Nintendo Switch

[Alex W.]

Yeah I’m sure they’re going to get right on the strategic threat of a £160 4K streaming box with no included controller that only has ports of mobile games.

 

Edit - To be clear, no amount of upgraded hardware is going to make Apple TV a games platform. It’s hobbled by strategy and market position, not performance.

 

Edit2 - Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple TV simply went away. It exists for a fantasy world where you don’t have a smart TV but also are willing to spend £160 on a streaming dongle.

[fat flatulent git]

It's news to nobody that Switch is dominating Japan - Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series are all out of stock in my local Geo and BIC Camera.

 

But according to this thread on resetera, 99% of software sold here in the last month was Switch software.

 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hideki-yasuda-senior-analyst-ace-research-institute-nintendo-has-practically-eradicated-playstation-from-japan.372546/

 

Amazing fact if true.

[Strafe]

2 hours ago, Dudley said:

 

That's not how "K" works.

 

If that's 3.6k, 4k is nearly 9k.

 

That Pro Max is considerably closer in pixel count to 1080P than 4k.

 

 

 

What?

 

It can do 4k because you've decided it can even though there is absolutely no way it can do 4k? 

 

There is no iPhone that can play games in 4k, even if it had the screen, which it doesn't.  It also costs 4 times as much as a Switch anyway.

 

And this means Nintendo could produce a £300 4k Switch?

Again, we’re talking about upscaled 4K tv in docked mode, it wouldn’t have a 4K screen in handheld.
 

Again, I didn’t say my iPhone had a 4K screen, just that it could record and output 4K. This was just an offhand remark to the guy who said a switch pro could never do 4K because an Xbox series S can’t and that’s a much bigger machine. The underlying point was that the size of a device doesn’t relate to an ability to handle a 4K signal.

 

Additionally, my Apple TV can do 4K and play games and that cost £180. Now, before things get out of hand, I also realise that the Apple TV and a switch games console are not identical type devices.

[Strafe]

TL;DR please let us dream of our fantasy switch pro that is well within the realms of technical possibility.

[Strafe]

1 hour ago, Alex W. said:

Yeah I’m sure they’re going to get right on the strategic threat of a £160 4K streaming box with no included controller that only has ports of mobile games.

 

Edit - To be clear, no amount of upgraded hardware is going to make Apple TV a games platform. It’s hobbled by strategy and market position, not performance.

 

Edit2 - Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple TV simply went away. It exists for a fantasy world where you don’t have a smart TV but also are willing to spend £160 on a streaming dongle.

On that note I still don’t know why I have one. I really only use it for streaming yarr tv shows off my MacBook. Which is especially pointless because my TV has airplay built in now. But I like the remote so there’s that.

[Stanley]

1 hour ago, Alex W. said:

Yeah I’m sure they’re going to get right on the strategic threat of a £160 4K streaming box with no included controller that only has ports of mobile games.

 

Edit - To be clear, no amount of upgraded hardware is going to make Apple TV a games platform. It’s hobbled by strategy and market position, not performance.

 

Edit2 - Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple TV simply went away. It exists for a fantasy world where you don’t have a smart TV but also are willing to spend £160 on a streaming dongle.

Have you used Apple Arcade? It’s not as you describe it you know, there are some great games on there now, some of which have received Switch ports, btw I have an Apple TV and a Smart TV and make good use of it, it’s a funny old world innit, and if future Smart TV’s come with Apple TV included, as an app, then that’s even easier access. 

[rgraves]

58 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

It's news to nobody that Switch is dominating Japan - Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series are all out of stock in my local Geo and BIC Camera.

 

But according to this thread on resetera, 99% of software sold here in the last month was Switch software.

 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hideki-yasuda-senior-analyst-ace-research-institute-nintendo-has-practically-eradicated-playstation-from-japan.372546/

 

Amazing fact if true.

 

Blimey:

 

 

And this will make me chuckle for a while yet (until stock sorts itself out I guess):

[Stanley]

And this before Monster Hunter has been released. 

[Dudley]

Japan's given up on full sized consoles regardless of stock anyway, the PS3 outsold the PS4 there, easily.

[Protocol Penguin]

22 minutes ago, rgraves said:

 

Blimey:

 

And this will make me chuckle for a while yet (until stock sorts itself out I guess):

Guess Hiroshi Yamauchi has finally gotten his revenge on Sony from beyond the grave.

[Alex W.]

54 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Have you used Apple Arcade? It’s not as you describe it you know, there are some great games on there now, some of which have received Switch ports, btw I have an Apple TV and a Smart TV and make good use of it, it’s a funny old world innit, and if future Smart TV’s come with Apple TV included, as an app, then that’s even easier access. 

Apple Arcade, Apple TV, and AirPlay are great software.
 

The Apple TV box is not a competitor to any games system and adding the newest Apple SoC to it isn’t going to fix that. It didn’t the last time either.

[Alex W.]

40 minutes ago, Dudley said:

Japan's given up on full sized consoles regardless of stock anyway, the PS3 outsold the PS4 there, easily.

Yes, I wonder how much of this is an apples to oranges comparison. It’s impossible to split Switch software sales in to TV and non-TV content, and what we’re seeing here probably isn’t Nintendo’s dominance of “TV games” but portable games’ domination over TV.

 

Of course the take home is then “Sony absolutely whiffed it on handhelds”.

[Stanley]

6 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

Apple Arcade, Apple TV, and AirPlay are great software.
 

The Apple TV box is not a competitor to any games system and adding the newest Apple SoC to it isn’t going to fix that. It didn’t the last time either.

It doesn’t really matter where the games are being played, my point was really about the comparison between Switch as a platform and iOS, which are quite similar I think - but I do also believe a decent box with a good software lineup could do well for Apple. 

[Alex W.]

1 minute ago, Stanley said:

It doesn’t really matter where the games are being played, my point was really about the comparison between Switch as a platform and iOS, which are quite similar I think - but I do also believe a decent box with a good software lineup could do well for Apple. 

The box is already decent, but demonstrably only about six people want to play games on it and nobody wants to develop software exclusively for the game pad on iOS. That good games selection just isn’t happening and Apple show no real interesting in figuring out why.
 

In 2015 put their fastest chip in the Apple TV HD and launched it with a range of new software designed to use the game pad and a huge PR push on gaming.
 

In 2017 they put their fastest chip in it again and expanded game pad support, dropped the requirement that all games be playable with the remote, and added a range of new software.
 

And yet here we are in 2021, once again wondering if this is the hardware revision where people will start buying it over any competing platform, and possibly someone will develop games for it that they haven’t already developed and sold on its competitors, or on base, touchscreen iOS.
 

I’m gonna guess that maybe the lack of developer interest in game pad titles on iOS and the lack of interest in playing games with it might be the problem, rather than the chip.

[Stanley]

14 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

The box is already decent, but demonstrably only about six people want to play games on it and nobody wants to develop software exclusively for the game pad on iOS. That good games selection just isn’t happening and Apple show no real interesting in figuring out why.
 

In 2015 put their fastest chip in the Apple TV HD and launched it with a range of new software designed to use the game pad and a huge PR push on gaming.
 

In 2017 they put their fastest chip in it again and expanded game pad support, dropped the requirement that all games be playable with the remote, and added a range of new software.
 

And yet here we are in 2021, once again wondering if this is the hardware revision where people will start buying it over any competing platform, and possibly someone will develop games for it that they haven’t already developed and sold on its competitors, or on base, touchscreen iOS.
 

I’m gonna guess that maybe the lack of developer interest in game pad titles on iOS and the lack of interest in playing games with it might be the problem, rather than the chip.

Haha, you’re right of course, but I still believe with the right games it could do alright, and for me Apple Arcade has been a bit of a revelation having pretty much written off mobile games at that point, I find myself playing more & more across different devices - and there is some really excellent stuff there - some that require a pad too. 
 

Obviously it’s all rumours - but - apparently one of the reasons for its delay was that they’ve been investing in developing some proper exclusives for the platform, and it will have a new pad etc. so they want that all to be ready for launch.

 

I know! 

[Not Thread Owner]

Anyone else playing Bezier?

[rgraves]

3 hours ago, Alex W. said:

Yes, I wonder how much of this is an apples to oranges comparison. It’s impossible to split Switch software sales in to TV and non-TV content, and what we’re seeing here probably isn’t Nintendo’s dominance of “TV games” but portable games’ domination over TV.

 

Of course the take home is then “Sony absolutely whiffed it on handhelds”.

 

There is that, but it's also important to see that sales of the 'standard' Switch are still well above the 'Lite' (87k vs 26k in Japan last week for example) - clearly people value the hybrid element and being able to play it at home, or else the Lite would be selling more (why pay more for something you're not going to use at all).

 

I think it's too easy just to say Switch is dominating as it's a portable - I think it's the hybrid aspect that's so appealing, it being both is where the magic is for a lot of people. A pure portable is already selling less, and a pure TV model would no doubt do the same.

[Stanley]

Yeah the hybrid nature is the killer feature IMO - I’ll go for weeks sometimes playing only docked mode and maybe one evening handheld, or maybe I’ll find a game which is so suited to handheld I’ll barely play it on the TV, but it’s knowing you can do either that make it such a valuable feature.  
 

We have both in our household, the Lite is solely my daughters though really, but the main Switch gets way more use, even in handheld mode. 

[Oh Danny Boy]

42 minutes ago, deKay said:

Anyone else playing Bezier?

Yeah, it’s banging. Best twin stick shooter since Geometry Wars. Needs its own thread IMO 

[Not Thread Owner]

15 minutes ago, Oh Danny Boy said:

Yeah, it’s banging. Best twin stick shooter since Geometry Wars. Needs its own thread IMO 

I’ve made it into 8 digits by playing on Hard but my god is it hard.

 

[earlymodernsteve]

16 minutes ago, Oh Danny Boy said:

Yeah, it’s banging. Best twin stick shooter since Geometry Wars. Needs its own thread IMO 

Yep. Love it. Bargain for the launch discount. Full price is a bit steep though.

[Oh Danny Boy]

2 minutes ago, deKay said:

I’ve made it into 8 digits by playing on Hard but my god is it hard.

 

Been mostly doing endurance at the moment but haven’t strayed from medium setting. Need to give it a bash on hard to try and reach 8 digits. 

[Oh Danny Boy]

4 minutes ago, earlymodernsteve said:

Yep. Love it. Bargain for the launch discount. Full price is a bit steep though.

I think it’s worth £20 if you’re really wanting a twin stick shooter but the launch has price was a damn bargain. 

[mdn2]

I've bought it, but not tried it yet. Geometry Wars was always a game I loved but was bobbins at. 

[earlymodernsteve]

1 minute ago, Oh Danny Boy said:

I think it’s worth £20 if you’re really wanting a twin stick shooter but the launch has price was a damn bargain. 

True but the perceived value with that big a launch discount. Imagine that was closer to the dev's idea of price but Nintendo tax...

 

I haven't quite clicked with the difference between auto and manual aim. Does it affect scoring?

[Oh Danny Boy]

I don’t think so. I just thought of auto aim as a way out of a sticky situation, especially as you have very limited time using it. I’ve barely touched auto aim myself

[Jolly]

I can't say I'm too keen on Bezier, sadly. The visuals are way too confusing to figure out what's a danger and what's not and the humour just isn't my cup of tea.

 

I'm also not completely sure it's 'fair'. I might have this wrong, but don't you have a better chance of a higher score the more you've played it? I think you get boosts to various things as your level goes up. 

 

Calling it the best twin stick shooter since Geometry Wars is madness in a world that Nex Machina exists. 

[Benny]

Nex Machina would be amazing on Switch.

[deerokus]

11 hours ago, Dudley said:

Japan's given up on full sized consoles regardless of stock anyway, the PS3 outsold the PS4 there, easily.

Sony has shifted its focus to the west to such an extent that, incredibly, I could imagine there being a gap in the market for Xbox to go after the more Japanese-centric stuff that is usually only on PlayStation. There's been talk of MS wanting to buy a major Japanese company. 

[Dudley]

Could be, but it feels like a risk.

 

19 hours ago, Alex W. said:

Yes, I wonder how much of this is an apples to oranges comparison. It’s impossible to split Switch software sales in to TV and non-TV content, and what we’re seeing here probably isn’t Nintendo’s dominance of “TV games” but portable games’ domination over TV.

 

Of course the take home is then “Sony absolutely whiffed it on handhelds”.

 

This is something of a myth even, the PSP is the 10th best selling console ever and only lost to the GBA because the GBA was insanely successful in the US.

 

The Vita, granted, didn't work. I've never really understood why.