Nintendo Switch

[James Bond]

On 9/16/2020 at 9:26 AM, action said:

I hear you

the swith is something of a greatest hits of video games console to me. It has many great classic games from a variety of consoles of nintendo and even playstation.

But yeah, don't buy this for big budget current games.

but as long as you are aware what you're subscribing to, there is a lot to enjoy here in terms of legacy content, now with HD resolution, a variety of control options including an official version of the snes and gamecube controllers, and portability. the Doom games, duke nukem, turok, outrun, commander keen, final fantasy, skyrim, witcher III, mortal kombat, street fighter, resident evil 4, burnout paradise, grid autosport, wolfenstein, devil may cry 3 special edition, capcom beat em up collection, wild guns, sunset riders, contra collection, castlevania collection, saints row the third, V rally 4, shadow man, star wars racer, star wars jedi outcast. All the best WiiU games have been ported with deluxe versions of these games. the amount of mario games on this thing is unseen for a nintendo console. Likewise, with the zelda franchise. Breath of the wild, links awakening, a sequel to the first one, the hyrule warriors games,... metroid is coming.

the prices of these games are, most of the times, too high. The key is to wait for deals.

Personally, I'm not missing current AAA games. I gladly pass for the latest call of duty, and other microtransactions / service based games. These games frustrate me too much with their money grabbing marketing models.

The portability is a bit of a moot point for me personally simply because I've never been an "on the go" gamer, but I see where you're coming from. I can happily admit that if you had told me as a child that I could take Mario 64 on the go I would have been over the moon. Add in everything else you've mentioned and easily the most impressive console Nintendo has offered today in terms of features and portability.

My biggest issue is the lack of deals on their flagship franchises. Perhaps it's different elsewhere but in Canada there are never any deals to be had on the A tier titles. For example, why is Mario Kart 8 still $79.99? That was a Wii U game and it's six years old at this point - deluxe content or not. With the new consoles coming out it would be a very opportune time to bring back Nintendo's old "Player's Choice" greatest hits titles at a cheaper price tag. I'm almost certain it would encourage those who don't own a Switch to pick one up.

The Switch is/was a cheaper console than the PS4 and Xbox One and yet I've probably invested more money into it for games and controllers. Even the used market doesn't seem to offer games much cheaper. I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I do pay it (and I did indeed purchase Mario 3D All Stars), but I still think it's disappointing considering the amount of quality games the other platforms (PC included) offer for next to nothing sometimes. I'm not saying I expect a brand new game to be less than $79.99 (or whatever the base cost is in your country), but old games should not be that price.

Generally speaking though, Nintendo at this point for me is always going to be the "secondary" console. I love my Mario, but not enough to miss out on other franchises I love (Tomb Raider, Red Dead/GTA, Hitman, and so on).

[action]

16 minutes ago, James Bond said:

The portability is a bit of a moot point for me personally simply because I've never been an "on the go" gamer, but I see where you're coming from. I can happily admit that if you had told me as a child that I could take Mario 64 on the go I would have been over the moon. Add in everything else you've mentioned and easily the most impressive console Nintendo has offered today in terms of features and portability.

My biggest issue is the lack of deals on their flagship franchises. Perhaps it's different elsewhere but in Canada there are never any deals to be had on the A tier titles. For example, why is Mario Kart 8 still $79.99? That was a Wii U game and it's six years old at this point - deluxe content or not. With the new consoles coming out it would be a very opportune time to bring back Nintendo's old "Player's Choice" greatest hits titles at a cheaper price tag. I'm almost certain it would encourage those who don't own a Switch to pick one up.

The Switch is/was a cheaper console than the PS4 and Xbox One and yet I've probably invested more money into it for games and controllers. Even the used market doesn't seem to offer games much cheaper. I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I do pay it (and I did indeed purchase Mario 3D All Stars), but I still think it's disappointing considering the amount of quality games the other platforms (PC included) offer for next to nothing sometimes. I'm not saying I expect a brand new game to be less than $79.99 (or whatever the base cost is in your country), but old games should not be that price.

Generally speaking though, Nintendo at this point for me is always going to be the "secondary" console. I love my Mario, but not enough to miss out on other franchises I love (Tomb Raider, Red Dead/GTA, Hitman, and so on).

"on the go" always meant "on the sofa" to me.

having a partner who owns the remote control, means you have to either sit alone in your mancave playing video games, or join her as she watches "your favorite wedding dress".

the switch was a game changer for our household.

[James Bond]

1 hour ago, action said:

"on the go" always meant "on the sofa" to me.

having a partner who owns the remote control, means you have to either sit alone in your mancave playing video games, or join her as she watches "your favorite wedding dress".

the switch was a game changer for our household.

I mean, that doesn't sound so bad.

[Coma16]

I play undocked all the time and it us typically exclusively inside my house. 

3D all stars is 3 games, not 1. Amazon.ca hasnt even shipped my pre-order yet...

It sucks that Walmart Canada doesn't offer the amazing deals on switch games/accessories than US gets...

Dead Cells is awesome, hooked on it past few weeks.

Will buy the new Ori when it goes on sale.

Where the fuck is the new Hollow Knight?!

[James Bond]

2 hours ago, Coma16 said:

3D all stars is 3 games, not 1. Amazon.ca hasnt even shipped my pre-order yet...

Three lazy ported games. Spyro and Crash were also three games. Tony Hawk is two games. None of those were as expensive. Don't get me wrong, it clearly doesn't stop me from buying Nintendo stuff but I'm also not going to pretend that Nintendo isn't overpriced compared to the offerings from Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo is basically the Apple of video games.

Edited September 19, 2020 by James Bond

[Dazey]

3 minutes ago, James Bond said:

Three lazy ported games.

They're not even ported from what I've heard. They're all just original titles running on emulation. They couldn't even be bothered to port them to the Switch hardware.

[James Bond]

1 hour ago, Dazey said:

They're not even ported from what I've heard. They're all just original titles running on emulation. They couldn't even be bothered to port them to the Switch hardware.

Ouch. That's even worse. Although once again I am a totally hypocrite because I will be playing it all night tonight.

[ZoSoRose]

Played a few minutes today. 64 is rough, its definitely a low effort emulation. Doesn't even fit the whole Switch screen. Still I am glad to have it. Galaxy is cool so far, I have never played it and it is very creative. Still looks great, too!

[Dazey]

7 hours ago, James Bond said:

Ouch. That's even worse. Although once again I am a totally hypocrite because I will be playing it all night tonight.

I listen to this retro gaming podcast every week. They talk about it in the news section at 6:50. It's also a really great podcast if you're into retro gaming.

 

[Dazey]

1 minute ago, Dazey said:

I listen to this retro gaming podcast every week. They talk about it in the news section at 6:50. It's also a really great podcast if you're into retro gaming.

 

They have an interview every week and they've had some great guests on over the 200+ episodes.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRetroHourRetroGamingPodcast/videos?view=0&sort=dd&flow=grid

 

[downzy]

On 9/18/2020 at 9:56 AM, James Bond said:

Generally speaking though, Nintendo at this point for me is always going to be the "secondary" console. I love my Mario, but not enough to miss out on other franchises I love (Tomb Raider, Red Dead/GTA, Hitman, and so on).

This is where I ended up, though minus the Switch.  I just can't justify $400+ tax to play Mario and Zelda. 

That said, I've paid $500 to play RDR2, Forza Horizon, and I guess the updated version of GTA 5.  I can't justify dropping over $1k to play 5 or 6 games.  And like you said, Nintendo's games and consoles never go on sale.  I can pick up AAA titles on Xbox or PS for $15-$25. 

I'd love to play Breath of the Wild at some point, and Mario Odyssey looked great.  But not at the cost of $600+.

[action]

6 hours ago, downzy said:

This is where I ended up, though minus the Switch.  I just can't justify $400+ tax to play Mario and Zelda. 

That said, I've paid $500 to play RDR2, Forza Horizon, and I guess the updated version of GTA 5.  I can't justify dropping over $1k to play 5 or 6 games.  And like you said, Nintendo's games and consoles never go on sale.  I can pick up AAA titles on Xbox or PS for $15-$25. 

I'd love to play Breath of the Wild at some point, and Mario Odyssey looked great.  But not at the cost of $600+.

if you are subscribed to netflix, you're paying a monthly fee. you can calculate how much this is per year. but netflix isn't enough if you want to watch disney movies. you need to subscribe to disney + with another montly fee. it doesn't stop there as some series / movies can only be viewed by subscribing to yet other services. Calculate all that, and you'll end up with a huge chunk of money, you're spending every year.

with game consoles, you pay the total sum all at once. But like with movies and series, you need to buy different consoles to enjoy everything you love.

 

[Dazey]

2 hours ago, action said:

if you are subscribed to netflix, you're paying a monthly fee. you can calculate how much this is per year. but netflix isn't enough if you want to watch disney movies. you need to subscribe to disney + with another montly fee. it doesn't stop there as some series / movies can only be viewed by subscribing to yet other services. Calculate all that, and you'll end up with a huge chunk of money, you're spending every year.

with game consoles, you pay the total sum all at once. But like with movies and series, you need to buy different consoles to enjoy everything you love.

That doesn’t make any sense at all. For that analogy to work you’d have to buy the console and all the games upfront. Otherwise you’ve just got an expensive paperweight. On the flip side it would be like paying an upfront fee for Netflix and then having to pay extra for  every tv show and movie you want to watch. 

Also to go back to the Netflix vs Disney argument, it’s much cheaper to just pay for a decent VPN and get anything you want to watch for free. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Dazey

[Graeme]

22 hours ago, Dazey said:

They're not even ported from what I've heard. They're all just original titles running on emulation. They couldn't even be bothered to port them to the Switch hardware.

I'd imagine you'd have to do at least a bit of porting to get Galaxy to work on a console that's not the Wii, given the control scheme. I also saw a video that juxtaposed the games on Switch with their counterparts on original hardware and they definitely looked better, sharper and clearer. 

[James Bond]

The only subscription service I have is Spotify because the others I wouldn't get enough use out of to justify spending money on them, even if it does only amount to ten bucks a month or whatever. I like paying one time fees to just own something, whether physically or digitally. More bang for my buck versus the one time a year I might actually sit and watch a TV show (I'm just not a TV watcher).

I can cancel my PS Plus account tomorrow but still play all the games I've purchased on the PS4. It doesn't work that way with Netflix or Disney Plus.

12 hours ago, Dazey said:

I listen to this retro gaming podcast every week. They talk about it in the news section at 6:50. It's also a really great podcast if you're into retro gaming.

 

I'll give this a watch later! Seems like something of interest.

I only scratched the surface of 3D All Stars last night but my initial opinion is that it leaves much to be desired. I mean, sure, the clearer text and textures in Mario 64 make it look nicer on a modern TV, but the controls just feel broken. It somehow feels more clunky than the N64 counterpart. Probably a result of the emulation.

Sunshine and Galaxy fare better as expected so I'm looking forward to giving those a proper playthrough.

[Coma16]

My amazon pre order was updated to be delivered on the 28th... i called and cancelled. Will go to my local ebgames or best buy later today and pick it up. Not really in a rush to play them but don't want to miss you should they not get restocked.

[downzy]

6 hours ago, action said:

if you are subscribed to netflix, you're paying a monthly fee. you can calculate how much this is per year. but netflix isn't enough if you want to watch disney movies. you need to subscribe to disney + with another montly fee. it doesn't stop there as some series / movies can only be viewed by subscribing to yet other services. Calculate all that, and you'll end up with a huge chunk of money, you're spending every year.

with game consoles, you pay the total sum all at once. But like with movies and series, you need to buy different consoles to enjoy everything you love.

 

Like Dazey said, this makes zero sense.

First of all, I'm not locked into any commitment with Netflix or any other streaming site.  Your minimum is $9 or whatever a month costs.  And often times that's what I do.  I'll subscribe to various streaming sites at different times, canceling one when I've seen everything I have seen.  The only upfront cost is my television, that includes all the streaming apps.  

Second, you buy the console and the games.  Once you're done with each game, you're done.  You don't get another one.  Content is limited to what you pay for upfront.  Two consoles + 6 games is well over $1000.  That's ten years worth of streaming subscription. 

[ZoSoRose]

By the end of it's life I'm sure there will be BOTW2, Metroid 4, a few more solid AAA releases, and some more rereleases to interest me. I'm glad to have the Switch, but yeah, things could have been better with game releases 

I still haven't gotten Mario Kart and Pokemon either

Edited September 20, 2020 by ZoSoRose

[Coma16]

With the amount of people still buying the Switch, AAA games are gonna be released for at least another 3 years.

[James Bond]

I'm sure they'll continue supporting the Switch for years. The rumour mill seems to suggest that the next Nintendo console will essentially just be an upgraded Switch and therefore it will likely support any of the current offerings for games and hardware anyways.

 

[action]

23 minutes ago, James Bond said:

I'm sure they'll continue supporting the Switch for years. The rumour mill seems to suggest that the next Nintendo console will essentially just be an upgraded Switch and therefore it will likely support any of the current offerings for games and hardware anyways.

 

I hope so

I have spent thousands of euros on the switch, games and peripherals. I went full on and bought all these games day one, physical. often needing to import certain games, further adding to cost.

I am pretty much set for the rest of my life. Unless the next nintendo has full backwards compatibility (not gonna happen, with updates and such), I won't ever buy another console. I made a significant investment, I intend to reap the fruits of it as much as possible.

games like mario 64, emulated or not, have provided me with hundreds of hours of entertainment, and there will be many hundreds of hours to come.

everything fell into place with the switch. cartridges ensured that the switch and its games are durable for years to come, no defect disc drives. joycon drift isn't really an issue for me: I use tabletop mode with a variety of controllers which do not suffer from joycon drift. I will probably buy a couple of new switches by the end of its lifetime, to ensure that I will be good for the next 30 years.

All these classics coming to the switch, are right up my ally: those are the games I'm playing. no nostalgia for me, I genuinly enjoy these games.

Seeing how the games industry is getting increasingly scummy with anti-consumer measures like DLC / DRM and other bullshit, coupled with forced politics in games which do not interest me, I am sure there will be no reason for me to "update" my gaming habits.

[action]

so true

[James Bond]

Nobody is saying you have to "update" anything. There is much to love about the Switch without resorting to massive generalizations about the current gaming economy. Fortnite and Battlefront aren't the industry standard. I don't think I own a single game where DLC or micro transactions are a requirement. I don't entirely disagree though, because I don't love the ever growing "online only" style of gaming.

Like the Playstation and the Xbox, the Switch is not immune to criticism. It's not unreasonable to be disappointed that Nintendo is charging $80 for something that should not be $80 when compared to the competition. When more effort has been put into indie titles that cost $5 why should Nintendo get a pass for not putting in the effort for their flagship franchise? It doesn't mean people aren't going to play or enjoy it, but with certain price points come certain expectations.

Imagine telling all those PC gamers who had nothing but trouble getting Red Dead 2 to run after paying top dollar for it that they should just be grateful it exists.

If paying $80 (or whatever your standard pricing is) doesn't bother you, then spend it and enjoy. I know lots of people who pre-order every game, season passes, etc...

Different strokes for different folks and all that. All I was originally saying was that I rarely pay full price for a game on the other consoles simply because I don't have to. With Nintendo, you basically have no choice and that is what people are most critical of - especially for some old ports.

[ZoSoRose]

I am loving Galaxy so far. Never played it for Wii. The level design is extremely creative and the visuals really hold up considering its 13 years old. Haven't even started Sunshine yet. 

I think releasing bundles for their big franchises like this would be a great step in the right direction if they aren't going to do a virtual console (which should have launched within the first year). They are expensive, but are still way better than nothing. I missed out on Metroid Prime 2 and 3 (and never finished 1) and a ton of Zelda games. At the very least they should over a pack for their other two big franchises, too. 

[downzy]

I'm still unsure why people are so supportive of Nintendo being a hardware company? 

Why?

I'd love to play Mario and Zelda, but not if I have to buy another piece of hardware.  Would love it if Nintendo either made a machine that was powerful enough to play games like RDR, GTA, and other third-party games with no relative compromise for a console.  But they don't.  Instead people who want to play both Rockstar games and Mario have to buy two gaming consoles. 

Wish Nintendo went the route of Sega and published games on other systems.