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This Week in Games - Honey, I Shrunk the Switch


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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2203
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:51 pm Reply with quote
Zerreth wrote:

Huh???? If anything higher fps is indicative of better optimization coding. Whether or not you're a techie has nothing to do with it. Stuttering and frame lag on machines that are standardized are indicative of poor developer skill/QA.

https://www.testufo.com/ is a really quick and easy way to understand why at the very least aiming for a specific framerate and maintaining it is good for everyone. You don't need some microscope or be obsessed with technology to have frame skips impact your experience.

Setting a new lowest common denominator (weaker standardized hardware) for devs might get some to think outside the box and produce roundabout ways to code better performance with shortcuts but it also means those with better hardware (in this case, current users) are now expected to deal with with future software needing looking worse to account. Granted this is only speculation based on how the normal switch runs while not docked, but I'm personally hoping that that's all it is and not an actual part swap.


Except that's NOT what they use the frame rates for. A recurring problem with a lot of devs for the past ten years is that they've used nothing but brute force methods, letting the hardware do all the work. When it comes time to actually code efficiently they basically suffer panic attacks because, oops, turns out they're not actually that good of designers.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5914
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 5:13 pm Reply with quote
AiddonValentine wrote:


Except that's NOT what they use the frame rates for. A recurring problem with a lot of devs for the past ten years is that they've used nothing but brute force methods, letting the hardware do all the work. When it comes time to actually code efficiently they basically suffer panic attacks because, oops, turns out they're not actually that good of designers.


Don't really think that's the sole problem especially given the horror stories that you tend to read regarding development cycles with corners having to be cut, having to rush a game's development to get it on store shelves etc..
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2173
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:51 pm Reply with quote
I really wish they had announced what imo seems like the obvious second part of this: a $200 console only Switch. I've been waiting to pick up a Switch once the price dropped and $200 is totally my sweet spot but I was planning on never traveling with my Switch and letting it live docked to a TV as if it was a normal console.

If this had video out or casting (even if it was locked to 720p or whatever the Lite's resolution is) I'd buy it day one.
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 28 Oct 2018
Posts: 489
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:34 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
AiddonValentine wrote:
TsubomiKoneko wrote:

I didn't read the full article, does it state there that it's been confirmed that the lite will be weaker graphics wise? It kind of makes no sense, since as my boyfriend likes to point out to me the Switch is essentially a glorified tablet (when compared to other consoles being more like actual computers these days).


From what I've heard, it's the exact same as the regular Switch power-wise. Plus considering they can stuff The Witcher III on there it's clear power is kind of a moot point


Hardware wise it is, but the switch would always go weaker when in portable mode (to save battery life), so the switch lite is stuck in the underpowered mode.

As fro TW3, it's severely downgraded graphic wise, so the switch can play it the same way a 10 year old laptop can
https://www.newsweek.com/witcher-3-switch-graphics-resolution-wild-hunt-nintendo-1443664


That... doesn't really make sense? By that same logic, removing the I/O could make the whole thing run faster because it doesn't have to waste energy on components that aren't being used.

Regardless, there hasn't been any news that the Switch Lite will run any weaker than the Switch. The specs are largely identical, outside of the removal of I/O components.

Mr. sickVisionz wrote:
I really wish they had announced what imo seems like the obvious second part of this: a $200 console only Switch. I've been waiting to pick up a Switch once the price dropped and $200 is totally my sweet spot but I was planning on never traveling with my Switch and letting it live docked to a TV as if it was a normal console.

If this had video out or casting (even if it was locked to 720p or whatever the Lite's resolution is) I'd buy it day one.


I don't think your math adds up there, buddy. Making a permanently-docked switch doesn't remove anything that would justify a $200 retail sticker. You may as well just buy an ordinary Switch for that.

I mean, I get why you'd want a permanently docked Switch. But you're really in the minority there, and even if a "pro" version of the Switch comes out that's really not gonna happen. Why would Nintendo remove a factor of convenience for one of their most-convenient consoles ever? (Also, full disclosure: I didn't have a TV for, like, a long time, limiting me to portable consoles for much of my life. So I don't get the obsession a lot of other gamers have with wanting games on their big fancy 4K 3D TVs. Why tether yourself to the couch when I can take Bravely Default anywhere I go?)
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:24 pm Reply with quote
FinalVentCard wrote:
I don't think your math adds up there, buddy. Making a permanently-docked switch doesn't remove anything that would justify a $200 retail sticker. You may as well just buy an ordinary Switch for that.
You remove a whole screen. It would basically be the same as the PSTV was to the Vita (except the HDMI output capability is already in the Switch), which was quite a bit cheaper.
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Hal14



Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Posts: 664
Location: Heart of africa
PostPosted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:40 am Reply with quote
Yttrbio wrote:
FinalVentCard wrote:
I don't think your math adds up there, buddy. Making a permanently-docked switch doesn't remove anything that would justify a $200 retail sticker. You may as well just buy an ordinary Switch for that.
You remove a whole screen. It would basically be the same as the PSTV was to the Vita (except the HDMI output capability is already in the Switch), which was quite a bit cheaper.


Except we aren't paying for a tv when we buy the switch, anymore than you pay for a tv when yo buy PS4 or xbox. A perma-docked switch would just be a console, there is no reason why it would cost as low as $200.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:38 am Reply with quote
But you are paying for the screen that is on the Switch when you pay for the Switch. A permadocked Switch would not have that screen, because it's always outputting to a TV.
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