• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

The Nintendo Thread of Existential Doom

RT-55J

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
My instincts tell me that if they're really making a Switch that supports 4K in docked mode, that they're going to aim for the device to have the same level of nominal performance in all other respects to avoid splitting the library.

It's worth noting that the character portraits in Smash Ultimate are 4K-ready IIRC.
 
MCBanjoMike

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Well they didn't fix drift when they released the Switch Lite, so maybe don't get your hopes up too high. I like the sound of a Switch that can do 4k games (or at least upscale 1440p to 4k), but if this is a half-step console then I don't expect it to actually amount to much. Nintendo doesn't have a great track record when it comes to incremental hardware improvements actually being used for anything. Still smarting over the unused potential of the DSi over here...
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
I wouldn’t rule out any pro-only games. DSi and New 3DS both had them, though they were generally for more niche IPs were there was less pressure to make massive amounts of cash.

Assuming we do get pro model anytime soon. This could just be market analysts trying to will a product into existence based on dodgy information (or willing a stock shortage when said product fails to surface).
 
TheSL

TheSL

I doubt we'll get a 4K-level model if if they do some kind of refresh tbh. Nintendo has never been concerned with being fully up to date.
 
estragon

estragon

Octopus Prime said:
Hopefully, it would fix the Drift, is nothing else
Click to expand...

My worry is that if fixing their controllers was a priority, they could/would have already done it.

Clearly they have the knowhow to make joysticks with a much lower failure rate than this, and free repairs in some regions indicates that they must be aware that it's an issue. Could it just be the case and they've done that math that it's more profitable to produce failure-prone controllers and offer free repairs/replacements for the small subset of users who will bother to take them up on it?

Hopefully the issue is just that it was too expensive to change the production process for this design flaw by the time they acknowledged it was a design flaw.
 
Zef

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Speaking of drift, IS there a way to fix it currently, since apparently customer service is offline due to COVID? My left stick is now drifting 80% of the time unless I'm actively using it. I tried calibrating it when Mario Odyssey became almost unplayable, and I think it only made things worse.
 
AwkGrant

AwkGrant

Snap, Crackle and Pop all in one physical form.
(He/Him)
If I remember correctly the issue is that they bought really cheap joysticks in a MASSIVE bulk so any hope of them dumping the rest of their stock to make better quality controllers is pointless.
 
Octopus Prime

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
You can find instructions online, and it's apparently a pretty easy fix if you have the know how for it.

I got an inexpensive 3rd party replacement (It was far less expensive when I bought it, admittedly) as they aren't known to have that issue whatsoever. Downside is that I also can't use it outside of Handheld mode, but I never did anyway, so... there you go.
 
Droewyn

Droewyn

Smol Monster
(She/her, they/them)
Zef said:
Speaking of drift, IS there a way to fix it currently, since apparently customer service is offline due to COVID? My left stick is now drifting 80% of the time unless I'm actively using it. I tried calibrating it when Mario Odyssey became almost unplayable, and I think it only made things worse.
Click to expand...

Customer service is back! I was able to get two joycons replaced in July; one with drift, and the other one had stopped holding a battery charge.
 
Ted

Ted

Zef said:
Speaking of drift, IS there a way to fix it currently, since apparently customer service is offline due to COVID? My left stick is now drifting 80% of the time unless I'm actively using it. I tried calibrating it when Mario Odyssey became almost unplayable, and I think it only made things worse.
Click to expand...

Replacing it with a Hori joycon for $25 USD might be worthwhile if you:
  • prefer handheld mode (or have a different controller for docked)
  • don't care about HD rumble
I got one for the d-pad and haven't looked back.
 
RT-55J

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
I'm not sure why, but I wasn't expecting them to announce 4 rhythm games in a single direct.
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Collection of Saga is a little more reasonably priced than Collection of Mana at least. (Psst, hey Square Enix, how about a Collection of Chrono with Trigger and Cross bundled together?)

Aside from that it was kind of dull, and had nothing like the SMT3/5 trailers that would placate at least part of the audience. No wonder they just dropped it without any fanfare...
 
Bongo

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
Quarantine has slowed customer service, not stopped it. I got a drifting joycon replaced a couple months ago, gratis. They don't fix them, but rather just send you a new one, and that new one might eventually also succumb to drift because of the aforementioned issue with a particular defective part.

A hypothetical Switch Pro would likely use an update of the Tegra chipset. Tegra chips made since the modified X1 that powers the Switch basically just have more CPU and GPU cores, so they might be able to yield performance improvements in existing games. Higher fidelity at the same supported resolutions is more likely than 4k support, however - these things are faster, but they're not four times faster.
 
estragon

estragon

The source of this (Takashi Mochizuki at Bloomberg) is probably the journalist with the most credibility for this kind of reporting. But I think it's worth noting that his story only goes as far as to say that they have "looked into" 4K, among other features. I think in some circles this has already kind of been shorthanded as The 4K Switch or whatever through the usual game of telephone that happens from original reporting-->summaries on every other video game and tech related news site and content mill-->social media. But there's no reporting that they're definitely targeting 4K or anything like that.
 
MetManMas

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
I picked up a cheap PowerA wired controller for Switch like a month ago when my left Joy-Con started having drift issues here and there. The stick and D-pad aren't the best, but they'll get the job done until I can get something better.

I just wish more of these controllers had NFC capabilities; I use 'em a lot with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Seen a few reasonably priced third party controllers that support NFC but I'm not thrilled about having to provide my own batteries.

I'm sure it doesn't help that games like Smash Ultimate and Luigi's Mansion 3 are hell on a joystick. I haven't played either one recently for that very reason.
 
RT-55J

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
Another possibility I can think is that the new hardware might offer 4K support as an option to developers willing to work under the limitations it would impose, and not as a unilateral upgrade to existing software. Granted, it does seem kinda weird to increase resolution at the expense of graphical fidelity, but I can imagine some use cases where that shouldn't be an issue (like streaming video).

I've also heard the idea floated around of the dock having one of those fancy AI upscaler things, though again that's just baseless speculation.
 
Zef

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
I bought an SNES-form factor 8bitdo about a year ago because I wanted a more precise control pad and for Katamari Damacy, and honestly it was my exclusive controller for everything from Smash to Goose to Gato Roboto until I ran into unexplicable lag in particular games --Shovel Knight, Dead Cells, etc work just fine, but Pokemon and Blasphemous have lag between 0.7 and a whole 1 second.

I'll look into getting a Joycon replacement now that I know customer service is still active.
 
John

John

(he/him)
I like the Hori D-Pad controller, as it's cheap, and has a good d-pad. Doesn't work for a Right Joycon replacement, and doesn't work wirelessly, but if your issue is only Left Joycon related and you play handheld, I recommend it.

Zef, you can try to update your firmware on those 8bitdo pads. They have updates all the time. The firmware updater isn't the most user friendly, feels a bit like hacking an NES Classic every time I update. Still works, though.
 
Kirin

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Wait, I somehow didn't know you could use random retro bluetooth controllers with the Switch. Will this work with the non-pro SNES30 I have? No analog sticks obviously, but probably way better for retro games than the Joycons....
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
I don’t think just any old Bluetooth controller will work, but if their firmware support it’s, like 8bitdo controllers do, then yes. I have an old NES30 pro I sometimes use with the Switch, and a quick glance show non pro controllers are supported too.
 
estragon

estragon

Kirin said:
Wait, I somehow didn't know you could use random retro bluetooth controllers with the Switch. Will this work with the non-pro SNES30 I have? No analog sticks obviously, but probably way better for retro games than the Joycons....
Click to expand...

It definitely works. Sometimes I find pairing to be a bit finicky, but I dunno I always find pairing wireless devices to be a bit finicky.
 
Kirin

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Well sweet. I'll have to try that out at some point.

It occurs to me that I may have to update the controller firmware, though, as John mentioned, since I'm pretty sure the box for this one didn't mention Switch so it may have been produced before the Switch connectivity was a thing?
 
estragon

estragon

Kirin said:
It occurs to me that I may have to update the controller firmware, though, as John mentioned, since I'm pretty sure the box for this one didn't mention Switch so it may have been produced before the Switch connectivity was a thing?
Click to expand...

Probably.

They have a firmware upgrade page on their website to walk you through the process.

If that doesn't work you'll have to navigate to the controller you own on their list of products and there should be a link to download the firmware. (I haven't actually used the tool. The last time I did this it didn't exist yet...)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top