Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion

[Raid]

It's nice to finally see MP4, but it did feel a bit odd to not see even one new gameplay element - with the exception of a new antagonist, that could easily have been a scene from the original just with more visual fidelity. I do however like that the antagonist appears to be someone else with a Chozo suit (rather than just another Dark Samus - I know realistically that doesn't make any gameplay difference, but it felt a bit daft that it kept happening).

I was initially put off a bit by the fact that you're paying as Zelda this time in EoW; not for the character herself (it's not like Link is a particularly interesting character) but more her fighting style which is totally different, and I was concerned it would feel like a spinoff game. The gameplay demo did win me over by the end, and I think it looks like it'll be good. I'm glad they're carrying on with that visual style; it worked brilliantly with the Link's Awakening remake.

Honestly I find it difficult to get excited about Switch games these days. I've bought one in the last four years (TotK) and I barely touched that. The Switch just feels ancient now (played entirely as a home console; I've never had much need for it to be portable), and I know there's supposedly a successor coming next year, but the cost of games for the thing is such a huge downside when they're relying on quite anaemic hardware. With Sony and Microsoft now making a huge effort to publish their first-party titles on PC, the Switch 2 is probably the only console that I'd have any need to buy, but I just wish Nintendo would publish to PC too. I think I can count on one hand the number of Nintendo first-party games I've bought for the Switch that I couldn't play anywhere else (lessee; Mario Odyssey, Smash Bros, Zelda BotW, Zelda TotK, Mario Kart 8... I think that might be it), and it just doesn't seem worth it, even if one of those is one of my favourite games ever.

[DjchunKfunK]

I think a lot of Nintendo design is inextricably linked with the console the games appear on, moving to multiplatform would mean losing some of that. I've never really cared about graphics so it doesn't matter to me how old the hardware is if Nintendo keep putting out good games. On the price of games everyone is free to pay, or not pay, what they think a game is worth but in an industry that is struggling massively and games need to sell huge numbers out the gate in order to be a success, Nintendo's ability to have software with long tails, boosted by the fact they don't really drop in price, means the company is not reliant on the boom and bust the rest of the industry subscribes to. If pricing for the rest of the industry worked in a similar way it would probably be in a much better position.

[Wrathbone]

Honestly I find it difficult to get excited about Switch games these days. I've bought one in the last four years (TotK) and I barely touched that.

Sums up my thoughts well, except I've still not mustered enough enthusiasm to buy TotK despite BotW being one of my favourite games of recent years. I half-watched about 20 minutes of the direct and nothing remotely interested me. I've never been wowed by Nintendo games in general and it was the Switch console itself as much as BotW that won me over for a while, but now that novelty has worn off. I did buy and enjoy quite a few third-party games on Switch over the years, but now I have better options for non-Nintendo gaming on the move including a gaming laptop and a Steam Deck.

Switch 2 is going to have to do something remarkable to win me over again.

[Raid]

My comment on the hardware is not so much about appearance (art style almost always trumps poly counts), but about framerates. Both BotW and TotK have some significant slowdown in some areas (notably the forest in BotW); two games using the same engine almost an entire generation apart but with the same issue, suggesting that the issue is the hardware. Link's Awakening was quite shoddy in this regard too. Nintendo consoles have long been built using fairly modest hardware specs compared to their competition, but I think the shift to mobile hardware for their home console, while still attempting to compete visually with Sony and Microsoft's more expensive machines that lacked that limitation, impacted the games' quality. It's not the end of the world, certainly, none of these were anywhere near unplayable, but having moved to fairly well-specced PCs in the last five years, it's something I've found more difficult to ignore, and makes the cost for barely a handful of first-party titles more difficult to justify.

[Alan]

I'm glad the new Zelda is more in the old style because I really cant stand the skyrimy ones. My only problems with the switch itself are the joycons being the single worst first party controller in many decades and the bloody XYAB positioning. I know the MS/Sega positioning is actually the usurper but I wish Nintendo would just give up and put A at the bottom and Y at the top. My main use for my Switch is tate games, its so good for them with the flipgrip so all I want from the new hardware is to keep that ability with a better brain and preferably better controllers. Also to be easily hackable, that would be nice.

Anyway, everyone's missing the most important announcement, Marvel Vs Capcom 2 is back!