Nintendo Switch Main Thread

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-n...-monolith-soft

Xenoblade studio Monolith Soft is now 100 percent owned by Nintendo.

Now, Nintendo has increased its stake in the company to fully own it, after initially purchasing 80 percent of Monolith Soft from Bandai Namco in 2007. Nintendo then increased its stake to 96 percent in 2011, while the company's original owners retained a symbolic four percent stake.

Nintendo has not officially announced the change, but its 100 percent ownership of the company was recently added to Monolith Soft's website, as spotted by Automaton.

As much as I enjoy the XC titles, I do hope they’re allowed to move onto something else.

[Diesel]

The director of the series has already talked about the future of the franchise, so there is definitely more coming. The studio has multiple teams now though, so they can easily work on more than one project at a time.

[Kid Ryan]

Originally Posted by dyne

https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-n...-monolith-soft

Does this kill any chance of modern PS4/PS5 remasters, remakes, or ports for the PS1 & PS2 Xeno games?

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Kid Boruto

Does this kill any chance of modern PS4/PS5 remasters, remakes, or ports for the PS1 & PS2 Xeno games?

It’s not a simple situation. From what I understand, Squarenix owns the Xenogears rights and Bandai/Namco own the Xenosaga rights. So either of those would have to sign off for Monolith to even consider any of them.

[ChadFL]

Apparently, Nintendo is panicking somewhat over the surge in leaks and probably reveals the Switch 2 in early January. Sure seems like they overestimated their ability to keep leaks under control when the Switch 2 is literally in production and in a time when leaked images can go viral in a matter of minutes.

I kinda get their thinking initially. They assumed it might hurt console sales for their last big holiday season if they revealed it back in October/November. But Switch sales, while still decent, have still fallen significantly lower than their expectations. To the point where it seems consumers almost uniformly knew the Switch 2 was coming, likely in early 2025, so it made little to no difference whether they dropped the first official reveal trailer pre-holiday 2024 or early 2025. Seems the rumored reveal date of January 8th would make a lot of sense.

[dyne]

They needed to but I'd imagine the moment they announced back compat sales had to tumble.

[Diesel]

My Nintendo year end summary showed that I turned on my Switch to play Echoes of Wisdom this year and nothing else.

I really hope they launch the Switch 2 in May/June, I just have no interest in buying anything else for the Switch at this point. I want to play Xenoblade X but I will wait for the Switch 2.

[heyadol]

I'm still hoping we get an (optional) performance benefit when playing backwards compatible games on Switch 2 (or whatever it is called), similar to FPS Boost/Xbox Enhanced/PS5 Game Boost. Also curious if RTX Video HDR will be an option. I don't use Auto HDR on PC but it's usually ok on Xbox, Nvidia's AI-powered take on this tech is probably better than the Windows version.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by heyadol

I'm still hoping we get an (optional) performance benefit when playing backwards compatible games on Switch 2 (or whatever it is called), similar to FPS Boost/Xbox Enhanced/PS5 Game Boost. Also curious if RTX Video HDR will be an option. I don't use Auto HDR on PC but it's usually ok on Xbox, Nvidia's AI-powered take on this tech is probably better than the Windows version.

They’d almost have to go out of their way to make games not perform better. Then again if anybody did that to not “lessen the experience” of the original hardware it’s Nintendo.

But I expect we’ll see all Switch games run better and hold their frame rate and resolution targets on the new system.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by heyadol

I'm still hoping we get an (optional) performance benefit when playing backwards compatible games on Switch 2 (or whatever it is called), similar to FPS Boost/Xbox Enhanced/PS5 Game Boost. Also curious if RTX Video HDR will be an option. I don't use Auto HDR on PC but it's usually ok on Xbox, Nvidia's AI-powered take on this tech is probably better than the Windows version.

Same on both points. I have wanted HDR on Nintendo's titles this entire gen. And realistically if they can just smoothen performance with back compat I'm okay with that. Any resolution/visual benefits would be appreciated but not a down vote for me by any means.

[Kid Ryan]

Originally Posted by heyadol

I'm still hoping we get an (optional) performance benefit when playing backwards compatible games on Switch 2 (or whatever it is called), similar to FPS Boost/Xbox Enhanced/PS5 Game Boost. Also curious if RTX Video HDR will be an option. I don't use Auto HDR on PC but it's usually ok on Xbox, Nvidia's AI-powered take on this tech is probably better than the Windows version.

Originally Posted by Diesel

They’d almost have to go out of their way to make games not perform better. Then again if anybody did that to not “lessen the experience” of the original hardware it’s Nintendo.

But I expect we’ll see all Switch games run better and hold their frame rate and resolution targets on the new system.

This is mainly why I haven't been playing on my Switch...that and I just always game more on my PS5 for reasons.

Hopefully Nintendo won't repeat the Wii U mistakes with the Switch's successor.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by Diesel

They’d almost have to go out of their way to make games not perform better. Then again if anybody did that to not “lessen the experience” of the original hardware it’s Nintendo.

But I expect we’ll see all Switch games run better and hold their frame rate and resolution targets on the new system.

I wouldn't put this on Nintendo. The goal of backward compatibility/emulating games is to have them perform as close to original hardware as possible first, and take advantage of new hardware features second. That's why you can turn off Game Boost, FPS Boost, or even more advanced features on PC emulators.

As much as we are here hoping for better performance to "fix" Nintendo Switch performance for games like Bloodstained (which has LESS input lag on streaming versions than the native NS version), there are undoubtedly people out there who would complain that their game library DIDN'T play exactly like they did on original NS. There's no pleasing some people, but a reasonable compromise would be to make the enhancements available as an option.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Kid Boruto

This is mainly why I haven't been playing on my Switch...that and I just always game more on my PS5 for reasons.

Hopefully Nintendo won't repeat the Wii U mistakes with the Switch's successor.

So much is already leaked on the Switch 2, there's no evidence to suggest any Wii U types of mistakes. The price on this thing will be reasonable enough to make it a mass market console, it has backwards compatibility (Wii U also did, but it was a pain), the Switch 2 name seems to be better product differentiation than the Wii U, the console gimmick is portability (massive hit with gamers for Switch), hardware appears to be a huge upgrade from the Switch (at least once par with PS4 Pro), etc.

The only possible issue I can see is if they market it poorly, like they did with Wii U, where they initially called it a "new controller," not new console. I have to believe there is next to no chance of that and I doubt parents will be confused in not knowing this is a new console.

[TripleHBK]

Naming it the Switch 2 would be a mistake akin to the Wii U. Nintendo has a rich history of fun console names, I'm hoping for something like the "Super Switch", "Second Switch" at a minimum, but would prefer a whole new name ala, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii, etc.

I know it won't happen, but I'd also prefer a console only option. I have 0 interest in the portable aspects of the Switch/Switch 2 and would much prefer a nice looking console that is maximized for big screen performance. Bonus points if it would cost a bit less due to the lack of screen and portability.

Regardless, here's to hoping a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey is ready to go at launch as I'm more than ready for another 3D Mario adventure. Super Mario Wonder was fun for sure, by Odyssey was fantastic.

[heyadol]

Since the Nvidia Shield product line has been using the same chips as Nintendo Switch, it would be nice to see an upgrade using the next Switch chipset. To keep this on topic, it would be really interesting if there ended up being a GeForce Now app on the new Nintendo Switch.

[emailking]

I thought the issue with Wii U was people thought it was an add on for the Wii. I don't think Switch 2 would generate that confusion. No one thinks PS5 is just another PS4.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

Naming it the Switch 2 would be a mistake akin to the Wii U. Nintendo has a rich history of fun console names, I'm hoping for something like the "Super Switch", "Second Switch" at a minimum, but would prefer a whole new name ala, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii, etc.

I know it won't happen, but I'd also prefer a console only option. I have 0 interest in the portable aspects of the Switch/Switch 2 and would much prefer a nice looking console that is maximized for big screen performance. Bonus points if it would cost a bit less due to the lack of screen and portability.

Regardless, here's to hoping a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey is ready to go at launch as I'm more than ready for another 3D Mario adventure. Super Mario Wonder was fun for sure, by Odyssey was fantastic.

Nobody gets confused about the Playstation 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5. Why would anyone be confused about a Switch 2? So only Nintendo fans are too stupid to understand sequential numbers?

Part of the problem with the Wii U was that they didn't call it the Wii 2.

[ophone]

Since I know it'll have backwards compatibility I'm pretty sure I'll be an early adopter if it doesn't get humped by scalpers.
As for its hybrid nature, that was the main feature that made me buy the Switch in the first place.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Nobody gets confused about the Playstation 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5. Why would anyone be confused about a Switch 2? So only Nintendo fans are too stupid to understand sequential numbers?

Part of the problem with the Wii U was that they didn't call it the Wii 2.

Absolutely! Naming the successor to the Wii the "Wii U" was the worst decision Nintendo made since foregoing CD ROM for the N64.

"Switch 2" may seem like the safe and boring decision, but it's the SMART decision! And besides, this IS the Switch 2. This isn't going to be some radical departure like the Wii was. It really is the iterative successor to the Switch. So Switch 2 is the most accurate thing to call it.

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Nobody gets confused about the Playstation 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5. Why would anyone be confused about a Switch 2? So only Nintendo fans are too stupid to understand sequential numbers?

Part of the problem with the Wii U was that they didn't call it the Wii 2.

Each Successive Playstation looked dramatically different from the last and was marketed as such. There was never any chance of mistaking one for another as there was never room for confusion. Playstation's (and XBox's) are also priced and marketed toward adults. Nintendo continues to aim for the family. Young gamers, older gamers, and of course the prime demo. Many of those markets don't recognize the difference between systems, especially ones that are marketed the same as their predecessors while also looking almost identical as well. Even Nintendo themselves have previously gone the extra mile in regard to how they named systems as the Gameboy evolved... Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Color Advance, etc.

"Switch 2" is fine at the end of the day, but don't pretend as if making a system that looks almost identical to the previous one based on what we know so far (which itself has multiple sku's still on the market to this day) won't lead to some level of confusion. Given what we saw with the Wii U, I don't know why Nintendo would take the chance.