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[Topher]

Kazuya Takahashi, the director of Donkey Kong Bananza, has commented on the game's performance and frame rate drops.

Overall, early impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive have been positive. However, some who have been able to try out the game prior to launch have noticed some frame rate dips. It's largely stable and tends to hit its target of 60 frames per second, but inconsistencies have been noticed. We should get a better idea about performance following launch, which is happening next Thursday.

Takahashi recently spoke with Lavanguardia about the situation. He brought up intentional gameplay effects that highlight impacts, but "when there are major changes and destruction in the environment", players can see a slight drop in performance. Ultimately, Nintendo "prioritized fun and playability."

When asked about frame rate drops in Donkey Kong Bananza, Takahashi noted:

"There are several factors to consider. First, we intentionally used effects like hit-stop and slow motion to emphasize impacts. Second, because we use voxel technology, there are times when there are major changes and destruction in the environment. We're aware that performance may drop slightly at these times. However, as you say, overall the game is smooth, and at points where large-scale changes occur, we prioritized fun and playability."

Takahashi, along with producer Kenta Motokura, had a lot to say about Donkey Kong Bananza this week. They talked about the game's Nintendo Switch 1 origins, why we're finally getting a new 3D Donkey Kong, and the inclusion of young Pauline.

Donkey Kong Bananza director comments on frame rate drops

Kazuya Takahashi, the director of Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch 2, has commented on the game's performance and frame rate drops.

nintendoeverything.com

 

[Arsic]

If it's rare or something like 60 to a drop to 54, who cares?

Different if it's frequent and down to 30 fps lol.

 

[Dorfdad]

hopefully they can get it fixed with a patch soon. Not a good look when your premier titles cant even hit a solid 60FPS. Nintendo has been really good about this in the past. Maybe its coming in a little hot?

 

[Robb]

I was hooping it'd just be a day 1 patch kind of thing, but judging by this statement it doesn't sounds like this is something that'll get fixed.

Hopefully the occurrences are fairly rare and unintrusive.

 

[GigaBowser]

hopefully they can get it fixed with a patch soon. Not a good look when your premier titles cant even hit a solid 60FPS. Nintendo has been really good about this in the past. Maybe its coming in a little hot?

first game thirs fidelities to harv this much destruction

 

[kevboard]

If it's rare or something like 60 to a drop to 54, who cares?

Different if it's frequent and down to 30 fps lol.

given that it's Nintendo, it might have a double buffer vsync, which would mean the moment the GPU goes over budget, it will lock down to 33ms (30fps).

but double buffer has the benefit of low input lag.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Another needless drama over frame rate drops.
I'll still be buying the shit out of this while entitled whiners, rip each other to shreds over a few frames.

 

[GigaBowser]

Another needless drama over frame rate drops.
I'll still be buying the shit out of this while entitled whiners, rip each other to shreds over a few frames.

fully destuctimble over few frame any days of the week

 

[kunonabi]

I mean Nintendo stopped caring about framerates with the first Switch so I don't see why anybody would be surprised that their laziness continues.

 

[yogaflame]

60 fps is perfect for platform games. But if its a stable 30 fps to 40 fps, it is okay. VRR could have help. I was fine with Sh2 remake at quality mode 30 fps because it was very good and did not affect gameplay. Or even DS2 even if there is a pretty 60 fps mode I prefered the quality mode 30 fps, with superior image quality which was very good and stable on my base ps5.

 

[Imtjnotu]

If the frame dips are noticeable, it's not just a few frames..

Still since there isn't anything else relative to play on this machine I'll buy it

 

[wafflecioccy]

People are really crying over small framerate drops?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Might as well make use of that VRR. No?

 

[amigastar]

Nothing too major here,
god i hope we will get an emulator soon for the Switch 2

 

[Hudo]

If it's rare or something like 60 to a drop to 54, who cares?

There will be GAF threads (sponsored by the retards of Digital Foundry) saying how shit the game and how shit Nintendo are because of this. Mark my words.

 

[Guerilla Munch]

pre-order cancelled

i'll wait for the 60fps Switch 3 OLED upgraded version (for only $10 after you buy the $70 base game)

 

[R3TRO]

Hopefully it's not too bad.

 

[Robb]

Might as well make use of that VRR. No?

 

[Baemono]

I mean Nintendo stopped caring about framerates with the first Switch so I don't see why anybody would be surprised that their laziness continues.

Not with their own games, no

 

[Magic Carpet]

The OLED redesign will sort it all out. Switch 2 can wait.

 

[Connificent]

 

[rofif]

Who cares it's just some mild drop when big thing happens

 

[kunonabi]

Not with their own games, no

Peach showtime, echoes of wisdom, and links awakening all had framerates problems right off the top of my head. Pretty sure there were others not to mention all the issues with the Pokémon games.

 

[FoxMcChief]

People are really crying over small framerate drops?

More like trolls grasping at straws.

 

[Dacvak]

There are definitely some dips in the 50s, but I can't help but think a lot of people are mistaking hit stop for frame drops.

There are plenty of games that have released this year with modest framerate dips, and I very rarely see this amount of discussion on them. I feel like a lot of people are just finding the intentional hit stops to be jarring, especially in video form. That's generally the type of thing that'll feel a lot better when you're the one controlling the character and action, though.

 

[HRK69]

I'm confident they can sort it out if the drops are only minor

 

[Dacvak]

I heard that the reason there's no VRR in docked mode is because there's complication in the HDMI sync over USB-C. That's a simplification, but it was something DF was talking about.

It makes me worried that the issue is hardware-based, and we'll never get an update that allows for docked VRR

 

[Gripsx]

Preorder cancelled

 

[Pedro Motta]

Gamers have become the biggest pussies in the world.

 

[DragonNCM]

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Not one person noticed he said they used voxels

VOXELS

Voxel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[FireFly]

Not one person noticed he said they used voxels

VOXELS

Voxel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As you can see in your link, a handful of modern games use them. I think they are meshed into triangles, so it isn't the same as the old school software rendering seen in games like Outcast.

 

[Hashassin]

Cancel preordered. Can't even make stable games on their brand new system, it's preposterous.

I don't have a switch 2

 

[Baemono]

Peach showtime, echoes of wisdom, and links awakening all had framerates problems right off the top of my head. Pretty sure there were others not to mention all the issues with the Pokémon games.

That's why I said « with their games ». The games you mentioned are made by external devs.

I was referring to Super Mario Odyssey, Bower's Fury, 3D World, Mario Wonder, Mario Kart 8, Arms, Splatoon 2, 3, Ring Fit, Animal Crossing and all other games developped internally, which pretty much all run at 60fps.

You may argue Zelda BOTW and TOTK had framerate issues, but both games were patched to smooth things as much as possible, so it's not like they don't care.

 

[Bojji]

Gamers have become the biggest pussies in the world.

Accepting shit performance is masculine?

 

[Robb]

Accepting shit performance is masculine?

I can only assume you're single.

 

[Tajaz2426]

Another needless drama over frame rate drops.
I'll still be buying the shit out of this while entitled whiners, rip each other to shreds over a few frames.

How the fuck are people entitled, when they work for the money that needs to be spent?

Some of you will spend whatever they ask for anything and drop to your knees to receive it. Some people understand the value of their money and want their product to be, what it is stated to be.

Anyone who pays money can say whatever the hell they want. Stop the nonsense.

This board is becoming Idiocracy.

Edit: I'll be buying the game for my granddaughter, also.

 

[Karim]

If it's rare or something like 60 to a drop to 54, who cares?

Different if it's frequent and down to 30 fps lol.

 

[PeteBull]

first game thirs fidelities to harv this much destruction

 

[KungFucius]

hopefully they can get it fixed with a patch soon. Not a good look when your premier titles cant even hit a solid 60FPS. Nintendo has been really good about this in the past. Maybe its coming in a little hot?

Really? This is Nintendo and if you read the OP you would get that they traded performance for what they wanted in the game. No patch is coming that will fully fix this. Tradeoffs like this are what designers do. They could choose to give the player the destruction they thought was fun, or limit it to protect FPS. Clearly they think the gameplay is more important and I concur.

That said, if they weren't such cheap fucks, Switch 2 could have been built on 5nm or 3nm next gen (last gen instead of last last gen) tech and not something from 2020 so this tradeoff wouldn't be necessary. But that is hardly something a lowly game producer or director can change now is it?

 

[VGA-Games]

I personally never cared about Frame Rate Drops!

But it's definitely not a good look when to be honest if a new Donkey Kong Game has Frame Rate Drops.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Accepting shit performance is masculine?

No, not complaining about a very casual drop is not being a major pussy. Gamers nowadays at the smallest of excuses refuse to play or boycott a videogame, it's very pussy and incel like.

I grew up playing games that never stood up to the recomended performance, and I enjoyed every last bit of them. Ex: Shadow of the Colossus, Guardian Heroes, and many more.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

If it's not dramatic then VRR should hopefully smooth it out enough to not be an issue.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Some of you have never layered 20 remote detonation mines in Goldeneye and it shows. 1-3FPS for a minute at a time and nobody gave a damn. Sacrifices have been made to enable the vision (and fun) and I'm cool with that. What I hate are random performance dips with NO explanation.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Can I just interrupt for one second? Are you still talking about Switch 2 issues? These things have been talked about for years. You're asking we have iffy screens, we have this, we have all other things...and people are still talking about this problem? This week? That is...unbelievable.

 

[Gaiff]

Some of you have never layered 20 remote detonation mines in Goldeneye and it shows. 1-3FPS for a minute at a time and nobody gave a damn. Sacrifices have been made to enable the vision (and fun) and I'm cool with that. What I hate are random performance dips with NO explanation.

Lol, I did give a damn. Perfect Dark with 4 players in a shootout turned into an unplayable sideshow dropping to the single digits fps. Did I care? Yes. Could I do anything about it? No. I still enjoyed my time with the game, but that doesn't mean playing at 5fps was good.

 

[Signalis]

Only Nintendo fans can turn framerate issues into being a good thing

 

[whyman]

I was right to wait for the pro. smooth 60 in handheld, 2028!

 

[Skifi28]

I'm confident they can sort it out if the drops are only minor

If they're commenting about it online and explaining why they didn't prioritize performance, it doesn't sound like it'll be sorted.

 

[Jack Videogames]

So, EXACTLY the same than Super Mario Odyssey, frame rate drops in specific moments. Sounds like a nothingburger to me.