Nintendo Switch

[robotattack]

3 hours ago, _Pow_ said:

did the joy-cons using infra-red to communicate with the switch turn out to be true in the end? or was it actually the camera thing?

 

The right one as an IR motion camera. That's what the rumour was in the first place, or rather that it would have pointer functionality like the Wiimote.

[Wiper]

3 hours ago, rgraves said:

You've not quite grasped how the setup is designed to work - Switch is targeting 1080p in docked mode, and the portable mode cuts back exactly in-line with making that 720p in handheld mode - the CPU remains the same (since the game logic etc has to remain the same), just the GPU clocks lower right inline with the reduced power needed to render at the lower resolution. The relationship between the two clock speeds is pretty much as expected. With a target of 1080p in docked mode and 720p in undocked mode, there's a 2.25x difference in pixels to be rendered, so a 2.5x difference in clock speeds would give developers a roughly equivalent amount of GPU performance per pixel in both modes.

 

You won't be seeing games that run worse in portable mode. I suspect the worst you'll see is the opposite - games that don't make it all the way up to 1080p in docked mode (like Zelda which just jumps to something around 900p)

It sounds like you're getting what I said a bit back to front there - like I said initially, any games that are designed to run smoothly at 1080p docked are likely to run fine undocked because, as you say, the difference in resolution makes things relatively easy to scale.

 

That's why I'm worried about games that don't hit that target to start with: the further from 1080p that they live while docked, the less saving they can make from portable mode's resolution: if a game comes out that can only manage 720p docked, then it'll already be in portable mode's native resolution, so either it would have to be forced below the native portable resolution or other sacrifices would have to be made to get it to then run on 40% GPU. 

[neoELITE]

5 hours ago, rubberducker said:

They have USB-c so I'd hope it's a given that any Bluetooth headphones will work. 

 

(EDIT: i.e. It's an open standard as opposed to nintendo's usual route of making everything proprietary.)

 

 

A bit untrue and unfair given you could use a USB lan and any USB HD with the Wii U. The Wii U was HDMI too so that was at least two things I didn't need to buy - the rgb cable for the Wii was a rip off as was the Nintendo wifi dongle for the DS. 

 

I can almost see my little SWITCH logo on my calendar now

[neoELITE]

You know when women at work who've gone off pregnant come back after a bit to show off their bundle of joy parasite? All the people crowd around and coo and say "ahhhhh". I'm bringing my Switch in on the Monday and I'm going to force everyone to watch me play Zelda for at least two minutes. My moment has finally come! I've got a big telly near my print room with hdmi input - one of those gigantic touchscreen TVs. I've already booked it for the whole of 2017 between 12:30 and 1:15.

[rgraves]

1 hour ago, Wiper said:

It sounds like you're getting what I said a bit back to front there - like I said initially, any games that are designed to run smoothly at 1080p docked are likely to run fine undocked because, as you say, the difference in resolution makes things relatively easy to scale.

 

That's why I'm worried about games that don't hit that target to start with: the further from 1080p that they live while docked, the less saving they can make from portable mode's resolution: if a game comes out that can only manage 720p docked, then it'll already be in portable mode's native resolution, so either it would have to be forced below the native portable resolution or other sacrifices would have to be made to get it to then run on 40% GPU. 

I'd be almost 100% certain that the requirements on the Nintendo end will be that any game runs at 720p undocked - and developers can then go from there to do extra as they like when docked (i.e with Zelda they move from 720p up to 900p). That would be the obvious way to approach it.

[Strafe]

For all the fuck ups, price gouging, nonsense online app stuff I am properly looking forward to this. I always get more excited about portables than home consoles and there is a AAA right off the bat (Zelda) that I'm excited to play as well as a fun (and over priced) mini game that I'll enjoy playing with friends.

[joe bazooka]

39 minutes ago, Strafe said:

For all the fuck ups, price gouging, nonsense online app stuff I am properly looking forward to this. I always get more excited about portables than home consoles and there is a AAA right off the bat (Zelda) that I'm excited to play as well as a fun (and over priced) mini game that I'll enjoy playing with friends.

Check out Mr Popularity here!

[neoELITE]

Can you imagine what these people will be like when they're 70? I was going to get the bus using my free bus pass earlier but didn't bother at it would probably have burst into flames just before my stop so I walked instead, tripped on a pothole and broke my hip. Never going out again. Joyless shits. It looks fucking amazing.

[Strafe]

22 minutes ago, joe bazooka said:

Check out Mr Popularity here!

 

"Want to come back and play the milking game?"

[Petrousgyre]

6 hours ago, cassidy said:

Cheers Sony allow it though. Bluetooth is fine with my Vita. 

 

Not so the PS4 where you have to buy PS4 certified Bluetooth headphones. 

[Nespresso]

Some decent boxart from ya boi Sonic.

 

[Nespresso]

Switch pre-orders off to a strong start in Japan, reportedly over 80% of initial shipment

Quote

Initial Media Create data for the week of January 16 came in earlier this week. However, the sales tracker now provides some extra information about the Japanese market, including an important note about Switch.

 

Media Create says that Switch pre-orders have already surpassed 80 percent of the system’s initial shipment. While we sadly don’t have a specific number for Switch’s initial shipment in Japan, the fact that it’s already sold through such a high percentage is encouraging. This was also done just after pre-orders opened last weekend.

 

It’s not exact science, but Comg may offer some initial insight. The retailer shows reservation percentage by points. It’s said that the points correspond to overall Japanese sales, and pre-orders for Zelda: Breath of the Wild are already higher than Zelda: A Link Between Worlds which sold a little over 200,000 copies during its initial week. Some people are therefore speculating that Switch’s initial shipment might be more than 400,000 – but again, this is far from an official number.

 

Many local retailers in Japan already seem to be closing reservations for Switch. Anecdotally, a close friend of the site tells us that he lives in a non-urban area, yet several stores nearby no longer have pre-orders available.

 

It’ll be very interesting to see how many Switch units are initially sent to Japan and how much the console sells at launch. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is looking like a popular buy, and 1-2-Switch could be the next best-selling title based on Comg’s rankings.

 

[Made of Ghosts]

I NEED ANSWERS:

 

Has a stylus been confirmed?

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

5 hours ago, dataDave said:

 

Holland.

 

I'll pre-pay from an electronics retailer in that case (MediaMarkt). If I can download it before it arrives I'll return it.

If previous launches are anything to go by, Media Markt will have consoles and games stacked to the ceiling even if you can't order them on the website. It was like that with the Wii U, 3DS, Vita and PS VR at any rate.

[Strafe]

3 minutes ago, Made of Ghosts said:

I NEED ANSWERS:

 

Has a stylus been confirmed?

 

No.

[Girth Certificate]

does the ipencil work on non-ipad tablets?

[mushashi]

1 hour ago, rgraves said:

I'd be almost 100% certain that the requirements on the Nintendo end will be that any game runs at 720p undocked - and developers can then go from there to do extra as they like when docked (i.e with Zelda they move from 720p up to 900p). That would be the obvious way to approach it.

 

When has a platform holder ever been able to mandate any performance related requirement on a home console? They certainly managed that feat in the past If somebody wants to push the boat out on the graphics front, you sacrifice the 2 key performance metrics, either or usually both.

[gizmo1990]

24 minutes ago, Made of Ghosts said:

I NEED ANSWERS:

 

Has a stylus been confirmed?

 

I can see ones being bundled with Mario Maker when it makes its Switch bow.

[JPickford]

14 minutes ago, gizmo1990 said:

 

I can see ones being bundled with Mario Maker when it makes its Switch bow.

 

I don't think the screen supports a stylus.  Those rubber-tipped ones that work on iPhone type screens are useless.  It would need some other kind of tech built in I think.   

[gizmo1990]

Really? I've heard good things about some of the ones used with art packages on ipads?

[Strafe]

The reports say it's a standard 10 point capacitive touch screen. Anything that works on an iPad should work, though it will depend on how accurate it is. (remember, most screens are designed to detect chubby fingers, not thin points.) so I wouldn't expect pin point accuracy.

 

EDIT: Actually, the touch area could just be software dependent so it may work well enough in software designed for it, like Mario Maker Switch if it arrives.

[Yewone]

Looks like my Amazon pre-order has been bumped to the 7th March... this is despite ordering about a minute after pre-orders went up  

[The Mighty Ash]

Did you change address or payment details? 

[MikeBeaver]

1 minute ago, U-1 said:

Looks like my Amazon pre-order has been bumped to the 7th March... this is despite ordering about a minute after pre-orders went up  

Mine still saying the 4th, but I've got one from ShopTo coming and have taken a chance on Amazon.fr and their 307 Euro delivered Neon Joy-Con pack which is saying it should arrive 7th - 8th of March.

[Yewone]

3 minutes ago, ashmatuk said:

Did you change address or payment details? 

 

Yeah had to change payment card shortly after placing order ..on phone to them now

[rgraves]

2 minutes ago, U-1 said:

Yeah had to change payment card shortly after placing order ..on phone to them now

That'll be it - any changes to the order puts you to the bottom of the list again.....good luck!

[JPickford]

Such a stupid system.

[Yewone]

Such a bloody stupid system.. Had to hang up on customer services, to say they werent understanding the issue was a bit of an understatement.

 

First bit of bad customer service I've had from them. Oh well looks like I have to wait a couple of days to play Zelda

[Nespresso]

All the Switch specs!

 Supports headsets/microphones/bluetooth 4.1 

[KRP]

Three hours of Zelda on one charge. Pretty good.