Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Knuckles-Fajita That's a shame. It would suggest Nintendo hadn't asked them to make a new Mario and Luigi for the Switch. The series is really enjoyable.

@mookysam Apparently the incredibly low sales of their last 3DS remake led Nintendo to can plans for a subsequent 3DS project.

I think a new M + L game would sell admirably on the Switch. The problem is that AlphaDream was stuck in the 3DS ghetto as a B-tier developer after the Switch took the majority of core Nintendo fans with it.

@Ralizah that's such a shame i loved those games

@Ralizah There's definitely an audience for M&L games and Mario RPGs generally. Properly marketed on the Switch I've no doubt a new entry would sell well. Real shame that the developer (and no doubt the series) suffered for the absolutely baffling decision to double down on 3DS development.

Are the new M+L games any good?
I have one on GBA and my God it is one of the worst games I played in the system with super slow battles, very bad writing and bad repetitive "humour".

@Ralizah In YS VIII I just entered a cave area and the framerate is very bad. The d-pad in the Lite worked well in some 2D indies I tried like Chasm. I have Street Fighter 2 TFC I may check the performance there.

Is there an online community in Switch figthing games though? I sometimes can't find players in PS4 games...

@mookysam I feel like the reason they remade Superstar Saga was an obvious one, but it was also cheaper to make, using an existing engine. Then they tried again as they began bleeding money but we're unwilling to move over to more expensive HD development. As such, they didn't get much income in the end, but it was too costly to do anything else.

And it was obvious Nintendo had a plan to support 3DS with remakes for a while, one every few months, just to keep some cash coming.

At the same time, AlphaDream had advertised for HD developers for Switch and PS4, but they may have been too late trying to move over.

All of Nintendo's other partners had HD experience on Wii U or other platforms. Alpha Dream didn't.

@belmont I didn't have any real issues with the framerate before late-game. It hangs around 30fps, for the most part. When you get to Dana's optional dungeons, though, one of them in particular turns the game into a slideshow. It's unfortunate, as I found the port very playable otherwise.

I tend to be one of those people who only notices a game's framerate when it gets REALLY low, though, or very unstable.

Ok so I tried the new analogue d-pad of Lite in Street Fighter 2 and it seems only slighty better than the OG one. Seems like it is the same buttons as the OG model with some + shape plastic slaped on top that gives the "illusion" of a proper d-pad. This is way lazy!

@KratosMD I'm having a good time with it too. But the game is reminding me again why I feel the silent protagonist is an outdated concept in gaming. The hero just feels like a weapon that everyone else just points at the next bad guy or monster.

@belmont Teardowns show it isn't. It's actually a normal D-Pad, but the contacts are placed somewhat far apart to prevent mispresses like the reported and oft moaned about Pro Controller.

You've got your + and 4 contact points. No buttons.

But if you want to get technical a D-Pad in the technical sense is just literally 4 buttons with a plastic + over them...

Silent protagonists > Protagonists that talk continuously, imo.

In a few weeks, The Witcher 3 is going to be fully playable on a dedicated handheld!

I don't think I can resist any longer.

@Ralizah Technically you could've played it on a handheld PC when it came out

@Octane Laptops are technically portable, but they're nowhere near as small, convenient, or comfortable as handhelds.

Unless you mean that $700 GPD Win 2 thing, which... nah.

@Ralizah Day 1 purchase for me. I played some on PS4 then balked at the size of the game. So looking forward to taking it on trips with me. Really excited!

Was it just me or the control scheme on the PS4 version of Witcher 3 was kind of poorly optimized? I may look into the Switch version of the performace is good.

The more I play with the Lite the more I like it, makes me regret investing in the OG model.

@Ralizah Yeah, that GPD thing

@Rudy_Manchego Honestly, the sheer scope of the game makes it feel like something I'll never have time for on my stationary platforms. I mean, that's probably not entirely true. I made time for H:ZD, and that was also a pretty big game, but I do play on my handhelds a LOT more.

If I was bothered about performance, I'd play it on my PC at 60fps, but... I dunno. Shiny graphics aren't as valuable to me as being able to play anywhere I want at the drop of a hat. I'm expecting it to be a little rough, but that's OK.

@belmont Here's handheld footage. Not a direct feed, so it won't look as good as playing in person, but it'll give you an idea of what the game looks like:

Word of God says it's 540p handheld and targeting 720p docked. Framerate doesn't look rock solid, but not super choppy, either. It's worth noting that CDProjektRed probably optimized the game further since then.

It'll... be a little rough. It's a demanding modern-gen AAA game running on hardware that's a good deal weaker than anything else on the market. Personally, I think it looks marvelous, given what they had to work with.

I've wanted to check this game out for a while, and now that the developer is supporting the Switch, it seems as good a time as any to make good on that. I especially like that they shelled out for the expensive 32GB cards so that the entire game would be complete on cart.

@Ralizah It is understandable that the game will be toned down and it is OK however I very much prefer to drop the graphics quality, drow distances, shadows and optimize the framerate, controls, load times etc.

Concerning current generation AAA games on Switch... Doom and Wolfenstein were good ports (I used to have both although I sold Doom when I got the PS4 version), they control great and after the recent patches they run relatevely good, especially the latter. Both get a drop in resolution sometimes especially in portable mode but it is not as destructing as in Xenoblade 2 where portable performance is very bad. I have also tried Skyrim but this game is not that demanding performance wise and runs great almost all the time. I would like to try Diablo 3 and Mortal Kombat too but have not yet.

Other "recent" games I have in Switch but not "triple A" in the same sense are the new Sonic racing, Sonic Mania, Dragon Quest S all have good performance. Some indies and retro collections have issues for some bizzare reason.

As for Witcher 3 it seems quite good actually since it is still work in progress. I will definetely check it although I don't really get the 50 pound price tag. 35-40 makes more sense.

So wait... That 24 hour pokémon Sword & Shield livestream showed maybe ten seconds of My Little Galarian Ponyta... and that was it?

Not a complete waste of time and rescources in the slightest

Glad you're enjoying it @KratosMD . Didn't really like DQ VIII myself (The only one I've played) but nice to hear!