Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

Not gonna front: I'm super excited to see ANYTHING Monster Rancher after the series has been dead for so long, even if they're just ports of the first two games. Monster Rancher 2 is one of the best games on the PS1.

Onto the final dungeon now of the pretty decent Minish Cap. As a recent 2D Zelda sort of convert, I can now tell the goodies from the ok ones. It’s not up there with LttP or Link’s Awakening but it’s a fun time for the most part with a lot to do for a GBA game. The graphics are lovely too, very impressive. It’s just a bit obtuse at times and the kinstones are maybe a little too vast a mechanic.

@nessisonett Minish Cap is one of the few Zelda games I've yet to play through along with Majora's Mask, Phantom Hourglass and Zelda II. Started it up and played for a few hours before I got stuck and stopped playing it. From what I've played though, it does seem like one of the weakest games in the series. Hopefully I'll be able to give it a proper go one of these days.

First ever price cut for Switch has happened 4.5 years into its life - price varies but it's cut across Europe. £259 or €269 are the prices reported. Appears to be permanent.

I don’t keep up with this thread typically, due to not having a Switch (or any Nintendo products), but occasionally go through the internal debate about joining the Switch family. I’ve played a little off and on with friends’ Switches and had mixed experiences, some of which I’ve mentioned in the past.

I intro this to just apologize if this comes across as a dumb question or something that’s been covered in this thread or elsewhere before, but I was wondering about this “cloud gaming” thing I’ve heard mentioned. So how does it work? And I don’t mean the technical details necessarily, but I understand it to be possible to play current gen level games on the older and constrained hardware of the Switch through this cloud gaming? Is it basically streaming games onto the Switch that it can’t handle playing natively? And if so, how do people find it — does it work well? Are you getting good visual fidelity through using this gaming route to experience a higher level software? Decent stability and frame rate? Good resolution?

And how does it work, as far as on the system? Is there an app for “Cloud gaming” that you click on and it runs within the console that way? Is it only exclusive to GamePass, or is there a Nintendo app or a bunch of third party apps which are separate? What would I be looking at cost-wise to be able to play games through the cloud? Is it all service based like GP or do you actually buy a copy of say, RE8 or AC Valhalla, and stream it through an app on the Switch?

Now that we know the Switch Pro or Switch 2 isn’t in the immediate future, I have no reason necessarily to wait for that, so was wondering if this cloud thing was a way for Nintendo to ‘keep up’, so to speak, with the increasing hardware demands of third party output. I understand that the main reason to own a Switch is for the large library of first party games and to play things that are made to run well on the handheld, and for fans this is reason enough to own one. I’ve long considered buying one just to play Breath of the Wild, Octopath Traveler, Xenoblade Chronicles, etc. But if I’m going to get 4-6 years of use out of the product, I’m wondering if the added bonus of playing current level third party new releases would put this over the top.

@Th3solution Yeah, it's just streaming the games, like Stadia. If you have a good internet connection, it works apparently surprisingly well. But still, it's never as good as native play, and you're paying full price for limited time access to the game. As a owner of multiple consoles, I fail to see the point.

@Th3solution Each cloud game has their own app that you buy outright. They have a trial so you can test your internet and tolerance for streaming. They work alright to be honest. If I didn’t have anything else, I’d definitely use it for Hitman 3 because I’d have done anything to play that game.

@Th3solution I played through a bit of Control on the Switch and it ran surprisingly very well. The problem with these standalone releases is that you're essentially paying almost full price for a game you'll never own because it's cloud-based. In that regard, I don't recommend supporting this approach at all. It's not worth the money and you never get to own these games.

Now, that's not to say that cloud gaming is a bad idea. I've been convinced that cloud gaming is wonderful if you have the right tool for it and in this case, Game Pass is that tool. To elaborate, Game Pass is a subscription service where you "rent games", meaning you never own these games to begin with. That's why it's a good idea to subscribe to Game Pass for the low price so that you can experience cloud gaming without having to pay €40-50 for each title like you'd do with Control on the Switch. If someone told me that I could play through the entirety of Control for only €15, I'd do it because to me that amount is worth it for the experience even if I don't get to own the game. Furthermore, the neat thing about Game Pass is that Microsoft has started rolling out cloud gaming which comes with the service (Game Pass Ultimate to be more specific). Cloud gaming with Game Pass means that you don't need to own an Xbox or even a good PC to run the games. You just need a computer or a smart device and a controller. Even a DualShock 4 (and maybe DualSense, not sure though) will work. Then you just go to xbox.com/play on your web browser, sign in with an account where you are subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate and you're ready to play hundreds of games through the cloud. To be clear, you can literally play Xbox games on your web browser and you only need a controller. Don't know about you, but I still find this to be some sort of magic, lol.

Now the experience may vary depending on your internet connection. My connection is fairly solid and I managed to play through the entirety of The Medium with barely any issues. Every 5-10 minutes I would hear some weird crackling with the audio and a brief amount of lag, but other than that the game ran very well. Also keep in mind that Xbox Cloud Gaming is still in the beta phase, meaning that they're going to improve upon the experience in the future. Right now though, I wouldn't recommend playing games through Xbox Cloud Gaming that require pinpoint accuracy.

It's all worth it though if you ask me. For example, The Medium is a next-gen exclusive so you can't play it on your PS4 or Xbox One. I managed to play through it on my web browser and I didn't even have to download anything. I just started up the game, waited roughly ten seconds and I was playing it. That's another advantage of cloud gaming, you can pretty much sample any game without having to download dozens of GBs.

I kinda went off a bit there, but the point is that if you want cloud gaming, I wouldn't recommend the approach developers are taking on the Switch. Instead, I highly recommend Game Pass Ultimate. If you're looking for first-party titles and gaming on the go, then yeah the Switch is a wonderful device to own. And no, Game Pass isn't available on the Switch, unfortunately.

Yeah, I subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate over the summer (at the time they had a deal where you got 3 months for $1) just so I could try out cloud gaming without having to invest a lot into it.

I usually played on my Fire tablet with my DualShock 4 or my phone with one of those controller grips, and really got into playing Forza Horizon 4 for awhile and it worked really well with my home wi-fi.

Keep in mind that lag isn't the only thing you have to watch out for while using the cloud though. Sometimes the image will have to buffer & things will get really pixely for a bit (granted, this wasn't an issue at home, but on my work's wi-fi when I was playing during lunch I had more issues with the resolution tanking than I did with lag).

@Octane @RR529 @LtSarge @nessisonett
Thanks for the info. That helps. For some reason I thought GamePass had already become available on Switch, but I guess that’s still a rumor. I’m not too excited about streaming games in general, but certainly don’t feel at all thrilled about buying a game that I only can stream. If I buy a game I want to be able to play it without the lag, and especially on a mobile device I need to be able play it on the go — on the train, on the road, etc.

Really got back into my Switch recently. Not only have I got it set up to remote play my PS5, I bought the Hori split controller so it doesn't feel awful to use in handheld. It doesn't get much comfier than playing Skyward Sword, BotW, or Ace Attorney in bed.

@Matroska Must have hacked it, right? Can't imagine how else you'd be able to set up PS5 remote play on a Switch.

I have the SPP, but I haven't used it since I got my Lite, really. The Lite is just so much nicer for handheld play compared to a Switch with the SPP attached, which makes it gigantic.

With that said, the turbo button on the SPP was a lifesaver for Animal Crossing.

How are you liking the non-motion controls for Skyward Sword? I haven't tried it out yet.

@Matroska I was looking to get one of those as I find the face buttons really uncomfortable with the joy con's on some games.

I did get a pro controller for playing during breaks in work on my TV, which is so much better. I finally managed to get past the section I was stuck on in Ori.

Well I finally caved in and ordered a new pair of joy cons for my Switch. I've had my Switch since 2018 and the original joy cons I got with it have always been faulty. I think it's because the store I bought it from sold me a used Switch even though they said it was new. Anyway, the triggers didn't feel good to use and the left joy con's control stick doesn't respond when tilting it in certain directions, which affected gameplay for games such as Pokémon Let's Go (I couldn't run in certain directions) and Layton's Mystery Journey (the cursor wouldn't move as fast in certain directions). On top of all this, I started experiencing drifting in both of my joy cons earlier this year and it has made some games absolutely infuriating to play (such as Super Mario Party). So I've been meaning to buy new joy cons all this time and this week I saw that an online store was selling a pair at a reduced price for €60 (normally they cost €80) and I got an additional 10% off from a discount code they sent me, so ultimately I paid €54 for new joy cons, which is a much better price than the standard €80, which is absolutely ridiculous.

I never wanted to buy new joy cons because a) I shouldn't have to buy new controllers for a system that I've had for only three years and b) the new joy cons are also going to exhibit the same drift issues in a couple of years time, so what's the point. Well, considering Nintendo has announced their next Switch and it's basically a standard Switch with a few improvements and they haven't improved the joy cons, I felt like I might as well just buy a new pair now since it'll most likely be a while before they announce a next-gen system. So why play amazing upcoming games like Metroid Dread, Mario Party, Pokémon D/P remakes etc. with faulty controllers when I can at least use the new ones for a couple of years and have normal good experiences. But it's still so annoying that it had to be this way. Either way, I'm not buying another pair of joy cons even if these ones exhibit drift issues as well until Nintendo announces their next system.

I know I shouldn't have but I ordered 3 switch games that came today:

WarioWare: Get it Together
Neo Geo Pocket Selection Vol. 1
Game Builder Garage

Playing too many games at the moment though so I'm I don't know when I'll get time to play these. Most excited for WarioWare though!! I love that series

@ralphdibny I've only played a few WarioWare games, one of them being Smooth Moves on the Wii, which I really liked. I don't like this series that much since they're just a collection of "micro" games, but the Switch game actually looks really fun. Hope you'll enjoy it!

@LtSarge cheers! Yeah should be good. Ive been playing them since the first one on the GBA. The only ones I haven't played are Twisted which didn't get a UK release and DIY/DIY Showcase.

I don't really see it as a collection of microgames, instead I just see it as a game in of itself. The game is being thrown into random situations (microgames) and solving them quickly. I've got no idea about this one in particular but normally there's a story mode which takes you through each level where a selection of microgames are thrown at you to solve. Then I think you can replay the levels past the story modes boss, so if story mode has like 15 microgames per level then you can go beyond that when you replay and it gets faster and faster every time you hit the boss. Then you can go in and do the individual microgames and it's layed out similarly so they just get faster over time and you can get high scores depending on how far you get. There's often loads of random modes and extra games thrown in too that don't really fit the microgame format. Sometimes they are microgames expanded into longer experiences or they can just be random games, toys, accessories, demos, weird stuff like that. I've never felt short-changed by a WarioWare game especially since they are normally budget releases

@ralphdibny Yeah I just don't like replaying stuff I guess. The story mode in this game looks great but it seems like it's only a couple of hours long. The way I tackle games, I would just finish up story mode and then put the game away, lol. Which I know is not the best way to experience these games. So that's why this series doesn't interest me that much outside of the few games I've played.

Speaking of which, did you ever own a Nintendo DSi? I don't think many people remember it nowadays but that system actually had an exclusive digital only WarioWare game called "Snapped" and it utilised the camera of the system in order to let you control the microgames with your head and hands. While it was a very cool idea, the camera would rarely work in your favour so it always felt like a miracle whenever you completed one stage, lol.

Admittedly, the video makes it look really fun though but trust me, it would never work this smoothly, lol.

@LtSarge yeah that's fair enough. I don't think it's really a "replay" game in terms of the story if that makes sense. It's more akin to an arcade game or a fighting game. But it has way more variety than most arcade games which is what keeps me interested.

I didn't own one at the time (I might have picked one up at some point and it's knocking around in my house somewhere, not sure) but I did buy that Snapped on the 3DS as it has some DSi games available. Yeah it's trash lol. Barely worked at all.

The ones I have and have loved are the GBA original and it's multiplayer GameCube big brother, Touched on DS, Smooth Moves on Wii and Gold on 3DS. I don't massively rate Game & Wario on Wii U but i haven't given it a huge amount of time because it didn't hook me immediately.

@ralphdibny The turtle stacking game in WarioWare on GameCube is one of my favourite party games ever. It’s just brilliant.