Sheikah

Well in defence of this being to combat scalpers and low stock - first, they said as much (that the preorder system is due to anticipated low stock). Second, the COVID situation will have impacted production, and third, we saw that they have increased production of the consoles, suggesting they think they didn't have enough stock to meet demand. So for me it's not a big leap to think that low stock is the primary reason they're doing this. I don't doubt for a second that if it was Nintendo doing this scheme for a Switch Pro that you'd be backing them all the way. Regarding the last bit you said, I expect retailers will sell PS5s as well but this scheme will at least give fans another way to get their hands on a console when stock may be hard to come by.

Got any proof for that comment?

But what percentage of US stock will it be? Worldwide is not a fair comparison as so far this invite scheme is only limited to the US. If stock ends up being plentiful in the US after all then Sony should rightfully get called out for this. However due to COVID we know that manufacturing parts have been in short supply and that Sony have recently upped production of their consoles. It's not unreasonable to believe that they're being truthful that they expect some shortages for the console. And I say this knowing that Sony's systems don't usually sell out at launch.

Of course it would be combating scalpers. If you need to have historical activity on your PlayStation account to get the invite link then it's not like you can create a bunch of new accounts right now to buy a lot of consoles this way and sell the consoles on eBay. We don't know how many or even if the first wave of consoles will be sold any other way in the US. But for the invite method at least, the stock will at least be going to the fans. I have seen comments that this invite system is ensuring people who are already enamoured with the system will be the ones who get it, and that they will then leave positive reviews. I don't really buy that - people who already like PlayStation are already going to buy one anyway, and it doesn't feel like Sony need the positive spin after their recent showings. This actually feels like something they're doing because they anticipate stock will be low due to the COVID situation.

This sounds like a perfect way to combat scalpers in a situation where stock will be limited. Did you consider that as a possibility, or just default to the worst possible assumption?

I've said before but BC is important as a method to ease the transition between generations but beyond that it is of little concern to most. From Sony's point of view there is little point in investing time and resources into something that the majority of people don't care about it. Here's a metric I've pasted before, but it shows just how little time people spend using BC on Xbox One: And if you're thinking that Sony "don't care" about gamers because of their BC stance, just think about how Sony are knocking it out of the park with their numerous exclusives that consistently review well, all the while Microsoft have very little to show. I don't believe it's that Sony don't care - just they'd rather focus their efforts on more important things.

I do feel that they could have communicated this better as there is no doubt confusion around it on the internet, but hopefully now on this forum at least we won't see the same comment that "only 100" PS4 games will run at launch.

Oh I see, and what if you bought Wii U games digitally? Can't play them on Switch, can you? No comment from you back then about this being unfair on gamers? Ok then. So you think Switch has "backwards compatibility" because it can play a selection of NES/SNES re-released games so long as you pay a subscription? That's not backwards compatibilty. I find it odd that you're saying PlayStation don't give a fuck. PS5 will run PS4 games - it is therefore backwards compatible with the previous console's games. Both Wii and Wii U have only ever been able to play one previous generation's worth of games. So strange that you have different standards for different console manufacturers. So strange indeed.

Nothing weird about it my friend, it's just that it's Sony that's not doing it. For instance the Switch does not have any backwards compatibility at all. Do we recall anyone complaining about that?

The thing is though, they're achieving 4k60 with what is in effect a current gen game (it has to run on base X1), which is to be expected rather than impressive. The game not looking next gen was the reason behind the backlash they received. If they took God of War on PS4 and ported it to PS5 but doubled the framerate, you'd absolutely expect that at a minimum, wouldn't you? You wouldn't expect it to run at the same level as it did on PS4. In fact this is basically what they did with The Last of Us. When they put this out on PS4 it ran at double the framerate of the PS3 game. Also blaming COVID for the delay was very clearly an excuse, and one that you don't have to look too close at to unravel. Look at how close they were to the game going gold (October) before they delayed it. They also put out a demo (if they had known how it would have been received there's no way they would have done that) and then they only delayed it after the backlash to the demo. To top it off, they have just brought in some ex-Bungie staff to try and get it into shape - if this was purely an issue with home working causing delays then this seems like a very questionable choice. They had been working on the game for 5 years - what we saw in the demo could not have been corrected by a few extra months in the office, had COVID never happened.

Well I wouldn't say it's "regardless" - it probably runs at 4k60 because it was more or less a current gen game, graphically speaking. That's why they got the backlash and that's why they've delayed it. If you think about it, you can get anything to run at 4k60 if you tone down the graphics enough, so for me that isn't impressive. For comparison, Ratchet and Clank looked like an actual next gen game, which is probably why you can either run it at 4k30 or checkboard 60 FPS.

I think showing gameplay has been something most studios have kind of underestimated this year - as in, they have not realised gameplay is what people really want to see. Mind you, I bet the developers of Halo wish they hadn't shown gameplay in hindsight.

It's a paid for product which should basically be a free product, since it's a vehicle to sell microtransactions like Fortnite.

I'm in

Well they repaired mine for free. It's worth ringing up to see if they will.

Well the battery comment was more to disprove your point that it's only better ergonomically, because battery life doesn't fall under ergonomics. As said though there's literally no reason to suffer drift. Send to Nintendo and they repair drift on their controllers for free. A lot of people seem to suffer from it and never actually try address it. It's somewhat frustrating because you see people complain about it, then maybe a year later they'll make the same complaint. Obviously it's Nintendo's fault but their customer service is pretty good.

But a better battery, proper control layout, and decent build quality. Not arsed about the D pad personally. At least you do have a D pad though and not 4 distinct buttons. And the drift rate must be lower on them, you don't hear about issues anywhere near as much as the joycons.

The thing with the joycons though is you can send the controllers in for free and they send them back fixed. It's not great but there's literally no reason for anyone to put up with them being defective. And the rest of the Switch is a very nice console, one that I was happy to get at launch.

Nope.

Just pay £50 for a far better controller than the shitty joycons, i.e. the Pro controller.

Also to quote Peter Kay, has thou nowt moist? My mouth is drying up just looking at it.

I tried them once. Just disgusting and not delicious. Apparently they dropped the salt/sugar content in the rebooted version. Got to agree with you on the waffles too, thought they looked a bit anemic.

How vile. Was anyone asking for those back? That's Jamie Oliver's legacy undone!

You are in science? Didn't know that.

You're right. I'm basically the kind of person that doesn't actively seek out Nintendo news but I generally hear it at some point through sites such as Eurogamer. What is happening on Switch right now? All I know of are Metroid Prime 4 in the works (delivery date: who knows) and...Pikmin 3? I heard there were plans to release old 3D Mario games (e.g. Sunshine) and the like...was that ever confirmed? This really comes back to a point I made some years back....Nintendo had a great first year but played many of their best cards there and then.