Nintendo Switch

[LEGODalekbuster523]

On 26/01/2017 at 0:17 AM, Japanbuilder said:

I am not sure I follow exactly what you mean by "new," nothing this console is doing is "new."

The concept of a hybrid console is new. There hasn't been a game console that becomes a handheld when you take it out of a dock before - and certainly not one where you can play big home console games on the go without the need for a constant Wi-Fi connection.

[Cody Startale]

I had the opportunity to try out the new Switch last friday at a local event! I played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, 1 2 Switch, Super Bomberman R, Sonic Mania and Zelda on it.

 

Overall, I had positive impressions. I've gotta add, though, that I have been a huge and loyal Nintendo fan since early childhood days; and after I felt pretty burned with Wii U, I was very sceptical of this new console. I hoped for some technical and graphical advancements towards Xbone / PS4 territory with the new device, so the unveiling of not much more than a mobile Wii U was pretty much a bummer for me, personally. But then the january event came and the device itself looked pretty cool, sparking my interest in it once again, and by now I see a real and undeniable appeal in the idea of taking my home console with me and playing big games like Breath of the Wild on the go.

So, I played it and it pretty much matched my expectations. Graphics are about on par or slightly above Wii U, but not like a generational difference or something. You won't be able to tell if a game is Wii U or Switch if you're just looking at the graphics. That being said, I was impressed how thin and small the device is. The joycon controllers are, like, REALLY small and extremely light weight. Being split apart into two controllers, they are not the most comfortable controlling option out there, but this is a neat little feature for quick and sudden multiplayer bursts. Nobody expects you to play with these things huge gaming sessions of several hours; if you have a gaming get-together with your friends, it's reasonable to assume that people will bring their own controllers and/or Switch devices. The joycon split functionality is still a huge draw in my eyes, because it enables you to do spontaneous multiplayer out of the box. Like, you go somewhere and have your Switch with you, and run into a friend on the train and can spend 20 minutes playing Mario Kart, just like that. I think that's great stuff right there. Being in a long distance-relationship, I definitely see myself playing Switch on the train and the idea to just start up a multiplayer match when I feel like it, without having to worry about additional input devices or handhelds or something is a huge deal.

The joy cons have that new feature called HD rumble. One example from 1 2 Switch was that the controller emulates a wooden box with marbles inside. You turn and twist the box or even shake it, trying to count how many marbles are inside. This works extremely well and is a very impressive feature; I have to stress again that these are very small, very light controller devices and I am completely blown away by what amount of technology Nintendo packed into these little things. Do not dismiss the Switch as being expensive or gimmicky because it doesn't match Xbone and PS4. This thing is not a scam, you are getting a great bang for your buck. It isn't cheap, but there's a reason for it, and those small joy con things are one of them. Personally, it saddens me a little, though, to think that the gaming industry is probably too close-minded and too busy with its usual routine to really make use of this. Like, I am very impressed by the HD rumble technology itself, but I cannot think of a great number of uses for it in traditional gaming sense. Making this feature a great experience will require open minded developers who really think about how to put this to best use and go wild and crazy with it, creatively, and the gaming industry is not really like that in its current state. Don't get me wrong, of course gaming sparks inventiveness and creativity all around, just not that kind of creativity, in my opinion. Today, everything is about how realistic things can be, or about things having impressive physics, or how to pull off that cool lighting or something. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just that a weird and unusual cool feature like HD rumble is so much harder to communicate to the audience and to market effectively compared to pretty graphics that the chances seem slim that a lot of developers and publishers will even bother to put resources into something new like that. This is unfortunate, because this is a cool and fun thing that Nintendo came up with and it deserves to be toyed around with.

The screen of the device looks very great, especially if you are used to a Wii U and 3DS. This isn't like them, it's way higher quality and the viewing angle is impressive. Everything looked sharp and detailed and colorful on it; short, this is a very good quality screen and it will be a joy to play on it.

 

Now, the games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is pretty much Mario Kart with a classic battle mode and the ability to hold two items again added. Not much to say here, other than that I played the game for 3 years now, I think it's the best Mario Kart yet and this will be its definitive edition. I just hope I get some kind of discount, I bought the original for full price and all DLCs. I really wish to get a little bonus for that.

1 2 Switch is a tough one. It's a kind of game like Wii Play, only... lamer. I cannot really describe it anyway else; as a friend of mine stated at the event: the wooden marble box was its most impressive minigame, and there's hardly any reason to buy a game for that when you can get the same experience by, well, putting a bunch of marbles in a wooden box if you wanna play that kind of game so badly. In all honesty, as I am buying a Switch for my girlfriend for birthday, I intended to give 1 2 Switch to her as a gift as well as her first game. After its full reveal and videos of its minigames, I decided to cancel those plans and get her Snipper Clip instead, which looks way better (didn't get to play it myself, though, but I watched others play). 1 2 Switch is a kind of game that should be pre-installed on the console, or come free with a controller bundle or something. You would want to try it out just to see what the console could do, but there's no way anyone will want to spend full price on it. It's just too dumb and there's too little reason to keep playing it when it stops being funny after having played each minigame once.

Super Bomberman R is, well, Bomberman. Same as every other one I played, just prettier graphics. With the joycon split functionality, this will be my launch day multiplayer title, but just because I never bought a Bomberman game myself before. But from 3DS gaming parties, I know that Bomberman is always fun, so having that on the Switch is definitely a good thing, IMO.

Sonic Mania was a short demo, but it was fun. Classic Sonic, nicely animated. Controls fine with the joy con.

ARMS will be this generation's Splatoon, I predict. It's a great-looking, fast-paced game with tons of fun and an awesomely crazy artstyle. I was intruiged the minute it was announced, and having played it myself, I know I will buy this on day 1. Controlling it with both joy cons is great; the gameplay is similar to Wii Sports Boxing or Punch-Out!!, only more weird and action-packed. Different characters and weapons add a lot of variety and it's just a very fun game to put up and compete against each other in, if you don't have motion controls, that is. Personally, I love motion controls, and ARMS is a fun and thrilling experience. I love it when Nintendo tries new IPs, and I wish this one best of luck, because I see huge potential.

Last but not least, Zelda. I cannot wait to be absorbed into this when it releases in less than three weeks. That being said, it controls fine with the joycon and its controller-like attachment (the thing you put the joy cons on in order to make them appear like a regular controller). The graphics will not impressive anyone in 2017 and I hope that the next Zelda game on Switch will look better after having been freed from the Wii U. Right now, this game is huge and a lot for that little console to handle, and it shows. The framerate, which is targeted at 30fps, can dip here and there when things are being loaded; but at least it usually stabilizes after a few seconds again. Like, you run into an area and you will notice how more details in geometry and textures will gradually pop up as you approach, and while that happens, the framerate takes a little hit. But after a few seconds, everything's done loading, and it will stabilize again.
BotW's inability to keep a clean framerate worried me beforehand; but then again, I always have to remind myself that also Ocarina of Time didn't offer a smooth framerate back when it was released, and to this day it's my most favorite game of all time. If the compromises in framerate consistency are a testimony to Nintendo's ambitions with this game like they were with Ocarina, we are in for a magnificent adventure once again. Personally, I will not care too much about its techical shortcomings; I am just dying to play this new Zelda game which has been almost six years in development.

[quark12000]

My question is, why would I want to go from playing the game on a huge TV set to playing on a tiny little screen?

[Cody Startale]

Because you've gotta leave the house once in a while 

As I said, I am in a long distance relationship and by the middle of march, I will travel on the train for four hours to my girlfriend again. And it's great to know that I will simply undock my Switch unit, pack it and continue playing Zelda on the train right where I left off, instead of playing some other, smaller games on my 3DS as a substitute.

 

The Switch is not designed to dominate your living room, but accommodate a flexible life style instead. And I like that a lot, it is really a versatile device in that way.

[LEGODalekbuster523]

20 hours ago, Cody Startale said:

Super Bomberman R is, well, Bomberman. Same as every other one I played, just prettier graphics. With the joycon split functionality, this will be my launch day multiplayer title, but just because I never bought a Bomberman game myself before. But from 3DS gaming parties, I know that Bomberman is always fun, so having that on the Switch is definitely a good thing, IMO.

 

It makes sense when one of the console's main focuses seems to be multiplayer.

[Leo604]

http://kotaku.com/now-even-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-is-getting-dlc-and-a-1792338071

This is a bit of a bummer.

 

[PenPlays]

35 minutes ago, Young Leo said:

http://kotaku.com/now-even-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-is-getting-dlc-and-a-1792338071

This is a bit of a bummer.

 

Not at all.

My complete Legend of Zelda game is getting another, smaller, yet complete Legend of Zelda game within less than a year.

It just so happens that this completely separate story takes place in an area that will be accessible from the start. It's not filling in holes, it's adding extra content on top of the complete game already included.

I mean they reused assets from Ocarina of Time for Majora's Mask, yet either game is often contested as the best game of all time, yes?

[cheerfortheking]

Would love to play Zelda on the Switch... but don't feel like buying it just for 1 game :(

[BrickG]

Nintendo does DLC pretty good. It doesn't feel cheap and usually is worth it. Mario Kart 8 had some great DLC. 

[Darkdragon]

I have a preorder for the Switch, but I'm still undecided on keeping it. I have started every Zelda game but I get tired of them pretty quickly, and there are no Mario games coming for a long time. It is annoying to me that Nintendo continues to fall farther behind power-wise compared to all the other consoles, trying to say the new gimmick is more important than power/graphics.  It was cute for the Wii, parents and grandparents loved it! I do enjoy many of the later games on the WiiU, but did not see a reason to preorder one or buy one at launch. However, people want to play games with good content and gameplay and not something that struggles to run at minimal specs just for some controller gimmick.

Extreme disappointment with the launch title/s. You can't sell a console on one title, it's just ludicrous. Many people are having preorders canceled by stores (Target and Game Stop) because of low production. I'm tempted to keep it just so I have it in case something good comes out before system stock is available, but $300 is a lot of Lego money

I guess I need to decide soon, time is running out to cancel the preorder.

[LEGODalekbuster523]

3 hours ago, Darkdragon said:

. However, people want to play games with good content and gameplay and not something that struggles to run at minimal specs just for some controller gimmick.

 

Speak for yourself. It's boring when every game console is the same.

[Darkdragon]

45 minutes ago, LEGODalekbuster523 said:

Speak for yourself. It's boring when every game console is the same.

Isn't that what voicing an opinion is? Who else would I be speaking for. Thanks for the personal attack though.

[LEGODalekbuster523]

1 hour ago, Darkdragon said:

Isn't that what voicing an opinion is? Who else would I be speaking for. Thanks for the personal attack though.

I'm sorry, but how's that a personal attack? 

If you call that a 'personal attack', then don't ever create an account on Gallifrey Base.

[PenPlays]

4 hours ago, LEGODalekbuster523 said:

I'm sorry, but how's that a personal attack? 

If you call that a 'personal attack', then don't ever create an account on Gallifrey Base.

(The horse's molecules are omnipresent. They live in all threads...)

 

I understand the want for power and for variances in system design in capabilities as well.

That's why I don't understand company purists.

I can comfortably say that I love my Wii U while also praising everything that is the PS4. Gotta stretch out those legs, and dip those toes into different waters. Never know what you might find.

[cheerfortheking]

Wouldn't it be nice if they allowed Zelda on PS4 and Xbox One... sigh.

[PenPlays]

4 hours ago, cheerfortheking said:

Wouldn't it be nice if they allowed Zelda on PS4 and Xbox One... sigh.

No, because then no one would buy the dedicated Nintendo Consoles that keep the company alive.

No console sales mean no Zelda for anyone.

[Lyichir]

On 2/21/2017 at 2:44 PM, Penkid11 said:

No, because then no one would buy the dedicated Nintendo Consoles that keep the company alive.

No console sales mean no Zelda for anyone.

Well, a Nintendo that was only focused on software for other consoles (instead of being in the hardware business in the first place) could hypothetically survive purely on software sales, just like any number of other third-party developers. But that would be a fundamentally different Nintendo, and the question becomes whether it would be better or worse. A lot of Nintendo fans (myself included) think that it would result in one that is worse, and that one of the main reasons why Nintendo's first-party games tend to be high-quality is because of their unique understanding of and familiarity with the consoles that they themselves designed (and vice-versa, since often their consoles are designed with their own game development principles in mind). But a person who views Nintendo's consoles as underpowered or gimmicky could easily see Nintendo's console development as a limiting factor that limits both the overall quality and the potential userbase of their games.