Current Events > Is a hybrid like the switch a repeatable thing?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Allow me to explain:

Portables and consoles have usually been incompatible from a technological point of view. The gameboy had to be sort of like a dumbed-down NES in order to be a good portable, while the SNES was about to be released.

Other portables tried to be as powerful as consoles, such as the turboexpress, lynx and nomad, and they failed precisely because of that.

The advent of CD based media and hard drives in gaming systems made this even less feasible: Your GBA is not going to be able to play Final Fantasy VIII. Even the N64, with its superior 64 bit hardware, would not be able to play a game like Mortal Kombat trilogy (many things were cut in the N64 game), let alone a cutscene intensive game like RE3 (RE2 was ported, and it was considered a technological achievement).

But somehow, technology reached an odd point of inflection where the Switch was possible: Its memory cards could hold enough information for most games at the time, its 32GB of internal memory was enough, and its 3d power was enough to pull complex 3D games such as DOOM Eternal.

Can this status quo be sustained with the next hybrid console? I mean the PS5 and xbox are huge beasts (I mean in physical size) and they have stuff like 1TB hard drives, double-sided cooling fans, and multi-core chips.

Things are already getting out of the switch's possibilities (apparently it can't play RE Village unless it streams it)... would a switch 2 that can play a mid-cycle PS5 game possible?

Nintendo has been doing its own thing for a while, they're not in direct competition with Microsoft or Sony as any Nintendo console is the only place to play Nintendo exclusives.

Nintendo cheaps out on parts, the Switch tech was old before it even came out. They can make a stronger system but who knows how much they'd price it.

Nintendo consoles haven't even tried to measure up to the others since they started going full gimmick with the Wii. Regardless of how powerful it'll be in comparison, I think they're going to stick with the hybrid model for the time being. It's hard to say if the PS6 and XB5 will even really be pure consoles at this point, with how mixed with PC both Sony and Microsoft are at this point.

SSJKirby posted...

Nintendo has been doing its own thing for a while, they're not in direct competition with Microsoft or Sony as any Nintendo console is the only place to play Nintendo exclusives.

Nintendo cheaps out on parts, the Switch tech was old before it even came out. They can make a stronger system but who knows how much they'd price it.

Nemu posted...

Nintendo consoles haven't even tried to measure up to the others since they started going full gimmick with the Wii. Regardless of how powerful it'll be in comparison, I think they're going to stick with the hybrid model for the time being. It's hard to say if the PS6 and XB5 will even really be pure consoles at this point, with how mixed with PC both Sony and Microsoft are at this point.

You guys are absolutely right.

But even when they cheaped out, the Switch could handle current gen games in the PS4 era (e.g. DOOM Eternal, mortal kombat)

Could a switch 2 do that and still be portable?

Probably, portable tech has only gotten better and switch tech is from 2013, so Nintendo is probably gonna use at least 2019 tech for Switch 2 huehuehue

As long as it can keep up with playing indie games Nintendo fans won't give a shit

I think the Steam Deck shows that there's real potential in a portable with decent hardware

Gwynevere posted...

I think the Steam Deck shows that there's real potential in a portable with decent hardware

... I hadn't thought about this. The SD can play pretty advanced games, right?

Also, now I remember that sony killed the vita without even giving it a chance because "there is no market for portables", boy they were wrong...

They're not going to replace traditional consoles / PCs altogether, but I think they're going to become a long-term thing. It's not just the Switch; there's also the Steam Deck, and various other similar devices (Ayaneo, GPD Win series, etc). It's early technology now, and outside of the Switch the battery life does leave a lot to be desired (though a powerbank can help greatly with that), but there's a lot of potential there.

The_shibe posted...

... I hadn't thought about this. The SD can play pretty advanced games, right?

You can play pretty much anything on it. Similar devices that natively run Windows (or, presumably, a Steam Deck with Windows installed onto it) can straight-up run *any* PC game that a modern desktop or laptop could run; though of course not at the same level of graphics - the most powerful ones graphics-wise so far are the ones with the Ryzen 6800U CPU (integrated graphics, but very good integrated graphics).

Trumble posted...

You can play pretty much anything on it. Similar devices that natively run Windows (or, presumably, a Steam Deck with Windows installed onto it) can straight-up run *any* PC game that a modern desktop or laptop could run; though of course not at the same level of graphics - the most powerful ones graphics-wise so far are the ones with the Ryzen 6800U CPU (integrated graphics, but very good integrated graphics).

Very interesting.

So how come the ps5 and xbox are so beastly? they're like the size of 3 PS4s

The_shibe posted...

Very interesting.

So how come the ps5 and xbox are so beastly? they're like the size of 3 PS4s

For starters, they'd run the games at higher graphics quality. You aren't going to get 4K ultra-high with raytracing out of a handheld PC (to be fair, you won't get that out of a PS5/XBSX either, but you'll get much closer to it than you would with a handheld); but you'll get 720p or maybe even 1080p at settings that are good enough especially for the smaller screen.

Those with Ryzen 6800U CPUs, at the very least, also support FSR - basically an AI upscaler that has pretty impressive results. I've been playing a game recently (won't say which one as it's the prize for my giveaway topic) where I don't notice much difference between actual 1080p vs 720p with FSR (and that's with FSR on a low-quality setting, too). Probably would on a larger screen, but if I'm using a larger screen I could also plug into a power source and crank the power consumption up to double what I have it set to when playing handheld. ;)

"Hybrid" is just a marketing gimmick.
Switch is nothing more than a portable with wireless controllers and video-out.

Questionmarktarius posted...

"Hybrid" is just a marketing gimmick.
Switch is nothing more than a portable with wireless controllers and video-out.

Yes. A portable that you can also play on your TV, either with a controller like a console or one you can attach to it to make it a true portable.

Sort of like the sega nomad, the neo geo gold x, etc. Yeah that's what they call hybrid. I think you'd agree it's different from a GBA or DS

The switch is the ultimate realization of what the Dreamcast tried to do with the VMU: the idea that you can undock your game and play on the go while still having the means to play at home on a big TV.

s0nicfan posted...

The switch is the ultimate realization of what the Dreamcast tried to do with the VMU: the idea that you can undock your game and play on the go while still having the means to play at home on a big TV.

that's a really interesting thought. VMUs were awesome

The Switch honestly killed my interest in strictly traditional console gaming. Consoles not having mobile option just makes no sense to me anymore, to the point where if (and likely when, knowing them) Nintendo releases their next console and it isn't a Switch 2, I'll be insanely disappointed and not very interested.

Sony and Microsoft spent hundreds of millions chasing after the motion control gimmick after the Wii, the fact that they seemingly have not done the same with hybrids of their own is inane to me (though I know Xbox has their own remote play option).

The_shibe posted...

that's a really interesting thought. VMUs were awesome

The one thing I'm shocked I haven't seen yet in modern gaming are companion smartphone apps that use cloud saves to connect your mobile game to your console save. The app doesn't even have to be in the same genre: it could be an idle game, or a puzzle game, or whatever... the important thing would be that progress across both the game and the app is shared and complementary.

It feels like the most obvious thing in the world, especially for games like Borderlands or Activision titles where they're already making you sign in with an account of theirs to try and sell you into doing things for in-game rewards like "golden keys".

s0nicfan posted...

The one thing I'm shocked I haven't seen yet in modern gaming are companion smartphone apps that use cloud saves to connect your mobile game to your console save. The app doesn't even have to be in the same genre: it could be an idle game, or a puzzle game, or whatever... the important thing would be that progress across both the game and the app is shared and complementary.

It feels like the most obvious thing in the world, especially for games like Borderlands or Activision titles where they're already making you sign in with an account of theirs to try and sell you into doing things for in-game rewards like "golden keys".

So something like Fallout Shelter? Or more like the MMO tracker apps?

ellis123 posted...

So something like Fallout Shelter? Or more like the MMO tracker apps?

Something more like Fallout Shelter and less companion apps that just let you view your account details.

s0nicfan posted...

Something more like Fallout Shelter and less companion apps that just let you view your account details.

Some let you do in-game stuffs. For instance I want to say that there was an Eve app that let you automate your ship.

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