No, never. Personally, the better graphics and frame rates aren’t even the primary reason I choose Steam, just a side benefit.
The first reason is that many games are best played with mouse and keyboard. I wouldn’t have bought Doom: Eternal on Switch even if it was 10x powerful as my PC unless the Switch had a mouse and keyboard.
The second reason is that the Switch eShop will one day die. All the pre-Switch Nintendo eShops are dead, or soon dead. Steam is 17 years old, and shows no signs of slowing down. If I buy a game on Switch, it’s likely that someday that game will be permanently gone, and I will not be able to re-download it. If I buy a game on Steam, it’s somewhat likely I’ll be able to re-download that game even on the day I perish from this world.
But that’s just me personally.
If you want actual game sales figures, they are very hard to find detailed comparable information without paying money to various services. But what meager data we do have suggests that Nintendos game sales are ludicrous compared to the competition.
For example:
Just a couple months ago only the newest and hottest games like Resident Evil: Village could beat out Mario Kart for the Switch. A game that is 4 years old and was also released on the Wii U. And that excludes all the digital sales on the eShop. Just the cartridges.
Look up any publicly available recent video game sales figures. By any measure, Nintendo is the champ, and it’s not even close.
There’s a pie of all people who buy console video games. SONY and Microsoft compete for a slice of this pie labeled “hardcore”. Nintendo owns the entire rest of the pie and absolutely nobody competes with them for it. Some people in the hardcore slice also have Switches just for Nintendo games.
Why are you asking why Nintendo doesn’t fight harder for the slice where SONY and Microsoft are squabbling? Why not ask why SONY and Microsoft leave Nintendo entirely unopposed on the entire remainder of the pie?
Just to chime in, I too am a primary PC gamer, who bought a Switch for access to nintendo exclusives and to have a portable copy of a lot of the 3rd party indie games I like on PC (Hades, Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire). I’ve jokingly thought about buying the Witcher 3 port to Switch because its one of my favorite games but also I know the downgrade in just about every visual aesthetic would materially affect a game where the art presentation was such a key part. I’m perfectly happy with the Switch as the “bonus console” and I think it exists in the niche for a lot of “hardcore” gamers or older nintendo fans with disposable income.
The thing is the switch is the sole console for a plethora of kids/casual gamers who just want easy access and simple fun in what is a largely more family friendly brand and eshop (yes I know there’s some more mature things in the Nintendo eshop but if you compare it to steam or whats available on PSN/XboxLive its the most family friendly storefront.) The handheld nature and lower price point also facilitate families having multiple consoles to share. If you go back to the original Wii marketing Nintendo simply leaned into the brand reputation they already had and doubledowned on the casual/kid/family market and just owns in a way nobody else can even really compete.
Also those sales figures for total units sold, PS4 released in 2014 and the switch released in 2017. Here are the sources to make a comparison. I might come back later and add it up for the first X years and do a direct comparison that way.
Actually, Nintendo has made advancements in this area. The Switch eShop is full of softcore almost-porn. They still keep out anything that shows actual nudity, but they’ve got plenty of almost-hentai in there these days. IIRC the SONY store is actually more restrictive and is keeping that kind of stuff out. Steam’s history with it is a little on again, off again. After itch.io is the Switch eShop the most permissive of major digital video game stores?
Of course, if you activate the parental controls you can keep your kid from seeing that stuff in the shop, or keep them out of the shop entirely.
I would hard disagree with that. I would bet material amounts of money against that.
It would also literally cost a lot more than $500 for that kind of hardware, if it were even feasible in the first place. It might not actually be feasible at all with current technology.
The current-gen “powerful” consoles are huge for a reason. The Switch was, at the time it was introduced, the best possible compromise of power vs portability vs price. That calculus has not changed materially yet.
While yes, the ping pong ball is probably fake. However, this hardware that can play games at 4k60fps needs a fan blowing out the top that is so powerful and loud that the joke was believable.
If Nintendo can manage to produce a thin and portable device like the Switch that can put out 4K60, they’ll make more money selling that shit to Apple, a military, or whoever because it will be superior to every personal computing device on Earth.
But also, just about every indie game these days is coming out on Switch, because why not.
Excerpt from this article
the Switch has at least 30 games come out a week, while Steam currently sees around 50 new games a day
They’re talking about visibility from a developer’s perspective here. But it’s relevant to the idea that the Switch is somehow starving for 3rd party games. I think not. Unless somehow you believe only a AAA game is a game.
Yokoi said, “The Nintendo way of adapting technology is not to look for the state of the art but to utilize mature technology that can be mass-produced cheaply.” He articulated his philosophy of “Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology” (枯れた技術の水平思考, “Kareta Gijutsu no Suihei Shikō”) (also translated as “Lateral Thinking with Seasoned Technology”) in the book Yokoi Gunpei Game House. “Withered technology” in this context refers to a mature technology which is cheap and well understood. “Lateral thinking” refers to finding radical new ways of using such technology. Yokoi held that toys and games do not necessarily require cutting-edge technology; novel and fun gameplay are more important. In the interview he suggested that expensive cutting-edge technology can get in the way of developing a new product.
I’ve been lucky that my joycons have not drifted. Probably because I don’t use them all that much. Mostly use separate gamepad. Also because I bought a second pair of joycons on day 1, and have swapped them occasionally. Now that I’m reminded, I’ll swap them again today.
It’s kind of bullshit, but while many third party wireless controllers work with the Switch just fine for play, they can not wake the switch from sleep state. If you sit on your couch and grab an 8BitDo, you won’t be able to turn on the Switch. You’ll have to walk over to the Switch and press the power button, then take the 8bitdo back to the couch. For that reason I go with the official pro controller on Switch.
8bitdo’s SN30 Pro+ makes it easy to switch between consoles and computers. I’m alternating Linux and Switch, and I’m very happy with it overall. If you don’t care about switching sources, then the Switch Pro’s overall integration might be nicer, mainly the power-on that Apreche mentioned.
I’m on my second 8bit-do controller, and it’s already showing signs of wear. It’s a shame, as their feel is really good, and they generally have worked really well on PC for me. But just don’t last. Though they are also cheaper than any first party controllers, so buying new one yearly is not big investment, just not something I want to do.
