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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Saber thinks, there is no such thing as an "impossible port" for Switch

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Saber Interactive is the studio behind the Switch ports of Witcher 3, Crysis Remastered and the upcoming World War Z. Lead designer Dmitri Grigoryenko gave an interview, where he said the following about a new Switch iteration:

“The obvious answer would be overall better hardware with less build and patch size limitations, but I don’t think the Switch needs a more powerful version that badly. Saber and many other talented studios have already proven that there is no such thing as an impossible port. Nintendo consoles were never about hardware, they were always about something that boosts your gameplay experience, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.”

https://nintendoeverything.com/world-war-z-dev-there-is-no-such-thing-as-an-impossible-port-switch-doesnt-really-need-more-powerful-version/

So, what do you think?



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If any company has earned the right to be confident of their Switch porting prowess, it's Saber; their work on Witcher 3 and Crysis Remastered was extraordinary, and I look forward to seeing their work on World War Z and Kingdom Come Deliverance.

It's also refreshing to hear a developer with extensive experience with the hardware say they don't really need a more powerful Switch.

You can indeed port almost anything to almost anything, it's just that the bigger the power divide the more you'll have to change. I would trust Saber to do a quality Switch conversion of pretty much anything on PS4/Xbox One.



twintail said:

i mean, sure. But difficulty of porting certain games will nonetheless be a reality.

Sure. I think it is an effort thing. And that costs money. Saber certainly wants to be paid for their work. As Switch sells well and Switch owners buy games, the balance between cost and expected revenue shifts more towards making a port possible. As far as we heard, the renowned Switch porting studios (Panic Button, Virtuous and Saber Interactive) all have to turn down projects, because so many want to port.



3DS-FC: 4511-1768-7903 (Mii-Name: Mnementh), Nintendo-Network-ID: Mnementh, Switch: SW-7706-3819-9381 (Mnementh)

my greatest games: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

10 years greatest game event!

bets: [peak year] [+], [1], [2], [3], [4]

Well, basically it's a matter of will and knowledge of the system. But as time goes on, the performance gap will become larger and larger and it will become increasingly difficult to justify all the work that would have to go into the porting and whether the end result is going to be worthwhile, or something that looks and runs like crap.
I think the next Switch will come along in time to smooth things over.



"Nintendo consoles were never about hardware, they were always about something that boosts your gameplay experience"

60fps and games that aren't blurry boosts my gameplay experience. Also this statement seems to forget every console before the Wii/DS.

I don't find most of these "impossible ports" enjoyable on switch at all, I had doom briefly and even that was just too blurry for me. Skyrim is the only 3rd party game I've really played and enjoyed on Switch. These ports don't do it for me so I'll stick to Nintendo games that are designed with the limited power in mind. That's where the Switch shines, not on games that are being forced to run on something they weren't designed for.

Last edited by Zippy6 - on 25 October 2021

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For sure, but at what point is it not worth the effort and/or too removed from the original vision. That i guess is for the dev/publishers to decide.



I suppose its possible virtually any 8th or 9th gen game could run on Switch. The question really becomes how shitty of an experience are people willing to tolerate?



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Square enix could have given the port of kingdom hearts to saber, and I'd probobly be playing through KH2 by chriatmas



FS2020 on Switch? I wonder what it will look like.



Zippy6 said:

"Nintendo consoles were never about hardware, they were always about something that boosts your gameplay experience"

60fps and games that aren't blurry boosts my gameplay experience. Also this statement seems to forget every console before the Wii/DS.

I don't find most of these "impossible ports" enjoyable on switch at all, I had doom briefly and even that was just too blurry for me. Skyrim is the only 3rd party game I've really played and enjoyed on Switch. These ports don't do it for me so I'll stick to Nintendo games that are designed with the limited power in mind. That's where the Switch shines, not on games that are being forced to run on something they weren't designed for.

The thing is the improvements to the techniques were made throughout the time. The Doom 2016 port was improved over the years, and Doom Eternal, with a way more demanding idTech 7 engine, run absolutely fantastic on the Switch. Yes, the texture quality is reduced, but the pacing and the gyro aiming makes it fantastic to play. I was not really a Doom-guy (pun intended) but I am near the end of Eternal, and it's in my Top 10 of all my Switch games.

Overall, the worst port for me - besides Ark obviously - would be Saint Row the 3rd (where there seems to be a high input lag in the game, which makes the driving impossible and the aiming almost impossible).

dx11332sega said:

I thought I heard this before? I wonder if they can port ark survivor evolved?

Virtous said that after porting Outer Worlds to the Switch. But they shouldn't have, at its release, Outer Worlds was unplayable. Now it's your usual Switch port, but it took them a year to achieve that, and several patches.