Dialogue

Edge readers share their opinions; one wins a year’s PS+ subscription

Lie low on Switch

In the past, I have written sprawling letters to Edge on intellectual topics, embellished with cultured references and literary flourishes. Today, after reading your feature in E303, I find myself in the grip of an existential crisis that calls for a more primitive, plaintive howl: to Switch or not to Switch?

Although utterly enamoured with the company’s hometown of Kyoto, a detail not as irrelevant as it seems, I’ve never been a big fan of Nintendo. I had a brief love affair with the Wii (who didn’t?) and enjoyed a handful of games on the New 3DS that you guys once awarded to me (mostly Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX). But here’s the problem: Kyoto is a friendlier, quirkier, but also more relaxed city than Tokyo or Osaka, and even though Nintendo manages to capture the first two characteristics of its spiritual home quite well, it falls dramatically short when it comes to the third.

Allow me to explain. I absolutely love the defining concept of the new console: the seamless blend of mobile and home gaming is a stroke of genius, and its hardware looks handsome and welcoming. It is a triumphant masterclass in tech design, especially compared to some of the cheap-looking monstrosities fielded by the competition. But the launch lineup is, for me at least, a total disaster. The lack of thirdparty support could almost be taken for granted, but I’m talking about firstparty games. Apart from Breath Of The Wild (and Zelda never enthused me, unfortunately), all the flagship titles, from the ridiculouslooking Arms to the seemingly frantic Splatoon 2, appear garish, frantic, childish or some combination thereof.

Dear Nintendo, can we at least have one or two titles for grownups? Something slowpaced and mindful, perhaps? (The zen-like Endless Ocean, one of my all-time favourites from my Wii days, springs to mind.) In short: something that, on some admittedly abstract level, reminds me of Kyoto. Fabrice Saffre

Seems like you’ve made your mind up already, Fabrice. These are all fair points, except the bit about Arms, which is brilliant fun. Thank you for coming at the topic from a unique angle, though. And now it’s back to some more regular programming…

Switched off

Nintendo is dead to me now. Switch is the final straw. I am done, utterly done, being a Nintendo fan. I was excited at first. After the initial ad, and the amazing Zelda trailer, I was thinking that Switch would be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube. I was playing devil’s advocate to its detractors and was already looking forward to Zelda. Then came Nintendo’s announcement show in January, and along with it all the pricing and specs. And that’s when it all came crashing down around me.

So, let’s see. In the US, $300 for the Switch, $70 for the controller that doesn’t suck, $60 for Zelda and around $45 in taxes; that’s close enough to $500. That’s $500 to play Zelda, folks, a game with cutting-edge graphics from 2012! I think I could just stop there, really, but there’s oh so much more goodness, isn’t there?

First you’ve got the outrageous pricing for Nintendo’s other peripherals: $90 for an extra dock, $80 for an extra Joy-Con. Next, you’ve got Nintendo’s shockingly pathetic and condescending online offer, where they ever-so-generously offer one free, measuredin-megabytes ROM game to play for a single month before they take it back! Wow. Just wow. Third, you’ve got the (shocker!) paltry specs of the console itself. Here we are in 2017, and we can’t even get 1080p on a brand-new console. Next, there’s the

“I was excited at first. I thought Switch would be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube”

two-and-a-half to six-and-a-half hours of battery life, which, let’s face it, a few months after you’ve been using it and the battery degrades means less than two-and-a-half hours of portable play.

Last but not least, you’ve got the pathetic lineup of games. Forget the multiplatform titles, because the Switch loses to my PC every time. Under exclusives, the only compelling things on offer in 2017 are

Zelda, Splatoon 2, Xenoblade 2, and Mario Kart 8 (a glorified reskin). That’s it, because

Super Mario Odyssey will be delayed. You all know that, right? Arms looks fun for a few laughs, but it’s hardly the next Rocket

League, and 1-2-Switch looks like a $20 tech demo being sold for $50.

So, yeah. So long, Nintendo. I don’t wish you luck because your arrogance, stupidity and stubbornness are holding us all back. If you make a few essential games in the next few years, I’ll just wait and play them on an emulator in 2022. Rayburn Odom

We’re only printing this so that it’ll be seen by the fellow who told us E303’ s cover story had “no hope or joy for the medium”. Suddenly our take looks like an outrageously optimistic one.

Back my Switch up

In Dialogue in E303, I noticed after one person had written in about his concerns for the Nintendo Switch, you said that you had received many emails like that. Don’t get me wrong, I have worries as well – one being Nintendo trying to switch (yes, I went there) PS4, Xbox One, and PC players over to their new console. But I personally love the system.

Why? Because Nintendo isn’t about the specs. As much as that is now helpful in modern-day videogames, Nintendo is persisting to view games the way they did 20 or 30 years ago. And that, generally speaking, is keeping the fun in videogames. It’s quite evident that now gaming has become more of an online thing, with teenagers and adults tucked up inside their bedrooms with a headset on, shooting things (there’s more to it, I know) and stuff like that. It’s never been my cup of tea, even though it is all of my friends’, but I do like playing games that are more fun rather than competitive. Which is why, at a young age, I fell onto Nintendo’s path. Even now, they still want to make unique gaming experiences, without just focusing on how powerful the console is, and which graphics card they are putting in, and this is what I love about the Nintendo Switch. It genuinely looks like something fun, something that is different, and something that is new to the world of games. The fact that you can change from your TV to playing on a handheld screen in a couple of seconds, is, quite frankly, revolutionary.

I love it. Not everyone will. Some people prefer high-quality graphics, and I have nothing against that. As I said, I do have my concerns, although right now I’m putting those aside, as they are more about the wider audience. Yes, maybe one day I will end up switching (sorry, again) to an Xbox One or PS4, if Nintendo quits the console market and becomes a thirdparty console or mobile game developer (though I’m sure everyone agrees with me that we don’t want to see that happen). But for now I’m going to lavish praise on the Nintendo Switch – maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but certainly mine. James Baldwin

Some positivity at last. It says a lot about the tone of this month’s mail that we’re awarding you a free PS Plus sub. If you’re not about to get a PS4, it is of course Vita compatible, or you could flog it to an appropriate friend for some cold hard cash.

Job switch

I have just read Adam Dutton’s letter ( E302) where he talks, among other things, about not having any more Uncharted games unless they are given to a thirdparty. I’m not so sure we have seen the last of Nathan Drake. Would Sony really kill off its golden goose?

I can see a game where Nathan Drake becomes the next Jack Bauer, called out of retirement because some evil bad guy has kidnapped Sully or even Chloe (see the link there?!), and unless Jack – sorry, Nathan – recovers some artefact from some obscure place in the world, they will be killed. Cue a race against time around the world solving puzzles and climbing handily coloured cliffs and walls leading to a thrilling climax with said bad guy…

I exaggerate, of course, but while Naughty Dog remains wholly owned by Sony, I wouldn’t say it’s the last of us. Sorry, the last we’ve seen of Nathan Drake. Meanwhile, I am off to copyright my idea. Lukgargnes

Or you could do the Designated Survivor thing, which is essentially Jack Bauer in The West Wing. Nathan Drake for president! (Could a person made entirely out of tiny electrical pulses running through a PS4 do a worse job than what’s in place now?)

Switch on the lights

Jen’s in Margate. Kids being looked after by friend. I’m in a dimly lit pub trying to read

Edge but the typeface is too small. Tim Topple

Sorry about that, Tim. We’ll see what we can do. And please do keep sending us updates on how your life’s going.

We party

Richard and Slim are at it again Yes it is Quiz Night on this coming Friday 10th February 7.00PM starting at 7.30PM £2 per person max team four. I hope to see you there, sorry about short notice computer troubles Slim

If anyone is in a position to help Slim with his computer troubles, please let us know. Spam-filter recommendations are always welcome here, too, of course.