By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Dulfite on 05 February 2022
Edit Thread
RolStoppable said:
Dulfite said:

I don't get the hope and excitement for Switch 1 hitting that number. For it to do that, and break records, means they won't release a full next-gen device until multiple years from now, a good 7-9 years after Switch 1 came out. I owned a Wii U and own a Switch. The Switch simply feels like a smaller, more portable Wii U. I owned numerous Wii U titles and have seen/owned some of them on Switch and they look basically the same. Whatever power difference the Switch has over Wii U is not really noticeable to people who aren't tech-obsessed (so don't come at me with meaningless specs because most people that care about that. They just care about the eyeball test). The power difference Wii U had over Wii was INSANE and the games looked absolutely stunning compared to Wii, and not just in graphics, but the scope, draw distance, etc.

I want to be excited like I was for Wii U games coming off the Wii, but the longer we have Switch 1 the longer we have Wii U-level games, for 12+ years we will have had that level games for the sad few of us that owned Wii U's. I know many on here are experiencing HD Nintendo games for the first time because you didn't own a Wii U, but those of us that owned Wii U's have already gotten used to this level of visuals/power/depth. I want to be blown away again, and no game on the Switch has done that compared to the Wii U, but many, many games on the Wii U did that compared to the Wii.

I'm not a graphics-obsessed person, and this may come off that way. I don't expect or even want Series X level graphics out of Switch 2. I just want to be, at all times, playing just one generation of graphics behind, not two (like the Switch is and will potentially be for the next 3+ years). At this rate, we are going to have Series X2 and PS5 Pro out before Switch 2, making the gap even more absurd. Making the Switch 2 even more exciting to me is the possible inclusion of DLSS, which would really future proof that device and enable it to have a really long life-span, but Switch 1 doesn't have that technology.

Just be happy that it's unlikely that the market will align with my standards. I'd be fine if Nintendo's roadmap came true, as in, Switch's successor is a 20XX device, so will not necessarily materialize during the 2020s. I prefer it when games don't push the Switch's capabilities, because that way they don't require the fan to run and the console is completely silent like gaming should be. All I want to hear is the music and sounds of a game to get immersed in it.

The other big reason why I don't look forward to more powerful hardware is that it will make game development times even longer without the gameplay or amount of content benefiting from it at all. With Switch Nintendo has combined all of their development resources, but the amount of games they put out is barely able to keep up with their combined output for the 3DS and Wii U (3DS to Switch constitutes a huge jump for many development teams, hence fewer games from them). A future with fewer Nintendo games being released isn't enticing, nor is the alternative of buying up studios to increase manpower when such quick growth is likely to result in a drop of quality. The more people you have work on a game, the harder it is to keep everyone on the same page.

Using this logic, you should have never wanted a generation after the NES. Every generation jump has made development harder, take longer, and cost more money. Yet companies keep doing it because that's where the money is. Nintendo isn't pumping $100-200 million in each of their AAA first party games like Sony does, nor would they be even if Switch 2 is as powerful as a Series X. Just because you have a more powerful console doesn't mean you push it to the brink of overheating and exploding. I don't want Nintendo to do that either, but I want big leaps regardless, and you won't get that releasing games on the same power level for over a decade. Botw 2, Mario Odyssey 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, none of these games will impress as much as their predecessors because they will all feel so similiar looking. If these were Switch 2 games they would blow the living water out of their predecessors and wow us all.

PC gets upgrades all the time, PlayStation and Xbox get significant power boosts mid generation and massive leaps every generation. It isn't wrong for me to want at least a big leap every gen from Nintendo. The jump from PS4 to PS4 Pro was bigger than the jump from Wii U to Switch and that's just a mid gen upgrade, that's a sick joke. I'm not even asking for a Pro level device every mid gen, I'm just asking for a Wii to Wii U level jump every generation, especially if it's going to last 7+ years. If I had known Switch 1 was going to last this long prior to being replaced, then I'd rather Nintendo have made a Xbox One X level device and sold it for $600+ back in 2017. A $300 device from 2017 shouldn't be expected to have such a long life span, from this consumer's point of view.