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Nintendo Switch | Hardware Review Thread

Bazry

Member
So does no one care enough about the other games aside from Zelda, or have we got review embargo for those games wrong?
 

Skeletos311

Junior Member
I watched Go Nintendo and GameXplain's videos. It just sounds like people don't even feel they should be reviewing it, but are going to anyway, because they can, because the embargo is up today. OK. Are most reviews like that?
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Maybe it has to do with lowering the OS RAM usage? It's all in 2D anyway, that means they either need to store different resolutions of all the assets, downscale in handheld mode, or upscale in docked mode. Guess they chose the last one, at least for now.

The third, rendering at 1080p (or 900p?) is a better method that isn't supported.
 

Rodin

Member
Just watched it. With a 10000mAh power bank they lasted 6h 15min playing Zelda.

I heard 6h 50m, which is pretty close to 7 hours. He also said that the powerbank he's using is pretty cheap and not as effective as it sounds.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
I watched Go Nintendo and GameXplain's videos. It just sounds like people don't even feel they should be reviewing it, but are going to anyway, because they can, because the embargo is up today. OK. Are most reviews like that?

It comes out on Friday. People want to read reviews. There's an inherent obligation there.
 

Dystify

Member
So does no one care enough about the other games aside from Zelda, or have we got review embargo for those games wrong?

The review embargo for these games does end today. I was under the impression they end at the same time as the Switch embargo. I haven't seen any reviews yet though.
 

Morts

Member
As someone who sits over ten feet from the TV this Joycon sync issue is pretty concerning.

I should've ordered a Pro controller (even though I shouldn't have to).
 
So it seems like Nintendo has got a really solid foundation with the Switch. Hopefully in time it's games library will flesh out and perhaps some services like Netflix etc will arrive. Bodes well for Nintendo.
 

Nairume

Banned
The review embargo for these games does end today. I was under the impression they end at the same time as the Switch embargo. I haven't seen any reviews yet though.
I wonder if the holdup is tied to the day one patch not being available for reviewers yet.

Could at least see people wanting to hold off on a final judgement on Bomberman until they can try the online features out.
 
Top of the screen is where the vent is and would mean docking the switch upside down.

On the back, would be more difficult to dock, wouldn't just be a case of sliding it in the the dock.

Sides. You couldn't dock your switch with the joycons attached then though?

The point I was actually trying to make is that the design is fundamentally flawed from the start.

They've made it clear that this thing is meant to be played on the go as well. Well, then it should have been designed with the idea that people would want to charge it while playing on the go.

So now you play while it's propped up on the kickstand. Wait for the battery to die, then stop playing to recharge.

It's an absolute stupid decision and if I was ever planning on using it in portable mode, I wouldn't be defending it.
 

N30RYU

Member
I heard 6h 50m, which is pretty close to 7 hours. He also said that the powerbank he's using is pretty cheap and not as effective as it sounds.

You are right. With my 30000mAh power bank (5V/3.4A) I hope I can get up to 15h.
 
I watched Go Nintendo and GameXplain's videos. It just sounds like people don't even feel they should be reviewing it, but are going to anyway, because they can, because the embargo is up today. OK. Are most reviews like that?

Blame Nintendo. These embargoes are all planned by them, yet the day one patch with a bunch of functionality (eShop, online, friends list, capture sharing etc) is coming out Friday.

If they didn't want these reviews yet then they either should have already released the patch or made the embargo expire Friday.
 

decisions

Member
IGN stays hilarious with their rating scale. I rate this thing a 6.71213232 out of ten and not a thousandth more!

Or you know, they gave the thing a numeric score of 6.7 based on a written critique.

"Hilarious."

IGN aren't the only ones who rate using the tenths place, and I think it gives reasonable clarity.
 
IGN seems spot on to say its too big for a portable and too underpowered for a home console.

Nintendo just needs to provide the games and lower pricing, and eventually, a mini handheld version

Especially in Canada, the pricing is too high, but the merging of handheld and home console should promise a fantastic library in time.

Im still doubtful that this will sell significantly better than the WiiU. I just dont see why people care when most kids love the big games on PS4/Xbox/PC, and not Nintendo games anymore
 

Gurish

Member
Sounds like a pretty mixed reception, as usual Nintendo is taking a gamble, I personally don't see it as a good one.
 

Glix

Member
Despite the negative scores I am very pleased with the reviews.

Almost across the board everyone is praising the hardware, and the elegance of it.

All the negatives, are things I was already aware of, and are fixable - Joycon issue, retail games drought, and no online system yet, and I am okay with them.
 

Lifeline

Member
Most sites aren't using scores (only 2 are so far I believe) so I decided against posting them in the OP. I also believe a simple number is not enough to get a good judgment of the system.

I get what you're trying to do and its a honorable cause. But sometimes I just want to scroll and get a general opinion of what people are thinking and not read selected quotes or open links to a bunch of different reviews.

Its too late now though, you already made me read stuff :p
 
Yeah. I don't mind their middling review, but the precision of the score always makes me chuckle.

Having a score at all when the review isn't final seems odd.

At this point the reviews aren't telling me anything new and I don't expect much from the Zelda reviews tomorrow besides gushing. The next big Switch news item that needs to drop is that Day one patch.
 

KORNdoggy

Member
i'm getting mainly a wait and see vibe. which i think is pretty obvious when you consider there is only 1 game worth buying day 1 and it's available on their other platform.
 
Having a score at all when the review isn't final seems odd.

At this point the reviews aren't telling me anything new and I don't expect much from the Zelda reviews tomorrow besides gushing. The next big Switch news item that needs to drop is that Day one patch.

They know adding number will cause more clicks, so I can't really blame them.
 
I heard 6h 50m, which is pretty close to 7 hours. He also said that the powerbank he's using is pretty cheap and not as effective as it sounds.

It doesn't look effective, but maybe that already happens with other devices and I'm not familiar with it. Mine works fine so far with my phone/3ds/Vita.

Does he mean he got another 7hs out of it or that he got 7h in total with the Switch's battery? Because getting only another 3-4h from a 10000 power bank is strange since the battery is already 4000.
 

chronomac

Member
ozDbkgP.png


Totally agree with this. Why review the system before it gets to its launch day state? If Nintendo does indeed launch a firmware update between now and midnight, March 3rd, then the unit being reviewed by outlets won't be the same one that we get. So...what's the point?
 
Despite the negative scores I am very pleased with the reviews.

Almost across the board everyone is praising the hardware, and the elegance of it.

All the negatives, are things I was already aware of, and are fixable - Joycon issue, retail games drought, and no online system yet, and I am okay with them.

Are we sure that this is fixable?

ozDbkgP.png


Totally agree with this. Why review the system before it gets to its launch day state? If Nintendo does indeed launch a firmware update between now and midnight, March 3rd, then the unit being reviewed by outlets won't be the same one that we get. So...what's the point?

Because hundreds of thousands of readers have the system preordered and want to know if they should keep it?
 

Plum

Member
Not even a hint as to whether it supports WPA-2 Enterprise or not? This is a pretty big deal for me as I literally won't be able to download the Day One update without it.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Ooof that ign review is looking pretty brutal.

Seems like their battery complaint isn't even warranted though.
 

Zedark

Member
You are right. With my 30000mAh power bank (5V/3.4A) I hope I can get up to 15h.

30000 will give you at least 10 hours extra gaming time (i.e. from the power bank alone, not counting the Switch's own battery), and that is when I calculate it with everything set to max settings. Taking 50% brightness, 50% volume and wifi on, you will get closer to 13 hours extra from the power bank, meaning 16 hours in total (including Switch's own battery).
 

Dystify

Member
I get what you're trying to do and its a honorable cause. But sometimes I just want to scroll and get a general opinion of what people are thinking and not read selected quotes or open links to a bunch of different reviews.

Its too late now though, you already made me read stuff :p

Well even if I did put scores you would have only seen 2, because only two sites did use scores. (IGN and The Guardian) I'm not sure if that's enough for an opinion.
 
ozDbkgP.png


Totally agree with this. Why review the system before it gets to its launch day state? If Nintendo does indeed launch a firmware update between now and midnight, March 3rd, then the unit being reviewed by outlets won't be the same one that we get. So...what's the point?

Because now websites can review it twice, more clicks, more money.
 

Wereroku

Member
Then I don't understand why being covered kills the signal. Never had that problem with any other bluetooth device.

The best theory I have heard is that the joycons have multiple power profiles. When they are in handheld mode they can save power by reducing the strength of the bluetooth signal and boosting it when in tv or tabletop mode. It could be that the left joycons are staying in a much lower power mode even when disconnected which would hurt the ability to communicate. But we really don't know right now it could also be a hardware defect with the bluetooth chip in a small number of joycons. Hopefully Nintendo will address it or the firmware upgrade will fix it on launch.

External HDD does not supported even in dock mode? Did not know that.

Yeah they have commented on this. It could easily be allowed but since the unit can be removed from the dock in the middle of gameplay if you had Zelda downloaded to the external drive it would crash when you removed it from the dock. They are trying to figure out the best way to handle it.
 

N30RYU

Member
Nintendo needs to market it as the best portable console to date... they will fail marketing it as a home console... an average one.
 
What is the point of reviewing a hardware that is designed first and foremost to play games, when there are hardly any games for it? I understand reviewing a phone, comparing it to the previous model and competition, but gaming hardware?
 
@jasonschreier
My advice: If you *have* to play Zelda (my review coming tomorrow) and have no Wii U, get a Switch. Otherwise wait for the next iteration.

Good lord that's being down on the whole thing. It sounds like he's expecting a new iteration before the end of the year or something.
 

vareon

Member
Or you know, they gave the thing a numeric score of 6.7 based on a written critique.

"Hilarious."

IGN aren't the only ones who rate using the tenths place, and I think it gives reasonable clarity.

"The Switch is a good piece of hardware as a handheld, it has its faults and the software isn't there, I'd give it 6.7."

"The Switch is a good piece of hardware as a handheld, it has its faults and the software isn't there, I'd give it 5.8."

"The Switch is a good piece of hardware as a handheld, it has its faults and the software isn't there, I'd give it 7.5."

They are all the same. Scores doesn't matter, the written review does. What's "hilarious" is how someone go so far to have a tenth decimal at point seven out of the wazoo.
 
So does no one care enough about the other games aside from Zelda, or have we got review embargo for those games wrong?

Nintendo hasn't sent over 1-2-Switch. Just Dance I got Monday. Super Bomberman R I got yesterday. Likely won't see Shovel Knight until tomorrow.

Everything is coming in mad hot for a system launch.
 

Lifeline

Member
My advice: If you *have* to play Zelda (my review coming tomorrow) and have no Wii U, get a Switch. Otherwise wait for the next iteration.

Good lord that's being down on the whole thing. It sounds like he's expecting a new iteration before the end of the year or something.

You could say that about anything though. If you're not interested in Uncharted, Bloodborne etc. Wait for the Pro or the Scorpio. I doubt the new iteration would be out before Mario Odessy and the Christmas exclusives.
 
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