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[Son.Ralph.Funk]

If Mario Maker comes out I'm sure the course creation will be portable only. It would be awfully tedious in tv mode.

 

[JigglesBunny]

This is concerning to me. One of the most exciting prospects of the Switch is that there was believed to be a soft mandate that required every game to be playable both while docked and while in portable mode.

While we haven't seen this sort of support yet, it was nice to imagine some bigger third party franchises like your Battlefield, Call of Duty or yearly sports titles on the platform and having them available in portable mode. Since portable mode is moreso an option and less of a mandate, that means it would be easy for quick ports that only run in docked mode.

This is pretty disappointing news.

 

[EVH]

FYI, this is a gameplay video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqJfJWVDaD4

Honestly, if you are going to spend hours and hours playing this thing you could better spend them in learning to play an instrument or use Fruity Loops.

 

[serenewarfare]

Well yes but I was just saying devs can make a tv mode without any additional effort on their parts. So the concept of Pokemon or any game using traditional controls being handheld only is very unlikely.

Yeah, I never said it was impossible. My whole point is just that I don't want this option to give devs an "out" to be lazy and not make the best possible product.

 

[Chorazin]

Whoa, VOEZ will release on Switch?

godisreal.gif

Doesn't sound like you can play it with buttons, so it'll basically be the game you have on your phone or iPad.

Definitely gonna pass since I prefer my rhythm games to use buttons, but I don't see anything wrong with games being made for the touch screen only.

 

[Interfectum]

This is concerning to me. One of the most exciting prospects of the Switch is that there was believed to be a soft mandate that required every game to be playable both while docked and while in portable mode.

While we haven't seen this sort of support yet, it was nice to imagine some bigger third party franchises like your Battlefield, Call of Duty or yearly sports titles on the platform and having them available in portable mode. Since portable mode is moreso an option and less of a mandate, that means it would be easy for quick ports that only run in docked mode.

This is pretty disappointing news.

I'm guessing it's only one way... you can have portable only games but not TV only. TV only would be way too limiting.

 

[Platy]

Why are people freaking out if Pokemon would be portable only ?

You still have the device...Just undock it !

 

[jwillenn]

I'm torn about this. On one hand, I'm glad that this will allow many different types of games to come to Switch, even ones that require touch.

On the other hand, I really don't want this to become an avenue for lazy developers to only work on one version of a game and not find a creative/interesting way to make it work both on the TV and portably. Like I fear there will be developers who make something work on the TV and just say "eh, portable mode is too much work" or vice-versa. And that is absolutely not okay.

I'm with you. Imagine Trauma Center being stuck on the DS because they just didn't want to make it work with the Wiimote...

I get that this game is top tier in terms of input intensity for Rhythm games, but surely they could come up with a fun and challenging alternative so that players can enjoy most of the game displayed through their tv...

 

[Wereroku]

This is concerning to me. One of the most exciting prospects of the Switch is that there was believed to be a soft mandate that required every game to be playable both while docked and while in portable mode.

While we haven't seen this sort of support yet, it was nice to imagine some bigger third party franchises like your Battlefield, Call of Duty or yearly sports titles on the platform and having them available in portable mode. Since portable mode is moreso an option and less of a mandate, that means it would be easy for quick ports that only run in docked mode.

This is pretty disappointing news.

I think this is going to be rare and only really for games with touchscreen controls. Anything with a remotely traditional control scheme is going to be compatible with both. I can see some games like a mario maker port to have exclusive modes since create mode used the touchscreen extensively. I don't expect many of the traditional 3rd party franchises to come to the switch and if they do they will probably target the handheld mode and just get some visual improvements when docked. Going forward seems much easier then going backwards.

Yeah, I never said it was impossible. My whole point is just that I don't want this option to give devs an "out" to be lazy and not make the best possible product.

I don't think it will be an out. This is a touchscreen only game and couldn't really function without it. Nintendo has to allow this or they will miss out on a lot of these games. From the leaks we know that tv mode support is incredibly easy to do and can involve no extra qa since it can just function as tablet mode at all times.

I'm with you. Imagine Trauma Center being stuck on the DS because they just didn't want to make it work with the Wiimote...

I get that this game is top tier in terms of input intensity for Rhythm games, but surely they could come up with a fun and challenging alternative so that players can enjoy most of the game displayed through their tv...

But why would they? Currently the Switch has a tiny userbase. Seeing them spend the money to make an entirely new mode that they won't use anywhere else seems silly.

 

[Bazry]

Can't wait for the CNET review where they keep knocking over the kick stand trying to play this in table top mode

 

[serenewarfare]

Why are people freaking out if Pokemon would be portable only ?

You still have the device...Just undock it !

The whole excitement (for most) is that Game Freak would finally have to develop a mainline Pokémon game with a console mindset.

 

[phanphare]

nice, glad to see that all of the features of the Switch can be fully taken advantage of

the versatility of this console continues to impress me

 

[Dash Kappei]

This is concerning to me. One of the most exciting prospects of the Switch is that there was believed to be a soft mandate that required every game to be playable both while docked and while in portable mode. [...] Since portable mode is moreso an option and less of a mandate, that means it would be easy for quick ports that only run in docked mode.

This is pretty disappointing news.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

That's interesting. Didn't Nintendo say that they wanted all games to be compatible with both modes?

Oh well. Hope it isn't graphics-intensive or you'll be playing this game plugged in a lot.

 

[Skeletos311]

Motion games can still be compatible in portable mode in table top form.

I think we will never see exclusive docked games. Only a few exclusive portable games.

When I say "a mode", I'm not talking about any one mode in specific. A game that only has motion controls, like joycon waggling, might not be playable in handheld mode.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Honestly, if you are going to spend hours and hours playing this thing you could better spend them in learning to play an instrument or use Fruity Loops.

Wth, is it 2005 again?
This kind of reasoning was nonsense back when Guitar Hero was hot and it still is 10 years later.

 

[BRocknRolla]

I actually didn't expect that to happen. I guess we will see port's of mobile games that doesn't require a constant Internet connection.

On one hand, I'm all for giving devs the freedom to choose. On the other, it does muddy the waters. I didn't expect it either, but I guess the touch screen was bound to introduce the discrepancy in input methods.

If Mario Maker comes out I'm sure the course creation will be portable only. It would be awfully tedious in tv mode.

Tedious, sure, but not impossible. You'll just have access to the touch controls in portable mode. They wouldn't lock you out. There's no need.

 

[jwillenn]

But why would they? Currently the Switch has a tiny userbase. Seeing them spend the money to make an entirely new mode that they won't use anywhere else seems silly.

Spending money to come up with an alternate control scheme could mean more people buy your game, whether that's more people from the small userbase or the inevitably large userbase. And why couldn't the scheme work anywhere else? Now it's ready for a PS4 or XB, not just touch-based systems...

 

[Tertullian]

Just wait until we get a Switch game with this pricing structure:

$10 - Home Edition
$10 - On the Go Edition
$15 - Combo pack with both

 

[Mpl90]

How is that even physically possible??

The real question to ask is "How hard it would've been to adapt that kind of gameplay to a non-touch setup?" It's a completely different kind of rhythm game compared to Hatsune Miku, for example. I suppose one of the ways to adapt it for physical controls would be to assign each row where notes appear to a specific button, with arrows left to the JoyCon Left's arrows, but I fear it would become difficult to play, especially at higher levels where there are multiple rows with keys appearing at small distances between each other. And what about the white keys when they're across different rows. And the bar keys where you need to hold your finger on the screen while moving it following the on-screen trace...while other keys are appearing on the other parts of the screen? I suppose using the analogue sticks for the bars could work, but I don't know how well when you see several of them appearing next to each other.

Yeah, the setup makes it extremely difficult to adapt it properly for physical controls. Or better, I fear it would make it very cumbersome for difficult songs at higher difficulty levels.

 

[MightBeMagic]

This is concerning to me. One of the most exciting prospects of the Switch is that there was believed to be a soft mandate that required every game to be playable both while docked and while in portable mode.

While we haven't seen this sort of support yet, it was nice to imagine some bigger third party franchises like your Battlefield, Call of Duty or yearly sports titles on the platform and having them available in portable mode. Since portable mode is moreso an option and less of a mandate, that means it would be easy for quick ports that only run in docked mode.

This is pretty disappointing news.

Me too. If they are already not mandating that games have both tv and handheld mode then what is the point of the switch?

All the ads show you can play multiple ways, if some are not doing that now then further on its doing to be a mess, how will they show this on the store/game boxes?

It also shows they arent confident their concept works. They say its a console first with a portable element (their words). But they arent sticking to it.

This is exactly like the 2nd screen mode on the wii u gamepad. Because it wasnt mandated most didnt use it.

This is a huge problem for Nintendo now

 

[Wereroku]

The whole excitement (for most) is that Game Freak would finally have to develop a mainline Pokémon game with a console mindset.

Ahh I see what you meant now. You want them to design the game with a console first mindset. Sadly I doubt they will make the next Pokemon with a console mindset it's just to deeply rooted in it's handheld roots. I can see it getting better res and effects in tv mode but I am sure handheld specs will be the main development platform.

Spending money to come up with an alternate control scheme could mean more people buy your game, whether that's more people from the small userbase or the inevitably large userbase. And why couldn't the scheme work anywhere else? Now it's ready for a PS4 or XB, not just touch-based systems...

Because the entire game is designed around a touchscreen. They may as well just make a brand new game for the switch that uses controller inputs instead of adapting the touchscreen game. Just because they could try to adapt it doesn't mean it will be a fun to play mode. Does that make sense? This is basically a port of an already existing game.

 

[Oregano]

This isn't surprising. Nintendo doesn't really seem to mandate stuff like that.

 

[JershJopstin]

As far as I know through friends working on Switch that isn't true at all. Joycons support is mandatory, you can't make a game which only works with the Pro Controller so why would you go TV-only?
Where did you get this information? Again, mine is secondhand info so I'm not saying that is (still?) 100% always the case but it makes sense.

Btw, this game's a bit of a special case: it's like Jubeat/Jukebeat, it couldn't work with a controller without some major interface and input changes rendering the whole game different than what it is.

There's not much reason to make a TV-only game (unless you absolutely need the higher clocks, but who knows if Nintendo allows that), but it's worth noting that Nintendo's own 1-2 Switch doesn't technically work with their definition of handheld mode.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

Didn't know this was possible

 

[Orin GA]

Me too. If they are already not mandating that games have both tv and handheld mode then what is the point of the switch?

All the ads show you can play multiple ways, if some are not doing that now then further on its doing to be a mess, how will they show this on the store/game boxes?

It also shows they arent confident their concept works. They say its a console first with a portable element (their words). But they arent sticking to it.

This is exactly like the 2nd screen mode on the wii u gamepad. Because it wasnt mandated most didnt use it.

This is a huge problem for Nintendo now

Folks VOEZ pretty much requires touch controls. So it is either the game gets watered down for console release or we dont have it at all. This forum sometimes....

 

[BRocknRolla]

The whole excitement (for most) is that Game Freak would finally have to develop a mainline Pokémon game with a console mindset.

I don't think this was ever in the cards. Pokemon is a portable franchise. The only reason it would come to Switch would be due to the portable aspect. There's no reason you couldn't play a Pokemon game on your TV though. Pokemon games have been 99% playable without any touch screen use.

 

[jariw]

But why would they? Currently the Switch has a tiny userbase. Seeing them spend the money to make an entirely new mode that they won't use anywhere else seems silly.

Currently, the Switch has a user base of some journalists that got free review copies.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Messy.

 

[mindatlarge]

Guess we saw this coming and it's not entirely a bad thing, as some games that might never have been made for the system, will now, with the option to be portable only. But it's games that can be developed for both portable mode and TV mode, like Pokemon, that concern me with this option being officially available.

 

[EDarkness]

I'm guessing it's only one way... you can have portable only games but not TV only. TV only would be way too limiting.

I doubt it's one way. I imagine there can be TV only games as well. Honestly, I was hoping this wouldn't happen, but here we are. Nintendo is going to let devs do whatever they want it seems.

 

[Twiforce]

i'm glad they're allowing this. I was afraid fhat a requirement to work in borh modes would make the multitouch screen go to waste.

 

[Yohane]

Many touchscreen games aren't able to work on docked mode at all, hence why.

I just hope this doesn't set a precedent.

 

[jonno394]

I can see Nintendo allowing this with Digital only titles, but not with things that get a physical retail release.

 

[Discokuningas]

This is good news. How can people make this bad news I can't understand. This will give more games a change to come to the platform. Pokemon will be playable in tv mode. No developer is so stupid that they would produce a game that doesn't work the way the big part of Switch owners mainly play. It will not take much time to make tv mode to work and of cource you can take the lazy way and only present the game in 720p in tv mode also. Even that would guarantee more possible audience than just dropping the tv mode. Touch screen gaming is different thing because it might not work well on bigger screen. Even this developer take the risk that audience is being limited. World of Goo will work with a pointer on the bigger screen but this game obviously can't with speed and precicion it reguires.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

If Mario Maker comes out I'm sure the course creation will be portable only. It would be awfully tedious in tv mode.

Seems like a hassle to have to go back and forth between TV and tablet mode for Mario Maker. I wish they had a system like Apple AirPlay where you could wirelessly play stuff on TV. Would solve the Mario Maker issue

 

[Interfectum]

Seems like a hassle to have to go back and forth between TV and tablet mode for Mario Maker. I wish they had a system like Apple AirPlay where you could wirelessly play stuff on TV. Would solve the Mario Maker issue

Why would you have to go back and forth so much in Mario Maker?

 

[BRocknRolla]

I can see Nintendo allowing this with Digital only titles, but not with things that get a physical retail release.

I can see that too. That would reduce the chance of confusion.

 

[Wereroku]

Currently, the Switch has a user base of some journalists that got free review copies.

Calm down I am not attacking the Switch. However compared to this games mobile user base the Switch is going to be tiny. I am just saying them making a new mode or enhancements that cannot go back to the main game branch seems unlikely. I am buying a switch day one I am just telling it like I see it. Mobile games get ported to a lot of systems but at the end of the day mobile is still their bread and butter.

Seems like a hassle to have to go back and forth between TV and tablet mode for Mario Maker. I wish they had a system like Apple AirPlay where you could wirelessly play stuff on TV. Would solve the Mario Maker issue

Actually with their push for mobile companion apps they could probably just let you design the levels on your phone and try them out on the switch without docking and undocking it. However you could test the levels on the tablet mode as well so you wouldn't need to put it back in to test what you are making.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

Why would you have to go back and forth so much in Mario Maker?

I don't know, that's just how I play it. I also played a lot with my nephew where One of us would make on the tablet while the other would play it on tv. I just don't see the game working the same way on the Wii U

 

[Twiforce]

*Switch revealed to have more options for developers, thus allowing games to come to the platform that would have been impossible to make work on the TV*

Some Gaffers: THIS IS A NEGATIVE

i cant fucking believe you guys

 

[jnWake]

Judging by the reactions here, people seem to want less games for Switch? Because this one clearly isn't playable on TV mode.

I'm not surprised people already started conspiracy theories of devs locking their games to one mode though, despite all other launch games being playable docked and undocked.

 

[tolkir]

This is hilarious, people wants multi-touch tablet games, people wants every game playable in TV.

 

[The Hermit]

I actually didn't expect that to happen. I guess we will see port's of mobile games that doesn't require a constant Internet connection.

I theorized it could happen, especially when you have to optimize things. Even Zelda is having a hard time optimizing both modes.

Still, I didn't expected it to happen

 

[Eumi]

Games not being forced into being both modes fixes my main issue with this console. Much more likely to pick this up at some point now.

 

[killatopak]

Sigh.

 

[vareon]

I'm happy with this. This means more mobile developers with touch only controls are encouraged to port their game on Switch, which means more games.

 

[jrDev]

If this is a home console, shouldn't it be the other way around (Exclusive dock mode)? Aren't the IR sensors suppose to replicate games with touch?

 

[openrob]

Not thread worthy you say?
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1346017

A bit concerned by this.

Many folks (including myself at times) have been talking up the switch from the perspective of hopefully being able to play all Nintendo games on both handheld and TV now, and saying goodbye to the days of wishing certain Wii U games were on the 3DS, and vice versa. We'll obviously have to wait and see more games announced from Nintendo to know how this plays out as so far this isn't the case for any first party games, but now the possiblity is there.

The Pokemon example someone brought up already is a good one.

I wouldn't worry about that. I think this will mainly be for touch games not working on the big screen, than visa versa.

Even as far back as Pokémon red and blue, you could play Pokemon on your TV.

 

[nampad]

Makes sense for a touchscreen game but I hope that Nintendo won't allow the other way around, e.g. TV only games.