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Doesn't the Switch show graphics/power DON'T Matter?

In fact it shows very clearly how much power does matter. On PS and XB, people are discussing 2-3fps differences in certain scenes between these machines, or how 30 or 60 fps is the better experience. But that lasts only for a couple of days after the games launch, then everything goes silent because people are enjoying their time with the game.
On Switch on the other hand, we still bring up performance issues of games that have released years ago because their performance is so laughably bad on this device its become a meme at this point.
With regards to sales however, no it doesn't make a difference if the value proposition is there regardless.
 
In fact it shows very clearly how much power does matter. On PS and XB, people are discussing 2-3fps differences in certain scenes between these machines, or how 30 or 60 fps is the better experience. But that lasts only for a couple of days after the games launch, then everything goes silent because people are enjoying their time with the game.
On Switch on the other hand, we still bring up performance issues of games that have released years ago because their performance is so laughably bad on this device its become a meme at this point.
With regards to sales however, no it doesn't make a difference if the value proposition is there regardless.
we call this selective memory.
 
if you include mobile games, yea, graphic doesn't matter.
Nintendo might be one of the cases. me personally, I can play with only power of art style.
 
It shows they don't matter to casual gaming fans or people that really aren't techy and want the highest end stuff. It's kinda like music and movies. Most people are content on streaming but the diehards will collect physical media/UHDs or FLAC/24-bit files for audio.

Me personally, I just lower my expectations when playing Switch games knowing the hardware limitations and end up impressed with something looks really good.
 
Garbage to say graphics don't matter. Should we run botw on a 3ds? That would have been amazing. Can you make a great game on weaker hardware? Sure, proven time and time again. What I don't get is the rush to say "thats good enough" when it could be even better. Seen botw at 4k upscaled and you know what I mean, it doesn't take away from a great game, it enhances it.
 
It has everything to do with gameplay. Nintendo has always been about great gameplay first and foremost.

Nintendo would still be crushing it even if they were chasing high end graphics.
 
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No, it shows that Nintendo have graphics that look great to a lot of people because they are readable. Other devs use more computing power and more detailed art assets to make a realistic style game that is such a visual mess that people need to have everything interactive highlighted or painted yellow for them, and then you still need a voice actor constantly telling the player what to do. This shows that better/worse is not so simple and that there are trade-offs.
That's not a reason why power doesn't matter on Nintendo consoles but why Nintendo games just look better than basically anything out there to many of us, "Detective mode" variants to overcome graphic design lack of optimization is basically standard in AAA these days.
 
That's not a reason why power doesn't matter on Nintendo consoles but why Nintendo games just look better than basically anything out there to many of us, "Detective mode" variants to overcome graphic design lack of optimization is basically standard in AAA these days.
Obviously, if someone made a AAA hyperrealistic "detective mode" "yellow ledges" game on Switch it would be laughed off the platform.
 
Sure I guess but the switch is almost 7 years old and was outdated at launch and Nintendo needs to get over itself and stop being anti developer and actually release proper hardware for once
 
I agree, which is why ToTK and Metroid Prime Remaster are the highest rated games this year and scored higher than all those games you mentioned.

drive-away-luigi.gif
Especially scored higher than FF16

Run Away Nuclear Bomb GIF by Identity
 
Nintendo is limited by the hardware of the Switch, easy as that. But they are so talented that they can create amazing games with whatever hardware they have. Could they produce more impressive games with much better hardware ? Of course yes ! The hardware matters, power matters, but you need great developers; it was always like this, on PSX, Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, etc etc etc.
 
They matter, but they're not n°1 top priority over everything else, sacrificing good writing and good gameplay on the altar of graphics and virtue signaling only leads to crappy, safe, boring, unoriginal, godofwar, creatively bankrupt games.


Hello american game design. Yes, you.
 
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It proves that graphics are getting to the "good enough" point. Graphics matter, otherwise Atari would be the standard.
 
You can always have high tech graphics and great games at the same time.
Well so far most games I enjoyed didn't have high tech graphics and game like Horizon, TLOU2 and GoW:R did have high tech graphics, the actual experience was underwhelming.
 
Well so far most games I enjoyed didn't have high tech graphics and game like Horizon, TLOU2 and GoW:R did have high tech graphics, the actual experience was underwhelming.
fair, but this is the beauty of taste and opinions. Some loved TLOU Part2, others didn't.
 
Well so far most games I enjoyed didn't have high tech graphics and game like Horizon, TLOU2 and GoW:R did have high tech graphics, the actual experience was underwhelming.

Out of Sony's First Party games, the only ones I loved was God of War (PS4) and Ghost of Tsushima. I agree there I find most of Sony's First Party games to be underwhelming. Horizon especially, I thought was a slog for me to get through
 
But now imagine what Nintendo could achieve with MORE POWER:
  • Even longer development times
  • More expensive games
  • Less output per year, if that´s even possible (looking at you, Metroid Prime 4)
They are eventually gonna have to start using tech so that there games wont run on the Wii U lol.
Zelda TOTK took years to make despite power
 
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I got a switch for TotK and the no input lag + responsive controls despite frame dips is a breath of fresh air. I didn't realize just how long I'd been suffering through this with every other A to AAA game I've played since I last had a Nintendo console. They are the only ones who seem to be able to pull it off anymore. Also, the graphics are more an iterating of PS1 style. I don't just mean low poly (the game for instance has perfect spheres with no aliasing) but rather the texture work give an impression of more detail that your mind fills in. I really noticed this with some PSX racing games I fired up recently. The graphics were frankly horrible but the the combination of smooth gameplay, realistic sound, and a polygon model that had just enough movement detail gave me the distinct impression that I was seeing the real object through the haze of the blocky model and highly pixeled textures.
 
Nintendo fans hyped Wind Waker into being an alleged classic solely because of graphics, while gameplay is forgettable and level design pretty mediocre. Same for Kid Icarus looking flashy on 3DS, while the gameplay is so bad, it can literally hurt your hand.
 
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No, it shows that Nintendo truly does cater to an entirely different demographic compared to Sony, Microsoft, or the PC gaming market.


Let's see Sony release the next Last of Us looking and running like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and we'll see how that goes for them.
 
fair, but this is the beauty of taste and opinions. Some loved TLOU Part2, others didn't.
All I'm saying is it make zero difference to me if the graphics are high tech or not. People gonna complain Armored Core VI graphics is not "next gen" but it's not gonna stop me from enjoying crap out of the game.
 
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No, it shows that Nintendo truly does cater to an entirely different demographic compared to Sony, Microsoft, or the PC gaming market.


Let's see Sony release the next Last of Us looking and running like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and we'll see how that goes for them.
If that were true This site wouldn't have any Nintendo conversation. There is little to no mobile content discussed here. But Nintendo is still a trend setter in the industry.
 
I wouldn't mind Nintendo games being in the same art style and graphics as they are now but I would love to have minimal loading times like PS5 and XsX games have. Right now TotK loading times when entering/exiting Shrines and teleporting is killing me.
 
If that were true This site wouldn't have any Nintendo conversation. There is little to no mobile content discussed here. But Nintendo is still a trend setter in the industry.

I guess I should communicate this in a more nuanced way:

Nintendo has managed to carve out their own niche that has nothing to do with graphics. Those that buy Nintendo hardware do so with a full understanding that they aren't purchasing something that's going to impress on a technical level when it comes to visuals.

Microsoft and Sony do not live in that niche in any way shape or form. If they were to start releasing games that look like Switch games, they would be out of the industry in a matter of years.


Yes, there's an overlap between Sony/Microsoft/PC and Nintendo gamers, but the expectations are very very different between the platforms.
 
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Its a VIDEO game. Graphics matter.

They objectively enhance a gaming experience.

All of Nintendos games that look like shit would be improved with better graphics.
 
That's usually the case though. Wii, 3DS, Ps2, DS etc. were all less powerful than the competition and dominated.
 
The highest rated games this year, and this gen are on the Switch which has around 360/PS3 level hardware within it.

If the power of the PS5/XSX lead to better games, why is this the case?

Answer:
Because GRAPHICS/POWER can ENHANCE A GAME but DON'T MAKE IT BETTER.
To be fair PS5/Series X still hasn't had true next gen games.

Just this year Xbox finally confirmed they are done making games for Xbox one. Most of PlayStations big first party games this gen have been cross gen.

Nintendo is in a different demographic in some ways, so you can't really compare them to Xbox/Playstation.

People who play mainly Nintendo games don't care about 4K, 60 FPS or ray tracing. This is why Nintendo hasn't been rushing to release a pro model, there base just don't care about that.
 
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I love the Switch but absolutely NOT. It shows that without power games are going to be low res and have framerate issues but that the best devs in the industry can creatively work around it but even still, TotK would be better (especially on a large 4k TV, which makes switch games look terrible btw).
 
I've often come across this argument, and while I understand the sentiment, I can't necessarily agree that graphics or power don't matter.
You can't really isolate graphics from video games, as that technically makes up for half of the experience. They are called video games, after all.

A great game is not solely defined by how impressive or cutting-edge its visuals are, but it's important to acknowledge that not all games are created equal.
I believe it would be a mistake to let one video game company's design philosophy define the entire industry just because they have found more success in appealing to a wider market.
I love my fair share of Nintendo games, which means I have no problem playing on their platforms. That doesn't mean I want every single game I play to be like a Nintendo game.

Witnessing and experiencing technical innovations in gaming can be just as interesting as creative expression. I'd even argue that both influence one another.
More powerful hardware also enables the creation of certain games that would otherwise not be possible.
I love the fact that games like Starfield can exist alongside Super Mario RPG because they scratch different itches for me.
I can appreciate intricately detailed high-poly models and assets, as well as the stylized charm of lower-poly models;
and that's coming from one of those weirdos that admires the "aesthetics" of low-poly games from the '90s & early aughts.

In my view, taking a stance that completely disregards the importance of graphics is just as extreme as claiming that graphics are everything.
I fail to understand why some gamers present it as an either-or choice. Favoring one extreme over the other just leads to missing out on potentially great games across the board.
 
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I don't think the switch's success means graphics/power don't matter. I think it says that those things don't matter as much when it comes to Nintendo games.

Is it a double standard that Nintendo is able to "get away" with lesser visuals? Maybe. But that's life. Double standards exist. Get over it.

Maybe it does matter because look how many sales Nintendo is potentially losing with people pirating to play their games at higher res and fps.
 
Graphics mattered 25 YEARS AGO....sure....is that the argument??

Well nowadays graphics don't matter for me. I hit the Law of Diminishing Returns. I still game on PS4 and think those games look great. I have PC that better than the PS4, I would say it's around PS5 level specs wise and I had that thing for close to 8 year now and I haven't feel the need to upgrade. The only way I'm upgrading my PC is when it stops working or just wait 2 to 3 years and upgrade my PC to better specs but at cheaper prices
 
Argument seems valid to me. If games today all went back to 8 bit sprites would gaming as a whole have the interest we see today?

Nope. Would you be happy? I wouldn't
We are getting great looking games the problem is for some people here it doesn't meet their "standards".

When we saw recent gameplay footage of Armored Core VI to some people the graphics are not "next gen" enough meanwhile I thought the game looked fantastic.

Another problem is most people ideas next gen visuals always comes down to games looking more photorealistic which I personally don't find it all that interesting.
 
We are getting great looking games the problem is for some people here it doesn't meet their "standards".

When we saw recent gameplay footage of Armored Core VI to some people the graphics are not "next gen" enough meanwhile I thought the game looked fantastic.

Another problem is most people ideas next gen visuals always comes down to games looking more photorealistic which I personally don't find it all that interesting.

Which is a shame since with all that power I wish AAA would experiment more with visual styles. With that the budget they get, I bet it would look amazing. I mean I understand Big AAA Publishers are risk averse due to these games costing money, but it's still a shame
 
I'd say the Playstation 2 holds the 'graphics and power don't matter' crown currently. Let's see how this all plays out.
 
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