Nintendo Switch Is Killing It - But Still Has A Long Way To Go

Nintendo Switch is looking more and more impressive by the day. Despite all the praise - Screen Critics Shaun believes there's still more work to be done.

[MunchMiller00]

Switch is killing it. It's killing every console game that tries to run on it. That version of Doom is nothing short of hilarious. What a pile of dogs**t. LOL

[Theknightofnights]

The bunch of you here on N4G are way too negative. It's a portable console. It's cool that it can run it at all.

[-GreenRanger]

Doom doesn't look good, but what do you expect? My laptop can't run it at all.

[D2K]

Tell that to the Nintendo fans that claim Doom looks just as good on the Switch as the PS4. It's funny how Nintendo fans want to dispel any notion of the Switch being under-powered by using the fact that it 'can' run certain games, but when people see how those games actually look, then it becomes (graphics don't matter, it's about the portability.)

It is good that The Switch is getting some 3rd-party love, but Nintendo fans are getting WAAAAAAAAAAY too carried away. There are truckloads of games out there that the Switch doesn't have and WON'T get. Need I also remind people that this is a 9th-generaton console struggling to keep up with the base forms of 8th-generation consoles.

[-GreenRanger]

Wow, that god damned Switch for some reason made you...

https://media.giphy.com/med...

[Summons75]

Oh, you traveled in the future and saw the final product? Also why so bitter all the time. Nintendo kick your puppy or something?

[Bobafret]

Way to set the tone for a meaningful conversation, humperdoo.

[FallenAngel1984]

"If Nintendo doubles down and opts to keep its online subscription service as-is-intended – what damage will that cause? How many gamers will be turned away because they don’t fancy paying for a vastly inferior product."

That's a valid concern. Idk how cheap a service is, I'll never pay it if it's so obviously inferior

[Theknightofnights]

Honest question here: What's your threshold? How inferior can it be before it's cheapness no longer matters and you don't want to pay for it?

[FallenAngel1984]

There is no threshold. Not a single cent will be spent by me on something incompetent.

[Theknightofnights]

That's a pretty ridiculous point of view, in my opinion. We don't really know what it's competency will be when the actual paid service launches, and what makes up competency in your opinion (which is really what I was asking)? Hypothetically, if the online service launches with voice chat/party chat, custom matchmaking, communities, and everything else found on the competition but lacks, say, the monthly deals that PS+ does...is it still incompetent at 20$ a year vs 60$?

I feel you are being too rigid with your response, and aren't really considering the question.

[FallenAngel1984]

If you want to pay for inferior products or services, that's your prerogative. I on the other hand refuse to pay for something that looks like it was intentionally made to be underwhelming.

With how lacking this free trial period is, I really doubt that Nintendo will suddenly drastically improve when the subscription becomes active. This is a company that has faltered in the online arena since the beginning of the 21st century in the most bizarre ways.

It was one thing to make do with their subpar online efforts when it was free. It's another thing entirely for me to pay for something that can't even reach the minimum standards of contemporary online services.

[Theknightofnights]

I never said I was going to pay for it, and, I guess I'll say this again, we don't know what the consistency will be when it launches. I'm asking a simple question, and you're rigid disposition isn't even considering the question or my explanation.

Edit: You edited your response to bring out a bit more of how you are feeling about the question and their service. I appreciate that. You are right, it is unlikely that Nintendo will drastically improve it. Which is why I'm asking as a hypothetical. Just imagine it is any network, not just Nintendo. What are the minimum standards for you? Is it everything that PS+ offers on PS4 right now, or is it mostly the basics?

[FallenAngel1984]

We can estimate what it'll be when looking at Nintendo's past attitude towards online gaming in the past 15 years.

If Nintendo at least adopted the majority of features that PSN & XBL feature, I could forgive them a bit more if they were missing out on a few features. Even PSN & XBL continue to lack certain features that the other offers. If Nintendo offered a major useful feature that PSN & XBL didn't I'd forgive them even more.

But from the looks of it Nintendo seems to be intentionally falling behind and hope that consumers will forgive for this folly with their lower cost for subscription. No party chat, controversial way of voice chatting period, no cloud saving, no DVR, no media sharing, no voice messaging, not enough substantial digital discounts, & most egregious of all no Ethernet port on the already expensive dock.

I seriously don't like how instead of improving Nintendo Network, they seem to be creating a new service altogether. Since it's called Nintendo Switch Online, one can only imagine they'll start from the ground up again with their next platform.

[Theknightofnights]

That's completely fair. I can understand that point of view. They did mention recording functionality during their Switch reveal, but I've yet to see where it is. There are a lot of ways they are behind in their online infrastructure. I wouldn't want to pay for the service now, that's for sure. For me out of game party chat, digital discounts, and recording are what it would take for me to pay for the service. Otherwise, I guess Splatoon 2 will be sitting on the shelf.

I appreciate the candor.

[KickSpinFilter]

Sure Switch is killing it...Sony is Cluster bombing the f'n Galaxy!

[Istolla]

The article isn't about Sony. You can talk about other systems other than Sony you know.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Welcome to N4G

[KickSpinFilter]

Meh...sure you can if ya wanna.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

How do you people come up with these B movie one-liners?

[D2K]

When you are starving and someone throws you a cracker, you are going to think that is the greatest and most delicious thing you've every eaten in your life.

However if you have the same cracker everyday eventually you are going to realize that you just have some regular old crackers.

Nintendo fans took such a catastrophically-massive L at the hands of the Wii U and got trolled so hard by the community, that now because the Switch actually is decent they are blowing it up to be the greatest thing ever. People in this day and age are prisoners of the moment. They can't see more than two-steps in front of them. They ignore the fact that this is a 9th-gen console which is struggling to keep up with 8th-gen consoles. They ignore the fact that Nintendo padded the stat-box by releasing a bunch of major 1st-party IP within a month of each other (which is smart business mind you, but people conveniently ignore this.) They ignore the fact that portability is a convenience, not a necessity. If it was a necessity then the PS Vita would not be failing. I also seriously doubt that has Sony or Microsoft come out with a hybrid-system instead of Nintendo that Nintendo fans would be touting how great portability is and some people even go as far as to say that portability is BETTER than having a powerful home console.

They ignore the fact that no matter how many 3rd-party games the Switch gets, the PS4, XB1, PS4 Pro, XB1X, PS5, whatever Microsoft's 9th-gen console will be called, and PC will ALWAYS have more and BETTER VERSIONS of those games. Basically, instead of just being happy that they have a console that is not a laughing-stock anymore, they take things too far and are starting to think it's sweet. I fear a rude awakening is coming for Nintendo fans. Let's see what happens at the 12-18 month mark of the Switch life cycle. When you have a console that does NOT have a bunch of major AAA 1st-party games back-to-back-to-back launching and your console is still selling like hotcakes more than a year after launch, that's when you know you have a monster. Exhibit A..

The PS4.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Seriously does the success of the Switch make people emotionally hurt on this site?

[GameBoyColor]

It's pretty silly how people try so hard to downplay the switch no matter what.

[christocolus]

Agreed. I'm so happy for Nintendo. Can't wait to get the switch this holiday.