Nintendo Reportedly 'Almost Discouraging' Switch 2 Development

11 pointsposted 5 months ago
by mikhael

11 Comments

duxup

5 months ago

Sounds like they just don't have enough dev kits to go around, that's it.

teamonkey

5 months ago

Possibly a sign that they underestimated developer demand for the Switch 2.

There might be a few reasons for this, but I’m guessing an increased reliance on updating old IPs combined with the rising popularity of Steam Deck-grade portable console hardware.

Nintendo did OK for indie Switch 1 development but it was hard to port to as it lacked many hardware features of contemporary PCs and consoles. The Switch 2 is a bit more of a level playing field. Not as powerful as a PC but has similar capabilities, which makes porting easier.

time4tea

5 months ago

Have switch2, very underwhelmed.

Wouldn't recommend tbh, yet.

This makes me sad, as I played super Mario world on one of the first imported consoles in uk, have snes, n64, game cube, Wii, Wii u, switch and switch2.. each of them had awesome launch titles and follow ups... switch 2 seems.... empty?

ElijahLynn

5 months ago

Does this have to do with tarrifs?

AIPedant

5 months ago

I wonder if part of this is that the Switch 1 was hurt by Unity/etc slop and lazy AAA ports, so Nintendo wants to manage that better for the Switch 2. The Switch 2 doesn't have many games but it is also refreshingly free of hentai match-three games. Likewise Cyberpunk on the Switch 2 is dazzling, but even the trailer for Star Wars Outlaws seems to have performance issues. It would make sense that Nintendo wants to limit the number of unflattering comparisons between AAA games on the Switch 2 vs the Steam Deck.

I don't think Nintendo is going to go "Seal of Quality" but it would be nice if the Switch 2-filtered eShop was not full of cynical trash. The ease of publishing for the Switch 1 was new for Nintendo, and it was welcomed at the time, but in retrospect they went too far.

kjkjadksj

5 months ago

From what I gather switch 2 is already subject to lazy unperformant AAA ports.

AIPedant

5 months ago

Is there something specific you are referring to? I haven't played any of the non-Nintendo Switch 2 ports, but the reviews haven't suggested widespread performance problems.

What is true is that (for example) Split Fiction and Tony Hawk 3/4 are quite a bit less fancy than the PS5 or XBox versions, which is unflattering.

kjkjadksj

5 months ago

People have been saying the Elden Ring port is looking to be a dog.

AIPedant

5 months ago

I have read that too (particularly in handheld mode) but Elden Ring is a bit of a dog on PC and PS5, this might not be the best example. The engine has way too much cruft to ever run smoothly.

cdmckay

5 months ago

Really? Which titles?

kjkjadksj

5 months ago

Elden Ring from what I see on reddit.