For a lot of people, tweaking hardware and screwing with software is as much or more of a hobby than playing games.
I’ve got about a dozen retro handhelds that are loaded with the same games but they’re all configured and modded differently simply for the love of tinkering. The time I’ve spent fooling around under the hood vs playtime is easily 50:1. But like… that’s what I buy them for.
You can tweak and (hard and soft) mod a Steam Deck as well.
… Your starting point is just more powerful hardware, and a much more permissive software system that basically begs you to do whatever you want to it, compared to a Switch.
I get that this level of modding if a Switch is an accomplishment, because it is more challenging… that the modding itself is what is enjoyable for many people.
But many other people enjoy a different proportion of ‘tinkering’ to ‘actually using it’. Or different kinds of tinkering.
Like… I have an OLED Deck. For me, running RPCS3 is… well, I could either dl the flatpak of it and configure it myself, or let Emu/RetroDeck take care of that, or switch over from SteamOS 3 to Bazzite, set up a distrobox instance of Fedora (what Bazzite is built off of), then just literally download all the source code and required libraries… and completely compile the entire emulator myself, on the Steam Deck itself.
I actually did this with O3DE and Godot a few times… a bit buggy, but hey, its a fun way for me to get more familiar with just… how compiling works, as well as the Fedora ecosystem… most of my previous experience with compiling/development is within Debian based distros.
You can literally develop a game, in Godot, or Unity, or many 2D only/mostly FOSS engines… on a Steam Deck.
As far as hard modding?
A year (or two?) back now… somebody figured out that you can actually take the SSD out of a Steam Deck, run the OS from the microSD card… add an adapter to the SSD slot, and then connect that to a full, PC grade eGPU with its own power supply… and this requires you to actually physically cut out (or I guess remove the entire) a part of the back exterior housing.
But, if you can do all this, you now have basically a hyper charged Steam Deck with waaay more rendering power you can basically use as a decently powerful desktop PC…
But, this only works with Windows (running off of the microSD card), and your Deck is… no longer really portable, unless you consider detaching the eGPU and SSD adapter thingy, putting the SSD back in, and put a standard backplate back on the thing… as an acceptable level of portability, lol.
Less … nearly insane … degrees of hardware modding are things like swapping out the joycons with halleffect sticks, custom body shells (the translucent atomic purple n64 style ones are quite popular, and the translucence actually helps a bit with heat dissipation),
…custom colored button and dpads… sort of … skin like wraps for the touchpads, or whole bodyshell… semi squishy grip style wraps that can help if you have larger, or injured hands/wrists…
…oh right, the LCD variants have some fairly popular entire screen replacements that give you a higher resolution than the native screen… not sure if anything like that exists for the OLED variants yet.
I think its awesome that someone modded a Switch this hard, I think its awesome the person I replied to loves their modded handhelds, and I am just sharing my own tales of modding and tinkering with the Deck to show what you can do with it as well, and how I angle my goals of modding a bit differently than the person I’m replying to, so its a better fit for me.
I did not at any point state that their approach to modding is any kind of wrong or inferior.
I have some duplicate consoles where they are modded different ways just for the fun of it. Some of these consoles I have never actually played a game on for more then 20min.
Exactly, on a steam deck a little software and firmware tinkering and you’re done. This is the good stuff, the stuff that shouldn’t work but you say “how about I do anyway”.
I have a bike like that, been messing with it for two years, have about 10 hours of drive time. Long since figured out I like tinkering with it more than riding it.
Speaking of the M-cpu Macs and RPCS3, I got the old PS3 Demon’s Souls to work pretty well on an M1 + 8GB RAM Mac last year. Pretty nice to be able to play a “PS3 exclusive” Souls game on a Mac considering the total lack of Souls titles available for MacOS.
It won’t. The switch it massively underclocked for battery life.
The nVidia shield tablet it’s based on regularly pushes 2ghz CPU/1ghz GPU. That tablet doesn’t have the cooling solution the Switch has either, it’s just got a crappy elongated heatspreader like M1 macbooks.
Just got my OLED. Really Love it. Haven’t gotten to switch emulation yet, but SNES and other old stuff works great. Bought some horror games because I only like those on controller setups from the couch, not in a computer chair. Loving it so far.
My favorite part is Decky, just customizing the hell out of it. Really fun and capable device for $500.
Playing BioShock for the first time, gone home, from the darkness, evoland, hollow knight, the messenger. All the side scrollers and games best for controllers. Puppet house is sick. Fire watch is next.
To someone that can upgrade a Nintendo switch to have 8GB of RAM, can install RPCS3 and play PS3 games on it, I would say: “Do whatever you want, you are a god amongst us. I am the peasant that lives the easy life with a SteamDeck”
But why, some say, the Switch? Why did they choose this as their goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 98 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
They choose to go to mod a Switch. They choose to mod a Switch in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…
Something I’ve seen far less reaction to than I expected? While the Switch 2 looks like it takes standard MicroSD cards, it DOESN’T. It takes the fairly obscure MicroSD Express standard! I can’t even BUY an SD Express card locally right now! It seems likely, at launch, that Nintendo’s branded cards will be the only ones people can get that will work with it!
The Switch 2 has 256GB of onboard storage, much more than the Switch, it is true. But it’s also backwards compatible with the Switch, and lets users bring their old digital library over with them. I have a 256GB card in my Switch, it’s nearly full, and it doesn’t have my whole library on it! If I got a Switch 2, I’d have it filled up on day 1!
And the MicroSD card issue won’t be obvious to most buyers. Parents will get their kids Switch 2s, and wonder why their old card won’t work with it. It’ll look to them like the Switch 2 or the card is broken, unless they implement a physical lock against incompatible cards, and I don’t know if SD cards even support those. Also, SD Express cards are more expensive than standard ones.
This could end up being a debacle almost on the scale of the price (which, as others have noted, isn’t even Nintendo’s fault entirely).
Probably this. TV does this all the time. There is not much actually filmed in UHD/12G, except maybe Premier League, F1 and other major sporting events.
Man I’ve just forgotten about Nintendo at this point. Microsoft and Sony get that exclusives aren’t working when people don’t have enough money to buy every system anymore. I see Nintendo as a niche console with a handful of games. There’s just not enough to justify buying one, and I grew up on Zelda and Metroid. I love them, but it’s not worth buying another console for a few high priced games with questionable performance.
Cool. And Sony can sell to PS and PC, same with Xbox. They have two markets, one that they don’t have to support with hardware. They can also make games that look nice and run nice because they have much better hardware. Plus they actually do cross play with each other, making bigger player pools for match making and such.
We’re not talking about consoles sold. I’m talking about game choice and experience. If you want to look at how you can play the games, there are a few more PCs than Switches sold.
Cool and how many games are there on the system? With no backwards compatibility for these expensive games? How many shooters are popular on switch? Or is it that they lock down their IP and it’s marketed strongly towards children and cashing in on nostalgia.
But sure, nuance doesn’t matter. Nintendo is clearly the best system with the best games. I wonder how gaming PCs are even selling anymore, no one even should be playing on anything else it’s so obviously good. Jesus…
What exactly do you consider high priced? $60 for a game that you end up playing for 10 hours is only $6 an hour. Compared to the price of a movie ticket, that’s pretty cheap entertainment.
As far as games go, it’s still a lot. I’ve played some $20 games for hundreds of hours. Not a dealbreaker, and I’ll gladly buy the game if it looks fun. On the other hand, the games generally being expensive is not a selling point for the console.
You can try to rationalize it all you want, bottom line is people don’t have money to buy $80 games these days. Those people aren’t going to the movies either.
I bought a rug that I’ve gotten years of value out of, should it have been thousands of dollars then? The idea that time used is how you measure value is flawed.
Edit: look what popped up on my feed, so looks like it’s not just me
I mean, yeah, I never said it was a perfect basis for measuring the value of games or anything else in the world. It’s just one metric, and by that measure it’s a pretty good value for time of enjoyment. Congrats on the rug bro.
The GPU has less than 10% the CUDA cores of a 4090, a GPU that can’t hit 120 FPS in most modern games @4K without DLSS. No way in hell will the Switch 2 hit 120 FPS @1080p, not without some extreme DLSS upscaling and some serious graphical compromises… Proper RT is completely out of the question.
This thing won’t even be able to keep up with the PS5, a 5 year old console. It will compete with the Steam Deck, however.
That said, I miss the days when Nintendo cared about graphics. But at this point it’s been over 25 years since those days. That’s almost as long as it’s been since I last enjoyed a Mario or Zelda game. Between all this and the fact that they sue their fans, I am so done with Nintendo. I feel like I’ve outgrown them anyway.
Hello, is this your first time finding out consoles blatantly lie about 4k since console gamers have no understanding how 4k is impossible to run with the best hardware.
Can we out spoiler tags on things that make me, someone who isn’t 30 yet, feel downright ancient please? It’s too early to be facing my mortality like that
That asshole company everyone* cares about. My hatred of Nintendo runs deep. But I still watched the direct. I’m so excited for the innovative new features, and the new Mario Kart looks sick. I am disgusted that they will use the money to go after fans. I need help
Yup, new lawsuits, good hackers in jail just for helping retards like me to play a game when we feel like it…me, once a year maybe? Why would I buy a console if I only play once a year?
I wanna see what the price is and what reviewers think of the screen and I might get one and sell my Switch OLED.
However, with these game prices I sure as hell am not getting any games, I‘ll play through my backlog games which I‘ll also check whether and which will get updates. It‘d be really nice if the games I have that play at 30 fps would play at 60 and at 1080p native. Maybe I’ll get physical copies of Switch 2 games heavily discounted later on.
Maybe I’ll get physical copies of Switch 2 games heavily discounted later on.
Later on, as in, in like 30 years? Assuming physical Switch 2 games don’t become prized collector’s items like every other Nintendo consoles’ physical games
seriously though, Nintendo knows what they’re doing with their new limited scarcity tactics with trying to stay relevant. I think you’ll be able to find physical SNES games easier than switch 2 games in 30 years.
Also did they mention how much the “upgrades” will be?
My understanding is it’s $10 for upgrades that just run better with no new content, and $20 for ones that also have new content of come sort. Nintendo’s gonna be the most expensive console to buy games for now. Remember the Switch tax? Get ready for the Switch tariff!
From what i am reading only mario party jamboree and kirby upgrades will cost money, the zelda ones are free if you pay for switch online and metroid and pokemon dont appear to have any proce attached to their upgrades.
The running theory is thst most games wont cost to upgrade unless they offer expanded content. But expansions costing money is nothing new.
That’s $4.17 a month. It’s even cheaper if you get a family account and share with your family and / or friends like i do. (I am actually UK, but it seems the US price is the most quoted.) And comes with all the n64 (and the new gamecube) games. Its the cheapest online service of the three main consoles.
Also, to be clear. Im not a big switch guy, and i think nintendo are a greedy company. I mostly play playstation these days but my switch is handy and there are some amazing first party games.
…on top of all the other “It’s only $X!” subscription services out there. If it’s the ONLY subscription you have, sure, that’s not bad, but how common is that?
person just unironically said they pay nintendo 5 bucks a month for the privilege to play a curated list of 40 year old games you can quite literally find anywhere online. That’s 60$ a year to access an emulator they probably have less than 10 hours of playtime on. There’s just really no justification for Nintendo anymore, BOTW broke me and I had to be talked into it.
Second. I said i am in the UK, so i dont bay any dollars a month.
Third, I pay for 1 quarter of £5 a month, which is the monthly cost of a family account. Which i said i have. So it’s actually £1.25 ($1.64) a month.
Forth, The games that come with the expansio are not 40 years old.the expansion gives you the n64, gameboy advance and genesis games, which are 28, 23 and 35 years old respectively.
Fifth, as well that i get 48 mario kart maps, as well ss some other games. On top of the online play which you get in the standard pack, and some other bits.
Sixth, i have played and completed mario 64 and bajo kazooie on the n64 emulator. I have introduced my son to mario kart 64 as well. I also am slowly working my way through jet force gemini. I have complete goldeneye played multiplayer with my brothers here and there and am working through perfect dark. On the GBA emulator i am playing golden sun. 10 hours is a severe underestimate for all that and more.
Finally. If you are salty about BOTW, then thats your problem. But dont go around lying about what i said to make yourself feel better.
Good lord, you’re actually gonna come down and try to defend your actions like some kind of corporate propagandist. Fucking sad really how you’ve got it all twisted. SOMEONE IS PAYING FOR THE SERVICE! I don’t care how many people are listed and aren’t using it, YOU’RE STILL PAYING FOR A YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION FOR A FUCKING ONLINE EMULATOR. Where the fuck was a lie made? Care to misrepresent some more shit?
It’s 4.17 not 5? I should take that as my first clue you’re not serious. People round up to 5 for meals all the time, this is such a strange thing to start on.
Responding to the news on X, former PlatinumGames co-founder and current Clovers Studio founder Hideki Kamiya – who regularly posts about his love of classic games – criticised the move, asking for the return of the Virtual Console service, which was available on Wii, Wii U and 3DS and allowed individual games to be bought.
“Hey hey hey, I guess subscriptions are no good after all,” Kamiya wrote. “Seriously, bring back the Virtual Console… don’t be so mean.”
It should also be noted that numerous retro games were delisted from Virtual Console over the years too, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yoshi’s Cookie, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Aleste, SimCity, Street Fighter II, Final Fight 1-3, Super Turrican 2 and Super R-Type.
for 1-6, you’re paying a rental subscription service to play an emulator… just type emulator into a search engine, go to one of the hundreds of sites. Hell, go to archive.org and get the official nintendo online emulator pack.
Guess what?!?! I’m not gonna charge you a fucking penny and I’m not gonna log onto your device and remove your data!! You’re welcome!!
(don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about BOTW for, it was an example that nintendo is making shittier products and can’t be relied upon anymore if their flagship game can’t even run properly on the console, keep making an ass of yourself though)
4.17 is closer to 4 not 5. I dont care if you spend more on meals than you owe because you dont see that. I was only pointing out that you rounded up the cost to emphasise a point that is invalid because i am not even paying 4.17, let alone 5 a month. So yeah i am gonna defend myself when, like i said, i am actually paying 1.25 (or 5 by your logic. Or would it be 0 because 1.25 rounds down to 0 in your world)
The lie you made is the price i am paying, what you get for the monthly cost. Again, you dont round down online access, multiple game expansions and a list of old games to just some old emulators.
You are purposfully ignoring features and increasing the price to make it seem like you are more rightm its dishonest and childish.
I have used emulators since the no$cash game boy emulator. For the most part they are good. But they dont play all games perfectly. Like banjo is full of glitches and crashes when emulated. Same for mario 64. Same for goldeneye. So not only are you underselling the nintendo switch emulator, you are overselling emulators like dolphin etc.
I appreciate the convenience of taking the emulated games away from the desktop due to the switches portability and if its costing me less than the proce of a cup of coffee per month then i would happily pay for the convenience. Its like netflix when iflt first came along. It beat piracy because it was cheap and convenient. Now that its so expensive the piracy starts again.
Did you just link to an article to show that they are removing games which actually just shows they removed 1 game. Since they added the service in 2018. Thats the most clickbaity article I’ve ever seen. Especially when they guy they quote calls for the return of a system that also removed games from the library…
Seriously. I dont think nintendo are a good company, we all know how greedy they are and how aggressive they are with lawsuits etc. But you are purposfully exaggerating to drive home a point that just isn’t true.
I mentioned BOTW because you did. I was responding to you.
Man you kinda just suck at this and have completely proven my point. You don’t round bills down… have you done a budget before like a big boy? I can’t even take you seriously when you dance around some numbers bullshit lol. You’re paying for a monthly service to play a free emulator, justify it all you want.
I never replied to you, @samus12345 is who I replied too. You’ve decided to jump in and talk about BOTW lol
I literally linked you the exact program for the nintendo switch emulator, which you’ve paid hundreds of dollars for the “portability” of taking an emulator off a desktop (congrats! I don’t think it’s ever been done before…oh wait). The glitch shit just is false dichotomy that you’re stretching for.
Funny you mentioned Netflix but unironically used it as a positive example!!! Even though it’s enshittification and current state promotes piracy!!! hahaha and then just completely blow over the fact that yes…the first game was just removed a few days ago, and the version before literally lost a bunch of great games (do you really not get the message? You don’t own the game, they are not required to keep letting you play it)
It’s obvious you’re a happy-mindless consumer, everything you’ve said points more negative light on exactly why I wouldn’t pay for the service. You don’t think Nintendo is a good company, you think they’re greedy and aggressive, yet you’re completely ok with doing business with them. I think it’s a shit company with a shit service and you’re getting ripped off in more ways than one (financially,morally,technologically,socially).
If you’re actually serious about being a real consumer, put your money towards actual companies and developers you can feel good about. Here’s some examples listed, the best part is they’re not going to keep showing up every month to collect money from you! I guarantee you, your family would remember an awesome product from one of those companies 10x more than just playing a dumb ol’ switch like every pleb. Really just trying to give them the most basic corporate experience in life eh?
Ok… in terms of bills rounding up or down. If i am at a restaurant (to use your example) and someone says “what do i owe” and the amount is 34.17, i won’t tell them its 35. I will tell them its 34.17 but just give me 34. I wont tell them to give me more. That would be their choice. Why would you make someone else pay 0.83 more when it would only cost you 0.17 to round it off to an even number.
You want to call me a child because you think i dont know how to budget, based on you not understanding that 4.17 is not 5. It’s just not.
My credit score is near enough 1000 out of 1000, i pay a mortgage, i have a phone bill a car, gas, electric, council tax, vet bills, personal spends, school bills, savings etc no credit cards, small overdraft, not in use.
So yes. I budget… like a big boy. You condescending patronising jackass.
Yes, you replied to that other user, but your whole reply was about… wait for it… ME!
So i responded. And YOU brought up BOTW. So stop saying i brought it up.
There you go exaggerating again. “Hundreds of dollars”? I have been paying 1.25 a month for 4 years which is 60 not “hundreds” do you realise you are doing it? You are overstating almost everything you say which makes it seem more impactful than it actually is. Do you also think you have no money left when you actually have like, 100 dollars? Because you wildly overestimated how much you spend each month?
So you linked me to an emulator… great… what good does that do me when i need portability and i only have the switch with that function? I dont own a steam deck for example.
False dichotomy? Perhaps you need a dictonary as i think you have misunderstood the meaning of the word dichotomy. Roms having glitches is not a dichotomy… what is the other side of this dichotomy? What are you contrasting it with? And are you honestly saying you have ever found an emulator that can play conkers bad fur day eith no glitches? Because there isn’t one. The graphics packs aren’t up to it, and the roms are shoddy.
Perhaps you are trying to suggest that my stating that emulators are glitchy is not a reason to pay nintendo for one. Perhaps you are missing the fsct that i am already paying them for the online service for switch, and i wanted to mario kart expansion so even if i didnt also want the emulators, i would have them.
Perhaps you think everything should be free? As someone who rides the fine line between piracy and consumerism, i think some things should be free, but will pay for something if i find its more convenient. I dont care about paying 60 for 4 years of a glitchless emulator i can carry around with me. Just like i dont mind spending 60 on a single game i might get 20-100 hours of gameplay out of. I am sure you dont mind that either.
If its down to a cost benefit analysis, then I’ve done mine. And deemed it worth it.
Its funny how you ignored what i said about netflix, you saw the word and turned redder than the logo. I said that when they started the streaming service, most people pirating tv stopped. Because they offered a service that was more convenient and cheap enough that it wasnt worth pirating. I then stated that that has since changed as those factors wained. So what is your point? That you can’t read?
As for your summary of my mindless consumerism. Perhaps you should take a look in the mirror, you are blinded by your hatred of corporations and dont seem to realise that consumerism isnt inherently bad. Like with anything, at the extremes, it is horroble. Just like piracy. Nintendo might be a bad company, but the people who put in the effort to make the games, and the hardware, all of the work that goes into designing and developing these things that deserves fair compensation. I dont think i deserve that for free. I think i should have to pay for some things, because much to my dismay we dont live in a communist or even socialist world just yet.
Please take you antagonistic and arrogant stance somewhere else.
Wow, didn’t think you would take the victim stance so hard. Just to be clear, you’re saying I didn’t reply to you but I need to take my arrogant stance somewhere else? The instigator of this argument is telling me I’m antagonistic? hahahaha
You can lie all you want about your big-boy pants, the proof is in the pudding when you show your immaturity. You can’t even get the basics of this discussion right. “not only are you underselling the nintendo switch emulator, you are overselling emulators like dolphin etc.” if you don’t see the dichotomy you’ve created I don’t know how to solve what’s obviously a lifetime learning problem.
Let’s see, was there anything else you actually said? Hmm, now 34.17 is acceptably 34 but not 35 when budgeting bills, idk wtf you’re doing now. More company defending… made up anecdotal shit about your life I don’t believe… and you still don’t understand how subscription services work.
You can’t see the point of Netflix enshittification so you’re lost there, you think creators are being fairly compensated for the games on the nintendo emulator… lol it’s getting harder to address the BS as this goes on.
I don’t know how many times I can say this just for you to come back all huffy puffy again. “will pay for something if i find its more convenient. I dont care about paying,” Tell me more how you’re paying a monthly subscription for a free emulator and a mario kart expansion… 4 years, woah. That’s really just mindblowing. Let’s cut the bullshit and actually give real world examples.
No, absolutely not. When your Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership expires, you lose access to all included DLC, N64 games, Genesis games, and other content. You‘ll have 180 days after expiration to renew your membership and regain access to everything. But after 180 days, all of that content gets permanently removed unless you purchase the Expansion Pack subscription again. It‘s designed as a continual service rather than a one-time add-on purchase. You only keep the extra content as long as you keep paying for it.
Is the Expansion Pack Worth the Cost?
the value depends heavily on how much you actually play the included N64 and Genesis games. Many criticize these retro game libraries as lacking depth and variety, especially compared to Xbox Game Pass. You can also purchase Switch DLCs individually without the bundled Expansion Pack subscription. Here are normal prices for the major DLCs it includes:
Buying these one by one costs only $70 altogether – already less than a year of the subscription. And you‘ll own them permanently rather than temporarily renting with a subscription.
Your cost/benefit analysis is biased and flawed. Like you glossed over before, here are some examples of handheld emulators you won’t lose when you decide to stop paying. They have more games and will last longer, better companies and progressive consumerism (I’m advocating for positive consumerism, not blind purchases). Best part is you’ll actually save some money in the long run, I think we can stop pretending now that other people in the plan and your children are helping pay the bill at this point lol.
You know, I’ve had a busy day at work. i need to take care of a 5 year old and 10 week old baby. My wife is still recovering from a c section, and i just dont have the energy at this point in time. When i do, i will come back and respond to your whole comment.
The only thing i want to say right now, is that i dont care that you dont believe that i have responsibilities and can take care of my finances just fine, even whilst paying a subscription to something i believe is worth the money. I don’t care because it doesnt change anything. I still have to deal with it all, i still have to be an adult and some random fart of a person on the internet isnt going to change that.
Respond soon. Might be tomorrow, but i would like to address all of that BS you posted.
Take your time, real-life shit always takes priorities. I had most of the day off so I was able to fart around or else I would be in the same boat as you. I’ll be around to help you with seeing reality and developing proper analysis skills when you’re free and ready lol.
For me, its not the console price thats the problem. £395.99 in the UK but if we consider inflation, the switch 1 would be around £360-365 today. An extra £30ish for a bigger screen and more power is not too unreasonable. Plus ending in 95.99 rather than 99.99 suggests Nintendo have tried to trim the headline price down.
The real problem is the accessories and games. £75 for new pro controller, £50 for new microSD Express (only ones compatible) £50 for webcam and £67-75 for physical games, £59-£67 for digital.
It seems like there’s nothing special about the camera, hopefully you could use others.
The SD Express makes sense, they’re not just upcharging (you can use any manufacturer’s cards), it’s how they guarantee the storage is reliably fast enough for all games to prevent lag in loading speeds
But for the other accessories, sure. And charging for switch 2 edition upgrades is annoying.
In the nintendo direct, when they were talking about the extra usb-c port, they’ve mentioned it could be used to connect a usb-c camera. Their camera announcement came way later.
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