The Nintendo Thread of Existential Doom

[lincolnic]

Switch sales were "dissappointing" last year. It's almost like it's in 7th year now and is already the 3rd best selling gaming console/handheld of all time (and hell even if its decline continues faster than expected it will still likely be awfully close to the top two by the end).

Now I'm just throwing this out there Nintendo: Have you considered a price drop?

Given that they won't be releasing another console until at least 2024, probably not.

 

[Daikaiju]

Now I'm just throwing this out there Nintendo: Have you considered a price drop?

Gentle reminder: The only Nintendo title I have seen in a bargain bin of new games is Other M.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I'm telling you, three years from now when Switches pile up at yard sales for twenty bucks each and there's a jailbreak, I'm gonna be living the high life. It'll be a system renaissance the likes of which we haven't seen since the PSP got an SD card adapter! Or the brief late 1980s revival of the Atari 2600!

 

[RT-55J]

Gentle reminder: The only Nintendo title I have seen in a bargain bin of new games is Other M.

I don't know if it's still the case, but last time I checked at a store new copies of Federation Force still retail at the original full price of $40 (current aftermarket prices are apparently double that).

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

I'm telling you, three years from now when Switches pile up at yard sales for twenty bucks each and there's a jailbreak, I'm gonna be living the high life. It'll be a system renaissance the likes of which we haven't seen since the PSP got an SD card adapter! Or the brief late 1980s revival of the Atari 2600!

Imagine the rainbow-colored piles of Joycons on the tables. The Nintendo ones will need new thumbsticks installed, sure, but that's just a fun afternoon project.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I'm telling you, three years from now when Switches pile up at yard sales for twenty bucks each and there's a jailbreak, I'm gonna be living the high life. It'll be a system renaissance the likes of which we haven't seen since the PSP got an SD card adapter! Or the brief late 1980s revival of the Atari 2600!

Imagine the rainbow-colored piles of Joycons on the tables. The Nintendo ones will need new thumbsticks installed, sure, but that's just a fun afternoon project.

Man, something about these images makes me really sad.

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

Would you say you're feeling Existential Doom?

 

[Gaer]

I'm telling you, three years from now when Switches pile up at yard sales for twenty bucks each and there's a jailbreak, I'm gonna be living the high life. It'll be a system renaissance the likes of which we haven't seen since the PSP got an SD card adapter! Or the brief late 1980s revival of the Atari 2600!

There’s been a jailbreak a long ass time ago, but you either require a launch/2017 switch as they have the unpatched CPU, or a newer one that is newer than a certain firmware release.

It’s very easy too, outside of getting yourself a jumper (which is sold openly on Amazon).

I still play my Switch most out of all the systems etc I have, with the exception of FFXIV on pc.

Sure, I’d love if there was a hardware update after almost 7 years, but the software is still fantastic and the reason to play it as far as I’m concerned.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

The next Star Trek episode is about how all the Enterprise computer does is return the results of a Google search in the form of a paragraph, and how the crew needs to be skeptical of its results, but they're too lazy to do that and it leads to their ruin.

LTTP: Not exactly the same situation but I like to imagine that’s how Landru got its start. “Oh great Landru, how do we solve crime?” “LANDRU DEMANDS THE PURGE” “Oh, okay guess we’re doing that now.”

 

[Paul le Fou]

Sure, I’d love if there was a hardware update after almost 7 years, but the software is still fantastic and the reason to play it as far as I’m concerned.

I'm in this boat, plus not actually sure I need there to be a hardware update. I guess it'd be nice to get some nicer graphics and/or faster load times? But the Switch runs a huge, amazingly good library of fantastic games perfectly well. Who cares how old it is?

 

[Dark Medusa]

The Switch seriously needs to be able to run its first party games without slowdown. It no longer has that capacity, sadly.

 

[4-So]

Has it ever had that capacity? I can't recall if there's slowdown in SM Odyssey but there's definitely frame dips in Breath of the Wild.

 

[MetManMas]

A successor to the Switch would be welcome just 'cuz it'd mean less Cloud versions and heavily compromised ports of games that are clearly pushing against the system limitations.

People have pulled off some amazing stuff on the Switch but it's only gonna get harder and harder to do so as more devs cease making PS4 (and sometimes Xbone) versions of things and go all in on the new HD boxes.

 

[Gaer]

I'm in this boat, plus not actually sure I need there to be a hardware update. I guess it'd be nice to get some nicer graphics and/or faster load times? But the Switch runs a huge, amazingly good library of fantastic games perfectly well. Who cares how old it is?

My biggest issue is as other people said: poor frame rates/performance in otherwise excellent software.

There is a problem when Switch emulation can run brand new games at 60fps locked day one.

 

[q 3]

New hardware isn't going to improve performance because new software will be even more demanding. the eternal cycle

 

[Gaer]

New hardware isn't going to improve performance because new software will be even more demanding. the eternal cycle

But all my current Switch games will be 60fps. : D

And the whole, there won’t be a Switch emulator capable of running the game better than the actual hardware on day one of the game’s release.

 

[Kazin]

Steam Deck is the unofficial Switch Pro anyway.

(yes i know it doesn't come with the dock and is a lot more expensive than nintendo would ever go with, but it's completely replaced my Switch for multiplatform games and lower end first party nintendo stuff)

 

[Olli]

But all my current Switch games will be 60fps.

And the whole, there won’t be a Switch emulator capable of running the game better than the actual hardware on day one of the game’s release.

You're assuming the new hardware would have backward compatibility

 

[ArugulaZ]

Damn well better.

 

[Gaer]

You're assuming the new hardware would have backward compatibility

If it don’t, I might not have a reason to get one any where near a hypothetical launch. Or at all.

PS5 being able to play PS4 games and improve them was part of the reason we wanted one so early.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Okay, this is what I don't get. Didn't Sony try to make a clear delineation between the PS4 and PS5 originally? You know, "we believe in generations," all that crap. They wanted you to buy new games, new controllers, new peripherals, and new everything else for your Playstation 5. Did they have an about face on that policy? One of the reasons I bought an Xbox Series S is because nearly everything ports over, and was designed to do that from the start.

For that matter, does Sony have an equivalent to Smart Delivery on the Xbox? Much bally was hooed over that feature early on... you essentially got a last generation and a next generation version of the same game, with all the benefits of the next generation console once you upgraded to that. Sony is doing that now, too?

 

[Olli]

Sony's strategy is definitely... different. I'm oversimplifying, and I don't have a PlayStation of any sort at the moment, but from various sources I've heard that the best reason to own a PS5 is that it plays the PS4 games you have, but load times are faster, frame rates are better, etc. You do get the upgraded versions of the same game, too, but even the old games just run better.

This hasn't really been Nintendo's MO to this day. I mean, within a generation there sure have been improved hardware revisions - GBA with a backlight, DSi/DSi XL, OLED Switch... but I can't recall that playing a Wii game on a Wii U would have any technical benefits, or GameCube games on a Wii. Nintendo, on the other hand, has never turned down the opportunity to sell you the almost exact same experience again (Mario 64, Ocarina), or then sell you a remaster.

 

[4-So]

Considering the popularity of the Switch - "It prints money! Again!" - and the modern customers expecations, Nintendo would be remiss to not offer backward compatibility with whatever comes after the Switch. If it's a Switch Too or whatever, I'm betting on backwards compat. Whether it improves the prior games? Uh, 50/50 on that. I can see Nintendo doing a FPS increase for first-party games and leaving third-parties to patch their own stuff.

What I would like to have seen was a powered dock of some kind that boosted the current Switch. I don't necessarily need a machine that's going to compete with a PS5 or Series X, just give me a locked framerate, something above 1080p and, preferbly, better load times.

Okay, this is what I don't get. Didn't Sony try to make a clear delineation between the PS4 and PS5 originally? You know, "we believe in generations," all that crap. They wanted you to buy new games, new controllers, new peripherals, and new everything else for your Playstation 5. Did they have an about face on that policy? One of the reasons I bought an Xbox Series S is because nearly everything ports over, and was designed to do that from the start.

For that matter, does Sony have an equivalent to Smart Delivery on the Xbox? Much bally was hooed over that feature early on... you essentially got a last generation and a next generation version of the same game, with all the benefits of the next generation console once you upgraded to that. Sony is doing that now, too?

I don't recall Sony ever delineating between PS4 and PS5 in that way. PS4 was - is- a huge winner for Sony. I can't imagine there was much appetite for that kinda thing. I also have to imagine that PS4 likely would have played PS3 games if the PS3 had not had that weird-ass architecture. My understanding is the PS4 is a better/simpler platform to develop for.

In terms of Smart Delivery, yes and no. Depends on the game and Sony doesn't really have a clever marketing name for it. I bought Octopath Traveler 2 on physical, meaning the PS4, and it before it installed it asked me if I wanted to download the PS4 client or the PS5 client. A lot of PS4-on-PS5 games follow this route, i.e. if the developer has released one, you can just grab the PS5 version. Not every game does this; I have Final Fantasy Theatrhythem FBL on PS4 disc and while the PS5 has no issue running it, it always runs the PS4 version. S-E did not provide a native PS5 version.

 

[YangusKhan]

It can get real confusing real quick with the way Sony handled PS4/PS5 dual-versions of the same game. Especially when you still buy PS4 discs like 4-so is talking about. So they've definitely made it more confusing than it needs to be.

 

[MetManMas]

I don't recall Sony ever delineating between PS4 and PS5 in that way. PS4 was - is- a huge winner for Sony. I can't imagine there was much appetite for that kinda thing. I also have to imagine that PS4 likely would have played PS3 games if the PS3 had not had that weird-ass architecture. My understanding is the PS4 is a better/simpler platform to develop for.

Yeah, proper PS3 backwards compatibility had to die so the PS4 could be more easily compatible with the various Unreal Engines and whatnot that modern gaming makes use of. Pity so much stuff is still PS3 exclusive and streaming is generally the only workaround for some things, but I get why it happened.

 

[muteKi]

Damn well better.

It would be weird if it didn't, given the way contemporary tools make game software extremely portable. The Switch, aside from its controllers, does not have a particularly arcane hardware setup -- it was a reasonably well-spec'd android handheld at the time it came out in '17, and if there's one thing that's true about android handhelds it's that their hardware refreshes basically annually like cars and their software compatibility remains high.

If Nintendo can't build their software for their own hardware there would be some really weird problems going on behind the scenes.

 

[Phantoon]

Considering the popularity of the Switch - "It prints money! Again!" - and the modern customers expecations, Nintendo would be remiss to not offer backward compatibility with whatever comes after the Switch. If it's a Switch Too or whatever, I'm betting on backwards compat. Whether it improves the prior games? Uh, 50/50 on that. I can see Nintendo doing a FPS increase for first-party games and leaving third-parties to patch their own stuff.

While I don't disagree in theory, it's easier said than done. There are apparently real difficulties that apply to making souped up NVidia chips backward compatible with the X1.

It's one thing for it to make sense in theory. Actually being able to do it is something else entirely

 

[Issun]

Guys we're obviously getting Switch U, with a DS-sized gamepad that is required to start up your new Switch U.

 

[Phantoon]

Guys we're obviously getting Switch U, with a DS-sized gamepad that is required to start up your new Switch U.

I'd buy it

 

[ShakeWell]

You're assuming the new hardware would have backward compatibility

Obviously there are reasons and things for everything, but apart from the Switch itself, which was a pretty sizable sea-change from Nintendo's previous generation (or, I guess, a Voltron of their strategy since 1989), they've been pretty consistent with backwards compatibility. Wii played GC, Wii U played Wii, GBA played GB/C, DS played GBA, 3DS played DS... Also, like, current consoles are ever-more like PCs with set specs (as opposed to classic consoles like the SNES having a custom soundchip designed by Sony specifically for it, etc), so I feel like it shouldn't be that tall of an order to make stuff work? But what do I know?

This hasn't really been Nintendo's MO to this day. I mean, within a generation there sure have been improved hardware revisions - GBA with a backlight, DSi/DSi XL, OLED Switch... but I can't recall that playing a Wii game on a Wii U would have any technical benefits, or GameCube games on a Wii. Nintendo, on the other hand, has never turned down the opportunity to sell you the almost exact same experience again (Mario 64, Ocarina), or then sell you a remaster.

Gamecube games on Wii, not so much, but Wii on Wii U meant at least native HDMI output and the system had at least an adequate internal upscaler. Nothing overly fancy, but better than hooking your Wii up to the same TV with component cables.