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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Is the Switch really more of a secondary system rather than a primary system?

 

Is the Switch more of a secondary system?

No, the Switch is more of... 20 24.69%
 
No,Switch is just as much... 41 50.62%
 
Yes, Switch is more of a ... 16 19.75%
 
Switch is almost entirely... 4 4.94%
 
Total:81

150m would suggest no.



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I bought it as a secondary, and it ended up being used way more than the series s. Just slightly below ps5. Though at the rate sony is going with playstation, i feel my next primary will be a nintendo, which is something i'd never thought i'd day.

I think both sony and microsoft have lost the plot.



If we’re talking PC gamers? NSW is a secondary system. With how much a PC costs, and how much of an emphasis graphics & third-party are placed on such platform, I’d be a little surprised to hear NSW as being the favorite. If we’re talking non-PC gamers? It’ll vary by the person; though with how stacked the Switch’s software lineup has been, I’d say it probably is the main system for many consumers atm…though im obv biased in saying this lol.



Anything can be your primary gaming system as long as it has the games you want to play. If you don't care about the newest AAA games then yeah, the Switch is viable as your only (or primary) platform.



 

The_Liquid_Laser said:

Not really that different.  N64 had a small amount of exclusive games compared to other consoles of the 90's.  PS5 has a small amount of exclusive games by today's standards.  Some people really like those exclusives.  A person could say that Baldur's Gate 3 (for example) is worth the purchase of a PS5, just like people make the case for the various N64 games.  In the end the Switch has a lot more games available than the PS5, and the PS1 had a lot more games available than the N64.  A lot of the reason why people bought the N64/PS5 is that the SNES/PS4 were successful systems, respectively.  The gaming environment has changed and some people transition slower than others.

Baldur's Gate 3 is more like a classic PC kind of game. I think both FFVII RE as the ones which could make people buy a PS5. But for some reason it did not work that well during their exclusivity era (first of both released also in PS4, though... but without Intergrade).

I do not believe in this idea of "people buyed N64 just because SNES had lot of success": That is not correct. Genesis/Mega Drive sold VERY WELL in NA and Europe, and Saturn didn't sell well there (specially in NA). Even worse, in Japan, Mega Drive sold MUCH WORSE than SNES, but Saturn sold better than N64 there, at the end of that generation (N64 sold like a tenth of all its sales in Japan in the first month, it was a huge burst).

What really happened with N64 is this: In 1996 (even in 1997) people was just ASTONISHED with Mario 64. That game alone... was surreal. It was like playing a computer animated movie like Toy Story, in YOUR FUCKING CONSOLE, a console just sold for a "normal" price, as the game.

There was nothing similar to SM64 in any other platform, and the new analog controller was a total revolution for everyone >(PSX did not have analog sticks in its controllers, by then. Much less a rumble).

Also, some other games of the first batch for N64 were just so impressive as 3D games... many people were just blown away: Wave Race 64 was just another in-cre-di-ble game, Goldeneye was like or even better than the famous movie, and Star Fox 64 put the rumble pack in the scene, and that was just... SO COOL: feeling in your hands the explosions you was seeing in the TV. I remember being amazed as hell with SF64. The game was excellent, but that rumble thing was just totally insane, and that was the game they first used to sell that add-on. Today, I just do not give a damn about rumble features anymore, BUT, I must say... in 1997, that was just INCREDIBLE to believe... just very few years before, in a console.

So, when you have players who only toched 8 bit and 16 bits consoles until then, for many years, with sprite 2D games being just slowly better during the last 15 years... and you show them full 3D games, with full textured polygons, controlling the camera, with very robust 3D and no downs in the framerates, with no wobblings effect at all... man, you just WANTED that machine.

N64 had the most brutal presentation I've ever seen as a console, and was focussed specially in the 3D. 3D was a total game changer in videogames as you never seen any other. It was a new world. The first games and the games in development were so fucking cool, you didn't give a fuck about the SNES success, you just were amazed by that machine. Only someone who never lived that era could say N64 sold "because SNES". Maybe that happened with NES and SNES, but N64 was another topic.

It's true PSX also did some impressive 3D games later, but the N64 starting impact was huge. PSX 3D games until then... were basically racing games and FPS (Doom Style) games. And some platformer experiments like Jumping Flash or Pandemonium. Tomb Raider was a similar situation for PSX users in late 1996, and the first great 3D adventure there. But the TR controls were horribly complex compared to the SM64 ones: Lara Croft controls were a lot harder to learn and use, feeling a lot more "orthopedic" and timed-based.

Instead, among PS4 and PS5... was just a barely better graphics update and a little more resolution.

Last edited by JohnVG - on 09 February 2025

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Pemalite said:

Whether a console is a primary or secondary device does vary from individual to individual.

...Because shock horror. We are all different and prefer different things and that extends to the games we play.

Argumentators in shambles with such a clear and concise argument 🥲

Complete agree. We all find different aspects and games to latch on with our consoles of choices. 

So it'll definitely in variances with each and everyone of us.

Any system can technically one's primary use for gaming.



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909 

Mar1217 said:
Pemalite said:

Whether a console is a primary or secondary device does vary from individual to individual.

...Because shock horror. We are all different and prefer different things and that extends to the games we play.

Argumentators in shambles with such a clear and concise argument 🥲

Complete agree. We all find different aspects and games to latch on with our consoles of choices. 

So it'll definitely in variances with each and everyone of us.

Any system can technically one's primary use for gaming.

Who gafs about subjective opinions when we have objective data showing it's near impossible for Switch to primarily be secondary?

Wii-60 lol. PC-Wii always knew they were the masterrace but even they bent the knee.

When Nintendo gets GTA, CoD and Fifa its game over for the imitators.



Nov 2016 - NES outsells PS1 (JP)

Don't Play Stationary 4 ever. Switch!

Hopefully Nintendo realises their past errors and puts a gimped MK9, Smash, SMB, Switch Sports, Pokemon and Animal Crossing on both of their systems so Switch gets to the numbers it deserves instead of having it's life cut short.



Nov 2016 - NES outsells PS1 (JP)

Don't Play Stationary 4 ever. Switch!

A docked Switch 1 should be able to play 90% of Nintendo's first party Switch 2 games in portable mode. Upgrading a sytsem should be optional.



Nov 2016 - NES outsells PS1 (JP)

Don't Play Stationary 4 ever. Switch!

Pyro as Bill said:

A docked Switch 1 should be able to play 90% of Nintendo's first party Switch 2 games in portable mode. Upgrading a sytsem should be optional.

I'm one of those people who doesn't believe the Switch 2 will be anywhere near as powerful as many are claiming at least for portable mode, I think many are confusing development hardware spec with final retail spec which will be much lower but even with that in mind I don't think the original Switch will be able to match Switch 2 portable performance in docked mode. The CPU resources are much higher, there is going to be at least 8GB of memory and GPU performance in portable mode will be at least twice that of original Switch docked performance I would of thought. 

I've never owned a Switch myself but have played Switch games emulated and instore on demonstration machines a bit. The last Nintendo console I had was the wii u. The sort of games I enjoy which are mainly first person shooters and games like Fallout and Skyrim just aren't really Nintendo type games or perform very badly on it. I'm not a huge fan of Zelda games and while a Mario fan tend to like the older games more. Retro gaming is a big part of my gaming. The Super Nintendo, N64 and Gamecube were my main consoles back in the day but the wii and wii u never were and of course I've never had a Switch. Nowadays I do most of my gaming on PC and Android devices but still use my PS4 Pro and Xbox One X a fair bit. I don't have a current Xbox or Playstation model either. I have a few PCs but none of them were expensive, The best graphics card I have in my PC is a RX580 which is about 6 Teraflops I think. It was a £40 graphics card from Aliexpress. If I want to run the latest games at a good frame rate I'm often forced to lower detail levels at 720p but most of the PC games I really enjoy are older games which even modded run well at 1080p with high detail levels. At the time of the wii my main gaming was the PS3 and the time of the wii u my main gaming was PS4.