Hot Take(?): Nintendo should stop making consoles and just allow their games on Steam since the Steam Deck is basically what the Switch wishes it could be
You arent their target market, nobody on Lemmy is. Their target market is pre-pubescent kids and their parents who want their kids toys to “Just work” the parents who just buy the games on the shelf at the store, and the associated merch.
They make great games and to play them you need their hardware, why would they dilute that? This way they get to hit you twice and control their own market pricing. I know “emulators and piracy” right? Those people werent buying shit anyway. Why accomodate them?
We have two Switches in the house and a lot of games. Their target market is everyone; sure kids are a large part of it, but so are women and others who enjoy Nintendo games.
Their target market is pre-pubescent kids[. . . .]
You certainly wouldn’t know that looking at most of their advertising on TV in Japan and by the people buying them. Handhelds are really popular in Japan because of train commutes by people of all ages.
Japan has always bucked the worldwide trends when it comes to handhelds this is true.
Why would they? What Nintendo is doing works really well for Nintendo. They’re over 100 years old (which is considered a young company in Kyoto!) and are not about chasing the best and shiniest, but what works best for their continued long-term survival. They will always do their own thing and at their own pace.
Also their games already play infinitely better on the computer. They could actually have my money if I could buy em as applications instead of popping em into Yuzu!
The steam deck is way too bulky and battery life is way too short to be a viable handheld for mass market rather than just enthusiasts. Also I will pass on having a console with DRM like Steam rather than physical media.
Also I will pass on having a console with DRM
Um wat? I understand that many of the games on Steam have DRM, but the Steamdeck itself is a pretty open ecosystem. Hell, it’s running Arch Linux and you can drop to both the Linux Desktop and a terminal shell without a need to hack anything. You literally have full control over the device and can even replace the Operating System wholesale, again without some screwball hack.
By contrast the Nintendo Switch is a complete walled garden. You have zero control over the OS, No ability to replace the OS, interface or anything about the software. You want to “pass on having a console with DRM” and yet the Switch is literally the one of the two which is completely locked down. What the fuck are you smoking?I’m not a fan of digital only or a fan of Steam in general. You could use a steam deck as a GOG deck and only play DRM free games. You also won’t get access to AAA games from big publishers without DRM but those games either don’t come to switch or are heavily nerfed anyway.
To me thats missing the point of the thing being a a handheld console with SteamOS rather a PC. If you use it as a PC instead of a console it IS a pretty open ecosystem. But then it loses its main advantage over a normal PC or the other handhelds in the market which is its tight integration with SteamOS and the ability to be a handheld PC gaming console. It does keep its secondary advantage of price though. The Steam Deck is a good piece of hardware but I don’t prefer its form factor for what I see as its niche as a Switch competitor.
On the contrast, the switch is made to play switch games and I’m able to play any physical cart on any switch with a working cartridge reader without ever connecting the system online. That’s the advantage the Switch has over the Steam Deck when it comes to games and DRM
The battery is about the same as the Switch.
This chart shows the Switch OLED getting 33% more battery life at worst. The steam deck is good but that doesn’t make it accessible especially when it weighs twice as much and is 3 times thicker
I have the original and V2 Switches and they do not ever get nine hours. The OLED Deck gets up to 12 according to your chart. Not sure why you’re bringing up weight and thickness, it is playable.
Nintendo doesn’t sell their consoles at a loss so that is one reason why they won’t put it on PC even though it results in the worst experience.
I disagree. A Switch Lite is much better for a 6 year old than a big and clunky Steam Deck. I own a Steam Deck. It’s a fine device. But Nintendo works with their own hardware. I’m not even sure we would have a Steam Deck if Nintendo didn’t make the Switch and showed how much demand there is for dedicated handheld devices. Also Nintendo is better at taking risk with hardware designs than Sony and Microsoft. Other consoles makers just keep making the same box, just a bit better every generation. If anything Sony and Microsoft should just give up their hardware, and make PC games. Nintendo at least take some risk and try to do something different on the hardware front.
There will still be shortages.
And scalpers
Great idea! Those scalpers can’t scalp without their heads!
Let’s hope they put a decent processor in this one
I work hard for my money. I do not like spending it on games that barely function. I stopped buying 3rd party games of any variety on switch because of how many times I was burned by awful performance.
Even 1st party games now. I liked TotK a lot, but frankly it’s difficult to love a game when multiple areas are plagued with nausea inducing frame drops.
Like how has it become acceptable to even publish a game that can’t hold stable 30fps at not-even-real-1080p? Not asking for the world here.
I’d be half inclined to buy a switch 2 if they told me it could actually run my switch 1 library with any faint semblance of competence. But I think I’ll probably pass on this one, especially with the steam deck and other competitors right there. I doubt the switch 2 will be a price-for-performance powerhouse. Would love to be proven wrong though
While I have a Switch… I play Switch games on my computer. TotK was incredible at 1440p/60FPS with visual enhancements!
They won’t. Nintendo has gone on record many times they didn’t care about competing at all in hardware. They think that if a game is fun, that’s all that matters. Ignoring the fact that if the game runs poorly or looks poorly then it will directly affect the fun factor, which makes ports at risk.
It’ll probably be an updated Nvidia SoC, but still bottlenecked my Nintendo (like the current switch is) because mobile battery life is all they really care about.
Nooooooope! … Chuck Tegra
I just hope it’ll be compatible with OG Switch games. If it is and it gives better performance to existing Switch games, I’ll probably pick it up.
Be so nice to be freed from sub 720 and sub 30 fps.
It’s a nice thought, but it’s hard to see how there won’t be shortages and scalpers taking advantages of those shortages. Although hopefully those will just be “normal” shortages and not something on the scale of the PS5 and Series X launches where they were almost impossible to find.
