Topic: Nintendo Switch Discussion

Completed the Fire Temple in TotK over the weekend!

Nothing quite as awe inspiring as the journey up to the Wind Temple, but I think the Fire Temple itself was more strongly designed (enjoyed figuring out the mine track puzzles, though admit to using some of that improvisation magic the game allows in order to reach the last couple locks).

Given that I wasn't sure exactly when I should try going into the Depths, I liked that the journey to get to the Fire Temple introduces you to that side of the game, and it's nothing how I imagined it to be (I was thinking labyrinthine cave system with auto health drain between lit spaces, when in reality it's just a secondary overworld, just one you have to light up by region).

Also, depending on how many Sage shadows you can have active at once, it looks like I'm starting to build a little party of sorts (it'll be kinda funny if the new Zelda ends up arguably having a more involved party system than the new FF, lol).

You can have all of them at the same time of you want, however it can be a bit cumbersome as you can only hit the special of the closest to you...

Pretty darn solid Direct if I say so myself. Year starts out strong with Another Code: Recollection, Mario VS Donkey Kong, & Princess Peach Showtime in the first three months, then we know we have at least Luigi's Mansion 2 HD & Paper Mario TTYD later in the year.

Yes, that is mostly a lot of remasters & remakes, so it's obvious Switch is nearing it's end, but at least they're keeping the software pumping, and I could see myself having fun with a lot of them.

Not to be a downer, but I thought it was fairly lackluster myself. Of the new games, only contra, Lara croft,n mario vs dk, and ttyd peaked my interest. And those are all remasters/remakes.

Just beat Ganondorf & cleared TotK!

I wasn't even sure at first if I was even going to buy it as these big open world games are usually at least a couple months long commitments for me so are a bit daunting to start (and I wasn't sure how well I'd get along with the whole building aspect of it), but I'm glad I dived into it.

Obviously not as much of a shakeup as BotW was, but I do think the core quest lines were probably a bit stronger overall (more traditional dungeons with more memorable bosses, easier to find memories, etc.).

So with the recent consultant report (see also completely fabricated) people are discussing Switch 2 again. The new (unfounded) rumor is that the device is going to be a portable XB1 in terms of hardware power.

But with AAA gaming moving away from the PS4/XB1 infrastructure with MK1 and Hogwart’s Legacy seemingly being the last (or at least near last) games for the systems will being 2 full generations behind in power carry Nintendo through the 10th generation of consoles?

All these reports are always the same. Wild guesses honestly. "Since the switch is on par with the 360/ps3, surely the switch 2 will be on par with the Xbox one or ps4." Just blindly tossing stuff out to see what sticks 🤷‍♂️. I'm at the point where I'll believe whatever it is when it's announced. I'm only hoping for one soon since my system is looking rugged at this point. It's been put through the ringer.

@NintendoByNature nintendo consoles are always 2 generations behind just like their games

edit - that’s considering if the switch is even a console. it’s more of just a dock-able handheld that’s still probably 2 generations behind the steamdeck

I just fear that Nintendo (regular user of both Switch and Series X btw) is going to enter another GC era at best with fantastic first party support and near 0 third party support and continue the cycle of every other generation being kind of a disaster.

Developers are already showing their unwilling to put into the effort for easy titles (Kingdom Hearts, MGS2/3, RDR) and games like Hogwarts Legacy are barely recognizable experiences or like Midnight Suns getting cancelled outright

Edit: this of course all being remedial ed by Nintendo just using real chips instead of another round of e-waste again.

@VoidPunk huh?? The GC was better than the N64 , had better third party support than the N64 and Wii, more powerful than sonys console, and was the last system to launch with a good controller.

i’d love for another GC era.

@nomither6 Right. Gamecube was the last time that Nintendo launched good hardware. Excellent design, power, efficiency and controller. It was basically perfect, but the mini discs and the lack of piracy made PS2 much more popular.

@Banjo- i know. the gamecube was my first own console, & i think about it all the time what could have been if nintendo just used regular DVDs & two Z buttons

They could’ve done much better despite not having online. Don’t get me wrong though , i do like the wii as well & the wiimote and nunchuk surprisingly suits me - but the gamecube had better potential . i still have my same exact GC & memory card since i was a kid & don’t plan on ever getting rid of it, i love my cube 😆

@nomither6

Ok so I also loved the GC, but you have to remember a couple of things

1. The Gamecube sold worse than the N64 by like 10 million units.

2. It couldn't make use of its specs due to the disc limits being less tha a third of the full size discs.

3. Capcom was pretty much the only dev supporting the GC. the N64 had rare and Disney. The Wii had like most devs. I agree that Capcom made better games quality wise, but there's a reason RE4 stopped being an exclusive so soon after launch.

Now I hope this doesn't come off as confrontational. I also think the GC had some of Nintendo's best games. Wind Waker, Thousand Year Door, and Custom Robo are some ofthe best games ever made IMO. so this is not a knock against the console. It's a knock against Nintendo's bad business strategies from the time.

Nintendo is arguably positioned the strongest going into the 10th generation of consoles (Microsfot is also super strongly positioned but that's not my point) so from a business standpoint would be bad if they suffered a third collapse in a row.

@nomither6 I was a teenager. I still have it and the four controllers! 😁 The Z button is the "evolution" of the N64's trigger, but it's obvious that it needed a twin. Xbox aside, my biggest video game collection is GameCube's and it also has my favourite OS music. For me, the best Nintendo consoles are SNES, N64 and NGC. Super Mario Sunshine and Twilight Princess still are two of my favourite Nintendo games. I haven't been impressed by Switch nor its exclusives as much. The Wii is underpowered but is a lot of fun. Most of all, the Wii Remote and nunchuk are much easier to use and reliable than the joy-cons that were released a decade later. For games like Wii Sports and Metroid Prime Trilogy, the Wii Remote and nunchuk were all right. Nintendo has been walking backwards, somehow. The motion controls were shoehorned into some games like Super Mario Galaxy, but Wii was solid. I also enjoyed some games that were original and did things that had not been done before, like Zack & Wiki.

@Banjo- Nice , my biggest collection of games used to be the Xbox360 but i regretfully sold all my physical games (but kept the console) like an idiot when the PS4 came out ! Now i believe it’s maybe a tie between the cube & PS4 for me. i actually have a good amount of wii games that isn’t shovelware too. I’m not really big on zelda but Twilight princess always looked pretty dope, if i had to pick a zelda game to play it definitely suits my tastes aesthetically & i tried sunshine as a kid , but i could never beat it before it was time to return it back to blockbuster! i prefer super mario galaxy on the wii instead, it held my attention more , and felt better to play. but i do need to give it another go on the switch one day to refresh my memory and give it a fair chance. My GC was honestly a Sonic machine , i was a sonic kid, and boy did gamecube have a stacked sonic library! so many bangers i enjoyed & sonic games were dropping like candy! I still had/have other games though - F-zero GX, starfox adventure, Melee, but i’m missing double dash and everywhere i look online it’s too expensive.

also i definitely agree about the switch. i have one but it always felt like a step back to me, especially the UI. how did nintendo go from the wii menu and wii u to the over simplified and boring UI of the switch ? What happened to the fun nintendo apps the wii used to have and wii u? where’s the native backwards compatibility ? why are they charging for their outdated stone-age online ? why are the joycons cheap pieces of crap that break from simply being used ?

i also hate that the switch killed off the DS family because its essentially a handheld and not a true console & much of its exclusives are wii u games. The switch doesn’t even have its own mario kart ffs. but with that being said , i hope whatever they do next that they have a console version and a portable version similar to the GBA and GC . i don’t want a machine that’s sacrificed for portability but that’s probably too much im asking for

@nomither6 Hey buddy, I totally agree with you and I think that you defined what Switch is perfectly. I also prefer my (small) New Nintendo 3DS. It's a shame what Nintendo is doing since 2017 and not just the overpriced hardware made of cheap pieces that break but it's also disgusting how they are treating their own fans (overpriced ports, no refund of digital pre-orders until obligated to, no free repair of joy-cons until obligated to...) and how aggressive they have become regarding homebrew, fan art and those guys that have done things involving piracy and are treated by Nintendo like serial killers that deserve life-long punishments. I grew up playing Nintendo but they have become a cruel company that I can't sympathise with. I just wish I could buy their games for Xbox instead.

Now, I appreciate more other companies more, such as Sega, Microsoft, Capcom, Koei Tecmo, EA, Ubisoft... Like you, I grew up playing Sonic games because Sega was more popular than Nintendo in Europe. Most friends had a Sega console. When my father bought me the Gamecube (because I asked for it), one of my favourite games was Sonic Mega Collection, but now I have the wonderful remakes of the classics in Sonic Origins and I replay them every now and then. Sonic Generations looks and plays great on Series X (4K 60fps!), that is my favourite Sonic 3D game. I liked the remastered version of Sonic Colours, that I also have on Wii, so now I would love Sega to remaster the other Sonic 3D games, because some have a few technical issues that could be ironed out: Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Sonic Heroes... Sonic Forces disappointed me very much but Sonic Frontiers is great. There is also a lot of great songs in the Sonic games, something I noticed even when I was little. I still have to buy and play Sonic Superstars and I think that I'll like it, although I know that the boss battles are long and that some songs are better than others... It's great to have so many Sega games available on Xbox, some of them thanks to backwards compatibility.

@Banjo- I always said that the day nintendo ever releases any of their games on PC is the day they go under . Why play their games on bad hardware & bad online? one would probably argue portability as a reason, but steamdeck exists. I agree with your sentiments about nintendo wholeheartedly; i like nintendo as much as i like all gaming platforms , but people are quick to forget that any of the big three can mess up any moment and have negatives, & all three have messed up greatly before . It’s just that nintendo is the golden child and their egregious practices are swept under a really big rug. I wish people weren’t biased but that’s also asking for too much. Congrats on your newly acquired 3DS though, i personally never had one but i always had my eye on it. i do own a DS lite & DSi (a forgotten relic) .

“ Now, I appreciate more other companies more, such as Sega, Microsoft, Capcom, Koei Tecmo, EA, Ubisoft”

• True that, except for me it’s sony that made me appreciate other companies more. i’m tired of them milking the same old third person template of interactive movies and slow heavy narratives when i just want to play a video game. I also always think what could have been if Microsoft bought sega back then , i always thought it was a missed opportunity because i think sega fits microsoft. Microsoft is the mesh of nintendos quirkiness and co-op multiplayer fun and sonys more mature hardware and library share , at least that’s how i see them & why the xbox was always appealing to me. I hope they gain more traction in the near future because they are very much needed in gaming.

As for sonic , my favorite 3D games are SA2 & Sonic Unleashed (HD version) . Although my first experience with sonic was 2D (siblings had a genesis) i gravitated more towards the 3D games , i also have the mega collection on my cube & it was my least played sonic game as a kid, I just prefer 3D sonic . Although i’ve played the crap outta mania, currently have about 60+ hours in it & beat the game with all 3 characters and all emeralds for each. Funny you mentioned generations as i just beat the game on PC 2 days ago , had it on 360 in the past and just wasn’t feeling it , decided to give it another go on better hardware & while i still don’t like it better than unleashed , its a decent compilation with a modern spin to tug at sonic fans nostalgia. Sonic colors was always bad imo , forces ….embarrassment , and frontiers im not feeling either . Just sick of the boosting and weak level design in these recent games , i agree they need to remaster the 3D classics such as adventure and heroes, or better yet a sequel to heroes. the adventure style gameplay needs to sorely come back , like NOW.

honorable mention : Sonic 06 deserves a second chance , its a game with so much potential and ambition that was squandered by corporate suits that rushed the developers and forced them to release for the holiday$ . There is the P-06 thing , but an official re-imagining of sonic 06 needs to happen from sega, change sonic’s design from 06 (his body is too human) and absolutely remove the kissing scene and romance between hedgehog and human .

Nintendo gets away with whatever, not just on the threads but on reviews, everywhere... I don't get it. Fortunately, I see sensible comments even on NL but then the Nintendo army always comes defending their cruel leader. They are treated by the media like a god whatever they do and their games are always overrated. My New 3DS is not new ha ha, I have it since launch but it's just called like that. It's the smaller model that was not released in USA.

As a PS4 owner since it launched, I agree. I got tired of Sony's games quickly because they are graphically impressive but with orthopaedic gameplay and not really fun. They are also overrated while better games (third-party games) are overlooked. It was Xbox the platform I tried the last and, like you said, it's a combination of Nintendo's "gamey" games and online fun and, most of all, light years ahead hardware and services. I think Nintendo and Xbox is a good combination for any gamer, but I'd love to play Nintendo games on Series X and not on Switch. I don't like Nintendo as a company but that doesn't mean that I don't like their games and they are part of my childhood and my life, all consoles since SNES have been home. I remember the DSi very well! That and New Nintendo 3DS are great handhelds, the best ones they have released, although 3DS has DS built in, which is awesome.

Rarely I give a game up but I gave Sonic Heroes up (I tried it a few years ago) because of the camera. In the jungle level, I didn't know what do do and always died and run out of lives. Those things need to be fixed in the remasters. I beat Sonic Adventure DX on GC. The camera is also bad but I managed, perhaps more patience back then? The only good thing about Sonic Forces is part of the soundtrack. Sonic Frontiers is much better, so I think whatever comes next should be really good. I want those remasters, too. I never played Sonic Adventure 2 but I'm waiting for a possible remaster. I haven't played Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 either. That one needs to be remade, so they can remove the awkward things. That reminds me of the missions of Sonic Adventure DX, like taking a man that looked like a statue to a burger joint!

@Banjo- Do you think nintendo’s gonna deliver with the alleged “switch 2” ? nintendo is on a high pedestal and arrogant phase right now , and we’ve seen how that always goes with companies . i’m super skeptical , but it really is annoying how people blindly worship them & their super safe games

also i’m shocked to hear that you never played SA2! If you ever do play it , it’s gonna feel outdated , but it’s still playable enough. what carries the game is how fun the story and levels are & the music is good as usual . It’s the GOAT 3D sonic

@nomither6 I hope that they remake Sonic Adventure games but if they don't, I will play SA2 eventually, it's on Xbox anyway. Once again, spot-on words, like "super safe"! Nintendo used to make creative, challenging, magical games. Now they are mild, repetitive and sometimes outsourced. Examples: Mario Kart 8 gameplay with vehicles glued to the road and same gameplay for water sections or Super Mario Odyssey with little platforming although is compared to Super Mario 64 unfairly. Mario Kart 8 looks great but it's the most boring in the series. Super Mario Odyssey looks fine, but it's also the most boring Mario 3D game. Then, what new games have they made? Luigi's Mansion was outsourced and then they acquired the studio. Animal Crossing New Horizons was a bore fest until they added more content. Yoshi's Crafted World is probably the worst Yoshi game to date. Kirby got better on Switch, but it was developed by Hal Laboratory. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are basically sandbox games that have lost all the magic, puzzles, storytelling and dungeons that made The Legend of Zelda my favourite video game IP since Ocarina of Time.

What has Nintendo developed since 2017? Very little, considering their past output and that since then they only have one platform to develop for. Most of the Nintendo IPs are abandoned because they think that they are not commercial enough. I don't know if Nintendo are going to deliver with Switch 2. I expect it to be another hybrid console since the Switch has been so profitable, but I don't know how they are going to feed it since there are no more ports to re-market! How powerful it will be? Enough to run Wii U games like Breath of the Wild in 1080p 60fps according to the developer leaks, but probably nothing more than that. What do you think it will be?