Switch Discussion Thread

[Reprise]

Yeah, definitely a good point about the Mini. It's just over a couple of weeks away from release now and will be Nintendo's focus for the Christmas season.

[jmbarnes101]

Yeah, definitely a good point about the Mini. It's just over a couple of weeks away from release now and will be Nintendo's focus for the Christmas season.

If they actually make them readily available that'll make sense.

[ElkinFencer10]

Nintendo hasn't prioritized hardware power for 20 years; none of us should have expected them to do so now. I think it's very safe to say that Skyrim is coming to Switch. They'd face a LOT of heat for featuring it so heavily in the trailer if it weren't. The fact that Bethesda isn't announcing doesn't mean anything; as has been said, it's probably because Nintendo is keeping mum.

[samsonlonghair]

The last few pages I have seen folks batting around the number 720p for the tablet resolution. Where is that number coming from?

I believe it has already been confirmed that the screen will have a resolution of 900 vertical pixels. Didn't Nvidia confirm this already? The specs I read said 900 pixels on the handheld screen, and in console mode the Switch will feed the TV 1080p at 60 f/s while gaming and 4K (3840 x 2160) at 30 f/s while streaming video.

Feel free to correct me if you have newer info than I do; I read those numbers earlier this week - the day after the Swtich was officially announced. I understand that specs can seem a bit nebulous during this time with rumors being taken for fact, but I would consider Nvidia a reliable source.

[isiolia]

The last few pages I have seen folks batting around the number 720p for the tablet resolution. Where is that number coming from?

Possibly from the (supposed) dev kit specs posted by https://twitter.com/NWPlayer123

Dev kit hardware is apparently Tegra X1 though, so most of the guts should be better.

I hadn't seen anything straight from nVidia other than their press release that has no real details. The Tegra X2 should have the basic ability to output 4k/60 anyway, though if the "Parker" specs are what the Switch hardware has, sub-1080p native seems more reasonable to expect from demanding games.

Could all be subject to change anyway.

[marurun]

On a podcast today it was pointed out that the Switch makes a lot more sense in the context of the Japanese market, where dedicated consoles are doing quite badly and only portables have market traction. This gives Nintendo the premier mobile gaming platform for more traditional style games, and allows families to share the system around the TV.

Nintendo's hope, of course, is that they can spin the US 3ds market into a larger market and focus on a leaner, single-platform product stream. That is something that does appeal to third parties.

[Xeogred]

On a podcast today it was pointed out that the Switch makes a lot more sense in the context of the Japanese market, where dedicated consoles are doing quite badly and only portables have market traction. This gives Nintendo the premier mobile gaming platform for more traditional style games, and allows families to share the system around the TV.

Nintendo's hope, of course, is that they can spin the US 3ds market into a larger market and focus on a leaner, single-platform product stream. That is something that does appeal to third parties.

Basically adds to my thought that the Switch will be the main home for all the 3DS/Vita and smaller budget titles from Japan, so yeah. Definitely sounds like more proof the Switch is going to have an enormous library.

[PartridgeSenpai]

On a podcast today it was pointed out that the Switch makes a lot more sense in the context of the Japanese market, where dedicated consoles are doing quite badly and only portables have market traction. This gives Nintendo the premier mobile gaming platform for more traditional style games, and allows families to share the system around the TV.

Nintendo's hope, of course, is that they can spin the US 3ds market into a larger market and focus on a leaner, single-platform product stream. That is something that does appeal to third parties.

Basically adds to my thought that the Switch will be the main home for all the 3DS/Vita and smaller budget titles from Japan, so yeah. Definitely sounds like more proof the Switch is going to have an enormous library.

Switches Potential Tiddy factor +10 pts

[RCBH928]

Yeah, it's really not impossible for it to be comparable or (more likely) more powerful than the Wii U.

Personally, I'm thinking it'll probably be pretty comparable with Wii U in power.

It can be thinner, yes, but tablet thin running on battery? I dunno I have my doubts especially that no other portable on the market can even come close to running something like Skyrim. Maybe surface book?

We will have to wait and see, a launch in March Probably means we will know everything by January.

[isiolia]

It can be thinner, yes, but tablet thin running on battery? I dunno I have my doubts especially that no other portable on the market can even come close to running something like Skyrim. Maybe surface book?

The Switch does not look to be "tablet thin" though, at least not compared to the current generation of tablets, or really even the existing Shield tablet (which came out in mid 2014). It's thick enough for the Joy-Cons to have solid slots to slide into, has vents on the top, and so on. Even then, you can get good results from very mobile hardware - a Vita has comparable hardware to 2012-era Apple devices for example.

Looking at the ad for game details is also probably not going to be accurate. The Wii U sizzle reel showed games that never came out for it, and/or footage from the PC versions of games. Game footage edited onto the screens there is just meant to demonstrate use. As people have said, they're trying to sell the concept.

Some Android ports have wound up running really well on Tegra hardware though, like Doom 3. Better than the 360/PS3 versions. Plenty more run a lot worse, of course.

IMO, a big part of it is storage. I think Apple and Google still limit max app size to 4GB via their stores, and while that's a good amount of data, plenty of console or PC games use a lot more these days. What the same or similar hardware might be able to manage without that restriction will be interesting.