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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Digital Foundry: Hands-On with Nintendo Switch

Ganoncrotch on 16 January 2017
Hynad said:
Ganoncrotch said:
Not a bad video but there is one strange thing which isn't being addressed at all about the visuals being offered from the switch compared to the Wii-u

The point is that not only was the Wii-U rendering it's software on the TV but in a lot of games it was also streaming a second video feed to the Wii-U tablet with it's 854x480 resolution, I know that doesn't require a huge amount of power on it's own, but it was something that the Wii-U's GPU was handling at the exact same time it was doing the main TV displays output video. Being compacted back to always displaying on a single screen with the Switch (either TV or portable screen) it most certainly have saved some Power which the Wii-U was using on the extra screen.

That's irrelevent as far as Breath of the Wild is concerned since the game doesn't use the second screen. 

DF talk about the upgrade from 720p > 1080p in MK8 for ages but never once mention the removal of the extra screen which the Wii-U was rendering at 854x480 and streaming from the system.



Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

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curl-6 on 16 January 2017
Ganoncrotch said:
Hynad said:

That's irrelevent as far as Breath of the Wild is concerned since the game doesn't use the second screen. 

DF talk about the upgrade from 720p > 1080p in MK8 for ages but never once mention the removal of the extra screen which the Wii-U was rendering at 854x480 and streaming from the system.

In games like Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon where the second screen only showed a 2D image or a mirror of the TV screen, the processing cost is minimal. Only in games like Starfox Zero that draw 3D graphics to both screens is the performance hit signficant.



Hynad on 16 January 2017
Ganoncrotch said:
Hynad said:

That's irrelevent as far as Breath of the Wild is concerned since the game doesn't use the second screen. 

DF talk about the upgrade from 720p > 1080p in MK8 for ages but never once mention the removal of the extra screen which the Wii-U was rendering at 854x480 and streaming from the system.

The second screen in Mario Kart 8 isn't anything special. It's only a video stream of what's rendered on your TV. The console has a chip that handles that. No extra rendering is required.



Ganoncrotch on 17 January 2017
curl-6 said:
Ganoncrotch said:

DF talk about the upgrade from 720p > 1080p in MK8 for ages but never once mention the removal of the extra screen which the Wii-U was rendering at 854x480 and streaming from the system.

In games like Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon where the second screen only showed a 2D image or a mirror of the TV screen, the processing cost is minimal. Only in games like Starfox Zero that draw 3D graphics to both screens is the performance hit signficant.

Minimal sure, but still not non existant, I'm sure there is some part in the wiiu similar to the chip set in the ps4 which handles the streaming to the Vita which would handle to compression and transmission of video to the WiiU tablet, again it isn't going to be a big impact, but it is all processing which the Switch wont need to worry about while playing the ports of those games.



Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

asqarkabab on 17 January 2017

im so excited i have to choose between psvr and switch



REQUIESCAT IN PACE

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I Hate PLAYSTATION PLUS

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irstupid on 17 January 2017
Ganoncrotch said:
Not a bad video but there is one strange thing which isn't being addressed at all about the visuals being offered from the switch compared to the Wii-u

The point is that not only was the Wii-U rendering it's software on the TV but in a lot of games it was also streaming a second video feed to the Wii-U tablet with it's 854x480 resolution, I know that doesn't require a huge amount of power on it's own, but it was something that the Wii-U's GPU was handling at the exact same time it was doing the main TV displays output video. Being compacted back to always displaying on a single screen with the Switch (either TV or portable screen) it most certainly have saved some Power which the Wii-U was using on the extra screen.

Compile that with the fact that it seems Nintendo's entire online stuff will be on ones phone it seems, that also doesn't bog down the system at all.

So even if the Switch was exactly the same in power as Wii U, it should be able to push it further. But it is slightly more powerful on top of the OS savings and not having to stream to gamepad.



Ganoncrotch on 17 January 2017
irstupid said:
Ganoncrotch said:
Not a bad video but there is one strange thing which isn't being addressed at all about the visuals being offered from the switch compared to the Wii-u

The point is that not only was the Wii-U rendering it's software on the TV but in a lot of games it was also streaming a second video feed to the Wii-U tablet with it's 854x480 resolution, I know that doesn't require a huge amount of power on it's own, but it was something that the Wii-U's GPU was handling at the exact same time it was doing the main TV displays output video. Being compacted back to always displaying on a single screen with the Switch (either TV or portable screen) it most certainly have saved some Power which the Wii-U was using on the extra screen.

Compile that with the fact that it seems Nintendo's entire online stuff will be on ones phone it seems, that also doesn't bog down the system at all.

So even if the Switch was exactly the same in power as Wii U, it should be able to push it further. But it is slightly more powerful on top of the OS savings and not having to stream to gamepad.

The requirment of a mobile phone for aspects of a games console is baffling to me, I just can't believe how poor the thought process is right there.... I lie actually, I can believe how bad it is given the weak handling of Nintendos online service to date, but a voice app on a mobile phone is considered to be part of what we get for a monthly subscription in comparison to putting any headset into the ps4 controller and chatting away with those in game/party it's just insanity.



Why not check me out on youtube and help me on the way to 2k subs over at www.youtube.com/stormcloudlive

irstupid on 17 January 2017
Ganoncrotch said:
irstupid said:

Compile that with the fact that it seems Nintendo's entire online stuff will be on ones phone it seems, that also doesn't bog down the system at all.

So even if the Switch was exactly the same in power as Wii U, it should be able to push it further. But it is slightly more powerful on top of the OS savings and not having to stream to gamepad.

The requirment of a mobile phone for aspects of a games console is baffling to me, I just can't believe how poor the thought process is right there.... I lie actually, I can believe how bad it is given the weak handling of Nintendos online service to date, but a voice app on a mobile phone is considered to be part of what we get for a monthly subscription in comparison to putting any headset into the ps4 controller and chatting away with those in game/party it's just insanity.

I'll wait to see it before I judge, but yea it just seems like a jimmy rigged version of something. But whatever. I don't use any subscription internet gaming services, so won't affect me.



fleischr on 17 January 2017

Personally, I think a lot of the ports - WiiU and 3rd party alike - seem rushed. They're designed only to meet only the handheld spec and not really do much else to leverage the docked mode power.

Apart from the nostalgia for the brand, Bomberman seems like a rushed hack job we normally wouldn't pay much attention to. But here it is - the darling launch game beside Zelda. Betcha many companies wish they could get a Switch launch title out sooner. They got to be pissed that Konami is going to get so much for so little.

Out of everything so far - no matter how good it is - only ARMS comes across as a game that was clearly intended for Switch right out the gate. And that game is 1080p 60FPS in docked mode with AA....
Almost everything else admittedly seems like a copy-paste job from WiiU, Vita, and PS3...



I predict NX launches in 2017 - not 2016

curl-6 on 17 January 2017
Ganoncrotch said:
curl-6 said:

In games like Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon where the second screen only showed a 2D image or a mirror of the TV screen, the processing cost is minimal. Only in games like Starfox Zero that draw 3D graphics to both screens is the performance hit signficant.

Minimal sure, but still not non existant, I'm sure there is some part in the wiiu similar to the chip set in the ps4 which handles the streaming to the Vita which would handle to compression and transmission of video to the WiiU tablet, again it isn't going to be a big impact, but it is all processing which the Switch wont need to worry about while playing the ports of those games.

I'm pretty sure those functions on Wii U had dedicated silicon and so didn't compete for resources with general graphics processing. Overall, its such a small hit that its really not significant in the grand scheme of things.