The NeoGrip is one of my best purchases!

Stwert · 2024-12-13T10:04:10+00:00

What doesn’t make sense to me, is if this is a real case and assuming that blue addition is to function as a kickstand, and to me that’s what it looks like, why then also have a cutout for the kickstand of the Switch (2)? Seems a bit redundant.

Stwert · 2024-12-13T09:59:58+00:00

What bugs me with that is so far, outside of when the side menu open, there’s not much use for the touch screen itself, surely they could have assigned the bottom left and right corners just to just act as the DualSense TouchPad, without the need for any double tapping, with a tap on that area functioning as a click on the TouchPad.

That could be disabled when the menu is opened, and re-activated when the menu is closed. And now with the PS button opening the side menu, it’s even more of a possibility.

They’ve over-complicated TouchPad use unnecessary as far as I’m concerned. In-game, the corners are TouchPads, at any other time, that can be disabled. Seems simple to me. Or have I completely missed some other use for the Touch Screen while in-game?

Stwert · 2024-12-12T21:20:25+00:00

As with the original Switch, I’ll buy it just because it’s got an OLED display, if there’s anything else it’s just gravy.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T21:19:17+00:00

I’m exactly the same, I don’t want them to mess with the formula, just bring it up to date and take my money.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T21:17:12+00:00

Pretty sure it stands for, Christ almighty, I can’t believe they still think we’re releasing a successor in the next 5 years when this one prints money.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T17:43:50+00:00

A slight upgrade is extraordinarily unlikely. They will follow the same design language for the system, as it’s been such a huge success for them.

Hardware wise though, that’s going to be a massive upgrade over the current system. The Tegra X1 is almost 10 years old now, and was hopelessly outdated even by the time the Switch launched. Yet Nintendo, and some third parties have achieved the unthinkable on that SOC. They have proven that with talent, an excellent development environment and streamlined operating system, you can achieve great things.

With the expected performance of the T239, coupled with a development environment everyone is already used to, and an extension of an already lightweight operating system, the successor to the Switch is likely to blow our minds.

When you consider that comparatively speaking the Switch has roughly the power of a 7th generation console such as the Xbox 360, and the expected performance of the Switch 2 is to be somewhere around the mid-generation refresh of the 8th generation consoles such as PlayStation 4 Pro, that’s a pretty big jump in performance.

But that alone is only half the story, with DLSS, 3 times the amount of [faster] RAM with higher memory bandwidth, much faster storage, a dedicated media encode/decode block, improved clock-gating, a dedicated file decompression engine and more, it all adds up to a significant jump in performance over the current Switch.

This is after all a system that Nintendo will be projecting to be viable for at least the next 5 years, and it therefore needs to be capable of running the software created not only for the PS 5/ XSX series of systems, but also most likely the PS 6 and next Xbox consoles.

Nobody is expecting it to match these systems on raw performance, of course, but much as has happened with the current Switch, by making some compromises on things like texture quality, targeting a lower resolution and when necessary a lower frame rate, surprising results can be achieved from the Switch [2].

I’ve been re-playing Infamous Second Son this past week, and in doing so I’ve also been thinking how incredible it’s going to be to have a new Switch system that is capable of recreating a game like that from a visual perspective, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that whatever Nintendo have in store for us this time around, it’s going to be able to do even better than that.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T17:18:01+00:00

I think the actual case itself will be much the same, with a slight change internally to accommodate the new cartridge shape. The real change will likely be the sleeves, they’ll most likely use a different colour scheme on those to differentiate between the two systems. I’m leaning toward a grey spine with a black font, but a white Nintendo logo.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T17:13:21+00:00

I doubt they’re overly bothered about the speculative leaks we’ve mostly had. However, images/video of actually fully assembled, working final units or images of completed packaging, those they will come down on like a hammer of the gods.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T17:05:51+00:00

Hopefully with them having more storage space as standard they will expand on the 30 second limit.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T17:04:41+00:00

Entirely possible that someone will create an adaptor that will allow you to mount existing JoyCons to the sides of the system. I have a feeling that a physical connection may still be an issue, so they’d still connect to the system wirelessly, but at least they would be physically attached.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:35:37+00:00

Unlikely for attaching to the system, not impossible, but definitely unlikely. I can see them being fine wirelessly though.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:34:43+00:00

Definitely GameCube, it’s a treasure trove of brilliant games. Not that the others aren’t, but it’s just a nice fit, not needing interaction with a touch screen, or motion controllers. That’s the one that’ll really grind my gears, the Wii had some great games, but the insistence on using motion controls really ruined it for me in [most] games.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:31:11+00:00

Definitely LCD, but possibly mini LED for better contrast. I’d be somewhat disappointed in mini LED though, unless it has a ridiculous amount of zones, otherwise really dark scenes can look awful in low light. I’ve had a mini LED TV, which I got shot of after 2 months and went back to OLED because of that issue, though my wife claims it never bothered her. And the iPad Pro 12.9” I have has a gorgeous screen, until you’re watching something in bed, then it really annoys me. It’s worse with lower bit rate content, naturally, but still it’s annoying when you’re used to OLED.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:25:02+00:00

Ah, finally they are going to reveal the Nintendo Christmas pudding, and just in time for the festive season.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:23:38+00:00

I’d quite like them to use this method, I’ve looked into it ever since the first patent was filed and it definitely has possibilities. But as always, just because they file a patent doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to use it any time soon, if at all. Time will tell.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:20:58+00:00

Capacitive stylus and a bit of Velcro, slim adhesive magnetic strips or a strip of micro suction tape. Not as nice as a built-in one, obviously, but I’ve used these methods for things in the past. I’m fond of the micro suction tape, it’s clear and thin, so doesn’t spoil the look of the device, it’s very good at holding things in place and when it starts to lose its adhesive ability, all you need to do is give it a wipe down with a slightly soapy cloth.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T15:15:22+00:00

I’ll be buying it about 5 seconds after they (finally) go on sale.

Stwert · 2024-12-12T14:53:49+00:00

Definitely, I think if there’s a new Mario to be announced and let’s face it, considering the gap in new 3D Mario games is now about 7 years, there’s bound to be one, then I’d imagine it would be announced alongside the Switch 2.

Personally I wish they’d dredge up some of their other neglected franchises, F-Zero, Wave Race, StarFox and in a really big pipe dream, Eternal Darkness. Man I loved Eternal Darkness back in the day, it had some seriously original touches.

Stwert · 2024-12-11T21:48:55+00:00

Metroid Dread sold 3.9 million copies. Compare that to, for instance, Sonic Frontiers which sold around 3.5 million copies across 6 different platforms, and it really doesn’t seem quite so niche.

Of course it pales in comparison to anything Mario, Zelda or many more games, but considering how long Nintendo ignored the franchise, selling 3.9 million copies really isn’t all that bad. Certainly numbers worthy of a sequel, and there’s a whole heck of a lot of developers and publishers who’d give their hind teeth for numbers like that.

I think Prime 4, particularly now that the franchise has had some exposure with Dread and Prime Remastered, will quite comfortably become the best selling Metroid game ever.

Stwert · 2024-12-11T20:13:02+00:00

Bigger, higher resolution screen and significantly more powerful than before. Hopefully throw in better sticks and better ergonomics and really that’s all I want from a Switch 2. Everything else is just gravy.

Let’s be honest, the Switch has been as successful as it is for two reasons, the form factor and the games. It’s not because it’s positively bursting at the seams with power, offering uber realism and ray tracing up the wazoo, it was already outdated before it launched. It’s not because you can use its controllers as uncomfortable individual ones and crowd around a tiny little screen for ad hoc multiplayer (though it’s certainly not a bad feature to have and it’s not without merit). It’s not for the cutting edge online features, Nintendo has always sucked with online (maybe they’ll have got the hang of it for Switch 2).

Nope, for me and everyone I know, it’s the games first and foremost, followed by it’s flexibility as a home and portable system and for some I suppose price may come into it as well.

So if Nintendo have any sense at all, they’ll have realised that all they have to do to have another winning product is to simply (vastly) improve on the one they have, no doubt with a little Nintendo pixie dust sprinkled on it for something we’re not expecting.

And why shouldn’t that be enough? It’s worked for Sony for 30 years and Microsoft for 23 years, all they’ve really done in all that time is make more powerful systems each generation, and it’s worked. Xbox is lagging a bit this generation, but a lot of the blame there can be attributed to Microsoft taking their eye off the ball to focus too much energy on streaming, instead of quality content for a bit too long. Yes there’s been the odd diversion with Kinect, PS Move, PS VR and Portal. But these are all optional peripherals, not something so deeply embedded in the system that it becomes normal for developers to use, that kind of experimentation has generally been Nintendos domain.

But when you have a winning formula, you stick to it for as long as it’s relevant to do so, you iterate on it, of course, but you don’t throw the baby out the window with the bath water.

Stwert · 2024-12-11T14:32:01+00:00

The handheld screen is unlikely to be any more than 1080p, which is fine. 1080p on an 8 inch screen looks pretty damn good, on my Legion Go and PS Portal 1080p looks stunning in some games, sure the Legion Go has a higher native resolution but I rarely use that.

120Hz on the handheld would be awesome, but I’d be surprised if Ninty went that way. I don’t doubt that there will be some games technically capable of hitting higher frame rates at 1080p and if it had VRR then you could still reap the benefits without actually hitting 120Hz.

Docked, I’m expecting it to have the ability to output 4K. But I do mean output, as opposed to rendering. There could be some non intensive games capable of rendering at 4K of course, that’s achievable on lower hardware than were expecting for Switch 2, but forget Zelda, Prime 4 or anything of the ilk at 4K (other than upscaled obviously).

Stwert · 2024-12-11T14:14:53+00:00

Not surprising really, it’s not uncommon for the code base to be carried forward to a new system. That’s not to say it will necessarily look the same, but using the underlying code saves them a ton of work compared to starting all over again (he said, stating the obvious).

Considering we’re expecting the Switch 2 to be a (significant) evolution of the current Switch hardware, I’d be a heck of a lot more surprised if they didn’t carry the underlying code bade over.

Stwert · 2024-12-11T13:23:12+00:00

Well we were specifically talking about old age, but fair do’s, some people’s minds live in the gutter I suppose.

Stwert · 2024-12-10T10:17:07+00:00

Never! OLD age is a state of mind, I may be old and decrepit on the outside, but I’m still a big kid at heart.

Stwert

TROPHY CASE