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[bomblord1]

Switch clicks in the hands, but on paper, it's in trouble

On the screen

Unlike its bizarre predecessor, the Wii U, the appeal of this feature isn't hard to understand or to communicate. And it's a very desirable gadget, too. The console itself, when removed from its plain-to-the-point-of-ugly dock, is beautiful. It's very slim but luxuriously large, and the screen is intensely bright and sharp; its 1280x720 resolution is more than adequate for its size. The image is vibrant and clear - if anything, Zelda displays more crisply here than on the TV.

On the Joycons

A word, too about those detachable Joy-Con controllers. They are delightful. Yes, they are very small, though that didn't give me any problems. (I have slim but long-fingered hands.) I didn't try detaching them from or reattaching them to the Switch, but I did play several games that used them as freestanding controllers, and was surprised to find I loved them. They are capable motion controllers. They are bristling with buttons - not just the twin triggers on the top, but two more along the edge that are hidden when clipped into the Switch. Ergonomically, they feel much more natural than you'd expect, and in fact there's something very pleasing about the way they fit, dinkily, into your hands.

Software

Very little about the way Switch is coming to market feels right. Software is the initial, glaring issue. It is a depressingly familiar situation for Nintendo fans: a thin smattering of very minor offerings from third-parties, some of them painfully late in the day (such as Skyrim, not due until autumn), which barely papers the cracks between the releases from Nintendo's own studios - studios that are being stretched pretty thin themselves. Switch's UK launch line-up of just five games must be the slimmest ever, and the star, Zelda, will also be available on Wii U. Super Mario Odyssey's end-of-year release is soon enough on paper, but right now it feels a lifetime away.

Hybrid Nature

The above price comparison brings us to another uncomfortable truth, however. Nintendo is marketing Switch as a home console you can take with you, presumably to underline the fact that it provides a console-quality gaming experience on the move, which it inarguably does. But that pits it directly against PS4 and Xbox One, which are both cheaper and manifestly more capable. Experienced as a pure home console, Switch feels underpowered and outdated - a minor advance on Wii U, which was underpowered in its own day.

It is perhaps better to think of Switch as the ultimate luxury handheld, with a huge screen, bags of power, TV-out and support for local multiplayer on one unit. Or, perhaps, as a quirky alternative to those junior tablets, custom-designed for a great gaming experience. That seems like a fairer and more advantageous comparison, but it's a much tougher and muddier message to sell.

Summation

It's a scattershot selection, but it is important to note that launch software is never truly representative of what a games machine will be. You tend to get a mix of quick rehashes, quirky experiments and glimpsed possibilities, and that's what we saw today. And you can have absolute faith that by the end of this year and into next, Nintendo's insanely talented development teams will discover just how to make this machine sing. (Super Mario Odyssey looks really weird, I have to admit, but it's being made by the geniuses at Tokyo EAD, so like I say - have faith.)...

I hope I'm wrong. Switch is a fascinating console - fun, innovative, unique, attractively designed, technically impressive in its own way, with a magical party trick and a compelling pitch. It deserves a better fate than the desperate, last-ditch mission Nintendo appears to be sending it on.

Full article here
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-01-13-switch-clicks-in-the-hands-but-on-paper-its-in-trouble

 

[Neverthelesser]

Great to hear that about the display. I knew it was just studio lighting when it looked pretty rough during Jimmy Fallon.

 

[Kareha]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

I'm not sure why you think that. This isn't a phone, it's a game system.

 

[diaspora]

I can accept this as a pimp handheld but not as a console. Never as a console.

 

[ASIS]

man the joy cons are like the perfect controller.

 

[bomblord1]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

Man the battery is bad enough as it is. Trying to drive a 1080p display in handheld mode would kill it before it was even fully out of the dock.

 

[Kareha]

I'm not sure why you think that. This isn't a phone.

My Nvidia Shield tablet has a 1920x1200 screen and thats from 2014 and I gwt about 3 hours solid gaming out of it which given the screen size isnt to bad.

 

[jon bones]

I hope they push it as a luxury handheld - that's exactly what I want from N

 

[J@hranimo]

Hope Nintendo catches their stride and pumps out a lot of games on it.

 

[TheXbox]

I would really like to see a technical breakdown of the Joy Con motion stuff. Is it closer to the original Wiimote, or Wii Motion Plus? Can it do Skyward Sword?

 

[Ninja Dom]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

Man the battery is bad enough as it is. Trying to drive a 1080p display in handheld mode would kill it before it was even fully out of the dock.

Exactly right.

With the gaming tech inside and the controllers, you'd never get a 1080p screen and reasonable battery performance for this price.

 

[jackdoe]

Man the battery is bad enough as it is. Trying to drive a 1080p display in handheld mode would kill it before it was even fully out of the dock.

I don't think the hardware is there to display a lot of the games at a native 1080p in handheld mode anyway.

 

[ChrisMahoney]

My Nvidia Shield tablet has a 1920x1200 screen and thats from 2014 and I gwt about 3 hours solid gaming out of it which given the screen size isnt to bad.

That's because a tablet needs to be incredibly crisp when reading ebooks and browsing the web. 720p is fine for gaming

 

[Metfanant]

This thing needs to capture the "premium handheld" audience if it wants to have a chance

man the joy cons are like the perfect controller.

lol...I love how people can argue for eternity about whether the DS4 or Xbone controller are more comfortable to hold, and both are infinitely more ergonomic than those tiny things, but all of a sudden these are "perfect"

 

[Omega Kirby]

People wanted a new powerful Nintendo console, what they got was a powerful handheld

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I can accept this as a pimp handheld but not as a console. Never as a console.

this is not a console at all, I hope Nintendo understands this I need that Pokemon RPG

a Pimp Handheld is the highest praise you can give this thing IMO

 

[James Scott]

Pleased to hear that the screen, the controls, and the system as a whole are being well received. I get the concern for software, but I think people will be pleasantly surprised as the year progresses.

 

[Strimei]

Ergonomically, they feel much more natural than you'd expect, and in fact there's something very pleasing about the way they fit, dinkily, into your hands.

That's good to hear. I've been a bit meh on how small the things look, particularly when detached (and especially when you're holding one and someone else is using the other). Felt it looked a bit awkward to hold, but guess not.

 

[nckillthegrimace]

This annoyed me:

£60 for Splatoon 2, which barely qualifies as a sequel and is closer to being an expanded port of a game that cost half as much when it was released two years ago.

Why does Splatoon 2 barely qualify as a sequel? What makes it merely an expanded port? It appears to have quite a few additions.

 

[LincolnSixEcho]

I'm a little wary about how powerful this thing will be. But it's where all the upcoming Nintendo games will be. Thus, I had to pre-order it. I think it's gonna be bitching as a handheld.

 

[bomblord1]

This annoyed me:



Why does Splatoon 2 barely qualify as a sequel? What makes it merely an expanded port? It appears to have quite a few additions.

Yea several of the points irked me as well but its their impressions.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

My Nvidia Shield tablet has a 1920x1200 screen and thats from 2014 and I gwt about 3 hours solid gaming out of it which given the screen size isnt to bad.

And you're running lower spec games than you'll be running on Switch. And you're probably not running all of them at native res, either.

You probably expect a higher resolution screen because phones ship with higher resolution screens as a standard.

However - phones aren't gaming devices first and foremost. Those high resolutions benefit text-heavy programs and things like that. You'll find that when you do any intensive gaming on phones at all, you're going to be playing at subnative resolutions with poor battery performance.

I don't understand why you'd expect Nintendo to put in a 1080p screen, bearing little discernible visual benefit but bringing a host of problems with it. It'll sap battery life faster, it's more expensive, it's harder to run games at 1080p, and the alternative to that is running games at subnative resolutions which tends to be ugly etc

 

[Kareha]

However - phones aren't gaming devices first and foremost. You'll find that when you do any intensive gaming on phones at all, you're going to be playing at subnative resolutions with poor battery performance.

Why mention phones when talking about tablets?

 

[robotrock]

so glad to hear they nailed the screen

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Ergonomically, they feel much more natural than you'd expect, and in fact there's something very pleasing about the way they fit, dinkily, into your hands.

I have a really hard time believing that's true when you're playing them NES style, but I'd love to be wrong about that.

 

[Matt]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

1080p would have been a pointless, terrible idea.

 

[Kareha]

Those JoyCons sound so small, I have enough trouble with the NES controller as my hands are big enough.

 

[Clinton514]

After a "successful" launch I don't feel it has much of a future. Shame.

 

[Kareha]

1080p would have been a pointless, terrible idea.

For 280 quid they could have at least made the effort.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

Why mention phones when talking about tablets?

Just a slip. Doesn't matter much since you could sub Tablet in for Phone and my point would still stand

For 280 quid they could have at least made the effort.

I don't see how a higher res screen is 'making the effort' when it would have been detrimental to the system given its specs

 

[dyergram]

Seems like a cool piece of kit with nothing to play on it Im worried about the ui and online which will probably be bad.

 

[Neoxon]

For 280 quid they could have at least made the effort.

The battery life would have taken an even worse hit.

 

[Matt]

For 280 quid they could have at least made the effort.

No, I mean a 1080p screen would make the device worse. The games wouldn't run at 1080p portable anyway (just like games on your Shield tablet don't), so you would be raising the cost, lowering the battery life, and actually reducing the image quality for absolutely no reason.

 

[bomblord1]

For 280 quid they could have at least made the effort.

To make both the battery and the image quality (because of upscaling) worse?

 

[Izayoi]

People wanted a new powerful Nintendo console, what they got was a powerful handheld

Don't speak for everyone. The Switch is exactly what I was looking for in Nintendo's next platform.

 

[jblank83]

A word, too about those detachable Joy-Con controllers. They are delightful. Yes, they are very small, though that didn't give me any problems. (I have slim but long-fingered hands.) I didn't try detaching them from or reattaching them to the Switch, but I did play several games that used them as freestanding controllers, and was surprised to find I loved them. They are capable motion controllers. They are bristling with buttons - not just the twin triggers on the top, but two more along the edge that are hidden when clipped into the Switch. Ergonomically, they feel much more natural than you'd expect, and in fact there's something very pleasing about the way they fit, dinkily, into your hands.

Found this really interesting. Just visually, the Joy-Cons look really uncomfortable. They're tiny and their shape does not seem ergonomic. But apparently the reality is completely different.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

IPS TN or OLED?

 

[Pie and Beans]

Glad to hear the screen isn't shit. OG Vita will probably still have spoiled me too much. Controllers are my nightmare considering I found things like the Xbox Duke delightfully comfortable. Monkey bastard hands.

It's still very interesting to me anyone thinks this thing isn't a handheld to the point some on these boards are expecting a 3DS successor.

Thats the power of just assuming your electronics brand doesn't mislead or lie to you, I guess.

 

[Shaanyboi]

A+ use of "dinkily"

 

[Izayoi]

IPS TN or OLED?

I don't think we have any details on that yet.

My guess is IPS, given Nintendo's history.

 

[darkwing]

IPS TN or OLED?

uh you want it to cost like 399

 

[RootCause]

What I've read pleases me. Happy with the screen quality.

 

[18-Volt]

A 720p tablet display in 2017 is really pushing it though, especially at that price.

I don't even want a 1080p display on my iPhone, let alone Switch. Upping the resolution was the most pointless thing some of the tech giants have done. Drains the battery faster, games look rubbish when they run sub-native and it makes the phone more expensive.

 

[robotrock]

IPS TN or OLED?

doesn't look like a TN

 

[Maxinas]

IPS TN or OLED?

Doesn't look like TN

edit: beaten lol

 

[Yaari]

Sounds good. I found the Wii U gamepad to feel really cheap. Sounds like this is different atleast. (As it should be, this is the main device after all)

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

doesn't look like a TN

That's good. No more crappy 3ds screen.

 

[not psycho]

Found this really interesting. Just visually, the Joy-Cons look really uncomfortable. They're tiny and their shape does not seem ergonomic. But apparently the reality is completely different.

They don't say how they're holding them.

Most impressions been that they are uncomfortable to hold in two hands as a traditional controller, but comfortable to hold in one hand like Wii Remotes.

 

[OneUh8]

Man the battery is bad enough as it is. Trying to drive a 1080p display in handheld mode would kill it before it was even fully out of the dock.

Yep that was my initial thought. It was probably more of a concession due to battery than anything else. High res screens on phones eat battery.