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Julius

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: N64 & SEGA Mega Drive (& GBA!!)

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Yeah I think the majority of those issues are going to be from people with poor wifi reaching the switch. I had mine like that for a long time and noticed Mario Kart and Smash with NE would sometimes be bad, since switching to an Ethernet adapter, I have zero issues with any online games here. As @Glen-i mentioned, me and him have had Smash Bros sessions where you would think you are playing together on the same switch and last Saturdays 8 player NE night went smoother than some of our 3 or 4 player nights. I don’t remember a single stutter. 
 

I’ll be upgrading my membership on Friday when I get paid just in time for the AC DLC to hit. 

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4 hours ago, Julius said:

@Ike was right, nothing to worry about, N64 controller arrived safe and sound :peace:

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I've got to say, holding an N64 controller for the first time was certainly an experience :laughing:

Think I jinxed mine, not had any tracking updates since last night.

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Definitely disappointing to hear all the bad reports, and to see that the Dark Link fight is stripped of the mist. Hopefully performance does improve soon, but I'm surprised there are any performance issues at all - NERD are usually great at creating accurate emulation, and you would imagine they will have been working on this for an ample period, but it seems as if it's been rushed out. 

My controller hasn't arrived yet, got dispatched last night but DPD haven't been as rapid with delivery as they were with Metroid. 

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1 hour ago, Ashley said:

What on earth...

How is the Switch version the worst? 

That’s really bad.  That’s not acceptable at all.

I would imagine that NERD will fix this, like they fixed up the issues with the 3D All Stars issues with Mario Sunshine; but that is absolutely not good enough right now.

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Right.  So I've finally had a chance to try the thing out.  I've done some input lag measurements (using 240FPS capture with my phone, on a TV with 16ms input lag with Mario Tennis and the official Switch N64 controller) and I'd estimate that Switch Online N64 has around 64-88ms of input lag (that's about 4-5 frames at 60FPS or 2-3 frames at 30FPS).  By comparison, my real N64 hooked up via the Retrotink 2x upscaler playing Mario Tennis gives me about 33ms of lag (that's a single frame at the 30FPS that Mario Tennis runs at, which is what I would expect considering that the Retrotink 2x offers sub-single frame input latency - it would likely be 16ms if I tested it with F-Zero X, which is a 60FPS game).

That's actually pretty good; it's about the same as the NES/SNES NSO games and the NES/SNES mini.  What IS noticable though is the sound lag; sound effects are delayed by almost half a second and it's really bothersome.  This has been a recurrent issue with all of NERD's emulation efforts and it's just as annoying here as it was with the NES/SNES releases.

So in short, the complaints about input lag (at least when playing offline) are bollocks.  The sound lag IS an issue however, but sadly (going by NERD's past history), I don't expect this to be fixed.

BTW, the official N64 Switch controller is super nice! Feels exactly like the original.  Going into the Switch's analog stick test screen, you can immediately see and feel how incredibly accurate the stick is! There's no deadzone whatsoever.  And it has a whacking huge rumble motor in the top part where the "slot" would normally be, meaning that the controller has a nice top-sided heft to it (it's not AS heavy as the original N64 controller with a Rumble Pak inserted mind you).  It feels VERY powerful and very satisfying :D 

kpub8gt.png

Look at dat beauty! Friggin' HUGE chonky motor goodness!

The analog stick feels very much like the original stick, very authentic; which does have be a little worried about its reliability in the long-term... But apparantly, according to this teardown, it is NOT using the same optical sensors as the original N64 controller, but rather it's using the same potentiometers that the GCN controller uses (according to one of the comments anyway)... So hopefully it'll be more reliable than the original.

Overall? I think that they have a good foundation here.  The controller is basically perfect and the input lag is pretty good, they just need to fix the flaws with the emulation.  At the very least? I am VERY happy with the N64 controllers themselves, and eagerly await the inevitable 8bit-do wireless receivers for the original N64 console, so that I can finally play on my original N64 with proper wireless controllers at long last! N64 games have never felt quite right on anything other than the original N64 controller, and that's still the case here.

Edit: For those wondering, the N64 controller's c-buttons map to the d-pad directions in other Switch games (while Z maps to Zl and Start maps to the + button).  Sadly this means that it's not likely to be very useful in other Switch games outside of NSO N64.

Edit 2: Actually, as it turns out... The Switch Menu maps the N64 controller differently from actual Switch games! Looks like normal Switch games map the c-buttons to the right stick as you would expect! And the rest of the buttons map accordingly (A is A, B is B, Z is Zl, R is R, L is L etc).  Maybe it's not so useless after all?

Edited by Dcubed
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1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

Overall? I think that they have a good foundation here.  The controller is basically perfect and the input lag is pretty good, they just need to fix the flaws with the emulation.  At the very least? I am VERY happy with the N64 controllers themselves, and eagerly await the inevitable 8bit-do wireless receivers for the original N64 console, so that I can finally play on my original N64 with proper wireless controllers at long last! N64 games have never felt quite right on anything other than the original N64 controller, and that's still the case here.

That sounds very promising. Star Fox 64 and F-Zero X just felt so off on the Wii U, to the point where it wasn't enjoyable trying to play them. Hoping I can get a decent 60hz experience on the Switch.

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8 minutes ago, Mandalore said:

That sounds very promising. Star Fox 64 and F-Zero X just felt so off on the Wii U, to the point where it wasn't enjoyable trying to play them. Hoping I can get a decent 60hz experience on the Switch.

You can select the US or the EU versions of the games; so don't worry.  Everything supports 60hz here :) 

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I'm debating what to play first...

Ah, yes! I've got it! Dr. Mario 64! AKA; "What do you mean, Wario Land 3 got a spin-off!?"

Such a bizarre game...

Edited by Glen-i
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2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

I'm debating what to play first...

Ah, yes! I've got it! Dr. Mario 64! AKA; "What do you mean, Wario Land 3 got a spin-off!?"

Such a bizarre game...

It's also the worst Dr Mario game in the series that was a weird & cheap outsourced game (made by Newcom), so it's a fantastic choice of first game!

Yeah, the decision to base it off of Wario Land 3 of all things (Making Dr Mario 64 a spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff!) is totally bizzare though!

Edited by Dcubed

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Dang. Really need to get the N64 controller for the N64 games, come on Nintendo put them back up. Had a go at Sin and Punishment and just found it awkward to play using the pro controller. Mario Tennis was more fun to play with it though. And funny that the core game hasn’t changed much. 
Also I can’t believe how awesome we all thought those graphics were. I guess back then they were, but looking back they look so dated and just blocks. Will be trying some of the other games out later. Can’t wait for Mario Golf to hit it though. 

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59 minutes ago, BowserBasher said:

Also I can’t believe how awesome we all thought those graphics were. I guess back then they were, but looking back they look so dated and just blocks.

You kidding, right? Gaze upon the face of perfection and weep!

13736.png

Boo design literally peaked at Mario Tennis 64. Still my favourite Boo model!

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What is the resolution in the games? Did they improve on that? Is it playable on new TV's?

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2 minutes ago, Kounan said:

What is the resolution in the games? Did they improve on that? Is it playable on new TV's?

640 X 480 upscaled most likely.

So the games will appear in the center of the screen, with the usual black border around, like with the NES and SNES games.

You can expect the games to appear clearer than they would, if you were using a standard N64 on a HDTV, but they won't look 'HD' as such, just crisper, with clearer text.

If you are going to be selecting the NTSC 60Hz version of the games (recommended) then the games may run slightly faster than you might remember, but this is always how they were meant to run, as the 50Hz European N64 games only ran slower because of the different TV standards at the time.

There will be inout lag, but it shouldn't be that noticeable, though there is apparently audio lag, which is noticeable, but this is the same with the NES and SNES games, so if you can play those fine, then it might not be that much of an issue, though it would be good if this issue gets improved in a patch.

All of the games should be very much playable on new TV's, in fact, this is probably one of the easiest ways to do so, and it is a lot cheaper than buying an N64 with games.

If you don't have any other way to play N64 games, and like the idea of playing them on the Switch, with added online multiplayer, then it would seem to be worth it.

I haven't bought the Expansion Pack, so I'm just gathering up information from the experiences of others, and based on my own experiences of playing N64 games in various forms.

Hopefully, this should give you a good idea of what to expect from N64 games on the Switch. :smile:

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9 hours ago, Kounan said:

What is the resolution in the games? Did they improve on that? Is it playable on new TV's?

Think all the N64 games on Switch NSO are running in 720p.

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Thx for the answer. My subscription should be renewed in about a month and I am not sure if the expansion pack is worth it for me. I would play a lot of the games in HD, but not in a lower resolution (I wrote this aswer on friday.....).

Edited by Kounan

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Paper Mario is coming to the service on 10th December! 

Quote

It’s a paper caper! Paper Mario, originally released for the Nintendo 64 system, will become available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members on 12/10! After Bowser steals the Star Rod and kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario plots to rescue the seven Star Spirits and free the Mushroom Kingdom from the Koopa's rule. As Mario travels from the tropical jungles of Lavalava Island to the frosty heights of Shiver Mountain, he'll need all the help he can get. Master the abilities of the seven Star Spirits and the other allies joining the adventure to aid our hero on the battlefield. There are over 50 Badges to locate that, when equipped, will grant special abilities and powerful attacks. The turn-based battle system will make fighting Bowser's baddies equal parts strategy and timing. Discover over 100 items, mix them together, and cook up fantastic creations to keep Mario going strong in battle. Close the book on Bowser's story before his evil deeds turn the world upside down and make it so only HIS wishes come true!

I guess they're going to be coming out slowly and one at a time, huh? :p

Edited by Julius
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Hopefully it comes along with fixes for the current slate of games (especially OoT).  Surely that must be the reason why they’ve been so slow here!?

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Come on now, the actual reason is that Paper Mario is such a good game that you wouldn't want other tat distracting you from playing it.

For a console with a poor RPG repertoire, Paper Mario really does save it from being total garbage. I'll happily play through it for the hundredth time.

(In all honesty, I'm hoping @Dcubed's reasoning is why we're only getting one game this time)

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Only confirmed for Japan at the mo, but likely to be the same for all regions.

Considering the sparse library of games that the N64 has (Not counting unrealistic stuff like Goldeneye, because that's not happening), one a month seems like an OK pace.

Kinda wish that the three other consoles would get some stuff alongside it though...

Boy, that Japanese box art sure does suck, huh? Now we know where Mario Sunshine cribbed the idea from.

EDIT: No, wait, there it is.

Still gonna keep the Japanese tweet, so we can compare box art.

Edited by Glen-i

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The Japanese box art does at least confirm one thing; the title is not Banjo--Kazooie like some people try to claim.

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On 03/12/2021 at 1:02 AM, Julius said:
Paper Mario is coming to the service on 10th December! 
Quote
It’s a paper caper! Paper Mario, originally released for the Nintendo 64 system, will become available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members on 12/10! After Bowser steals the Star Rod and kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario plots to rescue the seven Star Spirits and free the Mushroom Kingdom from the Koopa's rule. As Mario travels from the tropical jungles of Lavalava Island to the frosty heights of Shiver Mountain, he'll need all the help he can get. Master the abilities of the seven Star Spirits and the other allies joining the adventure to aid our hero on the battlefield. There are over 50 Badges to locate that, when equipped, will grant special abilities and powerful attacks. The turn-based battle system will make fighting Bowser's baddies equal parts strategy and timing. Discover over 100 items, mix them together, and cook up fantastic creations to keep Mario going strong in battle. Close the book on Bowser's story before his evil deeds turn the world upside down and make it so only HIS wishes come true!


So will this be the first game added since nearly 2 months of the service launching?

Edited by Sheikah

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