Posted October 30, 2016 I think you can still run the same games with less RAM if the CPU and GPU are capable enough. It's just a case of having lower-res assets so the entire game can be loaded into 3gb of memory rather than 5gb of memory. As the Switch is rumoured to be just below Xbox One in terms of raw power, I can certainly see this being a possibility if the more taxing multiplatform games are limited to 720p on the Switch and I think that's a compromise most people would accept if it meant they also had the advantage of portability. There's also the argument that data compression has become a dead art in terms of video games because of the derth of disc space on blu ray and the amount of RAM modern consoles have, if NVIDIA include clever compression tools in their Switch SDK then that might be enough to get around the comparatively little RAM available to developers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 30, 2016 I think you can still run the same games with less RAM if the CPU and GPU are capable enough. It's just a case of having lower-res assets so the entire game can be loaded into 3gb of memory rather than 5gb of memory. As the Switch is rumoured to be just below Xbox One in terms of raw power, I can certainly see this being a possibility if the more taxing multiplatform games are limited to 720p on the Switch and I think that's a compromise most people would accept if it meant they also had the advantage of portability. There's also the argument that data compression has become a dead art in terms of video games because of the derth of disc space on blu ray and the amount of RAM modern consoles have, if NVIDIA include clever compression tools in their Switch SDK then that might be enough to get around the comparatively little RAM available to developers. True and we have had leaks previously that said technically the ports shouldn't be a problem so I would guess as long as third parties have good development tools to work with and financially it makes sense those AAA titles could well happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 30, 2016 I dont know the tech talk either but it seems most of the current games on Steam require 8GB Ram as a bare minimum... Does that mean anything? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 30, 2016 Obviously I'd like you to get what you want, but a small part of me would love to see the fallout if it was announced no Party Chat Haha, cheers dude. I wouldn't be as bad as this gen with the WiiU just simply because I won't purchase the Switch if it doesn't, whereas I'd owned the WiiU. I've already made a couple pics ready for any confirmation that there's no Party Chat! Haha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 30, 2016 I dont know the tech talk either but it seems most of the current games on Steam require 8GB Ram as a bare minimum... Does that mean anything? I don't think it would have much bearing on console gaming, because PC's are built for multi tasking the operating systems tend to use more memory than a games console would. I think the biggest thing to consider is that the PS4 Pro only increases the usable RAM for gaming by 512mb over the standard PS4, so clearly developers are having no trouble with a limit of 5-6gb RAM so hopefully the expected 3gb of usable RAM on the Switch is enough for them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 How does this amount of RAM bode for Party Chat? It's more than the Xbox 360 had. Technically, there's no reason Nintendo couldn't do it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I don't think that technical specifications are why they haven't done party chat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) 4GB RAM would be kinda low, but not catastrophically low. Unfortunately, mobile hardware has only just reached the 8GB point recently. Samsung just introduced the first 8GB LPDDR4 DRAM package this month, so that's really absolute bleeding edge. 4GB is double what the Wii U had in total (and 4x as much as what was available to Wii U games, which could only use 1GB in total of that). I bet that Nintendo will end up locking off 2GB for the OS though. They seem to like splitting the OS/Game RAM allocation 50:50 in recent times if the 3DS/Wii U is anything to go by; but they did resort to implementing a low memory OS mode in 3DS in its later years (that's when you're playing a game on an old 3DS model and the system has to reboot when you start/quit a game, like in Smash Bros 3DS or Pokemon Sun/Moon), so maybe they won't lock off as much memory this time? I would hope that they'd go with a 3GB:1GB RAM split in favour of the games themselves, but I get that sinking feeling that they'll go with 2GB:2GB... If they did go with 3GB for games, that's not a big disadvantage against the PS4/Xbone (which have 5GB available for games, with the PS4 Pro upping that to 5.5GB - with the extra 512MB being slow cache RAM); especially when you consider that this will be somewhat offset by the use of Game Cards/SD Cards instead of Optical Media/HDDs - so less need to store big caches of data as game assets can be pulled off a Game Card more quickly than the other forms of storage. Either way, I suspect that this is something that they will address in future versions of the Switch down the line. Unfortunately for now, I can't really see them going above 4GB at launch; the 8GB tech is too new and they're already standing at the bleeding edge when it comes to mobile CPU/GPU tech; they have to keep the price at something reasonable after all. Edited October 31, 2016 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I don't think that technical specifications are why they haven't done party chat It's probably down to "protecting the kids", which is the parents job. Put in good parental controls, it can't be that difficult. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 It's probably down to "protecting the kids", which is the parents job. Put in good parental controls, it can't be that difficult. Thats always the annoying thing about the lack of party chat. In-game chat I can understand but party chat you choose who you are talking to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 Is there a source for this "protecting kids" thing, or is it just speculation that's been repeated often enough to become a "fact"? I could actually believe it's just Nintendo genuinely believing voice chat isn't appealing. Looking at mario kart they probably have evidence that it isn't wanted, because so few people use the lobby party chat. And with wii u chat thing not being popular they may again extrapolate that it is a feature that is not wanted, rather than realising it is a feature that isn't really fit for purpose. With the switch being portable they may decide that if you actually want to be sociable you can go visit said person and have real chat. If they don't mention party chat in the January presentation I'll presume they don't consider it an important feature and it will be gimped, if present at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I heard on the internets that, since the Switch uses cartridges/chips, games wouldn't need as much RAM as other consoles do in order to run smoothly. Since I'm not a specs expert, I'd like to ask, is there any truth to this? Sounds like gross speculation, but I'm curious if there's any grain of truth to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 Slightly disappointed not to see Wayforward on the list of supporting developers - you'd think we'd have Mighty Switch Force! : peace:Hehehe! This simply has to happen. Nice to see you posting again BTW. : peace: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I heard on the internets that, since the Switch uses cartridges/chips, games wouldn't need as much RAM as other consoles do in order to run smoothly. Since I'm not a specs expert, I'd like to ask, is there any truth to this? Sounds like gross speculation, but I'm curious if there's any grain of truth to it. Without knowing more about the cartridges themselves it is hard to say. But in principle, yes, if the carts meet certain requirements (read speed etc) the Switch could use the game cartridge in some ways that it would otherwise use ram. Though if game carts are 16Gb I wouldn't take that as the switch having the equivalent of 20gb Ram. Carts tend to be roms, so data that won't change can simply remain on the cart and be pulled as they are needed, but it depends on how everything is linked together internally as to how big an advantage that would be in practice. I would be surprised if Nintendo didn't set things up in such a way as to give a small boost. Having said that, if that is the case they would need to ensure that download titles also had access to those same boosts. Unless they have certain cart only titles.... But it is true Nintendo have previously had boosted carts to give additional functionality to their hardware, so it's certainly not impossible. I'm not sure if they have done so with the 3ds though.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 Well, this technical mumbojumbo is getting way over my head. I'll leave it at this: when I push right, I expect to move right. I've actually pre-ordered the Switch way back when it was still the NX, on July 27th. My usual store already had a placeholder page for NX where you could pro-order it, if you knew where to look. If I'm not on the day-one-list, heads will roll... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I lasted about 6 seconds Is that normal? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 Is he right? Made some good points. I disagree with him about the 2 month window for marketing. I think nowdays that's plenty of time to market a product. Nintendo still could of shared some more info prior to January though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 I heard on the internets that, since the Switch uses cartridges/chips, games wouldn't need as much RAM as other consoles do in order to run smoothly. Since I'm not a specs expert, I'd like to ask, is there any truth to this? Sounds like gross speculation, but I'm curious if there's any grain of truth to it. In theory... yes, actually there's some truth to it. Like Pestneb said, it depends on the read speed of these cards (which is a mystery right now), but it's safe to say that it'll load much faster than any disc based media; meaning that, compared to an equivalent console that runs games directly from blu-ray discs, less data needs to be kept in RAM at any given time in order to avoid long loading times as the system can just pull data off the card that much faster. As for loading from SD Cards? I dunno what they're gonna do. Maybe they'll require higher class ones that have a certain read speed? Or maybe they'll just let you use whatever and your loading times are just completely dependent on whatever read speed your SD Card has? Who can say? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 31, 2016 Is he right? Broadly, saying we need to wait sure.. but I don't see anyone here saying the Switch is Nintendo's saviour, or that they are doomed. I think 3rd party support will be better on the Switch than the Wii U. I think hardware sales will be better than the Wii U's. but that doesn't say too much... As for the late info release.... I think that he's under estimating that hyper fanbase he was criticising. They are the reason Nintendo will get away with it, because with only a couple of million consoles in March, those will get snapped up in no time, 1 Million just for Zelda, and the rest on the promise of Splatoon/Mario kart/real 3d mario. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 1, 2016 those will get snapped up in no time, 1 Million just for Zelda, and the rest on the promise of Splatoon/Mario kart/real 3d mario. Come on, man. Why you gotta say it like that? I hate the term "Real 3D Mario". It implies 3D World somehow isn't a proper 3D Mario game. Which is ridiculous. It also sounds real snobby, to boot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 1, 2016 It implies 3D World somehow isn't a proper 3D Mario game. Which is correct. Fixed that for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 1, 2016 Come on, man. Why you gotta say it like that? I hate the term "Real 3D Mario". It implies 3D World somehow isn't a proper 3D Mario game. Which is ridiculous. It also sounds real snobby, to boot. Well I was referring to my assumption that 3d world was born from the fact that the Wii U wasn't selling. I think it's probably to mario switch (for want of a better name) what monkey ball was to f-zero. They just explored a few bits with it. 3d world is functional and quite fun, although I find more so in multiplayer than single, but I don't think it was the mario that was originally envisioned for the Wii U. Hence my term "real". Of course I may be totally wrong, but I am at least 99% sure that mario switch would have been on the Wii U if it had sold 50+ million. Maybe mario switch would have been the WIi U's equivalent of galaxy 2? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 1, 2016 Come on, man. Why you gotta say it like that? I hate the term "Real 3D Mario". It implies 3D World somehow isn't a proper 3D Mario game. Which is ridiculous. It also sounds real snobby, to boot. Personally I think you're over thinking it, and that people seem to use the term to refer to a less restricted setup, more like SM64 or agruably the galaxy games('real 3d marios' but too linear for my liking). There's not denying that SM3DW certainly hasn't the same feel as SM64 or the Galaxy games, surely? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
