote:
| Yes
| bschwindHN wrote:
| I've played Smash Ultimate probably more than any other game in
| my life.
| VikingCoder wrote:
| Let me just say what I'm seeing here... Folks can correct me, or
| add their own observations
|
| * Screen is bigger
|
| * Seems like it has a new texture
|
| * USB-C port (on the bottom?)
|
| * Another USB-C port (on the top?)
|
| * Headphone jack
|
| * Pull-out stand, supports multiple positions
|
| * Bigger controllers
|
| * New coloring on the controllers
|
| * The built-in top buttons on the hold-it-sideways configuration
| appear to be nicer
|
| * The controllers have a custom port to connect, and a little
| magnet-looking thing next to it
|
| * The controllers seem like they can slide on tables like a mouse
|
| * The controllers snap into the screen, rather than sliding down
| to lock
|
| * Dock looks similar to the old one
|
| * Controllers can slide into a pro grip, like before
|
| * Physical Switch games slide in like they used to
|
| Anything else?
| ActionHank wrote:
| Some new games will work on S2, but not S1, most S1 games will
| work on S2. Glad they didn't go MS route of forcing
| compatibility for games releasing the higher powered platform
| to run on the lower powered platform.
| ffsm8 wrote:
| MS didn't force compatibility between generations either.
|
| The series X and series S are the same generation. Wherever
| it was smart to start into this generation with a 3+ yrs old
| underperforming el-cheapo chipset is another question...
|
| But for what it's worth, Nintendo has done the same decision
| according to the hardware leaks, they're just missing the
| equivalent to the Series X. (Which makes sense as it's a
| mobile device, so they don't want to gobble up electricity)
|
| I personally agree that it was/is a terrible idea to start
| into a new generation with differently performing systems
| though. You can definitely release a "pro" version later for
| extra performance - but with the baseline being so
| underperforming as the series S... It never really had a
| chance, and most reviewers even said as much when they were
| initially announced.
| dmonitor wrote:
| Series S is severely ram-starved at 10GB (~2GB used for OS,
| so 8GB functionally)
|
| Switch 2 has 12GB according to leaks
| lucretian wrote:
| > * The controllers have a custom port to connect, and a little
| magnet-looking thing next to it
|
| the thing next to the port looks like an optical sensor to me.
| VikingCoder wrote:
| You're probably right.
|
| https://imgur.com/9OBN31C
|
| At first I thought it was a dimpled magnet. Now it looks more
| like a lens covering a projector and another covering the
| receiver.
| xnx wrote:
| I think that's for the mouse feature.
| therealmarv wrote:
| Nice, will we also get soon a Nvidia Shield 2 with Auto AI HDR
| etc. now that we have a new Nintendo Switch Nvidia CPU ?
| soylentcola wrote:
| As much as I would love this (not interested in a portable game
| console, but definitely interested in a new top-of-line set-
| top-box) I can't imagine this is what's been holding nVidia
| back on a Shield refresh.
|
| If anything, the Switch was a way to sell a boatload of
| existing chips. They've had plenty of opportunity to put out a
| Shield 2 in the meantime, but instead have backed off their
| focus on game streaming and other main features of a set-top-
| box.
|
| I'd love to see it happen, but I feel like the Shield is just
| not a big enough seller for them to put many resources behind
| an update. Prove me wrong, nVidia! TVs have only gotten worse
| in terms of embedded systems and software, and I don't have (or
| plan on) buying into the Apple ecosystem enough to make AppleTV
| compelling.
| tmvphil wrote:
| I get this is Nintendo, so it'll never be fixed, but I honestly
| hate having to buy Nintendo hardware just to play the three or
| four big-name platform exclusives per generation. It would be so
| much better for consumers if they would just abandon the hardware
| and be a regular games company
| lenerdenator wrote:
| I think the same thing. Metroid is good, but is it $250+ good?
| Meh.
|
| Microsoft more-or-less does the same thing with Windows in the
| personal consumer market. With Office being online these days,
| the primary motivation for a lot of people to buy a Windows
| license for a computer instead of using Linux or buying a Mac
| is gaming, along with pure inertia.
|
| This will be a problem with everything until games are FLOSS.
| spencerflem wrote:
| Sadly, I don't think games will ever be FLOSS until we figure
| out how to get people to pay for FLOSS software.
| ranger_danger wrote:
| I actually don't think there is a big obstacle to this.
| Most people don't care about FLOSS and don't even know what
| it is, so I think that shouldn't really affect sales. I
| think companies are just worried about people stealing
| their code to use it for more "undesirable" (to them)
| things like cheating and mods, and then having to go after
| them for it because you do actually have to try to defend
| your copyright/trademarks if you want to keep them.
| spencerflem wrote:
| People will know and care instantly when there's an
| easily accessible storefront like app with those games
| one click away and perfectly legal. Same reason excellent
| tools like Aseprite are no longer floss - it got packaged
| (legally) in Debian and others and why on earth would you
| go way out of your way to buy it, or even think that they
| might be trying to charge.
|
| I don't think games companies are against mods generally,
| many have steam workshop support built in. Nintendo as
| the big exception here ofc.
|
| Cheating is ofc a huge problem for multiplayer games and
| can absolutely tank some genres. _Very_ mixed feelings
| about the kernel level rootkit type spyware but there 's
| no denying that games companies are paying big money to
| put them there for the players benefit.
| ranger_danger wrote:
| I don't think a majority of people will even go to
| alternative storefronts to get the software in big enough
| numbers to matter. I think it's more of a legal concern
| than a monetary (sales) one, but I could be wrong.
| spencerflem wrote:
| I think you're right, as it stands now, especially for
| platforms like Android with one canonical store that
| already has many free offerings. I use fdroid because i
| love the philosoply and am willing to put up with it but
| to be clear, the apps there are unprofessional and ugly
| and I get why most people don't.
|
| But if this became a common practice I think people
| absolutely would. Tons of professional quality games
| instantly available for free is such an incredibly good
| value.
| lenerdenator wrote:
| You could _probably_ get away with a purely volunteer
| effort on... eh, how to describe this... like Super Mario
| 64 for Mac /Linux/PC.
|
| And I do mean Super Mario 64 with respect to the
| technology/artwork level. Which is fine by me.
|
| But the big AAA games and the multiplayer games that all of
| the hip young people with their poggers Twitch streaming
| and their deadass rock music play? Yeah, can't build those
| given the state of everything these days.
| spencerflem wrote:
| Most successful games, AAA or indie, are the result of
| years of full time work, most of which is making the
| content. I just don't see that being possible in general,
| without being independently wealthy.
|
| Games also benefit from a single vision in general, which
| is hard to square with volunteer style development.
|
| There are certainly exceptions of games that are built as
| a community: nethack, space station 13, idk probably a
| third one. But I just can't see this being commonly done
| until we figure out how free software devs can eat.
|
| With that said: I love free software and hope this
| problem is solvable, but unless society changes
| dramatically we may need to learn to do without not just
| AAA scope games, but even Stardew Valley scope games
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| On the other hand, games are so hard to build and require
| so much vision that despite decades of gaming history,
| volunteers/hackers are mostly limited to modifying
| existing games rather than building a game from scratch.
|
| You use Super Mario 64 as some sort of low/achievable bar
| for what volunteers might be able to build, as if SM64 is
| an easy game to build, yet nobody is building games like
| that on a volunteer basis.
|
| Even look at the engineering that went into OpenMW: once
| again hackers were only able to recreate a game engine
| that runs existing game files (Morrowind) which is the
| easy part of building a game.
| legostormtroopr wrote:
| > This will be a problem with everything until games are
| FLOSS.
|
| I mean there is nothing stopping that right now. You can give
| up your time and learn game programming and asset design and
| make a game and give it away for free.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| To Nintendo's credit, their big exclusive titles tend to take
| advantage of the special hardware.
|
| Zelda was weird and impractical outside of the standard
| controls, but still somewhat benefited from NFC.
|
| Splatoon plays a lot better with the motion controls, NFC is
| actually a nice QOL improvement. A game like Arms is also nicer
| in split mode, even if core players tend to get back to the
| standard controller mode.
|
| I see it along the lines of the Allan Kay "People who are
| really serious about software should make their own hardware"
| quote. Nintendo should stay serious IMHO.
| tmvphil wrote:
| By NFC, you mean amiibo? I think "in game perks for buying
| collectible junk" is not actually a good feature.
|
| Motion controls, eh, they're supported on ps5. They could
| just sell the switch pro controller.
| 13hunteo wrote:
| A lot of people here are criticising Nintendo not showing
| specific details here, seemingly forgetting a few key points:
| A. The announcement is nothing more than a hype video, it
| obviously isn't intended to be the only marketing tool.
| B. On the specifications front, Nintendo never focus on
| performance, and it's unlikely that will change now; their focus
| tends to be on games and features.
| jader201 wrote:
| But did they fix the dreaded Joy-Con drift?
| nsxwolf wrote:
| I was so worried that Nintendo was going to make Switch backwards
| compatibility digital-only. I am very relieved.
| themikesanto wrote:
| This is a hardware reveal trailer. Nintendo likely released this
| because of all of the recent leaks, which have put their 3rd
| party accessory vendors in a weird position. More details will be
| revealed at the Nintendo Direct on the 2nd.
| syntaxing wrote:
| Am I getting this right? Nintendo pushed the announcement forward
| because of the massive "Nate the great" leak?
| heliophobicdude wrote:
| Is the date April 2 or February 4?
| 3836293648 wrote:
| 2 April. This is the American trailer so the date is dumb
| aynyc wrote:
| After 8 year, all we get an improved version? Do they not have
| anything else in the pipeline?
|
| I'll probably get it, lol! Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. I
| was hoping for some wacky stuff!
|
| Edit: Seems odd to get down voted.
| mrcwinn wrote:
| I think that's the point. You'll probably get it. I probably
| will too. I would imagine this device will improve unit sales
| and also has improved margins on a per unit basis. Easy win
| without trying all that much. Take the W.
| aynyc wrote:
| I understand the financial part of it. I'm not sure it's a W
| for gamers like us. Obviously, I don't know the spec and
| detail so I'm happy to be corrected. From the video, they
| could've released this 4 years ago and I would've still
| gotten it back then. Since I view switch as a console system
| rather mobile system, the gain we are getting just seem a bit
| disappointing after 8 years.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| The game is afoot.
|
| There are many reasons why the portable factor is good, not least
| you can enjoy it riding the bus or laying in bed Saturday
| morning; you can play big games in spare minutes side by side
| with the rest of your life.
|
| Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like _Killzone
| Mercenary_ which was as fun a shooter as you 'll find on any
| platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the
| phone fever sweeping the world. Fortunately the culturally
| Japanese games like _Akiba 's Trip_, _Persona_ , _Fate /Extella_,
| _Hyperdimension Neptunia_ and such have jumped to Steam.
|
| There's the Steam Deck and countless off-brand competitors,
| Microsoft is talking about a portable XBOX, Sony is planning a
| PS5P which sounds overly ambitious -- TV-attached consoles are
| becoming irrelevant when you can connect an XBOX controller to
| your PC and have a console experience, but much better, with
| Steam, GOG, Origin and other PC app stores.
| Narishma wrote:
| > Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like Killzone
| Mercenary which was as fun a shooter as you'll find on any
| platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the
| phone fever sweeping the world.
|
| I think they gave up on it when they realized they didn't have
| the resources to support both a console and a handheld with the
| rising costs of game development. Nintendo faced the same issue
| but they got rid of their console instead and designed their
| handheld to be able to be docked in order to get similar
| functionality.
| AbuAssar wrote:
| Huge bezels!
| zhoujianfu wrote:
| Give me 4K, joycons that never disconnect or drift, and up to 16
| players locally, and I'm in!
|
| I'm in regardless.
| KwanEsq wrote:
| Shame the link isn't to https://www.nintendo.com/successor/ so it
| would attempt to pick a video with the most appropriate date
| format.
| mobiledev2014 wrote:
| Definitely, I watched the UK version shared somewhere else and
| thought the direct was 2 months earlier than it was!
| swyx wrote:
| or just use month names like normal people
| _blk wrote:
| This doesn't seem to stem out of an innovation cycle, so the
| biggest advantage for consumers is (IMHO) that prices of the
| current generation will drop.
| fredoralive wrote:
| Kinda tells us nothing, but I guess they got fed up with their
| supply chain leaking absolutely everything about the physical
| device before they could announce stuff.
|
| I guess the direct will be interesting when they show some
| actually software and we can get a bit of a handle on what the
| device can actually do (although the MORE POWER type people are
| going to be disappointed, probably).
| sefke wrote:
| At least we know for sure that it's backwards compatible with
| the old Switch.
| klausa wrote:
| This has been announced back in November:
| https://x.com/NintendoCoLtd/status/1853972163033968794;
| though if you're not extremely plugged in, it has been rather
| easy to miss.
| lazycouchpotato wrote:
| The giant 2 is a bit obnoxious. Other than that everything looks
| good.
|
| And for the love of God Nintendo you better be using hall effect
| joysticks for this one. Can't imagine the amount of e-waste they
| generated with the Switch joycons.
| joshstrange wrote:
| At this point I'd be hard pressed to consider this over my Steam
| Deck. We will see the specs later but I doubt it will really
| compete processing-wise or screen-wise.
|
| The openness (full arch desktop) of the Steam Deck is also
| awesome while having a great UI that you never have to leave if
| you don't want to.
|
| EDIT: I mistakenly called it "fedora desktop", my bad
| parsimo2010 wrote:
| For the last few generations (since the Wii), you don't buy a
| Nintendo for the processing power. They haven't competed on
| processing power since the Gamecube. After the Gamecube
| generation, you bought a Nintendo for the exclusive games and
| that was it. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and others. Nintendo knows
| that their draw is just the games, and uses a lot of lawyers to
| make sure that normal gamers can't play those games on the
| Steam Deck. If you want to play what Nintendo has to offer on
| the Steam Deck you have to install an emulator and Nintendo has
| made sure that normal people would rather drop $300 on a Switch
| instead of risk legal issues.
|
| Edit: I suppose that some people would also say the intuitive
| controls (motion control introduced on the Wii, dual screens
| (and touchscreen) on DS and WiiU, and detachable controllers on
| the Switch) have some draw, but those features have often been
| under-utilized except on a few titles.
| joshstrange wrote:
| I agree with you, for most people the Switch is the
| better/easier option if they are just looking to play a
| Nintendo-exclusive. Emulators aren't that difficult to set up
| on Steam Deck and you can easily launch the games from the
| Steam UI but nothing beats the plug and play of the Switch
| and double-y so if you are playing networked games.
| hbn wrote:
| And let's not forget the size and weight difference. It's a
| lot easier to slip into a bag, and it doesn't run super hot
| under load.
| cdaringe wrote:
| This take is correct as the primary measure. Its certainly
| why I bought one!
|
| However computing juices really started to matter to me since
| that first buy ...8 years ago? Ive been told this by other
| switch owners too. Some xplatform games get ported to switch
| and do end up being worse. Witcher 3, which ive beaten on
| switch, was repurchased on PC to play over steamlink because
| the switch was slow/choppy/lossy. Switch1 was precovid. Id
| imagine that many of us now want BOTH. Great content and
| great specs
| Nifty3929 wrote:
| I am willing to pay $300 for the privilege of paying $60 each
| for their games. No joke.
| irrational wrote:
| Isn't the point of owning a switch to play games that aren't on
| the Steam Deck? Zelda, Mario, etc.?
| joshstrange wrote:
| With emulators those games can also be played on the Steam
| Deck.
| cmcconomy wrote:
| you can see why they are so aggressively pursuing emulators
| basfo wrote:
| Obviously there isn't a switch 2 emulator yet, and probably
| will be a while until one is released.
|
| The challenge will not be hardware emulation (if it's a
| nvidia tegra 2 based SOC that will be easy) but hack the
| OS/security to make it usable.
|
| So don't expect to play mario kart 9 on your steam deck
| anytime soon.
|
| Edit: with easy i don't mean that it will not demand a
| really top of the line computer to run it. But that isn't
| completely undocumented or custom hardware, like i don't
| know, ps3 or sega saturn.
| xyzzy_plugh wrote:
| Sure, but you cannot play online, though. You can't trade
| Pokemon for example. Tetris 99 got a lot of play in our
| house. It heavily depends on what you're chasing.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| You can't play online on an official Switch either,
| unless you subscribe to Nintendo's "we give you an
| internet connection" monthly service offering.
| SecretDreams wrote:
| Which is also a gray area. I personally am fine with it for
| older, depreciated consoles. But I won't emulate current
| gen games unless I'm also buying the game.. especially on
| the Nintendo platform where the games still have some
| "magic" to them, compared to the more generic games on
| other platforms that prioritize graphics over seemingly all
| other attributes.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| "You need to buy the game" hardly makes it a gray area.
| Manuel_D wrote:
| Even if you buy the game you need to bypass encryption in
| order to dump the game data to run it on an emulator. A
| big part of why Nintendo prevailed in their lawsuit
| against Yuzu is that they proved the emulator could not
| be used without extracting encryption keys and bypassing
| copy protection.
|
| So no, there's no legal way to use a switch emulator. At
| least not for playing commercial switch games, I guess
| you could theoretically home brew your own game to play
| on an emulator.
| Gigachad wrote:
| In the US. Most of the world doesn't have these laws.
| maronato wrote:
| Why pay for the Steam Deck, though? Buy it online and claim
| it never arrived to get a refund.
|
| I'm yet to hear a moral argument for emulating current
| games you don't own unless you're poor and need to choose
| between buying Zelda and starving.
| tshaddox wrote:
| What if I emulate current games that my friend owns, but
| I make sure to never play the same game at the same time
| as he does?
| skeaker wrote:
| I already own those games and can only fit one device
| into my bag
| ZeWaka wrote:
| What if you buy the game secondhand, cheaply? My friend
| got Animal Crossing with their switch for free with a
| bundle, but they don't like playing the game. This would
| be much better than paying full price for a game that
| never will go on sale.
| Manuel_D wrote:
| Buying a used game means the original owner can no longer
| play, and has to repurchase if they want to play as
| again. The same is not true for emulators
| cesarb wrote:
| > Why pay for the Steam Deck, though? Buy it online and
| claim it never arrived to get a refund.
|
| If you do so, the seller has one less device. If you copy
| a game, the seller still has the same number of games.
| Your analogy clearly doesn't work. A better analogy would
| be possible if we had Star Trek replicators: replicating
| a full Steam Deck.
| 63stack wrote:
| They have sold millions of faulty joycons (referring to
| drift), when the solution was already available (hall
| effect sticks) but it would have cost them an extra $1
| per joystick, reselling games that came out in 2010 for
| $60 today, and using DMCA to bully youtube channels that
| show videos of their games are some morally reprehensible
| things from the top of my head.
|
| It does not entitle anyone to pirate their games, but
| taking your words, Nintendo is not exactly starving
| either, they could have spent the extra $1 on the joycons
| to fit them with non drifting sticks. Even if you use
| their replacement program, you just get another joycon
| with the same stick.
| tshaddox wrote:
| Switch emulation works surprisingly well, but it has its
| quirks and some titles are barely playable. I love
| emulation primarily because it's necessary for long-term
| archival of game libraries, but emulating modern systems is
| not a super user-friendly process (not to mention the
| qualms around piracy).
| alonsonic wrote:
| The audience of people that would get a Steam Deck and then
| emulate Switch games is so small that this is a no-issue
| for Nintendo. If you can do that you're probably not the
| target audience to begin with.
| petersellers wrote:
| > The audience of people that would get a Steam Deck and
| then emulate Switch games is so small that this is a no-
| issue for Nintendo
|
| Given how Nintendo handled the situation with Ryujinx and
| Yuzu, they clearly thought it was an issue for them.
| numpad0 wrote:
| One could in theory switch from Steam to Switch platform,
| rebuying everything. Doesn't make a ton of sense from PC
| gamer standpoint but that's PC gamer standpoint.
| tapoxi wrote:
| SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora
| experience.
|
| I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller
| games these days, and it's much easier for devs to release and
| patch their games on Steam than it is a Nintendo platform. They
| also have a much friendlier refund policy.
|
| For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand
| a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games
| with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the
| parental controls are very solid, etc.
|
| In terms of hardware it's ARM and Nvidia, which is a solid
| foundation, and Nintendo titles look great without being
| technically demanding. I fully expect to see a 60 FPS Zelda
| game that uses DLSS upscaling to look great on my 4K TV. The
| Steam Deck is somewhat limited by FSR2.
| joshstrange wrote:
| > SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more
| Fedora experience.
|
| Oops, edited, thank you!
|
| > I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of
| smaller games these days
|
| Same here, I play mostly indie <$20 games and have a blast
| doing it. These games would (almost) never launch on the
| Switch (or any console). Either that or I'm playing games
| that would never work well on the Switch (like Factorio, yes
| I know there is a port and I've also tried on my steam deck
| and it sucks, you need a mouse/keyboard IMHO).
|
| > For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can
| hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo
| games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op,
| the parental controls are very solid, etc.
|
| Agreed, this is huge, I wouldn't recommend a steam deck to
| the average person, just tech people mostly.
| sarchertech wrote:
| > They also have a much friendlier refund policy.
|
| I can see why steam has an easier refund policy. It's easy to
| buy a game that doesn't work well (or at all) on your
| hardware.
|
| But the switch shouldn't have this issue, and that's
| basically only reason I would ever return a game.
| codruterdei wrote:
| I hate to be the "um.. actually" guy, but isn't steamdeck
| running on read only Arch system rather than Fedora? I have one
| but I only game on it.
| joshstrange wrote:
| Oops, edited, thank you!
| tedunangst wrote:
| Maybe somebody wants to play assassins creed without uplay
| bullshit.
| thedufer wrote:
| I have both and they certainly each have their place. The Steam
| Deck has a much wider variety of games and can handle heavier
| graphics loads, but it is too heavy to be all that comfortable
| for handheld use, and the Switch is in my mind the undisputed
| champion of local multiplayer (more portable controllers,
| controller connections Just Work, good variety of local
| multiplayer games, etc).
| whynotminot wrote:
| The point of a Nintendo system will always be Nintendo games.
|
| If that is not enough then by all means press on with Steam
| Deck.
| coro_1 wrote:
| One might imagine, the design of the games are an intricate
| part of the companies core competencies. The impressive part
| is a next generation carrying through with the art.
| dangus wrote:
| I think that while this sentiment is very real for a lot of
| folks who are into the Steam Deck, that doesn't mean the Switch
| doesn't have its own unique advantages.
|
| - The Nintendo software catalog. Sure, you can emulate on the
| Steam Deck, but it's a chore and far from perfect, and for most
| people who do it that is piracy.
|
| - The Switch is far less bulky, and has better battery life,
| less noise. ARM architecture is very well-suited to mobile
| gaming.
|
| - The docking mechanism is seamless and the dock is included
| with the device. Games are designed around that functionality
| specifically, e.g., you won't have controller or display
| configuration issues on a Switch because it's all pre-
| configured.
|
| - The price is almost certainly lower.
|
| - You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which
| is a big advantage for fans of physical media.
|
| - The Steam Deck does rely on a lot on its compatibility
| software with PC games, and while it's mostly a non-issue there
| it's not by any means a perfect catalog. If you get a Switch,
| all Switch software is going to work and was made for and
| tested on a Switch.
| 3vidence wrote:
| I think there's also a certain amount of "jank" to the Steam
| Deck.
|
| Don't get me wrong it is a super cool console and pushes a
| lot of boundaries, but you don't really 100% know whether a
| title is going to run the way you want it to on the steam
| deck.
|
| The switch is a more curated experience, you can pretty much
| expect every game to run properly, going to put caveat for
| very heavy graphic cross platform title like the new Harry
| Potter game, etc.
| Rohansi wrote:
| Steam has a verification process to determine which games
| work properly on the Steam Deck. If you follow that then
| you should have no issues playing your games on a Steam
| Deck.
| autoexec wrote:
| > You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which
| is a big advantage for fans of physical media.
|
| This isn't much of an advantage anymore since they used NAND
| memory and you get like 10 years of shelf life before bit rot
| starts to set in.
|
| https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-
| switch/switch_a...
| dietr1ch wrote:
| Nintendo does not compete on specs. They rely on the fact that
| fun is pretty much orthogonal to bleeding edge graphics.
|
| They use that awareness and take advantage of simpler graphics
| to trade off processing power for features (portability,
| novelty) and profit (60>=usd games).
|
| From time to time they also remind us that little hardware can
| do a lot if it's not running Chrome on a trench coat, and
| instead care is put in optimising things.
| Johanx64 wrote:
| For a while Nintendo didn't have a competition in handheld
| market. If you wanted a handheld gaming device you only had
| Switch.
|
| Now Steam deck easily competes on fun with Nintendo, because
| a lot of people have massive decades old steam libraries and
| constant supply of newest and greatest indie games, and quite
| a lot of power to play fairly modern titles.
|
| This is hard to compete with because Nintendo likes you to
| pay for games you've already bought on their platform in
| past, including old NES and SNES roms (which are super
| embarassing to ask money for imo).
|
| The only drawback of Steam Deck is that it's a fairly big and
| bulky.
|
| Buying Switch 2 just for a odd once in every 5 years
| exclusive Zelda game is a pretty hard sell.
| saghm wrote:
| This is a pretty important point, and one that I'm mystified
| that a lot of people seem not to agree with. It doesn't
| matter if you're playing on a glorified smartphone with
| thumbsticks if the game is good enough. Moreover, having a
| selling point of state-of-the-art graphics today will turn
| into a _disadvantage_ in 5-10 years when newer games look
| even better; something designed to look good today with
| "lower quality" graphics is going to hold up better because
| it already is being compared to stuff taking advantage of
| every ounce of the latest save greatest hardware.
| dayvid wrote:
| I have a Steam Deck and agree, but I think this is more for
| kids and younger people.
| adamors wrote:
| It's for people who play Nintendo games first of all.
| corytheboyd wrote:
| Please tell me the joycons are built with a more robust analog
| stick... it was hard to tell if they changed at all in this
| video. That's about my only gripe with the switch, those sticks
| drift so badly if you so much as look at them.
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| This thing is gonna get swallowed in an ocean of steam decks and
| other similar clones. Unless you want to play the third
| installment of Mario Kart 8, I guess.
| racl101 wrote:
| That is precisely the only reason people choose Nintendo over
| more powerful and capable devices. The Mario Kart, Smash Bros,
| Zeldas, Marios etc.
|
| They got a robust ecosystem going on and with them shooting
| down pirating left, right and center they keep a tight ship
| going.
|
| Nintendo has set themselves up so they don't need 3rd party
| titles to survive. Carved out a good niche for themselves. They
| don't even see themselves as direct competitors with Sony. They
| used to but that was a long time ago.
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| I understand, after all, they are the Disney of gaming in
| terms of IP.
|
| It's just strange, this is the first time I've seen them
| so...lazy. The Wii U was a flop, but it was a bigger leap
| than this. SNES at least had more buttons and significantly
| better graphics.
|
| I think they're just gonna milk this till streaming takes
| over.
| jimbohn wrote:
| We got a switch a few years ago and it collected dust. The shop
| is overpriced (and slow) and I guess we aren't really into their
| first-party titles. I don't see what it offers against a steam
| deck except the aforementioned first-party titles.
|
| edit: except the aforementioned first-party titles
| arduinomancer wrote:
| It offers first party titles, you said it yourself
| modeless wrote:
| It offers the first-party titles, basically. If you don't want
| those then there's no reason to get one.
|
| For me, Nintendo is the most reliable game developer these
| days. Every main Mario and Zelda game offers something new and
| executes it well on the first try. I'll buy Switch 2 for Mario
| and Zelda alone.
| jimbohn wrote:
| I tried BotW and it didn't really click. The food mechanics
| felt bolted on, just like the weapon durability stuff, and
| everything felt too easy/within reach. I guess I'm not the
| target, it's okay.
| SecretDreams wrote:
| Did you play and complete a lot of the other Zelda games
| growing up?
| jimbohn wrote:
| Just majora's mask, I'm not exactly a nintendo kind of
| guy.
| SecretDreams wrote:
| Got it. Then, for sure, the switch wasn't going to be for
| you.
|
| I'm not a Nintendo die hard, but I played on my N64 a
| ton. Then spent some solid years on PC or xbox360. Now,
| with kids, the switch is my preferred console.
| SecretDreams wrote:
| The entire reason to buy the switch is the first party titles.
| If you don't like those/Nintendo games, the switch and all
| switch derivatives aren't going to be for you.
| criddell wrote:
| I hope I'll be able to pre-order one. I don't even care if they
| ship it right away. Promise me one within the first 2 or 3 years
| and I would be happy.
|
| I know I'm going to want one and I know they are going to be
| snapped up by scalpers and be hard to buy at first. Fine. I just
| don't want to go through the stupid check Amazon, then GameStop,
| then BestBuy, then Walmart dance. Just let me order one and then
| not worry about it.
| locallost wrote:
| I read recently their plan is to produce enough so they are
| always in stock.
| insane_dreamer wrote:
| Somewhat larger screen (and presumably faster hardware) is enough
| for me to buy in. Don't mess with what works.
| whynotminot wrote:
| The larger, higher resolution screen will make me happy too.
|
| Been playing a lot of Factorio on my OG switch... it works.
| Barely.
| jedberg wrote:
| I really hope my old switch controllers are compatible, at least
| via wireless. It would be a monetary and environmental shame if
| my six controllers became useless.
| autoexec wrote:
| I'm surprised they don't already drift to the point where you
| can't use them on your old switch either.
| jedberg wrote:
| Well I own more than six, only six still work. :) The rest
| have drifted.
| lucidguppy wrote:
| I hope they fix the issues with the controllers dying.
| etwigg wrote:
| I think people are sleeping on Meta's compounding advantage in
| VR/AR. The Quest 3 is 15 months old, and it's wild how much it
| has improved over that time purely due to software and
| interaction model improvements. Aside from the recent bricking
| issue, I think the Meta Quest is accelerating at the OS level.
| I'm looking forward to Mario on Quest 4 or 5, but it will be a
| bit sad.
|
| You can't see the shortcomings until you have the hardware, and
| once you solve those there is a next set of shortcomings. I think
| that road is longer and deeper than I had appreciated, Meta is
| the only company iterating fast enough to be serious about
| serving "normies".
| philistine wrote:
| The name of the game is the game. Meaning that hardware is
| popular insofar as the games that are on it. And Nintendo, with
| its massive war chest and toymaker history, will never turn
| into a third-party developper. They'll keep making their
| underpowered Nintendo machines, and good for them.
| wk_end wrote:
| Disappointed that it doesn't look to fix the biggest issue I have
| with the Switch, which is that docking it feels awkward and
| clumsy. You have to blindly line up a USB-C port/connector, and
| that seems to be the same approach they're going with here. At
| least the Joycons look like they'll be a little smoother to
| attach/remove.
| surfsvammel wrote:
| I love the Switch and will love the Switch 2. But this video
| feels so cheap. Didn't enjoy the launch video at all.
| amelius wrote:
| Why don't they just make 2 controllers that you can snap to the
| sides of an iPhone?
|
| Edit: like this:
| https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/HRDG2ZM/A/backbone-one...
|
| Save the planet, reuse hardware.
| leonewton253 wrote:
| Im buying one and not connecting it to the internet so I can root
| it later.
| autoexec wrote:
| Will Switch 2 games still use NAND memory that means your games
| will start failing after as little as 10-20 years of sitting on a
| shelf? https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-
| switch/switch_a...
| guybedo wrote:
| Instead of commenting on the switch 2 characteristics, i just
| want to take some time to celebrate Nintendo, and to say how
| happy i am this company still exists although it went through
| difficult times.
|
| As some comments point out, Nintendo is the only console/video
| games company that's been trying to do fun things instead of
| trying to come up with the most powerful console in the universe.
|
| This is the gaming i like, i don't care for 3000 fps and 1000Ghz
| consoles, i just want to have fun :-)
|
| So, yeah, thanks Nintendo, i'll be buying this Switch 2.
| Celeo wrote:
| That was a very enjoyable trailer - visuals and sound both. That
| being said, the new Switch looks less ... "fun" than the existing
| Switch.
| highcountess wrote:
| interesting you said that, because I was totally unimpressed
| and bored with it and thought, "Ok, so this it? So it's just
| the Switch, scaled up by 10%?"
|
| It's not that I expected something groundbreaking, but if I had
| been the creative director I would have said that they need to
| focus on whatever was updated, e.g., graphics or performance
| since effectively nothing major has changed.
| mrkpdl wrote:
| At the end of the video they announced a direct for the start
| of April. This video is just a teaser. I'm sure they will
| cover everything you mention in the direct.
| saguntum wrote:
| Hopefully game saves will sync between Switch 1 and 2. It would
| not be great to have to restart games with 80+ hours or drag 2
| consoles around with you to access your full Switch 1 library.
| I'm mildly optimistic given Switch 1 has online save backup
| capability for a lot of its games.
| thr0waway001 wrote:
| HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA....
| SuperHeavy256 wrote:
| Top comment says "There is a part of me that is going to miss
| the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us
| some really fun ideas."
|
| I bet you that Nintendo will never release a Nintendo Switch 3.
| They do sequels in consoles (like they did the SNES), but after
| that they innovate.
| __loam wrote:
| Game Boy -> Game Boy Color -> Game Boy Advance
|
| DS -> 3DS
|
| NES -> Super Nintendo -> N64 -> GameCube
|
| Wii -> Wii U
|
| Definitely a pattern
| resource_waste wrote:
| Unimpressive. But that isnt what sells Nintendo platforms.
|
| 20+ years of relentless marketing to children is what sells.
| Ikatza wrote:
| I can't wait to play all the new Switch 2 games on my Steam Deck
| Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote:
| My concern with this is that the joycob being larger won't fit
| the hands of younger kids anymore. The switch 1 joycon was the
| only one that allowed reaching the controller buttons and the
| stick (while held horizontally) for my 3 years old. All other
| controllers that exist are too big, clearly nobody tested with
| young children.
|
| And I wish they had names for their arrow buttons, because when
| held horizontally it makes things very confusing: "press b" what
| is b?
| adamors wrote:
| I mean, maybe 3 year olds are simply too young to be playing
| video games?
| Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote:
| It's a toy like any other, my son is great at playing Kirby,
| the game delivers some great family time (Kirby star allies
| is a 4-players game). Most of first-party nintendo games are
| also display a rating of "3+"
| pryelluw wrote:
| I hope they fixed the joystick drift issues. It's why I stopped
| playing my switch. I don't want to be buying controllers as a
| maintenance item
| smlacy wrote:
| Just wait for "Switch 2 lite" which will be the same size as the
| original Switch and compatible with the original switch joycons.
| freetime2 wrote:
| I've had a lot of frustration with Switch joy-cons. Not only
| drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with
| the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair
| that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to
| use in the horizontal orientation. No doubt my kids have
| subjected it to hard use and probably a drop or two, but still
| frustrating.
|
| It looks like they've added some reinforcement to the joysticks,
| and changed the connection with the main body to be magnetic
| instead of sliding in and out (which causes wear and tear on the
| connectors over time). I hope the Switch 2 is more robust than
| the original Switch.
|
| Some extra horsepower would also be appreciated. Recently we were
| trying to play Switch Sports with 4 players, and even my kids who
| are generally oblivious to graphical fidelity and framerate were
| complaining that it was basically unplayable in 4-player split
| screen.
| steve_adams_86 wrote:
| > Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also
| issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached,
| and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize
| when trying to use in the horizontal orientation.
|
| Yeah... I've repaired our joycons so many times (they all ended
| up getting the hall sensor joysticks from gulikit, some got new
| batteries), and despite this and actually not even heavy play
| time on them, the pairing is absolutely brutal. Definitely my
| most disliked aspect of the Switch.
|
| We use gulikit controllers with the console pretty much
| exclusively. The price/performance ratio seemed right, I liked
| the first one we tried, and so I've just stuck with them.
| slothtrop wrote:
| I've skipped a few Nintendo console generations, but may grab
| this one. Right off the hop I can catch up with a decent library.
| The draw is it would be nice for the kids.
|
| Part of me was hoping it would be something more visionary, but
| maybe it's just not the right time. I noticed that competition is
| similarly betting on handheld devices.
| CM30 wrote:
| Honestly, they did exactly what they should have done here. Made
| a more powerful Switch with better hardware and backwards
| compatibility, with a clear and easily understandable name.
|
| Regardless, the things they need to update/fix are all really
| just technical and UI design problems; Joy-Cons drifting and
| rails failing to work, Switch Online being a laggy mess for many
| games, the eShop being near impossible to filter or find things
| in, etc. If they can get those things fixed, and get some popular
| Nintendo franchises out within the first year or so, then this
| could be a huge success.
| archeantus wrote:
| Apple should just buy Nintendo at this point. They don't seem to
| have anything else going on.
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