In this context “gamers” means “chronically online gamers”. the 3% of people they actually complain about this kind of stuff that would not change anyway
And bigger lawsuits. This time against anyone remotely looking like any of the characters… Think twice before wearing a Mario red hat!.. looking at you red hat Linux and you MAGA, an Mr. Johnson with his running bandana and Mike too, always wearing a red hat of some sort which makes him look like Mario. Yeah Mike, we know what you’re doing and we’re coming after you and your blog!
I’m curious to see how this goes. Nintendo really is the only company I’d consider buying a console from anymore. Sure, they’re hardware isn’t very powerful, but it’s pretty hard to justify an Xbox or Playstation when a good gaming PC is a better long-term investment. Nintendo, for all if its faults, is constantly innovating what a system can be, while it’s competitors just release the same product with upgraded graphics.
That being said, the Switch 2 sounds like exactly that: a slightly upgraded switch without any real innovation. Usually, even Nintendo’s failures are interesting, like the Virtual Boy or the Wii U. They almost never release a slightly upgraded product (the only exception being the Game Boy Pocket, which they only made because the Virtual Boy flopped)
No matter what you think of Nintendo as a company, the industry does better when they’re pushing the envelope. For all the (well deserved) praise the Steam Deck gets, it wouldn’t exist if the Switch hadn’t laid the groundwork for it. I’d much rather see Nintendo take a big swing, like integrating AR or VR, into a less powerful system than see them push out a next gen Switch every 5 years. Hopefully there’s more to the Switch 2 than just a hardware upgrade, or else Nintendo (and maybe even consoles in general) might be in trouble.
Fair enough, I didn’t realize how much repetition there was in that line, although I would say that the 3DS was a pretty big innovation over the DS. It’s also a testament to their willingness to take big swings that the would go back to the concept of a 3D handheld after the Virtual Boy debacle.
I honestly don’t care about “underpowered hardware” and other similar crap. I do care about having to pay a sub just to get cloud saves, Nintendo’s excessively restrictive policies, their obsession with litigating fans, their frustrating inability to understand modern multiplayer, and their increasing desire to rehash the same games many times.
The only reason I owned a Switch was for on-the-go gaming because gaming on phones is a joke, and now I have a Steam Deck.
I was gonna say something about needing powerful hardware before I realized the game I was gonna reference as an example was nothing but rushed out code held together by dollar store glue.
The problem to me isn’t so much that their hardware has been underpowered, that’s been a thing for like 20 years at this point, since the release of the gamecube or therabouts. The problem to me is that they’ve been incredibly unambitious this generation in terms of making their console something that has an appealing form factor compared to it’s potential competitors, not just in the ps5 and whatever the new xbox is, but with the mobile gaming handhelds like the steam deck, which can apparently pretty easily emulate most of the switch’s library and also serve a bunch of other functions.
I know that the hardcore gaming audience really disliked the motion controls as a central gimmick of the wii, but I really thought it was fun, pretty decent, and that now, with the switch, the technology has actually become good and not a flickery unstable half-mess. The only motion control stuff I can think of is mario party, 1-2 switch, which is old and nobody played, and some aiming mechanics in other games like splatoon or the new zeldas. For a console that is as easily positioned for casual multiplayer as it is, they’ve been consistently very iffy with their output on that front. Combine this with a a resurgence of shitty management practices like their litigiousness, charging more for subscription based access to their older games library, charging for online play, and it’s kind of made me reticent to engage with the switch that I have and reluctant to engage with any new console they might put out.
I’m also going to keep banging the drum that the switch is the most optimally positioned console for playing all of nintendo’s library. If they had wireless connectivity to the dock, probably the hardware wouldn’t be good enough to run it, but you could theoretically run both DS games and Wii U games. Obviously, the console’s already suited well for Wii games, and the rest of their backcatalogue before that. With only their recent library they could provide a pretty good alternative to actual emulation alternatives, but instead it seems they’d rather take a much less effective route.
Also they could probably make it a pretty easy VR experience as they’ve shown with the cardboard shit they had, but fuck that I guess, easier just to do absolutely nothing.
The very first sentence of your post is wrong. The GameCube was more powerful than the PS2, making it the second most powerful console of that generation, just behind the Xbox.
Will you people stop complaining about the switch being underpowered? Why does it have to be powerful? If you want something powerful, don’t buy it. Simple as that.
Because playing games at 20 FPS feels horrible and people want them to do better? It doesn’t have to be a PS5 and they can keep their gimmick, but playing SMT V without an emulator is not a good time.
It’s not only that thw Switch is underpowered, it’s poorly optimized, if you install windows on it and then run Yuzu, it will run better than the console itself.
Man, nintendo just needs to stop. Ugh. “Heres our NEW underperforming console! Get ready to play severely inferior ports of popular 3rd party games, everyone! We’ve ensured that only nintendo games will run well on our new console and nothing else because we dont actually want these vastly superior games from 3rd parties to outclass our nintendo developed games!”. Why is it so hard for them to actually release something that’s is on equal grounds with everything else? They spending all their coin on their precious DMCAs’ or something? Also, fuck nintendo. Fuck them, fuck their inferior hardware and fuck their severe hatred of the fans. Seriously, I’m noticing a trend here. Either you are forced to play their games, which really aren’t THAT great and mostly weird, or you’re forced to play other 3rd party games, select ones at that, with severely inferior standards and performance. It’s like they’re trying to discourage any quality games out there from playing on their hardware on purpose because it’s nintendo games or the highway, and that fits their aggressively anticonsumer mindset too. Another great indicator of this is why they refuse to let their characters appear in Fortnite. The kinda funny podcast did a piece on this. Here’s a shocker: they literally said they don’t want their characters in the game because it wasn’t on their hardware exclusively. How childish is that? They are literally the only ones who won’t do it. Microsoft and Sony were OK with having Kratos, Master Chief, Aloy, etc, DC was cool with sharing their IPs, Marvel was cool with it, MHA, DragonBall, Kaizen, AOT were cool with it, Fox was cool with sharing Family guy, Konami was cool with sharing Snake, Capcom was cool with sharing SF, hell, WE EVEN GOT JACK SKELLINGTON IN IT, but NOPE, Nintendo can’t play nice. Shocking.
Guess what, Nintendo? Due to your outrageous behavior with emulation and lawsuits, along with your stupid takedowns (GMOD NINTENDO? FUCKING GMOD?), or how you ruined a mans life all because he chipped your garbage hardware, including how much you hate your fans who only wanted to celebrate you, I wont be giving you another fucking dime. I was never really much of a pirate, but when it comes to you? I am now. Get FUCKED you anticonsumerist dirtbags.
The switch is the 3rd best selling console ever. They are clearly doing something right. You’re comparing a portable handheld to PCs and plug-in consoles.
I’m pleased that’s it’s underpowered because it ensures their games perform well on emulators.
I agree completely, especially under the video game preservation viewpoint.
I lost a few DSi games when the store shut down so I only bought switch cartridges. However I haven’t touched it since I got a Steam Deck because I know those games will last
Yeah, I just think it’s just really childish on their part. That entire company is ridiculous, and I’m glad more and more people are starting to realize it each day.
If a Nintendo console was comparable to other consoles in the same generation, would the games be more fun?
If not, then what’s the point? Many SNES games are more fun than the vast majority of technically superior games out this year.
“They should make the graphics better so… that… the graphics would be better” isn’t a super compelling argument.
My question is “what’s going to make me stop playing my games on the Switch and play them on this instead”.
My concern is that this is going to end up causing library fragmentation like the WiiU and the New 3DS. The Game Boy Color added color to its predecessor, the New 3DS added… slightly faster polygon calculations? I don’t even know. Some games required the better processor but I couldn’t tell you what they did with it. Maybe they just got away with worse optimization.
I agree with this mostly, but at the same time more powerful hardware lets the devs experiment with more advanced mechanics. For example, ToTK runs pretty hard into switch limitations with its impressive physics. If Nintendo wanted to take that engine even further, they’d likely need a hardware upgrade.
Additionally, more powerful hardware starts putting more demanding mechanics into the realm of possibility for an indie dev team that has neither the time nor the resources to optimize their games at the same level as a big studio.
Idk, I’m not saying I care about graphics specifically, just that equal hardware would allow more 3rd party games to utilize it. The thing that is stopping people from enjoying those games on other consoles is money. People don’t want to buy multiple systems. All I’m saying is I think nintendo should make decent hardware so that users can play the 3rd party games they want on their Nintendo system instead of buying at minimum another console.
Ehhh, they could take a few things from the steam deck. If nintendo really wanted to, they could definitely make a portable system with equal hardware.
Buying games on other platforms is so much cheaper that there’s already no reason to buy them on Switch. Games that are $4 on Steam and included with Gamepass/PS+ are $35 on Switch.
If that's how the console turns out then I expect them to make up that difference in the cost. I'll be happy with a modest console as long as it has full backwards compatible and it's not priced at the steam deck
Considering all of the PC handhelds being released, 1080p is the best you can really do on a handheld screen with modernish games. Steam Deck is the most successful and it is only 800p. Having a 1440 or 2160 screen would decimate battery with little to no benefit.
I love the Switch form factor, specifically the detachable controllers. I thought it was idiotic when I first saw the commercials but I love it. I don’t care about AAA graphics on a portable, it is a little baby screen anyway. Cel shading, let’s go, IDGAF.
Unfortunately they are making shitty Zeldas now so I’ll probably not buy this one. If someone makes decent Linux hardware with detachable controllers I’d consider that.
Yes, BotW. Extremely dull. I want my hookshot back. It would be nice to have larger, more challenging dungeons with unique bosses instead of solving a few puzzles and then beating the shit out of roughly the exact same ghost. Most the quests are “get me 10 items” fetch quests. How much wood did I collect to build that town? That’s not fun. Majority of the content is wandering through scenery with nothing in it, or climbing for several minutes at a time.
Isn’t that more of a leveling RPG? If I got progressively stronger in BotW instead of just picking up slightly larger weapons I might like it more.
Another problem are that there are like, what, 7 kinds of enemies? Every encampment a small flock of keese, some bokoblins, some lizalfos, a moblin or two. Every situation I just use the same swords and arrows. Surely Skyrim has more varied enemies? If Nintendo are trying to make an expansive game they should put content in it.
That was an issue with Breath of the Wild; the scope of the world is way larger than the scope of the game, so there’s lots of big open empty fields with the occasional collection of slight variations of the same half dozen monsters, and the only thing you will encounter during your adventures are a korok “puzzle” or a shrine. maybe a memory.
I will give Nintendo this: they listened to their fans. Zelda players sometime around Twilight Princess started bemoaning how linear Zelda games have become and the inability to sequence break and wanted more non-linear Zelda games. So they made a non-linear game. And Nintendo, being Japanese and thus congenitally incapable of doing anything halfway, made a game so aggressively open world that it will hold you down, squat over your face and non-linear in your mouth and nose.
They went through so much trouble to make the game as non-linear as possible that - whenever a character lists the four divine beasts, the old or new champions, their races, villages, or biomes therein - it’s never done in the same order twice so as not to suggest a canon completion order.
This prevented them from doing big sweeping stories like the one in Twilight Princess because events could happen out of order or not at all, so the story takes place 100 years in the past and you find out details of it out of order.
Tears of the Kingdom is simply not as good. The story is even thinner on the ground to the point of feeling lazy; the champions plagiarized each other’s cut scenes. It’s outright inconsistent with previous lore, so that’s just a big fuck you to long-term fans of the series. And even if there is a slightly bigger variety in monster types and whatnot, it’s spread across a MUCH larger play area and the sky and depths are full of…mostly nothing.
It feels like every idea anyone suggested during development ended up in the game. There’s not one but two new crafting systems along with the new rune mechanics, and none of it gets a change to breathe. They had enough ideas here to make two games, one that explores the vehicle/robot building mechanics, and one that explores the weapon fusing. Maybe have one feature the sky, and one that features the depths. But no, TotK is a mile wide and an inch deep.
The first two seem to like the game, whereas the third… don’t. I’m part of the third. The Zelda gameplay loop has typically been:
Explore world to find dungeon
Explore dungeon to find the items - new tool, compass, and map
Use new tool to solve puzzles, along with some puzzles using older items
Fight dungeon boss, using the new tool
Use new tool to find secrets in the overworld
Go to 1 until item slots are full
Fight main boss (a form of ganon), which is the most difficult fight in the game
BotW dumbed all of that down and added a lot of grindy mechanics:
korok seeds
shrine orbs
fairy upgrades
cooking
It’s a completely different game and has just enough overlap with the established formula to disappoint. The older Zelda games don’t have any grindy bits unless you really want some piece of equipment early.
So that’s my take. BotW is a decent game, but it’s my least favorite Zelda game. If it wasn’t branded “Zelda” and hyped so much, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it. My kids love it though, so there’s that.
Oh, and I finished BotW just before TotK launched (kinda late, I know), and instead of buying TotK, I bought Skyward Sword and Link’s Awakening and absolutely loved them. If Switch 2 has more games with the classic formula, I’ll buy it, otherwise I’ll probably pass.
I loved BoTW and ToTK, but your criticisms are pretty much on point. I’m hoping a future game can combine the sense of exploration of the newer games with the traditional dungeons and bosses of the older games, with Majora’s Mask level side quests please!
I wish Steam actually sold those in the real world. I only hear about them on the internet from Americans. I’ve never seen one in real life. It would be really cool if they were real.
That first reveal commercial, where a guy is on his couch playing BotW, and then he realizes it’s time go go, breaks his controller up, slides the joycons onto the side of the console and then lifts it out of the dock to keep playing on the train? Great.
…Then there’s two solid minutes of what I call “yeah yeah and.” You can put down the kickstand and put it on an airline tray table (which is a lie; the kickstand is extremely far to the side and the universe does not contain a surface the Switch will balance on. Bring your Ryobi 18V hot glue gun I guess). Yeah, yeah, and each joycon can be turned sideways and each becomes its own shitty tiny controller so you can try to play 2 player split screen on a display the size of my tongue. Yeah yeah and you can put the tablet down and play like, chess or some shit across the table from someone. Yeah Yeah And.
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