Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah Thanks!

@Tsurii Still haven't convinced me why MH should stay Nintendo exclusive IF Nintendo isn't going to pay for it. By default you should assume that any third party is going to be multiplat, unless one of the three decided to pay for exclusivity or a system simply can't run the run/porting is difficult.

The only way a 3rd Party game will be 'exclusive' to a specific console without the manufacturer paying for it, is if that system has a specific function/feature that the developer needs for the game design. By that I mean if a 3rd Party developer was making a VR specific game, then it makes sense the only console it can (currently) sell its game on is the PS4.

If a developer was to make a Switch exclusive game without funding from Nintendo, you would think that maybe something around the touch screen, mobile (although both may limit the 'docked' experience - not sure if Nintendo would be 'happy' with that) or Amiibo's. Maybe the rumble aspect could be a factor too.

There isn't a precedent that just because a game was exclusive that it will remain exclusive without continued financial backing, a contract in place or ownership of the licence. Insomniac own Sunset Overdrive IP and whilst that was exclusive to Xbox, it doesn't mean SO2 would be on Xbox only. It could be on all platforms or maybe Sony/Nintendo opt to pay for exclusivity. This is no different from Titanfall either - although we have seen a couple of Maps from the original in TF2.

It may depend on the ambition of the developers and whether or not games will be able to run on a certain system. Of course if they are making it for the 'weakest' spec, then it should have no issue but if their ambition was to make the game in a certain way, to have certain criteria that requires a specific target hardware, that would limit on who they could approach for financial exclusivity too.

@Tsurii 'also cheaper to develop for because they don't have to bother with crap like the Pro's boost mode.'

That comment indicates you have a lack an understanding of the PS4 pro and its boost mode. Although I'm not disagreeing that it could potentially cost more to develop for in the long run.

The pro is a beast, I've just jumped from Mario Kart 8 and Lego on the switch to Ratchet and Clank on the pro at uhd and the graphics are outstanding. Mind blowing in fact, it has so much stuff going on it makes the switch look like some retro throwback console. Pity the gameplay is boring as hell mind.

@themcnoisy Have to stress, again...if you wanted that experience anywhere prepare to spend a lot more than you would on car insurance.

I don't see why a PS4 version would be terribly expensive. Even if PS4 gets MH5 as well, I'd bet money that it's just a port of the Switch version. Wouldn't even need to utilize boost mode at all.

Chances are, it takes no more effort making a game to utilise the Pro as it does to make a game for switch and its 'handheld' and 'docked' modes. Most games these days are made in 4k anyway and relatively 'simple' patches can be used to increase the output resolution on Pro supported games. Of course they could have extra leeway enabling them to adjust various other settings like Shadow quality, draw distances etc too but at its most basic, its just altering the resolution output - similar in essence to how PC gamers can set the output resolution.

Switch does something similar - with the handheld mode, it sets the output at 720p but when docked, it can be set up to 1080p. Minecraft though keeps both handheld and docked modes at 720p but it does increase the draw distance when docked meaning that objects pop-in much closer to the player when in handheld mode.

The principal though is no different. The Switch is like the Base PS4 in Handheld mode and docked is more like the Pro. Docked the GPU is more than 2x as powerful as it is in Handheld mode (Handheld reduces GPU down to 40%). 720p has 921,600pixels and 1080p has 2,073,600p which represents more than double the pixel count. This may not be the same jump that 1080p to 4k is but the Pro rarely renders more than double the pixel count. Horizon: ZD for example is rendering 2x1080p every frame - twice that of the base PS4 although it is using the checkerboard method to deliver a full 4k image. Point is though, the Pro is rendering double the pixels - the same as the Switch between Handheld (720p) and Docked (1080p)

Boost mode is something very different and has no effect on the developers or their time. Its using the higher clock speeds of the CPU and GPU to increase the performance in games that were intended to run with the base PS4 hardware. If a game runs perfectly on a base PS4 - i.e. locked frame rate and resolution - Boost mode has NO effect at all. It only helps those games that have unlocked frame rates and/or dynamic resolution but will NEVER go above the capped level. If a game is capped at 1080/30 but may drop frames and or resolution, then Boost mode will reduce the instances and impact of these drops but will never make the game run above 1080/30.

@BLP_Software my pro and 4k TV cost £735 combined. R and C was £15. So £750 for that experience.

Worth it?

Well my 1080p TV broke and my PS4 scrubs hdd was full and both pads were broken so it made sense to me. (I was in the process of looking for a new pad and hdd anyway)

It's fashionable to hit on pro, the things a cluster of mixed messaging and unstandardised curation. But in Ratchet and Clank and Infamous SS in uhd it looks incredible, the best games I've ever seen graphically.

@themcnoisy Well, my point is youre comparing a big mac shapes box and bery large TV to a 7 inch wide 1 inch thick device. To shrink the components of the Pro and get a 4k screen that was wirth using on it, would sacrifice what Switch is at this stage in every way.

I guess I dont understand why people criticise it for what it isnt, rather than praise it for what it is.

@BLP_Software I love the switch, it's awesome. I was replying to an ill informed opinion about the pro and boost mode. Seen as though this is a Playstation fan site I responded. You then made an ill informed opinion about the costs involved.

The pro and switch for what they offer are both cheap. 4k Tvs can be found relatively cheap too.

'big mac shapes box'

The pro looks great under my TV so does the switch.

I think it's fair game to compare the switch and pro, they have released at similar points in time for similar prices. As a console gamer the pro / ps4 is a better option right now, as a mobile gamer it's the switch.

@themcnoisy Yes it is fair game to compare their games and offerings but I dont find it fair game to lament that its not as amazing as the Pro given what it is.

Its like asking why your car cant travel as fast as a plane. One is a dinky little thing. The other is a massive beast.

In a few years time who knows, maybe with a company willing to take losses on the initial sale, perhaps sooner.

Will Switch ever relesse or be capable of something even close to the base PS4? No. To think so is asinine. To complain about that fact when you know what you are buying, let alone logic dictating it couldnt hit that performance less its little fan spin fast enough to acheive flight as it tries to cool the inevitably melting heap of cheap plastic in your hands, is also asinine.

And since it's such a cheap overpriced hunk of plastic with nothing going for it beyond a nice screen if your phone is dead and youre out of the house, at least as far as Im concerned, Im shocked it even manages what it can.

Given what it is, I dont see it lasting past this December. Itll be largely irrelevant at the time.

Plus as you know I have a habit of judging something on what it is, not what it isnt. So frankly comparing it to PS4 is being nice. In reality its a cheap lump of plastic with two overly expensive controllers that are too small for most people, a very poor selection of games, and even those dont deliver in a lot of ways.

And come on. Though Pro looks good it really does look like a Big Mac. 3 buns and the special sauce is Boost Mode, and the checkerboarding when used is the gherkin: some love it others hate it.

@BLP_Software Do you own a switch? Or a pro?

I'm just throwing that out there as most people who own them use them regularly. The switch is great for taking away with the family. The pro for gaming at home on your Todd. That's my take on it anyway, I'm too invested in gaming to care If a consoles a rip roaring success as long as games come out for the system, I like them both and I am content for now. In that capacity I will only ever need 8 or so great multi-player games for the switch. So that's not such a huge negative.

I'm really unhappy with the accessory costs for the switch, to be fair the steep price of a ds4 has me wincing but I bite. Where as the switch peripheral costs are too extravagant for impulse purchase. The controllers are basically the cost of 2 games which isn't right.

@BLP_Software to be fair I like big macs lol.

I always get a big mac meal if I'm in mcd's. So maybe I'm biased to its swag.

@themcnoisy Hey big macs are sweet. Something about em is good.

As for accessories I feel Switch should at this time be more expensive. Newer, better battery and more tech thats used more. The choices for the DS4 hurt my head let alone its current price.

And to answer the quedtion: neither anymore. Never gad a need fir Pro (You know why) and the Switch...ugh. Dust magnet and not wirth even a third kf the price.

Heck I play free PC fan games more than my base PS4. That should say a loy.

@BLP_Software . The switch pumps out the best on the go experience, it's easily worth £280 what I paid plus a game. Every gamer should have one. My value is obviously different to yours but you have a mega pc and they aren't cheap. Nintendo have done a great job. The graphics are fantastic for travelling and I'm hopeful for the systems games over the next few years. Docked it's a bit bad tbh for a few reasons, and I would much rather play on the PS4.

Wherever or not you like the PS4 games, even the most cynical amongst us must appreciate Persona 5, horizon and the last of us.

_{Come on Mc, you know better -Tasuki-}

@themcnoisy Love Persona 5. Can't speak for Horizon. Absolutely detest The Last of Us. And I don't think of myself as a particularly cynical person.

You got me on this thread - I loves me some Big Mac. I know it is bad for me but dang it tastes good!

It is am interesting topic on what constitutes best value, Pro or Switch. Right now, I would go pro because of the games library. Switch, as @themcnoisy mentions is currently a must for gamers who want to game on the go but I think most should see how the game library expands beyond first party nintendo.

As for me, being able to stay at my in laws and sneak off for 15 minutes to bash out a dungeon on Zelda = worth it.

@Ralizah but I know you can appreciate the good in the last of us. That's a big difference, you don't have to like a games to appreciate what it does well. For me the Witcher 3 and bloodborne came at a bad time and didn't grab me, I still know they are good games and I've only put a few hours at most into each.

@Rudy_Manchego The PS4 slim represents the best value lol 😂

@KratosMD Yrah you know why i said that?

Because the ganes I do get ibto no one likes. if i like it, its probably bad.

But the good news is opinions are subjective and everyones should be taken with a grain of salt because you may not like what another likes.

@ themcnoisy My PC isnt for playing. Its for making. And I cant get into Persona, and Horizon and TLOU just dont appeal to me. Sad I know but different folk like different things.

I cant get value from Switch, not even as a portable unit.

@BLP_Software
So wait a minute? I love Nintendo's new system and you hate it? What dimension are we in?